Post by llavoie -- on Jun 12, 2017 16:44:51 GMT -5
When To Fight, And When To Let Go
“Mothnose, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and go to join the elders?"
The clearing was silent, broken only by the sound of many cats breathing together, their tails twitching. Somebody’s belly growled in the back. During any other occasion, Mothnose would have probably laughed, but right now she was far too irritated to find any humor in the situation. It had taken much prodding from the warriors of ThunderClan to convince her to move to the elder’s den, and still she was tempted to spit in their faces and refuse to go. She was supposed to be a warrior, for StarClan’s sake. It was her duty to take care of her Clan! How did they expect her to do that when they hired apprentices to pat her down with bile?
Mothnose took her sweet time. If they wanted to stick her with the elders, then they’d better be prepared for her to start annoying them like one. Her narrowed yellow eyes swept from the tabby tom in front of her to the cluster of cats who waited for her reply. She stopped on Gorseleaf and Mouseheart sitting side by side close to the front, ready to welcome her when the ceremony was over. It wasn’t often that a warrior was graduated to elder before her own mother passed, and she could tell that Mouseheart was thrilled. Gorseleaf just looked irritated to have been woken from his nap.
Mothnose dragged her gaze away from her new denmates. “It is…” She finally said, voice slow and deeply reluctant.
Redstar replied much faster than her. “Your Clan honors you and all the service you have given to us. I call upon StarClan to give you many moons of rest.”
ThunderClan rose to their paws and pressed forward, yowls of Mothnose! filling the air as they congratulated and welcomed their new elder. The thick-furred tawny and rust -colored feline stood where she was, trying to cover the sadness in her eyes with frustration. Mouseheart pressed her pelt against Mothnose’s and purred loudly in her ear.
But I don’t want moons of rest. The thought made her chest ache.
How dare they do this to her?
-
“It’s not so bad, starling,” Mouseheart murmured in a motherly tone.
Mothnose glared at her from her new bed of moss under the tangle of branches that made up the elders’ den. “Did you really just call me your favorite food?”
Mouseheart purred in amusement. “I’m serious. I think you’ll like it here. The kits love to come and visit.”
“You know how I feel about kits.”
“You get to relax every day.”
“I don’t want to relax, I want to hunt.” Mothnose said. “I’m the best hunter this Clan has. It’s in my name!”
Mouseheart hesitated, regarding her daughter. “Your name is a joke,” she finally relented in a deadpan, no-nonsense kind of way. Mothnose bristled. “I don’t say that to be rude, but starling, you’ve lost your sense of smell. What did you expect?”
“I’ve still got my ears!”
“That won’t help you find your prey.”
Mothnose searched for something to fling back at the she-cat.
“It comes with age, mouse,” the she-cat said, standing. “Changes like that happen to the best of us.”
Mothnose wanted to scream. She didn’t reply, instead turning her back on the conversation and burying her head in the moss. She laid her ears flat, clearly signaling that she was done talking. After a few heartbeats she heard her mother leave. It was hard to argue with Mouseheart - she was older and wiser, and she always spoke logically and from the heart. That only made it all the more frustrating when Mothnose wanted more than anything for her to be wrong, and she never was.
-
The she-cat padded through the forest, stepping carefully as she sniffed at the air. Still nothing. She could feel the hysteria setting in every time she tried, but she couldn’t stop. Her nose was her identity. It gave her everything that made her her. Her name, her sense of purpose, her place in the Clans. She used to be a praised huntress, and now she was just a body with a broken compass. It felt like StarClan had taken everything from her in one quick blow, and she had to get it back. Things didn’t need to change.
She breathed in hard, then harder. For a second she thought she actually got something, but the fact that she couldn’t make sense of the supposed signals made her wonder if it was just her imagination - she wanted a scent and she got one. Mothnose’s careful walk gradually escalated into a desperate run. Thorns and branches ripped at her fur. She sniffed obnoxiously at her surroundings as she smashed through in an attempt to smell something. She must have been quite a sight for any passersbys: an older she-cat, fur a mess with twigs and leaves, eyes wild, snorting fiercely as she ran. And she didn’t stop until one of her paws caught in a hole and sent her crashing to the ground. Mothnose laid there in a depressed heap, now sniffling for a completely different reason. She stared sullenly at the pine needles on the ground.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she’d fallen but the sky was beginning to darken. With a sigh she heaved herself onto sore paws and decided it was time to head home. But… where was she? She looked around. These trees were unfamiliar. She raised her head to sniff the air before remembering that wasn’t going to work. She couldn’t rely on that anymore. Turning in a circle, she felt her bones stiffen with dread. These trees didn’t grow in ThunderClan. They grew in… ShadowClan!
You’re so stupid, Mothnose! She scolded. Pine needles! Pine needles, for StarClan’s sake. You should’ve known!
Now she was stuck in enemy territory with no idea where she was or which way to go to get out because her hot-headed, mousebrained self wouldn’t listen to her Clan. It was a wonder that ShadowClan patrols hadn’t found her yet. It’s not like she’d be able to smell them coming anyway.
Yowling filled the air. Speak of the Dark Forest, Mothnose thought, fur standing on end.
“ThunderClan!” A voice snarled. “What are you doing on ShadowClan territory?”
There were four cats all together, one was an apprentice with wide excited eyes. Their coats ranged from darks to tortoiseshell to tawny, standard ShadowClan colors. None of them looked very friendly.
“I uh,” Mothnose could feel her fur bristling uneasily, “I got lost?” Her words curved up, more of a question than a statement.
One of the ShadowClan cats snorted. “Lost?” He growled, eyes narrowed. “You expect us to believe that?”
“Well yes, I don’t ha-” Mothnose stopped herself. “I have extenuating circumstances…”
The cats stared at her. The tom wasn’t amused. “And what, StarClan tell, would those be?”
“I don’t have tell you.” Mothnose snapped, a little too quickly than she had meant to.
The dark tom growled, taking a menacing step forward, fur fluffing up even more. “Must I remind you, you are on our territory. We ask questions, you answer them.”
“Nightwing,” an authoritative voice called out of the trees. A ThunderClan patrol emerged, Redstar at its head.
Nightwing and his cats’ fur bristled angrily, a warning growl rising in the back of the tortoiseshell she-cat’s throat. “More ThunderClan?” The tom snarled.
“I see you found our elder,” Redstar said. Nightwing paused when he heard her rank. Elders were hardly ever threatening. “She’s been missing since sunhigh and we were getting worried. Forgive us for crossing borders, we thought it best to follow her scent all the way.”
“I’m sorry, Redstar,” Mothnose whispered, intimidated by the anger hidden in his eyes. He shot her a silencing look, and she lowered her head in submission.
“She’s on ShadowClan territory, we want to know why.”
“An elder’s mistake,” Redstar growled, yellow eyes burning into her. Mothnose felt her ears heat up. She stared at her paws, humiliated. “We are sorry for the alarm she may have caused. We would like to take her home now.”
Nightwing gave him a calculating look, then dipped his head. “Of course. But I hope you understand when I say that my patrol and I will be escorting you as far as the border.”
“The right thing to do,” Redstar agreed. His tail flicked, gesturing for his cats to start heading back.
The ShadowClan cats made a half circle behind them and followed, watching carefully. They left them at the border, watching the ThunderClan patrol disappear into the trees. Mothnose’s tail was between her legs.
It wasn’t until they’d walked a little farther that Redstar rounded on the she-cat. “Do you understand now why this had to be done?” He murmured, voice threatening.
Mothnose shrank back. “Yes, Redstar,” she said quietly, not looking him in the eyes.
“Good. I don’t want any more trouble from you.”
Her clanmates gave her varied looks of pity and annoyance. Redstar didn’t say another word to her the whole way back to camp.
-
“Sometimes, changes happen. Especially when we don’t want them to. And sometimes, there’s nothing you can do to change it back. The best thing any cat can do is adapt, look for the silver lining. What’s your silver lining, Mothnose?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s your silver lining?”
The elder hesitated. This was always Mouseheart’s way of scolding - a lecture. And she wouldn’t let it go until the cat she was teaching participated. She thought hard. “M-my paws won’t be sore all the time?”
“Good, give me more.”
More?
“Uh,” Mothnose scrambled for something to say. “I don’t have to go on dawn patrol anymore. I can sleep in.”
“More.”
More?
“I get.. The best picks on the pile?”
Mouseheart’s eyes twinkled. “And nobody can tell you no.” She whispered in a purr. “Come on, let’s go eat some starling.”
Mothnose snorted, standing to follow her mother. “I have a feeling Redstar will say no after the commotion I caused.”
“Well, wish him luck getting passed me.”
Mothnose couldn’t help a little snicker. “In that case, I want a rabbit.”
“That’s the spirit!” Mouseheart laughed.
I guess she’s right, Mothnose thought to herself. This doesn’t have to be bad. All warriors end up here eventually. Now is my time. I must accept that.
The two exited the den side by side.
I lost all my motivation and ideas half way through the week, but here you go. I finished it. You miss all the shots you don't take, right?
This is for ᴛᴜᴇsᴅᴀʏ's challenges. 1,750 words.
