private The inquiries of tomorrow || Smogmaw

[Snowlark.]

@smogmaw

[ ༻❄༺ ] For as long as Snowpaw has been alive, Smogmaw has been their deputy, Chilledstar their leader, she never knew a time underneath the reign of Briarstar or Pitchstar. The thought dawned on her that their might be a day where Chilledstar may no longer be around, or Smogmaw in that matter, which made the apprentice wonder what would come after that? Grey clouds rolled ahead while she noted Smogmaw taking his normal perch near the clanrock. She wondered, was he always like this? Or was there a time before hand where the tom didn't watch the clan just as Chilledstar did. Softly a hum rumbled her throat as she approach the tom to sit next to him, awkwardly adjusting her pale paws, yellow gaze following to where Smogmaw's own were.

"When you were an apprentice... did you ever think you'd of been deputy of Shadowclan?" she asked him curiously, still unable to imagine a time where Smogmaw was just simply... a warrior, or that matter of fact someone who'll eventually lead them. Were his thoughts similar to her own? That one day Chilledstar would no longer be with them? "You were around when...Briarstar and Pitchstar were leaders, right? Did you look up to them?" another question slipped from her thoughts, the smell of rain wafting into her nose, hinting that another shower would be upon them soon.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── You ve wasted your life , but thanks for applying ──┐‎

• 
  "speak""Thoughts"
  
• 
  Snowpaw ❄ She/Her, apprentice of Shadowclan, 8 moons.
  ⭃ Lithe long hair blue lynx sepia with high white, and yellow eyes. Stubby tail, permanent resting bitch face
  ⭃ Hailfreckle x Mudsplash
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted (ask first) / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by Ryn ↛ @/Rynnaro on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[smogstar]

Smogmaw's long-standing tenure as deputy is a testament to a great many things. Patience and persistence, undoubtedly, but also reliability, tenacity, and self-restraint. Leadership teased him from above and just beyond his reach, hovering close enough to touch yet always outrunning him, almost mythic-like—and it has remained so for longer than he'd care to admit, possibly longer than any other deputy since the clans' inception. Fantasy has by now tempered itself into uncertainty, routine, and acceptance, yet Smogmaw holds a clear grasp on how to handle with these murky constants: endure until his ambition is realized, one way or another. Even should it require another seasonal cycle.

At the present, there are fully-fledged warriors who've only ever known Chilledstar's ShadowClan. Capable-bodied, sharp-tongued warriors, ready to defend and die for their clan, without so much as a memory or an inkling to the regime prior. It makes Smogmaw shudder to entertain it; how it's both an honour and an astoundment to see so much progress within a generation, whilst simultaneously feeling nothing but disjointed by the distance placed by time. Few and far between are memories of the warrior Smogmaw, that distant and aloof tom whose closest-kept company was the mushrooms he'd burrow for. A world came and left, leaving a trail behind it dotted with empty nests and lopsided burial mounds.

For cats of Snowpaw's sort - young ones armed with keen minds - to approach, a curious glint in their gaze, and inquire about the bygone past is an ironic privilege. Time will rust those golden eyes and leave them brittle to the breeze, or cloud the hue into something somber and drained. And then, perhaps if the apprentice before him survives such a length as he, there is the chance she'll find herself a relic amid the fresh growth.

Two questions spill forth, and Smogmaw answers them readily. "No," he says, "I didn't, because I was never an apprentice like you. Not in a clan sense of the word, at least." His tail moves like an adder mistakenly treaded upon, flicking out and writhing before coiling into his haunch. In parallel, he notices the twitch to Snowpaw's muzzle. She is perceptive, observant—just as any apprentice ought to be, and all the better if she heeds what she hears. His own snout quivers in likeness as he considers the second question, before recomposing himself into stillness and shifting the weight beneath his paws.

"And, no. I did not look up to either of them." The tone he speaks in is nondescript. Detached, plain, indifferent. But the muscles beneath his jaw do not mirror the placidity. "By the time Briarstar had died, the group she led - clan, colony, whatever you wish to call it - was less than half the size it once was. Not even Sootstar had suffered such a miserable defeat." Viewing ShadowClan as the direct descendant of the marsh colony, and then drawing a comparison between the two, yields more distaste than fondness. Although the specifics elude him, Smogmaw can fill in the gaps for himself and cobble together enough to form his own truth. "Pitchstar, on the other paw, was a liability. Paranoid and hysterical, filled to the brim with ideas that only ever led to the clan's detriment. He couldn't keep himself out of harm's way, and it meant the same for ShadowClan."

Smogmaw clacks his jaws, then swallows the dry bitterness lapping his tongue. A smile emerges in its wake. "I'd like to believe the clan we have today is its best-yet version. We are not starving to the point of raiding ThunderClan for its prey, or desperate enough to find allies in WindClan. And we, at long last, have a leader who understands the purpose behind their title." Whiskers quiver and his tailtip makes a teasing sweep against Snowpaw's flank, before retreating back into its hiding place. He finishes, mildly cheery. "So, what do you think, Snowpaw? Do you look up to Chilledstar?"​

 

[Snowlark.]

[ ༻❄༺ ] A time before the clan still seemed like something that Snowpaw couldn't wrap their mind around, yet there had been a time and Smogmaw...as well as Chilledstar and a few others were proof that there was a time before Shadowclan was what it is now, a clan. Ears twitched slightly as she listened to the words of Smogmaw, explaining bow he never was an apprentice like she had been, nor did he look up to Briarstar or Pitchstar.

Yet, learning more about the predecessors of the clan, before Chilledstar. Birarstar...similarly apt name to Briarpaw and Pitchstar, the clan being less than what it was now during the first leader's reign and then the second was apparently paranoid and hysterical. To hear and learn more of the clan's past makes Snowpaw realize how lucky to be born underneath the reign of Chilledstar.

Snowpaw nodded silently as she took in the information given to her by their deputy, and now it made her wonder how things would be when Smogmaw steps up, and who would step up to stand in the seat that Smogmaw left empty. It was a lot, and she blinked to look over at him, noting the teasing swipe of the deputy's tail which brought a slight smile to the apprentice's lips.

Smogmaw's next question made her pause, making her have to think of an answer for the deputy before delivering one. "What Chilledstar does is... admirable. They sacrifice a lot for this clan and I'm sure thats not easy, especially dying nine times over and over again while your clan watches and thinking that this could be their last one. I'm sure thats never easy" she expressed with a slight shrug. Something Snowpaw herself felt she could never do. To see the face of her loved ones expressing worry each time a life was taken? Snowpaw couldn't think of it. "I can't imagine myself being in their paws" she stated calmly before yellow eyes drift to the deputy.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── You ve wasted your life , but thanks for applying ──┐‎

• 
  "speak""Thoughts"
  
• 
  Snowpaw ❄ He/Him, apprentice of Shadowclan, 9 moons.
  ⭃ Lithe long hair blue lynx sepia with high white, and yellow eyes. Stubby tail, permanent resting bitch face
  ⭃ Hailfreckle x Mudsplash
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted (ask first) / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by Ryn ↛ @/Rynnaro on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​