Private Thread Plot Thread The Birds and the Bees (28LG21)

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🍓⭑✧･ﾟ

Berrypaw, as restless as he was, always seemed to struggle with sleep, but on this day, he had work extra hard on training to make up for his injury earlier in the moon and pushed himself to work as hard as he caught. And the end of day exhaustion was the result of that. Heaviness weighed down his eyes as he glanced over at Cedarpaw curled up in the nest, he let out a purr, she looked peaceful. He sure that she had fallen asleep prior to him getting there, but there was no true guarentee that was true, he wasn't even truly sure if she was sleeping now or just shutting her eyes. Regardless, he knew Cedarpaw would be safe in camp. Even if he didn't personally enjoy being crammed in camp all day.

A small, squeaky yawn came from the young tom as he finally closed his eyes to rest, though a thought still clouded his mind, several really, nothing worry inducing or life changing, just what he would be working on tomorrow what prey he would eat that day, if he would be on den duty again, maybe he would actually get the nests sorted out correctly this time, time would tell...

The thoughts soon faded to silence as Berrypaw finally fell into a sleep when the moon, if it were in the sky, would be at it's highest. Sleep was sleep.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.

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((With Chloe's permission, as life is gnawing on them.))
Cedarpaw lay curled not far from his brother in their own nest in the den, breathing with the slow rhythm of sleep. 

--

The black of sleep gave way with the feel of a gentle breeze into a field of snowy white grass around the pair of apprentices. The stems were tall and some budding with the first signs of the grains that would grow on them. The air held the warmth of late green-leaf and full with the heat that pervaded Lion's Glory.

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. - Cicero

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The sense of heat seemed to move, blowing and growing as it slowly became visible amoungst the grasses. The air around the moor chilled, draining into a shimmering fog. First a sense within it of the form of flowing hair, and then it rose and swirled, rising until it stood far taller than a Clan Cat did, so tall it might be as large as the bears that occasionally wandered towards the Twoleg Camp on the far side of RiverClan territory.

The fog tightened, experiencing a moment of color before sinking down amoungst the grasses to leave a figure that started golden and faded to white. He moved slowly at first, face raised to the sky above. Around that face fell flowing fur in a ruff far greater than any normal cat. The creature was one of great power, his body laced with muscle that moved under the short furred hide. The tail that arched over his back was thin with the same short hair until it reached the end, where it was tipped in the same luxurious hair as the ruff.

The Lion, for what else could it be to apprentices told of LionClan when they were kits?, brought his face down and turned eyes of icey blue towards them. The movement brought life to the mane around his face. The hair danced as if caught in winds that could no longer be felt. He drew close to the pair of young cats, lowering his face to look closer at them. His rounded ears shifted as he waited a moment prior to speaking in a deep, but gentle rumble.

”I greet you, Windborn Cubs.” The voice held a note of warmth. ”I hope you are ready to learn this night.”

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🍓⭑✧･ﾟ

The apprentice shifted his gaze to the mighty ancient creature, though they held no fear, on the contrary, confidence filled his chest when the creature approached and spoke of learning. "I learn from my clanmates." He chirped, not with aggression or snappy attitude, but more of a matter-of-fact statement laced in misplaced confidence. This was a random dream! He wouldn't get hurt here for confidence of a beast of great times. "But your greeting is recieved, great cat." he added, flicking the tip of his pale tail.

A flick of his ear signed the energy building in the tom as he glanced over at the vast, white field of grasses, his paws shuffled, almost desperate to burst through the field like the WindClan warrior he was going to grow into. But instead of cowering of bowing to the great cat, he held his head high, glancing back at his sister with a small smile. Encouraging bravery over fear.

"Medicine cats and leaders commune with ancestors." Berrypaw piped in, sniffing the grass beneath his paws, it smelled of nothing in particular, but it was different from the mossy bedding of his nest and he stretched out his body, of which he was slowly growing into, yet he was still small, undersized from the unfortunate timing of his birth... he's been told that moons go when he asked. Though that never truly hindered him from being a good apprentice.

"You've got the wrong pair. We don't know healing." 

"You're a star in my sky!"

⚝──⭒─𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･─⭒──⚝

When Cedarpaw ‘awoke’ in the world of sleep, her instinct was to remain calm and to enjoy the feelings that she was experiencing. But when the molly noticed the towering form in front of her, she started to bristle, too scared to yowl before she had noticed her brother was there as well, seemingly fearless compared to her. 

Had he experienced something like this before? She couldn’t recall having experienced anything like this before herself. But remembering that something like this probably wasn’t completely unnatural, she attempted to force herself to relax. She couldn’t take her eyes off of whoever this was, even with other things seemingly happening around the pair as the figure spoke to them.

This was a lion. Upon the realisation, any remaining fear Cedarpaw had initially seemed to dissolve as her doubt shifted to a mix of admiration and awe. What a beautiful beast. Why didn’t the clan cats of today have round ears like that? They were so cute. Perhaps their triangular ears were better-suited to the moors they inhabited? She wasn’t sure.

“H-Hi!” the apprentice stuttered out when the lion first greeted the two of them, her voice sounding like a mix of a surprised chirp and a squeak. However, when her brother told what she presumed to be the LionClan feline that he had the wrong pair, Cedarpaw frowned. “Berrypaw, I don’t think LionClan cats make mistakes like this.”

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. - Cicero

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“There is wisdom in looking to your clan, young Berrykit.” Hetasha’s bass voice rumbled while the unfelt wind made his mane dance around his head. “But sometimes Ancestors commune where they will.” The great lion lowered himself, the grasses fading to white where he lay. He studied Berrypaw for a long moment before turning his blue eyes towards Cedarpaw.

There was the rumble of a laugh in his voice as he spoke. “You would be wise to learn from your Sister, Berrypaw.” The admonishment didn’t stop the purr that rose. “Little cub, cautious Cedarpaw, your devotion to the ancestors here shows the strength of spirit you have.”

Then sighed a great sigh, looking at each in turn before closing his eyes for a moment as if refocusing himself before Hetasha continued. “I’ve come with a warning for you both.” The voice was somber. “Your lives have been wrapped in secrets. But secrets only keep if all are dead.”

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🍓⭑✧･ﾟ

At Cedarpaw's response, Berrypaw gave a shrug. "This is a dream Cedarpaw." He whispered her to her. "Only leaders and medicine cats get the meaningful ones. At the Moonstone remember." He chirped soft enough to be out of earshot of the lion before puffing up his pale cream chest at the lion, his fur not flowing at Hetasha's mane but he puffed his short pelt out like it was something to be proud of. Sunbear looked much more like a lion though...

"Cats make mistakes, not matter how big or small." Berrypaw added onto his sister's words with his tail high, boldly taking a few steps toward the white lion before him. "What's with you ancient cats and all that vague nonsense anyway? Can't you just tell it how it is? If it's so important why do we have to spend the time figuring it all out?" he spoke with a flick of his tail, and yet, he still didn't seem angry or aggressive, perhaps how ridiculous the situation was seemed louder than anything else, he found it funny.

Berrypaw shook out his fur, as if the warning might had well just be sitting on the tips of his fur strands. However it did resonate, Berrypaw just didn't quite understand any of it yet. Maybe eventually. "How do we know you're not just a lion from an elders tail, Hetasha right? LionClan leader?" he trilled, more intrigued and amused than mocking or agitated. This was fun!

"You're a star in my sky!"

⚝──⭒─𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･─⭒──⚝

Cedarpaw couldn’t help but snicker when Hetasha called Berrypaw ‘Berrykit’ by accident, the molly continuing to listen to the great lion as he spoke, unable to take her eyes off of him while they settled down in the white grass. And when Hetasha complimented her, Cedarpaw felt a surge of pride, her heart feeling all warm and fuzzy at the lion’s praise as she stood a little taller. 

The she-cat’s snicker turned into a glare when Berrypaw tried to shrug it off as a dream again… She wanted to be important too. Like Fawnstar and Rowanglade and all the great cats before them. She didn’t want to be remembered as just ‘some warrior’. The apprentice started to fret when Berrypaw started to question Hetasha, how could her brother be so rude!? 

Attempting to ignore the embarrassment the molly felt from Berrypaw’s attitude that this was just some fun dream game, the molly took the beast’s words seriously. Secrets? What secrets? Lives wrapped in secrets? What kind of secrets? Surely if Hetesha himself was delivering the message it was something much bigger than some petty clan gossip. Cedarpaw’s mind started to buzz with questions but nothing came out.

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. - Cicero

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The pale blue of the lion’s eyes watched Berrypaw as he spoke. “The veil between your world and mine is thick, little cub. Even when you’ve the power to walk from an Elder’s tale into another’s dream.” His voice was a quiet rumble, not rising to the bait. “Would you have us take your choices from you? We could speak plainly, but such gifts would come at a heavy cost to those that receive them.”

Then he turned to look more closely at Cedarpaw. But the intense attention lasted only a moment before his lungs filled with a deep breath of the chilled air around them. “Secrets can destroy futures. The one your mother has kept from you but told another who told a third.” Hetasha’s voice sank into a growl on the word third. “It will put your mother’s loyalty, and by extension your own, into question as it continues to pass. Your clan is rife with disloyalty, but I will have it end with the two of you.”

He rose to his paws, shaking out the great ruff of white-furred mane around his head before looking down at the pair of them.”Future lies in the jaws of the young. The question is: Will you close your those jaws to kill the doubt her choices place on you, or will you carry it forward and further sully your clan?”

"You're a star in my sky!"

⚝──⭒─𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･─⭒──⚝

Cedarpaw continued to stay silent, listening closely to Hetasha’s every word. She started to wonder, how long had the lion existed for? It was probably so many seasons that she could not even begin to comprehend it. The molly didn’t allow Berrypaw's dismissal of what was actually happening to discourage her. She was sure that, whatever this was, was not just some dream. Cats weren’t normally aware that they were dreaming. Nor did they often hold conversations.

Herwhiskers twitched. “I didn’t know that secrets could have such a power.” the she-cat confessed as it dawned on her how serious this really was. Or at the very least, how serious this was to the beast standing right in front of her. “I always had the… naive? View that secrets were silly little things like… I don’t know. Accidentally walking a couple of pawsteps past a border or something embarrassing somebody did eons ago.”

The apprentice frowned. “Our mother is keeping a secret from us that will destroy our lives? Why would she do that?” Cedarpaw questioned, denial rising in her chest. Her mother was a loyal cat with a good heart. She would never do such a thing, right? It seemed that Hetasha was placing a huge responsibility on their shoulders. One that determined the nature and fate of WindClan. And quite frankly, it was scary. “I…” She didn’t know what to say.

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🍓⭑✧･ﾟ

Berrypaw's pale eyes burned with anger. Who did this pompous fluffball think he was? Accusing Beewhisker of lying to them for what? He was long dead now, he didn't matter! Berrypaw had no idea why Cedarpaw was taking this so seriously, but she was his sister, and he wished to stand beside her until StarClan took the both of them, or... would he? His clan was just as important to him. So which would he chose if it came down to it? He wasn't sure.

He saw worry in his sister's eyes and he instantly, as if on instinct, darted to her side and narrowed his eyes at the frosty lion standing before them. Hetasha had some nerve speaking about his kin that way. Making up lies about Beewhisker for no reason but to scare the two. Berrypaw had ever right to doubt this lion, he hadn't met him before, he hadn't spoken once to this pompous mouse-brain, why should he care about what this stupid mountain of fur and meat had to say! He didn't. He care about Cedarpaw however, so he stayed and for once, didn't make a snide comeback, just leaned against his larger sister.

Leaning and glaring at Hetasha like it would singe a hole in the lion's pelt.

The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living. - Cicero

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“The secret, my dear cub, lies in your blood.” The lion leaned down as he spoke, closer to the apprentice he was speaking to. “Bayflower is but a pawn in your lives. Brought into lies by your mother. Your sire is ThunderClan born. Kestrelswipe.” He raised his head, shaking his mane.

He turned, walking away from them. “Secrets only keep if all are dead. First your false sire, then another who was equally unwise in who they consorted with. Once the fourth knew…” His sigh deepened. “So runs the truth, now that it’s free.” Hetasha began walking slowly, circling the pair with his cold, blue eyes fixed on them. The tail behind him curled so that the fur on the end blew in wind that could not be felt.

When the circuit was complete he spoke again, voice somber. “Your blood is impure. This is why your loyalty to WindClan must be faultless. So that should the truth descend upon your heads you can stand tall and fight back rather than be shattered by the blow.” He sank to his haunches, regarding them in a moment of stillness.

The stillness shattered in a rush of wind that faded to nothing as quickly as it came. The spectral grass around them shuddered and churned within a ghostly facsimile of jaguars, cheetahs, lions, and tigers. The phantoms swam about the paws of the apprentices. Then, a sudden sinking and they were gone. Leaving behind only a painful, draining pull felt in the chest and behind the eyes. It seared with the brightest of pain for a mere second and then also vanished.

“If you waver in your loyalties I will tear your spirits from your bodies myself and leave the empty shell behind for your mother to find. I warned her against action that would unveil her.” His rumbling voice sank into a sonorous growl. “If you are found wanting I will snuff the light of your soul out in retribution wrought by her own words.”

Then, as quickly as his summoned phantasms he disappeared, vanishing into the air and leaving no sign behind him other than the base rumble of his voice. “My eyes are on you, little cubs. Do not disappoint.”

Without passion you don’t have energy, without energy you have nothing.

･ﾟ✧⭑🍓⭑✧･ﾟ

A flash of pain, then nothing. Something so brief that Berrypaw didn't notice it at all, it was as if he had blinked a strand of fur from his eye as he opened them to see the dawn light making the sky slightly paler, the sun wasn't there yet, but he knew that it was morning. "Yes! I'm up before Breezewing!" He chirped before jumping to his paws with little care in the world. 

Berrypaw thought of the words the cat said, he wondered how an ancient cat could get Bayflower and Kestrelswipe mixed up, those two looked completely different! It further seemed to solidify that it was just a random dream to him. And so, it was easily forgotten as he left his nest with a few bouncy pawsteps, letting out a little chirp through closed lips before smiling at his sister. "See you later Cedarpaw!" He spoke, chipper as ever as he trotted into the main clearing.

The clearing was near empty, Beewhisker standing sentry brought a grin to Berrypaw's face, whatever that dream said about them was wrong, if they were willing to stay up all night to keep WindClan safe, they'd keep their loyalty until their death, even after. That part was true. "I'm going to go wake up Breezewing! He's gonna be proud that I didn't sleep in this time!" He trilled to Beewhisker before giving the large tri-color cat and soft nuzzling before bounding off to a resting grey body. So it begins

"You're a star in my sky!"

⚝──⭒─𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･─⭒──⚝

Cedarpaw didn’t want to believe it at first. Her beloved mother a liar and sire a pawn? ThunderClan’s deputy was her true sire. The molly’s heart shattered. She wanted to declare that a feline so disloyal could never be her parent but what did that mean about Bayflower and Beewhisker? Surely this meant that they were just as disloyal if not more. 

And she didn’t think she had it in herself to reject the ones she adored so dearly. When the molly had been told that her blood was impure, it felt as if her whole world had been shattered. But before she could even begin to insist that her loyalty would always be to WindClan (even if the same could not be said for those around her) she felt…

Pain. An all-consuming pain that she had never felt before. As fleeting as it was, it had left her gasping for air ‘I won’t waver in my loyalties, I swear!!’ Cedarpaw wanted to beg. But she couldn’t get anything out, at the very least, not before the pain had already stopped and Hetasha disappeared into nothing.

𖣂.ೃ࿔ ✈︎ *:･

In the waking world, the she-cat watched as her brother bounced off without a care in the world. But the apprentice could not pick herself up. She had to confront Bayflower and Beewhisker. Beg them to reassure that maybe it had really been a lucid dream after all. That they wouldn’t do something so selfish as to risk their lives.

But no matter how much she tried and tried to deny it, in her soul she knew it was true. The mixture of emotions made her feel sick, as if she had eaten too much prey. Joy that she had been given an  opportunity to redeem herself. Anger that her dam had done such a thing. Fear of what would happen next.