Riley
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Post by Riley on Sept 10, 2021 3:24:28 GMT
Being part of a Clan wasn't much different than before, in Heronpaw's opinion. Minnowpaw was still obnoxious, Shellspots was still obsessed with the Clans, and Heronpaw was still excruciatingly bored. The addition of Miku helped, since she was new and had much to teach and share. Heronpaw was still going to be a warrior, but he'd had no idea you could do so much with plants!
Like moss. Moss had many uses, even beyond using it as bedding. It could be used to carry water to invalid cats, to wipe off blood or spittle, and even used to cover up sick cats to keep them warm. Something about 'burning out the fever'. Which seemed counterproductive to him, but what did he know? He wasn't a medicine cat.
He was just sent out to restock the medicinal stock of moss. Heronpaw made his way along the riverside, relishing in the freedom of actually being allowed to do stuff. Yes it was literally a chore, but he was allowed outside of camp! By himself, even! Get him away from Minnowpaw for a day and he'd be happy to do chores every day for the rest of his life.
Heronpaw came upon one of the spots the apprentices had been shown to collect moss and halted. Maybe it was because, again, he wasn't a medicine cat. He didn't have much of a relationship with plants. He would have thought moss would be frozen and hard. Instead the riverbank seemed to be overgrown. "Heh. Maybe we should move camp down here and just sleep in the moss." he meowed to himself, snorting at the mental image.
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Post by Kaeldra on Feb 25, 2022 3:28:03 GMT
Clover || Queen || 18 moons
Clover picked her way across the stepping stones, careful not to get her paws wet; the air was already icy enough to chill her through without the help of a swim. Her fur fluffed out against the cold, she landed lightly on the shore. While she felt most at home in her little corner of forest, she did like to venture across the river now and again to see who was there. She had made a few good friends in her wandering, and so she didn't think it would hurt to take another poke around! It had been quite some time since her last foray this way, after all.
She padded through the trees for a few moments, the only sound the nearly imperceptible crunch of her paws on the snow, until suddenly she heard a voice. Pricking her ears, Clover crept closer to see who it was.
Hiding behind a bush, she poked her nose out just far enough to see... A single cat? A young tom, from the looks of things, scraping dutifully at a patch of moss. He snorted, as if in amusement, then continued collecting his moss. Clover's eyes widened as she took in the already sizable pile next to him. That had to be enough for at least two nests already! Why did he need more? Before she could stop herself, she had stepped forward, curiosity burning in her paws.
"What do you need all that moss for? Are you making a nest for someone else?"
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Mar 17, 2022 4:36:23 GMT
It was actually rather soothing. With the trees having no leaves for the wind to rustle and the river frozen, the only sounds about were his own heartbeat, his own pawsteps, and the pawsteps coming toward him. Normally he wouldn't have noticed, but with the silence around him, the crunching of snow sounded louder than a thunderstorm. "What do you need all that moss for? Are you making a nest for someone else?"
Heronpaw paused in what he was doing to look at the stranger. He wasn't as extroverted as Minnowpaw. Talking to strangers didn't come naturally to him. But Shellspots would have his pelt if she found out he'd met someone and HADN'T tried to talk to him. Or at least talk to them about RiverClan. "I am. A couple of someones, actually. My Clanmates need fresh moss for their nests, and I was sent to collect it."
He paused, flicking his ear back and forth in uncertainty, before he forced himself to continue. "My name is Heronpaw. I'm an apprentice, training to be a warrior of RiverClan. What's your name? Do you live around here?"
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Post by Kaeldra on Mar 18, 2022 23:22:08 GMT
Clover || Queen || 18 moons
The tom seemed to weigh his options briefly before responding to her, glancing away a few times as if he’d really rather be somewhere else but felt compelled to answer her question. He was polite, at least, she thought.
Then his words really sunk in, and all Clover could do was blink, wide-eyed, back at him for several heartbeats while she processed what he was saying. He was collecting moss for his Clanmates. This RiverClan apprentice, Heronpaw. Had she fallen asleep, and was now dreaming of one of those old stories again? She hadn’t thought that any Clans lived here for generations. But the silvery tom in front of her was too real to be a dream.
“It’s nice to meet you, Heronpaw,” she finally replied, voice subdued as she worked through it all. “My name is Clover. I live across the river in the forest, over that way.” She gestured with her tail in the direction she’d come from. “I come over this way to explore sometimes, but I never realized there was a… a Clan living here.” She tripped over the last few words, wondering how she’d missed a whole Clan of cats on her previous adventures this way. Then her curiosity got the better of her and the uncertainty faded away.
“When you say you’re training to be a warrior of RiverClan, do you mean like the old stories? My mother used to tell them to us as kits, and I always wanted to believe they were true! I mean, they had to be, right? There’s no way so many cats would know about them and tell the same stories if they were just made up. Oh! Does that mean the other Clans exist too? ThunderClan, and all the others? I–” The brown tabby suddenly cut herself off, realizing she was talking too much. “Sorry, this is just so exciting. No one ever believes me when I say the Clans were real, so it’s amazing to meet a real Clan cat!”
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Riley
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349 Posts
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Post by Riley on Mar 19, 2022 3:16:51 GMT
She froze. Heronpaw watched her blink and tilted his head, watching the thoughts swirl in her mind. He didn't think it required such intense contemplating, but maybe that was just a him thing? Heronpaw wasn't as into the stories of the Clans as the rest of his family. If somebody had told him they were training for something long dead, he'd have just shrugged and went 'good for you'.
Finally she snapped out of whatever THAT was, enough to at least give her own name and where she lived. He dipped his head to her politely, a sort of 'well met' gesture that he didn't feel like verbalizing. It wasn't TOO rude, right? She didn't at least seem to think so, since she continued. Clover even tripped over the word 'Clan'.
Then it was like a switch was flipped. Her eyes got wide and curious, her pelt got twitchy, and she leaned forward to ask questions. A lot of questions. With each question she shot off, she stepped closer. Heronpaw's eyes widened at the close proximity, and he unconsciously backed up to each of her steps forward, until he was crowded against the mossy bank he'd been sitting so nicely in front of.
Thankfully Clover realized. Either that he'd been literally backed into a corner or that she was talking too fast, because she stopped and backed up. She even apologized for the info dump. Heronpaw cleared his throat and shook his head, knocking himself out of that funk. "I wouldn't worry about it. You don't talk anywhere nearly as much as my sister."
He forced himself to sound casual, like she hadn't just thrown questions at him like a barrage of mossballs, and tried to answer in order. He might have failed horrendously though. "Okay, so, to start with: yes, like the old stories. My mother's mother used to tell her stories that she's passed down to us. It's been her dream since she was my age to recreate the Clans as they used to be. Or, if they WERE just stories, then create a Clan BASED on the stories." He snorted and rolled his eyes. Even if the Clans hadn't ever existed, that wouldn't stop Shellspots from bossing every cat around with made up rules in a made up 'warrior code'.
Wait. He was trying to convince her to join RiverClan, not make it seem horrible. Heronpaw cringed and cleared his throat, forcing a smile toward her. It hurt his face. "Um. The other Clans. If they ever did exist, they don't now. Shellspots is focusing on RiverClan at the moment. I can't imagine the Clan getting too big for the forest to support it. If they do form, it'll be far down the future. Maybe generations." Stop complaining, stop complaining. He glanced back at the pile of moss before looking at Clover hopefully. "If. If you want, you can come meet her? Come check out the Clan yourself? It's really not as bad as I'm whining about. There's always fresh-kill, even in leaf-bare, and there's a medicine cat in case you get hurt or sick, and there's always company and friendship, even when you're alone."
Plus the Clan could use a few more adults. The adult/apprentice ratio was. Heavily skewed. Even Heronpaw was aware of that.
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Post by Kaeldra on Mar 19, 2022 20:05:39 GMT
Clover || Queen || 18 moons
Clover listened intently to Heronpaw’s explanation, eyes sparkling more with every word. Of course! That was why she hadn’t seen them before. The fluffy tabby admired Heronpaw’s mother — Shellspots, she thought he called her — for actually working to bring them back. Clover herself had always thought it would be nice to be part of a Clan, to live together with so many cats and protect each other, but not once had she thought she could actually do it. But now some cat had.
And yes, maybe there was only one Clan right now. But that was one Clan more than there used to be a couple of moons ago! Clover let herself daydream as Heronpaw continued. Maybe her long-ago fantasies of living in the forest among Clanmates weren’t as unreachable as she thought. Maybe she could ask to join them!
Then Heronpaw beat her to it, offering to bring her back to camp and introduce her to this Shellspots, and she thought she might jump out of her fur in excitement.
“Oh, can I?” She squeaked, knowing she was acting like a kit but unable to stop herself. “It doesn’t sound bad at all! I’ve gotten used to living out here by myself, ever since my littermates and I went our separate ways, but I still get so lonely sometimes. Living in a Clan would be so fun!” Clover was careful to keep her paws planted on the ground this time, knowing she’d gotten a bit too close for comfort earlier. Her tail swished across the snowy bank behind her.
“I don’t want to keep you from your tasks, though,” she added, suddenly remembering that Heronpaw had come out here to collect moss for his Clan, and here she was distracting him. “I can help you get some more moss and carry it back with you, if you want,” she offered.
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Riley
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349 Posts
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Post by Riley on Mar 28, 2022 1:51:56 GMT
The more he spoke, the more excited Clover seemed to get. He almost expected to get tackled, if only because he was so used to it from Minnowpaw. Luckily Clover had more self control than his sister, because while she squeaked at his request slash suggestion of her returning with him, she made no move toward him.
Frankly the squeak actually made him kind of snicker at her. Her energy would be appreciated, at least by others in the Clan. Heronpaw SUPPOSED he could put up with it. She couldn't be any worse than Minnowpaw, at the very least. Especially since she actually offered to help with his chores.
Heronpaw looked back and forth between her and his clump of moss, debating. On one paw, he was the one entrusted with this oh-so SACRED task. On the other paw... It was MOSS. What was Shellspots gonna do, take away his nest for not getting his own? He'd just remind her that wasn't very Clanlike... and probably get grounded in the process. What was the Clan cat version of being grounded anyway?
He shrugged and looked up at her again, smirking. "Sounds good to me! Do you know how to collect the moss without getting twigs or earth in it? Cuz APPARENTLY there's a PROPER way to do it, and my sister and I both had to get it PERFECTLY or else we'd condemn the entire Clan to BAD BACKS." Heronpaw crossed his eyes and creased his muzzle in a way that made him look ridiculous. Shellspots hadn't used those exact words, and Heronpaw was being kind of unfair, but he was that kind of cat.
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Post by Kaeldra on Apr 1, 2022 3:14:41 GMT
Clover || she/her || 18 moons
Clover couldn’t help but laugh at the exaggerated expression on Heronpaw’s face. It looked like he’d eaten a moon-old mouse and couldn’t get the taste off his tongue.
“Oh don’t be silly, I’m sure it’s not that bad,” she said with a giggle. “They probably just want you to learn the best way now so you don’t have to relearn it all later! Twigs in your nest are never fun, trust me.”
She glanced at the ground around their paws, looking for a good chunk of moss to demonstrate on. Aha!
“I like to try and find a clump like this, that’s all attached with just a little bit hanging loose, see?” Clover swiped her paw at the gap between the moss and the trunk it was attached to. “Then you carefully extend your claws, and only scratch the bit in between so it all stays in one piece!” As she spoke, she slowly clawed at the moss just as she was explaining. After a few moments, it fell in a great lump to the ground.
“Now you can pick it up and shake it to get all the twigs and earth off, see! Once you get it back to your nest you can separate it to make it more comfortable,” she finished, delicately lifting the moss between her teeth and wiggling it gently. A few stray pieces of debris fell off, and Clover deposited the clean moss on Heronpaw’s pile. “How much more do you need? There must be a lot of cats in your Clan already,” the tabby said wistfully.
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Jun 3, 2022 6:30:39 GMT
Amazingly she didn't seem turned away by his attitude. It wasn't something he was used to. Normally when he made comments like that around his Clanmates, he either got scolded or yelled at or ignored. Well, she WAS telling him not to be silly, but she was saying that while giggling? Heronpaw was getting some mixed messages here.
Even better, she was actually helping him instead of saying she'd help then abandoning him when something better came along. Heronpaw watched curiously as she padded up toward a curtain of moss and explained as she went, slicing a clean line through the top of the curtain. Did she have to go slowly to make it an even cut, or did she do it for his benefit so he could see?
She shook out the sheet gently, getting rid of the things that had been caught in it that would have had to be picked out later, and placed it neatly on top of his own pile. Heronpaw stared at it and tilted his head, first one way, then the other. "That. That's actually kind of brilliant. Actually, how strong is that? Maybe we could place the mossballs on top of it and carry it between us and take back twice as much."
His mind spun, calculating how much more he'd need. "Well, currently we need moss for the medicine den, warriors den, and apprentice's den. Traditionally the leader sleeps alone, but Shellspots won't name herself leader until StarClan sends Miku a sign or a dream that she's the destined leader. Personally I think she just doesn't want to sleep alone in the cold, but like heck I'm saying that to her face... So nests for me, Minnowpaw, Canarypaw, Galepaw, Spiderpaw, Melodypaw, Bluepaw, Zinniapaw, and Lilypaw. And that's just the apprentices. For adults, there's only Shellspots, Jay, Flare, Violet, and Pandora. Then Miku, who's our medicine cat, and she'll need extra moss in case somebody gets hurt or sick... so... um..."
Heronpaw looked at his pile of mossballs, which he'd been so proud of just a few minutes ago, and suddenly he sighed and slumped. "We're gonna need so much more moss. So. Much. More."
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Post by Kaeldra on Jun 21, 2022 1:56:46 GMT
Clover || she/her || 18 moons
Clover watched as Heronpaw’s head tilted this way and that in wonder at her lump of moss. She could practically hear the thoughts in his head whirring, trying to figure out the best way of maneuvering the moss back to their camp. Her ears pricked up at his suggestion.
“Oh, that might just work! Though if it breaks, it’ll go everywhere…” she sat and began puzzling over it herself. As she thought, she listened to Heronpaw rattle off all the dens that needed new moss. So many cats! Didn’t he say their Clan was just starting out? She wondered who she might get to meet if she helped Heronpaw take this moss back to the camp. Even if she couldn’t stay, perhaps she’d make a couple friends.
Then he seemed to deflate, lamenting about how much moss they still had to collect.
”Don’t worry! We got this,” she tried to encourage him, fur fluffing out in determination. ”With both of us working we’ll be done in no time.” Clover turned back to the base of the tree and inspected it closely to see if she could find another good lump.
After a moment, her whiskers twitched with curiosity and she couldn’t stop another question from slipping out. It would be good to chat while working to pass the time, anyway.
“So your mother is the Clan leader? That’s so cool! Do you think you want to try and follow in her pawsteps?”
She tried to imagine leading so many cats, to have them looking up to you like that. Clover didn’t think she’d be cut out for something like that, but maybe Heronpaw would be a good fit once he was older.
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Jun 28, 2022 23:39:45 GMT
The mention of the mossy curtain breaking and going everywhere made Heronpaw imagine it, and he winced at the mental image of all his hard work being destroyed before it's time. He looked around for inspiration and spotted a plant that smelled vaguely familiar. The smell wasn't what was important though. It was the big leaves on it, shiny and thick and unlikely to break. Heronpaw smirked and trotted over, examining the stems. He had to bite through it a few times but eventually he was able to grasp the stem between his teeth and yank, breaking it off. Heronpaw dragged it over to where Clover was examining the moss just in time to hear her question. He made a face at her back before spitting out the leaf stem and pretending it was the taste that made him make the face. Just in case she turned around. "Not likely. Being a leader means listening to your clanmates whine about the problems they don't feel like solving themselves, then doing something about it. I have neither the desire nor temperament to put up with it."Even as he spoke he carefully pulled the moss curtain off of the pile of mossballs, so as to keep it in one piece, then gently laid it over the leaf. After that he hooked carefully hooked a single mossball on his claws and dropped it onto the large sheet of moss. Yellow eyes gleamed in triumph as he looked back at Clover. "Though I'll admit, I do seem to have a knack for problem solving. We pile the moss on the leaf and use the edges of your moss to keep the mossballs from rolling off. One of us takes the front, the other the back, and we can carry twice as much moss back as we would individually."Kaeldra |
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Post by Kaeldra on Aug 9, 2022 2:50:44 GMT
Clover || she/her || 18 moons
Clover turned, hearing him moving behind her, in time to see him deposit a huge, shiny leaf by her tail. He easily dismissed her remark about him becoming Clan leader one day, and she thought to herself that it was rather incisive of him to recognize those facts about his own personality. Most young cats would be clamoring at the chance to be seen as in charge, important. She smiled as she watched him transfer her moss lump to the leaf, and her ears pricked up as she realized what his plan must be.
“Oh, that’s so smart! That’ll make it way easier to carry lots,” she agreed, nodding. The tabby picked up another clump that she’d clawed from a tree while he’d been figuring out his solution, and added it to the first piece. After arranging it carefully as he’d described, she began plucking Heronpaw’s moss balls up from the ground and setting them into place. Once the two of them were done, they formed a larger pile than she’d expected.
Clover frowned.
“I know you said you’d need more than this, but maybe we should take it back first then come get more?” The pile was stable for now, but once they picked up the leaf in their jaws it was bound to be at least a little wobbly. And perhaps the curiosity niggling at her brain about what a real Clan camp would look like was part of it.
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Sept 9, 2022 0:47:59 GMT
Let's get one thing straight. Heronpaw didn't get embarrassed. He might get humiliated or incensed, but embarrassment was one thing he never put up with. So when Clover declared his idea as being 'so smart', Heronpaw dismissed it with a twitch of his ears and an awkward, "Thanks…" It wasn’t that he couldn’t ACCEPT compliments. It was more… he wasn’t used to them.
So Heronpaw moved passed it, working together with Clover to transfer his pile of mossballs to the transport leaf. Between the two of them it didn’t take very long, and the end result was a pile taller than him! Heronpaw felt kind of proud of them, and he glanced at Clover to take in her reaction.
The frown on her face brought a frown to his own, and he thought over her suggestion. He was hesitant, but not because it wasn’t a good idea. Mostly, and Heronpaw knew he was being selfish for this, but he knew Shellspots would want to talk to her and Heronpaw would have to do the rest himself.
He eyed the pile, weighing logic against his wants, and sighed. In the end, she was right. It was better to make two trips than risk losing any mossballs and take longer. ”Yeah, okay, you’re right. Fair warning though, Shellspots might ambush you with questions and the whole recruitment speech I just gave you.”
Heronpaw circled the leaf a bit, poking and prodding it to adjust the mossballs as he did so, before stopping by the stem and nodding. ”Alright, I’ll grab it from this end. You’re taller, so the weight should be more settled toward my side, and the stem is sturdier so there’ll be less chance of it breaking and the mossballs going everywhere.”
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Post by Kaeldra on Sept 13, 2022 1:40:51 GMT
Clover || she/her || 18 moons
It was interesting to Clover how reluctant Heronpaw seemed to return to camp. Didn’t he enjoy being with his Clanmates? Perhaps living with so many cats got stifling, and collecting the moss was his way of getting some time alone. She supposed she could understand that, if it were the case, but she’d been without company so long she was eager to be in the presence of many cats. Friendly cats, at that!
Despite his hesitance, Heronpaw agreed and began padding around the leaf, thinking hard about the best way to transport their hard-earned moss.
“Yessir,” Clover said playfully, positioning herself on the other end of the leaf where it came to a point. She bent down, grasping the leaf in her teeth while being careful not to put any holes through it. Meeting Heronpaw’s eyes, she tried to stand at the same time he did so the moss balls were jarred as little as possible.
Clover suddenly realized she had no idea which way they were headed, and now that she had a mouthful of leaf she couldn’t ask. She waved her tail, indicating for him to take the lead.
They padded for a while quietly, neither of them able to talk while carrying their precious cargo, but Clover felt the silence was comfortable. Her mind was busy buzzing with ideas of what the camp might be like, what Shellspots might say, who else she might meet. Then suddenly they came to the edge of another smaller river, flowing calmly past. Heronpaw stopped, and Clover looked at him quizzically. Was something wrong? Why were they stopping here? They didn’t need to cross it, did they?
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Riley
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Post by Riley on Oct 1, 2022 22:36:30 GMT
They stood at the same time and Heronpaw was right about the weight. The mossballs shifted slightly in his direction, but thankfully none of them fell off. Clover gestured for him to lead the way and he did. The going was slow and quiet. Heronpaw's brain buzzed, going in circles. Would their collection be enough? Would he have to go back out after? And if he did, would Clover be with him, or would Shellspots want to talk to her and keep her back? Heronpaw stopped on instinct when they got to the spot he usually crossed at, but he hesitated. He gestured with his tail for her to set down the bundle between them and worked his jaw back and forth to ease the strain on them. "I... may have miscalculated." he confessed with a frown. "See that island?"He gestured toward the island in question, the one that was protected by reeds and overgrown undergrowth that the Clan was still working on taming. If one didn't know what they were looking for, it would just seem like a regular landmass. "That's my home. That's where we need to go. But I'm... hesitant to bring the entire leaf in, just in case the current takes it and we lose all of our work."Kaeldra |
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