some "fun" facts about Marshtooth (using quotation marks bc it's Marshtooth): not only is he a chimera cat, but he has two biological dads! His parents, Snailstar (birth parent, agender but AFAB), Leafwhisker (dad #1), and Shadetuft (dad #2) are/were in a very happy poly relationship. Leafwhisker and Shadetuft knocked up Snailstar at the same time bc that's an actual thing cats do. In the womb, an embryo that was biologically Leafwhisker's fused with an embryo that was biologically Shadetuft's, and the result was Marshtooth, who carries genetic material from all three members of the poly! That's why his design has so much going on: he gets his caramel tabby coloration from Leafwhisker, his black patches from Shadetuft, and his colorpoint markings from Snailstar :3
He shares this genetic factoid with his (much cooler and much less ped*philic) sister Hawkbush :3
Days passed after the storm, and despite the countless patrols sent out to scour up and down the river, not even a clump of Honeypaw’s fur turned up. Even after the water level returned to normal levels, there was no sign of her. None of the sparse patrols from the other Clans that they encountered said they found her either, though there were whispers around camp wondering if they had even tried.
Today, Clawstar finally called off the search patrols and announced a vigil for Honeypaw would be held later in the day. Bleakspeckle had protested profusely, as expected, and stormed out of camp on his own. No one went with him, but no one stopped him either.
He did, however, return in time for the vigil to start. One look, and everyone knew his search had been as fruitless as all the others.
Shadetuft now stared blankly at the empty spot in the middle of the camp’s clearing where Honeypaw’s body should have been. He had seen many mourning vigils, back in HawkClan. The war and the famine made sure he had.
But there had always been a body.
His gaze slid over to his side. Curiously, when the vigil had started, Gladefur had not gone to the middle of the clearing to mourn with the others. Instead, he sat himself next to Shadetuft and refused to look up from the ground. Shadetuft observed him for a moment longer, then turned back to the main vigil as he murmured, “I knew this day would come. I had hoped it would not come so soon, and to one so young…”
“It’s my fault…” Gladefur said to the ground.
“There was nothing you could do,” Shadetuft replied easily. “If you had not stopped and helped Ice-echo when you did, then we would be mourning two empty spaces instead of one.”
“Ice-echo still hasn’t woken up.”
“Hollyhockseeker is doing her best.” He glanced at the healer’s den. The two of them were the only ones not in the clearing for the vigil, for good reason. “Ice-echo is strong. You should not give up on her so quickly.”
“But if I hadn’t taken them to the river…”
Shadetuft snorted. “Ah, yes, if you hadn’t taken them to the river. Just like if Clawstar hadn’t given you Honeypaw for an apprentice, and just like if I hadn’t recruited any of you into this Clan. None of this would be happening then, would it?”
That finally got Gladefur to look at him. “This is different—”
“Different how? Did you know for certain that flood would come? Did StarClan themselves drift down from the sky to tell you, and you ignored them anyways?” He shook his head. “None of us can see the future.”
Gladefur sighed. “Try telling Bleakspeckle that. I know he blames me.”
Shadetuft looked towards Bleakspeckle, who was hunched down mourning with the others. “Has he caused you trouble over it?”
“...No,” Gladefur admitted, “but he doesn’t need to for me to know what he thinks about my involvement. His glares alone could set fire to a marsh. I’m sure he’s avoiding me because he wouldn’t be able to hold himself back from trying to rip my throat out the moment I spoke one word to him.”
Shadetuft frowned. “That’s no way to live with a Clanmate.”
“It’s the only way to live with him…” he muttered. “I’m sorry for saying it, but whatever beautiful, peaceful vision you had for this Clan, it won’t become reality. Not with him still here.” Before Shadetuft could respond, he abruptly stood up. “If anyone asks for me, I’ll be in the warriors’ den.”
Shadetuft watched him go with a heavy heart, then sighed. All things considered, he knew the vigil could have gone far worse.
Shadetuft lifted his head as Icepaw approached him with a small piece of prey in her jaws. It was a sight he hadn’t ever thought he would see again; an apprentice making sure the elders were fed before the rest of the Clan.
“Thank you,” he said as Icepaw placed the shrew in front of him. She nodded and turned to leave, but he stopped her with a clearing of his throat. “You know, I’ve seen how hard you have been working. Why don’t you sit with me for a bit? Keep an old tom company while he eats his meal?”
Icepaw hesitated, then gingerly sat down next to him. They didn’t speak for a long moment as Shadetuft tucked into the shrew. Finally, he broke the silence. “I know this is all still new for you. How have you been holding up?”
She shrugged, still not really looking at him. He stared at her, slowly chewing, until she finally glanced at him. At his raised brow, she sighed and said, “It’s… strange. Being an apprentice and learning things from cats who might still be learning themselves.” She took a glance around the clearing, then added in a hushed voice, “The other day, I saw Clawstar get scared by the mouse he was hunting. It darted towards him when he was trying to stalk it and he let out such a squeak, you would’ve thought he had been the mouse. I pretended not to see it.” A beat. “Don’t tell him I told you this.”
Shadetuft blinked, then erupted in a fit of barely contained laughter. “Well, you can’t blame him. He never got much face-to-face time with mice when he was a kittypet.”
“Still a little worrying to see your own leader act like that. You told us there are other Clans coming back, too, and that the old ones were taken out by war. What happens when we’re attacked by things much bigger than mice?”
He hummed. “I did say those things. But we’ve been lucky. The other Clans are still getting their own bearings, just like us. I don’t expect there to be any bad blood between us for a while yet, not when each Clan has so few cats.” He took another bite, more as an excuse to think about his next words than to fill his belly. After swallowing, he decided on this: “StarClan helped me choose a leader. They were adamant that Clawstar was the best option, and I agreed with them. Say what you will about his hunting skills, but his way with words is something to be admired. He convinced you all to name the Clan after me, didn’t he?”
“...His arguments were good,” she relented.
He nodded. “This is something that many of the old Clans forgot, and perhaps it led them to their demise: A leader is not just the strongest fighter, or the best hunter of their Clan. They should not be chosen solely on their ability to defeat their enemies. Win a war, you still lose many cats. Keep the peace, and you don’t have to lose anyone.”
The words lingered in the air as Shadetuft finally finished his meal. He didn’t know if Icepaw understood him completely, but she at least looked a little more comfortable sitting next to him.
Just as Shadetuft was beginning to groom himself, Twigtooth came bounding up to them. After a short greeting, she asked, “Have either of you seen Hollyhockseeker?”
Shadetuft frowned. “Is everything all right?”
“Oh! Yes, uh…” She laughed, then cleared her throat. “I just… got a little splinter in my paw, and was wondering if she could take a look at it.”
He exchanged glances with Icepaw. “And do I want to know how you got that splinter?”
Twigtooth smiled. “...Maybe not.”
“She’s probably out getting her precious herbs,” Icepaw muttered, “since we supposedly messed that up yesterday.”
“Oh?”
“No one messed anything up, Icepaw,” Twigtooth sighed. “She was just trying to warn you about the proper method of handling herbs, not—”
“Bleakspeckle!”
The three of them startled at the yell which came from the middle of the clearing. There, they saw Gladefur, his pelt visibly bristling. Before him was Bleakspeckle, as well as Honeykit.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Bleakspeckle looked as confused as everyone else as he answered, “Well, I was planning on going around the territory—”
“And you were going to bring Honeykit with you?!”
Uh oh, Shadetuft thought. He got up as quickly as his old paws could let him and cautiously approached the spat as it became more and more intense.
“Is that such a problem?” Bleakspeckle was asking, sounding truly genuine. “Honeykit’s almost six moons old. She said she wanted to get a headstart in memorizing the territory’s layout. I figured it’d be fine, since I’ll be with her the whole time.”
Honeykit stood behind Bleakspeckle, shifting from foot to foot as her wide eyes darted between warriors.
Tail lashing, Gladefur growled, “I can understand a kit wanting to explore places they aren’t allowed to go yet, but I expect a fully grown cat to know better than to try and sneak out with one.”
Now it was Bleakspeckle’s turn to bristle. “We were not sneaking out! Do I really need the deputy’s permission just to go outside?”
“Yes, actually, you bird-brained, flea-ridden—”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” a new voice cut in, and they both took a step back as Clawstar moved to stand between them. “Let’s not resort to petty insults, all right, Gladefur?” The deputy said nothing in response, but his tail did lower in deference. “Now, what’s the argument going on here?”
“Gladefur is saying every cat in the Clan has to be guided by his tail, as if we were all two moon old kits,” Bleakspeckle quickly said, raising his head in defiance. “I’m not a kit, and Honeykit is supposed to have her apprentice ceremony any day now. I simply don’t see the problem.”
“You—” Gladefur tried to say, but Clawstar held up his tail.
“I understand that you are used to deciding on things on your own,” Clawstar began, keeping his voice calm and neutral, “but you’re a part of a Clan now. It’s something that we all have to remember, that we are supposed to look out for each other. And that means telling one another where we are planning to go, so if you don’t come back, we know where to search.”
“I can take care of myself,” Bleakspeckle muttered.
“And I have no doubts about that. I’m sure you could handle any potential threat that you might run into. But Honeykit has no training, and we have not yet properly mapped out every corner of our territory. What if you came across a badger set that had an angry mother inside? Would you still be comfortable saying you could keep both yourself and Honeykit safe then?”
“Well—”
“And if you hadn’t told anyone what you were doing, and suddenly we couldn’t find you? If either of you had been seriously hurt or trapped somewhere, we wouldn’t be able to have enough search parties to find you soon enough.”
Bleakspeckle clicked his tongue. “All right, I get it. I’ll ask for permission next time…”
Clawstar nodded, then gave Gladefur a hard look. After a moment, Gladefur sighed and said, “I’m sorry for calling you… what I called you.”
A simple tail flick was the only thing Bleakspeckle did to acknowledge the apology, but it seemed good enough for Clawstar, who nodded once more and looked ready to put the whole thing to nest. Of course, that was when the entrance rustled, and out came Hollyhockseeker, alone and empty-mouthed.
Gladefur frowned. “Hollyhockseeker?”
There was an awkward moment as everyone stared at her, and she stared back. But instead of saying anything, she gave a small wave of her tail in greeting and quickly disappeared into the healer’s den.
“...Don’t tell me she went out without your permission,” Bleakspeckle growled, which raised Gladefur’s hackles, even as he looked at the healer’s den with uncertainty.
“She—”
“She got permission from me,” Clawstar suddenly said. “She wanted to go try and get some herbs. It was near camp, so I said it was fine.” He looked to Gladefur. “Sorry for not telling you earlier.”
“Herbs? But she didn’t bring any back,” Bleakspeckle pointed out.
Clawstar wasn’t fazed. “It’s still early in newleaf. There may not be as many herbs out yet as she hoped.” He waved his tail. “In any case, I think this discussion is over. Bleakspeckle, if you’re so adamant about going out, you can do a solo patrol around the border. Just let Gladefur know where you’ll be going.” When there were no immediate protests, he went to the healer’s den himself.
Twigtooth took that opportunity to swoop in and gently herd Honeykit back towards the nursery where Rimekit and Darkkit had been watching from. “Am I in trouble…?” Honeykit asked quietly, to which Twigtooth gently hushed and reassured her.
After watching them go, Bleakspeckle turned to Gladefur and muttered, “I’m going to go near the river. It’s where I was going to bring Honeykit, but I guess that can wait until she’s my apprentice.”
Gladefur’s ear twitched. “We’ll see about that.”
They sneered at each other for a moment longer, then went their separate ways. Shadetuft watched them leave, then sighed heavily. StarClan give us guidance, he thought to the sky.
