Hello, my name is Madtompaw. Cowbirdsoar placed me in charge of the logs while he figures out everything about our new camp. I don’t really know what to say. We moved into this cave a moon ago. It’s an adjustment. My paws are constantly dry, and we’ve been eating a lot of fish. We also have to be… very careful.
Not just because of the monsters things, but also the ocean is really dangerous too. A few days after we got here, Nighthawkpaw and I were hunting. Things were going really well until a wave caught us off guard. It tried to carry her, but I was faster! I pulled her to the shore and got her to Cowbird. I just hope her cough clears up soon…
She has been irritable ever since it happened. I’ve tried to give her space; I even took up more hunting patrols to compensate for her. Even with my efforts, Cowbird is never far away from her side. He’s always giving her herbs or listening to her lungs. I know it’s his job. But I wish he could see how much he’s clawing at Nighthawk’s brain.
Nighthawk finally had enough. It had been a week since she got the water in her lungs. Cowbird still clung to her like a burr. But she couldn’t take it. I just dropped my seabird off at the freshkill pile when I heard them. Their sharp hisses echoed throughout the camp.
“Can’t we do this later?” Nighthawk interrupted herself with a cough. “I’m tired.”
“I know,” Cowbird soothed. “But the sooner we get this done, the sooner you can get back to sleep.”
“And how soon until I’m cured?”
“I don’t know, there’s still things that need-”
“You don’t know? What are you even doing then? You keep giving me these herbs and exercises, you have me cough and yowl and nothing is changing.” Every sentence she said was punctuated by a cough. I couldn’t tell if this was due to how worked up she was, or just a normal part of her condition.
I strained my ears for Cowbird’s response. But all I could hear was Nighthawk’s coughing. Cowbird exited the den and he walked straight out of camp. I watched him leave, kind of just dumbstruck.
He stayed out of camp until sunfall, and when he got back he refused to speak to either of us.
I tried to tell him he smelled nice to cheer him up, but he didn’t really react well. Things were easier with Nighthawk though, I brought her the seabird I caught and she didn’t bite my head off. She even gave me half.
Nighthawk paw is a little better, but that’s not the biggest news. Cowbird brought in a kittypet. I had never seen a kittypet, but Nighthawk told me that the collar around her neck meant she was one.
Cowbird introduced us to her at the camp entrance. “This is Brambleclash.” He waved his tail over the short molly. “She wants to join Grouseclan.”
Nighthawk and I exchanged glances. Back when we were a proper clan, kittypets joining was a normal thing, but now, we didn’t even have proper warriors. Bramble looked so sad already, and we needed help.
“Welcome, Brambleclash. I can show you to the warriors den?” I forced myself to smile at her.
“That won’t be necessary,” Cowbird interjected. “I’ll be keeping her quarintined in the healers den.” I immediately dropped my smile. I hadn’t even considered the illness. Her body, warped like the rest. I could see her stripes grow into spikes, hear her bones crack to accommodate bastardized wings.
Nighthawk placed her tail on my spine, and I jumped. Bramble and Cowbird were gone. But Nighthawk still sat with me. She tried to comfort me, but everytime I looked at her, I saw the clanmates we’d lost.
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This moon has been tense. Brambleclash and Nighthawkpaw avoided each other. Which would be okay, if we weren’t such a small clan. I ended up having to patrol exclusively with Nighthawkpaw.
Well- now Nighthawkflicker. She named herself that as soon as the new moon hit.
Back to patrols, Cowbirdsoar tried suggesting that she join him. But she made this face like she licked mouse bile.
It was rude but I sort of understand it. I wouldn’t want to spend all moon hunting herbs either. Plus Brambleclash doesn’t seem to mind. She always seems happy to be around Cowbirdsoar.
Nighthawkflicker thinks they might end up mates. Which is ew, and I really hope not. He has enough to worry about already
Like just last patrol, Nighthawkflicker fell in the water again. She saw a dolphin while we were hunting. We had only really heard about them from the elders, so we were so excited to see one! She immediately took the fish we had caught and tried to lure it in.
That failed and she ended up falling in. The dolphin actually saved her! It was so cool to see it carrying her. I couldn’t stop grinning. She was so wet, but she was smiling too!
When Nighthawkpaw got back, she seemed irritated. She saw us all sunbathing together and asked me if Brambleclash had said anything about her. I told her no, but that just seemed to irritate her more.
She told me that she saw Two-legs setting up traps along the shore. She kept eyeing Brambleclash while she said it. I don’t think Brambleclash helped them, it wouldn’t make sense. Still, I could not keep my eyes from drifting to Brambleclash either.
She must have seen us looking, because she came over. We had been over by the apprentice den, which left us little room to leave.
“While I was quarantined, Cowbirdsoar taught me a bit about the clan.” She curled her tail in. “He told me about your roles and how Warriors train Apprentices.”
I did not like where this was going. I could feel my ears dip.
“I know, I’m still new. But I’ve been surviving on my own for a few moons. So maybe I could mentor you both?” Brambleclash smile made it all the worse. She meant well. I know she did. But I could not help the frown that overtook my face.
Nighthawkpaw’s tail lashed against my back. “No,” She hissed. “I had a mentor, Eggstar, and I will not settle for you as her replacement.” She used the opportunity to push past Brambleclash.
Which left me there. I could see the rejection in her eyes. The empathetic part of me wants to comfort her, to smile and just agree to be her apprentice. But listening to that side ot me, feels like a betrayal. I shake my head at her and follow after Nighthawkpaw.
There's been mostly good news this moon. Nighthawkpaw’s finally stopped coughing! Cowbirdsoar says that the water has cleared from her lungs. To celebrate, we went hunting in the flower field. Cowbird even brought back some gorse flowers for Brambleclash.
She seemed very appreciative of them. Though, of course, she wanted to know when she could get out. Cowbirdsoar looked ready to shut down, so I took him aside.
He and I have always looked out for each other like that. Though he may have been much older, he was still my family and family watched out for each other.
I groomed his pelt and gave him my two whiskers. "Brambleclash doesn’t seem infected. I mean, she looks tired, but she hasn't shown any anger or physical changes the others did."
"And if we're wrong?" Cowbirdsoar eyed Brambleclash, his tail puffed up.
If we were wrong, we would die. That wasn't what he needed to hear. "I think that you need to trust your gut." I pressed my head into his shoulder.
He still seemed uncertain, but he trusted my judgement. The next day he let Brambleclash out of isolation.
The first thing Brambleclash did after we let her out was sunbathe. Cowbirdsoar and I joined her, while Nighthawkpaw spent the day at the tide pools.
Could you tell us about your clanmates from before?
Madtompaw fidgeted with her tail. "Well... there was Eggstar. She was our leader before everything went down. She was nice, I never really got to interact with her outside of training."
"Then there was Falconclaw, our deputy. She was... intense. She always wanted to start fights with the other clans. And she always wanted us to do battle training. I tried to avoid her most of the time. She and my mentor didn't really get along."
"And Indigospike, she was really old, even older than Cowbirdsoar!" She giggled a little. "Indigospike always told the best stories about when she was an apprentice. There was one about when she and her sister Violetpaw tried to catch a shark!" Her smile fell as the memories sunk into her pelt.
"I hope she's with Violetpaw now... I don't want to think about her as that thing."
Madtompaw swallowed down her unease. "Then, there was Snakefeather, she was my mentor. I lost my mom when I was small, so she was always there for me. She always took me hunting when I wanted and made dawn patrols fun."
"And..." She pawed at her tail, the words had died in her throat. She tried a few more times, but the words would not leave her mouth.
She shook her head. Tears fell loose from her shut eyes. "Then there was Dandelionkit... I never got to know her. She was Snakefeather's daughter."
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Nighthawkflicker paced the entrance of the camp. I should be out there, she hissed to herself, instead I'm stuck in here all because. Her eyes darted to her clanmates, her hackles lowered. Ever since they found the claw marks, they had been... scared. Currently, they were clinging together like opposums in the medicine den. Something that Cowbirdsoar clearly did not appreciate.
The older tom himself was pressed into the corner of his den, the other two stuck beside him. He tried to get up, but his tail was trapped. “This is too much.” He said with a hiss. “Even if they are approaching our camp, that doesn’t mean we can’t still have our own space.”
Madtompaw backed off at that, but Brambleclash held firm. “If those things are close by, we need to protect our only healer, and leader first. If you die, we have no other way to heal ourselves. Cowbirdsoar shrank a bit at that. He didn’t fully agree, or at least it didn’t look like it. But he made no other argument.
He must feel the weight of the clan on his back. If only there were something I could do. Nightflicker studied the three ahead of her. Then it hit her.
“Why don’t I tell you about the time I rode a dolphin?” That caught their attention. Soon every eye was on her.
“It started while I was hunting, I heard the grand clicking of a dolphin the figure of legends.” Nighthawkflicker stood on her back legs and made a grand gesture. “So I followed it to the sea. There I bargained with the beast to allow me onto it’s back.”
“More like fell on.” Madtompaw interrupted.
“Keep quiet!” Nighthawkflicker hissed back. Madtompaw immediately silenced herself. “Now, as I was saying, I bargained with the beast. It bowed it’s head to me and allowed me to climb aboard it’s back. Its skin was softer than moss, but as slick as a snails. I had to stretch out all my legs just to stay on.” She stretched herself out. “Then the dolphin took off! Faster than a fish we soared across the waters. The water streaked white as we went. Then the gracious dolphin took me back to shore.”
The mood seemed a little lighter as she finished. So, she dove into the next story. Nighthawkflicker told stories until her throat got sore and once it did, the others took over. All told their stories, except for Madtompaw, who kept quiet, just as Nighthawkflicker asked.
The next day, every cat was in better spirits. Madtompaw and Nightflicker stayed back to guard the camp while Brambleclash took Cowbirdsoar out. It was only once they were alone that Madtompaw spoke again.
“I think I have settled on my name.” She mewed happily.
“Is it one of my suggestions?” Nighthawkflicker let out an excited purr.
Madtompaw shook her head. “No, it’s something more fitting.” She stood up and held her head high. “I will be named Madtomtuft!”
My suggestions were better was what Nighthawkflicker thought. But instead she said, “It’s a fine name. Congratulations Madtomtuft.”
