#quillasks

I absolutely adore the relationship between Sleekthorn and the Splashshade/Siltdew brothers! I fully expected Sleek to be an antagonistic figure when I started because she was kind of annoyed by everyone.

She joined the Clan with major eldest daughter burnout and absolutely resented the idea of being responsible for more kids. But Splashpaw was so earnest and goofy and all he wanted to do was help and make Sleekthorn proud. He's very endearing and she wouldn't stand for Lightninggrowl shooting down his bright spirit.

By being close to Splashpaw, Sleekthorn could see that Owlfleck was struggling hard as a single, young father. Siltpaw was also a well meaning, if foolishly bold young cat that swiftly endeared himself to her. Sleekthorn ended up stepping in as a secondary parental figure since she's familiar with knowing a young cat's limits.

The boys were deeply shaken by the death of Owlfleck, as this is the third parental figure they've lost in their young lives. A rift actually began to form between Splashshade and Siltdew after this. Splashshade depended heavily on his parental figures and all he could focus on was Owlfleck, even as Siltdew carried his own mutilated apprentice-- a younger cat that he was responsible for-- on his back.

Splashshade began holding resentment that Siltdew wouldn't join him when he visited Owlfleck's memorial. Sleekthorn would try to remind him that Siltdew was grieving in his own way, but Splashshade isn't so receptive when he feels he's alone in his mourning. He couldn't see past his own grief that Siltdew was also mourning Acaciapaw and seeking comfort in his friends that also loved the young tom.

Sleekthorn does partially blame herself for the losses of Owlfleck and Acaciapaw, as she was too late to stop the bobcat that killed them. Her guilt was exacerbated with the death of Almondfox and Sleekthorn now feels personally responsible for the mental wellbeing of these two boys.

I really need to stop making characters

But yeah, I'd say Evelyn has the highest amount of patience just because of the sheer amount of practice they have. They've spent a long time alone, and spent most of the rest of the time controlling their temper so they don't accidentally blow something up.

Azul, demon mom(who I should actually name at some point) the Depressed Alive Bean (Happy's friend that I also should get around to naming), and Luna are close seconds; they've spent a long time acting as maternal figures for the people they care about, and as such have a whole heart full of love fuelled patience.

As for worst amount of patience, I'd say Violet takes the cake. Between the short term awareness of time that comes with being a child and everyone spoiling her because they're too afraid to say no, she's not really used to not getting what she wants; I wouldn't say she'd full on explode in your face, but she definitely wouldn't take it well. She'd take it as a sort of attack on her that she doesn't know how to handle, so she just kinda breaks down and starts crying.

Alice is in a similar state since Luna rarely tells her no, but those rare times are enough to make a difference. Also she's an absolute pure bean and I will fite

SAGEBRUSH STEPPE ❤️

I loosely base QuillClan's territory on the sights I see when driving down to Bend! I love seeing the stark contrast of the blue Deschutes River and its bright foliage against the tall orange cliff sides and dusty yellow flats. I always see fly fishers there and would love to try it myself! I imagine a spot like that would be prime hunting grounds for the Clan cats in the warm seasons.

I haven't really depicted it yet but InkClan territory is based on the the pine forests around The Village at Sunriver. Great opportunities for scavenging and hunting things like mice and squirrels in the nooks under and around those rentals, but dangerous because of off-leash dogs, bikers zooming across trails, tightly winding roads, and awful people with bb/pellet guns, shooting any critter they see. The rough conditions that made rougher cats didn't jive with Shalefreckle.

Yet to be mentioned WebClan lives in an area based on the Three Sister Wilderness. Their home is lush with vegetation and teaming with prey, but they have a strict policy on never taking more than they need, as they share their territory with many other predators, and always replanting seeds when they take herbs so that the prey can continue to thrive. They're more mindful of balance than QuillClan, who loop themselves in an unintentional greedy mindset due to the openness for their territory and a general current culture of being less adaptable, as most founders were either house cats or semi-feral. WebClan lives furthest from the Gathering place but they prefer the solitude.

The Clans location is based on Deschutes County in Central Oregon. QuillClan specifically lives in the dryer Southeastern part that includes the arid rocky steppes of the High Desert.

The territory gets more green the closer to the river and there's sections where it levels off to scrubland, though these are close to the borders of other Clans.

As for time? It's kinda nebulous and not really important. As far as human interference goes, the clans are unfamiliar with a lot of human things because they come from an area where most of them were ferals, semi-ferals, or indoor-outdoors that spent their time roaming the streets. They know what cars and roads are and think small planes and landing strips are something related, and they have a loose understanding of certain machines like chainsaws and jackhammers.

Flickerkit is named after the bird and how if you take your eyes off her for a second, she's just gone. She'd have both her moms constantly on their toes since she goes after the slightest thing that grab her attention. Sleek and Silk are glad that at least Flaxkit, their largest, is content with sitting in the nursery and listening to stories. He's the responsible one that tries to reel in his sisters from upsetting their moms. Meanwhile Falconkit refuses to let eyes off of her, feeling a sense of entitlement to attention being the daughter of the deputy and (arguably) strongest warrior.

I see your SilkSleek and raise you SleekSilk :> If only Sleekthorn had any amalgam of rizz to make a move. Girl, look around, it's not like you have any competition.

As for Acacia's parents, I like the idea of him being related to Sleekthorn so here's her younger sister Briar and her ex-mate Wisp. I hope to expand on Sleekthorn's family later but in short, Briar had a crush on the local heartthrob Wisp, despite being warned he's flakey.

The two of them were dating by the time the cats fled to the Oasis. Briar's parents staunchly refused the "charity" of being part of a Clan. Without Sleekthorn, things quickly fell apart for the family, struck with illness and hunger and Wisp was gone not long after Briar gave birth. When Acacia was her only kit left, she dropped him off in QuillClan's border, unable to face her sister.

Acacia doesn't remember much of his family, just that they didn't play with him like how the Clan did. He doesn't mind that as far as he knows, he doesn't have blood relatives here. Siltdew and Almondfox are like cool older siblings to him anyway.

🌷Quirks or other mannerisms?

So I was originally going to do an in universe answer with drawings and narration but it ending up bloating in to the Clans' origin story and being way too much for an ask answer. So I'm going to tackle that behemoth separately some time after this next moon. ; w ;

But the short answer is that the Clan's sacred place is is called The Oasis, a lush pocket of forest amongst the shrub land. A clearing with a fresh water spring sits at the center. This place provided the Clan cats refuge when they fled their old home.

Nearby is a fork between two rivers, one branch coming from the border between InkClan and QuillClan, the other from the home the cats fled. Crossing in to the canyon from which the other branch flows is considered both a death wish and disrespectful to the cats that didn't make it to their new homes.

WOAHHHHHH

NO WAY!?!?!?