pafp THE SAME [ ☾ ] tending graves

[Swansong]

( ☁︎ )　 Swanpaw is no stranger to visiting his mother's grave. He's been coming here since leaving the medicine den, whispering quiet words to the grave, mundane stories and rambling musings. He was always closest to his mother, sticking by her side from kithood to her final days in the medicine den, even though he left it without her.

Recently, he's taken to tending the graveyard itself, clearing away clutter from stones. Today, though, it is the living that has caught his attention. He is silent as he moves through the gathered stones, whispering no words to the gathered. A kit has followed him here -- Mink-kit. "You... know cats who sleep below, mm...?" He breathes softly, not looking up. "Your family..." Her parents, her siblings. Everyone.

He pauses for a moment. "Mine is here too... Or, ah, just my mother and my sibling. Youngest sibling, forever the youngest..." Suspended in place, a newborn never given the chance to live. Eternal youth. It must be nice, must be peaceful.

His eyes finally cast over to Mink-kit. She easily could have been like poor innocent Dreamkit, and yet... Here she is. Left alone, the only one of her kin to live. His gaze lingers, momentarily distracted from his work. "Oh, you must have been a strong little thing... to survive..." The dead have something in mind for this kit, he's certain, else she would not have survived. Blessed and cursed all at once, spared a death that would itself spare her the pain of growing older. She certainly has big plans for herself, if her attempt at leadership is anything to go by. He smiles, a vacant sort of thing, and turns back to the weeds.

I WANNA BE HAUNTED ☁︎ I WANNA BE LOVED ! 【 12.28.23 】

• // pls wait for @minkkit
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• "SPEECH"

• ☾ 　⁺　₊ 　⋆　SWANPAW.　APPRENTICE OF SHADOWCLAN.　HE / HIM / HIS.
  9 MOONS & AGES ON THE 17TH.　PENNED BY SATURNID.
  
  

  

  ☾ — A PALE, ELEGANT CREAM TABBY WITH PERIWINKLE BLUE EYES.

  
  HALFSHADE xx SMOGMAW. LITTERMATE TO APPLEPAW GARLICPAW & ASHENPAW.​

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[minkpaw]

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ Minkkit had gotten in the habit of getting places where she was not supposed to be.

It was her new purpose in life, ever since she managed to ascend Clanrock. Nothing since than had been quite that grand, as the entire camp seemed to have an eye out for her now, but that gave her satisfaction in its own right. She was getting a reputation now, and she liked that. Which was why she planned to do everything in her power to uphold it.

This time, once she got out, she managed to avoid being snatched up by following the first cat she saw; Swanpaw. When she stuck close enough to him everyone assumed he was keeping an eye on her, when in reality he did not even know she was there. She had to keep uncharacteristically and frustratingly quiet in order to keep up the ruse, but it would be worth it. At least, it would be once she figured out something to do with her freedom.

Though, perhaps Swanpaw had noticed her after all, because he suddenly began speaking to her without so much as looking up. She nearly jumped out of her fur, her head swiveling as she looked around to see if there was someone else he was talking to. But no, it was her.

The mention of her family immediately killed her good mood. "I guess." She kicked some dirt off of a grave. Everyone always wanted to talk about them, but it was her least favorite topic. If she had to hear another word about how it was an unimaginable tragedy to have a whole family lost so quickly - the parents killed by rogues, the kits killed by yellowcough - she thought she might puke. What was she supposed to do with condolences for the loss of cats she scarcely remembered?

The more that Swanpaw talked about the dead, the more her frustration built. This wasn't how she wanted to spend her time out of the nursery. There were so many things she could be doing right now! She was seconds away from asking him who cared and storming away.

When he called her strong though, all that vanished in an instant. "I am strong!!!" Minkkit exclaimed, puffing up her chest to prove it.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── BUT THERE'S NOBODY HERE ⋅⋆⋅ AND NOBODY DOWNTOWN ──┐‎

• 

• 
  MINKKIT ✩ cisfemale(?); she/her(?), kit of shadowclan, three moons. ⭃ tiny, shorthaired silver tabby with high white and fiery orange eyes. ⭃ FOXFANG X BADGERFUR ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here ⭃ penned by empyrean ↛ @empyrean_heaven on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

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[Magpiepaw]

—————————————————————⊰♰⊱————————————————————
Between his teeth clutched dry flowers, they are a common wildflower variety and hardly medicinal but he had gathered them all the same to keep in his nest. They'd long since lost their vibrance and splendor, shriveling into more subdued shades and stiffening like the leaves of leaf-fall. They serve no purpose other than to line his nest in color along with the blue and black feathers there he had collected, but he had been struck by an urge to visit the graveyard after ShadowClan had to dig so many more holes in the ground. It feels wrong to put a cat below the earth, he often wishes they could leave them for the carrion birds so that even their bodies may one day take flight like their spirit into the stars; but the idea had been too morbid for some of his more faint hearted clanmates and so he'd not pushed, but he made it clear to his mentor that should he die he wishes to go to the birds.

"Those who die do not lack in strength either." He hums, approaching Swanpaw and the loud kitten he spoke to and setting his bundle of dried flowers down to distribute on the graves in a moment. His crooked tail is held high and each step he took was an awkward stumble as he moved through the thick slush beneath and tried to maintain his balance with his noncommital body.
"Strength of the soul is most important, each of these buried here were powerful enough to reach into the stars and join our ancestors. One must train both body and mind to be fully strong." His blue-violet gaze sweeps over Swanpaw's wispy and pale form and the more stark and contrasting black spotted pelt of Mink-kit. "Swanpaw has already proven strength of both."
He remembers leaving on the journey with the cream tom left dying in the medicine cat den alongside his mother, only one of them greeted him on his return. "Mink-kit, you may have strength of body but we should test your fortitude of will."

————— ⸸ looks like the stars won't shine much longer ———— ⸸ so give me your hand

• OOC can go here.
• 
  
  
  Magpiepaw
  —⊰⋅ MCA of ShadowClan
  —⊰⋅ He/They
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ Black tom w/a white throat and blue-violet eyes.
  —⊰⋅ Has mild cerebellar hypoplasia (Wobbly cat syndrome)
  
  

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[lilacfur]

It's an intrusive pull to her attention, the way a snapping twig brings one's head swiveling. When Lilacfur's gaze rested on the lines of gathered stones and dried flowers she wondered- did every Clan have a grave this wide? A collection of bones beneath their paws, enough to fill their camp over and over again. This should have been a natural cycle though, no? Their ranks were meant to decay and make room for those ready to take their place.

The cold stones that marked her family's graves were not visited often from the pale rosette. Not for any intention of avoidance or shame, so much time had passed that she did not need the comfort of seeing them anymore. To remind herself of where their bodies lied. She knew where their souls rest, where they waited for her.

"So many nettles..." She murmured while brushing them away into a pile. She turned her chin up upon hearing the Swanpaw and Mink-kit, and soon after Magpiepiepaw, too. She paused from directing to escort the tabby back into the nursery, instead keeping a protective watchful gaze on her.

"She's got the strength of stealth, sneaking out all the way here." Lilacfur mused, brushing her tail over her paws to keep them warm. ​

[ i need the clouds to cover me ]​

 

[CHILLEDSTAR.]

DON'T YOU GIVE ME UP, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP​

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guess it depended on what was being talked about when i4 came to the test of strength. one could argue that cats that are killed are weak. caught off guard and not strong enough to save themselves. chilledstar doesn't believe that. cats that are killed are neither strong nor weak. they were simply caught by someone or something bigger than they. something that got the upper paw. it did not mean anything about their strength. but... they did not believe this applied to them. to be killed by a former warrior made them feel weak. it was more than the upper paw that was gained. they should have been able to get away but instead they had to be saved. it... gave them a bit of a complex. they did the saving. they didn't get saved. ugh.

their ears twitched as they stood beside magpiepaw, head tilting with a gentle nod.

"yes. you are strong. but as magpiepaw said, it's not just physical strength you need. a true shadowclanner is strong willed, too. we will make sure you get there."
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[minkpaw]

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ Minkkit perked up as more cats were drawn over by the sound of conversation. Attention, sweet attention. Each pair of eyes that landed on her filled her with delight. A grin crept slowly onto her face.

It was halted by all the talk of reaching into the stars and joining her ancestors from Magpiepaw though, which just made her bored and fidgety. She kicked the dirt around as her smile died. Why should she care about Starclan? None of them had so much as said a word to her. She didn't want to hear about how strong or cool they were. She wasn't even sure that they weren't just made up by the grown ups to try and make her feel better or something. It didn't seem real that her family could be up there in the stars when she couldn't see them when she looked. "I guess." She repeated again, even less committed than the first. It sucked having to wait for him to stop talking about the dead and go back to talking about her.

Her smile returned the moment he said she had strength of body. Yeah she did! The tiny kit bounced in place, brimming with energy. "I'll beat any test you give me! I've got tons of forti- fortitu- forti-" A pause. "For-ti-TUDE!"

Lilicfur's words were met with a bright grin. "Yeah! I'm so so so stealthy!" She crouched down as if to prove it. If she was this good already, once she was a warrior, she'd probably be the best hunter in the clan. The idea excited her. She had never been the best at anything before.

Cicadastar suggested, as Magpiepaw had before, that she was lacking in strength of will or whatever. Her cheeks puffed up in childish indignation. "I'M STRONG IN EVERY WAY!" She insisted, refusing to back down. With fiery eyes, she met the gazes of each of the cats around her, daring them to contradict her.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── BUT THERE'S NOBODY HERE ⋅⋆⋅ AND NOBODY DOWNTOWN ──┐‎

• 

• 
  MINKKIT ✩ cisfemale(?); she/her(?), kit of shadowclan, three moons. ⭃ tiny, shorthaired silver tabby with high white and fiery orange eyes. ⭃ FOXFANG X BADGERFUR ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here ⭃ penned by empyrean ↛ @empyrean_heaven on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

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