Lazy-bones versus Soft-paws
A slice of life in ThunderClan a year after the Great Hunger, from the perspective of Speckleflight (Speckletail in canon), who was a kit during the Great Hunger. So much of her formative moons - kithood and apprenticeship were shaped by the Great Hunger and as a young warrior, having just lived through a normal leaf-bare, is beginning to see the clan recover - mostly. Except for a few cats.
In this AU, the ThunderClan family tree has been substantially overhauled. Here, Speckleflight and Tawnyspots are littermates and are the offspring of Mumblefoot and Fawnspots (Doestar’s sister), born shortly before the leafbare known to the clans as the Great Hunger. I always imagined the two of them looking similar and this way, it makes more sense to me, for Goldenflower to name her daughter Tawnykit - after her uncle, who was also Goldenflower’s mentor in this AU.
I’m also still trying to practice with Procreate (specifically with coloring and shading) and find my style. Time spent on the drawing is approximately 2 hours.
TW: Grief
Speckleflight lay stretched out in front of the warrior’s den, enjoying the warm of the newleaf sun on her fur. It’d been so long since she’d felt properly warm and she was so close to feeling bundled up in sunshine. Now, if we could just take Sunningrocks back from RiverClan. She flexed her claws, imagining sinking them into the thick-furred, oily pelt of a RiverClan warrior. She would send their warriors screeching from the gray, flat-topped stones, claiming them for herself - and ThunderClan, of course. Purring, she imagined stretching out on the stones.
“What’s got you so happy this dawn?”
Speckleflight rolled over and blinked happily up at Robinchest. The wiry brown and ginger queen stood over her, scraps of moss still clinging to her pelt. “Just enjoying the sunshine.” Her paws flexed, kneading the air happily. Stop that, Speckletail scolded herself. You’re not a kit anymore.
“It is a nice day,” Robinchest murmured, settling down next to the young warrior. With brusque strokes of her tongue, she began tidying her pelt. “Has Mumblefoot sent out any patrols yet?”
Speckleflight shook her head. “Not that I’ve seen.” Her father was sitting attentively next to Pinestar, listening as the ThunderClan leader spoke to him. “I think he’s letting the clan have a slow start today. The dawn patrol hasn’t come back yet. They’re a little late.”
Robinchest chuckled. “Fuzzypelt bet me some fresh moss that Weedwhisker asks to stop and hunt.”
“Did you take him up on it?” Speckleflight looked sidelong at the queen. She seemed happier, lighter today - like her constant grief was not weighing on her as much.
Robinchest flicked her tail as she shook her head. “No. We’re already on moss-duty today. He’s already getting fresh moss for his nest.”
“Seems a pointless bet,” Speckleflight purred. “Weedwhisker is always hungry. You know you’d lose.”
“Indeed.” A heartbeat later, the queen added, “I can’t wait until we get some apprentices. Then I won’t have to worry about gathering moss or helping the elders with their ticks.” She made a face with the last statement.
“You don’t even like taking care of your own. I’ve seen how you beg Fuzzypelt to get them off you,” Speckleflight teased.
Robinchest swiped at her half-heartedly, cuffing Speckleflight’s ear. “Don’t forget - I raised you.” Just like that, grief settled on the queen, as thick and heavy as the snow during the Great Hunger. There was a far-away look in the queen’s eyes. She was haunted by the ghosts of her lost kits. Her milk and her warmth had not been enough to save them. Speckleflight could hardly remember the three kits - two brown and one black. They’d been born tiny scraps of fur at the start of leafbare, when Speckleflight was just two moons old, and died two moons later, while Speckleflight and the rest of the clan struggled through the gray twilight haze of perpetual cold and hunger.
“I know,” Speckleflight mewed, deliberately keeping her tone light. She missed Fawnspots dearly. Too many of the clan had been lost to starvation. At least I still have Tawnyspots.
As though she’d called for him, Tawnyspots slipped out of the warrior’s den. He glanced at Robinchest and tilted his head to the side, in a question. His green eyes were shadowed with concern. Speckleflight shook her head, rising to her paws to greet him. “How’d you sleep, lazy-bones?”
“Well enough,” he meowed. “I didn’t have to go on the dawn patrol.”
“That’s just as well,” Speckleflight chirped. “They’d hear your sleep-heavy paws coming from tree-lengths away.”
“Oh - you’re one to talk.” A mischievous glint appeared in Tawnyspots’s gaze. “Every cat in the forest knows when you’ve stepped on a bramble, soft-paws.”
“Take that back!” Speckleflight ordered, a growl in her throat.
Tawnyspots danced away, his tail flicking in an invitation for her to come and get him. His ears tipped back and he crouched down. “Make me.”
Speckleflight leaped for him, paws outstretched. The two young warriors collided in a tangle of fur and paws, rolling head over tail as they grappled. “I was having a fine morning until you decided to stick your nose in it,” she puffed.
His hind paws battered at her stomach and he kicked her off, sweeping her forepaws out from underneath her in the same move. She crashed to the ground and he was on top of her, pinning her. “How about you take back your lazy-bones comment?” he meowed, thrusting his muzzle in her face.
Her gaze flickered to Robinchest and so did his. The queen was still looking lost, not paying any attention to their mock-fight. Tawnyspots exhaled slowly. “Sometimes it feels like she’s not ever going to get any better.”
“It will take time,” Speckleflight assured him, playfully kicking at his stomach. “Now, come on. Do you really think you can best me in a fight?”
“Seems I already have. I’m not the one on the ground.”
“Not like this!”
She drew her legs back and kicked his hind legs out from underneath him. Tawnyspots crashed down on her - driving the breath out of both of them. Gripping his shoulders with her paws, claws unsheathed just enough to hold onto his fur, she rolled them over, so that he was underneath her now. He twisted, trying to repeat the same move that had allowed him to pin her initially. She reared back, dodging, before diving down on top of him. He stopped her with a paw pressed against her brow, over paw poised to strike.
“That’s enough!” As quickly as the fight began, it was over. Speckleflight scrambled away from her brother, blinking innocently at Mumblefoot, who had finished his conversation with Pinestar. The dark brown tabby padded across the camp, his yellow eyes narrowed. “You’re warriors now. I expect you to act like one.”
“Sorry,” Speckleflight muttered, hoping her father did not call her out on her insincere tone. Tawnyspots said nothing.
“Now, I was going to have you lead your own patrol today, but-“
At this, Tawnyspots’s ears flicked forward. The young tom squared his shoulders, a quiet “No” escaping him, interrupting Mumblefoot.
“Excuse me?” Mumblefoot grumbled.
“Sorry, sir. I was just surprised that you were considering us for patrol leaders.”
“I was - but it seems that neither of you are mature enough to be leading one.”
“Oh - leave them be. I’ll lead whatever patrol you wanted Speckleflight to be in charge of. And she can come with me.”
Only Seedspeck. The mottled gray she-cat was Mumblefoot’s former apprentice and to Speckleflight, it seemed that nothing could scare the warrior. If I could be like her. She turned to look at the other warrior. Seedspeck’s green gaze was steady as she met Mumblefoot’s yellow one.
“Fine,” Mumblefoot grumbled, but his words were soft. “Take Speckleflight, White-eye, and Sunfall. I’ll leave it up to you to decide where to hunt.” As the deputy turned away, he continued, “because apparently no cat will listen to anything I say.”
“Only those who aren’t afraid of you,” Seedspeck meowed sharply. “You should quit terrorizing your children.”
Mumblefoot flicked his tail contemptuously.
I really want to be like you now, Speckleflight thought, staring at Seedspeck. She tipped her head towards her brother and murmured in his ear, “Will you stay with Robinchest?”
“Of course,” Tawnyspots promised. “I’ll see if I can get her to go hunting. Or for a walk. Just something to get her out of camp.”
“Maybe Goosefeather will have something for her,” Speckleflight meowed.
Tawnyspots shrugged. There was no love lost between him and the strange medicine cat. “I don’t think herbs will help.”
“Herbs won’t,” Seedspeck murmured, joining their conversation. “Just time and weather and new, good memories will help.”
“She’s supposed to go gather moss with Fuzzypelt today,” Speckleflight added, suddenly remembering what the queen had mentioned earlier. “Maybe you could take her, Fuzzypelt, and another cat on a patrol to gather some moss? Sparrowfur or Moonflower?”
“I’ll do that. Just be careful that Mumblefoot doesn’t hear you. He might think you’re wanting his job,” Tawnyspots purred, turning away to slip into the warrior’s den. “I’ll send White-eye and Sunfall out to you.”
“Tell them we’ll be waiting in the ravine,” Seedspeck called, padding away.
With a glance at Robinchest, Speckleflight followed. Her ears and tail drooped as she thought about the sorrowful queen.
“You can’t help her - not any more than you already are.” Seedspeck paused before the bramble barrier, her gaze lingering on Robinchest as well. “Caring for you and Tawnyspots is why she’s still here today. I’m glad you’ve never forgotten about her.”
“She’s like our mom,” Speckleflight explained, ducking through the thorns. “I spent more of my kithood with her than with Fawnspots.”
“I know.” Seedspeck stretched, hooking her claws over the top of one of the many boulders scattered along the ravine. Her back arched and the she-cat purred. “But don’t spend too much time worrying about her. Or dwelling on the… on the last leaf-bare. It’s a nice new-leaf day, and I, for one, want to enjoy the sunshine.”
“Maybe we could hunt by Sunningrocks?” Speckleflight suggested, hoping the older warrior would at least consider her suggestion.
“Sure!” Seedspeck nodded. “This way, we can scout out the best sunning spots before ThunderClan retakes Sunningrocks.”
Surprised, Speckleflight broke into a purr. She wasn’t the only cat dreaming of warmth.
Cats featured, in order of appearance/mention:
Speckleflight (Speckletail) - golden spotted-tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Robinchest (Robinwing) - light brown she-cat with ginger patches and amber eyes
Mumblefoot - long-furred dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes
Pinestar - large, dark reddish-brown tom with green eyes
Fuzzypelt - long-furred black and white tom with green eyes
Weedwhisker - pale ginger tom with white fleck and yellow eyes
Tawnyspots - broad shouldered brown tom with lighter, tawny spots and green eyes
Seedspeck (Seedpelt) - mottled gray she-cat with darker flecks and green eyes
White-eye (One-eye) - very pale gray and white she-cat with one blue eye and one cloudy, blind white eye
Sunfall - slender dark ginger tom with a lighter ginger tail and green eyes
Goosefeather - long-furred pale gray tabby tom with blue eyes
Sparrowfur (Halftail)- dark brown tabby tom with a stump of a tail and amber eyes
Moonflower - silver-gray tabby she-cat with dark stripes and very pale yellow eyes
Fawnspots (Deerdapple) - pale ginger spotted tabby she-cat with green eyes