#tempestroar

It took Parsleystar a few minutes to notice Stormclaw standing awkwardly outside her den. She beckoned him in, raising a brow in curiousity.

"Uh, well," he said, shuffling his paws. "There are some... complaints? Not from me, of course. I think you're doing a pretty good job. But, um... Well, Pinedash says he's uncomfortable sleeping with the others. Or, he didn't say it like that, I guess, he was a lot ruder about it, but that's the gist of it. And Lynxfur is complaining about being too hot, though I'm not sure what you can do about that. And-"

Parsleystar raised her paw and he stopped. She closed her eyes and took a long, slow breath before opening them again.

"One at a time, please, Stormclaw. One at a time."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Tempestpaw flinched, startled out of her thoughts as Stormclaw sat beside her.

"I called your name a few times," he said. "You seemed pretty involved in watching the clouds."

Tempestpaw puffed out a sigh. "I was thinking of RootClan," she admitted after a long moment of silence. Stormclaw let out a little hum, his eyes drifting towards the sky.

"I think about them a lot, too."

They sat in silence for a long while after that, saying nothing, taking comfort in the company of each other's grief.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

The bushes rustled and, before Burdockheart could warn him, Beampaw stuck his nose between the branches. He leapt back with a squawk when the cat hiding inside greeted him with a hiss and a swipe, her green eyes glittering with danger. Burdockheart marveled at how her coat had helped her blend in even in such a dead place.

"Go away," the loner snarled.

"You're hurt," Burdockheart pointed out. The loner's shoulder was indeed bleeding sluggishly. The loner didn't appreciate this observation and hissed louder. "We have a medic back at our camp," Burdockheart soldiered on. "If you need help."

The loner went quiet and eyed her and Beampaw. There was a long, long moment where Burdockheart tried to look as open and non-threatening as possible, and the loner sighed.

"Alright." She hefted herself to her paws with a grunt, and managed not to stumble.

"I'm Burdockheart, and this is my apprentice Beampaw," Burdockheart offered. Beampaw sneered at the loner, pretending as though he wasn't pressing himself against his mentor's side as hard as he could. The she-cats ignored him.

"I'm Algae," the loner responded, blinking slowly.

The night is quiet, and the stars twinkle overhead. Burdockheart stared at them, her eyes flicking from light to light.

"Burdockheart?" Algaesky yawned, stirring from her nest. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to figure out which star is Tempestroar." Algaesky went quiet, settling next to Burdockheart and brushing their pelts together. They watched the sky together, leaning against each other for comfort.

"She was so young," Burdockheart sighed. "I'm glad she's with her family now, at least. But she didn't deserve to die like that."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Hickorymarsh, you will train Acornpaw. I know that you will do this job well." Acornpaw touched noses with Hickorymarsh gently, hiding the fact that he was practically choking on excitement. He stood beside his new mentor and watched as Aspenpaw was apprenticed to Sakari, and Asphodelpaw to Stormclaw. He was wriggling in his place by the time the gathering had finally ended. He was an apprentice! He'd be the best apprentice in the whole wide world!

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Frozenwhisker slipped into Parsleystar's den, his pawsteps silent. He stood there for a moment, admiring his mate and the tiny kitten at her stomach. She stirred and blinked up at him.

"Hey," he whispered, and curled around her. A tired purr rattled in her throat, and Frozenwhisker didn't bother to suppress the purr that rose in his own throat in response. He pressed his forehead against hers, his eyes slipping closed, and it wasn't long before he was sound asleep.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Burdockheart let out a low hiss of pain when Mintswirl tried to maneuver her leg. They curled their lip in sympathy.

"It's pretty badly damaged," they told her. "It might scar, it might not- it's too early to tell."

"You should have stayed away from those hills," Algaesky scolded. Burdockheart made a face at her friend. "You know that twolegs like to set traps for the rabbits there."

"-And the mouse says, well of course not!" Skyrumble joked. Tempestroar snorted.

"That was awful."

"Hey, you laughed!"

Tempestroar shoved him, and he shoved her right back. They scuffled for a moment, batting at each other playfully.

"Ha ha! I've got you now, Tempestroar!" Skyrumble said, pinning her to the ground. The grass behind him erupted as a giant dog emerged.

"Skyrumble!" Tempestroar shrieked, and twisted out from underneath him and launched herself between him and the dog. The dog didn't hesitate, and latched onto her and shook her body. Nausea swelled in Tempestroar's throat. The dog let go suddenly, and Tempestroar yowled as she went flying into a tree. She felt something crack, and was blinded with pain shortly after. She would come to hours later in the medicine den, Mintswirl hovering over her, and be told that she had broken a bone in the ordeal.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Algaesky limped over to Burdockheart, who perked up at the sight of her.

"You've been released!" she joked. Algaesky laughed.

"Mintswirl says that the fever's gone," she told Burdockheart, settling next to her with a grunt. "But my leg isn't going to heal any more than it has. Apparently, I have to re-learn how to walk and such." A dark shadow crossed the she-cat's face. "They say that my leg will be weak for the rest of my life, and that I'll probably have chronic pain from here on out."

Burdockheart pressed herself against her friend. "I'll help you," she reassured her. "We can work together on this. I promise. I'll never leave you to deal with this alone."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Beamsnow stared blankly at the little red body laying limply in the center of camp.

"Papa?" Asphodelkit whispered, and he jerked his head down to look at her. "Are we gonna die too?" He blinked at her and her brothers, and his heart cracked a little more.

"Oh, no, darling," he whispered back, curling around his kits. "No. Applekit was... he got sick. Very sick. Mintswirl did their best, but sometimes... sometimes StarClan's calling is too strong. But you three are alright. I'll make sure that you are. I promise."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Hello," a voice said. Skyrumble whirled around, fur puffing out, and stared at a tabby she-cat. She blinked at him, amusement in her eyes. "Are you one of the Clan cats I've been hearing about?"

"Ah- yes!" He stumbled over his words, eyes wide. "I'm Skyrumble. How... how can I help you, miss?" The she-cat seemed even more amused, and Skyrumble felt his fur grow hot.

"My name's Tumble. I'd like to join your Clan if I could."

"Well, Parsleystar would have to decide about that, but... well, I'm sure we could find a spot for you. I mean, you look very... Muscular. Um. Strong! You look strong." Tumble laughed out loud, and Skyrumble just about swooned.

"I'm a bit too old for you I think, but thank you."

The medicine den had been quiet for a while when Mintswirl spoke up.

"Hey, Algaesky. Do you ever feel... I don't know, like you're not a she-cat?"

Algaesky blinked and considered his question for a moment, flicking her ear.

"No, not really. Do you ever feel like you're not a tom?"

Mintswirl fidgeted with the leaves he was sorting. "...A lot, yeah." He let out a breath and turned to face her. "I don't know why I said anything. It's kind of silly, isn't it? Of course I'm a tom."

"Not necessarily," Algaesky shook her head. "You know I used to live in a barn with a huge family, right? Well, I had a few family members who were born toms and felt more like she-cats. And some who were born she-cats but felt more like toms."

"I don't really feel like a she-cat either," Mintswirl sighed. "It's like... I don't know, like I'm floating somewhere in between. Not a she-cat, but not a tom. Something else."

"Ah, I had a cousin who felt like that. They called themself non-binary," Algaesky explained. "They were somewhere between tom and she-cat, but at the same time, somewhere outside of that. I didn't totally understand it, but they seemed happy with it, so that was enough for me."

Mintswirl turned this thought over in his mind. "Non-binary, hm?" he murmured.

"Maybe we could start calling you 'they' instead of 'he'?" Algaesky suggested, watching him closely. "Bramblestar goes by that. They prefer it to 'she' or 'he'. So, when I'm talking about you, I'd say something like... 'They're the medic of ButterflyClan. They're very good at their job.' Does that feel right?"

Mintswirl turned the pronoun over in their mind. They were non-binary... they went by they/them...

"Yeah," they whispered, their throat suddenly tight and their chest warm. "Yeah, I think it does."

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Do you hear that?" Tempestroar asked suddenly. The patrol paused and listened. The sound of wheezing and coughing echoed across the meadow, and Tempestroar was off before Lynxfur and Burdockheart could say anything.

When they caught up, they found her crouched over a brown tom, his chest shuddering with the effort to catch his breath. Tempestroar looked up at them as they approached, concern shining in her eyes.

"He's sick," she told them. "He needs our help."

"We've only just begun to recover," Lynxfur told her. "I don't know..."

"Please," Tempestroar begged. "He might not make it without Mintswirl's help."

Lynxfur and Burdockheart glanced at each other before coming to a silent agreement. They helped the tom to his paws and started to make their way back to camp.

"What's your name?" Tempestroar asked him quietly.

"E- Eevee," the tom wheezed.

"Hey, Parsleystar!" Tempestroar called. The leader lifted her head and locked her eyes on the loner Tempestroar had brought into the camp. "This is Teacup, she wants to join!"

Parsleystar stood and padded over. The loner eyed her nervously, the tip of her tail twitching.

"Why?" Parsleystar leveled her gaze at Teacup, her tone firm. The loner seemed strong, and not quite young, but young enough. Having her join would mean another mouth to feed, true, which wouldn't be optimal after such a rough few moons, but it also meant another hunter.

"I'm... alone," Teacup confessed. She looked down and folded her ears flat. "I don't like it. I had a big family before the fire, but they all... Anyways, I heard that there's a larger group of cats out here. I can hunt, and I can watch your kits, and I can teach your young ones. I won't ask for anything, and I'll eat last if you ask me to. I just... I need company. I don't know how to be alone."

Parsleystar's heart ached at the words, and she glanced at Tempestroar, who looked somewhat horrified. The leader let out a long sigh.

"Alright. But if you're going to join us, you'll need a name like us." Teacup brightened, hope in her eyes. "How do you feel about the name Shadowbloom?"

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

"Eagle!"

Stormclaw jerked his head up towards the sky, his eyes widening as he saw the great bird circling the camp. ButterflyClan scattered, but with the world as burnt as it was, there weren't many places to hide.

The bird dove, claws outstretched, reaching for-

"Whiskerpaw!" Stormclaw screeched, and he knocked the tiny apprentice aside. Pain nearly whited out his vision as the eagle dug its claws into his side, and his paws scrabbled at the ground in a desperate attempt to keep the bird from dragging him into the sky.

The bird evidently grew tired of his squirming and decided he was too difficult a meal, and he gasped as he suddenly dropped. Stormclaw hit the ground hard and howled in pain as he felt something in his leg snap. His vision was blurry and his ears were ringing, and he knew that Pondfang was beside him and had no idea what to do.

"From here on forth, you shall be known as Whiskerpaw. Your mentor will be Tempestroar, and I know that she'll teach you everything she knows."

Whiskerpaw surged forward and touched her nose to Tempestroar's eagerly. The black and white she-cat looked surprised and delighted, and Whiskerpaw wriggled excitedly.

"We have to go hunting first," Whiskerpaw announced as soon as the gathered Clan had moved away. Tempestroar laughed.

"You'll have to learn hunting techniques before you can catch anything," she pointed out. Whiskerpaw felt a spark of disappointment, but shoved it aside. She's an apprentice now; she'll be hunting in no time!

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Pondfang peered closely at Algae's wound before shrugging.

"Looks fine to me," he announced. "It's scabbed over and isn't oozing puss, so it's probably not infected."

"Probably?" Algae's face twisted. "It's probably not infected?" Pondfang shrugged again.

"Hello?" Hickorypaw listened for a response, his heart pounding nervously in his chest. He wheeled around, swallowing back another cry. He was totally alone, his only companion the clouds in the sky.

"Frozenwhisker?" He tried again, raising his voice. "Beampaw? Burdockheart?"

"Hickorypaw!" Hickorypaw jumped, a strangled scream escaping him, and twisted to find Beampaw staring at him with wide eyes. "Did you seriously get lost? On patrol?"

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Beampaw was still giggling about it after Frozenheart had escorted Hickorypaw back to camp. Burdockheart probably should have scolded him for it, but she'd never heard him laugh before. It was almost magical to hear.

"Hello?" The quiet voice almost made her jump, and she whipped her head around to find a black and white she-cat. Beampaw hissed loudly, his fur on end and immediately on guard, and Burdockheart felt faint. The she-cat had pressed herself flat to the ground and was keeping her eyes lowered.

"I'd heard that you'd made a new Clan here, and I- well, I was hoping that-"

"Tempestpaw?" Burdockheart rasped. The she-cat jerked, twisting her head up to stare.