starclan IGNORANCE x HALF MOON DREAM

[MARBLELEAF]

MARBLELEAF

SHE / THEY ◆ SHADOWCLAN MEDICINE CAT

Marbleleaf is wary as she approaches the Moonstone. The other medicine cats are consumed—in grief, in rage, in loss—and she is unsure where the fate of her Clan lies still. The pale tabby regards the silver-cloaked boulder with hesitation, even as the others kneel before it; her fur pricks with discomfort. Their fear swims like fish in their belly. There's a chance no one will meet you in the forest, they tell themselves; there's a chance you won't wake up there at all.

She bends her limbs beneath her and presses her nose to the textured surface of the Moonstone. It's chill is electrifying; she does not know how she'll ever fall asleep, but slowly, it creeps upon her—a reprieve from the stuffiness of her den, from the constant exhaustion of tending to a Clan who stumbles and falls, dying.

Marbleleaf allows herself to be enveloped by the darkness of dreams. She lets StarClan come to her, if at all. "How can I save my Clan," she murmurs, lost, into the encroaching shadow of sleep.

ooc:

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accordion

Marbleleaf is the ShadowClan medicine cat. She is thin, with a short fawn tabby pelt; the base color is a dull, almost-gray slate, and the whorling classic stripes are deeper shades of wet sand. She has white facial markings, chest, and paws, an angular face and build, and moss-colored eyes.

Lilacfur x Siltcloud / sibling to Sycamorebloom / mate to none / parent to none
mentored by Starlingheart / mentoring none
15 moons old as of 04/01/2025

penned by Marquette

 

[Starlingheart]

The dream begins in silence—not peace, but something heavier, more unnatural. It hangs in the trees like cobwebs: brittle, breathless, waiting to snap. No breeze stirs the branches. The ferns do not move. There is no birdsong, no buzz of insects, no rustle of life.

Only stillness.

Even the light feels off. Pale and overexposed, it leaches the green from the leaves and stains the forest floor a dull gray-brown. The trees are the same—but wrong. Their bark is cracked, their roots exposed and tangled like veins pulled too close to the surface.

A sudden crackle of movement splits the hush. A rabbit bursts through the dead undergrowth, its pelt thin and dust-caked. It runs low to the ground, not with panic but purpose—not fleeing, but leaving. Its ears are flat. Its path is straight. It does not veer, and it does not look back.

It heads not toward the heart of ShadowClan's territory, but away. Beyond the treeline. Past the invisible line where Clan scent fades and loner land begins.

As the rabbit disappears, the sharp stench of rot rises behind it. The ground dips into a shallow trench, and from it, a narrow stream sluggishly winds through the roots.

The water is wrong.

Pale green slime clings to the surface, clumping in thick, viscous patches. There is no current, no clarity—just a quiet, festering stillness. The smell is unmistakable: algae bloom, heavy and sour, like old blood and sun-baked muck. No prey would drink here. No cat should.

And then—movement again. This time, softer. Familiar.

Starlingheart steps through the trees as though she's always been there, wrapped in starlight. Her black pelt is dusted with a faint shimmer, catching in the still air, and her lone green eye glows with quiet certainty. She stops near the poisoned stream, just far enough to avoid its reach, and lifts her gaze.

"It's the water, Marbleleaf." Her voice is calm, but there's weight beneath it. "It's poisoning the marsh and its prey. If ShadowClan is to survive, you have to go beyond your borders into the unknown for clean water." The words settle like dew in the stillness—clear, unflinching, and without riddle.

She doesn't step forward. She doesn't plead. Her presence is steady, as it always was in life: a guide, not a force. The poisoned stream stretches out beneath them, unmoving. And in the distance, somewhere beyond the trees, the rabbit's path remains. And far beyond that—there is water that still runs clean and prey not tainted by sickness.

( ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. ) fly me up on a silver wing

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  STARLINGHEART STARCLANNER ; SHADOWCLAN MEDICINE CAT; SHE / HER ; SISTER TO PITCHSTAR, CHITTERTONGUE, NIGHTSWARM, SKUNKTAIL, AND LILACFUR. MOTHER TO NETTLEPAW, FLINTWISH AND GHOSTMASK.
  

  A skinny she cat with short black and white fur littered with scars and one singular green eye.

  ✦ Easy in battle + has little to no formal battle training
  ✦ Easy to befriend but doesn't trust easily
  ✦ Mentored Marbleleaf