#morningwrites

[morningmask27]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

did a writing.

River character study because I am obsessed with her

[morningmask27]

Have you had any writing ideas lately that you'd like to talk about?

it's a bit of a challenging time to be creative right now, as I have exams coming up to murderize me soon (I'll be at it for the entirety of June, what a wonderful life)

buuuuuuuuuut that never keeps me from being creative, I just can't justify doing it a lot lol

but yeah, I've been tooling around with a few things here and there; one of them a little drabble I wrote one night that I'll add under the cut

aside from that it's mostly me having some ideas and the desire to do them, but university really isn't forgiving, so I can't really spare that many hours to write something anymore. now I do see myself maybe writing a drabble or two a bit later in June if I find a moment, but writing is just a bit too much commitment for me to casually do during exams

She entered her cave silently. It was empty aside from her; she would know if someone else was in there. Stone Claws rarely ever dare to follow her all the way in, which made her feel somewhat more safe at least. She laid down in the back and looked at the scars on her flanks. 

She and the Stone Claws had had many fights in the past and that she was still alive was barely short of a miracle. Each line marring her body was there because she survived. Often it did mean a Stone Claw or two died, or even a few of their followers; those small stubborn cowards. Show your teeth and they turn around with their tails between their legs. She huffed, it hurt. Last time she encountered Stone Claws they got a bad hit on her neck. It was healing nicely, but could sting at sharp movements or actions. 

Droplets dripped down the teeth of the cave, forming small pools on the floor. She felt tired all of a sudden, just tired. It had been many winters since she had joined this world, so it wasn’t unusual. 

Many winters indeed; many winters since her mom took care of her and her siblings. Back then she rarely had some alone time. She and her siblings got in many troubles and the elders often scolded them for their latest ingenious stunt, but she would never regret it. Not any of it. 

She had wished to enjoy this life too, of complaining about the frolicking youngsters, but she was alone. She prefers her alone time, but it had been so long since she had seen a young one, since she had seen anyone at all. It must have been a season or two at least, and they were always scared or wounded. Stone Claws on their traces. 

One of her old friends she did save by ambushing the lone Stone Claw on the hunt; a little overzealous youngster, just like she had been, but she had survived and they had not. Was it luck? Was it just how life works? Did they have that small bit of too much audacity that led them to their death? She would never know. Stone Claws are mysterious creatures to her, just like she must be to them. She and the rest of her kin. 

But since that last wounded friend of hers she hadn’t seen anyone anymore. It began becoming more and more worrying, but she had always wanted to keep that for the smarter members of her family; she wasn’t the type to worry, she’d rather live life and see what comes. 

The tiredness was taking more of a toll on her. She wondered if it’d be a good idea to take a nap now. Stone Claws like hunting during the day, but this cave should still be safe enough and she was hidden in the back of the cave. Stone Claws, with their miserable sense of smell, would probably not even sense her in there. 

She laid her head down and closed her eyes. The dripping of the droplets sounded louder until they could be mistaken for steps. Small steps of a young one. Had any of her kin been hiding in this cave the whole time? Why didn’t they join her earlier then? 

She tried to raise her head, but it felt too heavy. She couldn’t even open her eyes anymore, but she did feel a little shape pressing against her. It felt odd, but oddly comforting at the same time. She wanted to see the little shape, but it was all dark and heavy. All of it except the little one next to her, purring happily at the warmth she shared with them. She enjoyed the source of joy, letting it doze her off little by little until she felt her body fully fall into a deep slumber. 

The darkness disappeared all of a sudden. She felt lighter and freer. More than she had been in a while. She lifted her head and turned to see the small cub nestled at her flank. It smiled at her with the same starry smile she remembers so fondly. 

“Hi sis! You ready to play?” they asked, leaping up ready for their next exploit. Their tail swished in the air playfully and curved in that way that was so undeniably them. She smoothly stood up, leaving the dead weight she carried behind and followed her sibling out of the cave. She would probably not have a lot of alone time anymore now. 

[morningmask27]

reminiscence

I kinda wrote a little thing, not connected to anything I've done before.

It's a bit of a challenge for me to just write short stories that are not going to devolve into Massive Projects, so this is kinda just a story existing on its own and I hope you'll like it.

She entered her cave silently. It was empty aside from her; she would know if someone else was in there. Stone Claws rarely ever dare to follow her all the way in, which made her feel somewhat more safe at least. She laid down in the back and looked at the scars on her flanks. She and the Stone Claws had had many fights in the past and that she was still alive was barely short of a miracle. Each line marring her body was there because she survived. Often it did mean a Stone Claw or two died, or even a few of their followers; those small stubborn cowards. Show your teeth and they turn around with their tails between their legs. She huffed, it hurt. Last time she encountered Stone Claws they got a bad hit on her neck. It was healing nicely, but could sting at sharp movements or actions. Droplets dripped down the teeth of the cave, forming small pools on the floor. She felt tired all of a sudden, just tired. It had been many winters since she had joined this world, so it wasn’t unusual. Many winters indeed; many winters since her mom took care of her and her siblings. Back then she rarely had some alone time. She and her siblings got in many troubles and the elders often scolded them for their latest ingenious stunt, but she would never regret it. Not any of it. She had wished to enjoy this life too, of complaining about the frolicking youngsters, but she was alone. She prefers her alone time, but it had been so long since she had seen a young one, since she had seen anyone at all. It must have been a season or two at least, and they were always scared or wounded. Stone Claws on their traces. One of her old friends she did save by ambushing the lone Stone Claw on the hunt; a little overzealous youngster, just like she had been, but she had survived and they had not. Was it luck? Was it just how life works? Did they have that small bit of too much audacity that led them to their death? She would never know. Stone Claws are mysterious creatures to her, just like she must be to them. She and the rest of her kin. But since that last wounded friend of hers she hadn’t seen anyone anymore. It began becoming more and more worrying, but she had always wanted to keep that for the smarter members of her family; she wasn’t the type to worry, she’d rather live life and see what comes. The tiredness was taking more of a toll on her. She wondered if it’d be a good idea to take a nap now. Stone Claws like hunting during the day, but this cave should still be safe enough and she was hidden in the back of the cave. Stone Claws, with their miserable sense of smell, would probably not even sense her in there. She laid her head down and closed her eyes. The dripping of the droplets sounded louder until they could be mistaken for steps. Small steps of a young one. Had any of her kin been hiding in this cave the whole time? Why didn’t they join her earlier then? She tried to raise her head, but it felt too heavy. She couldn’t even open her eyes anymore, but she did feel a little shape pressing against her. It felt odd, but oddly comforting at the same time. She wanted to see the little shape, but it was all dark and heavy. All of it except the little one next to her, purring happily at the warmth she shared with them. She enjoyed the source of joy, letting it doze her off little by little until she felt her body fully fall into a deep slumber. The darkness disappeared all of a sudden. She felt lighter and freer. More than she had been in a while. She lifted her head and turned to see the small cub nestled at her flank. It smiled at her with the same starry smile she remembers so fondly. “Hi sis! You ready to play?” they asked, leaping up ready for their next exploit. Their tail swished in the air playfully and curved in that way that was so undeniably them. She smoothly stood up, leaving the dead weight she carried behind and followed her sibling out of the cave. She would probably not have a lot of alone time anymore now.

[morningmask27]

did a quick little thing for rda. it’s not even 500 words, but I realized I nearly only had angst in the things I wrote, so here’s a short fun thing about shenanigans during a ThunderClan border patrol

Sorreltail followed Brightheart as Thornclaw led the dans patrol through the undergrowth. She yawned and stretched her muscles before hearing a faint rustle coming from the bushes behind her. Brightheart had seemingly heard it too as she slowed her pace. 

The rustling grew louder and louder until a squirrel rushed from under one of the bushes. Sorreltail flinched slightly, but quickly came back to her senses as Mousepaw erupted out of the bushes, covered in leaves and with a wild look in his eyes. 

"Don't let it escape!" He yelled. 

Sorreltail was too far away from the squirrel to chase it, but Brightheart tried to bat it with her paw. The squirrel dodged her and kept running on a forest path, coincidentally the same one that Thornclaw was on. 

“Thornclaw, the squirrel!” Mousepaw ran faster than a WindClan cat past both Sorreltail and Brightheart, scattering leaves everywhere. The squirrel had already reached Thornclaw when he heard Mousepaw. He turned his head, only to be met with the squirrel using his head as a platform to reach a branch higher up. 

That jump pushed Thornclaw to the ground but Mousepaw finished him by colliding with the brown tabby in a wild mess of fur and paws. Brightheart ran over and helped Mousepaw up. He actually didn’t need help as he jumped up immediately, seemingly unharmed.

‘Sorry Thornclaw. Sorry sorry sorry sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen!” He explained, jumping up and down as he looked at Thornclaw, who was still laying dazed on the dirt. Sorreltail finally reached the three cats and let out a mrowr of amusement when she saw that Thornclaw wasn’t harmed either. 

“Never do something like this,” was the only thing Thornclaw could mutter. “And don’t tell anyone what happened, ever.” He tentatively stood up and saw that he could move without issues. 

Mousepaw had finished jumping and looked up to the trees. His tail was wildly moving from side to side. 

“You’re not thinking of catching that squirrel again?” Brightheart asked, barely hiding her amusement. 

“but it looked like such a good piece of prey, and I need to avenge Thornclaw for how the squirrel used him to-”

“Don”t you finish that phrase unless you want to clean all the bedding in camp for a moon,” Thornclaw hissed. 

Mousepaw immediately closed his mouth and nodded. 

“What do you think about continuing this patrol?” Sorreltail suggested before Mousepaw could say something that would irritate Thornclaw again. 

Thornclaw nodded and shook the dust out of his fur. “Yes, let’s go,” he said, “WindClan will use any weakness we show them to their advantage. We can’t let that happen.” He already walked off, leaving Brightheart, Sorreltail and Mousepaw to follow after him. Mousepaw cast one last glance towards where the squirrel escaped. 

“One day I’ll catch a squirrel, one day!”

[morningmask27]

yet another rda drabble. a little less than 1000 words i wrote last night and then edited just now. 

featuring Softrain and Shadewave, two ShadowClan cats with a very complicated relationship (also they are cousins so no shipping please)

Softrain uses she/her, Shadewave uses wa/wave/waves/waveself (and they/them while we still don’t know who wa is)

Softrain padded silently through the forest. It had been moons since Ratscar -now Ratstar she thought angrily- had taken over ShadowClan and she had left. She could’ve stayed, but that would’ve hurt her too much, especially because of-

A twig snaps, snapping Softrain out of her thoughts. She tensed her muscles and concentrated to identify any scents. ShadowClan it seemed, and a very particular one at that. Softrain froze, but quickly regained her senses and tried to run away before a black and white figure emerged and hurried to her. 

“Softrain, wait, please,” they begged. Softrain didn’t listen and kept running away. The black and white cat ran after her and blocked her way. “Softrain, will you please listen to me, I need to talk to you.”

“It’s a little too late for that now. Leave me alone.” She tried to push her way past them, but they didn’t let her leave. 

“As if i didn’t know it’s too late, that I did that, i know it, but I need your help Soft. Please listen to me.”

“Don’t you ever call me ‘Soft’ again. You lost that privilege when you betrayed Shadowclan,” she hissed. It hurt her to have to act like that, but after what had happened, she couldn’t do anything else. 

The black and white cat widened their eyes in shock and opened their mouth to say something, but Softrain walked away. They panicked and sprang on her, pinning her to the ground, “I know you hate me after what happened, but -”

“I hate you? You betrayed me and ShadowClan by siding with the dark forest and assisting in the murder of Quietstar and quins littermates. You killed them, you killed them,” Softrain began crying, “you lied to everyone and killed your own clanmates to let Ratscar, of all cats, become leader. You and I both know very well what I had to endure because of him, yet you still sided with him.” Softrain couldn’t speak anymore. She trembled and gasped for air. The black and white cat let her free and took a step back, unsure of what to do. “And now you come to me, begging for me to listen to you. Why do you think I would listen to you, Shadewave?” Softrain had mostly stopped crying and glared at Shadewave, “why do you believe that I’d still want to listen to you after what happened last time we spoke.” 

Shadewave flinched and took another step back. Wa lowered waves head, “I didn’t know Cedarheart had followed me,” wa quickly stammered, “I didn’t know he would do that.” wa looked sheepishly at the ground.

“He nearly killed me and you didn’t do anything to stop it,” Softrain retorted. Shadewave opened waves mouth to answer, but Softrain continued: “I fainted and when I woke up you were both gone. I had to drag myself to somewhere safe, while still bleeding to avoid dying. Only the arrival of a RiverClan patrol saved me from a certain death. And even then I had to beg RiverClan to not let anyone, and especially not ShadowClan, know that I was with them, or even just alive.” Softrain shredded the grass under her paws with her claws. 

“Soft -rain, I know I-, I did things that are unforgivable, and I understand if you never forgive me, but I need your help to save ShadowClan. I’m planning a coup to overthrow Ratstar and become leader-”

“You, leader? Why would anyone want you to be leader?” Softrain scoffed. 

“Well Cedarheart died and I’m deputy now,” wa answered, “and if I can take down Ratstar I could at least do one good thing for ShadowClan. I know I don’t deserve the role of leader, but at least I can try to mend the damage I caused by getting rid of Ratstar.” Wa approached Softrain warily, “I thought that you’d want to help me get rid of him. That’s why I came here. I want you-, no, I need you to help me kill Ratstar and save ShadowClan.” wa looked at her with huge, pleading eyes. 

Softrain felt a part of her desperately willing to listen to Shadewave, to just be with wave again, but she couldn’t just forget what happened. “Why would I even want to help ShadowClan? Everyone there happily followed traitors and murderers. They don’t deserve to be saved from the cat they so happily obey.” she lashed her tail and tried to keep her composure.

“They don’t know what really happened,” Shadewave pleaded, “for them Quietstar and quins littermates were out on patrol and got attacked by some rogues or something. A terrible accident, but nothing more,” wa looked away in shame. 

“So why don’t you tell them?” Softrain asked. 

“I’m planning on doing it, but I need to be ready to fight Ratstar and his allies when the truth is revealed. If I announce what Ratstar - and I - did, I will be attacked.” wa looked at Softrain again, intense feelings clouding waves eyes, “so I hoped you would help me. A naive hope I know, but deep in my heart I still long for our friendship, for our bond from before everything happened. Please I beg you, Soft, help me one last time and then I’ll leave you alone forever if that’s what you want.” 

Softrain felt a pang in her heart. She didn’t know if she could trust Shadewave again after everything, but she really wanted to. “I’ll think about it, Shade, I’ll think about it,” she sighed. 

Wa nodded and a timid smile appeared on waves face. Wa turned around to leave, but cast one last glance, filled with love at Softrain. “Thank you, Soft. I’ll wait for your answer,” and walked away. Softrain let out one last sigh and sat down.

[morningmask27]

little random drabble (600 ish words) that has quite some spoilers for rda, but i needed to write the scene

as always typos galore, i don’t beta read and i don’t care. (it’s clunky from time to time, sometimes it’s deliberate, someties it isn’t)

holly uses she/he/they

Ferncloud enjoyed the sound of the leaves rustling above her head. It had been a quarter moon since her kits were born and this was the first time she went outside camp since then. Daisy and Sweetblossom had agreed to stay with them until Ferncloud came back. She suddenly heard a faint sob somewhere. She perked her ears to know where the sound came from and discovered Hollyleaf huddled in a clump of bushes, hidden away and crying. Ferncloud hurried to Hollyleaf’s side. 

“Holly what is happening, why are you crying sweetheart?” she pressed her paw to Hollyleaf’s face and lifted it. Hollyleaf’s eyes were filled with tears that hadn’t yet streamed down. He perked up and quickly looked away. 

“Nothing, everything is fine, Ferncloud.” they stumbled through their words, refusing to look at Ferncloud. 

“Holly, you never call me Ferncloud, something is clearly going on and I want to help you.” She looked at her basically daughter with pleading eyes. 

Multiple heartbeats passed in near silence. The leaves kept rustling slowly, only Hollyleaf’s sobbing broke it from time to time, until they took a deep breath and asked softly; “Do you ever miss Ashfur?” he still didn’t look at her, but his eyes were filled with conflicting emotions.

Ferncloud felt her feelings coming back and shook her head. “I loved him as a brother for very long, but,” she sighed, “you know how he treated Lionblaze. I confronted him about it, but he refused to change his ways. He had become so reclusive, and mean. I tried to talk to him multiple times afterwards, but he pushed me away every single time. I felt myself losing my affection for him as he did it. and when he died i couldn’t even force myself to feel bad about it. He had gone too far for me to still care about him.” She looked at Hollyleaf, “So no, I don’t really miss Ashfur.” 

Hollyleaf took some shaking breaths, and broke down crying again. Ferncloud hurried to her side and hugged her. He was trembling vehemently, but started calming down again. “I-” she sobbed, “I killed him.” he pressed her head in ferncloud’s fur again and sobbed. “He threatened to tell the secret to everyone after Hawkfrost nearly killed us and I killed him. I’m so sorry I did it.” He started crying harder again, “I didn’t want him to share the secret and that was the only way I knew to keep him silent, I’m so sorry.” 

Ferncloud stared in shock at Hollyleaf for a few heartbeats before composing herself again. She pressed her nose to Hollyleaf’s head. “Holly, I may not know what happened exactly, but i- eh. It seemed like he was going to hurt you in one way or another. I wouldn’t have stopped him this way, but I… cannot blame you. Ashfur wasn’t going to stop on his own,” she sighed, “Holly I’m not angry at you. You don’t need to apologize to me.” 

“b- but-” 

“no, Holly, I'm serious,” She nuzzled their head, “he was going to hurt you, you did what you thought was the best way to stop him.” She stood up. “Now let’s return to camp before anyone gets worried about our absence.” She cast a smile on Hollyleaf and turned towards camp. They didn’t move

“You’re not going to tell anyone what I did?” Holly looked at her with their round, watery eyes. 

“No, it wouldn’t do any good for anyone for me to tell this to anyone else. I won’t say a word about our talk here, I promise.” 

Hollyleaf smiled softly and stood up. the two cats returned to camp in silence and with lighter hearts than before.

[morningmask27]

teeny writing thingy i did because brainrot do be existing. 

willowpaw(she/paw) and mallowtail(she/ae) (i used their neos more)

500 words exactly, cw for sickness (greencough) and death. 

this has been written is some hours (i started yesterday morning, then went away from it for a while and finished it quickly now) so don’t mind the errors that are definitely in this thingy

Willowpaw sighed. paw touched Mallowtail’s head with paws nose. The fever was still strong. Paw sat down and looked at her mentor. Aers eyes were shut tight and ae was trembling. Then ae didn’t move anymore. Willowpaw sat still and looked at her mentor. 

“No, this can’t be it, ae cannot die. I don’t want aer to die I need her, I want aer here. Please StarClan don’t take aer away from me.” Paw looked at the stars, cold and emotionless tears in paws eyes. Mallowtail shook in aer sleep, let out a weak raspy cough. Willowpaw snapped back. Paw took a bit of catmint and pressed the juice in aers mouth. Ae calmed down and kept sleeping. 

Willowpaw sat down again and kept looking at aer. Her scarred brown flank barely rose when ae breathed. Time passed, Willowpaw didn’t move. The only things paw could hear were the rustling of the reeds when the soft breeze made them move and her sick mentor’s weak, raspy breath. Her flank moved up and down, up and down, slowly, very slowly. Willowpaw forced pawself to not move, to not make a sound. Paw didn’t want to wake up her mentor and kept looking at paws mentor, fear tugging at paws belly.

The moon, who once rose high into the sky was setting now. Faint beams of light entered the den and lit Mallowtail’s fur pale white, the color of the stars high up above. Willowpaw froze in fear. Ae looked just like one of the ancestors ae swore to serve. Paw took a step towards the catmint, hoping to cure her greencough. 

“W- Willowpaw?” Willowpaw froze and looked at aer. Malowtail’s green eyes were open. The little star inside them seemed to have taken over aers entire eyes. Ae lift aers head and smiled. A weak, soft smile. “That cough,” she coughed, “is nothing to sneeze at. Don’t worry about me Little Willow, I’ll be fine” Ae coughed again and pressed aers paw against paws cheek. Ae smiled, her eyes became paler as the moon kept shining more light in the den. Ae touched aers nose to paws and let aers head fall on the moss again. Ae breathed with difficulty and aers pupils widened. A smile appeared on aers face again, while a coughing fit took ae over. 

“Will- Willow, sorry I can’t stay with you. I will never leave you, even in the stars I will keep guiding you I promise.” Ae shuddered and laid still in the moss nest. Willowpaw touched aers flank with paws nose and felt aers last breath before falling completely still. 

Paw let out a desperate wail and curled pawself around the dead body of paws mentor. “Mallowtail no. No, no no no no, you can’t be dead no,” paw looked up at the stars, “why did you have to take her,” paw cried and pressed paws head against aers flank. There, paw laid until the sun started rising and other cats found the pair

[morningmask27]

little drabble because i write sometimes (shocker)

for som really needed context; hailsnap(he/they) (our PoV), downgleam (she/pri) and minkchirp(any pronouns) are littermates, hail is a jerk and they lost their mother, sorrelcharm not so long ago (from something that ressembles ravenpaw and shellheart’s death) down also had to deal with another dramatic event that is the reason she doesn’t talk a lot. 

the kits aren’t really hail’s but at the same time they are. the villain sed some dark summoning magic to create the kits (i’m barely exagerating) to create drama 

ashstar is ashfoot and she’s nursing a litter of kits; hopkit and comfreykit. weaselfur is deputy and he’s a xenophobic ass 

but now story, under the cut (it definitely has so man grammatical errors, but i’m not going to deal with them so enjoy the shitfest)

“hailpaw, from now on you will be known as hailsnap, may you use your courage and intelligence well.” Ashstar touched Hailsnap’s head with her nose. “Downgleam, Minkchirp, Hailsnap i welcome you as full warriors of WindClan, may you live long and prosper lives.” 

Hailsnap looked at Ashstar and then Larchsong, who had mentored him so well during all those moons. Minkchirp jumped next to them and Downgleam had for once a smile on pris face. “We finally have our warrior names!” Minkchirp gleefully exclaimed. “Downpaw, Hailpaw, oh sorry, Downgleam, Hailsnap, we’re finally warriors now!” Mink kept bouncing around all evening, never tiring. WindClan was celebrating their newest warriors. The three siblings were enjoying the feast with all their clanmates, preparing for their warrior vigil that night. 

During their vigil the three cats watched silently. Thrushwing was also keeping vigil and ze heard a faint wail. Ze was curious and started heading towards the sounds as the desperate wails continued to happen. 

Hailsnap saw this happen and flinched, attracting the attention of their littermates. He ran after thrushwing and found the origin of those sounds before Thrush did. They froze as they recognised what he saw. the flecked black and white molly, Harlequin, he had met some moons ago, followed by four kits, one speckled gray, one ginger and white, one gray and ginger tortie and another dark gray. 

When she recognised Hailsnap her face brightened up. “Hailpaw, there you are, I finally found you. You were going to abandon me and our kits, please don’t do it, please.” Hailspaw took one step back, but was stopped by Minkchirp, Downgleam and Thrushwing who were staring at Harlequin. 

“Hail, who is this, and what do they mean by ‘abandoning me and our kits’?” Mink looked at Harlequin with big, questioning eyes. 

“Oh, you know Hailpaw? Can you please tell them to not leave me and the kits to fend for ourselves in the wild?” She looked at all the cats surrounding Hailsnap, eyes glittering in the moonlight. She pulled the dark gray kit closer to her.  

“What do you mean, these aren’t my kits, we haven’t seen each other in moons.” Hailsnap yelled at Harlequin, scaring the four kits that were now huddled inside her long and fluffy tail. They started to turn around, trying to escape the situation but Ashstar herself blocked his way. "Oh, foxdung,” he muttered. 

“Can you mousebrains explain why you are yelling at moonhigh and nobody is guarding th- Are these kits? Why do they resemble Hailsnap so much? and who are you?” Ashstar squinted her eyes looking at Harlequin and the kits. 

“M- My name is Harlequin, and these are my and Hailp- snap’s kits. I am here to ask him if they could take them in his clan, because I can't take care of them on my own and I want them to be with their father.” She moved her tail to make the kits more visible

“I already told you these aren’t my kits, and I never told you that I was going to abandon you, what are you talking about?” Hailsnap dug his claws in the dirt and pulled them back out multiple times. “I cannot be the father, you somehow got this all wrong. You can’t just join WindClan like this, no!”

“Look Hailsnap, even if these aren’t your kits, I won't meddle in this problem, I will let them join WindClan. You do remember the code, right? No warrior can neglect a kit in pain or danger, even if the kit is from a different Clan.” 

“But they’re not even Clan kits,” Hailsnap exclaimed, Making the kits even more scared than they were before

Ashstar looked sternly at Hailsnap, “If they are yours they’re halfClan, so it still counts.”

“but-”

“No,” Ashstar stopped Hailsnap, shaking her head in exhaustion, “Now Downgleam, Minkchirp, Thrushwing help me take the kits back to camp. Harlequin, you can come too if you want.” She invited the molly, but Harlequin shook her head. 

“No, I prefer not being in a Clan,” she said. Hailsnap snorted. “and I trust you with the kits.” She nuzzled every kit one by one and let the Clancats pick the kits up and watched the group starting to walk towards the camp. She lifted her tail, saying a last goodbye to her kits before starting to pad away herself. 

When she left Hailsnap let out a sigh and followed their clanmates back to camp. Minkchirp, who was carrying the ginger and gray kit, slowed down and waited for them. “Fwat was shis all abfouf Hail?” Hailsnap started to trot away from his brother, “HEY vou can’f djust leave me like i’m cwowfood” 

Back at camp everyone was awake and muttering to each other. Everyone wanted to know why Ashstar had to leave camp and who was yelling. When Ashstar entere camp, carrying a dark gray kitten and being followed by Downgleam, Thrushwing and Minkchirp, all carrying a kit, Weaselfur went to Ashstar. Ashstar placed the kitten on the ground and started arguing with Weaselfur. She stood protectively over the small kitten. “Why did you bring these kittens into the clan?” Weaselfur growled. 

“Calm yourself Weaselfur, I don’t have to explain myself. These kits are now a part of WindClan and you can’t object to this choice.” Ashstar picked the kit and signaled the other cats to follow her in the nursery. Hailsnap followed from a distance, and avoided Weaselfur’s harsh gaze. When he entered the nursery he saw Ashstar curled around her two kits, Hopkit and Comfreykit. They looked curiously at the four new kittens that were placed in their nest. 

“Momma, who are these kits?” Hopkit smelled the dark gray kit curiously and touched them with its paw. The young kitten mewed from surprise and hunger. 

“Hopkit, these are your new littermates, be friendly, they are still young.” she touched Hopkit’s head with her muzzle. “Can you two make a little place for them next to my belly, they need to drink.” 

“Oki mom!” Hopkit and Comfreykit shuffled away from her belly and Thrushwing, Downgleam and Minkchirp placed the kits they were carrying next to the dark gray kit. Once they were all fast asleep after drinking Ashstar looked up at Hailsnap who was still standing next to her. Downgleam, Minkchirp and Thrushwing were just going to leave the nursery when she started speaking: “We should probably name these kits. What do you think, Hailsnap? these are your kits after all.” 

Hailsnap flinched: “Ashstar these aren’t my kits,” he looked at the four little bundles soundly asleep against Ashstar’s belly and straightened his back, “and even if they were, I won't be taking care of them.” Everyone was staring at Hailsnap. He didn’t back down. “I am not responsible for them. I won’t spend my time taking care of kits I never had. You can name them yourself, I'm leaving, I need to continue my vigil.” Downgleam grabbed Hailsnap by their tail and stopped them from going anywhere.

“You think you can abandon these kits like they’re crowfood. They are your responsibility! Stop acting like a standoffish jerk and do something nice for once.” Downgleam spoke for the first time in a long while. Hail stared at prim, and felt a cold shiver go down their spine. The kits were awakened by Downgleam and started to wail. Ashstar gently lulled them back to sleep and looked at the arguing siblings. 

Morningflower was the one to speak: “Hailsnap I can understand that having kits is difficult, but you can’t punish these kits for being born,” she stopped shortly and looked at the kits before continuing, “you need to at least be in their lives. They deserve to know their father.” She sat next to Ashstar and touched her sister's nose with hers. “We can name the kits tomorrow, when the dust has settled, for now it’s better if you return to your vigil and let the kits and Ashstar sleep.” 

Hailsnap nodded and briskly walked out of the nursery. They took place on an isolated rock and watched the moon follow its course in the sky. Thrushwing padded to him. “Hailsnap, don’t make decisions you will regret later. Losing kin hurts-”

“Do you think I don't know that? I lost my mother, I know how it feels.” They lashed out and jumped from the rock, leaving Thrushwing to stand there alone. 

He kept walking around until the sun started rising and they felt its warmth on his fur. Only after the sun had chased the last stars from the sky did they return to camp. Carrying a rabbit they caught on the way back. They knew their clanmates were watching him, but he kept walking and dropped the rabbit on the fresh-kill pile. 

Morningflower padded to them. “Nice catch Hailsnap, can you bring it to the nursery, Ashstar wants to talk to you.” Hailsnap grunted and grabbed the rabbit back. He dragged the rabbit to the nursery. When he entered the nursery they dropped the rabbit in front of Ashstar’s paws. Downgleam and Minkchirp were already sitting next to each other.

Ashstar looked at them and smiled: “Seems like you finally came back. How do you feel, Hailsnap?”

“None of your business,” he grumbled. He didn’t look at the kits. 

“It is your kits business though.” she retorted. “Look, I’ll be nursing them but I cannot take care of them on my own, and I won't just let you ignore your kits.” She flicked her tail and liked the fluffy ginger and white kit’s fur. Downgleam muttered something to Minkchirp. 

“Ashstar, Downgleam and I were thinking, if Hailsnap doesn’t want to take care of the kits, we could do it instead, they are also our kin.” Minkchirp suggested. Downgleam looked curiously at Ashstar. 

“This sounds good.” Ashstar affirmed. She looked at Hailsnap. “What do you think, Hailsnap, can Downgleam and Minkchirp take care of your kits?” She asked it in a tone that meant This Is The Way It’s Going To Be. 

Hailsnap slowly nodded: “seems like the best solution, I don’t want to bother with these kits.” He started to leave. “Now that it’s set, I'll report myself to Weaselfur for the patrols.” 

“No, wait,” Ashstar interjected. “Name one of the kits at least.” She moved her tail to make the kits more visible. They were awake and looking at him with curious eyes. Hailsnap doubted. Ashstar nodded towards Minkchirp: “You can start.”

Minkchirp beamed and approached the tortoiseshell kit, who was trying to wobble out of Ashstar’s nest towards Hopkit and Comfreykit who were with Morningflower. Xe stopped the kit and pushed them back in the nest. “ Ploverkit is a fun name for this energetic little bean.” She licked the kitten’s head multiple times and placed them back next to Ashstar’s belly. They turned to Downgleam. “What do you want to name the last kitten?” ze leaped back to Downgleam and listened to what pri said. Minkchirp nodded and announced: “Campionkit! Pri wants to name the kit Campionkit”

Ashstar smiled and nodded. “Campionkit and Ploverkit it is then,” she looked at the tiny dark gray kitten, “What about Driftkit for this one?” she nuzzled the gray shape and it grabbed her muzzle with its tiny paws.  

“What a great name, Ashstar.” Minkchirp responded. they looked at their littermate “Hail, it's your turn now.”

hailsnap let out a sigh and approached the kits. they touched the flecked gray kit. “Hazekit” they breathed out. The newly named Hazekit let out a happy squeak. 

Hailsnap felt weird. It was like being in frozen water, but still feeling the tiniest glimpse of warmth. They shook their head. “Do you still need me now,” he asked quickly, “Weaslfur would probably prefer it if I was assisting in the patrols now.” 

Ashstar had a flash of disappointment in her eyes before dismissing them with a flick of her tail

Hailsnap exited the nursery and took a deep breath.