Moon 7

Moon 5 Part 2

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Moonstar gasps awake, sitting up so fast she rams her head into the thick underside of a low-hanging branch that she and her brother had spent the night taking turns sleeping under. They’ve been doing that, taking turns – who knows what things are lurking out here in the dark, so far from home.

If they can't go back, does it still count as home? 

“Ow…” Moonstar groans, a sharp throb pounding against her skull. What a way to start the morning.

Fogfreckle ducks his head underneath one of the branches, sweeping past the leaves to gaze curiously at his sister. He tilts his head questioningly, mouth open to ask what’s wrong, when the words die on his tongue and his eyes widen.

“Fogfreckle!” Moonstar mews excitedly, leaping to her paws. “You’ll never guess what happened!”

“Your– your forehead,” Fogfreckle croaks. “You… were visited by StarClan?”

“What about my forehead?” Moonstar asks, confused and distracted. She presses a paw against her head to see if perhaps she’s bleeding, but her paw doesn’t come away warm or wet. The rest of her brother’s words filter to her slowly through the dull throb of pain and the fog of the early hour. She pouts. “Yeah, Star– how did you guess so quick?”

“There’s– your forehead. You have a star. A leader’s star.”

Moonstar’s pout deepens. “Well. That kind of steals my thunder.”

“Moonpool, what happened?”

“Moonstar now, actually.” Moonstar grins. “StarClan visited me in my dreams and granted me my nine lives. Isn’t that crazy? I didn’t even have to– there was no–” Moonstar’s tongue can hardly keep up with everything that’s swirling in her brain, the experience of her leader’s ceremony playing back to her as if memory and not just dream. “NimbusClan lives on, Fogfreckle. In us, just like you said. We’re to lead NimbusClan into its new future.”

“‘We’?” Fogfreckle asks weakly, jaw slack with disbelief.

“Of course, ‘we’!” Moonstar laughs, bounding closer to her brother. She feels so full of life, coursing through her like the widest, wildest river. “I wouldn’t be here if not for you, you know that. Besides, what’s a leader without her deputy?”

“Deputy?” Fogfreckle repeats, dumbstruck.

“What are you, a raven?” Moonstar laughs. “Yes, deputy! As leader, I’m appointing you as deputy of NimbusClan, Fogfreckle.”

Fogfreckle swells with pride, pale chest fluffed out as he inhales a shaky breath. “I– yes, Moonstar. Thank you.”

“Don’t get all formal on me, now. You’re my brother first, deputy second.”

“So, we really are still a Clan.” He grins, then the expression fades from his face somewhat. His eyes take on an earnest shine. “Did you… I know you’re not supposed to talk about the ceremony, but… when you visited StarClan, did you… did you see our parents?”

Moonstar smiles gently, heart squeezing painfully in her chest. Dad had told her to tell Fogfreckle that their parents miss him, too, so surely StarClan won’t be displeased if she shares just that much? “Yes. I saw them. Mom and Dad. They told me to tell you they miss you.”

Fogfreckle hiccups, stepping close to push his head hard against Moonstar’s.

“I wish you could have seen them too,” She adds in a whisper, nuzzling into his dawn-warmed fur. The sun is just starting to crest the side of the mountain on its way up, crawling lazily into the sky. Greenleaf heat creeps on silent, soft paws across her pelt. It’ll be humid later, but for now, it’s pleasant.

“Maybe they’ll walk in my dreams one day, too.”

“I hope so.” Moonstar presses one more smile into his fur and then pulls back, squaring her shoulders in what she hopes is a leaderly fashion. It’s only her brother, but she may as well start getting used to playing the role. “Alright, deputy. What’s our first order of business?”

Fogfreckle grins. “How about breakfast? I could go for some eggs.”

“Perfect idea.”

Both cats stretch out their paws and take off, bounding up the mountain.

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✏️Who’s your favorite character to draw/write?

LOUSEPAW!!!!! i like her shape. I change a lot of the randomly generated names if I don’t think they fit the character’s design or personality, so I decided to name her after a woodlouse (terrestrial isopods)

Pt. 2 of @ranchclan's ask!

Question is from this ask game!

Updated the refs for our now-adult MCs!

Moonstar: A pale tabby she-cat, eyes of sunlit ice, medium fur length. Nervous, steady paws. 13m old.

Fogfreckle: A white, unusually spotted (rosette) pale gray tom, cobalt eyes, medium fur length. Daring, good mediator, den builder. 13m old.

The results are in! I'll go ahead and draw the Spotify Wrapped Special-

But if you DON'T want to see the new cat until they're revealed in the comic, I'll be tagging it as

#NIMBUSSPOILER

so that you can block the tag, if you'd like!

Before I get around to Moon 9 I'm gonna try and take some time to answer the asks that've been sitting in my inbox! I've been so hyperfixated on drawing comic pages, but I think now's a good time to start working on getting a few of those asks out. :)

Interlude 0-1

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Swirling clouds encircle the summit of Star Reach, stirred as if by a breeze.

No wind blows here in StarClan. Frostcrest settles delicately beside the leader she had in life, curling her tail neatly over her paws.

“She’s hardly more than a kit, Pitchstar.”

“Moonpaw will not fall,” The old, dark bengal replies. His eyes are fixed unwaveringly on the churning, writhing clouds below him. Frostcrest’s gaze drifts to it. A blurry, rippled image of her son floats amidst the mist. He pads along a mountain trail, unaware that the eyes of StarClan are upon him. 

Frostcrest’s face twitches, her whiskers tightening. 

“After all,” Pitchstar continues, “she has her brother with her.”

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A little bonus for @nimbusclan to show Milkfur Can be nice lmao

Refs for the recently introduced StarClan cats!

Pitchstar (dead): Tom, senior, bronze eyes, rosette pattern, short fur. Leader, formerly apprenticed Fogpaw. Charismatic, good speaker, clever. 147m (in life).

Frostcrest (dead): She-cat, adult, copper eyes, sokoke coat, short fur. Warrior, loyal, good kitsitter. Mother of Moonpaw and Fogpaw. 70m (in life).

ARIANA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!/ref

Moonpool/star and art on the right belongs to: @nimbusclan

Audio from: Azumanga Daioh