AuroraClan of ClanGen

“Twilightpaw! Myrtlepaw! Valleypaw!” The clan cheered, and the newly-made apprentices ducked their heads in embarrassment. Their mother, Branchwing, had an expression of pride on her dappled face as she lifted her chin, calling out her kits’ new names.

Anyway, AuroraClan was lucky to have more apprentices. It didn’t matter that they were half-clan, and that their mother, Branchwing, was a former kittypet. Most of the young cats in the clan weren’t fully clanborn, including himself, and it didn’t matter. AuroraClan needed more cats just in case they ever had to defend themselves against another clan. The warrior code could make a few exceptions.

“I’ll be the best medicine cat you’ve ever seen.” Twilightpaw vowed, gazing intently at her mentor, Streaktail. “I’ll do everything you tell me to do.”

Her sister, Myrtlepaw, didn’t say anything, but her dark cobalt eyes coldly observed her clanmates as she recovered from her embarrassment. Her mentor, Floodnut, couldn’t help but feel a jolt of unease at the sudden lack of emotion in his apprentice’s eyes. He was honoured to have been picked to mentor someone, but he was slightly unsure whether he was the right choice for Myrtlepaw… he would’ve preferred to mentor Valleypaw instead, as he was very insecure and would go well with a mentor who had an adventurous streak. However, Anttail had been chosen to mentor the young tom, and Floodnut couldn’t argue with Leopardstar’s decisions.

——-

Rimefern brought a single kitten back to camp, but refused to talk about their origin.

Whirlspark had just returned from a border patrol with Weaseldaisy and Myrtlepaw when the camp entrance rustled behind them and Rimefern padded in, his tail twitching nervously. Something small dangled from his jaws.

“Rimefern? What- is that a kit?” Ramwhisper stared at his brother in surprise, halting in front of him with his mouth gaping open. His amber eyes widened in confusion.

Several other clanmates began to gather around the young warrior, murmuring amongst themselves when they realised that Rimefern was, in fact, carrying a tiny kitten. Whirlspark pricked her ears curiously and turned around, facing him. He put the kitten down at his paws before looking up to speak, glaring at anybody who got too close. Where did that kit come from? Whirlspark peered at it, thinking.

“Rimefern, what is this?” Leopardstar stalked forward, and the crowd of cats parted as he approached. His eyes of sunlit ice gleamed dangerously. “This kitten… whose is it and why have you brought them here?”

Rimefern lifted his chin defiantly, sweeping his tail protectively around the kit. His pale blue eyes were the exact same shade as Streaktail’s, however they glinted with more bold determination and ambition than his father’s ever would. “This is my son, Nectarkit. He’s a part of AuroraClan now.”

He was met with howls of shock, and Streaktail in particularly looked the most affected, staring at his son with troubled eyes. Whirlspark glanced nervously at her sister, Dewpetal, and was relieved to see that she was staring at Rimefern with empathy in her different coloured eyes. It was obvious that, right now, it didn’t matter where a kit came from, as long as one parent was from AuroraClan.

“We can’t accept this kit!” Anttail howled, glaring at Rimefern. “It’s against the warrior code!”

“Why not?” Whirlspark whipped around to face her. “You do know that your own apprentice is half-clan, right? We can’t judge a cat by their birth! It would be so wrong to turn the kit away.” She added, glancing at Rimefern, feeling the warmth of sympathy in her chest. Instead of confident, he now looked deeply troubled, and she wished she could press against him and tell him she would support him no matter what. While they weren’t close friends or anything like that, she knew it must’ve taken a lot of courage to face Leopardstar.

Anttail faced her angrily. “We already have enough half-clan cats and cats with outsider blood! Your generation needs to be the generation that finally follows the warrior code… anyway, there’s plenty of mate options here in AuroraClan for you younger cats!”

For a moment, Leopardstar had an expression of uncertainty, and Weedpatch padded forward stiffly, standing beside their leader.

“Rimefern…” Whirlspark noticed there was a hint of anger and hurt in the depth of her blue eyes. “You broke the warrior code by having a kit with someone who is not an AuroraClan cat. You will be punished for this, just to make that clear.” He nodded, meeting her gaze steadily. “Now, I guess the kit can stay here in AuroraClan. What do you think, Leopardstar? Why turn down another future warrior?”

He paused, glancing at his deputy. Every cat seemed to stop what they were doing to hear his reply. And when he finally did speak, his voice was firm and traced with a flicker of annoyance.

“Okay, Nectarkit can stay.”

——-

Lowsky’s poor mangled tail is swollen and hot to the touch, and Silvermoon searches the herb stores for those that fight infection.

“Hm.. marigold… where is the marigold..” Silvermoon muttered to herself. “And some chervil and horsetail. Gosh, why does Streaktail keep forgetting to seperate the herbs after he uses them?” The herb supply was almost empty, and she felt her chest tighten anxiously. She should’ve gone on a gathering patrol yesterday, but had ended up having to stay in camp after Chasmkit had almost been carried off by a hawk. Luckily, Primrosefleck had saved him before the hawk could carry him into the air, but he had a large wound across one cheek that had needed treating straight away.

She sighed, then stopped herself, knowing that she couldn’t let her patients know how tired and irritated she was with them all. Why couldn’t every cat just be more responsible, like her?

“Tired?” Silvermoon jumped at the sound of Branchwing’s raspy voice. The tortoiseshell she-cat was sick with greencough, and so she’d been assigned to sleep in the most isolated nest in the medicine den to make sure it didn’t spread. “You… need to rest.. you’ve worked.. hard.” Every word was an effort, as she had to pause to cough in between.

“I’m fine.” Silvermoon didn’t have time to rest. Raccoonpoppy and Hollykit both had mild headaches and Streaktail was tending to them, but she had to still take care of Branchwing, Chasmkit, and Lowsky. Chasmkit was sleeping peacefully, and the wound on his face had already stopped bleeding. Branchwing was weak, but she seemed to be slowly getting better, however Lowsky’s tail had become swollen and hot to the touch, meaning that it was now infected. It was unfortunate and a slight shock, because she’d been so sure that it was finally beginning to heal.

Branchwing let out an uncertain murmur, then rested her chin on the edge of her nest, her cobalt eyes - identical to Myrtlepaw’s - drifting shut as she began to softly snore.

Both Chasmkit and Lowsky were still sleeping, and now there was finally a calm sense of peace in the medicine den, allowing Silvermoon to clear her mind. She continued preparing a herb mixture to fight the infection in Lowsky’s tail, her ears twitching.

There was something though, that still plagued her mind. She’d had a dream last night, and she was sure that it was a warning of some kind. There’d been two cats, that’s most of what she remembered. Two cats facing each other in the darkness of the night, and blood had been spilled.

Silvermoon shivered, wondering what StarClan was trying to warn her about.

——-

Extra events:

Leopardstar was caught sharing prey with a kittypet, who was chased off by a patrol

Weedpatch was seen playing with a kittypet over the border

Silvermoon is scolding Whirlspark

Whirlspark appreciates how Rimefern always seems to ask how they're doing

Stonebeetle turned his head, keeping his paws tucked underneath him as he focused on Lowsky, who was crouched in the nest next to his. The medicine den was dimly lit at dusk, but he could still make out the shape of the other cat beside him.

“How are you feeling?” The older warrior murmured, feeling a pang of sympathy for the young tom. “Is your tail still hurting?”

Lowsky didn’t respond for a few moments, his chin resting on his paws. From the distant look in his eyes, Stonebeetle figured that his thoughts were elsewhere. Mostly likely he was thinking of Streaktail, AuroraClan’s main medicine cat and his own father. The sleek-pelted medicine cat had disappeared days ago while he’d been out gathering herbs, and search patrols had failed to find him. It was strange, for a clan cat to disappear so suddenly. And the clan was still shaken by Sappaw’s death, especially Skyhowl, who had adopted her as a kit alongside her littermates Blizzardpaw and Boulderpaw. Stonebeetle wished he could provide any comfort to Skyhowl but she refused to accept his sympathy. She continued on, caring for their kits, carrying her grief silently.

“My tail is fine.” Lowsky finally spoke, his voice slightly trembling. “It doesn’t matter anymore. The fox is gone, and we still have Silvermoon to help take care of us. Anyway, you’re fine now, aren’t you?” He paused for just a moment. “Your whitecough is gone. You don’t even have to be in here anymore. Weedpatch left too, now that she recovered from her frostbite.”

Detecting the loneliness in the young tom’s shaking voice, Stonebeetle clambered out of his nest and padded forward to touch his nose to Lowsky’s forehead. Lowsky’s warrior littermates Ramwhisper and Rimefern were out hunting and patrolling borders, so of course he would feel left out because of his injury.

“Don’t worry, it’ll heal.” Stonebeetle meowed. “And I’ll stay here, with you, if you’d like. I know how lonely it can get in this den.”

Lowsky blinked gratefully at him, and they crouched close together, listening to the sounds of their clan outside. Stonebeetle wasn’t sure exactly what the young tom was thinking, but all he knew was that AuroraClan deserved a break from their continuous bad luck.

——-

Rimefern compliments Weedpatch on their catch during a hunting patrol, which causes them to purr.

“I’ll be right back, okay? I think I saw a rabbit in the bushes over there.” Whirlspark lifted her head, sniffing the air with a focused look in her eyes. “I won’t be long… we need to head back soon anyway.” As she disappeared into the soft undergrowth with her ears pricked, Rimefern rolled his eyes, shooting Weedpatch - the other member of the patrol - a mocking look.

“It must be hard, taking orders from a new warrior.” He whispered, licking one of his paws and drawing it over his head. “Especially when you’re the deputy.”

Weedpatch turned away from him, her sleek tail brushing along the ground as she dropped into a crouch, twitching her ears thoughtfully. Her eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t matter to me.” She spoke firmly, beckoning with her tail for him to follow. “Now let’s focus on hunting.

Rimefern whisked his tail with a cheeky grin, staying silent as she spotted a mouse and prepared to lunge. Her tabby pelt rippled in the cosy morning light, and he felt his heart flutter when she leaped forward, gracefully killing the prey with one swift movement. Her blue eyes reflected the sunshine as she lifted her head, the mouse dangling from her jaws.

“Nice catch.” He commented, admiring her hunting skills. No wonder she was AuroraClan’s deputy. “Looks delicious. We should definitely share it between us once we get back to camp.”

Weedpatch narrowed her eyes at his bold remark, tail-tip twitching, then tilted her head keenly to one side. She let out an amused purr, stepping forward to touch noses with him, relishing the startled expression on his young face. “Of course.”

By the time Whirlspark returned with the rabbit between her jaws, Rimefern barely noticed her, and all his thoughts were about AuroraClan’s deputy.

——-

Dewpetal goes for a nice long walk with Primrosefleck.

Her heart was hammering nervously as she padded beside Primrosefleck, secretly admiring his sleek striped pelt and his beautiful light eyes. She knew she was still very young, having been made a warrior just last moon, but she knew deep down that she wanted a family. Her sister, Whirlspark, was certain of that for herself as well, and while both Roachvine and Dappledchirp didn’t share the same desires, they all understood each other.

She didn’t exactly know when she first had started liking Primrosefleck, but that didn’t matter. She just knew that rejection was what she feared most, and so she refused to confess her feelings to him. At least, not yet. She needed to see if he gave anything away first.

“How’s your leg?” Dewpetal weaved around the bushes lining the forest floor, careful not to trip over any stray twigs. “Is it healing well?”

Primrosefleck paused for a moment, breathing heavily. Even just walking normally was a struggle, as the Twolegplace trap had badly twisted one of his hind legs, and Streaktail and Silvermoon were still both worried about its condition. “I don’t know.” He said nervously. “Streaktail says that there’s a high chance that it might never fully heal.”

The anguish in his voice was obvious. “Oh, Primrosefleck, I’m so sorry.” She sat down beside him, glancing at the leaves wrapped around his injured leg. “I’m sure everything will be okay. StarClan will help you.”

“Really? They didn’t help Sappaw.” His voice was surprisingly bitter as he shifted his front paws anxiously. “They just watched her cough and cough and didn’t do anything as her life drained out of her. I…I was…” He trailed off, looking stricken. “Sorry… it’s just that I was there, in the medicine den, watching her die and I couldn’t do anything about it. StarClan did nothing too. Why did they let her die?”

Dewpetal couldn’t answer his question. After all, she wasn’t even a medicine cat and definitely could not speak for StarClan. Sensing his overwhelming helplessness, she decided to change the mood. “Come on, let’s talk about something happier.” She sat up, stretching, and strided past him. Anyway, she didn’t have much else to do. Whirlspark was likely still out on the hunting patrol with Weedpatch and Rimefern, and Dappledchirp was exhausted after being on the night border patrol. When she’d seen Primrosefleck by himself outside the medicine den, she’d jumped at the chance to spend time alone with him.

Primrosefleck slowly padded after her, limping, but his tail was still drooping, and the grief in his eyes outshone anything else.

“My half-siblings ventured outside the nursery this morning.” She purred. “Slumberkit is absolutely adorable and Chasmkit is as daring as any warrior. Squirrelkit and Hollykit are still both very skittish, but they have their lively littermates to help them.” Her body filled with warm affection for her young siblings, and she was so glad that her father had found a mate to be happy with in the clan. “Slumberkit is a tortoiseshell, like me. She also has different coloured eyes, like me! Isn’t that cool?” When he didn’t respond, she sighed. “Hey, what about Streaktail? It’s so cool that he’s back now, and so what if he now has a multi-coloured collar around his neck? He managed to escape the Twolegs holding him captive! I can just image how fierce and scary he must’ve been!” She dropped into a crouch, snarling fiercely, then proceeded to swipe at the nearest tree trunk with her paws. “Take that, Twoleg!”

He made a shrill sound that startled her, but when she whipped around to face him, she realised he was laughing.

“You looked hilarious, trying to fight that tree!” He couldn’t seem to stop laughing. “Oh StarClan, sorry! I haven’t felt this way in a while. I’m so lucky to have a friend like you, Dewpetal. So so lucky.”

Normally she felt her fur tingle with delight whenever he said her name in his shy voice, but this time, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment. Friend? Just a friend? That’s all she was to him? No, she told herself. Don’t think about that. It doesn’t matter… there’s still plenty of time to figure things out.

“Come on, let’s go down to the small lake.” She nudged him, grinning. And he followed without hesitation.

——-

Extra events

Silvermoon has recovered from their dislocated joint

Leopardstar was seen touching noses with someone from GaleClan. Scandalous!