LeafClan ~ In the Heart of the Redwoods ~ (Closed)

[Willowheart]

Honeysplash "Yes." She walked over to Sparkfire and gently felt her belly. "There's four. Feels alright.' She paused. "Sparkfire, it's gonna be tricky to bear 4 kits because your'e so young, but I think you will be strong enough."

[cr0wt00th]

Sootface Sootface continued padding on, but he thought for a few moments. "Yes, but it's only for you," he replied. "It is 'When the stars form, they shall never speak of the leaf'. Decipher it by your warrior ceremony, and we'll reward you handsomely. Oh, we're here!" He spotted one of the fellow leaders. "Rake, how are you?" he asked, fake politeness in his voice.

Rake narrowed his blue eyes. "I'm... fine," he responded. "This must be our new friend." His gaze turned to Rootpaw. "Greetings. I am Rake. I was exiled from DarkClan as an apprentice, and so I changed my name. But I did nothing wrong, so I was still allowed to join StarClan."

Sootface knew the truth: that Rake (or Mousepaw) had killed his Clan's deputy and attacked a fellow apprentice before fleeing. He had formed a group of rogues that were later defeated by DarkClan. That was the battle in which he'd died.

"Do you know where Lionfang is?" Sootface asked.

"He's with Heatherclaw and Shadetail," Rake mewed.

Sootface looked down at Rootpaw. "Follow me," he ordered. (peony)

[peony]

Rootpaw dipped his head in respect to Rake. Another apprentice who should've earned his name! Rootpaw desperately hoped that he wouldn't end up in Rake's paws, but Rootpaw could respect that the young warrior named himself anyways.
As Rootpaw followed Sootface, the warrior's 'prophecy' swam in his mind. Rootpaw tried as hard as he could to decipher the prophecy, but decided that it would take time to make sense. Rootpaw obediently trailed after Sootface with eager eyes. If the prophecy is just for me, I shouldn't share it. StarClan may punish me.

cr0wt00th

[cr0wt00th]

Sootface Sootface spotted a ginger-and-white tabby tom with dark blue-gray eyes sparring with a pale brown she-cat. He was incredibly small, only the size of a kit. However, he was one of the strongest cats there.

"Shadetail, you catch that?" he asked in his young voice.

Shadetail nodded. "I want to try now. Heatherclaw, can I s-"

Sootface cleared his throat, making all three cats turn towards him. "This is Rootpaw," he introduced the apprentice. "Rootpaw, I'm sure you know Shadetail already. The long-haired molly with amber eyes is Heatherclaw, and the small tabby is Lionfang."

Shadetail's eyes widened. "What's he doing here?!" he yowled. "Hailclaw, you'd better have a good reason for inviting him."

"It was Lionfang's idea, and Rake and I agreed," Sootface calmly stated. "If you have such a problem with it, then you should leave."

Shadetail didn't say anything else. "Welcome to the team," he murmured to Rootpaw. (peony)

[🌼 Sprucetail 🌼]

Jun 25, 2018 16:42:25 GMT -5 Willowheart said:

Honeysplash "Yes." She walked over to Sparkfire and gently felt her belly. "There's four. Feels alright.' She paused. "Sparkfire, it's gonna be tricky to bear 4 kits because your'e so young, but I think you will be strong enough."

Alderpaw? cr0wt00th)

[peony]

"Thank you for inviting me, Lionfang." Rootpaw beamed at the small tabby. For such a small cat, Lionfang sure had a fierce name! Rootpaw shifted his weight from foot to foot, energized by the cats around him. Rootpaw stood as tall as he could, although his short legs still left him on the smaller size. "I'm willing to do whatever you need." Rootpaw vowed.

cr0wt00th

[cr0wt00th]

Alderpaw Alderpaw slowly and gently climbed out of Maplestorm's nest as to not wake her. He padded over to Honeysplash and Sparkfire. "Is there a chance she could die during the kitting?" he asked. "I just want to know if it's going to be too much for her to handle, because then I'd-" He interrupted himself. "No, I'm sure it'll be fine," he said, mostly to himself. "You're the medicine cat, so you'll make sure she's safe." (Willowheart , also 🌼 Sprucetail 🌼 if Spark wants to say something)

Sootface "Anything for young cats who need respect," Lionfang mewed. "Let me tell you something. I'm small, yes? Well, that's because I died as a kit. I was supposed to be an apprentice, but my Clan refused to make me one. So I left, gave myself the name Lionfang, and founded a new Clan called ForestClan. It was small, but LeafClan felt threatened by it. They seeked us out, trapped us in our own camp, and killed us all off. Rake may have said that he is in StarClan, but that's a lie. We are the Dark Forest. I know that you may have heard bad things about us, but those things only speak for a small minority of us. Most of us are just misjudged cats that StarClan hates, and so refuses to accept. Do not trust your 'ancestors', Rootpaw."

"He's right," Shadetail spoke up. "When I was being neglected and abused, StarClan never said a word to Maplestorm. Instead, Hailclaw spoke to me and told me that I truly do matter. He and everyone else here make me feel loved and important. Turn away from StarClan, Rootpaw. The Dark Forest may have its rotten apples and a weird name, but it's truly the best place to be."

Sootface looked over at Rootpaw to see how he would react. (peony)

[🌼 Sprucetail 🌼]

I won't die like my mother. "I'll be fine, Alderpaw." Her green eyes sparkled. She was excited to have her kits. She couldn't wait to meet them, but also feared for her clanmate's rejection.

cr0wt00th Willowheart

[cr0wt00th]

Alderpaw "Can I be with her when she kits?" Alderpaw asked Willowheart. "I want to be there, just in case." (Willowheart)

[peony]

Rootpaw looked at Lionfang in shock as the small tom told his story. "I... I've never heard of ForestClan." Rootpaw murmured to himself. He looked up at the cats around him- of course he knew of the Dark Forest, especially with the recent attack on LeafClan. But Rootpaw didn't recognize any of the cats before him from the battle. Why would they seek him out unless they truly wanted to help him? Maybe these cats wanted to prevent Rootpaw from the same fate. "I can't believe LeafClan did those things. And... I'm sorry." Rootpaw looked at the cats around him. "I want to make things right for you."
cr0wt00th

[cr0wt00th]

Sootface "It was DarkClan too," Sootface hissed, not helping himself. "I was taking a simple walk along the Red Stream when a patrol of five appeared. They severely wounded me before the LeafClan border patrol showed and chased them off. A former medicine cat named Willowbranch, who was a new apprentice named Willowpaw at the time, let me die. She fed me deathberries! And then she killed my son with the same method."

Lionfang nodded. "You haven't heard of ForestClan because all of us were killed," he told Rootpaw. "The LeafClan cats were too ashamed of what they'd done, so they never spoke of us again."

"Rootpaw, I'm sorry if I frightened you when I attacked Sparkpaw and Crowheart," Shadetail apologized. "But you must understand! They had neglected and abused me my entire life. I was trying to leave, but they were trying to stop me. I had to fight them if I wanted to leave." (peony)

[peony]

Rootpaw looked at Shadetail with sad eyes. He hadn't seen the cat before him since Shadepaw had left LeafClan- and now that Rootpaw thought about it, Shadetail had been trying to leave the Clan peacefully, even if Shadetail's words had been harsh. Rootpaw shifted his paws once more, an anxious habit of his. "I... I forgive you." Rootpaw eventually mustered up. "I wish we had been apprenticed together. And now you're a warrior already, and I'm still an apprentice. I'm happy for you... but it just doesn't feel fair." Rootpaw almost spat out the word. He wanted to prove himself to his Clan so badly. But now, listening to the stories of Lionfang and Sootface, Rootpaw felt anger to his own Clan. How could he live among such cruel cats? LeafClan was just a bloodline of murderers. Rootpaw's pelt felt heavy, as if weighed down by the shed blood from the past.

cr0wt00th

[cr0wt00th]

Shadetail Shadetail felt true sympathy for Rootpaw. They were more similar than he'd ever thought. "You can give yourself a warrior name, and all of us here will call you it; that's what I did," he suggested. "You could also come join Silverstar with me. I can give you the location of our camp. Believe it or not, she's not evil like LeafClanners will tell you she is. She's just stern and wants things done right. She's only ever rude to her enemies." (peony )

[peony]

Rootpaw looked at his paws, uncertain. "I don't know if I want to leave LeafClan." He meowed, frowning. "I... I want to earn my warrior name. And I want to earn the respect of my Clanmates." Rootpaw looked up at Shadetail. "Thank you for your offer, but if I left LeafClan I'd never be truly satisfied. All I want is to prove myself to my Clan." His amber gaze shifted to Sootface, and Rootpaw's eyes narrowed with determination. "But I will train with you, so that I can prove myself to my clan. And I'd like to be called Rootpaw still- so I can remind myself why I am here." Rootpaw hoped he hadn't offended the cats around him. Maybe, once he earned his full name, Rootpaw could attempt to honor the fallen cats surrounding him. Without the rank of a warrior, though, Rootpaw wasn't sure he could do much at all to help the Dark Forest cats redeem themselves.

(cr0wt00th

Ive been thinking his warrior name should be Rootshade but figured it'd be weirs for him to decide it in this moment, considering Shadetail lol)

[cr0wt00th]

Shadetail Shadetail was confused. "But wait, the cats you live with... they're awful!" he meowed. "Why would you want to stay with them?" Then, his jaw dropped. "I get it. You're planning to spy for us! You're just trying to trick us by saying all that stuff." He purred. "That's really brave of you, and I respect that," he complimented. "By the way, Hailclaw's real name is Sootface. Just keep it a secret, okay?" Suddenly, his fur stood on end. "Soot, uh... we have-"

"I told you not to call me that," Sootface reminded the rogue.

"Yes, but-"

"But it's so adorable, isn't it?" Lionfang purred, knowing that he was annoying his fellow leader.

"Lionfang, don't even start," the colorpoint warned.

"Guys-"

"It suits you so well, though!" the kit insisted.

"Guys!" Shadetail yowled, finally getting the toms' attention. "We have a visitor." He flicked his tail in the direction of some leafless trees.

Sootface narrowed his eyes. "Rootpaw, go see who it is," he whispered to the apprentice. "They're more likely to listen to you than us, as they're probably a spy from StarClan. Their cats can enter, but we can prevent them from going back." (peony)

(btw the assumption that root is there to spy is just what shade thinks lol)