#skipneedle

Newleaf has arrived, and maybe it will be a new start for the Clan.  Skipneedle (51) is still adjusting to her new role as deputy and is muttering to herself, running through the patrols she’s planning on sending out.  Gusts of wind stir up the flowers around her as she walks.  Skipneedle, with the loss of Archdapple (who was her favorite sister) is also lashing out at Bluestripe (51).  Brightmouse (51) challenges her to spar (far from camp so she doesn’t burn anything down) to work out some of her feelings. Kestrelcreek (65) reaches out to Hatchswipe (21), as they’ve both lost siblings recently.  They enjoy each other’s company. Despite her losses, Hatchswipe is very happy with her mate and purrs for a long time at one of Treepelt’s (16) lame jokes. Dawnfreckle (59) is dealing with his adoptive older brother’s death by. . .not dealing with it.  Instead, he’s flirting with cats who aren’t interested in him, giving Whorlstorm a pretty feather and complementing Brightmouse’s eyes.    Creekstar (130) is proud of how well her Clan is handling the loss.  They’re managing a big change very well and she promises to take care of the Clan with the rest of her lives.  Primcrest (118) is still not thrilled with how Creekstar’s been doing things.  Even though she’s no longer deputy, she comes up with a list of complaints for Creekstar.

Hatchswipe (83) continues to support Dapplemuzzle (35).  When the deputy needs a break to go rest her aching joint, Hatchswipe covers for her.  She also comforts her, reminding her that Skipneedle (Dapplemuzzle’s aunt) also had a weak leg and was a fantastic deputy.  Embershell (56) does not share Hatchswipe’s opinion of Dapplemuzzle.  She thinks that Dapplemuzzle is doing a terrible job as deputy.  Meanwhile, Aries (104) is annoyed with Sofanthiel’s (127) kit and bickers about something trivial with Ryepaw (8).  In the healers’ den, Tansypaw (8) is still figuring out how to do ‘bedside manners’.  She complains about how annoying Longpelt (52) is to have as a patient.  Where Longpelt can hear.  Bumble (115) scolds her gently (although he secretly agrees that Longpelt can be annoyingly stubborn).  Bumble also wonders how Aspenpaw is doing, as he has two of his siblings as apprentices.  Aspenpaw (8) is enjoying a bit of downtime and is batting at a beam of sunlight with Ryepaw.  Sofanthiel is also interested in how Aspenpaw is doing and wants to go on patrol with him.  Flailvalley (30) doesn’t notice.  He’s too busy thinking that Ryepaw will be chosen to go to the gathering instead of Aspenpaw, because he’s been struggling as a mentor.  Seemingly forgetting that Ryepaw can’t go to the gathering anyways, because he’s an unproven dark-cursed cat.  Despite putting on a happy front, Ryepaw has been dealing with a lot lately.  He’s missing Gravelkit and he’s worried about what the other Clans will think of him.  He’s been having nightmares because of it.  Dapplemuzzle reassures him, saying that it doesn’t matter what other Clans think of him; ElementClan likes him.

The Clan had just settled into having a new deputy.  Skipneedle (68) was doing great and may even have become leader one day.  But then she was bitten by a snake while protecting Boulderpaw (9) and succumbed to the venom.  For the second time in 16 moons, Creekstar (147) must choose a new deputy.  It’s weird.  She had one deputy for most of her leadership.  But this cat will mark the fourth deputy she’s had total.  Because the star-blessed apprentices are too young, that leaves her to choose between Bluestripe (68) and Dawnfreckle (77).  In the end, she chooses. . .Dawnfreckle.  Bluestripe has not fully mentored an apprentice yet, and Creekstar hopes that she’ll get along better with her new deputy than she got along with Primcrest and Skipneedle.  She doesn’t even really mourn Skipneedle.  They didn’t get along as well as she had hoped they would.  Skipneedle’s death also means that the original fearsome fivesome is down to just the terrible two: Bluestripe and Brightmouse (68).  The sisters lean on each other, mourning the loss of another littermate.  Brightmouse may not have been on the best of terms with her sister, but she still misses the warmth she brought to her life.  Tanglechirp (40), being a part of Brightmouse’s family now, decides to try and cheer up his sister-in-law by going for an unauthorized walk out of camp.  Echopaw (11) has decided to gossip about Alderflight’s (49) past as a loner.  He wonders what he got up to.  Alderflight is ignoring said gossip. Following her mentor’s death, Boulderpaw has been re-apprenticed to Almondback (64).  Creekstar has noticed how much trouble Burdockpaw (9) has been getting into lately and how she hasn’t been working well with her mentor, Dawnfreckle.  She makes sure to check in on the apprentice and remind her that, as a star-blessed cat, the eyes of the Clan, both living and dead, are on her.   Longpaw (7), being the leader’s apprentice, feels like she should be the best at everything.  She tries to show off a complex fire slash for Cherviljumble (98), but messes it up so badly that Cherviljumble cringes. Greenrapid (49) is still struggling with maturity and tells jokes about a child (Troutkit-4).  Rimekit (4) has decided that she is tired of being stuck in camp and boldly, right in the middle of the day, walks out.  Almondback catches her and gently shoves her right back in with a gust of wind.

Whorlstorm’s kits have been made apprentices!  Burdockpaw (6) is apprenticed to Dawnfreckle (73), as he will do a good job of keeping an eye on the little trouble-maker.  Now that she can leave camp, the whole mountain is fair game!  The quieter Boulderpaw (6) has been apprenticed to Skipneedle (65).  Creekstar (144) feels like Skipneedle will help bring her out of her shell. And Copperpaw (6) has been apprenticed to Brightmouse (65), just like Brightmouse had hoped would not happen.  Copperpaw still makes sure to watch out for the remaining kits and brings some feathers back from patrol for them to play with.  On top of that good news, Creekstar has been having another good moon!  She really appreciates how often Lakepelt (98) has been checking in on her.  It’s been helpful.  Kestrelcreek (79) loves being a mom and is proud of how outgoing Rimekit (1) is.  When she and Troutkit (1) team up, though, chaos ensues.  Troutkit will create a small fire and the two of them will take turns jumping in and out of it.  Kestrelcreek does her best to catch them, but they’re good at doing it in secret.  Almondback (61) is also spending some time with his kits, and the other kits, in the nursery.  He takes some fresh-kill and eats it near Petalkit (2) to make sure he feels included. Despite a few rough patches over the past moons, the terrible triad still care deeply about each other.  They have inside jokes that only each other can understand.   Lakepelt, despite once being a newcomer to the Clan herself, is annoyed by some of the more recent cats to join the Clan.  She doesn’t feel like Cherviljumble (95) and Aries (56) understand how to be Clan cats and how to stay safe in the wild.  They’re just making more work for her!  Burdockpaw and Dawnfreckle are already clashing and get in a fight over the best way to do a hunter’s crouch.  On the other paw, Echopaw (8) and Bluestripe (65)  are getting along really well.  Creekstar sees how well Bluestripe is doing as a mentor and regrets not giving her an apprentice earlier.  Primcrest was right about her.  Meanwhile, Echopaw had a strange dream where there was a cat who looked like him telling him that ‘the truth must come out’.  What truth?  And who was that cat?

Alderflight (41) has recovered from his head damage, although not without a scar on his face.  He’s excited to finally have a chance to help out the Clan and go on patrols.  Meanwhile, Skipneedle (60) is starting to understand why Primcrest was not a fan of Creekstar (139).  She’s a bit paranoid, especially with the new star-blessed cats in the Clan.  Skipneedle finds it hard to get her work done.  Brightmouse (60) has decided that the best way for Hatchswipe (30) to move on from Treepelt is for her to get in a fight to distract her.  She starts an argument between Aries (51) and Hatchswipe and then watches the chaos unfold.   Additionally, Aries, who doesn’t feel like she’ll be much use as a warrior, has decided to become a mediator instead. Whorlstorm (30) is busy with her three kits in the nursery, between grooming them and making sure that Copperkit (1) doesn’t burn down the nursery.  Burdockkit (1) is enjoying causing trouble in the healer’s den by messing up the herbs Lakepelt (93) is storing.  Lakepelt doesn’t understand why she’s being so rude. Sofanthiel (74), being from outside the Clan and not used to relying on powered cats to survive, teaches Downgaze (66) a useful hunting technique while they’re in the healer’s den together.  While on a patrol, Kestrelcreek (74) and Brightmouse find a loner named Pebbletuft (18) that they bring back to camp.  She’s Earth-blessed, and, if she recovers from her claw-wound, will be able to help out Lakepelt in the Healer’s den

The curse of the lesbians strikes again.  Treepelt (18) had dim memories of where she was born.  She knew she was from the twolegplace, and she remembered interacting with twolegs as a kit. So she decided to seek them out and left camp without telling anyone.  Not even her mate, Hatchswipe (23).  When Hatchswipe finds Treepelt’s empty nest the next morning, she and Skipneedle (53) set up a patrol to go find her.  Instead, they find Treepelt’s cooling body.  Hatchswipe mourns the loss of her mate and the many moons they should have had together.  Instead, they had each other as mates for only five moons.  Creekstar (132) comforts Hatchswipe in her grief.  Whorlstorm (23) watches and decides that Creekstar isn’t so bad after all.  Kestrelcreek (67) continues to be a good friend to Hatchswipe and checks in with her to make sure she’s doing all right.  Sweet Marmalade (63) has also started playing favorites with his kits.  He snuggles up against Hatchswipe, comforting her.  But he cannot stand being around Whorlstorm. Meanwhile, being proven hasn’t made Bluestripe (53) any less angsty.  Creekstar notices her sulking around camp again, spitefully declaring that she doesn’t need anyone else.  Lakepelt (86) checks in with Creekstar, still determined to help her leader find a treatment that works for her.  They have a nice long talk and feel like they understand each other better.  Skipneedle is still feeling a little unsure as deputy and wonders what the Clan thinks of her.  She knows her sisters support her, but what about everyone else?  Almondback (49) is a little paranoid after Treepelt went missing.  He counts every cat in the Clan, multiple times, to make sure that everyone is accounted for.

Healer’s den: Greenrapid (cat bite), Creekstar (grief stricken), Dawnfreckle (grief stricken), Whorlstorm (running nose)

Just two moons after her kit died, Primcrest (119) went missing and was found dead out in the territory.  Other than Creekstar (131), there are no cats in the Clan who remember a time without her in their lives.  Skipneedle (52) had been hoping to have Primcrest to rely on for advice on how to be a deputy, but apparently that was not to be.  Despite their recent differences, Creekstar loved Primcrest.  She thought that Primcrest would always be by her side.  But now. . .Creekstar can’t help her bitterness and rage as Primcrest’s life is recalled at the vigil.  She wishes she had had a chance to make up with her friend, but that was taken from her.  She coldly turns away from any who offer comfort.  Without Primcrest, what’s the point?  Skipneedle feels like Creekstar needs to step up and take more care of the Clan following Primcrest’s death.  Creekstar bristles and snaps at her.   Skipneedle decides to take it upon herself to cheer up the Clan.  She plays a prank on Downgaze (58) to bring some levity to their lives.  Meanwhile, Downgaze has been thinking about his dead siblings a lot.  He wonders if he should have done more to protect them. Sweet Marmalade comforts him and feels proud to be the cat that Downgaze chose to confide in.  Dawnfreckle (60), who lost his mother right after his brother, is also hit hard by her death.  His voice hoarse with grief, he tells stories of Primcrest’s care and wisdom as the Clan sits vigil for her, making sure that ElementClan honors his mother.  In the days to come, he barely stirs from his nest.  Hatchswipe’s (22) mangled leg has healed, however it is now twisted.  It frustrates her constantly, but Treepelt (17) points out that at least she’s still there to feel irritated by it.  Sweet Marmalade (62) wants to spend time with his daughters and sneaks out of camp with Hatchswipe.  They make their way to twolegplace and wander around for a while before returning back to camp.  

Healer’s den: Greenrapid (cat bite), Whorlstorm (broken bone), Creekstar (grief stricken), Dawnfreckle (grief stricken)