CERTAIN THINGS I WISH I COULD UNDO - spring cleaning

[Starlingheart]

Distraction. That's all this was, a distraction from having to think about the things that plague her mind. She tells herself that it's also her duty, to keep the medicine cats den clean but she knows it is only half the truth. This was a task that had needed to be done for a few sunrises now but it is only now, when her paws need work and are running out of things to keep them occupied does she find herself pulling all the herbs from their shelves, pawing through them and taking the bad ones out. Hopefully, new-leaf was as kind and forgiving as everyone had promised and she could replace what she had to take out easily. Wood sorrel, honey, daisy leaves. She makes a mental note as she sets them all aside. She hates to throw things away, to be wasteful but she doesnt have to sniff these herbs to know they have gone bad.

When she puts everything back in its place and gathers up all the rotting plants, taking them out of her den and into the light that filters through the pines. Already she can tell the difference in seasons. The snow is gone and the air is getting warmer, Starlingheart is looking forward to eating more, that is for sure, but she is also looking forward to having more in general. More prey, more herbs, maybe even more kits running about, with full bellies and no fear of the cold. She takes a deep breath, grateful for the air that fills her lungs. She is here. She is alive.

"C-can you throw these- throw these h-h-herbs away for me pl-please" she says to the nearest cat that walks past, if they were busy it would not be a problem, she would find another.

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[MARROWPAW]

𓆈 ⠀ ── ⠀ marrowpaw was good at distraction. perhaps a blessing, maybe a hindrance ; it was rare that he let his own emotions show in the darkness of his face, ever alight and grinning with effort to cheer the murky shadow of misfortune that had layered over the lands. it hurts. of course it hurts — everything hurt, ever since he was a kit on the flat black stone of thunderpath. tragedy bloomed within him, within his family. a curse, he figured. the stars had never been kind to the marshlands, whether by choice or not. but now he’s plodding by, a frog in his jaws and long, whiplike tail coiled at his ankles to keep the mud from anywhere but his ankles. hunting — he could do that, with or without shadetooth’s discretion, and did it well, when they had the chance. with newleaf, that chance was coming more often, and stars did he ache to reap the rewards.

passing the medicine den, he nearly avoids looking up at all. the relationship between he and his family is strained, even more so now with pitchstar gone, killed. with slitherpaw gone, likely slaughtered over the windclan border by their tentative allies. bonejaw gone, abandoning them. what would happen to the rest of them then? was there more in store, for starlingheart? for him? marrowpaw certainly wasn’t the most responsible guy, would his eagerness to distract land him in his own tragic end?

can you throw these herbs away for me? it startles him out of his brief reverie but he plays it off, skidding to a bumbling to a stop and making a show of nearly stumbling over his own ivory paws, “ ayup. “ casual, ever playful, he shoots a big grin towards his sister, “in fact, i’ll trade ya. “ he says, through a layer of slimy, bumpy skin. it comes out more ill shrade yew — but he plops the kill down, nudges it towards her with sharp, muddied knuckles. it was a fat little thing, round and delicious. newleaf was finally here, “ fresh off th’ marshes, courtesy of yer favorite brother. “ he grins, wide and sharp - toothed, before looking down towards the bundle of wet, rotting herbs. they looked.. like they were falling apart. definitely bad. solar eyes blink at the pile, before slowly lowering his head to grasp a stem, peeling his lips back to avoid touching the damp leaves. his eyes water at the medicinal rot.

“ what, uhhh.. what happens if i swallow one? “ something cool at least, he hoped.

BIKES N BONFIRES information visual

• MARROWPAW —————— marshland menace.
  m. he / him. apprentice of shadowclan, son of briarstar and amber. lanky black bicolor with ghost rosettes and sunburst orange eyes. inheriting his mothers sharp features, his fathers frame and his family’s trademark spiky fur, marrowpaw can be mistaken for nothing but true shadowclan. sly and brimming with false confidence, an objectively good - looking feline ; he stands a hair taller than most, and bearing a remarkable resemblance to both his aunt bone and late brother pitchstar in structure and coat. whip - like, long and coltish with legs lined with hard, wiry muscle beneath an ever - ruffled pelt, marrowpaw is wild, untamed in both looks and attitude, and ever self - assured.
  
  — bisexual, single. smells like rotting leaves and asphalt.
  — apprentice, voiced by skeet ulrich as billy loomis
  − eleven months old, mentored by shadetooth ;
  
  penned by antlers​
  
  
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[RAGGEDBITE.]

THE REST IS STILL UNWRITTEN​

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"oh oh– oof! w-wait, raggedkit can help! he can help!"

raggedkit had made his way over, tripping over his own paws and falling mid sentence before he popped right back up, shaking his pelt out with a wide and goofy smile. he wanted to help, too! his brows furrowed before he picked up a leaf– which might one add, was not an herb– prancing happily, his tail lifted high, and his steps even higher. he was helping, and he knew he was just doing such a good job! he had to be!

"where does the old herbs go? how do you throw herbs away? how come you throw herbs away? what if raggedkit eats them? would he get sick and then have to use the other herbs that you don't throw away?"

he probably was asking way too many questions, but he couldn't help it. he was curious, and he wanted to know so badly. they always said curiousity killed the cat, but he wasn't dead yet! what was so bad about wanting to know? he would probably forget in a few sentences anyways!
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[Magpiepaw]

There are cats at Starlingheart's den and she is doing...something. It takes him a moment to get up from his comfortable spot, a mental battle regarding whether he should even investigate or not but he wonders if the visitors are injured and he thinks to stop in just to see only to find Marrowpaw well and dropping a freshly hunted frog and Raggedkit being...also present. A nuisance.
He hears the word 'favorite' and something in him shifts. A strange new feeling wells in his chest, his fur rises on end. Magpiepaw fears at first he has come down with some affliction, that he is ill and perhaps it is a good thing he is present in the medicine cat den already but as he stands there stiff and rigid, form shaking in place to keep him upright he finds the feeling is more like fire. Not a comforting warmth, but a hot and irritated one that cloaks over him.

Raggetkit was not the source of this ire, he was sure it was Marrowpaw, yet when the kitten began to clamber about eating plants and refers to himself as though speaking a narrative Magpiepaw feels his fur prickly disdainfully. This might not have bothered him otherwise, but he is struggling to adjust to a new emotion, one of which he knew the name of now yet had never felt before. Jealousy.
To both of them speaking about devouring plants nonsensically his fur rises around his neck, swelling to puff up and enlarge his form slightly.
"You will choke on those if you eat them, do so elsewhere so that your corpse does not impede further." It is curt, spoken in his usually droll and chipper tone but his eyes narrow as he says it; a rare expression change from his usual glass-eyed stare.
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