#egg drift

Cliffstar lazily stretched in her place in the Hollowed Tree, a purr working from deep in her chest. ‘Ah, what a lovely day’ she thought while she licked a paw, then drew it roughly over an ear.

‘EggClan is safe. Through everything, we are alive. Sure, our connection to StarClan may be weaker here, but we have territory to roam and kits to feed.’

Her green eyes glanced toward the kits playing beneath the Fallen Tree. The kits and their mother, Badgerfern, were new additions to the clan but Cliffstar gladly accepted them. The queen had been nothing but loyal, and her kits showed great promise as well. The kittens showed a love for playing beneath the Fallen Tree -or as Cliffstar often called it: the False Tree- despite the leader’s disdain. They would leap from sunspot to sunspot, tumbling and shouting at each other. Couldn’t they see how dangerous it is to play beneath this large, unnatural structure? There are plenty of other trees in the forest after all.

Suddenly a new sound struck Cliffstar, causing her to jerk up from her comfortable spot in her tree. “Whoa… what do you think it did before it died?”

The leader stopped to listen closer to the conversation and recognized the apprentice Inkypaw’s voice next. “I heard the twolegs rode them like horses and monsters, they climbed right into their jaws!”

At an intrigued “Oooh,” from Creampaw, Cliffstar leapt from the tree hollow and tore toward the apprentices. ‘It could be dangerous!’ She thought with a terrified jolt. She launched herself between the young cats and the humongous yellow monster.

“What do you two think you’re doing?” She gasped out, her fear turning into white hot fury. “You don’t know what you’re playing with! It’s not the Clanway!”

Immediately after she said it she felt guilty. These young cats were just curious. But as she thought of the looming wretched monster behind her, her resolve strengthened. This thing could not be trusted, the clan had no idea what it was capable of.

“Cliffstar, I-“ Creampaw stuttered, her still-downy fur raised on end.

Like a crack of thunder, Inkypaw yelped, “What if the ‘clanway’ is WRONG?”

The three cats were speechless for a moment after, even Inkypaw looked horrified at her own outburst. They stared at each other, dumbfounded.

Cliffstar took a moment to collect her thoughts- she wanted to choose her next words very carefully. She found herself somewhat agreeing with the apprentice, she had reacted very quickly and harshly to the younger cat’s curiosity. Perhaps she was too stuck in her ways. A leader should always evaluate if their judgement is sound.

Taking a deep breath, Cliffstar spoke evenly to the apprentices. “Go to the apprentice den.” She finally said, her authority leaving no room for question. She would think on this longer, but she would not leave these cats playing with this monster today. Her chest tightened painfully, memories tempting to flood over her- not today, she reminded herself.

Inkypaw huffed, half relieved and half angry and swiftly turned away. “Come on, Creampaw. Let’s go bother Robin.”

Cliffstar watched the pair go, wishing to soothe them, explain why she didn’t want them to go near this dreadful beast, plead with them to see it her way. However, she as the leader, was responsible for their safety. So instead, she stood still as they walked away and the previously playing kits looked at her with a mixture of curiosity and fear. Olivespot stood by the medicine cat den’s entrance, drawing Cliffstar closer with a nervous flick of her ear. Her chest squeezed again, doubting herself even more as she forced herself to Olivespot, where she would then have to speak with Flintfruit.