The Clan Renaissance

An Alternate Universe Warriors Roleplay

Juniper knew before Cecil even answered she was right. A glance at Cyril and she knew he'd had the dream too, though he looked far less excited about the prospect of them being connected. Given his age though and the mystery of the dreams, she wasn't surprised.

Cyril tuned the question onto Piper though, and now Juniper hesitated. Because from the way the young cat had spoken, it sounded like only Cecil had had it. But she supposed if all four cats were in one place it would be too easy. "Think, young one. Do you recall meeting any cats in your dream you'd never seen before? Or maybe one you HAD met before? In my own dream..." She hesitated, before swallowing and soldiering on. "In my own dream, my father came to me. Younger and happier than I'd ever seen him. He told me that I'd been chosen for a destiny that would shape the world for generations to come."

Even now, remembering the cadence of his voice and the smell of his fur brought a lump to her throat, and Juniper coughed to the side politely in an attempt to dislodge it. Clearing her throat, she looked back at all of them. "There was also a she-cat there, named Shadowstar. Did she meet with any of you as well?"

How often was it that the youngest member of a group was the most level-headed? Or perhaps it would be more apt to say the least dream-addled. That said, now that Juniper and Cecil had corroborated their stories, Piper's teasing manner had diminished. Great, now we're all taking this seriously.

Cyril couldn't decide whether to be vindicated or perplexed at the mention of Shadowstar. On one side, he had not shared in the same delusion as his younger companions; on the other, was a separate, individual delusion any better? "Say what you will about glowing rocks," Cyril begrudgingly admitted. "But I didn't speak to any Shadowstar." He tactfully chose to omit the fact that he had spoken to a dream-cat with an equally ridiculous name.

"Or any old family members," he added, as an afterthought. This was, again, a slight obfuscation of the truth; he had spoken to someone, just not either of the two possibilities presented thus far. Was it a mark against him that no one else had appeared in his dream, though? Did he have no connections to draw on from his long life? Maybe, he thought, uncharacteristically optimistic, Everyone I've ever cared about is still alive, and therefore too busy living to haunt my dreams.

Cecil's words finally hit home and Cyril turned abruptly back towards him. "Wandering blindly? What about the mines?"

Cyril would have been better off if he'd just ignored Cecil's question. Juniper had a sixth sense to know when she was being lied to, and the fact that Cyril was willing to lie said more about the situation than if he just hadn't answered. Especially since Juniper had no problems calling him out on it. "Liar." she mewed simply, narrowing her eyes at the elder. "I won't ask for specifics but you spoke to someone. You wouldn't have known about the significance of the mines if you hadn't."

She let out a scoff at the revelation she'd been going in the wrong direction, a slight 'tch' of annoyance. "Wonderful." she grumbled to herself. All that time, wasted. Was it truly wasted though if destiny had led her paws here, to these two cats who'd shared her dream?

Juniper was happy to fill in where Cyril had trailed off. "There's plenty of significant big trees in the forest. There's a sycamore tree in the middle of the oaks that reaches taller than the surrounding ones. There's a burnt sycamore tree in my marshes, but I wouldn't consider that a BIG tree."

She frowned to herself, tail flicking in the air behind her, and thought outloud. "From the sounds of it, your lead meant big trees grouped together. The only thing I can think of that fits THAT description is the big hollow in the middle of the forest. It's so overgrown with brambles and bracken and all sorts of natural defenses that no cat in living memory knows what's inside it. The only reason I even know there's trees is because they raise so far above the edges they're STILL taller than the surrounding trees."

Funnily enough if they HAD gone towards the center of the forest, Juniper probably would have come across them sooner. But then that would have left Cyril in the twolegplace by himself, and who knows how long it would have been until they came across him? "We need to go there." she decided, facing Cyril. He'd be the biggest challenge to convince, she knew, so he was the one she directed it to. "The prophecy speaks of four, and if Piper didn't dream of the cats with stars in their fur, then that means one more cat is out there. Who knows where, or how far away. They may have already found the mines and are just waiting for us! Don't you want to know what it means? Why we were picked for this? We were chosen for a reason, and I for one intend on finding out what that reason is."

Cyril directed his most scathing blink in Juniper's direction when she called him out on his minor misrepresentation of the truth, but otherwise let the comment pass. There were more important, prophecy-adjacent matters at hand, after all. "Does it matter?" he grumbled at Cecil's question. "Could've been a purple-speckled frog, and I suspect you'd find it just as trustworthy." He had the faintest hope that Cecil hadn't picked up on that last bit, but didn't worry himself about it too much; a little teasing wouldn't kill the young tom.

As annoyed as he was at being called out, Cyril did appreciate Juniper's willingness to delve further into the issue of the big trees. It had seemed such a frivolous detail to him, but she actually had good insights. He was surprised—and perhaps a little impressed, though hard-pressed would one be to get him to admit that—at how knowledgeable Juniper was about the forest, considering, based on his own admittedly limited understanding, she more often frequented the marsh. He cocked his head as she went on; he may be old, but one was never too old to learn new things.

Much to his chagrin, the discussion quickly returned to prophecy-talk. Ugh. They all sounded so determined, save for Piper, perhaps, with her relatively noncommittal response. Cecil's wide eyes staring imploringly at him certainly didn't help matters, either. Cyril let out a put-upon sigh, the air rustling unattractively as it left his throat.

"Fine," he said at last. "If only so none of you lose yourselves in the woods again." Or get led astray by purple-speckled frogs, he added glumly, in his mind.