so. style swaps huh. it sucked because i couldnt use my poor old jitter brush for most of these but its ok...
inspos here
Shadestar - @hushclancats (i TRIED to use the pencil brush but alas. tumblr hates any quality in my art!!!)
Longfalcon - @ranchclan
Pipitpatch - @heavensgaze (her build is similar to mulberry so... couldnt pass it up could i)
Snowdawn - @missedclangen (i feel like she'd have SOME kind of mark so i just put the sinner one as its the only one ive seen depicted. unless im blind and havent seen lemon enough. also i made her look Too normal i fear)
Pumpkinwisp - @cutieclangen (rip my boy's contrast)
Massifmallow - @the-stars-and-the-tide
Spikekit - @crystalline-clangen (please alert me if any crystals actually look like that. im curious. also i drew her a little older and grouchier)
The sounds of battle were just as unpleasant as Massifmallow recalled.
Her body squeezed tight against the woven branches of the nursery wall, the small molly forced her fur flat, her breathing steady. When she had noticed JayClan scent too close to camp to be anything but an attack, she had sprinted inside, hissing at her kits to follow suit. Now, the three were all scrunched together; Wheatkit's pink eyes were large and round, Spikekit looking at the ground with an unreadable expression.
"It's gonna be okay," she whispered, her tail gently tapping both of her kits. "You're gonna be safe."
StarClan, how she wished her words were true. As long as this war was on, her family would not be safe.
Keeping herself as invisible as a pale grey pile of fluff could, Massifmallow inched towards the entrance. JayClan cats played dirty. If one were to race in and grab her kits, she would stop them. She could not -- no, WOULD not -- lose them like she lost Sapkit.
Squinting through the light, she could see the battle raging. She could see one cat - Shadestar, surely - trying to fend off two cats. Both apprentices judging by how she couldn't recognise them.
Massifmallow's whole world stilled as her eyes found a certain tom. His pale brown pelt glinted in the sunlight as he slammed Pumpkinwisp to the ground, his fangs sharp as he ripped a chunk of fur from her Clanmate's side, his eyes dark with the same overconfidence she recalled when he had called her his mate.
Her heart moved before her head, and by the stars did she run. Every little thing he had done dashed through her mind, and for a split second she saw the apprentice she knew from her first day in JayClan. His cheerful smile, his gentle welcome.
For a longer split second, she recognised the tom who had pinned her, all but forced her to claim she loved him. How effortlessly his claws raked across her face as she told him she didn't like toms, as he screamed about how their night together had to mean something. The tom she had ran from once she discovered that she was pregnant, to protect her kits.
To protect herself.
And, in that second moment, did Massifmallow realise what she needed to do.
Yowling, she slammed into Bushthorn's side, knocking him clean off of Pumpkinwisp. His eyes, the same shade as her Wheatkit's and yet not containing a slither of her boy's spirit, widened in shock as he attempted to roll from underneath her. She could feel his hind legs now, tearing at her belly; it burned, but her grip remained tight. "Fox-heart!" he hissed, reaching to claw her face like he had moons ago.
This time, Massifmallow was expecting his outburst and was quick to dodge his claws, twisting her head sideways. Before he could get another swipe in, Massifmallow raised her own paw. Bushthorn had always underestimated her; only proven further by how he remained defenseless as she slashed his throat, sinking her claws in as deeply as she could.
The camp fell silent, battle screeches fading into oblivion. Massifmallow felt eyes on her as she stood over Bushthorn, whose attempts to fight her off had ceased as her bloodied paw lifted from his throat. She looked up, trembling. Oh, StarClan.
"ENOUGH!" a sharp cry sounded out. Glancing over, Massifmallow could see Pollenstar, her golden fur drooping even as she puffed herself large. Her ears reflexively pinning, Massifmallow stepped back ever so slightly. Was that a new violet scar on her former leader's flank, or was she forgetting?
"Cats of JayClan!" Pollenstar yowled, audibly frail despite her strong stance. "This battle is lost, and we cannot risk anyone else losing lives. Retreat!"
As Pollenstar bounded off, the many other JayClan cats slowly filtered out after her. Massifmallow recognised most of them; Pheasantspeck, Treebound, even little Jacobpaw who surely had become a warrior by then. All Massifmallow could really think of was how grateful she was that none of her former clanmates were willing to attack her.
In fact, only one cat approached her at all. She knew him best of all; his dark brown pelt lit up by the red patch on his face. He was slim, his river-blue eyes just as round and childish as the day she left, albeit drooping with concern.
"Massif." he whispered, his voice low. "I'm so sorry. For everything."
Despite all the words she wanted to say to her once friend, her own apologies, her "its not your fault"s, her mouth felt too dry. "Go home, Flamenose," she choked. "Go home."
The tortoiseshell tom sighed defeatedly, nodding before dipping down to pick up Bushthorn's body. "Stay safe." And with that, he staggered back towards the entrance, the deputy's body in tow.
The adrenaline must've faded, as Massifmallow felt every last thought hit her. Relief, above all else, but panic, grief, joy, rage; a whole inferno of emotion roared under her skin. Even as cats of her own Clan surrounded her, as Longfalcon hurried her to the healer's den with panicked words, she could only think of the tom she'd killed, and how with his death came her freedom.
Spikepaw smiled as her Clanmates called her name, only if because she didn't want her mama to be worried. An apprentice ceremony, she'd heard, was a time of celebration and joy. The only thing to celebrate, in Spikepaw's opinion, was the fact that her mama would be mentoring her.
She caught a glimpse of Wheatpaw, his chest fluffed out in pride as he sat next to Pumpkinwisp, and she fought a scowl from her face. At least somebody's happy, she thought bitterly.
It was when the other cats dispersed that Spikepaw noticed her tailtip twitching, but she didn't care to shut down the involuntary movement. The ceremony was over, who'd care if she was upset now?
"Spikepaw, huh?"
The new apprentice pricked her head up to see her mother looking at her, her deep blue eyes containing a teasing spark amidst that warmth she knew from when it was just her and her brothers in the nursery, no scary world to think of. Stars, Massifmallow was the only cat keeping her going by this point.
"Sorry," Spikepaw muttered, stumbling to her paws. "Are we going out already?"
"Sure are! I was hoping to take you on a tour of the territory, so you know where our borders are. And," her mother's voice turned to a whisper as she inched closer, "we'd better do it while that oh-so-average brother of yours is out learning how to hunt with Pumpkinwisp!"
"Mama!" Spikepaw couldn't help but laugh. For all she agreed, it was strange to hear it from her mouth. "You can't say that!"
"Uh huh I can. If we don't go now, he'll hear us!" Massifmallow spun round, trotting off with a quiet laugh.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!"
--
It was strange, walking around the open forest again. Now that Spikepaw was large enough to step over roots rather than climb, the world felt strangely claustrophobic. Not as much as the camp, as the trees here stood straight, the only roof to speak of being barren twigs.
"Now, do you remember what Clans don't border us? I told you this one a few days ago!"
Spikepaw sighed, reciting their names as she had done before in the nursery. "Tunicate and Sidewinder?"
"Coooorrect! Those two are just north of FangClan's land. Now, which one's which?"
"Uhhh... I don't know. Oh, Sidewinder has no trees in their territory, right?"
"Yep, they share the meadows with us, FangClan and ChervilClan. TunicateClan has a pond in it. I'm impressed you still remember what SidewinderClan land is like, you know."
Spikepaw winced, remembering her litter's escapade a few moons prior. How they'd managed to travel two whole territories, she couldn't tell. "Uh, yeah." she muttered, eager to shut down that conversation. "What's ChervilClan like?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked!" Massifmallow chirped, gesturing in front of her with her paw. "This here is the ChervilClan border!"
Though the forest on either side looked near identical, the strong scent of presumably ChervilClan cats was strong enough for Spikepaw to know that that was their land.
It was too strong, and Spikepaw soon realised that she wasn't the only cat thinking so.
"HEY!"
Spikepaw all but jumped out of her pelt as her mother's yell tore through the air. She spun around to see Massifmallow bolting towards a tree, an unfamiliar cat awkwardly poking out from the branches. They looked like her mother, at a glance, but their fur was much sleeker, like Longfalcon's. Their pale grey pelt did them no justice against the dark brown tree they were scrunched against.
"YOUR TERRITORY'S JUST OVER THERE, COME ON NOW!" Massifmallow yowled, her fur bristling. Spikepaw hadn't noticed that her own fur was doing the same, but it seemed to help.
Spikepaw could hear the ChervilClan cat yell something back. She couldn't tell what they said, exactly, but as soon as they fell silent, she noticed how their ears were pinned and their eyes wide.
It was only when Spikepaw looked around did she notice the large black-brown flash thundering towards her, and only once she recognised the distinctly canine smell did its jaws wrap around her tail.
Spikepaw screeched in pain as she swung round at the dog, flailing wildly, trying to so much as scratch it in her panic. She could see her mother, out of the corner of her eye, but was so lost in her pain and confusion that she couldn't quite grasp what she was doing.
Everything flashed by in such a blur, it was as if that this was where the time that had crawled so slowly during her apprentice ceremony went. All she could register in the flurry of battle was her paws being violently pulled from the forest floor, the pain ripping through her body as she was slammed back down, and the eerie black that followed.
THANK YOU TO THE AMAZING @hope-clan-chronicles FOR COLLABING!!! they sketched the piece and drew the left half, while i finished the right half and edited our pieces together!
you should follow them NOW !!!!!! their comic is sooo good,,,
