#delugeskip

Four cats are outside of camp right now, she silently observed, eyes darting around. Weedflop had left her den for a small stroll outside of camp and after she had returned, settled near the fire pit, attempting to shake the frost and dust out of her pelt. Naturally, Twigpaw was in the nursery with Icekit. The two toms were more relaxed in posture, so Delugeskip guessed her apprentice was relaying the history he had been taught a few days ago. Cilantrofang stiffly paced in a circle around the clearing, her face constantly turning to her clanmates, then to the camp entrance. The two surveying mollies would occasionally make brief eye contact, give an affirming nod to each other, and resume their scanning.

Beaverheart emerged from the warriors den after waking up from his nap. He stumbled his way to the leader's den and scaled the trunk until he had joined the tortie on her perch. Delugeskip gave a grunt to the tom as he laid down next to her comfortably.

"Who's still out of camp?" Beaverheart mumbled, a yawn grasping his voice halfway through his sentence.

"Badgerpelt, Hedgehogstar, Tempest, and Rimefreckle. All of them are by themselves. Tempest and Hedgehogstar are hunting, Badgerpelt wants to continue to memorize the territory, and Rimefreckle has been searching for herbs." She shifted her gaze in Beaverheart's direction to see him staring inquisitively.

"It's good to have a cat in camp who knows what everyone is doing," Delugeskip muttered, refocusing on the movements of camp. Beaverheart stood and shook himself off, clearing away the snowflakes that had grabbed at his thick pelt.

"Are you wishing that Hedgehogstar had made you deputy instead of Badgerpelt?"

Delugeskip stiffened, slowly turning towards Beaverheart with a disappointed glare. He wasn't wrong, but what loyal warrior would admit to that? To question the choice of deputy would be to question the leader's judgement, and the Clan didn't need that discord so soon after it had begun.

"Badgerpelt is worthy of being deputy, but she's inexperienced. She only needs a bit of guidance. What I want is to strengthen our Clan, and I don't need to be second in command to do that." Delugeskip heard the voice of Hedgehogstar. She spotted him at the camp entrance with Cilantrofang and Weedflop, while Twigpaw and Icekit had made their way to the fire where they snacked on a couple of dried minnows.

"Hedgehogstar may be in his den soon. This is not a conversation I would like to have in his presence." Beaverheart was still, but cautiously nodded and sat back down after a second of thought.

"Well, how is Twigpaw doing in his training?" On instinct, Delugeskip faced her apprentice, who had given up holding his posture now that Icekit had started stalking towards Hedgehogstar as though the tortoiseshell tom hadn't noticed him. While the kit had finished his meal, the apprentice was still anxiously nibbling away.

"For a cat his age, he's very talented. Eager to learn, taking to hunting well, and great at handling Icekit. That's all I could hope for at this point. Oh, and a lot better at establishing his boundaries than Ghostnight was during her apprenticeship." The pale tortie couldn't help but smile at the memory of the cat she had trained previously. The young molly had only graduated a couple of months before EveningClan had settled in their camp. Another thing Delugeskip never would have admitted to her new Clanmates was that on some nights, she missed FlickerClan and her old friends.

"I wonder how Ghostnight is doing," Beaverheart interrupted her thoughts, "we'll have to ask her at the next Gathering. Remember when she would go to the medicine den with grass just so she could talk to Dovepatch? Her crush was not subtle," he chuckled. Delugeskip smirked.

"Kind of like how Tempest is with you, eh?" The gray tabby's eyes widened and he looked to his paws, but his whiskers were twitching and his smile hadn't faded.

"A little, but don't tell him that. He'll get embarrassed."

"Have you thought about asking to be your mate?" Beaverheart looked at Delugeskip again, pausing, then shook his head.

"No. I mean, yes, I've thought about it, but, no. I don't think I would ask him that. I do love Tempest, but having a mate doesn't sound like it would be right for me." Both warriors were now laying down comfortably. The wind seemed louder now and the snow was coming down more swiftly.

"I understand that. I think I feel the same, but then again, I've never found anyone particularly interesting in that way." Beaverheart hummed agreeably. And after that, the two sat in comfortable quiet, watching the cats below them.

Icekit was standing on top of Hedgehogstar, who was dramatically sprawled on the ground as though the kit had defeated him. Weedflop had finally retreated to her den, as Cilantrofang had sat herself beside Twigpaw at the fire to assure it was burning at an appropriate level.

Soon enough, Badgerpelt and Tempest walked into camp together with a rodent too large for either cat to carry by themself. Beaverheart got to his paws, astonished.

"How in StarClan's name have they brought down a marmot?" Beaverheart wasn't the only cat who was surprised: Cilantrofang had looked up from the flames with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open. Icekit walked towards the nursery, seemingly disappointed to be doing so, while Hedgehogstar adressed the siblings. On the contrary, Delugeskip narrowed her eyes, something was wrong here; when Beaverheart stood to greet the duo, Delugeskip followed him down the ladder. Hedgehogstar was fast to see the serious look on the pale tortie's face. He politely dismissed himself from the conversation and traded places with Beaverheart who eagerly complimented the catch.

"What seems to be the problem?" Hedgehogstar meowed. Delugeskip glanced over her shoulder to the medicine den to assure she wasn't mistaken.

"Did you see Rimefreckle while you were out? She hasn't returned yet." Hedgehogstar pricked his ears attentively and he blinked at her.

"That's odd. No, I haven't seen her," he meowed. The wind continued to pick up and the two tortoiseshells shuddered at the newfound sharpness in the snowflakes. Delugeskip forced herself to ignore the sensation as she turned to the camp's entrance.

"How long has she been gone?" The sudden appearance of Cilantrofang at Delugeskip's side caused the warrior to jump. The smaller molly rolled her eyes at the older cat's reaction.

"At sunrise, if I'm remembering correctly. I can't remember what herbs she said she was looking for," Hedgehogstar responded calmly. Cilantrofang's tail lashed.

"And nobody has looked for her? Honestly, the one day I sleep in," she growled, wasting no time in exiting camp. A heavy sigh escaped Hedgehogstar while Delugeskip was baffled by the swiftness of that encounter.

"Someone should keep an eye on her," Delugeskip reasoned. The leader nodded in understanding.

"I don't believe Rimefreckle is in trouble, but you're free to go with Cilantrofang. Try to be back quickly." Delugeskip dipped her head respectfully before she began her trek into the awful cold of EveningClan territory. Cilantrofang was already out of sight, but there was only one trail of pawprints exiting camp after such heavy snowfall, so sprinting after the codekeeper wasn't a difficult task. In addition, her dark pelt stuck out against the white backdrop. Delugeskip easily reached the younger cat's side in a timely manner. The molly barely reacted to her company apart from a sideways glance.

"It might be best if we go towards the town, I know healers prefer to trade with housecats in winter," Delugeskip lowly meowed. Cilantrofang huffed and wouldn't look at the warrior, but still slowed down to observe her surroundings and adjust her direction. Delugeskip irritably huffed at the lack of connection.

"Rimefreckle is probably fine. Hedgehogstar doesn't want us to stay out for too long, if we-" Cilantrofang turned and interrupted with a sharp hiss.

"Our healer is missing in the middle of winter! She's been out for far too long! It's better to have wasted time than to find out she needed help and we didn't look for her. If Hedgehogstar disagrees, that's up to him, but his perspective is naive." Delugeskip's face scrunched up.

"Do not speak of our leader so disrespectfully. You act like you always know so much better than everyone else. You don't, Cilantrofang. Hedgehogstar is in charge, so watch your words." Cilantrofang scoffed and lightly unsheathed her claws.

"You are incapable of thinking for yourself. Having criticisms is not disrespect, Delugeskip! Hedgehogstar is a fine leader, but naivete can be a dangerous quality if unchecked. Do you really think that's such an invalid thought to have? Because if you really disagree with me so strongly, you can go back to camp and kiss up to Hedgehogstar some more. I can look for Rimefreckle by myself. Otherwise, keep quiet and let me concentrate."

Shocked, offended, Delugeskip couldn't think of a response. The wind slowed down and the snow fell less heavily as though the world itself was frightened by the tension. The town became visible in the distance, and Cilantrofang sped her steps. The trees were less dense here in the hilly outskirts of EveningClan territory. Delugeskip had much more trouble with navigating the small slopes than Cilantrofang. One particularly steep hill sent the warrior sliding onto her side and rolling about halfway down. The codekeeper paused to look back. By the time Delugeskip had gotten to her paws, Cilantrofang's head was raised and her ears were pricked, and she took off the moment the missing healer's scent reached Delugeskip.

The run was not far, with the gray codekeeper sliding to a sudden halt at the edge of a much steeper ditch than the rest, containing Rimefreckle. The snow on both sides were covered in smeared pawprints and claw marks as evidence of the healer's struggle to escape. She was laying in a loaf, shaking and wet. She looked up at the two other mollies and a relieved smile reached her eyes.

"Oh, thank StarClan. I need help getting out of here," she purred, unusually calm for her predicament. Delugeskip and Cilantrofang looked at each other, the warrior half expecting the codekeeper to use this as an opportunity to scold her. Instead, Cilantrofang wordlessly leapt into the ditch, alarming Delugeskip.

"What kind of plan is-"

"Are you able to stand?" Cilantrofang spoke gently. Rimefreckle idly nodded and attempted to stand, but even through her exhaustion, winced in pain and shook her front paws. Cilantrofang looked worried for her.

"Okay. Climb onto my shoulders, Delugeskip will pull you up by the scruff. Did you get that, Delugeskip?" Delugeskip opened and closed her mouth for a couple of moments.

"I- yeah, yeah, I did. But what about you?" Cilantrofang crouched and Rimefreckle seemed to suddenly process the situation, with a look of confusion, but she was more concerned with climbing onto the black cat's shoulders than saying what was on her mind.

"Look, CrowClan territory is covered in hills. I'm used to climbs like this, and Rimefreckle needs help much more than I do. She probably has frostbite. Get her back to camp, don't wait for me. If I don't catch up to you on the way back, you know where I am, just bring some rope." Rimefreckle was already out of the ditch by the end of the explanation. Delugeskip hesitated to leave Cilantrofang. But upon feeling how cold Rimefreckle's soggy pelt was against her back as she lifted the healer onto her shoulders, Delugeskip nodded. At least the snowfall was mild for the walk home.

What a waste those weeks had been. A few short days before Twigpaw's apprentice ceremony, Delugeskip ran into camp to rush the two kits into the nursery. Twigkit hadn't needed to ask what was going on, the smell of blood had hit his nose before the warrior could explain anything. Twigkit overheard all of the talk about a raccoon, Badgerpelt commanding Rimefreckle to thoroughly cover Wildbillow's wounds and explaining that the caretaker had requested not to let his son see the damage. The amount of bandaging that was wrapped around his father's face, neck, and chest during the funeral...

Twigpaw flinched his paw away from the tree as he tried to collect moss. This shouldn't be a difficult task, he kept telling himself, but he kept imagining the sensation of blood soaked into the soft material, imagining the light green hue shifting into a deep red. He slammed his eyes shut and clawed a pawful into his basket as fast as he could, baring his teeth in frustration. He reopened them when he heard a scraping against the trunk from below to see the unamused eyes of his mentor, Delugeskip.

"Come down, Twigpaw. We've gathered enough," she meowed. She was the warrior selected to mentor him in Wildbillow's stead. He clawed his way down the tree and listened to the crunch of a thin layer of frost atop the grass, his head low as the warrior studied him. Twigpaw was expecting to get an earful for how rough he had been towards the moss, but Delugeskip only turned and flicked her tail in silent command to follow her.

When Wildbillow died, Twigkit had deduced that his replacement mentor would be Delugeskip. She had begun to visit the nursery constantly, to the point he knew it was deliberate. He had been quite annoyed by this in his head, as she was very unsimilar to his father. But she had been less stern towards him in the week since his father's death, so he didn't voice his opinions. He didn't think anyone else would be able to live up to his expectations anyways.

"I'm proud of you, Twigpaw." The meow broke Twigpaw out of his thoughts and the wrinkles on his nose disappeared; he hadn't even realized his face had scrunched. His ears pinned as he looked towards Delugeskip with her moss basket still firmly gripped in her jaws, questions filling his mind on what had prompted the statement.

"Although it hasn't been long, your training has already been going excellently. I believe you'll-"

"Please stop," Twigpaw interrupted in irritation. He knew that she was trying to make him feel better about his predicament, he really did, but her words had only driven him deeper into his frustrations. I'm not supposed to be angry at consolation, what's wrong with me? Why doesn't grief feel sad, like it's supposed to? Delugeskip gave an accepting hum, and after that, the walk back to camp was filled with a long silence.

"If you want to rest, I can drop off your basket for you," Delugeskip meowed. It felt insulting to him, like she believed he wasn't competent enough to bring the moss to Rimefreckle himself, but he knew Delugeskip was only trying to be nice. Not wanting to be difficult anymore, he simply grumbled his thanks while setting the basket down. Entering camp, the stone path was cold from the winter wind, though the more experienced members of EveningClan claimed the season was warmer this year than usual.

Hedgehogstar and Badgerpelt were in the clearing next to a small fire, having some sort of discussion, which Twigpaw chose not to listen to. He lowered his head and skittered towards the nursery to check on Icekit.

The nursery was near one of the camp walls, built out of the strongest branches and brambles the warriors could find and lined with rocks of various sizes, which Twigpaw assumed was for stability. The roof looked the same as the walls from the inside, but on the outside, it was covered in straw and flower filled moss. He remembered that while it was built, he and Icekit had found a patch of beautiful white orchids hanging into camp, and brought them to Wildbillow while he was still constructing. Most of the petals still dotted the lower tangles and stones, and a few of the flowers still remained fully intact in the higher brambles from Wildbillow joining the kits in the joyful act of decorating.

The inside didn't hold as many distinct memories to Twigpaw. There was only one nest shared between the den's two current residents, which was an old torn blanket Tempest had taken from the humans to help Twigpaw with his sensory issues. The soft cedar mulch squished under the apprentice's paws as he took a couple of steps into the den, only to realize, Icekit didn't appear to be in the nursery.

Twigpaw still walked in, moving the blanket in hopes the younger cat was hiding underneath, but this was not the case. He paced more seriously back into the clearing, running through places he might find Icekit in his mind. The first place that came to mind was Weedflop's den. Perhaps he had wanted the elder to tell him a story. He was planning to become a historian, after all, and he had been chattering on and on about how much he wanted to start training already.

The elder's den wasn't as showy as the nursery, only a simple rock wall against a different side of camp with a roof of sticks and large leaves, and minimal decorations as Weedflop requested. Twigpaw looked inside to see the ginger cat cleaning one of her front legs. He cleared his throat to earn her attention, causing the molly to freeze and turn slowly towards him with a blank expression.

"Twigpaw," she meowed monotonously to him as he dipped his head in respect.

"Do you know where Icekit could be? He's not in the nursery." The elder's posture was tense, for whatever reason, but she continued to stare him down until discomfort settled into his skin.

"Watching him is supposed to be your responsibility," she gruffed, turning around to continue cleaning her paw. Twigpaw looked to his sides in confusion, wondering what was with this apprehension.

"Okay, well, thanks anyways," he mewed.

"Sure," was her only response as he turned away to check elsewhere. His eyes darted around as panic began to build quietly in his throat, trying to spot where either the leader or deputy had retreated to so he could warn them of the missing kit, but within a few moments, a hunting patrol arrived in camp. Beaverheart carried a basket with a couple of chipmunks and Cilantrofang with a few small fish. Tempest entered last, and though his basket was empty, he kept looking behind him, until Icekit pranced into camp with an upset look on his face.

"Icekit, get over here," Twigpaw shouted, perhaps more intensely than he had been trying to. The small ticked tom's eyes widened nervously, but he still smiled and scampered towards the apprentice, following him in the direction of the nursery.

"I wanted to learn how to hunt," Icekit mewed before Twigpaw had time to speak. Twigpaw looked to his friend and his ears fell. The kit's smile dropped and a guilt settled within Twigpaw's stomach, he knew he needed to tell his friend off for this stunt. Would he be upset when this lecture was over?

"Icekit, I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself, but it's not safe for a young, untrained kitten to be outside of camp, especially without anyone knowing. You could have caused a panic." Icekit lowered his head as the young toms reached the nursery's center, eyes diverted but excitement still visible in his raised ears. The silver kit flopped onto the bedding dramatically.

"I know, Twigpaw. I'm sorry. It's just so unfair that you can train and I can't! Weedflop is the only cat in camp all the time, and she doesn't even try to tell me any stories at all!" With how the elder had responded to him, Twigpaw believed that. He forced his fur to remain flat along his spine.

"Badgerpelt was in camp, why didn't you ask her for a story?" Twigpaw slowly crouched to lay down, and Icekit shifted his body to press himself into the brown tom's long fur.

"Because she was talking to Hedgehogstar, so it was probably important and I don't want to interrupt something important. I want her to think I'm responsible and I was gonna come back to camp quickly, honest! But Beaverheart said he's gonna tell Hedgehogstar not to make me an apprentice. He can't do that, can he? Will I still be allowed to be an apprentice?"

Snow began to gently fall outside of the den, wind whistling between the branches. Twigpaw looked outside and spotted Cilantrofang and Beaverheart, side by side, speaking with Hedgehogstar and Badgerpelt, at the precise moment the deputy turned to face the nursery.

"Well, you are in trouble for this, but Hedgehogstar won't make you stay in the nursery forever. Badgerpelt still needs an apprentice, after all, it wouldn't make sense for them to hold you back. If you want training a bit early, you could have asked me to tell you some of the things Delugeskip teaches me. Does that sound like something you'd like?" Icekit stared at Twigpaw for a long moment before his chin came to rest on the older tom's shoulder.

"Could you tell me a story right now?" The older tom had become familiar enough with the kit to realize this as an indirect response of agreement. Twigpaw curled his tail over Icekit's back and began looking at the snow, thinking of any piece of history he could share. He had never been too adept in history, which he presumed was one of the other things that pushed him away from the thought of Badgerpelt mentoring him as a kit. Twigpaw knew about the devastating flood that hit a few moons after DewClan's creation; every kit in DewClan was taught that story nearly as soon as they opened their eyes, but it was the only story Twigpaw could tell consistently.

The snow began blowing harder outside while Twigpaw mumbled everything out to Icekit. The apprentice had seen Icekit roll his eyes as he started the lecture and had to stop himself from letting more than a couple of laughs enter his meows, and it didn't surprise him when the silver kit fell asleep before he had finished. It was darker outside now that the sun was almost below the horizon and clouds blocked the moonlight, and the rest of the Clan had gone to their dens.

However, the fire was still glowing in the middle of the clearing. Twigpaw didn't know if that was because the older cats forgot or because someone was still awake. Slowly shifted so he could stand without waking his friend and exited the nursery. No food was cooking over the fire so the brown cat's paw scooped up some sand and snow to put it out. Out of the corner of his eye, as the firelight died, the orange glow reflected off of some cat's tail as it lashed in an unclaimed corner of camp. No doubt it was Tempest, it was too pale to be anyone else in EveningClan. Perhaps he was waiting for someone to offer him an escort home? Twigpaw began to approach the corner, and as he approached, he began hearing the housecat's voice.

"Its face was weirder than that, Beaverheart. I know what a raccoon looks like." Twigpaw's ears quickly flattened. Perhaps this was not a conversation he'd enjoy eavesdropping on, but a spontaneous anger started to reach his throat and the tips of his claws, holding him in place.

"Hey, don't lash your tail at me. I'm trying to listen to you I'm just not understanding." Beaverheart must have been practically against the wall, because Twigpaw couldn't see him past Tempest's back at all.

"That's the problem, I don't either! It wasn't a raccoon, I'm sure of that, but I don't know if it was a sign or some weird animal or something else entirely. I don't know how to describe it more than I already have." Tempest had never allowed the snarl in his voice to show in front of the rest of the Clan usually. Everyone had seen how quickly Tempest grew to trust Beaverheart over the rest of EveningClan, possibly more than even his own sister. The response from Beaverheart was a quiet, thoughtful hum. Clearly the housecat's aggressive tone was still not off-putting to the warrior.

"Tell me everything you remember. How many times have you seen it?"

"Only the one time. It was... it wasn't close to me, but not too far away that I couldn't tell it looked like a golden cat. It had a weird face, like... like some of the features were either unclear or gone. It looked like it was supposed to have stripes but they were moving. Then it just ran off somewhere. I don't remember anything else, but I know it wasn't a raccoon."

Long, tense silence filled the gap and Tempest's ears had fallen, though what emotion he was really feeling was unclear from where Twigpaw sat. Twigpaw, for one, had become deeply confused but no less angry. He didn't know if he liked any of the answers he could think of for what Tempest had seen. Either this was a very difficult sign to decipher, or Tempest had become hyperfixed on an outsider and was panicking for nothing.

"I don't know, Tempest, I'm sorry. I want to help but this isn't really my area of expertise. Maybe we could talk to Rimefreckle about it some time, I can be there with you if you want that. Does that sound okay?"

Tempest was quiet for a heartbeat, but then he sighed almost dejectedly and mewed, "okay," before he turned. He barely acknowledged that Twigpaw was there, glancing at him momentarily while he kept heading for the camp exit. Beaverheart on the other paw had to visibly push down his shocked face at the apprentice's supervision in order to continue focusing on Tempest.

"Do you need help to get back to the humans in this weather?" The housecat shook his head.

"I'll be fine, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow, Beaverheart."

"See you tomorrow, Tempest." Once the paler cat was gone, Beaverheart looked back at Twigpaw with the gentleness fading from his expression. The brown cat got to his paws, claws still pricking into the cold dirt. The warrior's face scrunched up.

"Twigpaw, I don't need to know why you were eavesdropping. But I'm going to ask that you don't concern yourself with anything you've heard. Your focus needs to remain on your training at this stage in your life." The two cats held an unkind gaze for a long while. Twigpaw's mouth opened slightly, wanting some kind of argument to spill out for whatever reason. By no means did he dislike Beaverheart, but there was a lingering fury. Any accusatory questions that ran through Twigpaw's mind, though, he knew the tabby couldn't answer.

"Yes, Beaverheart," he mumbled, stalking towards his den for a night of no sleep.

Twigkit > Twigpaw: Charming > Charismatic