#tumbleswoop

Creekstar’s (86) final kit has become a warrior.  Spotpaw (13) is now Spotfoot, in honor of his steadfastness.  Primcrest (74) is stressed with training yet another apprentice.  On top of that, it’s hard to keep Echomoor (13) convinced to keep the true cause of his sister’s death a secret.  He feels like it would help both him and Creekstar.  But he trusts the advice of the deputy and keeps it quiet.  Because of all this, Eaglepaw (7) was trying to tell Primcrest how his training was going, but she was noticeably distracted.  Tumbleswoop (21) ends up needing to fix something with Bluepaw (7) and gets into an argument with her.  She was trying to use her earth magic to grow the moss in the nursery, but Tumbleswoop freaks out and snaps at her.  Palepaw (11) has to step in and fix it instead.  Dawnfreckle (16) has been obsessed with finding a way to prove himself, lately, to take some of the stress of his mother.  It’s led to him not doing a ton of work around camp, and cats (like Smokefoot-21) are noticing.  He also gets into an argument with Archpaw (7).  It’s a little intimidating when the dark-cursed and star-blessed cats are fighting.  Archpaw hasn’t let her star-blessed powers come between her and her dark-cursed littermates, though.  She makes sure to spend some time playing with Skippaw (7) when they both have a break from training.  Archpaw also covers for Frostpaw (7) when she sneaks out of camp to escape the adults’ supervision. Bluepaw is glad that there are older dark-cursed cats in the Clan and asks Echomoor if he can give her advice for training with Creekstar, as she is his mother, after all.  Bluepaw is determined to do well and wants to become a warrior before Streamkit (3) is made an apprentice.  Unlikely, but possible.  However, the Clan receives an unfortunate omen.  While on patrol, Archpaw, the one star-blessed cat in the Clan, is captured by twolegs.  That can’t be good.

Meta: I changed around the cats who gave Dawnstar his lives and what life they gave him for story-telling purposes (much like I did for Creekstar's ceremony so long ago). In game, the cats who gave Dawnstar his nine lives were Primcrest (protection), Hyacinthstripe (confidence), Tumbleswoop (bravery), Brightmouse (sympathy), Blizzardback (instincts), Flowerpaw (trust), Lilacdrizzle (farsightedness), Almondback (friendship), and Creekstar (leadership through darkest times). I think it's sweet that Primcrest and Flowerpaw were included in the in-game ceremony.

Healer’s Den: Rubbleheart (mangled tail), Sweet Marmalade (claw wound, scrapes), Vaxxstreak (mangled tail), Tumbleswoop (running nose), Bluestripe (stomachache)

This is the moon of leg wounds.  Greenrapid (18) fell off a cliff and broke his leg, Downgaze (43) fell through a snow drift and broke his leg, and Nettlestripe (31) slipped on some rocks and dislocated his leg.  Wow.  Tumbleswoop (51) thinks that Blizzardback (25) should know his favorite prey and is upset when the young cat gives him his least favorite prey.  It must have been on purpose.  Skipneedle (37) doesn’t care that Tumbleswoop can be a little mean at times.  She likes him anyway and gives him a pretty flower.  Skipneedle isn’t the only one of the fearsome foursome giving presents to cats they like; Bluestripe (37) gives Almondback (33) a circular twoleg object she found.  She hides behind her whiskers when he thanks her, embarrassed by him seeing through a crack in her tough facade.  Despite being out of the nursery, Downgaze’s kits are enjoying spending time with their dad.  Hyacinthpaw (7) shares a joke about FurledClan with him, Hatchpaw (7) enjoys talking about Clan drama with him, and Whorlpaw (7) appreciates how Downgaze always checks in on her.  Meanwhile, a FurledClan queen drops her litter in ElementClan.  Sweet Marmalade (47) decides to take them in as his own. There’s the earth-blessed Hollykit (1), who’s already been helping out in the healer's den,  and his brother, Stonekit (1), who is star-blessed.  Ooh.  Tumbleswoop wants to talk with Creekstar (116) and Primcrest (104)  about how dark-cursed cats vs star-blessed cats are treated.  He can’t help but think that Echomoor would have lived longer if he had been treated better by the Clan.  Hopedawn (51) mediates the exchange, but little change is made.  Tumbleswoop does understand where Creekstar is coming from better, though.  She feels like the Clan has suffered a lot under her leadership and fears that her welcoming of dark-cursed cats may have caused some of it.  Tumbleswoop doesn’t agree, but he can at least sympathize with her.

Surely the world can’t go on, surely the sun won’t rise and the seasons won’t turn, not now that Echomoor is dead.  Tumbleswoop (40) doesn’t know how to go on without him.  He tosses and turns, finding it difficult to sleep with his thoughts lingering on Echomoor’s cold last moments.  Tumbleswoop can only hope Echomoor knows how loved he was.  Vaxxstreak (137) feels like he’s living through a nightmare.  Echomoor, his kit, can’t really be dead.  Vaxxstreak can’t handle the vigil’s entirety, despite his best efforts.  Echomoor’s death has drained him.  So much so that he has decided to retire to the elder’s den.  Tumbleswoop notices that Vaxxstreak is grieving, too and asks him how he’s doing.  The two of them share memories of Echomoor long into the night. Creekstar (105) misses her son and is sad for his loss.  But less so than she thinks she should be.  Is she a bad cat for not being devastated at her son’s death?  Primcrest (93) is taking some time to be with her own son and comes up with a plan to sneak out of camp with Dawnfreckle (34).  Brightmouse (26) knows that Dawnfreckle may be feeling down at the loss of another dark-cursed cat and brings him a mouse in sympathy.  Meawhile, Streamhiss (22) is losing sleep trying to think of ways to impress Shinebreak.  What can she do with her water powers that Shinebreak can’t? Creekstar is impressed with how well Cavepaw’s (9) been doing in training and thinks that he’ll be ready to be a warrior soon.  Cavepaw’s nervous and feels like that puts more pressure on him.

Greenkit (6) is now an apprentice and his mentor is Shinebreak (25), giving her her first apprentice.  Tumbleswoop (39) and Echomoor (31) have both made full recoveries and are excited to spend some time together as mates (outside of the healer's den!).  Almondback (21) also recovered from dislocating his leg only to break it falling off of a snowdrift.  Poor guy.  Streamhiss (21) wishes her brother would get healthy already so they could spend more time together.  Sweet Marmalade (35), having spent most of his time in the Clan in the healer's den, is grateful for all Safariaster (157) does. Both Primcrest (92) and Creekstar (104) are annoyed by Orioleclover (16).  Wow, something the leader and deputy agree on! They have been growing apart these past couple moons, so it’s nice for the old friends to find something to bond over, even if it is dislike of a clanmate.  Dawnfreckle (34) insists on trying to help Echomoor prove himself.  Echomoor is unenthused.  Spotfoot (31) is having a bit of trouble getting along with Echomoor.  He finds the way he acts uncomfortable.  Echomoor doesn’t notice his brother being awkward around him.  He’s too busy purring at one of Tumbleswoop’s lame jokes. They decide to go out on a walk together, using their water magic to make sculptures out of the snow.  Sadly, Echomoor and Tumbleswoop’s outing is ill-fated.  A storm rolls in and Echomoor freezes to death.  Tumbleswoop is left to carry his mate’s body home.

Tumbleswoop’s (36) broken leg isn’t getting any better.  In fact, it’s festering.  Echomoor (28) takes a long walk, deep in thought about ways he could help his loved one.  Meanwhile, Streamhiss (18) comes out as a trans she-cat.  You go, girl!  Rootwing (14) goes on his first solo mediation mission to RaccoonClan to solve some border disputes.  But he only makes them worse.  Oof.  Creekstar is not very popular with the newer members of the Clan.  Orioleclover (13) feels like she never does anything helpful, Hopgrowl (270) thinks she isn’t very considerate of others, and Cavekit (5) sticks out his tongue at her.  Oof (x2).  Rubbleheart (43) overhears Creekstar complaining about him behind his back.  He doesn’t appreciate it.  His game of hide and seek was very important.  More important than hunting, even. Skipneedle is amazed at how long Hopgrowl has survived and feels a deep respect for the elder.  Sweet Marmalade (32) is happy to be healthy and makes sure to always check in on his Clanmates.  Shinebreak (22) and Brightmouse (22) are still enjoying the mated life.  Shinebreak purrs for a long time at one of Brightmouse’s lame jokes.  Blizzardpaw (10) is impatient to be a warrior and gets in a spat with Skipneedle (22) over a piece of fresh-kill.  

With greenleaf comes a fresh bout of injuries.  Primcrest  (87) gets her leg stuck in a twoleg trap but is able to escape.  Her leg is heavily injured, though.  Additionally, Tumbleswoop  (34) was grabbed and dropped by an eagle.  He’s alive, but with a broken leg.  And on top of that, Xhosa (113) has gotten fleas.  How fun.  Rindlepaw (12) is proving to be a very attentive Healer.  She always makes sure to check in on her patients.  Safariaster (152) is tired of being on bed rest from her injuries and wants to sneak out of camp with Oriolepaw (11).  Echomoor (26) is worried about Tumbleswoop and doesn’t know if Rindlepaw is skilled enough to care for him.  He gets in an argument with the Healer apprentice and they end up resentful of each other.  Oriolepaw cares a lot about her mentor, who’s only five moons older than she is, and reminds Almondback (16) to grab something from the fresh-kill pile if he hasn’t already.  Dawnfreckle (29) is so excited that he’s proven himself.  He is very insistent on checking in on Hopgrowl (268) to make sure the cat he saved is doing alright.  Paleburst (24) cautions him against optimism as Hopgrowl is very old and quite injured, but nothing can bring down Dawnfreckle’s high.  Seeing that his cousin proved himself makes Echomoor even more determined to do so.  He makes sure to wake up early every day to volunteer for dawn patrol.  Things were going so well.  Until Xhosa decides to go for a hunting patrol during a thunderstorm.  A sudden flood comes their way and both she and Smokefoot (34) die.