Chamrosh wrote: [color=transparent]xxxxOnce word of the new queen reached Heronstar’s ears, it took barely a moment for her mind to be resolved. It was her instinct to think cautiously, that was true, but she severely doubted that a lone female whose priorities would almost certainly be minding her kits would be any significant threat to her warriors, even if she was aggressive. More importantly, her cautious mind was playing ahead to issues that would only come to plague Gustclan as the next generation took over leadership. But she didn’t want to phrase her concerns. Phrasing them aloud would only inform other cats of Gustclan’s vulnerability; either encouraging panic or treachery.
xxxxShe spared a quick look at her mate and deputy, and the quick nod in return confirmed her thinking. Moons of being mates, and of being the leaders of the clan (leaders, for she had spent long enough in the nursery during her leadership that Chubtail really did deserve some credit for being able to step in) had allowed them both a very accurate model of how the other thought, and so they really could have conersations just by meeting each other’s eyes if they wanted.
xxxx"Treat it as high priority to meet them. Make sure there are enough warriors going so as to be able to ensure a victory if a battle starts, but also to ensure that any kits can be safely transported. Make sure that you only take those with a peaceful temperament; we don’t want any aggression to feel justified, or worse yet, necessary. It is better to have too few going than to force a fight. Don’t take Bugleclaw or Myrtleclaw.”
xxxxShe knew that Chubtail would nod understandingly before leading the others out of the leaders den, she knew him too well to not know that. As they left, she tucked her paws under her chest, hoping that this wouldn’t result in a kit dying in the thick snow. Hopefully sending no –claw cats would help signal she meant no harm.
xxxxIt was easy for them to make decisions for this queen, here in the warm, both literally and by being surrounded by family, but out there, on your own, having to care for young kits in the freezing cold… How can one who’s warm understand one who’s cold? Who could know how this would go? Heronstar just hoped the queen wouldn’t reject their offer for clan life.
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xxxxMosquitokit had watched how her mother groomed for as long as she had lived, and had also learned that absent mindedly grooming between your toes seemed to be a good way to show mild disdain for whatever was going on around you. Presently she was grooming between her toes (despite what her mother said about her just ruffling the fur up the wrong way with what she was doing; she
did know how to groom herself, and she
was doing it properly).
xxxx"I am the mighty Lobsterclaw! No wait, Lobsterstar, leaders are always –stars right? I’m Lobsterstar, and I will defeat you!”xxxx"No, I’m leader, I’m Pheasantstar. You’re the apprentice.”xxxx"Why do I need to be defeated?” Camberkit had noticed how silly his siblings’ bickerings were, but hadn’t commented on it, so in Mosquitokit’s eyes, he was participating just as fully.
xxxx"Because you’re being one of those things Moraine told us about. Gul… Gulah... Gla-?”xxxx"Glaciers.” Mosquitokit corrected her sister, in a somewhat know-it-all tone.
xxxx"Yes, one of those, a gulasser-"xxxx"Glacier.”xxxxPheasantkit shot Mosquitokit a
look for correcting her.
"Guhlaysser, and Moraine said they eat kits, so we need to kill them so that we can protect Gustclan’s kits.” Moraine had indeed taught them about glaciers. Despite Heronstar’s early promise about never putting Moraine in charge of kit minding, it had happened, somehow. Moraine had not mentioned anything about eating kits, needing to kill glaciers, or even how glaciers could be killed, but she had mentioned that they did not live anywhere near Gustclan. Somehow three of the kits had entirely the wrong take-aways from Moraine’s folklore.
xxxxMosquitokit rolled her eyes.
“You three weren’t listening at all, were you? Glaciers are meant to be enormous, the size of most clan territories at the very least, and the actual monster is more a swarm of small monsters, with an enormous self-made shell of ice around themselves. Two cats – even a -claw cat and a leader” (the tone of Mosquitokit’s voice made it clear that she didn’t think those really made any significant difference to fighting ability when compared to a creature thousands of times the size of even their father)
“Aren’t going to be able to stand a chance against something that can wear down a whole rock as big as this bit of camp to be smooth in a fight.”xxxxLobsterkit and Pheasantkit looked at her sceptically.
“I don’t think you were paying enough attention.” Mosquitokit tried her best to look even more disdainful, but it’s a hard look for a kitten, especially her age, to pull off.
xxxx"Yeah, Moraine said Guhlayshee-heres only attack cats that wonder away from the clan, so if the whole clan is fighting, then they won’t attack, duh.”xxxx"You really weren’t paying any attention were you? If that plan went wrong – and it would – that would just mean the whole clan dies out! A good leader doesn’t go out to deliberately pick fights with the most impressive opponent, do they? Any cat willing to throw away 9 Starclan-given lives, purely for their own honour, quite frankly deserves to have them taken away, whether or not that makes them look “lame” or “dull”.”xxxx"Moskito, honey, how about you stop flea-picking for your siblings and just suggest something you actually want to play?” Argusheart suggested, hoping that at some point one of her children’s games
wouldn’t result in Mosquitokit giving her a ton more grooming of her to do. She could tell from the looks Boulderdash gave her kits, that she was dreading how Mosquitokit would criticise all the games of any younger kits within the nursery. It wasn’t hard to guess how this loner female would feel about them, too.
xxxxMosquitokit wasn’t helped by the contrast between her appreciation of accuracy, and her more ambitious siblings just wanting to learn to be the best warrior so they could someday be leader, although Camberkit would probably have preferred Mosquitokit’s ideas of games to always being the target. And this would go on for at least another 4 moons. Argusheart was not looking forward to all the fights she would inevitably have to break up between her kits.
---
xxxxThere is a point where you will suddenly realise something about yourself if you are exposed to the right stimuli. Shellcloud and Nettleflower were spending yet more time working out how Nettleflower was going to communicate now (Shellcloud had always considered her a friend, at the very least, and he was one of the few cats with the patience to sit with her and work everything out before they were ready to announce how their form of silent communication would work. It would be useful to the whole clan in order to be more sneaky, so of course, they’d decided to turn it into a full mode of communication of its own right).
xxxxEverything was going as usual, sitting up on the flat surface the humans had had while they’d still occupied the dens, with thin, white fur, spread and draped on top. Of course, it now had a good variety of cat hairs and muddy paw prints, but to a human observer, it was reminiscent of the sheets used to cover the furniture of the deceased. To the cats, it had no such meaning.
xxxxTheir attentions were briefly wrested due to the noise of the kits barely a few fox-lengths away, and Shellcloud saw her heart melting in just memory of their cuteness, felt it himself from her… Shellcloud looked into the nursery from the angle he was at, to see Argusheart nuzzling Bugleclaw as he came to make a fuss of his kits again for what felt like the thousandth time.
xxxxNettleflower tapped the table quickly, flicked her tail, and wiggled her ears in exactly the right way to say;
We are like them. Not “Are we like them?” There was no hint of uncertainty. And it was fact, wasn’t it? Shellcloud was terrible at expressing himself emotionally, or really, at all, to most cats, and terrible at deciding how he felt about others, but as soon as Nettleflower said (signed?) it, he knew she was right.
---
xxxx Nettleflower shivered as she stepped out into the snow. The white layers came up to her knees, almost to her stomach as she stepped out onto it. Moving quickly kept it below her, but it was still icy cold against her paw pads. As Firepath followed her out onto the snow through the fin to access the dens, he winced, pulled his paws up and complained about how fire and ice shouldn’t go together. Unlike him, though, she couldn’t. She suffered silently as the ice bit into the skin of her pads.
xxxxPearstone came next, his thick fur keeping him warm everywhere but his eyes, nose and feet, and Nettleflower could see that he had at least the manners not to complain with the thickest fur of the patrol. In truth, he had the manners not to complain about most things.
xxxxChubtail came last, shivering violently in his short, thin coat, and seeming to have delayed in a failed attempt to brace himself for the cold. He didn’t hide how cold he felt, unlike Pearstone, but as a deputy, he had to maintain a certain dignity under discomfort, and so, much like Nettleflower, didn’t breathe a word.
xxxxChubtail lead the way for the patrol, having been on the patrol that found this queen first, and knowing the route, but Nettleflower was going to take the lead as they approached. They’d brought a small food offering, so that Nettleflower wouldn’t need her non-present words to declare herself a friend. The plan was that a lone queen would be more trusting of a cat who was willing to help her look after her kits; but also, that as a queen minding kits in these conditions, she’d probably be needing the food, both for strength and to ensure she didn’t need to leave her kits for long to hunt so soon.
xxxx Nettleflower, hadn’t voiced her doubts, nor complained; she couldn’t. And even if she could, she almost certainly wouldn’t, because she loved kits, and was happy to be given the opportunity to make a fuss of them.
---
xxxxMoraine looked longingly after her friend (and hopefully soon, something else as well), Pearstone, as he vanished behind the fin, and it swung wildly after him. Chubtail eyed her knowingly.
xxxx"You really should just ask him to be your mate, Moraine. I know he looks blind to these things, but he’s probably just too nervous you’ll reject him to show otherwise, and too polite to want to force you into a compromising situation of rejecting him. It’s just the way of his type.”xxxx"Are you wro- I mean, you’re wr-" Chubtail cocked his eyebrows, calling out her attempted lie. Moraine sighed “You think he actually wants that?”
xxxx"I can’t read minds, but I can read faces. He’s very fond of you. I can’t guarantee anything, but I know he won’t be mad for asking. Trust me. It benefits us all for you two to get on with becoming mates as you’ve clearly been wanting to do since you first met.” And as soon as he’d said that, the deputy vanished through the entrance, biting back a loud gasp at the freezing cold.
xxxxMoraine was a little embarrassed about how obvious her affections must be to everyone else. It really would be better off to get on with it, wouldn’t it, if only so that that embarrassment could end sooner. Yes. Okay. She would do this as soon as possible after the patrol returned, before things became too hectic to do it.
[Chubtail, Pearstone, Nettleflower and Firepath go on patrol; to invite the queen and her kits into Gustclan (and then to help transport the kits safely)]
[Sparrowfoot, Lobeliafur, Moraine and Martinwhisker go hunting]
[Shellcloud and Nettleflower become mates; no kits yet]
[Boulderdash, Bugleclaw and Barnfish stay in camp]
[Harrierpelt stays in camp to mind his patients]
[Argusheart stays in camp to mind the kits; Pheasantkit, Mosquitokit, Lobsterkit, and Camberkit]
[Osierfang and Merlinpaw, Shellcloud and Langoustinepaw, Droseratail and Vendacepaw, Myrtleclaw and Ploverpaw and Heronstar and Cicelypaw go training]
[Gustclan consumes 1 squirrel and 1 big fish – 5 portions]