storms make trees take deeper roots
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Post by cosmic on Feb 4, 2024 19:02:47 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/RhAX3Xd~png | creeklily i'll leave you choking on every word you left unspoken, rebuild all that you've broken |
The Stonemark was always a common place for her to go alone without the prying eyes of her clan. The she-cat knew that the historian was holding a lesson in camp today, so there would likely be no one around. In addition, it gave her time to sit and admire all of the markings along the stone walls, probably dating back to StarClan's formation, she assumed.
Creeklily carefully watched where she stepped with making her way toward a part of the Stonemark that she hadn't seen before. The whisking wind that blew against her coat made a chill run down her spine as she admired the area and its beauty. Especially during the winter. There was always whispers and conspiracies that StarClan was found in the Stonemark too, as much as they were in the Moonpool. After all, it is worshipped as much of a sacred place as there. Were there ancestors here? Did they see her? Did they know about her past?
Obviously, they did. They are StarClan. They know everything, right?
Everyone said that StarClan knows a cat's life before they are born, but how could they be so cruel to let this all happen to her? Creeklily had done everything correct to make sure she was serving her clan and ancestors. She attacked that fox that gave her an honorable name, she allowed her brother to confide in his sins and tried to steer him toward a better solution, and she defended Silktuft's body from the rogue. And this was the thanks she got? Now, Snowsong was still hot on her tail and desired nothing than to destroy her.
She still had faith in her ancestors, but all she could ask for was a moment to be able to ask them why?
Creeklily hushed her thoughts quickly though; she didn't know if the ancestors above were mind-readers. Getting inside her own mind was her worst enemy, especially with all the chaos that had happened ever since the war. The gray she-cat still wanted to admire the language of the historian today, and that was her goal.
However, as she turned a corner of one of the stone walls, the all-too-familiar sight of warm lilac came into her vision. While she tried not to bother the tom as much as she had when she was first found innocent, Creeklily knew that he was her friend. Friends don't get tired of each other and always wanted the best for each other. And that was true for her friendship with Alderbranch. He had been there for her through so much.
"It's always pleasant seeing you, Alderbranch," she started, with a short trill at the end of her sentence. A swift trot up to the taller cat as her head gave a small rub to the tom's shoulder in greeting. It was a feeling that she had become so accustomed to. The greeting toward her close friend had become an instant relief to any anxiety or troubled thoughts she was thinking. Was it the same for him?
"What's brought you to the Stonemark today? I figured you would have been pulled for another patrol this morning." Her sharp, golden eyes blinked with interest with what the tom's desire to be here was. Perhaps he saw the same thing in the Stonemark that she did. Or, with his recent weaving training, he could be looking for materials to practice, perhaps.
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Post by tor on Feb 7, 2024 14:42:41 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/Lkx6tcS/alder~png All night long, anxious thoughts nagged at his mind like a bird's beak pecking repeatedly into a hollow log. The bark of his mind splintered with each peck, cascading cracks further across his soul. They echoed. How cruel of thoughts like this to echo, to fester and feed off each other until they were that much worse in his mind, and then echo once more. It drove him to flee the warriors' den early in the morning, hopeful that a brisk walk in the late leaf-bare chill might soothe him. It didn't. No matter how far from camp he walked, or how cold the frost was on his paws, or how raw his lungs felt breathing in the morning air, Alderbranch couldn't stop his reeling mind. He felt pathetic, dragging himself further north in the territory, toward the Stonemark. His behavior wasn't becoming of a warrior. All this, just because Hailstar told him that soon, he'd be granted his first apprentice. I can't do this, Alderbranch thought, running faster now. The thorns of a nearby rose bush, speckled with future blooms, tore into his side, but he hardly noticed. I'm going to fail. I've already failed. Again and again - his thoughts spinning through his head, paired with Hailstar's words. Such a miserable way to live, burdened like this. How had he been so foolish, thinking he was getting any better? In one swift decision by his leader, a cat he trusted more than anything, Alderbranch crumbled back to his youthful self. Pathetic. Pathetic. I'm pathetic.Stars above, why hadn't Hailstar known this decision would hurt him? Alderbranch's chest crawled with the uncomfortable notion that maybe Hailstar had known. Did he just not care? Or was he trying to teach him a lesson? It made sense. No matter how many moons passed, Hailstar would always be his mentor. Would always think he knew better. Alderbranch ran faster at that thought, pushing himself until his lungs seized and constricted inside him. I can't breathe, he thought, paws slamming into the ground hard enough to hurt, his bones struggling with the shock of each stride. I can't- Ahead, the Stonemark loomed, patient and ancient and knowing. Just like that, his thoughts stilled, and Alderbranch tumbled to a stop before the carved stone. Legacy spilled across the Stonemark. MistClan's legacy. StarClan's. There was so much history before him, Alderbranch couldn't begin to figure out where to start. Could he just- He read. The historian's scratchings were understandable to him, only because of his friendship with Ravenwhisker, and the many moons he once spent here watching his friend study the practice. Slowly, his heart settled, and the panicked thoughts that drove him so far from camp became nothing more than a dull ache in the back of his mind. When Creeklily spoke, Alderbranch pleased himself by only startling a little. The sunlight was much brighter now - not the the early morning gray he originally ran out into. How long had he been here, reading silently, quelling his anxious thoughts? "Hi," he said, granting Creeklily a weak smile. Something still ached terribly in him, like his body was sore from his earlier sprint. "I have the morning free, actually. And the afternoon." No patrols until nightfall, something he was grateful for, now. "I, uh-" Creeklily didn't want to hear his woes. Alderbranch valued her friendship - hell, he fought for it, back when she was nearly expelled from their clan, and he'd fight for it again without hesitation - but could think of so few cats who would understand how his cruel mind could drive him out here when he could be better serving his clan. "I'm getting an apprentice soon," he decided to say instead. "From Hailstar's litter. I wanted to refresh myself on the Stonemark so I could answer Dewkit's questions." He tried not to look sheepish. "Apprentices always have questions, I've heard. What brought you out here?" She seemed like she was in a good mood. Alderbranch felt brighter just seeing her. "Don't tell me. You're getting an apprentice, too, and you're also embarrassingly out of date with your historian training." |
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storms make trees take deeper roots
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Post by cosmic on Feb 21, 2024 13:27:19 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/RhAX3Xd~png | creeklily i'll leave you choking on every word you left unspoken, rebuild all that you've broken |
"You lucky tom. I had to have a patrol with Hornetwing and her annoying, squeaky voice. I think I can still hear it ringing in my ears," she giggled, before offering a soft smile in return to her friend.
As the warrior began to struggle with his words, she couldn't help but find a place to settle next to him. Not far away as if they were new strangers, but not close enough to where their pelts would start to touch. As she listened to Alderbranch, it seemed like something was bothering him, but she couldn't put her paw on it. She was never really the greatest at reading emotions... just being the one having the emotions. But Creeklily wouldn't pry, that could only cause more issues. And she liked Alderbranch. Sometimes, it felt like he was the only one that truly understood her.
"You're getting an apprentice? Congratulations, Alderbranch!" Her rounded ears perked up with her excitement, as she gently pushed her paw into his shoulder. "Soon, there'll be another one of you running around here, StarClan help us." The marbled she-cat couldn't help but chuckle at her own joke. She was a genius for that one. "You're taking Dewkit? Wow, must be great to go ahead and know which apprentice it will be. Looks like you are getting a head start on lessons."
But then this statement, it made her smile fade slightly. It was still there, but it had a noticeable droop from before. "I... I wish I had the same issue as you, but I've not been approached about getting an apprentice," Creeklily mewed quietly, before her own anxiety started to grip her throat. Did Hailstar not trust her? Of course, he did. He wouldn't have sided with her during the trial. But, was there something else that was preventing her from getting an apprentice?
"Even if I was getting an apprentice," she started again, trying to hide the inner conflict in her head, "I'm not as familiar with the Stonemark as I should be. Embarrassing, I know." The she-cat scoffed as her golden eyes fell back toward the warrior. Being the leader's apprentice, he probably had to learn a lot more than the average apprentice. "I could help you, you know. You can give me a fake lesson about the Stonemark, and I'll act like a kit that hasn't even stepped outside the nursery. That way, you'll be prepared for any question the little rascal asks!"
She helps Alderbranch prepare for an apprentice, and she can finally learn something about the Stonemark. A win-win in her eyes. |
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Post by tor on Feb 25, 2024 11:06:03 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/Lkx6tcS/alder~png Alderbranch chuckled, hearing the persistent buzz of Hornetwing's voice as Creeklily complained about it. In retrospect, he wished he'd been on that patrol. Or any patrol, really. Finding solace in the Stonemark had been an unexpected relief from his anxious thoughts. Being forced onto a patrol would've been a more guaranteed relief, with the pressure of being surrounded by other warriors enough to right his thoughts. Or maybe, he thought, admiring the soft lines and mottled fur of Creeklily's profile as she sat next to him, I would've lashed out at someone who didn't deserve it. The Stonemark, at least, would stay firm under any breakdown he hate. The Stonemark didn't care about him. "Soon, there'll be another one of you running around here, StarClan help us.""Indeed," he grumbled, nauseous at the thought. Creeklily was inadvertently too close to the truth, and her words made his stomach churn. It was easy enough to distract himself, though, having already cooled his head before Creeklily showed up. Instead of his own concerns, Alderbranch frowned at his friend's disappointment. "I wish I had the same issue as you, but I've not been approached about getting an apprentice."
Did Hailstar not trust her? Did he not trust her with his kits? Creeklily was the exact sort of cat Alderbranch thought would serve well as a mentor - better than him, definitely. He hated to think it was just her reputation that kept her unassigned. And, from the look in her eyes, Creeklily hated it, too. Alderbranch shifted closer so there was far less distance between them, pressing his shoulder against hers. "I'm sure you'll be next," he said, thinking of the many other kits that would be welcomed into MistClan once the season changed. "I'll even put in a good word for you with the big guy." He winked, hoping the gesture felt half as confident as he wanted it to. "A lesson about the Stonemark?" He blinked. Though it was his excuse for coming out here, Alderbranch hadn't really been thinking about out. "Uh. Crap, I don't know." He laughed at himself, embarrassed, but not really. Not around Creeklily. "Hailstar made sure I understood this better than other apprentices," he continued, trailing his eyes along the stone until he landed on something interesting. "Plus, I was out here all the time with Ravenwhisker." His friend, among the few warriors that worked alongside the historian. "But, uh... Here we go." He stepped away from Creeklily's side to point out a portion of the wall that was older. The historian would have to refresh it soon. "This talks about Russetstar's earliest days as leader. Did you know he and Birchclaw used to hate each other?" Mirth filled his voice, unable to imagine it now. Sure, the former leader and deputy bickered from time to time, as all elders did, especially ones in love with each other. But hate? "Appointing Birchclaw was meant to relieve tensions from two factions in the clan at the time. Like a peace treaty. It stopped us from going to war, or at least, so the historian who carved this speculates." |
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storms make trees take deeper roots
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Post by cosmic on Feb 27, 2024 16:26:56 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/RhAX3Xd~png | creeklily i'll leave you choking on every word you left unspoken, rebuild all that you've broken |
Hearing the tom's gentle laugh was always enough to make any anxiety that she could be feeling wash away. It all started when Alderbranch was the one to start helping her during and after the trial, and she always felt a comforting feeling when she was near him. Creeklily owed a lot to him, she knew, and there were many times that she wondered if she would ever be enough or give enough to really show how she felt about him helping her.
Creeklily noticed the grumble of her joke about having another one of him running around, but she didn't want to push too much into it. They were friends, sure, but she wasn't sure about his comfortability level with talking about feelings. Everything was just superficial with them, having bonded out of the fact of that night.
The focus shifted toward the warrior and out of her thoughts when he scooched in close to bump her shoulder, promising to talk to Hailstar about her getting an apprentice. A relief, really, but it was just another favor that he had to do for her. The marbled she-cat wished that she could be able to do things for herself, but Silktuft's death just caused everything to go crazy. She often thought about if she hadn't been the one to find Silktuft. If she had just ignored the call or dismissed it as another animal, then this all wouldn't have happened, right? Would she still be the trustworthy, reputable warrior she longed to be?
"Thank you, Alderbranch," she pained to say, masking it with seeming desperation for a youngster to train as her own. "I just hope that I can be half the mentor that you will likely be." He had been trained by Hailstar, a seeming advantage for him to teach the youth. However, something seemed off about his should-be excitement.
The stammering of the tom made her chuckle alongside him. It was cute, for sure. She definitely caught him off guard with her request. "You gotta be ready at any moment, apprentices love questions as much as kits." Creeklily smiled, as she watched the larger cat move toward a section of the Stonemark. It was weathered down, but the marks of the ancient historians were still there. It was fascinating. She wished she had asked Brokenthorn to give her more insight to the life of a historian.
The dilute warrior listened to the lilac tom tell the story of Russetstar and Birchclaw. Clearly, she needed to brush up more on her history, as she hadn't known the facts of their life. "Really? I didn't know that," with a tilt of her head in bewilderment. "Did they have some kind of lifelong rivalry? It's interesting to think that the clan almost went to war within itself." The thick tail behind her waved across the ground in curiosity. "It helped them create this sort of peace treaty, but did they start to get along after Russetstar appointed him? With an honor of being named deputy, it would be hard to not feel some sort of gratitude and to feel as though he owed Russetstar." |
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Post by tor on Mar 8, 2024 11:06:40 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/Lkx6tcS/alder~png Reciting the notes carved into the Stonemark pulled forth Alderbranch's memory of history - some lesson Hailstar gave him when he was much younger, or maybe it was his mother. Or an elder? "It wasn't a rivalry with each other," he clarified. "From what I remember, one faction of the clan wanted to expand the territory, and another had hesitations." Expand where, he wasn't sure. The border with both clans seemed so certain. It wasn't like territory disputes were a regular part of the forest, but was that because of Russetstar and Birchclaw? Had they quelled that discontent? "As for their personal feelings..." He scanned the Stonemark again. "The historian didn't really speculate. I suppose we'd be better off asking them." He did know they oversaw MistClan for a long, long time. Longer than any other leader and deputy pair, he thought. And maybe their affection for each other was known beforehand, but it wasn't until they stepped down did they call each other mate. "Maybe he felt as though he owed Russetstar, but I think Russetstar felt the same." He followed the Stonemark a little further, until the notes trailed off. "Could you imagine a lifelong partner like that?" He thought of Ravenwhisker - not in the same way Russetstar and Birchclaw thought of each other, but at least in their friendship, nearly as old as they were. "Ah. I'm being sentimental." He grinned, then shook out his pelt, feeling lighter as he shook out drops of mist, evidence of how long he'd been sitting out here without moving. His joints were a little stiff. "Not all of us will be so lucky." He supposed he did want it, even if the thought of connecting with someone like that made him nervous. "You didn't come out here to listen to me gossip about our elders." Thinking back, he wasn't sure Creeklily really answered his question. He focused his attention on her now. The way her stripes crossed over her pretty, silver pelt reminded him of the Stonemark in a way. He could almost pretend her patterns told stories. It was easy, when he thought of the burdens she had to bear. Burdens he wished on no one else. "Is everything alright? Or did you really just want a lesson about the Stonemark?" |
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storms make trees take deeper roots
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Post by cosmic on Apr 24, 2024 13:50:20 GMT -6
#s://i~imgur~com/RhAX3Xd~png As if she was an apprentice again, her interest in Alderbranch's answers showed her genuine and authentic interest. She really wished that she would have had Brokenthorn teach her more about the Stonemark. Sure, she had some conversations about it, and Brokenthorn would refer to it if she was being rebellious about some important lesson written on the walls... but this was their history, everything that happened in the past and future were written here, or would be.
With his comment about asking the ancestors themselves, Creeklily longed for the ability to be able to talk to them. Guidance, advice, anything that could help her for the remaining moons she had in the Valley. Perhaps they could give her answers to all her problems.
"Their companionship and dedication to one another, it's honorable," she meowed softly. It caused her ears, however, to flick in irritation as she thought about her own family line. Moosespring and Troutstream were the same way, but they both had mates attached to themselves. Troutstream even had kits after his death with Irisfrost. It worried her, greatly, about how StarClan would view her for not speaking out when her brother first told her. Now, she kept it a secret.
"A lifelong partner would be nice. Someone you know you can always depend on, and someone that is always there for you, no matter what," Creeklily's golden eyes watched the tom for a brief silence, before he broke up the moment worried about getting too sentimental. She wished she could feel that way. Rather emotionless after all the events in her life, no wonder that her and Alderbranch were a good match for friendship.
"Don't worry about that with little, ol' me. Your feelings are safe with me," she gave a cheeky grin, eyes closed and all. "I don't have anyone to tell."
But then, Alderbranch circled back to her about why she was out here and how she was feeling herself. StarClan, she'd do anything to ask for another story, but he seemed set on finding out her reason to be out here. "Oh, I uh-" she began, the stammering of her words causing her eyes to shy away from him. Why was she out here?
"I wish lessons were the only reason I was out here. I just..." Creeklily looked towards the stone, her eyes looking toward the newest marks of the Stonemark. The indentions of the fresh stories made her shutter, despite the tom shielding her from what little breeze was blowing. "Do you think Hawthorntail will end up putting... my story up there?" The thought of having her trial in writing made her shutter again. After she was gone, even the future generations would judge her without knowing the full story.
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Post by tor on Apr 28, 2024 8:57:34 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/Lkx6tcS/alder~png Creeklily's stammer, though endearing, was so different from the playful way she promised his feelings would be safe that it made Alderbranch's stomach flutter with nerves. Something was wrong, wasn't it? He tried to think of all the reasons that might drive Creeklily to the Stonemark but came up blank. Had she come here in search of him specifically? That was worse, thinking of the reasons she might need him. It all pointed back to the trial. "Do you think Hawthorntail will end up putting... my story up there?" The weight behind her question washed over him like a late green-leaf breeze. She was here for the Stonemark after all, not him. The realization came with some relief, though he was still tied to her question unlike any of their other clanmates. To answer it, Alderbranch turned back to the Stonemark, wishing his training was less rusty. If he wasn't so busy learning the tricks of weaver work, he might ask Ravenwhisker to help refresh his skills. "I think... it's already there," he said slowly. Silktuft's name was carved with the dead, and not far from it was a marking he thought might mean Creeklily. Not in an accusatory way, he hoped. From what he could parse, it seemed her name was only there to explain a trial occurred. "This is Nightheart's work," he continued, admiring the difference between Nightheart and Hawthorntail's scratching. Nightheart seemed more organized, but he'd also been more experienced. "I don't know what it says exactly." They would need a historian apprentice, or even Hawthorntail, to parse it out. "But it's not much."Where was Hawthorntail, anyway? Alderbranch didn't expect him to always be at the Stonemark, but he'd been here for pretty much the whole morning without seeing the historian. "Do you want to talk to Hawthorntail?" Together, he implied. "He can tell us what it says. Maybe we can work with him to make sure the story is, y'know... truthful?" |
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