#lyreclaw

CW: Animal Death

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BranchClan Writings is a series of short oneshots written by me, taking place between moon updates. They can provide additional lore, or just be a nice little thing to read. BranchClan Writings are not required to understand moon updates, but would make me very happy if they were read/possibly commented on. <3

CW- This BranchClan Writing edition contains mentions of a miscarriage.

Cold. 

It was far too cold.

Squirrelpaw blinked awake with a soft groan, rolling over in her nest. Outside, in camp, the pale gray molly could see the faint traces of the first snow dusting the ground. 

Great, She thought, whiskers twitching in annoyance. Dad’s gonna have me training in the snow! My whiskers will fall off before I become a warrior!

She hauled herself to her paws, trudging out and shivering at the chilly breeze that hit her body almost instantly. Oh, how she wished she could turn and go back to her nest to curl up and forget about the world around her. But she couldn’t do that. Not now.

Squirrelpaw sat, starting to lick her fur and groom out the kinks and tangles of sleep. While she did this, she decided to cat-watch, and see what the others around camp were up to.

She could see Flutterpool and Thistle inside of the medicine den, talking about something. Thistle seemed to have made a mess of the herbs. Though Flutterpool’s expression was patient, the tip of the calico’s tail twitched in irritation as she rummaged through the plants and flowers to put them back in storage. 

In the clearing, she saw Boneshade and Shatterspot sharing tongues. Boneshade was settled comfortably behind Shatterspot, gently licking her ears while Shatterspot spoke. Squirrelpaw strained her ears, trying to subtly listen to their conversation.

“You didn’t hear it from me…” Shatterspot was saying. “But I overheard a sudden couple having a discussion about kits the other day…Seems we’ll be getting new additions to the nursery soon.”

“Again?” Boneshade paused in her licking, staring down at the tortoiseshell with a wide-eyed expression. “Who was it? Please tell me it wasn’t Sproutpatch and Frozenbeam. I swear, they have a new litter every moon at this point.”

“No,” Shatterspot shook her head slowly. “They decided to stop for now after…What happened before. Truly tragic, really…Litter loss is nothing to turn your nose up at.”

“Mm,” Boneshade murmured. “Then who is it?”

“Atticus and Peachshade, would you believe it?” Shatterspot grinned. “Atticus, the clan-renowned kit hater…I guess she’s worried about that case of greencough Peachshade has. She needs to relax! We have some of the best medicine cats the clans have ever seen!”

Squirrelpaw blinked, glancing towards the medicine den again. Now Thistle was rolling in catmint, purring loudly and reaching his paws up to bat at a very unimpressed Flutterpool’s face. 

“I doubt that, Shatterspot.” The gray apprenticed muttered under her breath, before turning her attention back to the two mollies.

“If Peachshade is sick…Then who will carry the kits?” Boneshade questioned, leaning down to swipe her tongue over the top of Shatterspot’s head. “Atticus doesn’t like kits..I can’t imagine how she would be during a pregnancy.”

“I don’t know,” Shatterspot replied. “I only heard them talking about it. I don’t know for certain if anything will come of it.”

At that point, Squirrelpaw decided to stop listening and stood, stretching her legs before plopping right back down and continuing to look around. She didn’t see Octet Rulekite anywhere. Maybe her father was already out on patrol? Why didn’t he take her with him?

“Squirrelpaw?”

The voice made Squirrelpaw startle, and she whipped her head around to see Mallowpaw approaching. Her sister’s white fur blended in with the snowy ground, and if it hadn’t been for Mallowpaw’s nose, Squirrelpaw probably wouldn’t have seen her. The white-furred molly was being trailed by Streampaw, her ginger tail resting gently on Mallowpaw’s flank when the two stopped. Squirrelpaw’s whiskers twitched. There was no doubt in her mind that the two would be mates when they were warriors, if they lived to make it to that point.

“Hi, Mallowpaw. Hi, Streampaw,” Squirrelpaw greeted, nodding to both of the she-cats. “Did you need me for something? I just woke up.”

“I need to do me a favor, if you’re not busy.” Mallowpaw meowed.

“Clearly she isn’t!” Streampaw piped up. “She’s been sitting here for the past few minutes doing nothing!”

Squirrelpaw’s eyes narrowed. “What part of ‘I just woke up’ did you not get?”

“Enough, enough, it’s too early for me to mediate…” Mallowpaw muttered, shifting her paws. “Anyway…Squirrelpaw. Streampaw and I are going for…A walk. And Sootpaw wanted me to find Harepaw for her…But I haven’t seen her and that’ll take forever. If you’re not too busy, could you please look for her?”

Squirrelpaw tensed, forcing her bristling fur to settle against her back. Silently, she wished that Mallowpaw had asked her to do anything else- Relining nests, giving prey to the cats in the nursery, even cleaning ticks from Lawn Mower’s fur. Anything would have been better than going to talk to Harepaw.

“Alright,” Squirrelpaw replied, trying her star-damned hardest to keep the tightness from her voice. “I’ll go look for her.”

“Thanks!” Mallowpaw happily meowed. With a flick of her tail the she-cat padded away, Streampaw trotting happily by her side. Squirrelpaw watched them go, then let out a heavy sigh. Alright. Time to go.

She spent a long time searching for Harepaw. She asked around first. She asked Owlshade, who didn’t know where she was. She asked Lyreclaw, who told her to ask Boneshade. So she asked Boneshade and Shatterspot, and neither of them had seen her. Squirrelpaw, exasperated, realized that she now had to leave camp.

So she did.

She finally found her sister pacing in a secluded clearing, her tail lashing and her expression full of anger. When she saw Squirrelpaw she whirled her head around with a hiss.

“Go away!” Harepaw growled. “What, did you come here to ruin my life more?”

“Sootpaw is looking for you,” Squirrelpaw meowed back. “And I didn’t even do anything!”

Harepaw’s eyes softened at the mention of Sootpaw, only to revert back to sharp slits as she fixed her littermate with a cold, angry glare. “You’ve done enough.”

“Harepaw-”

“No!” Harepaw exclaimed, stomping a paw angrily. She began to stalk towards Squirrelpaw, and the apprentice felt a chill run through her body that had nothing to do with the cold air.

Harepaw’s claws were unsheathed. She wanted to hurt her.

Her sister wanted to hurt her.

Squirrelpaw took a small step back, her heart pounding in her chest and blood roaring in her ears. She knew very well that she could run back to camp and avoid confrontation. However, not only was she too scared to run, but a small part of her wanted to hear Harepaw out.

“You’ve been making me miserable my whole life!” Harepaw hissed. “Even as kits- So many times it would be made obvious that you were the favorite! All they talked about was how cute your stupid paws were or how pretty you were going to be when you grew up! I got sick of hearing it!”

The dark gray she-cat began to pace once more. “And of COURSE you grew up and were prettier than me…Of course Dad wanted to mentor you. Because he likes you more…He always has. Because you were always better than me.”

“I didn’t know…” Squirrelpaw murmured. She stayed rooted to her spot, not wanting to approach Harepaw and get herself hurt. “I…I’m sorry, Harepaw. I had no idea, I never wanted to…I don’t think I’m better than you. Nicer, maybe, but not better.”

Squirrelpaw heard Harepaw suck in a breath, and her pacing stopped. A long, tense moment of silence stretched between them. Finally, Harepaw sheathed her claws.

“Tell Sootpaw I’ll be back in camp soon,” Harepaw’s voice was low, as if she felt just as tense as Squirrelpaw did. “...And go away. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“Goodbye, Squirrelpaw.”

Squirrelpaw didn’t need to be told twice. She turned and walked off, head and tail lowered.