Post by rowan on Feb 8, 2019 2:14:32 GMT
SWIFTNOSE of MEADOWCLAN
29 MOONS
WARRIOR
CIS MOLLY
LESBIAN
29 MOONS
WARRIOR
CIS MOLLY
LESBIAN
picture a small, bicolor cat, her frame kittish even after she's grown into her adult body. her eyes are green, like the grass and trees, and she has a pair of small ears perched atop her head.
in kithood, swiftkit grew with a sister by the name of sheepkit. her parents were benevolent, but perhaps dismissive at times... but she knew they loved her, and her sister, and that's what mattered.
"dad," swiftkit asks her father, once, "what happens when we die?"
he is taken off-guard by her question, and takes a moment to come up with an answer. "we go to starclan, of course," he responds readily. "when we die, our bodies stay here, but our spirits go higher, into the stars. we become a star, up there in silverpelt, and watch over our children."
"but what if we don't have kittens? who do we watch over?"
her father laughs. it was a silly question to him. "any family that hasn't passed, and those who you knew in life, and their kin. and you will be able to watch them until you fade from memory."
"that sounds awfully sad," she replies after a moment. "seeing them, but them not being able to see you..."
he pauses, mouth open slightly, and then responds. "sometimes, honey, it's painful to only be able to watch." he sounds as if he's talking from experience, but of course he isn't - he never died, he was still alive. but somehow, swiftkit felt he was talking about another situation entirely. "but for the happiness of those you love, sometimes you need to step back, and let them grow."
she thinks, and is satisfied with his answer.
the cavern walls closed around the bicolor apprentice, giving swiftpaw a dizzying sense of claustrophobia. through the passage she walked, her paws sore and bleeding. had she really been walking so long? darkness spread ahead of her so far that she could only guess at how long it was.
the pathway twisted, turned, split off... but the sound of voices, the smell of fresh water lured her in, deciding her path for her, almost automatically. she didn't question this dream; she had had many others like it, ones where the caves swallowed her whole... she didn't know this place. she had always lived in meadowclan, where the sky stretched above farther than any cat could reach. so why did she dream of the caverns?
she'd never gotten far in her dream, always lost in the tunnels, never appearing in any sort of camp or hideout, or even exiting the tunnels in any way. it was maddening, and exhausting - she always woke up with sore paws, as if she'd really been there, though they never bled.
she asks the medicine cat one moon about it.
"in my dream, i'm in tunnels. i'm lost, but i know where i'm going, too," she confesses. "but i've never been there. i don't know where it is, or if it's a real place. i've heard of cavernclan, but i've never spoken to one of their cats..."
pipitfur shushes her. "you can't tell anyone about this," she responds. "but i believe it's a sign."
"a sign? of what?"
she thinks for a bit, looking out of the den blankly. "swiftpaw, i can't answer that for you," she answers at last. "it could be a sign of impending doom, or a sign that you must go there. but in my opinion as a medicine cat, i believe you're having this dream for a reason, though i cannot tell you why." she closes her eyes. "that is something you must learn for yourself."
swiftpaw thanks her for her time and leaves, with more questions than she came in with.
the dream persists, but the soreness in her paws lessens each time. she wonders if she's sleeping better, or if the travels have given her stamina, somehow - silly, considering it was only a dream. was dream stamina a thing? she didn't really know.
her apprenticeship passes just fine. her training is mostly in tracking - her mentor heathernose teaches her the ins and outs of finding tracks and scents, which has the side effect of boosting her skill in hunting. she's an excellent student - curious, attentive, but often asks too many questions. heathernose wonders if her student will ever figure things out intuitively or if she'll always need to ask for a second opinion.
her sister has more trouble than she does in her apprenticeship. sheep-paw is troublesome, inattentive, and often unmotivated. it's a miracle she survived the trials of an apprentice, really. she earns the name sheepfur as a warrior.
swiftpaw gains the name swiftnose, for her skill in tracking, just as her mentor taught her. her lessons in tracking extend and help her investigate her strange dreams. she becomes more alert, still somewhat timid, but ever-intrigued by the new facets that have come with her dreams.
the newest development in her dreams is that she appears outside of the tunnels. she doesn't recognize the landscape, but figures it's someplace in the area. she smells an unfamiliar clan scent - she's still never gone to a clan meeting, but she would bet her life that it was cavernclan scent.
she stares at the open entrance to the tunnels, which stretches like a gaping maw ahead of her. she feels a force pull her in, figuratively, and she resumes her travels through the tunnels.
it feels like the tunnels change every time she visits them in her dreams. she never figures out the layout - perhaps an aspect of the dream representing her lack of knowledge of the territory - but she always hears the voices in the deepest part of the tunnels, which she never reaches.
she has yet to understand these dreams. she considers her next move, fearful, but eager to solve the puzzle being presented to her.
in kithood, swiftkit grew with a sister by the name of sheepkit. her parents were benevolent, but perhaps dismissive at times... but she knew they loved her, and her sister, and that's what mattered.
"dad," swiftkit asks her father, once, "what happens when we die?"
he is taken off-guard by her question, and takes a moment to come up with an answer. "we go to starclan, of course," he responds readily. "when we die, our bodies stay here, but our spirits go higher, into the stars. we become a star, up there in silverpelt, and watch over our children."
"but what if we don't have kittens? who do we watch over?"
her father laughs. it was a silly question to him. "any family that hasn't passed, and those who you knew in life, and their kin. and you will be able to watch them until you fade from memory."
"that sounds awfully sad," she replies after a moment. "seeing them, but them not being able to see you..."
he pauses, mouth open slightly, and then responds. "sometimes, honey, it's painful to only be able to watch." he sounds as if he's talking from experience, but of course he isn't - he never died, he was still alive. but somehow, swiftkit felt he was talking about another situation entirely. "but for the happiness of those you love, sometimes you need to step back, and let them grow."
she thinks, and is satisfied with his answer.
the cavern walls closed around the bicolor apprentice, giving swiftpaw a dizzying sense of claustrophobia. through the passage she walked, her paws sore and bleeding. had she really been walking so long? darkness spread ahead of her so far that she could only guess at how long it was.
the pathway twisted, turned, split off... but the sound of voices, the smell of fresh water lured her in, deciding her path for her, almost automatically. she didn't question this dream; she had had many others like it, ones where the caves swallowed her whole... she didn't know this place. she had always lived in meadowclan, where the sky stretched above farther than any cat could reach. so why did she dream of the caverns?
she'd never gotten far in her dream, always lost in the tunnels, never appearing in any sort of camp or hideout, or even exiting the tunnels in any way. it was maddening, and exhausting - she always woke up with sore paws, as if she'd really been there, though they never bled.
she asks the medicine cat one moon about it.
"in my dream, i'm in tunnels. i'm lost, but i know where i'm going, too," she confesses. "but i've never been there. i don't know where it is, or if it's a real place. i've heard of cavernclan, but i've never spoken to one of their cats..."
pipitfur shushes her. "you can't tell anyone about this," she responds. "but i believe it's a sign."
"a sign? of what?"
she thinks for a bit, looking out of the den blankly. "swiftpaw, i can't answer that for you," she answers at last. "it could be a sign of impending doom, or a sign that you must go there. but in my opinion as a medicine cat, i believe you're having this dream for a reason, though i cannot tell you why." she closes her eyes. "that is something you must learn for yourself."
swiftpaw thanks her for her time and leaves, with more questions than she came in with.
the dream persists, but the soreness in her paws lessens each time. she wonders if she's sleeping better, or if the travels have given her stamina, somehow - silly, considering it was only a dream. was dream stamina a thing? she didn't really know.
her apprenticeship passes just fine. her training is mostly in tracking - her mentor heathernose teaches her the ins and outs of finding tracks and scents, which has the side effect of boosting her skill in hunting. she's an excellent student - curious, attentive, but often asks too many questions. heathernose wonders if her student will ever figure things out intuitively or if she'll always need to ask for a second opinion.
her sister has more trouble than she does in her apprenticeship. sheep-paw is troublesome, inattentive, and often unmotivated. it's a miracle she survived the trials of an apprentice, really. she earns the name sheepfur as a warrior.
swiftpaw gains the name swiftnose, for her skill in tracking, just as her mentor taught her. her lessons in tracking extend and help her investigate her strange dreams. she becomes more alert, still somewhat timid, but ever-intrigued by the new facets that have come with her dreams.
the newest development in her dreams is that she appears outside of the tunnels. she doesn't recognize the landscape, but figures it's someplace in the area. she smells an unfamiliar clan scent - she's still never gone to a clan meeting, but she would bet her life that it was cavernclan scent.
she stares at the open entrance to the tunnels, which stretches like a gaping maw ahead of her. she feels a force pull her in, figuratively, and she resumes her travels through the tunnels.
it feels like the tunnels change every time she visits them in her dreams. she never figures out the layout - perhaps an aspect of the dream representing her lack of knowledge of the territory - but she always hears the voices in the deepest part of the tunnels, which she never reaches.
she has yet to understand these dreams. she considers her next move, fearful, but eager to solve the puzzle being presented to her.
