- Jan 25, 2023
- 62
- 11
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Pebblestep would not usually be out on the territory alone, the dangers of the wild all too evident on the pelts of his scarred clanmates. He had needed time away from camp that day however, the cloister of cats cuddling against the snows too much for him at that point. It was meant to be a normal walk, but when his paw pressed against something firm within the snow, it became clear instantaneously that 'normal' was impossible in his home. Paws heaved at the snow underneath where a blue snake was revealed, its fangs golden and poised towards him. The warrior hissed and smacked a paw against it, but, when the serpent did not move, he reluctantly picked it up and threw it out of the snow mound. The reptile was already uniformly punctured by fangs, a golden circle and bell attached to it - how lucky he was that it wasn't a serpent at all, but a collar buried in the snow. Pebblestep inhaled, but smelled nothing but distant prey on the wind. A lost specimen.
"Oh you poor thing..." He mewed. "If we'd have found you... we could have shown you where to go..." Back to the Twolegplace probably, he could only imagine the fate of a feline out in the wilderness. The possibility of it shedding its collar naturally was lost to the lilac tom. A collar that fit too loosely had dangled around his neck once, unceremoniously taken off by the first wildcat that had seen it. They had never felt connected with their kittypet roots, it was a life left behind so long ago that even their mother's face was lost to time, but it had defined everything that they were. Their birth had meant they needed to work twice as hard to prove they belonged out in the wild, it was a secret that, if told to the other clans, would result in shame and mockery (he was certain of it). The standards had always been higher for kittypets... and Pebblestep knew that he had not been able to meet them. Every success seemed to bring about two failures, fighting off the dog had paved the way for him to be hilariously defeated by RiverClan in combat and lead a life of mediocrity since then. It was difficult to feel like a ThunderClanner when he saw Flycatcher and Stormywing thriving... whilst he could only flounder in the pessimism a low self-esteem could bring. He did not resent them for their success, he only resented himself for not being able to live up to the same expectations.
They didn't know how they felt... feeling so connected to an object that had so many speculative stories. They didn't think they liked the reminder of their origins, at the same time, it was cathartic almost, a way of remembering something they'd tried to push down in pursuit of becoming a useful ThunderClanner. Needle-like teeth picked the collar up and trotted through the snow with it, the cold leather against his tongue making way for the warmth he felt at the nostalgia. It was a blur as he recalled cuddling next to a cosy fire, playing with little bits of glitter and yarn with Stormywing (or was it Cloudyfur?), recalling never having to worry about food. 'It made you soft', the biggest argument was, and Pebblestep agreed. 'But there's nothing wrong with being a little soft, is there?' He'd always wanted to reply, but, knowing it would bring about mockery, he'd kept it to himself. Finding a patch of earth undisturbed by the snow fall, Pebblestep began digging and digging, then his paws began to hurt, then he dug some more.
When a hole the size of a mouse was made, he squished the collar into it and pushed the loose soil over it. He could only hope the lost kittypet would become a great warrior, no matter where it rested its head now. Wordlessly, he walked away, content to keep the discovery to himself - no one need know a kittypet had ventured too far onto soil that didn't belong to it, it was the only compassion he could offer when he didn't know if it was dead or alive.
[ Pebblestep stumbles upon an abandoned kittypet collar, buried in the snow. While the scent of any kittypet is long gone, is this a discovery Pebblestep finds himself able to ignore? ]