#lightningbush

Rimeheart found himself swimming in a place of total emptiness after the collision. No stars, no muck… nothing. It’s hard to tell how far this place goes, but if he tried to run, he’d likely just see more of what’s already here.

Nothing.

He didn’t feel anything on his paws or anything from the monster hitting him, but somehow he knew one thing…

He wasn’t dead. Not yet.

…

…

Rimeheart woke up after what seemed like days, now off of the Thunderpath, and in a small den. As he looked around, he saw a cat that he didn’t know well, but definitely recognized. The black-and white cat that helped him before. She was lying next to him, purring… but clearly not from happiness. Tears were rolling down her face, and her purring was punctuated with sobs, as if something bad had happened to her.

“Are you… ok, miss? You seem to be-“

“OF COURSE I’M NOT OK, DUMBASS! YOU CAN’T LET YOURSELF GET HIT BY A CAR AFTER YOU HEAL!”

“Sorry… I was trying to chase Lightningpaw off… he was supposed to have his assessment later, and…”

The cat started to sob louder. “You… you don’t mean the smaller one, right?”

Rimeheart was already dreading the inevitable truth when he heard that. “…Yes. I do mean him.”

“He… he… he didn’t make it. The blow killed him… I couldn’t make it in time… I WAS TOO LATE!”

Rimeheart started to cry as well when he heard that. Not just because of his clanmate dying… but also because… this healer actually cared. She doesn’t know them, but she still cares for all of their lives…

“I’m so… so sorry… I didn’t want him to… Starclan, why did you take him? He was so young! What are we doing wrong?”

Rimeheart tried to stand up and leave the den, wanting to scream at the stars himself, but the healer stopped him by putting a paw on his back and simply pushing him back down.

“Sit down! Have you looked at your leg? You can’t swear at whatever-the-hell this “Starclan” is if I have to align the bones in your leg AGAIN!”

Rimeheart actually bothered to look at his injured leg and… she was right. The pain from the loss likely distracted him from the fact that his leg had to be held together with sticks and bindweed.

“Fox-dung! How am I supposed to get back to camp?”

“You can’t. Or else you’d look suspicious. They’d trace your bindings back to me… and I… I can’t deal with that again!”

“…You want to talk about it?”

Rimeheart was left with a broken bone when the Monster hit him. Lightningpaw wasn’t as lucky.

(Rimeheart: a short-furred greenish-yellow and white tom)

(???: A long-furred black and white she-cat with mist gathering at her paws)

(Lightningpaw: A tiny, long-furred light brown tom with darker brown spots)

Lightningpaw and Rimeheart decided to go hunting before the former’s assessment. Rimeheart is sure that Lightningpaw would pass and become a warrior soon. He’s younger than average, sure… but he’s talented. They were having a nice chat together, just being themselves for once.

“Ya know, I heard Leopardscut was always being pressured about a special tom in her life in Bulbclan… who knew she would have come after a she-cat?”

“Lightningpaw, I don’t think you’re supposed to say that behind her back… If she heard that, I… I don’t know how she’d respond. Her anger’s a little… unpredictable.” Rimeheart replied. He had seen his former mentor’s wrath more times than he could count. It was kind of insane how much she could yowl at others before getting tired.

“I don’t care about that! It’s all her problem! I don’t even care that she and Eskerstar are mates!” Lightningpaw was walking ahead of Rimeheart, who only stopped him from walking further when they both heard a loud rumbling noise.

That was the Thunderpath. Typically, it’s not much of a danger, but the rumbling noises mean that Monsters are running across it. Any cat that the Monsters step on would be severely injured, if not dead, just from the force of a single foot.

Lightningpaw was more interested in a fat rabbit on the other side.

Ignoring the obvious danger, Lightningpaw tried to run at full speed across the Thunderpath, with Rimeheart only following because he would much rather die to save an apprentice than live with the guilt that surviving would cause.

Lightningpaw only made it halfway. Rimeheart couldn’t even make it close enough to chase him off as he was in the way of a foot.

The pain was blinding for a few seconds… then, Rimeheart’s vision started to fade as he saw the apprentice he wanted to save, who was lying on the Thunderpath, unmoving.

Lightningpaw and Rimeheart were hit by a Monster while on a hunting patrol.

(Lightningpaw: A tiny, long-furred light brown tom with darker brown spots)

(Rimeheart: a short-furred greenish-yellow and white tom)

Rimeheart woke up in the middle of the night to get some fresh-kill. He grabbed a nice rabbit to fill his belly when he felt something on his tail.

It looked like a mouse… it felt like a mouse… but… it was alive. He was a little unnerved by this… “Do you… live here, little guy?” He asked. Of course, the mouse didn’t respond, but then… a second one entered. Then a third. Then a fourth. What are these mice doing in a clan’s camp? They smell… off… they all seemed to surround Rimeheart with a feeling of tension between everyone…

Then one of them bit him.

Immediately, all hell went loose as Rimeheart, an inexperienced warrior, tried to fight a swarm of RATS off. It felt like forever until Cinnamonpuddle woke up. Then Flurrydancer. Then even Lightningkit… but eventually… all of those rats were taken care of and disposed of.

The next day, Rimeheart’s stuck in the medicine den due to the bite, but Lighningkit, now Lightningpaw, is keeping him company.

“So Flurrydancer and I went to mark our borders and this group of cats come… I think their names were Eggfur, Buttertail, and Baconpelt… what strange names…”

Rimeheart’s face dropped. “Lightningpaw… those are Mooclan cats. They’re probably gonna mention us at the gathering! When was the last time we even went to a gathering?”

“Uhhh… I don’t know… but the Moo cats were super friendly! They congratu…lated… me on my apprentice-ish-ship! They were a little confused when they mentioned we were from Lightclan… but they still stopped to chat with us!”

Rimeheart calmed down after hearing that… “That… honestly sounds like Mooclan. They have a reputation of taking from cats with full bellies and giving the prey to cats that are starving… and we’re the starving ones”

Lightningpaw looked confused.

Rimeheart sighed dramatically, though still with a smile on his face… “They go against powerful cats and give to less powerful ones like us. And the names? I heard they started from a group of kittypets… similar to how Lightclan began!”

“Woaaaah!”

Rimeheart was attacked by rats when going to get fresh-kill.

Lightningpaw becomes an apprentice, with Flurrydancer as his mentor.

Relationships with Mooclan have improved.

(Rimeheart: a short-furred greenish-yellow and white tom)

Crevasserise decided to check on the kittens of Lightclan while the apprentices were gossiping and the younger cats talked about the plans for the clan… Sometimes it’s lonely only having one other denmate… or none at all. Thankfully, the kits were still in the nursery when he arrived, and Lighningkit bounced right up to him.

“Hiiiii! Are we getting honey again? It was so sweet and fun to play with when you gave it to us last time!”

“Fun to play with…? No, silly! I’m just here to make sure you’re doing well! Now, if you behave, we can play moss-ball after this, ok?”

“Okay!” Lightningkit smiled, his tail tip quivering. Vortexkit walked towards Crevasserise, a little sleepier than his older denmate. He flopped beside Lightningkit, slowly covering his mouth with both of his paws.

“Woah… are you ok, Vortexkit?”

Vortexkit looked up at the older medicine cat. “Synonym woke me up… she was talking and talking…” He stopped talking, but his head was still moving.

“Ok, is there… anything else? Any coughing, headaches, earaches… any kind of aches? Even sneezing?”

“…My paws hurt… is that an… ache?”

Crevasserise immediately became concerned. Lightningkit too, and he blurted out the question first.

“Is it because of the thing?”

Crevasserise’s concern immediately turned to confusion. “…What thing?”

Lightningkit continued. “See how he got his paws to his mouth? I think he’s been chewing on them… gross! We have fresh-kill! You can get a nice bird to eat instead of your paws!”

Crevasserise put his tail on Lightningkit’s mouth to prevent him from speaking (which only caused laughter because it tickled), and slowly pried Vortexkit’s paws away from his face. Despite Vortexkit grumbling about it, Crevasserise checked his paws, and even though the paw pads were fine, the claws were a different story. Dull, short, and definitely looked like they’d been chewed on. Vortexkit almost looked as surprised as Crevasserise, and only said one other thing…

“I know it’s bad… but it makes me not… afraid…”

Vortexkit is discovered to be a Body Biter after he keeps biting at his claws.

(Crevasserise: A short-furred orange rosette tom)

(Lightningkit: A tiny, long-furred light brown tom with darker brown spots)