story as old as time - prompt

[Lilacbird]

"Oh- uh, well-" the groups attention was focused on her as they asked each other different ideas on why the seasons came and went. and she didn't expect them to actually ask her. hers were theories- ideas, folklore that her mother told her from her grandfather from his father and so on. passed on by her families generations. she just, couldn't remember all the words.

"well.. I think that.. like the sun there's a cat and they walk around as far as the eye can see. rather than running, they uh . they want to take their t-time." she was struggling to word this correctly. she took a breath, swallowed, and pretended that no one was there.

in her safe space, a flowered meadow, with a creek that ran through, and sky of purples and blues. she breathed a sigh of relief. "my mother told me that this cat brought tests with them with each of the seasons. and a lot of others look at each season negatively in some way shape or form. however- it doesn't have to be negative." a small smile reached her lips, embracing positivity- that was something she wished she could enjoy more. "they say there's significant meanings behind each season. leaffall.... it represents-" she glanced at shellkit and pebblekit and softly smiled. "changes and transformations."

"leafbare brings us hardship, it tests our endurance and survival instincts to survive." she wouldn't mention death, not in front of children, but that was what was relative. "calmness and silence."

"newleaf represents rebirth, new beginnings. when the trees begin growing the leaves, and the flowers blossom. it's the light at the end of harsh leafbare. it gives us something to look forward to."

"greenleaf is hot, and yet it is beautiful. it tests our optimism, encouraging each other to keep forth. it's supposed to symbolize joys and adventures."

"I'm missing a lot of the story, truth be told. but to think- a cat guiding the seasons would make sense. at least to me," she purred out. though as she pulled from her safe space, she ducked her head a bit. she was not good at story telling, was she?

"What about you pebblekit, shellkit? what um.. .do you think?"

@SHELLKIT @PEBBLEKIT.
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[shellpaw]

the warriors were usually so busy, it wasn't often she had the opportunity to sit and listen. it had started with the elders, she thought ; mistyclaw had rumbled a wistful breath towards the sky, letting the snow bathe his grizzled face, and utters a curse towards the white - wisped sky that has a nearby warrior brushing her thick tail around shellkit's ears just in time. she flicks them anyway, tuning back in just in time to catch a playfully heated discussion of leafbare and its necessity. they would fish the river to extinction without the frost, one elder says, another snorting derisively where she shared a vole with a tired warrior. the conversation quickly dissolved into tall tales, legends of lionclan leaping into the sky and pulling the sun further from the earth to prevent a forever - greenleaf. shellkit thought a forever greenleaf didnt sound so bad. what could go wrong?

from the wistful murmurs amongst huddling riverclanners, greenleaf was something to behold : great and green and beautiful. greenery covers all the ground, not just the weeds that grow stubbornly around their rocky dens. there are more plants than what hangs in moonpaw's den, not crisped into thin, brittle petals near the glassy waters of the medic's hollow. prey runs free and dumb, fat and sluggish with their long rests, easily caught. cats could eat two fish, three if they wanted, could roll over full and happy over the rocks overhead and sun themselves without the wind taking their breath away. she wanted to see it. leafbare makes her bones brittle, ribs of her chest curved inward on a shuddering, sniffling breath ; commonplace with her, graveridden girl, one paw already under the frozen ground. a swift breeze could drift her to starclan, a crumbling leaf on wicked gales. she doesn't know this, of course. dead was only something prey and grandparents could be, something far away and separate from her.

she perks her ears as attention turns to lilacbird, suddenly rapt aside her littermate, alabaster chin tucked tight against tiny, flexing paws. survival and hardships, she says of leafbare. shellkit, briefly, wonders what it was like for kits born in greenleaf. the thought is gone before it can sink into her chest, blacken the edges of her pristine mind with doubt ; lilacbird addresses her, and she perks up from pebblekit's cozy lilac fur. for another time.

it made sense, sure. most things did, to a young kit, ” yeeeah. i bet they make greenleaf.. so pretty, because leafbare is so extra hard. “ she sighs dreamily, taking in a heavy breath before swinging her head around to look up at pebblekit encouragingly, hazy amber eyes weary at the edges. she sways her head to the side, aiming to bump the tom kit on the head with her own soft noggin, ” i can't wait to see it still. adventure is our favorite. right, pebblekit? “ she bets she could pass all the sky cat's tests, be they from lionclan, leopardclan, tigerclan or starclan. it couldnt be harder than this.

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𓇼 𝙎𝙊 𝙎𝙒𝙀𝙀𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙎𝙊 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝘿

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  SHELLKIT 𓆉 SHE / HER, KITTEN OF RIVERCLAN. KINDLING xx UNKNOWN, NIECE TO SMOKESTAR. TWO MOONS OLD, SMELLS LIKE SALT & RIVER BLOOMS. PENNED BY ANTLERS.
  delicate lilac - striped molly with sugarplum eyes she is pallid ; platinum splotched with ribbons of shell - touched cream, wisped ends like memories of a distant shore. feather breath and elderdown fur conceals a body worn fragile by tumultuous youth, too thin in some places and round with baby fat in others. her face is short - muzzled, framed half mast by eyes coined warm, sugared amber.
  
  currently exhibiting symptoms of whitecough. this includes a running nose, wheezing, sluggishness, and labored breathing. please keep contagion in mind.
  
  

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