Ashcloud, Glowkit
A discovery
Heathland Treeline, ShadowClan Territory
5
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
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Ashcloud moved quietly through the trees, the light of dawn sparkling through his rufused brown patches on his otherwise white coat. He didn’t have to crouch much to achieve a low stalk on his shorter than adverage legs. His amber eyes were pealed, hoping to see prey in front of him.
Sadly, however, the morning seemed quiet. It was if anything worth eating had decided that today was a lovely day to wait for the rising sun to burn off the dew. Normally the treeline gave a cat opportunity for the odd squirrel or lone rat. He favored rat, rich from where they fed in the carrionplace. He was alone, however, and staying distant from there. Ashcloud knew better than to tangle with more than a lone rat without backup.
Then, from the corner of his eyes, Ashcloud caught movement. Something glowing in the tall grass just beyond the trees. He resumed his quiet stalk, heading to see what it was. It wasn’t moving right for a bird, and not many others came in tawny gold.
Seedling
I can go the distance
＊
They'd just been left by the missionary, in this land with mushy dirt. It smelled like other cats, reminding them faintly of when they'd come across other cats on her travels with the missionary. He knew well enough that other cats could be friendly, or foe. If the missionary had left her here.. Maybe they were friendly? Maybe this was why they'd traveled for all that he could remember?
The supplicant, as she had been referred to by the cat who brought her here, just kept wandering. Moving through the land she'd been left in, as that's all she knew how to do. They kept their mouth open, smelling for any cat nearby, although still being rather young his skills were not good enough to tell much of anything other than that there was cat scent there.
He looked around warily, suddenly feeling uneasy. Could it simply be they weren't used to being alone? Maybe. They dismissed it as that and kept walking through the land, truly not sure what to do from here other than just keep moving.
My Kitties:
Ravenbloom - Social Riverclan Warrior (he/him)
Weaselkit - Empathetic Thunderclan Kit (he/him)
Artemis - Nervous Cat Cafe Cat (she/her)
Glowkit - Energetic ???? (they/she/he)
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
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As Ashcloud crept closer the truth of what he was looking at became apparent: A little fawn tom-kit whose fur caught the pinks of the rising sun in a way that gleamed. The strangest dark marking what on the kit’s face, though. Were they some sort of tortoiseshell? Maybe.
The tom slid out of his crouch to approach more openly. He’d need to find out where the little one was from, and see if they could be returned to the queen responsible for him. They must be worried sick! The quicker he could reunite them with the cat responsible for them, the better.
“Are you lost?” Ashcloud called, trying to keep his voice gentle. “My name is Ashcloud. What’s yours?”
Seedling
I can go the distance
＊
Out of nowhere an orange and white cat appeared and made a noise, and the young cat jumped off the ground and yelped, startled from the sudden appearance. Once she landed and swiped a paw over the top of his head in an attempt to compose themself before speaking.
"I'm not lost I was left by the Missionary." They mewed matter-a-factly , attempting to hide her inner turmoil at simply being left alone in the middle of nowhere. "My name is the Supplicant. I'll get out of your territory I just have to find where out is." They said, unsure if they were welcome in this place, but this cat seemed to act like they knew it here so they probably belonged here. They knew not all cats were very happy to have a strange cat in their territory.
They began to turn around and move in a direction, an attempt to prove their words that they were just about to leave even though they had no clue what direction was the right direction.
My Kitties:
Ravenbloom - Social Riverclan Warrior (he/him)
Weaselkit - Empathetic Thunderclan Kit (he/him)
Artemis - Nervous Cat Cafe Cat (she/her)
Glowkit - Energetic ???? (they/she/he)
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
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“Sorry, sorry!” Ashcloud felt like an apprentice again as he lowered his entire body in apology to the kitten.
Then they spoke… “What do you mean, ‘left’?” What sort of a monster just abandoned a kit somewhere?! And when the little thing, all alone, turned to leave… “No! You don’t need to leave! We just need to… They really just left you?”
Ashcloud’s heart broke a little bit. No kit should be alone, ever! The closest he’d ever noticed was a queen leaving the litter to sleep while going out to eat something… And even then the entire camp was protected, and cats were all around. This was so wrong! It went again everything he’d ever been taught.
“We just need to find the Missionary.” What on earth sort of names were these? “We’ll find them and the two of you can go home together.”
Seedling
I can go the distance
＊
Turning back around they looked at the other cat. If he didn't want her to leave then they didn't have to. Maybe they were a good cat? Like the missionary and the cats she vaguely remembered from the before. "They told me we were here, told me to stay here in the territory, and left. I tried to follow, they were faster. I lost them." It didn't feel like it should be that simple, but it was.
"I don't think you'll find them." She stated, rocking back and forth on their paws. There wasn't much room for doubt in the young cat's words. The missionary wouldn't be found if they didn't want to be found, and he was pretty certain they didn't want to be found. "The missionary is probably going back to wherever we came from."
My Kitties:
Ravenbloom - Social Riverclan Warrior (he/him)
Weaselkit - Empathetic Thunderclan Kit (he/him)
Artemis - Nervous Cat Cafe Cat (she/her)
Glowkit - Energetic ???? (they/she/he)
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
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“He abandoned you?” Rage was building slowly in Ashcloud. This Missionary cat truely was a monster. Not only did he leave a kit in territory full of cats he clearly didn’t know, but he’d purposfully run so the kit couldn’t follow. “Do you have any idea where you came from?”
Ashcloud knew it was a long shot. This ‘Supplicant’ was very young. Too young, really. Far too young to be away from their mother. The little thing was likely hardly on solid food yet! His mind raced through the situation. He would have to find out exactly where the kit was dropped and maybe a patrol would be able to work together and track them… But ShadowClan was so wet… So many opportunities to hide ones trail…
“If it’s not too far away, I’m sure Palestar will let us take you back there.”
Seedling
I can go the distance
＊
"He didn't a..ban..don.. me." They mewed, sounding out the unfamiliar word while looking up at the orange and white cat. It wasn't something they'd heard before. "They left to go back home and told me to stay here." They'd said it so much now but it hadn't really set in yet, the idea still seemed so foreign.
"I don't know where I came from, but we've been traveling for as long as I can remember. I can kinda remember before we left but all I remember is my mom had a brown stripe like mine." She pointed at the brown stripe on her nose. "And the Missionary had some fancy colors on their paws and face. So if you know cats like that then that's where I'm from."
The cat's head in curiosity at the name Palestar, what a weird name. Why would they take her back? Why help a cat they didn't know? Besides, the remembered something The Missionary had told them. "The Missionary said The Prophet said I have to stay here. So I have to find somewhere to live until I'm called back." A sense of duty to the cat that had practically raised her kept her from trying to find their homeland, not that they thought they could find it.
My Kitties:
Ravenbloom - Social Riverclan Warrior (he/him)
Weaselkit - Empathetic Thunderclan Kit (he/him)
Artemis - Nervous Cat Cafe Cat (she/her)
Glowkit - Energetic ???? (they/she/he)
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
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Sometimes kits talked imaginary nonsense…
But this didn’t seem like nonsense.
’The Missionary said The Prophet said I have to stay here’. Those words sounded disturbingly like things Medicine Cats said in stories. And in life, sometimes, but Warriors didn’t get to hear most of that. He wished he could sometimes, though. It seemed like it might be interesting to try and puzzle it out. Not useful, just a fun challenge.
”They left you behind. That’s what abandoning is.” Ashcloud’s voice was quiet, contemplating the colored faces and paws. He’d never even heard stories about such things! Amber eyes swung to the mark on the kit’s face. Brown, stained from lower forehead to nose tip. It was like Flutterdream’s paws had been when she’d opened walnut hulls. ”I’m sorry, but I don’t know any cats with colorful faced and paws.” Ashcloud wished he did. Kits deserved to be home, not wandering alone towards a marsh they’d never seen before.
”Since this tail-dragging Missionary Cat left you here we have to do something.” Ashcloud’s tail straightened, rising behind him in resolve. ”I’d like to take you to ShadowClan, to meet some cats I know. Will you come back there with me?”
Seedling
I can go the distance
＊
"Oh.. then yah I was abandoned." They said, now that they had the meaning of the word they knew they were abandoned. It was nice to have such a short way to say the thing that otherwise took a lot of words to say. Their perpetually mobile stance calmed down just slightly when Ashcloud said they didn't know any other cats with the color. During the travels that they remembered she had noticed that none of the other cats they happened to come across had the markings that adorned their faces, but she didn't understand why not. Or more likely, why did they are The Missionary have them and the other cats didn't?
"The Missionary wasn't tail dragging," they said the term with the uncertainty of a cat who had never heard the term before, because they hadn't. "They got me here and I think that was why we left." They didn't know what tail-dragging meant but it didn't seem like it was nice and The Missionary wasn't bad, they just abandoned them here.
"I'll go, but what is a Shadowclan and why are there cats there." A shadow was the shape their body made on the ground when the sun shown onto them, but she'd never heard of a clan before. This cat didn't seem to want to hurt them at least, so it shouldn't be bad to trust them. Besides, The Missionary had told them to stay here. Maybe she was supposed to find these cats?
My Kitties:
Ravenbloom - Social Riverclan Warrior (he/him)
Weaselkit - Empathetic Thunderclan Kit (he/him)
Artemis - Nervous Cat Cafe Cat (she/her)
Glowkit - Energetic ???? (they/she/he)
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
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“A cat has to be cruel. Mean. To abandon another cat.” His heart hurt as he explained it. It was almost like they’d be taught blind faith towards this Missionary cat. “It might be better for you to be here than wherever you were before.”
“Good cats don’t abandon anyone who's a part of their Clan. Their family!” His voice was indignant, showing how shameful he felt the act was. Clans were meant to stick together. Even if that “clan” was a group of cats who rubbed their faces on walnuts.
Ashcloud’s mood lightening as soon as the little kit agreed to be taken to ShadowClan. “Cats are at our camp becuase that’s where we all live! It’s our home!” He looked back across the swamp in the direction of camp. Smallswamp and Ratfields between here and there. A long way for such short legs. “If you’re willing I could carry you there. It would be faster.” Ashcloud left out his opinion that it would also be safer. He wanted this one away from the border as quickly as possible. And in front of Palestar.
He had a plan. Maybe. Probobly.
It was at least part of a plan…
Seedling
I can go the distance
＊
They didn't know how to reply to Ashcloud calling The Missionary cruel, so they didn't. He simply allowed the other cat to keep talking. The Missionary was important, they couldn't be bad. They were just listening to what they'd been told by the more important cat.
"My home was like that too." She mewed, briefly glancing at his paws then back up at Ashcloud. They vaguely remembered living with a bunch of cats, all with the brown stripe like she had. Those memories were all so blurry though, overtaken by the memories of their lifetime of travels with The Missionary. Was this.. camp.. like the place they came from? But they didn't have colors..
The young cat noticeably cringed at the idea of being carried, their entire life had been spent walking since they were old enough to. He knew how to, she didn't have to be carried. "I can walk." He said stubbornly, stepping backwards to put a bit of distance between them in an effort to stop the other cat from picking him up.
My Kitties:
Ravenbloom - Social Riverclan Warrior (he/him)
Weaselkit - Empathetic Thunderclan Kit (he/him)
Artemis - Nervous Cat Cafe Cat (she/her)
Glowkit - Energetic ???? (they/she/he)
In youth we learn; in age we understand.
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Ah, the kit had a proper family before they’d be carried away and left in some strange place. It was good to know that they’d had parents who loved them. Or at least, cats who’d bothered to take care of them. The lack of mention of having been spirited away in secret… Well, maybe they were too young to remember that part of the story?
“I don’t have to carry you.” Ashcloud promised. He took a short step backwards to show commitment to that. “It will just take a little longer. And I have to warn you that Smallswamp can be a challenge, so you’ll have to listen quickly if I tell you to do something, otherwise you might end up in the swamp. I know we’d both rather not have that happen.” He explained, looking out again towards the camp.
He gave a wave of his tail, looking over his shoulder as he turned. “Follow me. It’s time to go see what Palestar says.” Ashcloud walked slowly in the direction, glancing back both to make sure the kit was following and keeping up.
((Continues in In the Light of Dawn (part 2)))