savannahssu

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @PrankFox @The Elvenqueen @solokolos @Hazelrah

As Maplestream raced urgently back to camp, she began to wonder if leaving camp without warning her Clanmates the way she did was a good idea. She knew the camp was vulnerable right now with their medicine cat and leader gone, but she needed to make sure the journey to the Moonpool was going to be safe for Fernstar. Stonefall could watch over camp with Duskwing and Spidernose right? She knew Moosepaw was only an apprentice but he was big and would make a formidable opponent in the event of a battle. Honeypaw was, well. . . small. She was sure she hadn't been gone that long, and maybe no cat had missed her yet. As she exited part of the denser forest on the edge of WillowClan territory, she started being able to hear the cold, roaring rapids in the distance. She winced and her skin jumped to life as her pads touched the bone chilling cold of the slabs of stone bordering the water. Anxiety prickled her pelt as she realized how slick the surface of the rocks were. It was the dead of night and every inch of the forest was shrouded in snow and ice. If she slipped and fell into the rapids, she would almost surely die.

She stopped in her tracks as she caught the scent of Sunfur and Stormheart laced along the rocks. Did they come looking for me? She could tell the scent was recent, and she wondered if they were still wandering the forest searching for her. She lifted her head and called out through the silence of the forest. "Sunfur? Stormheart? Can you hear me?" When she got no response, she picked up her pace and continued towards camp. When she finally reached the territory nearest to willowClan's camp, her heart began to race when she realized the strange scents she had smelled earlier had grown more than twice as strong. Was the camp in danger? Had the Clan been invaded? There was no more time to waste. She was certain her Clanmates were in danger, and she suddenly hated herself for leaving camp without Stonefall's permission and without warning. If there's been a battle if will be my fault. With the force of a cat twice her size, she burst through the dense undergrowth at the camp's entrance and scanned the edges of camp, her thoughts racing with panic. But she realized, the camp was quiet. Scanning the edges of the camp, she noticed Stonefall heading towards the nursery, three cats she had never seen before in tow. Were these the strange cats she had scented on the way here? What did they tell Stonefall? She tried to relax her haunches and urgently padded up to Stonefall. With a more than obvious cautious look at the three strangers, she blurted out, "Stonefall! I'm sorry I snuck away from camp, but there's something important I need to discuss with you, right away."

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @Shadow Dragon

Being able to see the sacred place her medicine cat was leading her made Fernstar's stomach turn with nervousness, but remembering why she was here gave her the strength of a badger as she ascended up the giant rocks, getting closer and closer to StarClan; to her ancestors. Before she knew how long they had been climbing, she was already clearing the last ledge that separated them from the Moonpool. Feeling a little unsure of herself, she flicked her tail towards the jagged crack in the mountain, signaling for Blackpelt to enter first. When they had been completely swallowed by the mountain, Fernstar noticed that almost every shred of moonlight had disappeared. Her paws faltered on the uneven ground and she stumbled, barley catching herself before her muzzle hit the cold stone. Straining her hearing in compensation for her other senses, she began to hear the faintest trickling of water a few tree lengths ahead of them. The cave began to brighten, almost in a curtain like fashion and moonlight spilled onto the stone leading up to the Moonpool. She slowly approached the edge of the pool and when she lifted her head, she was greeted with an awe inspiring swath of stars.

Often nights after her Clanmates had nestled into their dens for the evening, in the silence of the forest Fernstar would sit atop the Highstump in the center of camp and gaze up at the stars, trying so hard to connect with the ancestors her mother had spoken so highly of when she was a kit. These cats with the stars in their pelts had shaped what Clan life had become for the five Clans by the lake all those moons ago; and she wanted nothing more than to understand and have their blessing to be a leader. Drawing in a long breath and forcing the fur on her pelt to lie flat, she gazed across the pool at Blackpelt and sunk down into a crouching position, as close to the water as she could get. "Blackpelt? What happens now?. . ."

The Rise of WillowClan

Attention!

Hey guys I know it's my turn to post and I promise I'll get one up in the next couple days. Let's be honest probably more than one haha life has been kind of draining for me the last week and I haven't had the energy to write the really long post that this point in the story needs. So just hold out for a few more days then I'll pick things up again :)

The Rise of WillowClan

Attention!

@solokolos@PrankFox[@Elvenqueen]@Hazelrah@Bartimaeus

Just to let everyone know, when Fernstar has her nine lives ceremony in StarClan, I am actually going to write out the entire ceremony in detail. It will be a long post and also very lore-heavy. So I hope you will all find it interesting. I just wanted to warn everyone so you aren't suddenly confronted with a wall of text haha. I'm definitely looking forward to writing it!

The Rise of WillowClan

@Silentfeather Take the character sheet format from the hider in the first OOC post with an image of what your cat looks like then PM it to me and I'll look it over. Sound good?

The Rise of WillowClan

@Silentfeather Actually applications are supposed to come to me through my private messages lol

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @Shadow Dragon

Fernstar's fur stood on end at Blackpelt's words, not out of fear but out of awe. Her mother had never mentioned any cats named Graystripe or Silverstream, but she knew they must be important if they were escorting her to her nine lives ceremony. Maybe she would meet them when she spoke with StarClan. . . Redirecting her thoughts back to Blackpelt, she tried to understand what it must feel like to live with such a thing. She didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse but she knew of course that it affected him. But he was her medicine cat and aside from herself, the most important member of the Clan. She quickened her pace to catch up to the small lithe tom and flicked his shoulder with the tip of her tail, demanding he listen. "I understand you being wary of telling any cat something of this magnitude Blackpelt. But I'm your leader and everything my Clanmates have to say can and should be said. I'm not saying you have to meow to every cat in the Clan about the dead Warriors you see, but you have huge potential to serve your Clan in very important ways because of what StarClan has given you." She padded in front of him, blocking his path forward and locked her eyes on him, trying to convey an air of authority but not leaving out her compassion. "Please; from now on if you receive any messages from the Warriors who walk among StarClan, come directly to me. As leader of this Clan, I need to be prepared for anything, and you're the only cat who can help me do that." She got to her paws once again and began trotting in the same direction they had been traveling. She wasn't sure exactly how far they had gone, but she knew looking up at the sky that the moon was almost fully risen, and they needed to be there soon. With a sense of urgency, she raised her voice and asked, "How much further is it? The moon is almost completely risen; I'm worried we won't get there in time!"

The Rise of WillowClan

@Hazelrah You can either post as Honeypaw or wait until Felix, Otis and Heather speak again. ALSO after scrolling through the recent IC posts, I was noticing something. I have been the only one centering my posts and it started to bother me maybe a little more than it should. . . xD So if people can remember, center your posts so my eyelids can stop twitching xD

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @PrankFox

Sunfur furrowed his brow in thought and shook his head at Stormheart's suggestion about using Maplestream as leverage against their leader. "That wouldn't make any sense. These strangers have never been in our territory before, let alone near our camp. We obviously would have scented them or seen them. So how could they know Fernstar, or that WillowClan exists at all? These cats are clearly new to this area and are probably lost not aggressive." Turning back to Stormheart, he padded forward back towards the spot where they had first smelled the scent. He bent his head towards the ground, looking closely for tufts of fur or anything that would indicate a struggle between their Clanmate and these strangers. Like he suspected, he found nothing. He had a hunch. "Let's head back to camp. We've been gone long enough and having strangers in our territory with so few Warriors at camp makes my fur stand on end. We can only hope Maplestream knows her way back, and if she isn't back at camp soon, then we'll take Moosepaw and Duskwing out for a second patrol at sunrise to find her. Let's go." Nudging his Clanmate with his broad shoulder muscle, he began to trot apprehensively back in the direction of camp. He wondered how far Fernstar and Blackpelt had gotten in their journey to the Moonpool. They would need to be back soon.

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @PrankFox

Sunfur lashed his tail in confusion while surveying the land around them, picking up scents anywhere he could and scanning the terrain for any signs of battle or other danger. "I can't tell you what in the name of StarClan she was doing out here, or who these strange cats are. I've certainly never smelled their scent before, and I've never encountered any other cats in this forest." Not being able to decide what they should do next, he turned to Stormheart and asked, "What should we do? Fernstar told us not to come back to camp until sunrise, or when we found Maplestream. But the scent of strange cats so close to our territory is a possible threat to the Clan." He hoped Stormheart would have a suggestion of what they should do. Spontaneous strategic planning had never been one of Sunfur's strengths, and he tended to rely on his Clanmates to make decisions in important times. It wasn't that he was incompetent, just unsure of himself and if he would make the best choice for the Clan if the decision fell in his paws. Suddenly he noticed that a section of bushes just a few tail lengths away looked like it had been pushed down, most likely by cats walking through it multiple times. He carefully began padding towards it, his fur standing on end. When his head emerged into the center of the bush, he found a patch of wet, cold mud and a large pile of leaves. They were also flattened, like some cat had made a nest with them. He pulled his head out of the bush and called over his shoulder to Stormheart, "Stormheart come over here, you have to see this." While his Clanmate padded towards him, Sunfur tried to put his paws in the position of whoever these strange cats were. Maybe they were loners making their way through the forest and had stopped to rest here? Or they could possibly be kittypets from the nearby twoleg village looking for adventure in the depths of the wild. Maybe he was being to softhearted. Either way, these cats were unknown and to nearby the WillowClan camp for his comfort. The Clan was vulnerable right now with no leader or medicine cat in the middle of leafbare. This situation needed to be sorted out.