[ open ] -- MoonClan

{swanpaw and quietpaw}
;;; moonclan camp

It wasn’t that Swanpaw didn’t like his sister, no, they were siblings, enough said. He would always have her back, no matter how annoyed he got by her persistent presence even when he just wanted to be alone. But it was whatever. If she was going to act like a stick in the mud he would treat her like, well, she was just a stick in the mud. Again, he didn’t dislike her. He would fight a two-leg for her. She was just a bother, especially at times like this. So when Swanpaw saw Littlepaw approach, bubbly as always; a tiny, cheerful mass of calico fur, he couldn’t help but let out a low purr of relief. This was a molly he could talk to. 

“Hey Littlepaw! What’s up?” He greeted, flicking his tail in welcome. He let his face relax into a smile, all his previous irritation forgotten about with this new distraction. “We just went out to get some fresh air. It’s kind of smothering in camp right now, you know, with everything going on.” 

The she-cats second question started before he had even finished his statement. He admired her energy, even if it was a tad bit – well, off-putting. Swanpaw could match it, though, so he didn’t mind. There weren’t many she-cats in the clan who weren’t just plain boring. “We were just talking about that!” 

“My tail’s on Lynxclaw. He’s like, totally cool and smooth and level-headed. I could see him making a great leader.” 

Quietpaw, other than nodding her head to Littlepaw as the other apprentice approached, did her best to remain out of this conversation. Whenever Swanpaw was around someone else who was equally as excitable as him he became a bit over-bearing. This is to say that Quietpaw need not make an effort to enter the conversation, as Swanpaw would not let her get a word in edgewise.

“I would bet three mice that Duskwater chooses Lynxclaw over anyone else.” 

{morningshadow}
;;;moonclan camp
Feathertalon

There was something in the way that Maplelight talked. Morningshadow noticed it every time she spoke to the other she-cat; her eyes never aligned with her words. She was ubiquitously distant; a circling hawk, seeing clearly everything that could not see her. Morningshadow watched the way that Maplelight’s mouth moved as she spoke, gaze shifting between eyes and subtly concealed teeth. Green to white; two colors that symbolized virtue, but Morningshadow could never reconcile with Maplelight. The molly revered her clan-mate, there was no doubt it this, she was a phenomenal warrior. Yet, Morningshadow could never shake a feeling of apprehension; Maplelight was a beautiful, simmering terror.

She’s just another warrior, nothing more, Mornginshadow reassured herself, the anxious air in camp is just getting to you. 

The she-cat returned Maplelights greeting with a small smile, as genuine as she could muster. The camp still smelled of blood; metallic, acrid, smothering; even though none had been shed here. It was distracting. Morningshadow felt as if she could vomit. After Maplelight had made her first remark, shaken but yet – your eyes are still – still composed. Morningshadow felt a ripple of pity form in her gut for the other molly; she was not the only one suffering in the aftermath of the tragedy. “I know, that’s why I was ask-" Morningshadow tried to insert into Maplelights statement, but was cut off as the she-cat continued talking. She would not disrespect the she-cat enough to speak over her. 

“I assume it would fall on them, but until then it falls upon those suffering the least to maintain structure”, Morningshadow interjected after Maplelight spoke of the senior warriors. “Understandably many of them are quite shaken. They did know Yarrowstar for longer.” 

Yarrowstar is all we have known, but they knew him Morningshadow left that part quiet, knowing it was an unspoken understanding. Morningshadow had never been close to either leader or deputy; she didn’t believe Maplelight was either, given that they were near the same age. Morningshadow placed the time that the other she-cat had been born when she was near to becoming an apprentice. Or perhaps had just been apprenticed. 

(The fact of Morningshadows age flitted into her head for a moment, you’re old enough to have had kits by now, the voice said, you should have been a mother many times over, from the way you acted as an apprentice. Maybe that’s why Jayflight left you, you know. How can you fulfill your duties to the clan when you cannot even fulfill the duties of your sex.) 

“That’s what I was thinking”, Morningshadow responded. “Someone has to take charge while Duskwater is figuring out what StarClan wants. The longer we wait the more the clan will suffer.”

“Patrols bring back some stability, too”, Morningshadow added as an afterthought. “The clan could use that right now.” 

The she-cat lifted flicked a ear in thought before, once again, adding. “We can both lead one; I’ll take one up towards the moor, avoiding where the badgers were. You can head west.”