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“All that’s left to do is to find some more cobwebs for you, bring you water-soaked moss, catch us both something to eat…” Moonstar ticks each item off on her claws, recounting the list in her head for the sixth time since waking. She’s been going over it since the sun rose, making sure she won’t forget anything her brother may need while she’s out. “Are you feeling okay?” She asks, reaching a paw towards his cobweb-covered flank. “Does it hurt at a–”
Fogfreckle’s tail easily flicks up between them, blocking her paw. She leaves it hanging awkwardly in the air between them for a heartbeat, confused, unable to tell if he had done that on purpose or not. “Really getting into that leader mindset, huh?” Her brother mews, and though there’s a slight smile to his mouth, his words fall flat as they reach her ears.
On purpose, then.
Moonstar blinks at him, trying to remember where her thoughts had gone before they’d been so succinctly cut off. “I’ve got to stay on top of things with my deputy out of commission, yeah?” She mews lightly. Her neck fur prickles with unease as the smile drops fully from Fogfreckle’s face.
“Yeah.” His voice is painfully blank. He turns his muzzle away from her, as if the boulders crowding in around them are somehow more interesting to look at. “S’pose so.”
Moonstar fidgets from paw to paw, unsure of the sudden tension stifling the two cats in the crammed space. She runs through her mental list yet again, turning each item over in her head like smooth pebbles to see if any of the contents could have pricked at her brother in a way she hadn’t considered. Try as she might, she can’t figure out how the term ‘water-soaked moss’ would have been able to turn his mood sour.
“You’re being really brave about this,” Moonstar starts, switching tactics. Her brother is still staring blankly into the darkness, turned away from her. “Sticking it out through the pain like this. I know it must hurt.”
She reaches out a paw once again, intending to rest it against his flick, but his ears flick backwards and he pushes himself out of reach. Her paw drops, the confusion at his attitude starting to morph into a hurt that yanks at her like brambles.
“I’m not a kit anymore, Moonstar.”
“...Yeah, I know,” Moonstar mews slowly, feeling like she’s padding on thorns. “You’re– you’re my deputy! You’re–
“Could you just leave me alone?” Fogfreckle curls into a tight ball, wrapping his tail over his nose. His shoulders are sharp in the dim light that issues from the crawlspace entrance, the fur along the back of his neck spiky and agitated. Moonstar frowns at the shape of him in the gloom.
If he doesn’t want her emotional support, fine. She swallows down the ball of hurt that is lodged in her throat like a bird bone and lets it out with a rough sigh. Screw her for trying to be helpful. He can rot, for all she cares, as long as he stays here and stays out of trouble.
She stalks towards the entrance of their makeshift den, shoulders brushing the boulder above her. “I’ll go get your moss.”
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Must be pretty rough to have your rival and your sibling graduate before you
Who is your favorite sibling duo? Mine is Mink and Dawn!
GRAHH this is such a difficult question!!! I love all their dynamics so much :'D If I have to choose I think I'd have to go with Petunia and Oscypek, just because I've been thinking lots about them recently and I am admittedly real partial to a good ol tragedy lol
But that makes me curious what everyone else thinks too! So here, have this poll!:
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Fogfreckle’s body hits the ground hard, rolling halfway down the slope as Moonstar slides down after him, pebbles skidding out from under her paws as she rushes to his side.
“Fogfreckle?” Moonstar’s voice wavers as she reaches him in a spray of stones, hovering a scraped paw gently over his bleeding body as she hesitates. He’s just lying there, chest rising and falling shallowly, as blood oozes from thick punctures along his back that stains his pale fur red. Should she roll him over? What if his bones are broken? He’s not dead, by the grace of StarClan, but she’s no medicine cat – she has no idea how close he is to death or how much worse she’ll make it if she tries to move him.
The circling shadow of the eagle drifts over them with another ear-splitting, screeching cry, and Moonstar’s fear makes the decision for her. She grabs Fogfreckle by the scruff of the neck and begins to haul him farther down the slope. She doesn’t want to injure him more than he already is, but she knows it’ll be worse if they’re caught out here on the open mountainside once the larger predators in the area catch scent of his blood and come to investigate.
Fogfreckle doesn’t make a single nose of pain as she pulls him through the dirt. She drags him as far as a tumbled collection of boulders and stones, squeezing into a space between the rocks that is just big enough for Moonstar to fit her body through and drag Fogfreckle in after her. The space is tight, without a lot of room to move, and Moonstar has to swallow panic and bile as the walls seem to press in around them.
“This is best,” she says aloud to herself, “foxes or fishers can’t reach us in here. It has to be here.” The self-soothing doesn’t do much to abate her claustrophobia, but Fogfreckle makes a pained noise in response to her voice and all thoughts of herself vacate her mind.
Fogfreckle whimpers as Moonstar licks his wounds clean, flinching as she clears dirt from the punctures with her rough tongue. She doesn’t say anything while she works, but she nearly sags in relief with every flinch and whimper from her brother. He’s okay. He’s okay. He’s alive and he’s okay.
“Stay here,” she says at last when she’s cleaned most of the blood and debris from his fur. It’s still oozing sluggishly from his wounds, bright and wet. “I need to find cobwebs. Do you think you broke anything?”
“I don’t think so,” Fogfreckle murmurs, voice weak and faint with exhaustion.
“Reckless,” Moonstar murmurs back, licking his forehead once. “Alright. Okay. Stay safe. Please, please, stay safe. I’ll get us help, okay? I’ll find someone to help.”
Moonstar scrambles out from under the claustrophobic press of rocks and pelts back up the mountain, swerving trees and boulders and leaping roots as she climbs higher and higher. Panic and grief strangles her thundering heart, pushing her to run faster and faster until her legs are burning. She reaches a break in the pines, a ledge buffeted by the wind, and yowls at the top of her lungs until her voice runs ragged.
“HELP! SOMEBODY, HELP! PLEASE! HELP!”
Her voice echoes back to her across the mountain, mimicking her fear. When it fades, there is only the sound of the mountain. Wind in her ears, the rustle of leaves in the trees, insects that hum in the sun. A sob escapes her, then a full blown wail, and her body collapses beneath her as the lack of response presses against her.
They are alone. At sunrise, she awoke as the leader of this clan, and at sundown she is so terribly, horribly, awfully alone.
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Y'all who voted Moonpool were CORRECT!! Congratulations on being right 😌
#do either have any aspirations of being leader someday or are they almost looking for another cat to take that role? @hiddenvalleyclan
MP: "I've... sort've avoided thinking about it. Pitchstar was our last leader, and he left big pawsteps to fill. Dad told me that before Pitchstar's time, leadership was passed down from parent to child, but when Pitchstar became leader, he did away with that rule. Fogfreckle and I haven't really talked about it. I don't think we need a new leader just yet, with it only being the two of us."
FF: "A leader is what makes a Clan. Well, and the rest of the cats, or that'd just be some narcissistic loner walking around," Fogfreckle chuckles. "I think being leader would be cool. It's a big responsibility, of course, and I'm not sure that I'm cut out for it, but it would be cool. It's not my main goal in life or anything, but if my clan members were still here, I'd be pretty honored if I was chosen to lead the clan someday."
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).
Howdy! Just wanted to say hi and say I’m a huge fan of your work! The like incredibly clean lined style with the soft rendering is so pretty and dreamlike
Waaaah, thank you so much!! What a nice thing to say!! Lineart is, like, my favorite part of the drawing process, so it's fun to hear that it comes across to others as well.
Thanks for saying hi!!
Brb boutta smack those neighbouring clan cats upside the head and see how they like it. How dare they!
I hope Moon and Fog will prove them wrong!
GET 'EM ANON, GET 'EM
A little bonus for @nimbusclan to show Milkfur Can be nice lmao
A Clangen blog! Follow siblings Moonstar and Fogfreckle on their adventures :3c
193 posts