#hootwhisker

[quiverpaw]

[darkforest-trainee]

Hootwhisker

[kudossi]

wind, terra firma, and unparted sea

A lone ThunderClan cat sat primly by the stream, gray pelt fluffed against the—oh, StarClan, not again. It was Dovepaw, her dark face pointed neatly in the direction of Hollyleaf’s patrol. 

“Is that Dovepaw?” Swallowtail questioned rhetorically. Hollyleaf didn’t even bother to groan, instead waving her tail to dismiss her patrol temporarily to hunting. 

Hootwhisker narrowed his eyes at her, pelt bristling. “Again, Hollyleaf?” he asked, disgust plain in his voice. “Anyone would think you’re making some sort of plot with your ThunderClan relatives.”

“Just go,” Hollyleaf sighed, feeling exhaustion creep into her bones. “Dovepaw’s a little obsessive, but she’s not dangerous.”

“If you say so, patrol leader,” intoned Leaftail, sarcasm threaded into his words like grasses into the nursery. He swept away, making sure to bump into Hollyleaf as he went.

“Yeah,” said Hootwhisker, eyes still narrowed. “If you say so.”

Hollyleaf gritted her teeth, planted her paws for Hootwhisker’s overly-aggressive nudge, and turned determinedly away, loping down the hill with an angry kind of grace. “What are you doing here?” Hollyleaf asked the wind, knowing despite their distance that Dovepaw could hear her perfectly well. “Again?”

Dovepaw opened her mouth as soon as she seemed sure Hollyleaf could hear her, bounding over the stepping-stones until she was sitting square in WindClan’s scent markers. The black she-cat was sure that the smell of the markings was overwhelming to her, but didn’t comment. She surely wasn’t going to the ThunderClan side of the stream, and the annoying furball deserved all of the sensory overload she got in another Clan’s territory. “Hollyleaf! I’ve been waiting ages!”

“Anyone would think you’re defecting,” Hollyleaf mewed caustically. “Or spying for WindClan. Or trying to get me to spy for ThunderClan.”

“You know me better than that,” Dovepaw said, seemingly offended.

“And whose fault is that?” Hollyleaf shot back. “I’m a WindClan cat. I have been since you were a kit. What do you think they think, seeing me here talking to you? Do they think I’m loyal, Dovepaw? Do they?”

“Oh,” Dovepaw mewed, voice wavering. “I’m really sorry, Hollyleaf, I am, but — I just need your advice about the prophecy. You’ve got to help me, please. Jayfeather just scowls, and Lionblaze is dragging his tail in the mud again, mooning after Cinderheart, and I can’t do this alone, I jus—”

“You need to understand something,” Hollyleaf interrupted, feeling her hackles rise along her back. “I am not part of the prophecy. I am not your mentor or your confidante. I’m not even your Clanmate. I spent half my life chasing that fool's errand, and I refuse to spend any more time trying to save ThunderClan when StarClan has decreed that to be your job.”

“I never asked for it!” Dovepaw protested, claws curling in the soft streambank mud.

“Then what makes you think that I did?” Hollyleaf’s meow had lost her previous vitriol; she could taste the bitterness in her mouth, sharp as Ashfur’s blood. She’d wanted to be important, but it had turned out that she never had been. Not to ThunderClan, not to WindClan, not to anyone. She could feel the weight in her chest, pressing dangerously down until she could barely feel the earth beneath her. Dovepaw was speaking, but Hollyleaf couldn’t hear her; all she could hear was blood rushing through her ears, drowning everything else out. “You need to go.”

“Go? But Hollyleaf, we’re family—”

Despite herself, a pang shot through Hollyleaf’s chest. Dovepaw was so young, so alone. What would have happened, if WindClan hadn’t made their claim? Could they have been as close as sisters, sharing everything? Could the prophecy have been for Hollyleaf, too, or had she ruined it before Dovepaw’s birth, when she’d clamped her teeth around Ashfur’s throat, feeling the life drain out of him? Had she been born special at all, or was she the leftover, the one to be scrapped and sold? “Go,” she said, harsher now. “Or I’ll make you.”

Dovepaw backed away, head lowered. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry.” And then she ran, disappearing into the cover of ThunderClan’s trees, the wide oaks sheltering her from the breeze of the moor and from Hollyleaf’s eyes, staring after her with something like regret.

Not my Gathering, Hollyleaf thought to herself desperately, digging her claws ever deeper into the muddy streambank, not my mouse-brains. But still, part of her wanted to chase Dovepaw into the treeline, wanted to sit her down and talk until the sun set, wanted to go back with her to ThunderClan camp, to the dappled shade and high stone walls—

But she couldn’t. There was no sense in dreaming — there was no going back, only going forward with what she had. With a sigh, Hollyleaf heaved herself to her paws, staring helplessly into the forest. Oh, Dovepaw. I’m so sorry. This weight shouldn’t be yours to bear.

[daily-whistlebreeze]

daily whistlebreeze until fae becomes PoV whisversary part 24

once a year, when the rivers thaw and the leaves start growing back, WindClan and RiverClan come together to celebrate the change of seasons and announce the new year. This is a special occasion for both clans to recuperate and share a joyous moment after all the challenges of leafbare

---

anyways, HAPPY WHISVERSARY EVERYONE!!!!!!!

This whole enterprise has been going on for five whole years now. I myself still cannot believe I've been at it for so long. Whis is my child and fae's growing up now (I'm not crying at all). I've said this a million times, but Daily Whistlebreeze has been with me through some rough times and I genuinely cannot see myself stop drawing every day. I love this blog, I love this silly blue cat, I love everything I've built around this

and I especially love you all! Daily Whis might be my weird pet project, but I wouldn't have had the motivation to draw every day for five entire years if it wasn't for all of you interacting with this blog, leaving kind comments or enjoying what I made all those years. Drawing alone all that time would have been a very different experience and I am so eternally grateful for all of you who have been here enjoying the whisses alongside me.

and obviously, a special thank you to @owlblaze @marshmallow-icing-swirl @moth-to-a-moon @shimougy @battle-kitties @trombonerballs @morsobaby @owlfangdraws @booksofstars and @transhetanybodys for graciously helping make this whisversary a reality. I love all of the art you made for this year's celebration and will reblog them on my main with commentary/compliments, so go check that out once I've written all of them (Which I Will).

Next year is going to bring a lot of new things too. Between whatever canon throws our way and my strict refusal to follow it anymore, you will see many new faces and a repaired canon. I promise to one day make a masterpost with link to my lore doc to keep it all easier to track, but what I can say is that the WindClan family tree is coming along pretty well and could in all likelihood be finished by end February and that is only the beginning!

So come along for a whole new year of Whistlebreezes, it's going to be fun!

alt art:

[diaswarriorcats]

[doyoulikethiswarriorcat]

might i request the humble hootwhisker

Do you like Hootwhisker?

Yes

No

Neutral

Mixed/it's complicated

I don't know this character

Voting ended onApr 6

Reblog for larger sample size!

[a-crocus]

Hootwhisker

[wandertail]