Territory WindClan all we do is hide away ⊱✿⊰ dimmingsun

[Meadowpaw]

MEADOWPAW

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Things hadn't changed much since Dimmingsun became their medicine-cat. He was more involved in treating the clan and he knew more now but little else was different. Asking for advice, leaning on his knowledge—Those were things that an apprentice expected of their mentor and only recently had she come to realize how long she'd been doing just that. Ever since the day he was injured and brought to WindClan… She'd been depending on him.

Realizing that made her stomach twist. What kind of medicine-cat leaned on a stranger to help treat her own clanmates? How could she have been so determined to prove she didn't need coddling when she only ended up needing someone else to hold her up anyway? Even if Dimmingsun was okay with it, Meadowpaw wasn't sure that she was. She didn't want to keep having to lean on others to support herself. There was already enough that she had no choice but to rely on others for.

That didn't mean she couldn't learn from him. It was obvious he had a whole lot of knowledge to share. Everything Gladebloom taught her didn't quite measure up to his skill. That stung a little, too but then again she hadn't been able to train long under the former medicine-cat before her disappearance.

At the very least, she hoped it wasn't all one-sided. Meadowpaw hoped they could learn from each other. A give and take, instead of Dimmingsun being the only one with something to offer. If he needed to learn more about WindClan or his gifts, she could do that. If there were ways their knowledge veered with gaps she could fill, then she could do that also... Meadowpaw wanted to be someone he could rely on too. That might've been asking a lot. Many of her clanmates still treated her like she was some kind of helpless kit, never mind how old she actually was.

As the two of them worked together combing through the grass in opposite directions, Meadowpaw stole glances at the golden tom. She found a few oak leaves already, likely swept in from ThunderClan's forests by the wind. The quiet rustle of leaves and grass filled the silence before she worked up the nerve to speak. "Hey, Be—er… Dimmingsun."

She stumbled over the name. It still felt strange to call him something different than the name she first knew him by. But StarClan had given him that name, and he was a medicine-cat now. He deserved the respect of being called by his clan name. "Does it um feel any different than before? Y-you know… after meeting StarClan and all that?"

Besides Dustystar and Gladebloom, he was the only other WindClanner she knew who had spoken to StarClan. Aside from their duties, their gifts were something else they shared that few others did.

Coin Flip: Heads → Success → Oak Leaf

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I BELIEVE THAT THERES COURAGE

BUT ITS BURNIN' LIKE ASH IN THE WIND

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WINDCLAN

MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE

12 MOONS

SHE/HER

Meadowpaw values kindness and remembrance. As a kit, she internalized her mother's lessons, but questioned whether her way is the only way. She has broken free from the heavy burden of her mother's expectations due to their estrangement after the fire. She remains kind and soft-spoken through all she's endured, but is not afraid to speak out for what she believes is right.

Meadow works tirelessly at any task she undertakes, desperate to prove herself capable and worthy despite her disability. Without her mother's guidance, she finds new ways to express herself.

In conversations, she is gentle, thoughtful, and withdrawn, often hiding her struggles, fearing others seeing her as incapable. She continues to have a strong bond not only with her sister, but with her adopted family as well. Meadow uses her new freedom to support and deepen the bonds with her clanmates. Additionally, she has started to explore the more spiritual side of herself…

Her worldview is a complicated mix of hope and frustration. She wants to believe that there's hope at the end of all the suffering, but feels trapped by her limitations. With enough time and support, she may find a way to overcome her limitations and accept herself.

 

[DIMMINGSUN]

Dimmnigsun hums as his paws comb through his work—laid-back yet efficient. Focused.

You tend to get newfound motivation when you get a promotion, after all.

That's how this entire ordeal feels. A little more than a moon ago, he had been out for himself and himself alone, and that lifestyle had suited him. There had not been reason to question it... and even if there had been, what difference would have that made? Thanks to circumstance, his life had been turned upside down... but he doesn't exactly mind it. There is certain freedom that comes with not depending on anyone- and nobody depending on you. He had not left behind anybody in his past life, except for a version of himself, so he feels no guilt as he acclimates to WindClan.

It is fitting that he had joined this Clan, he thinks. He is allowing himself to be carried by life's breeze, going along with the flow.

The medicine cat den needs cleaning. It's nothing substantial—some debris that the particularly windy days had dragged in. Bits from medicine that had been used on patients, forgotten in the crevices of the den that don't get checked thoroughly every single day.

It's almost... therapeutic. Dimmingsun has a whole den to himself, and he can make it look as nice as he wants. It belongs to Meadowpaw as well, of course, but he suspects she may be more used to the idea of having someplace to stay at. (Or perhaps it's a too-quick judge of character. Her injury speaks volumes for the kind of misfortune that had grabbed her once upon a time.)

"I mess it up sometimes too,"

he soothes when Meadowpaw talks, stumbling through his new name. A lifetime spent known as Bengt- he supposes he should get used to this, considering the naming customs of the Clans. As far as he understands, a cat will go through three name changes by default, or more if they get blessed by StarClan's nine lives. What a surpise that reveal had been. He's heard enough gossip about the slain leaders at the Gathering who had miraculously come back to life. He can't even get surprised at this point.

He patiently awaits Meadowpaw's inquiry, only stopping his movements when she's actually finished. He's been dealing with the aftermath all this time, but he had not given his thoughts a voice until now.

"It does."

The admission comes when he faces Meadowpaw.

"I did not... believe in anything before this, I suppose. It simply hadn't come up, and I never had to think about what comes after death."

Ever-confident, Dimmingsun had scarcely faced his own morality, even when the fight for survival had been dire.

"I've to say, I wasn't sure whether StarClan would actually appear to me. Not because I didn't believe you, but because it was hard to wrap my head around."

The thought occurs to him then. Had Meadowpaw mentioned how she became the medicine cat apprentice? Dimmingsun thinks not—she had brought up Gladebloom plenty of times before, but he doesn't know if the pair, too, had been specifically chosen by these so-called ancestors.

"Did StarClan give you your name too?"