- Dec 30, 2022
- 153
- 64
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They couldn't remember the last time they'd slept of their own accord. Since Tigerfrost's death, there'd been a legitimate fear of meeting his bloodied form in the plane of dreams, telling them things they already knew about themselves but had been happy to hide so they didn't end up dead. StarClan's emptiness had perhaps been a good thing after all, there were no secrets to be kept from those watching at all times. For now, they tried to avoid the existential crises as best they could with a simple trick: distraction, distraction, distraction. WindClan's apprentices, whose insolence and disrespect were noted but never challenged, had provided them with such a distraction by complete accident when they'd asked Snailstride about the horseplace. StarClan knew who had told them about the tabby's frequent excursions there, not even Firefang would benefit to gain anything from gossiping about his fascination with the tall creatures that lived there. They wondered if they were searching for tricks of how to sneak there, but Snailstride wasn't too keen to share. Instead, their stories were about the horses themselves, beasts of burden whose teeth could crush rocks (allegedly) and whose coats could be marked like a cat's.
"And that's how Spidereater got his name." The warrior concluded one story, their smirk more sincere than it'd been in weeks as they finished discussing the wildest of the horseplace stallions. Their eyes shone with a sapphire intensity as they looked over the crowd, hoping to hook everyone onto every word they said about their favourite topic. It was the second story they'd told to the crowd so far. The first had been about a foal that strayed away from its mother and petted him, the second was about the cobweb destroying stallion whose presence as a territorial equine made it dangerous to enter the pens. Suddenly remembering a tale about the latter, they clapped their paws together, an excited trill escaping them. "Oh, did you know he almost killed me during a hunt once? There was this rabbit and he... reared his..." No sooner did Snailstride begin to sway, their body fell to the floor of the camp. Behind the bundle of fur, it was difficult to see the gentle rise and fall of a cat who'd begun to sleep, nor was the occasional twitch of an eye behind its lid easy to spot unless one was searching for it.
@heatherpaw !!