When the youngest members awake, they are met with nothing. No talking. No pawsteps. Just flashes and traces of stardust, like Starclan themselves had struck their family down.
Let's see who they are, shall we?
Rainbowkit. she/her, 3 moons old. Bossy & Active imagination.
Bitternkit. she.her, 2 moons old. Shy & Avid play fighter.
Scarletkit. he/him, 1 moon old. Bossy and Avid play fighter.
They are alone. They are left with no guidance.
Rainbowkit gets frightened at the sight of such silence. Scarletkit presses up against her, his thoughts of becoming the best apprentice shattered under the harsh judgement of Starclan.
Bitternkit stays silent, wondering what happened to ██████████████, the mother of the two cowering kits beside her.
Flickkit tries to tidy up the stardust, her voice breaking as she tries to hum a song her mother, ███████████████, had taught her.
They are Tachycardiaclan. They will be faster than their fallen family members. They will be fast enough. So fast, that even Starclan won't be able to catch them.
This is our start. Sudden and unexplained bloodshed.
Leafbare rolls in faster than the apprentices can register. They wake up on a sunny morning, met with a thick blanket of snow.
Scarletpaw and Flickpaw are the ones to wake up first, staring with wide eyes at the changed surroundings.
"..do you think Rainbow knows how easy it will be to hunt?" Scarletpaw mewed, her gaze flicking to the medicine den, where Rainbowpaw and Bitternpaw were resting.
Flickpaw cuffs him over the ears with one of her paws. "Are you kidding? No she wouldn't! You have to shut up at some point, have some common sense!"
The ginger tompaw frowns, his whiskers twitching weakly. He takes a step into the big layer of snow, his orange paws setting a huge contrast in color. "..Let's just try to hunt, somewhere near the river. I doubt it would have frozen over so quickly."
...
Despite the tension, Flickpaw and Scarletpaw come back to camp, laughing and squealing about something the others cant understand.
Bitternpaw watches it play out, her gaze narrowed. Rainbowpaw licks her paws, her fur faintly bristling because of the cold.
"..they love each other, don't they?" The gray tabby shepaw hissed, tail flicking.
"Yep, but I'm more happy about how Scarletpaw keeps healing from his injuries pretty quick." The tortoiseshell meowed, letting her gaze flick to the two at the entrance of the camp.
Scarletpaw's scrapes healed.
Flickpaw tells Scarletpaw to shut up.
Scarletpaw asks Flickpaw to go fishing with him, but they keep on getting distracted by each other.
"..what if we aren't good enough warriors without a mentor?" Scarletpaw mewls, looking at his sister with wide, nervous eyes. Flickpaw nods with him, her tail bristled with worry.
"Scarlet is right, we'd be better off if we looked for some loner to train with us-" Flickpaw mewls, getting cut off by Rainbowpaw.
"-and what are we? Loners? A pack of young rogues? No! We're a Clan, Flickpaw! We'll get through this together!"
For a moment, the camp is silent.
But in a heartbeat, yowls of joy and determination burst from the young cats. Scarletpaw presses against Flickpaw, screaming the Clan's name for all cats to hear.
Flickpaw and Scarletpaw go hunting for the first time. Flickpaw comes back with a rabbit and Scarletpaw comes back with a scrawny vole.
Bitternpaw and Rainbowpaw look up, the two dusty from a sparring session. Rainbowpaw purrs at the sight of the freshkill pile being filled.
"See? I told you guys, we're a Clan!"
Flickpaw and Scarletpaw are apprentices!
Rainbowpaw feels comfortable challenging Flickpaw on something she said.
Scarletfur scrambles out of his nest, effectively waking up all of his Clanmates with the rustling of his frantic paws and his earlier scream.
Flickleaf is the first to wake up. Her silver eyes are wide and her fur is bristled. Bitternpaw and Rainbowpaw probably have the same reaction, but the ginger tom is too terrified to care.
"You." He wispers, his gaze locked on hers.
"Scarlet-"
"We need to go to the Moonfall." He blurted, a fuzzy memory of a crystal cavern suddenly embedded into his mind. Despite never going, he understands exactly where to go.
Rainbowpaw startles, her hackles rising. "The Moonfall? What- You're going to speak with Starclan?"
He shakes his head and grabs Flickleaf by the scruff, leaving the tortoiseshell in shambles.
"Go, go, go. They need you."
...
The two find themselves near the waterfall near the border of the territory. The roar of the water seems to drown out every sound, but Scarletfur's blank gaze is fixed on the stepping stones right by the base.
"Starclan needs you." He whispered, not once daring to stare at te gray tabby beside him.
She stiffens. "I.. No. They need a good leader like Rainbowpaw. Can't we wait for her to graduate? She's older- She actually remembers most of our clanmates-"
"No. No it has to be you."
..Flickleaf had never looked so horrified at his words. Yet, she follows him. Letting her pelt get soaked as they get to the large crystal behind the waterfall.
She doesn't know what to think. No distinct thoughts. None when the amalgimation of what's hopefully Starclan touches noses with her. None when the stars themselves start screeching her new name.
Her only thought as she trails back to camp, is that she shouldn't have gotten this responsibility so early.
And that maybe, just maybe, Rainbowpaw won't be upset. Maybe making her brother the deputy would calm her down.
Rainbowpaw grooms her pelt, feeling a sense of satisfaction at her glossy pelt being free of any outsiders or scrapes.
She looks up when Scarletpaw walks into camp. her whiskers twitching as she looks at his new scrapes. "..you just healed, Scarlet." She meweled, her voice radating with amusement.
The ginger tompaw huffed, settling onto his haunches. "But I got my battle moves correct, didn't you say that you wanted to be the most experienced?"
The tortoiseshell pauses. She blinks. "Did you sense that I wanted to ask you that?"
The tompaw nods, grinning as he catches the sight of a familliar gray tabby at the edge of the Clan. "I need to mind read if I want to be a good deputy!"
Bitternpaw watches from the shadowed area of camp, her ears pricked. Flickpaw brushes up against her, her tail flicking as she licks the blood from her lips.
"We're doing well! Right, Bittern?" She meows, glancing at the marbled she-paw.
Bittern huffs, feeling distaste as the orange tompaw scrambles away at the sight of the gray she-paw talking. "..yeah. That reminds me, how are you doing? Do you mind focusing a little less on prey?"
Rainbowpaw's fleas and torn pelt healed.
Flickpaw's stomachache healed.
Scarletpaw's bruises healed.
Scarletpaw slips while training and got some scrapes!
Flickpaw believes that Scarletpaw has endless potential he keeps surpassing every day.
Flickpaw appreciates how Bitternpaw always seems to ask how she’s doing.
Rainbowpaw straightens while on the Heartrock, her tail flicking to and fro as she looks down at her assembled clanmates.
"We have a full fresh-kill pile, we need to start training! We can't be good warriors if we're as good as a newborn kit!" She hollers, watching as the other apprentices bristled.
"Rainbow, you're injured." Bitternpaw meowed, her gaze narrowing at the makeshift leader.
..she was injured, marks of scratches and blood practically covered her pelt.
Rainbowpaw huffed, staring intently at Flickpaw and Scarletpaw. "I'm the oldest, I should be the most experiences, not the youngest members!"
Scarletpaw kept his gaze low at her remarks. "..sorry."
Flickpaw murmered a quiet apology, watching as Rainbowpaw hopped down to lead them all out of camp.
..
Flickpaw leans on Scarletpaw as they head back into camp, letting out a soft mewl every time the latter winced.
Bitternpaw lead them into the camp, Rainbowpaw was at the back of the patrol, the fur on her spine bristled and her head low.
"..The only thing we got from that was gibberish from Starclan. Are you proud now, Rainbowpaw?"
Rainbowpaw got a torn pelt from her fleas!
Flickpaw ate a beetle and got a stomachache during training!
Scarletpaw misstepped while training and got some bruises!
Camp was quiet. Stars softly glittered in the dark sky, keeping the land from being obscured in pure darkness.
Near the entrance of the camp, Rainbowlake was keeping watch..
..of the mice in their dreams. The tortoiseshell was slumped, awkwardly sitting with her head drawn low.
The lack of defense did nothing. As soft pawsteps came closer and closer, the tortoisehell didn't stir.
Raggedfog's gaze narrowed, and he glanced at the two outsiders beside him. Two loners he had found, stuck with each other. One was wide-eyed, the other was leaning against them, gaze half lidded as crimson stained their pelt.
"You- You sure they won't be mad?" The scared loner croked out, her bronze gaze flicking uneasily between the tortoiseshell and the ginger & cream tom in front of her.
"They won't," he murmured, his gaze flicking to the injured loner against her. "..they'll accept him with open paws, I promise."
The she-cat nodded, her breathing shallow.
As the three pushed into the camp, Raggedfog felt a wave of unease. The Clan had been nice to Blissfoot, yes, but it was when the Clan was mostly small. ..back when the lack of a medicine cat was excusable.
He lead them to the medicine den, letting the injured loner flop onto one of the moss nests. His gaze flicked to the she-cat, or at least, where he thought she was. Her dark tabby pelt made it impossible to spot her in the dark shadows of the medicine den.
..the other loner wasn't much easier to see, their dark and cream pelt didn't change a thing.
"Flickstar will want names." He mewed, keeping his tone low.
"Names?" The she-cat echoed, her eyes still wide. "Er- I'm Gremlinwave, and he's Cloverbright."
Raggedfog nodded, shifting his gaze to the latter.
"..they're nice names, but start praying that Starclan doesn't know them."
Gremlinwave, she/her. 76 moons old. Charismatic & Good Teacher.
This is long and doesnt have any events so.. no CW/TWs, just putting a cut to stop this from clogging peoples feeds.
Flickstar stared blearily at her den ceiling. Her den was more flourished than the other dens, supported with thick thorn bushes and having leaves and flowers snake over everything like an intricate constellation.
The dark gray tabby she-cat wasn't focused on the plants, though. She was trying to peer up, to catch any trickles of moonlight.
..she couldn't see anything, with how dense the walls were.
She swallowed, throat suddenly dry.
"Mama.. I miss you," she meweled, gaze darting to the den entrance to make sure nobody was listening. "I wish you were here. I wish you could tell me what I'm doing wrong. We- We're supposed to have a medicine cat, right?"
The surroundings stayed silent, nothing other than the soft rustle of her tail brushing against the leaf litter.
Flickstar lied down, forcing her eyes to stay closed. She didn't dare think about her nest, how it was soft, how it still smelled like her.
She just wished that Starclan would spare her tonight, and would stop bullying her with dreams of how it should've been.
...
When Flickstar opened her eyes, she found herself in the nursery. She was tiny, staring wide-eyed at her surroundings. Something felt.. off.
It was warm. She looked to her side just to find a large, dark gray tabby. The tabby used her tail to nestle Flickkit closer, their eyes full of sympathy.
"She's had a rough night," An unfamilliar voice mewed. This cat was.. different. very different from the tabby. This ones fur was pale ginger, her stripes not being as obvious.
The dark gray tabby nodded, and the pale ginger cat continued to talk.
"..sing her your lullaby. She's going to be your future deputy, she better memorize it." The cat chuckled, using her own tail to herd two rowdy kits. A tortoiseshell and a ginger kitten with the same weird pattern.
Flickstar bristled slightly, a leader? This tabby was her leader?
"Hopping, hopping, little bunny.." The leader started to sing, their gaze fixed on her. "Are you going to the forest?"
The pale ginger cat ducked away and out of the den, the two kits following her intently. The tortoiseshell was noticeably bigger than the ginger.. Was it that the ginger kitten was a runt?
"Hopping, hopping, running away. With some dirt on your white paws." The leader didn't flinch at the other cat leaving, their gaze was still fixed on Flickstar.
"Do you remember the story, Flickkit?" The leader suddenly piped up.
Flickstar- No, Flickkit shook her head, eyes still wide. Was this a dream? Or a memory? Wouldn't she remember who those other cats were?
The leader let out a hum, her whiskers flicking with amusement.
"When the bunny looked around, there was nothing to hurt it. Hopping, hopping, it hurried, but it couldn't hide away."
"Taking a step, and pausing, the forest had gone quiet. It wasn't the wind, it was pawsteps. Pawsteps so loud, heard from afar."
Flickkit listened intently. This sounded like a riddle, a prophecy that Starclan could easily hand her with no caution.
"Hopping, hopping, little bunny. Who is following you for so long? Hopping, hopping, on your white paws. Only a single footprint."
"Looking back at the bunny, one had turned into two. Hopping, running, trying to hide.. It just turned, turning away. It keeps going down the same path."
The leader stopped singing. Flickkit looked away, her mind buzzing with questions. Hopping.. Was this about Hopfreckle? The mention of a bunny.. Rainbowlake always caught rabbits, was it about them?
Before she could ask anything, the leader tucked her even closer and licked the top of her head, purring loudly.
"My little bunny.. I'll keep you safe, I'll tell you how to hide."
...
Flickstar jolted in her own nest, mind buzzing with a thousand unsolved questions. She was about to get up, when the scent of her nest made her pause.
Her nest smelled like her mother. That leader smelled like the same thing, a mix of rain and flowers.
No, it wasn't a prophecy like she wanted. It was a memory. A memory she logically shouldn't have remembered.
She sunk into her nest, a cry ripping itself from her throat.
Starclan didn't spare her. They wanted to drill it into her head, the fact she was nothing but a scared kit on the inside.
//if you guess what song the lullaby is based off i'll give you a cookie..
