SCREAMING AND SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOPS - Blog Posts

nimbusclan

1 month ago

Moon 4 - Part 2

A collage style comic. Title reads: "Moon 4 - Camosunclan border - afternoon"
the panel below shows a small, grey cat- Longpaw- squeezing through a gap in a fence. On the right side of the panel, a bigger, tortoiseshell cat- Gutetrrat- is waiting for her. Dialogue reads:
Longpaw: "...did she leave? I wouldn’t leave Gutterclan. Unless…”
Gutterrat: “I dunno! Babyleg said she was afraid, but– but she’s young, you know? I don’t wanna press her. It must be overwhelming.”
Longpaw: “Yeah. I know.”

Below the panel, text reads:
"Gutterrat looked at Longpaw, sideways. Of course she did– more than any cat her age had right, to know. Gutterrat shut her eyes, for a moment, against the long afternoon sun. It it was okay, now. The patrol was easy— pleasant. Longpaw’s spirits were— not high, but not so low, the way they could be. The day was warm. Maybe she could even nap, later. She could love this. She could learn to—"

From offscreen, dialogue says "you're trespassing, you know."

Two panels show Ferntail and Gutterrat speaking. Ferntail is a pointed cat with tattered ears. Both he and Gutterrat look tired and battered.
Gutterrat says: "Ferntail!"
Ferntail says: "And if it isn't little Gutterpaw. Brie! Where've you been?"

From here on, panels run side-by-side. The leftmost panels show the past, on a floral blue background. The righthand panels show the present, in black-and-white.

Left: a less battered, less tired Ferntail says: “You came back.” He and Gutterrat, smiling, butt heads.
Right: Gutterrat, looking away, says: "It’s… complicated. But– it’s good to see you.” Longpaw looks up at her in confusion.

Left: A smiling Gutterrat says: “Of course! I missed that sour frown of yours.”
Right: A frowning, tired Ferntail says: “Complicated. Thought it was only Camosunclan. And is that– I thought you didn’t… want kits.”

Left: A smiling Ferntail says: “And I missed being talked back to.”
Right: Gutterrat says, “My– Longpaw? No! No– my apprentice.” Longpaw looks up at her, frowning. A little broken heart floats over her head.

Left: Gutterrat punches Ferntail in the shoulder, laughing. “I know! That’s the other reason I came by.”
Right: Ferntail, looking upset: "Apprentice? How--"

Left: Ferntail shoves Gutterrat's paw away. “Stars, if I'd talked to my mentor like that– you wanna come out hunting?”
Right: Gutterrat, ears drooping, says: "I. Something... bad happened. At the house, Ferntail. We..."

Left: Gutterrat is smiling, determined. “I thought you’d never ask!”
Right: Ferntail scowls, his ears flat. “Bad? You should have come to me. I could’ve–”

Left: Ferntail and Gutterrat stalk together, side-by-side.
Right: Longpaw and Gutterrat look at each other, frowning. “I know– I know. But I had her. And I didn’t know if your clan would… you said even me, they might not take, and…”

Left: Gutterrat smiles with a mouse caught in her mouth.
Right: A close-up on Ferntail's face, looking sad or ashamed. “No. Not with a kit. Things are… But then– you joined with Fraserclan? Or–”

Left: Ferntail gives a thumbs up, smiling.
Right: Gutterrat, looking conflicted, says “I– No. I started my own clan. I! I don't know. I thought—”

Left: Gutterrat and Fentail lie in the grass together, relaxed and happy.
Right: A close-up on Ferntail's face- he looks angry. “What? You can’t just–”

Interrupting both panels, a dialogue box shows the sound effects "crash! rustle rustle"

Left: Ferntail looks sad. “Ah– dusk patrol. I have to go. But– maybe tomorrow..?”
Right: Ferntail looks upset. “You– I have to go. Brie; don’t tell other cats about this. Not clan cats. Promise me.”

Left: Ferntail and Gutterat stand with heads close together. Gutterrat says: “Yeah! Yeah, of course. I’ll be around. And Ferntail, I…”
Right: A dejected Gutterrat says "“But– Ferntail. I promise. Just– please, I–”

Below both panels, text reads: "But the long, fronded tail for which he was named was vanishing, already, into the trees. Gutterrat stood, for a long moment, all the weight returning. Her own tail drooped, by slow degrees, until it dragged across the ground. Those days– those easy autumn days. They weren’t coming back."

A final panel shows Longpaw, sitting in the foreground, with Gutterrat walking away in the background.
Longpaw says: "Gutterrat? Who was…”
Gutterrat: “Just– someone I used to know. It doesn’t matter, now.”
Longpaw: “...Yeah. Okay.”

Maybe we should move someplace new / and build time machines to go and get us back / Back before we were brittle

Gutterrat was seen speaking to a Camosunclan cat across the border. Scandalous!

Start / Back / Next

Ferntail, a young warrior of strict Camosunclan, had met Gutterrat across the border before the founding of Gutterclan. Then a loner named Brie, Gutterrat- both personable and lonely- had struck up a rapport with Ferntail.

Ferntail himself- something of a punching bag, as a "Medius" near the bottom of his clan's hierarchy- fell into an easy friendship with Brie, free from the constraints of rank.

He declared himself to be Brie's mentor (though he was scarcely a moon older). The two spent a season "training" together - escaping to the fantasy that Brie might one day join the clan as a full warrior of Camosunclan, and openly live alongside Ferntail.

Some things aren't meant to be.