Your hands protect the flames
From the wild winds around you

》》BACKSTORY

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✹ INSIDE THIS MANSION | complete
ft. dawnpaw, sunstorm •

• hemlockheart, his beloved mother, died. as dawnpaw awoke the day after her vigil, he found he didn't want to be in a world without his mother. sunstorm, of course, wouldn't have it. he roused his son and took him to the forest to track a fisher and run it off or take it down. so consumed in his grief and desperate for comfort, dawnpaw fell too easily into his father's method: fight something. kill something.

》》DEBUT

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✹ I CAN GO THE DISTANCE ✹ | complete
ft. dawnclaw, rosewhisker •

• after defecting from ridgeclan post holy war, dawnclaw has been a warrior of mistclan for several moons. finding himself worn out from the suspicious stares and rumors that he is responsible for the disappearance of irisfrost’s kits, he climbs to the very top of the the sky tree to refresh his perspective on the clans and his place in the valley. rosewhisker joins him, and she shows signs of finally warming up to him. they plan to hunt together soon, and dawnclaw is hopeful that he is being accepted into the clan.

》》THE JOURNEY - in order

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YEAR ONE

》leaf-fall

THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS | dead
ft. dawnclaw, bristleclaw •

• bristleclaw of ridgeclan is patrolling the northern river border, and it just so happens that dawnclaw is too. the former clanmates exchange tense greetings and surprisingly vulnerable conversation before dawnclaw challenges her to a friendly competition: whoever catches three fish first wins. [unfinished - it is assumed that, Dawnclaw left the interaction victorious]

✹ BROKEN PEOPLE ✹ | complete
ft. dawnclaw, irisfrost •

• it is the end of a long day for dawnclaw, closing it out with depositing fish in the fresh kill pile for the night watch – or so he thinks. as he climbs to his nest in the trees, irisfrost follows him to confront him about the rumors of his role in the disappearance of her kits. he promises with passion that he not only has nothing to do with the kitnapping, but that he is determined to find them, and believes they should push beyond borders to do so. the pair agree that they will petition hailstar for a broader search after dawnclaw's guard duty.

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE | closed - unfinished/summarized
ft. dawnclaw, bristleclaw, mushroomstar, rosewhisker •

• mushroomstar, current leader of ridgeclan, assigned himself and bristleclaw to guard the fresh bridge between ridgeclan and mistclan - the very bridge that was the catalyst for the war lead by wolfstar, former ridgeclan leader. dawnclaw too was assigned to guard the bridge with rosewhisker under hailstar’s orders. tensions flared, accusations thrown between the two she-cats, while dawnclaw and mushroomstar tried to maintain the uneasy stalemate. bristleclaw and rosewhisker clashed, and before either tom could gain the upper hand on either she-cat, they engaged. wounds were exchanged on all sides, but it came to a shocking end. mushroomstar pinned dawnclaw to the ground, triggering flashbacks of the holy war. dawnclaw kicked too hard at mushroomstar's belly, ripping it open, spilling out his life. the leader awoke with one less life, and dawnclaw was pushed back home by his friend, covered in his former clanmate's blood.

SMALL TALK ✹ | complete
ft. dawnclaw, hailstar •

• immediately following the skirmish at the bridge, dawnclaw makes a full battle report to hailstar - admitting the part he played, that he killed mushroomstar. he suggests posting a new guard patrol, as his mistake could be taken as an act of war, and hailstar takes this into consideration. dawnclaw then asks to be allowed to attend his first gathering as a mistclanner to face his actions with strength. hailstar reluctantly agrees. just before dawnclaw departs, he brings up searching for irisfrost's kits outside their borders - hailstar agreed to consider this, as well.

LIKE A COMPLETE UNKNOWN | complete
ft. gathering •

• it was time for the gathering following the taking of mushroomstar's first life. dawnclaw was permitted to go — a show of solidarity and trust within mistclan ranks, and to face the problem himself. mushroomstar was quick to announce what dawnclaw had done at the bridge, accusing hailstar of warmongering and harboring a traitorous murderer. dawn, despite knowing he should probably keep his damn mouth shut, defended himself. he refused to apologize for defending himself, and not-so-covertly threw the accusation of war-mongering back at mushroomstar.

WHEN I GROW UP ✹ | complete
ft. dawnclaw, irisfrost •

• dawn has finally taken it upon himself to explore the stonemark, yearning for a connection to the clan he's called home since just after the holy war. irisfrost finds him here, and after he reports what he discussed with hailstar, she surprises him by requesting that he teach her combat. he agrees, and suggests they begin right then. as they spar, he confides some of his hardships in ridgeclan, and he gets out of her who it is she hates most. they agree that swanflight could be the culprit, and they decide together to relaunch the investigation, and to re-question everyone.

WHAT DOES NOT WILLING SHINE | closed
ft. dawnclaw, wispfang •

• whether through curiosity or seeking divine guidance, dawnclaw finds himself in the moon caves. wispfang has discovered him. wisp prods at dawn's dedication and loyalty to mistclan while he states his war-hungry desire. dawn, while weary, gave wisp the benefit of the doubt and confided in him that he believed the kits kidnapping to have been aided by someone within the clan. they both agreed to keep a paw on the pulse, and parted amicably.

EITHER YOU RISE OR YOU FALL ✹ | dead
ft. dawnclaw, milkpaw •

• bypassing the sky tree, dawn takes his apprentice, milkpaw, into the misty forest for battle training. in the wake of what he's done, he's more driven than ever to have milkpaw in fighting — no — survival shape. he gets her into shape over training, but she doesn't seem to grasp what it means to be serious about caring for her clan.

BLOOD RUNS RED | dead
ft. dawnclaw, sunstorm •

• dawn regrets taking the extra sunhigh patrol when he encounters his father at the border. still, he can't resist the opportunity to ask about his sister. he is stonewalled with guilt over leaving her, and dawn looses his cool, snarling hateful words and accusations.

》leaf-bare

VIVA LA VIDA | complete
ft. gathering •

• after the last gathering, dawnclaw was apprehensive about this one. still, he wanted to attend, always wanting a chance to run into his sister, even if he runs the risk of running into his father. his worries ended up unfounded — laurelfern stole the show, announcing that she and a large chunk of ridgeclan were succeeding to form a faction that would be called the kingdom. dawnclaw was stunned as he watched several cats from all the clans join her group as they left the gathering, leaving it shambles.

✹ EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY ENEMY ✹ | complete
ft. dawnclaw, hailstar •

• dawn was called upon to patrol with hailstar on the prarieclan border. intending to talk to him about the kits, dawnclaw started with a sensitive topic: ridgeclan. after the incident at the border, he was sure war was on the horizon. he pushed for increased security, even a new permanent guard post in the treeline by the bridge. but hailstar disagreed, with sound reason. dawnclaw became frustrated, but held his tongue, choosing to trust and respect hailstar's choice. he finally asked him if he and irisfrost could expand their search for the kits, and this, hailstar gave his blessing to.

✹ BURY THE CASTLE ✹ | dead - summarized
ft. dawnclaw, spottedpaw •

• dawn, terrible hunter that he is, got bitten by a squirrel. he seeks out lotusfire, but is pleased to find the medicine cat's more palatable apprentice, spottedpaw, instead. she applies a poultice to his wound, and proceeds to ask him about ridgeclan. (c)

ANCIENT FAITH KNOWS THAT HELL IS HERE | complete
ft. dawnclaw, goosefire •

• dawn has noticed that his fellow ridgeclan deserter is not as invested in their new kin as he has been. he's decided to make conversation, and perhaps discover some new information about the kits. they end up having a spar, for old times sake, and dawn wins with teeth on goose's neck. while dawnclaw couldn't bring himself to trust or like the old tom who'd been friends with his father... he couldn't deny how good it felt to fight with a RidgeClanner again.

✹ OFFER IT A SOUL ✹ | complete.
ft. dawnclaw, irisfrost •

• dawnclaw, struck by a wave of grief and insecurity, finds himself in the mooncave, entering with reverence. ever pious, he prays to starclan — to his mother. he hadn't planned to ask iris to meet him here, but he needed to talk to her and much as he needed to talk to starclan. they'd been given permission to expand the search for the kits beyond the border. when she arrived, however, conversation didn't begin there. dawn and iris connected more than ever, spilling their hearts to each other, promising each other that no mask would be worn, at least when they were together. and that they would claw their way back into the light, together. they remained there for a time, pelts pressed together while snow drifted through the shafts of feeble light in the cave.

》new-leaf

I COULD DIE FOR THIS REVELATION ✹ | active
ft. dawnclaw, irisfrost, sanguine •

• with permission from hailstar, dawnclaw and irisfrost leave early in the morning to head for the kingdom border, hoping to meet a patrol who could help them in their search for the kits. while they wait, dawnclaw prompts a spar, preferring to grapple in combat training than grapple with his budding feelings for her.

FUTURE SO BRIGHT IT'S BURNING | link: active
ft. dawnclaw, hawthorntail •

• dawnclaw, always awed by the stonemark, has decided to walk through it again, finding it a calming place. this time, he runs into hawthorntail, whom he never typically sees. with clumsy signing, he explains his fascination with the marks to them, and kindly, they offer to teach him.

AS THE WORLD CAVES IN | active
ft. dawnclaw and duskfang •

• after the gathering, dawnclaw takes it upon himself to patrol the forest. just in case. he can't believe for it to be anything but divine intervention from starclan that he'd made such a decision, because he does find a ridgeclanner... and it's his sister. duskfang has fled ridgeclan, her final straw being the large slash over her eye, a gift from their father. dawnclaw immediately is in action, leading his twin through the forest and to camp, where lotusfire or spottedpaw can tend to her.

BEEN A STRANGER LATELY | active
ft. dawnclaw, shadowgaze •

• during the final freeze in the valley, all the water has frozen solid enough to walk on. for the first time since the war, all the clans gather to play games and converse in a daylight gathering on the ice. watching their apprentices play, dawnclaw and shadowgaze sit on the ice and share their desires for the clans to be united again.

WHEN ATLAS DROPS THE WORLD ✹ | active
ft. dawnclaw, milkpaw •

• dawnclaw brings milkpaw to the stonemark, where he prepares to break the difficult news: she would remain in training, and would not be getting her warrior name with her brother.

✹ THE DEVIL & THE HUNSTMEN ✹ | active
ft. dawnclaw, grackletongue, mapletail, goosefire •

• trying to beat the storm, briarpelt assigns dawn, grackle, and maple on a hunting patrol. dawnclaw, knowing just how bad he is at hunting, suggest fishing — maybe even a contest to see who could catch the most before the storm hit them. grackle, of course, says "i'm good," and wanders off to hunker down while maple and dawn get the job done. unfortunately alone, grackle catches goosefire stuffing prey full of deathberries... and goosefire attacks.

THREAD NAME | active, inactive, or complete.
ft. [cat name(s)] •

• brief summary of the thread.

Icarus is flying too close to the sun
And Icarus' life, it has only just begun