private IN FULL BLOOM — starlingheart

[MARBLEPAW]

Her first time out of camp since her unruly arrival had been her trek to the Highstones. There'd been no time for dalliances then, no time to study the greenery in the marsh, to mark certain areas, to memorize what grows where. The pale tabby she-cat's paws prickle with excitement as she and Starlingheart exit camp together again, this time at a slower pace. Marblepaw tastes the air immediately; she is hit with fresh, unfamiliar scents, things fresh as morning dew and stale as the pools of water that stagnate throughout the forest.

Her eyes are round and gleaming when she turns them onto her mentor. "There are so many scents! I can't pick anything out yet, except maybe moss," she mews, flicking one ear. "Where are we going first?" It would be important for her to know every inch of ShadowClan's territory, including where what grew when; this she knows. She wonders if Starlingheart knows where every herb grows, and her interest expands in her chest like an air-fed fire.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: @Starlingheart
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 6 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.
  
  

​

 

[Starlingheart]

It is easy, she thinks, to lose herself in the deep recesses of her mind. Easy to forget how it felt the first time she had ever set foot outside of camp. When they had departed for highstones, she had felt a small twinge of guilt. Marblepaw's first adventure out into the territories and they could not stop and gawk at the sights, she couldn't pause every few feet and explain to her where they were, what significance in her clans history a certain spot held. But today would be different. Starlingheart had promised it.

Her whiskers twitch and her single eye shines with undisguised affection as she watches her young niece enthusiastically bound forward, her green eyes shining with excitement as she asks her where they would be heading first. Starlingheart had a whole circuit planned in her head long before they had set out on their exploratory journey "First we-we'll head to The Burnt Sycamore" among the roots of that great tree and the clearing that beheld it they could find patches of useful herbs growing, and it had the special bonus of a history that Starlingheart was certain Marblepaw would be interested in hearing... "Then we-we'll head to our border with Th-ThunderClan, I'll show you the tunnel that-that connects our two territories" The tunnel where she had cowered and hid while her mother died while saving Lilacfur all those moons ago, where she had named Magpiepaw her apprentice. "And after that our-our border with WindClan" it was the furthest corner of their territory but it was important, in Starlingheart's mind, that Marblepaw see it. Valuable herbs grew along the Thunderpath, herbs that they needed in their day to day lives and the sooner she taught her about Thunderpath safety, the better. She tries not to think of Magpiepaw, of his broken body flying through the air, of a twoleg paw lifting him up and carrying him away. She closes her solitary eye for a single moment before continuing "From there we-we'll go to the outskirts of carrionplace. And then we'll end at-end at the clan's burial site." just outside of camp. It wouldnt be the full territory, but it was close and as she talks she finds herself hoping it was not too much for her to handle. They would be gone nearly all day, but Starlingheart had planned for it. She had given a cat basic instructions should something happen in their absence, a crash course in first-aid. And they would stop for frequent breaks, perhaps she might even catch something for them to eat. If they were lucky and the stars guided her paws.

It is not a far walk to reach the hollowed tree, and as they break into the clearing, she cannot help but to purr lightly as green-leaf sun hits her blackened pelt. She allows Marblepaw to run forward to investigate the landmark for herself, stopping to enjoy the patch of warmth and light that was a rare commodity in their territory. "Have you heard the story of this tree?" she asks, wondering if Lilacfur or even Siltcloud had told her yet.

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

• 
  
  
• 
  STARLINGHEART 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
  

​

 

[MARBLEPAW]

Marblepaw tries to keep pace with her mentor, but every instinct inside of her is bursting at the seams to explore ahead. The marsh is a lush tangle of greenery in the warmest season, and the scents are enough to make her head whirl. She half-expects her mentor to reprimand her for her exuberance, but when she turns to face the medicine cat, her single green eye is shining.

Starlingheart's voice is gentle. "First, we'll head to the Burnt Sycamore," the black she-cat promises, and Marblepaw turns to face her with a smile. "It's burnt?" It's not long before they come to the tree in question, blackened bark crisp and peeling away from the trunk and branches. Marblepaw parts her jaws and tastes the sour tang of singe and long-dead smoke. "Have you heard the story of this tree?" Marblepaw shakes her head, sitting down and cocking her head to one side. "Is it how it got... all burned up?"

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 6 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.
  
  

​

 

[Starlingheart]

It is refreshing to say the least, to see the world through the eyes of someone so brand new. Someone who's youth has not yet been touched by the shadows who plague this world. Marblepaw had plenty reason to let it, but she held on tightly to a perspective that was good and it is a trait about the young girl that Starlingheart finds herself drawn to. It reminds her of herself, in a way. "Yes, it was-it was a long time ago. When I was still a kit" she starts, her whiskers twitching at the memories that wash through her like a flood. The putrid smell of smoke, the terror in her mother's eyes as she ordered the evacuation that would ultimately lead to her end. Starlingheart mentions none of that, though. "A fire swept through the marshes, it drove us from our camp and we all had to e-evacuate- evacuate to the uh- to the tunnel. The one under the Thunderpath. That is as far as she dares venture down that path. She pauses for a heartbeat, single eye staring at the charred bark as she tries to push thoughts of monsters from her mind.

"When we came home my brother- your uncle. Pitchstar who had patrols sent out to survey the damage." she explains "And when the patrols came back with news that-that the only tree in the territory to catch fire was this one here it was- it was your mother, Siltkit at-at the time - It was her who gave a name to it" There is no malice held in her voice when she utters the name Silt. Starlingheart could never speak ill of her to her own children, after all. No matter how she personally felt about the earth-hued molly she was still Marblekit's mother. "The rest of the territory came back but this-this never did" as she speaks she pushes herself to her paws, draws closer to that ancient tree and then in a soft voice she says "Some wounds can never be healed. Some things cannot be saved."

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

• 
  
  
• 
  STARLINGHEART 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
  

​

 

[MARBLEPAW]

"It was when I was still a kit," Starlingheart explains. Marblepaw's eyes round, as though she'd never considered the possibility of her mentor in the nursery. "A fire swept through the marshes." The apprentice tries to imagine it — golden flame licking through the mire, destroying everything in its heated path — but that's all fire is to her right now, a fairy tale, a warning, a Bad Thing. She blinks as Starlingheart mentions Pitchstar, a cat who was kin to her somehow. Starlingheart's brother. He was leader too? It seems Lilacfur's line has cats of great and noble blood, leaders and medicine cats and lead warriors... and now her, if she could be called great and noble. Part of her still doubts it.

Her ears flick with interest. Siltkit. Yes, her mother had been called that once — Siltkit, then Siltpaw, then Siltcloud after she'd earned her warrior name. "She named the Burnt Sycamore?" Surprise bleeds into her voice. She imagines her mother, smaller than she is now, half-white face tilted toward the shivering black branches. You left your mark on ShadowClan. Marblepaw's jaw twitches. In more ways than one, it seems.

Marblepaw turns her attention back to Starlingheart as the she-cat murmurs, almost to herself: "Some wounds can never be healed. Some things cannot be saved." She wants to object. "But..." She thinks of Starlingheart's eye, the limp she walks with for the rest of her life. She thinks of Lilacfur's face, torn. Orchidbloom's eye, lost to a WindClan cat's claws. Chilledstar, bereft of the lives they'd been blessed with.

After a few heartbeats, she nods, but there is sorrow in the green depths of her eyes now. "I understand, I think," she mews, but does she? Will she ever?

They give their pelt a brisk shake, as if to cast the shadows away like cobwebs. "So what grows over here?" Her vision lowers to the twisting roots of the great tree.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 6 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.
  
  

​

 

[Starlingheart]

'I understand..' says the small voice behind her and Starlingheart can only hope that that's true. There would come a time, hopefully not soon, where they couldn't save someone, where the best thing to do would be to let go, and it is not a feeling she wants her apprentice to be unprepared for. Not like she had been. Images of too much blood flash in the forefront of her mind, images that she quickly wipes away as Marblepaw's voice speaks up again, a question on her lips. What kind of herbs could be found here?

Starlingheart swings her head around so that she can look at her apprentice with her good eye, a smile forming once again on her features at the young girls curiosity, her ability to ask the right questions. "I come here to-to gather cobwebs. Spiders like to muh-to-to make their homes in the-in the roots" she reaches out with a paw to point at the delicately crafted webs, a spider hanging down from one. "You likely- you've probably picked up on this already but we use cobwebs to stop bleeding." she says, single eye sweeping across the clearing for other herbs she could point out to her young charge.

"Here in this clearing we can-we can also find blackberry leaves." she says, walking up to a large bush that basks in a patch of sun "We will-we'll worry about uses for herbs later - but this one. This one's easy. It helps when trying to get honey" she says with a soft chuckle "The leaves heal bee stings"

// I think in her next post I'll have them go to the next landmark if that's okay with you!

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

• 
  
  
• 
  STARLINGHEART 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
  

​

 

[MARBLEPAW]

Starlingheart regards her with one bright green eye and tells her she comes to the Burnt Sycamore to gather cobwebs. Marblepaw's eyes round with interest as her mentor pokes at the fine silver filaments woven between the roots. "So we'll be coming here a lot," she mews. Starlingheart tells her they're used to stop bleeding and she nods her head once; this is one thing she is familiar with, at least, from working alongside Starlingheart in her den for a short time. She remembers her mother's face, swathed in cobweb, Orchidbloom's too. "We use a lot of cobwebs," she remarks.

Her mentor strays away, this time toward a bush gleaming with greenleaf-fat berries. Blackberry leaves. So it's not the berries they use, but the leaves. She narrows her green eyes in thought. "Do the bees make their nests here, too?" She's never seen a bee's nest, but she knows in order to get honey, they'd have to stick their paws into one and scoop out the honeycomb. It seems like a lot of work for precious little resources, at least to her. "Have you gotten stung a bunch?" Should she be preparing herself for that?

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 6 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.
  
  

​