border WHAT'S GOING ON ― drop off

[BERRYSNAP]

She had decided it would be best to move under the cover of darkness, to eliminate the number of eyes that would be upon her. The less the better, and she just wanted this to be over with. Initially, she would plan to keep all her children with her inside Duskclan's borders. However, something had caused her to change her mind, choosing Privetkit over the rest, and intending to take the remaining kits to their father in Windclan. Accompanied by two fellow warriors, she would raise her tail to halt their group at Windclan's border, setting the squirming newborns in the grass. As they awaited a patrol. "We wait for them to arrive and I'll do the talking." She orders them, as she sits on her haunches, attempting to rest her aching paws. Hopefully, this mess would be over with soon enough that she could return to Privetkit at home.

// introducing: @PRIVETKIT @WASPKIT @CRICKETKIT @violetkit & no need to wait for @SNAKEHISS
​

 

[cottonsprig]

Cottonpaw trots through withered grass and slushy ground with relative ease, ears folding back as she does. She's a part of a larger patrol, scanning the edges of their territory for any sign of plant life whilst her Clanmates remark the scent lines - however it seems that she strays just too far, scenting Berrysnap and her deviants (and... something else?) before others have the chance. Blue eyes flick over her shoulder and she signals to her closest patrol companion, saying nothing as to not startle off the woman. She heads away thereafter, any fear she has settling into the pit of her gut. These cats followed her mother, potentially to the end of many of them - she has very little idea of what Berrysnap may be doing, patiently sitting on their border, but a piece of her figures that it's not to rejoin WindClan.

Or... is it?

She sees kittens, youth almost like those she and Sunlitpaw found weeks ago. This time, their milkscent is fresher and worn proudly on their mother before them. Cottonpaw's mouth dries before she has a chance to greet them, her fear jumping in her chest for the poor, poor cold souls just waiting to be taken somewhere.

"Berrysnap," she greets with no warmth, gaze falling over her shoulder once again at the approaching patrol, "This is no place to keep your kittens," her tone tilts, as if she's questioning the parents of the kittens entirely, though she motions the scent marker as she speaks. "They'll freeze," she says, bluntly, and her chest hurts thinking of it. "What do you need that'll get you out of here faster?" And those kittens somewhere warmer, quicker.​

 

[WOLFSONG]

──ᨒ↟↟ᨒ↟ᨒ↟↟ᨒ── Since the finale of Sootstar's reign and the flight of her loyal followers, he has watched the borders on his ventures for herbs with careful scrutiny. Today, he is not far from Cottonpaw, his one-eyed gaze divided between scouring the thawing ground and the scent lines. It is his apprentice's silent warning that draws his attention from the sad remnants of a marigold plant, and what she has found appears far more immediately urgent than their current task.

He moves to her side, staring at the array of kits fanned out before Berrysnap and the other traitors flanking her. Wolfsong clenches his jaw, reminded of Harbingermoon's children— one of them named by the medicine cat himself. The sire of these kits Wolfsong cannot claim to know, though he is certainly suspicious, and he does not move to temper Cottonpaw's frigid demeanor with disaffected neutrality. He stares at Berrysnap with a similar heated frost.

"Not a journey I would recommend making with such young kittens," he rasps. "Is WindClan to raise warriors more loyal than their parents?"
​

WOLFSONG of WINDCLAN FORMER ROGUE TURNED MEDICINE CAT. 41 MOONS, HE/HIM, NPC X NPC. MATES WITH SUNSTRIDE (07/05/2023). BIOGRAPHY, PINTEREST, & PLAYLIST.

medicinal expertise med. part ii med. part iii med. part iv

• — ★★★☆☆ WOUNDS: You're (mostly) in safe paws. You'll know if he's less experienced if he asks for your permission to try a treatment. No wound can scare him away from knowledge.
  — ★★★☆☆ INFECTION: He can prevent most infections. If you feel feverish, let him know; he'll hum thoughtfully over herbs and sniff your wound before saying, "With your blessing..."
• — ★☆☆☆☆ ACHES & PAINS: If you complain to him of pain, he'll ask where. If it's a headache, you'll likely feel a bit better. For anything else, "Try this, if you'd like, and tell me how you feel."
  — ★☆☆☆☆ BROKEN BONES: At best. he can ask you to remain lying down in the den. He may try to distract you with conversation while he considers what herb to feed you.
• — ★★★★★ TRAVELING HERBS: Going somewhere? No worries; Wolfsong knows just what you need to stay hale and healthy during your journey. The rest is up to you.
  — ★★★☆☆ KITTING: Thanks to Starlingheart and his own pregnancy, he's better prepared for the arrival of kits, but any complications will need a little faith and a lot of luck.
• — ★☆☆☆☆ POISONS: It's best if you avoid eating anything unfamiliar to you— it's probably just as unfamiliar to Wolfsong. The best he can do is offer you yarrow and sit with you.
  — ★★☆☆☆ ILLNESS: If it's white or greencough, you'll likely recover. Otherwise, prepare for odd concoctions and the usual request that you consent to a little trial-and-error.

​

 

[RATTLEHEART]

AS HE RAISED HIS FIST BEFORE HE SPOKE — Though Rattleheart wasn't part of the same patrol as both Cottonpaw and Wolfsong, he still wasn't far behind. He had been down in the tunnels, patching up walls and cleaning up scattered sticks and leaves that had made it down there during their long period of disuse. He'd been near the tunnel's exit when he heard the voices from nearby, the sound of both healers questioning an unfortunately familiar face at the border. That alone was enough to draw him up and aboveground once more, usually kind pale gaze hardening at the mere sight of Berrysnap in the distance.

The lead warrior had not known her well, but he knew enough about her from the mere fact that she had gone scampering after the traitorous, bloodied paws of Granitepelt.

A pair of former loyalists stood alongside her as well, only driving him further on edge as he moved to take his place alongside Cottonpaw and Wolfsong. His tail was lashing behind him, the only thing keeping Rattleheart from flinging himself forward and sinking his teeth into her leg being the kits that were gathered around her paws. "Bold of you to show your face on this border at all, kits or not." His hostility was short-lived, though his general attitude softened only when he looked down at her children. "Hello there, little ones. Are you all feeling alright...?" He immediately found himself worried about them - not only because of the chilling journey that their mother had forced them into, but also because of who had been raising them thus far. The tunneler wanted to believe she wouldn't be so cruel as to mistreat her kits, but he also found that he couldn't trust her. Couldn't trust anyone that had followed in Sootstar's pawsteps after the final battle.

THE RIGHTEOUS HAND OF GOD 𓆩♡𓆪 THE DEVIL THAT YOU FORGOT

• 

• 
  ❥ longhaired black and white tom with pale green eyes
  ❥ 48 moons old; ages the 1st every month
  ❥ afab; uses he/she/they pronouns
  ❥ homosexual homoromantic; mated to venomstrike
  ❥ sibling to scorchstreak, lizardbounce, and rabbitclaw
  ❥ currently mentoring downypaw
  ❥ somewhat difficult to befriend; wary but kind
  ❥ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ❥ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ❥ all opinions are ic

​

 

[juncoclaw]

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ Though she cared little for Berryheart, Juncoclaw couldn't help but pity her poor scraps of kittens for the circumstances they've been brought into. Maybe DuskClan needed more cats - but never did they need more helpless mouths to feed, and she knew that if they could not feed themselves, they most certainly could not feed the kittens once they were weaned. Juncoclaw, for one, wasn't ready to share her food with someone else's offspring.

It was under that predicament that she agreed with her Clanmate, for once, in her decision to bring the kits back to WindClan. All save one, Privetkit, for whatever reason. She'd be happy to see them all gone, but three less leeches would suffice. Agreeing to accompany her to the border was another matter, though. She felt no kinship with her Clanmates now that Sootstar was gone; to venture out of the way helping one of them was uncharacteristic of her now. But the thought of seeing WindClan again was enticing, for a reason she couldn't quite put her tongue on. Comfort provided by the sight of the moors, perhaps - or maybe she just wanted to see if they fared better or worse under the new leadership. For whichever reason it was, Juncoclaw followed Berryheart until they stood at the border, waiting.

She would not object to Berryheart's command for silence, though the mere attitude of ordering her patrol made her lip twitch. Similarly, she would not send a retort towards Rattleheart, for he was right in all entirety. Berryheart and her kits alone would spell no harm, but a small patrol of cats? The kits were their only saving grace. Until prompted, Juncoclaw would remain surprisingly silent.

As the cats speak with Berryheart, Juncoclaw's green gaze scans each cat currently present: Rattleheart, Wolfsong, Cottonpaw; gathering all information she could to their well-being. As is the obvious, though she hoped not to suspect, they were better off than the rogues. In that moment of eyeing them, Juncoclaw shifts her paws underneath her, suddenly self-conscious of her own appearance - scarred and hungry, with wounds yet healing under a haphazard coat of cobweb. Assuming her Clanmates looked the same, she could not see them winning a fight here if things turned south.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── NOTHING COMPARES TO ⋅❁⋅ THE FEVER DREAM ──┐‎

• 

• 
  JUNCOCLAW ✩ she/her, rogue of duskclan, 9 moons.
  ⭃ a blue-silver tabby chimera she-cat with green eyes.
  ⭃ n/a family // formerly mentored by mockinggrin
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by ixora ↛ @.ixora on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[WASPKIT]

something is wrong. it does not matter that she cannot yet open swollen eyes, she can feel it. the wind for which the clan is named prickles at her still downy fur. the abrupt chill triggers a desperate mewl, crackled and weak. vocal cords already strained from her family's journey. did her mother not hear her pleading? the chorus of discomfort was too much to ignore completely. yet, no reassuring touch came, only the sudden connection to the ground. cold, brittle leaf-bare grass cradles them. tickling their almost naked pink bellies. the tortoiseshell rolls her body around, squirming to make contact with the others. three babies, pawing at frozen earth. writhing for the comfortable smell of their mother's belly, just out of reach.

there were voices, her desperate chirps lost in their confusing unfamiliar tones. ominous and accusatory. a foreign cat was above her, murmuring something into their pile, with a deep. the chirps lowered into a gurgle as her face buries in the side of her sister. protection, if only the illusion. these feline strangers that had detained their mother would not take them as well. they were all that mattered anymore.​

​

 

[Mouseflight]

Annoyance radiate obviously off the pelt of the tunneler, his tail lashing behind him as he came to a stop beside his clanmates. Maw was snapped shut as jaw clenched to avoid saying anything despite the mass variety of words he wanted to use now. He didn't enjoy the way his clanmates were talking to those at the border, the WindClan traitors that were now rogues traipsing up to the border as if they were potential allies or simply another clan sending a patrol to mark borders or to ask for favors. It didn't matter that there were kittens with them - it did, really, but he didn't want to admit that - Mouseflight only thought of digging his claws into the pelts before him, get rid of the traitors here and now instead of allowing them to become an issue in the future.

Instead he looked upon them and then to the kits, ears flicking as he listened to the medicine cats, listened to Rattleheart who was on Sunstar's council speak of the cold and how the kits shouldn't be in it. He'd remain silent, claws digging into the leafbare-yellowed grass below, waiting for an order to chase them off or to take the kits - which they were surely here to give up, for why else would multiple traitors come crawling to the border, newborns in tow.

⋆｡°✩ threw my voice into the dark

•  
• 
  ⋆ mousekit - mousepaw - mouseflight
  ⋆ ftm - he/him - 16 moons
  ⋆ bisexual - open to relationship
  ⋆ tunneler of windclan
  ⋆ attack - speech - thought
  ⋆ penned by tikki

​

​

 

[BERRYSNAP]

How convenient that out of all the cats in Windclan, Cottonpaw was the first to arrive. A small part of the molly was thrilled that she was the first one to come across her children and herself at the border. What better part of this than for Berrysnap to know that Snakehiss's ex was here to see his children and lover of sorts on the border. "Always a pleasure Cottonpaw. Still dumb enough to be allowed as a medicinecat apprentice? I'm no fool. My kits are the whole reason I'm here." They're all fools. I'm doing what's best for my children. Tail lashing behind her, she narrows her eyes as more Windclan warriors arrive, parroting themselves over how wrong it was for her to leave her children in this weather.

A quick lick atop of Waspkit's head would not only aim to comfort her daughter but herself as well. "Is Windclan cruel enough to turn away newborns? I thought you were all more spiritual than that. They'll freeze or starve to death otherwise. The only option is to for Windclan to take them in. You wouldn't want any more blood on your paws, would you?" Pausing, she glances down at her children before returning the gaze of the higher-ranking warriors.

"Please take them in and raise them as your own. I'm sure their father wouldn't be thrilled to hear you left his children to die. I'm not cruel enough to subject them to a prolonged and suffering death. They're children." Knowing Windclan, they'd feel pity towards her children and take them in. Perhaps interest of who their father truly was would spark the need as well. Should Privetkit have been involved as well.... they would have known within the blink of an eye. "You aren't watching me beg for acceptance back into Windclan. I'm asking you to help the kits."

​

 

[slateheart]

⋆｡ﾟ☁︎｡⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡⋆ Following the patrol was Slateheart, who had offered to help look out for plants in addition to marking the border - and maybe hunt if StarClan graced him so. He hadn't expected to catch the rogues' scent so close to the border, and expected even less to see Berrysnap and her kits.

The black-furred warrior watched the scene unfold with a perpetual frown. The back-and-forth between the two medicine cats, Rattleheart and Berrysnap, all the while his focus was more on the kits. All this questioning, all the concern about her kits being out this far, when the answer should have been obvious. Berrysnap was not out here on a leisurely stroll.

As she rambled on, Slateheart could barely suppress a heavy sigh. He thought of Harbringermoon, and the threats he had told him to get him to stop fighting: that WindClan would kill him, even bearing kits. He knew that to be a lie then; it had scared the tom enough to flee in peace, but it was a blatant lie. In recent times especially, WindClan has not turned away children, and he couldn't imagine they would do so soon, even with so many mouths to feed.

Even if they came from cruel origins.

He bothers not to come to Cottonpaw's defense after Berrysnap's remark, but to put an end to her threats and rambles. "Unfortunate circumstances they have been born into. Spare our ears; you don't have to beg and ridicule. You are clearly not out here without reason." Though sympathetic at first, his gaze soon hardens on the molly. The more she carries on, the more he wonders if she is doing this for her kits, or doing it to relieve herself from the duty of raising them.

Slateheart's tattered ear flicks once, and he turns towards Rattleheart and Wolfsong. "Our nursery is quite full. I wouldn't expect Nightingalecry to take even more kits into her nest. But I would also hope not to turn them away. What's the plan here?"

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── I SEND HIM A SMILE ⋅❁⋅ HE TELLS ME LOOK DOWN ──┐‎

• 

• SLATEHEART ✩ he/him, moor-runner of windclan, 19 moons.
  ⭃ a short-furred black tom with low white markings and green eyes.
  ⭃ son of LYNXTOOTH xx ADELAIDE // brother to GRAVELSNAP, ASHPAW
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by ixora ↛ @.ixora on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[SNAKEHISS]

As nosy as Snakehiss was, he had little interest in searching the borderlands today. There were always RiverClanners to taunt or outsiders to interrogate, but now it didn't feel the same. Nothing did. Snakehiss could not prance about the moors like he owned it, not like he once did. He was a prisoner within his own home, a disgraced follower of Sootstar who had to be surveilled like a rodent scattering from the eye of a hawk. However, fate had different plans in store for him today.

Snakehiss taking an alternative route upon his return from the river only led him to the situation unfurling on the border. The patchwork pattern of his former mate was undeniable; causing his eyes to widen and quicken his pace toward the group. His NPC chaperone follows, though stops shy of the others while Snakehiss shoulders his way through the crowd. "Berrysnap?" It isn't immediately apparent why he seems to care so much, why his voice teeters with uncertainty.

Other former loyalists are with her, including Juncopaw. It's strange, seeing his former clanmates now, knowing they would never be welcome in this place again. In their jaws and at their feet are the squirming, mewling forms of newborn kittens — they are colored red and black, looking awfully a lot like their mother, but Snakehiss instantly knows that these are his offspring. Berrysnap had given birth.

But... why was she here? Why had she brought them, trudging through the wind and snow to deliver them to the moorlands? "You're... giving them to WindClan?" Snakehiss questions warily, pinning his ears against his head. Berrysnap explains herself, clarifying that she does not wish refuge for herself but instead for her newborns. The band of exiles could not support three hungry kittens; they could probably barely afford to take care of themselves, wherever they were now.

His sharp gaze flits down to the babies again. A tom who typically wrinkled his nose at the very sight of kits and despised their stickiness and loudness, he does not regard this bunch with that same disgust. They will undoubtedly be the same as any other kits, annoying little runts who ate bugs and chewed tails, but... for now, they are blind and helpless. They protest the cold, hungering for milk and warmth. Snakehiss could turn his nose and refuse any involvement in their lives; the others would likely scoff at him but take them in all the same. So, what was stopping him?

They are his. They don't very much look it, but they are.

"They will be cared for here." Snakehiss says to Berrysnap, his gaze cold as much as his gut twisted and churned with emotion. He was a father. These were his blood. Shadowsight and Rosepool had grandkits.

It only just now occurs to Snakehiss that absolutely none of the cats here knew of his predicament. Berrysnap and Snakehiss being involved in the slightest would not have been common knowledge, let alone the prospect of them having children. The former deputy had not thought about telling anybody, if only because he figured Berrysnap would never be seen again. Perhaps now was not the most ideal time to break the news to his clanmates, but it had to be said.

Turning his head, Snakehiss looks to the others with a solemn look. "They're mine." He reveals.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙟𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨

• also fyi, i'm planning on the npc kits being nursed by an npc, gorsepetal! she would have very recently lost her only kit but would still be available to nurse ^^

• 

• 
  ₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾
  snakehiss
  

  — he/him; moor runner of windclan
  — long-limbed black tom with green eyes, a small white chest patch, and multiple scars
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — link to full tags; @ on discord or dm @beaaats for plots!​

​

 

[BERRYSNAP]

Her gaze softens as Snakehiss approaches, electing to ignore Slateheart's repetition of the others' questionings. How many times did she have to say it before they listened? She was relieved that Snakehiss had the common sense to listen to her and hear her out. Despite their complicated relationship she was grateful to know that she could rely on him in this situation. In some messed up manner she'd find herself in debt to him, not being quick to forget his actions here.

"Thank you." A quiet thank you to her former mate would leave her looking into his eyes for a moment, hoping he understood what she was doing here. "Yes, I'm giving them to y-Windclan." Stopping herself from revealing his position as the father of these kits (that was his place, not hers) she would bend down to give each kitten a lick upon their head before setting them each at Snakehiss's paws and stepping back.

"They'll have a better life within Windclan. I cannot let my kits suffer." Taking in the expressions and outbursts of his clanmates, her own ears twitching as Snakehiss announces these kits are his, she flicks her tail to call her patrol with her to return to Duskclan. The molly, however, does not leave the scene without giving Cottonpaw a knowing smirk and taking in her reaction to the unfolding scene before leaving on heartbroken paws.

/ out !

​

 

[violetkit]

Her time in the world has been short and yet already, unjust. The unnamed bundle of fuzz, ears still tight against her head and eyes pressed tightly shut, cries out as she feels the bite of snow beneath her as she is set down. She is too young, too unaware, to know what happens around her or even the circumstances that brought her here; all the kitten knows is the bitter cold, an aching tummy hungry after a journey she should have never made. She, like her sister, seeks out the only comfort she's ever known; her mother. The little molly cries and screams, red-striped spine twisting like a falling ribbon as she turns, curls, rolls, attempts to follow one of the two senses she can use. She can smell her mother, she knows the feeling of her fur beneath her paws as she kneads; this young girl will open her eyes at a different queen's belly, will hear her name from the maw of a father not there for her birth. One day, she will stand tall in his face, demand to know why did you lie to me? One day she will know her origins, of her lost brother growing in the stark environ of a Clan of defectors, of cats trying to uphold a legacy of bloodshed and tyranny. One day, she may even be able to ask her own mother why did you leave me? Us?

But for now, she cannot speak. She cannot see, cannot hear the fuss above her. She can feel the cold, can feel the hunger, can smell her mother and her littermates; she's bumped against by the other girl in the puddle of kittens, crying in distress again. A kiss fluffs the fur on her head, a brief respite and promise of warmth and comfort, before Berrysnap departs. For now, and for as long as her father can help it, the girl will never know she was ever even here.
​

𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 ——— ✿ ——— 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡

• ​
• no ref yet :(
• 

  ₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾

  violetkit

  
  

  — she / her, 2 moon old kit of windclan
  — a tiny black molly speckled with red and white with sundown eyes
  — snakehiss x berrysnap, sister of rosekit, waspkit, and the estranged privetkit
  — full length biography
  — penned by izanami / @nullmoons