Territory WC the birds sang word ⊱✿⊰ galepaw

[Meadowpaw]

MEADOWPAW

x

Why was it happening again? She had only just begun to scrape together the pieces left by Gladebloom's absence—if she could even call it that and now Pebblepaw too? He had clearly gone off on his own, chasing Alder, but she was dead. She'd been dead for moons! The fire had taken her long ago, and there was nothing to suggest otherwise.

Meadowpaw had seen the change in him. He was never the same after the fire, but she didn't realize how bad it was... Now he was out there, wandering stars knew where…

There was plenty to do back at camp, and everyone insisted that if he was in the territory that he'd be found. But how could she just sit there? She couldn't stand to wait around anymore. Medicine-cat apprentice or not, he was her friend. Dimmingsun would take care of things and she was old enough not to need coddling or warriors dogging in her pawsteps. The odds were that she would only slow their search anyway.

"Pebblepaaaaw!" She called shrilly, birds scattering with a frantic fluttering of their wings. The rain had eased into a light mist, but the ground was soaked. She trambled over sodden terrain, tramping through puddles that soaked her to the bone. She was wet and cold, but if she was then so was Pebblepaw.

Why didn't he talk to her? Did he think she wouldn't understand? She could've helped him, could've been there for him, so why?

x

I BELIEVE THAT THERES COURAGE

BUT ITS BURNIN' LIKE ASH IN THE WIND

x

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In conversations, she is gentle, thoughtful, and withdrawn, often hiding her struggles, fearing others seeing her as incapable.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.

 

[Galerunner Galerunner]

—————————————————— Rocked by an endless motion ✦

It was following a trail new to him, something unfamiliar under his gentle paws, and yet the tom did not worry. He knew just about where Windclan had drawn themselves out of the night during the gathering, and the strange earthy scent that followed them only strengthened his resolve. It was utterly strange to him, one that had grown so used to the water pulling away any scent of dirt from the cats around him, but he couldn't say he didn't like it. He was often pulled towards things he didn't understand, and for that reason alone he found himself trekking into Windclan's unfamiliar territory. There was a sort of bravado that came with it—he had seen the sort of violence that the other clans were capable of at the Gathering... even his own clan. But strangely, it couldn't help but feel safe. Windclan had extended a friendly paw to them, and Gale would be remiss if he didn't foster it. Of course, there were other reasons he didn't see reason to hide away at camp... there was a sort of sorrow in the eye of every cat when they looked at them, an unspoken apology about his sister, and he despised it. Never the matter, he'd just find new company until they all got a hold of themselves.

He really expected that the scent of Windclan would be... stronger, though. It seemed as though the sky had opened up over the poor clan, washing away anything not held down, and that seemed to include the scents of the unfamiliar cats. It was no stranger to being drenched, and so he soldiered on through the storm even as his windblown fur weighed down heavily. It had been walking for a while, quite a while, and by the time the rain started to subside Gale couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he had wandered into the wrong territory—But, with a screech and the sound of dozens of frightened birds, it appeared he was no longer alone.

The birds... they sounded frighted, sure, but not the same shrill calls of being hunted that he was used to- no, they sang about something, someone... and the appearance they warned him of only made him far more intrigued. Granted, it could have been any calico cat, but he was willing to hedge his bets. It summited one of the many small foothills that peppered the landscape, and with it his striking blue eyes fell upon a familiar face, and one not far away at all.

"... I'm sorry to say I am not this Pebblepaw you call for." He greeted, though a small smile played upon his lips. "It was... Meadowpaw, wasn't it?" As the tall tom drew near, though, the strange panic-stricken look on her face became far more clear, and Gale couldn't help but frown. "What ever is the matter?" It questioned, curious and gently spoken.

—————Whether truth or just a story

It's not up to you—————

• 
  Galepaw
  ✦—Riverclan Apprentice | 11 Moons
  ✦—He/They/It
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A fluffy high white lynx point with curled ears and deep blue eyes
  #87878E #BAB2AC

 

[Meadowpaw]

MEADOWPAW

x

She could've pictured him out there—hunched over and shivering, wandering aimlessly in the rain. It was agonizing to imagine him like that. So much that it kept her going even when her paws no longer wanted to. Between the flutter of wings and her own labored breathing, she could almost hear him. Maybe she was just so desperate that everything could be him. The patter of his paws in the pelting of rain upon blades of grass, the whisper of his voice in the wind. Just like with Gladebloom, back when Meadowpaw still believed her mentor might come home.

Everyone else would give up on him long before she did. After a while, the patrols would stop going out and she'd have to look for him alone. Meadowpaw wanted to find him before them. He would be different from Gladebloom. She needed him to be.

Paws splashed through the grass behind her. "Pebblepaw!" Meadowpaw whirled only to have her hopes flattened again, cruelly so.

A stranger stood there instead, his large frame parting the wet grass. Her ears folded, and she drew back instinctively as confusion, surprise, and disappointment cascaded over her face. It took only took a second for her to remember his face—those curled ears, height, that odd way of speaking were impossible to forget. None of those traits were so common that they could've belonged to anyone else, though she didn't know his name like he did hers.

"He's my friend." Meadowpaw rasped, only realizing now just how raw her throat felt. "Yes. I—I'm sorry, I don't think I ever got your name." If she had, she couldn't find it through the fog that draped her mind. He smiled at her, but she couldn't coax her lips into returning it.

She tore her gaze away from them and scanned the swaying grasses again. "I—I can't find Pebblepaw. He went looking for his mother, but she's been dead for a long time. He knows that but he's... he's hurting, and he went to look for her anyway." Meadowpaw sputtered, muscle and bone feeling tight against her ribs. Frustration, twisting her voice tighter, so tight that she had to speak faster to compensate. "I don't know where he is and he won't answer and it'll be late soon. I just want him to come home..."

"It's my fault." That confession tumbles into the breeze. Meadowpaw knows that she could've done more to help him. It's not Pebblepaw's fault. She could never be mad at him for running away. The blame lies with her and her alone. If she only noticed he was suffering in the first place none of this would've happened.

The calico sniffles, blinking against the tears that burn behind her eyes. She didn't know why she was spilling all of that to him. He didn't know her or Pebblepaw. She wasn't so selfish as to ask a stranger to care about the disappearance of someone he had never met.

x

I BELIEVE THAT THERES COURAGE

BUT ITS BURNIN' LIKE ASH IN THE WIND

x

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.

 

[Galerunner Galerunner]

—————————————————— Rocked by an endless motion ✦

"Ah...." It hummed in response to the hurried, desperate words of the other. She asked his name, and for a moment he thought about disregarding it—it seemed hardly the time for such pleasantries—but perhaps familiarity would bring comfort. "...Galepaw." It introduced himself, but silence soon fell like snow upon him, and they found themselves simply watching the other tear herself asunder. Frustration, clear as day, and it was all too familiar to him the cycle she was twisting herself into...

"Death has a particular habit of making its home in places, doesn't it. Strange places, places you would not expect." He mused carefully, blue gaze somewhere far, far from the rainy landscape. Perhaps it was upon some winding river, bloodied with a death that the land had long forgotten, but his heart had not. "And grief follows... sings its morose song, even when you least expect it..." There was few words he could offer, though, and his voice died upon soft lips as the other continued to speak, continued to ramble in a way that was not unlike grief herself. She screeched a terrible song, a panic-stricken and frightened one, and Gale could not help but understand the wobble in the notes. There was a familiar leitmotif there, one he had used himself. With Death as his neighbor and Grief as his friend, it was only right that he understood their songs.

And then, a hurried confession. Something of a sin, something desperate to be punished—for only then could she feel as though she had repented. If she suffered, then perhaps she deserved a reprieve... The thoughts were all too familiar to him, and he looked upon her not as a stranger, but as a mirror. His image in her was warped, yes, but he could make out the familiar workings all the same. It had spent far too long staring at his own unfamiliar pain in the face to not understand her now. "Your fault." He echoed, an air of inquisitiveness—but it was only rhetorical. "...and it is comforting to think so, is it not?" He begun to speak, regarding the other with a tilted head. Easily, quietly, he tucked his body underneath him and sat. Meadowpaw's voice was awfully ragged, worn by a hasty search—and perhaps him sitting would encourage her to sit as well, to take a break with weary legs. "To be able to be the one to blame, to believe there is something you could have done... It was easy to fall into these thoughts, and pace those well-trodden paths."

Perhaps he should have been in those same throes, in the same sort of despair about his own losses. About those that had gone missing, and about what he could have done ... but it was far too late for that, and he knew better to fixate on such things. But perhaps Meadowpaw needed a touch of gentler words, of a song that was comforting... and he would do his best. "—But lost is not the same as loss." It began, calmly confident. "Do not grieve what you have not lost yet, and hold onto what you have in front of you. Pebblepaw will understand—you must take a breath now, just as Pebble has done. A moment to yourself can do wonders I have found."

—————Whether truth or just a story

It's not up to you—————

• 
  Galepaw
  ✦—Riverclan Apprentice | 11 Moons
  ✦—He/They/It
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A fluffy high white lynx point with curled ears and deep blue eyes
  #87878E #BAB2AC

 

[Meadowpaw]

MEADOWPAW

x

[tw - thoughts retaining grief, unhealthy coping, and depression]

Galepaw surprised her by speaking. The first word out of his mouth was death—a startling thing to talk about, especially right now. Death… she feared it deeply, but never for herself. Once, a long time ago, she had been ready for it. After the fire, when infection lit a fever in her veins, she nearly surrendered. She had been so tired that the idea of it devouring her hadn't seemed so bad.

It took a stranger to remind her of the will she possessed and of the love for her family—love strong enough to stave death.

She stares absently at the ground, watching ripples dance on the surface of a puddle. Everything he said sounded so cryptic, unlike anyone else she had ever heard speak. The topic was morbid and yet so very gentle. ...and it is comforting to think so, is it not? Her head lifts abruptly, the motion freeing a tear trapped in her lashes. It is no small feat to find his eyes, she has to angle her chin back a ways. When she does, the color of them surprises her—somewhere between the churned sky and the bottom of a riverbed. Deep, indecipherable, unlike her own, bright and exposed as a meadow.

"B-but what if…" Air flutters in her starved windpipes, chopping the words apart as she spoke them. "What if by… resting now... I do lose him? What if he's out there right now, cold... s-scared and grieving just like I am and I'm the only one who can find him?" It wasn't fair to ask him that, but she couldn't help herself. She offers it all up. All the self‑pity, greed, selfishness, and desperation—all the things she hated about herself in one heap. All of it to him, a stranger she barely knew anything about, if only to share some of the weight that was crushing her.

Maybe it was because she didn't know him that made it so easy to spill. Galepaw was not one of her clanmates. He didn't rely on her to care for him. If he doubted or questioned her, what would it matter? There was a chance she might never see him again after today.

"They'll give up, I know they will! They have before a-and this isn't the first time I've lost someone, and she never came home." Gladebloom's nest still sat untouched, gathering mold and dust. There was no point to keeping it there but her own stubbornnness and delusion. The bedding had greyed, and the sweetness of her scent long faded, but it was all Meadowpaw had left. Just like now with Pebblepaw—hope was all she had. All that could lead him home.

"She took a piece of me when she left, and it still hurts so... so badly." She swallows a sob, smothering the sound deep inside her chest. Her hindleg buckles, pushing her flank onto the cold ground. "He will too if I let him, but I won't." How many pieces had she given away? She couldn't help who she cared for. Neither could she stop loving the ones who left her behind. Now she was terrified of losing them even before anyone left. Every time they left camp, she had to wonder if it would be the last time she saw them.

But she was tired, so tired. She didn't know how much more loss she could take. "If I do, is that not giving up? I can't help but think that this could be the last chance I have, a-and t-tomorrow or even an hour from now will be too late."

x

I BELIEVE THAT THERES COURAGE

BUT ITS BURNIN' LIKE ASH IN THE WIND

x

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.