Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
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It was easy to think as an observer that the tom was focused on his hunt. The silence by which Windsweptashes mauvered through the near endless rise of trees and dense underbrush seemed more the byproduct of careful thought and skill and less the standard, though near instinctual, form ingrained into all Shadowhunters from years of training. And yet, if one had assumed that, they would be wrong.
Though Windsweptashes still took great care to at least appear as if he was hunting, the stale scent in the air was plenty enough to tell that the tom wasn't as actively searching as he would have liked to appear. Instead, he was lost in his own thoughts, though what he was thinking was, for better or worse, was far fron being betrayed by his face
"Nephew," the tone that carried the word was soft, almost indulgent though Puzzlemaker took pains to hide his benevolence towards his siblings kits. Windsweptashes was not the first of them to find their home in Moonclan and would likely not be the last; regardless Puzzlemaker tried to treat them no different than he would treat any other.
"Are you hunting or taking a tour of the territory," he settled on asking with a raised brow, little curve to the corner of his mouth hinting towards a smirk not yet born. It was rather clear the other wasn't likely in the mood to be teased but the siamese tom always had a bit of a hard time resisting.
The tom's ears perked at the voice, and a keen eye could pick up a small but noticeable jolt of suprise as the shadowhunter was snapped out of whatever contemplations he had been in the midst of. He hesitated a moment, once again grounding himself in the present, before turning to actually face his uncle with a clear expression of embaressment hinting at his features.
At the teasing comment the tom gave a small, awkward laugh. "I uh- well, I intended to go hunting, but I could see how you could think the other... I might have gotten a bit distracted." He admitted, a certain bashfulness and natural demureness hinting all his worda.
Puzzlemaker paused, eyes watching his nephew and felt a certain sense of perplexed, as always, he was slightly baffled how Beldam managed to have a son like Windsweptashes. He supposed he was more his fathers son than his mothers while the reverse seemed to be true for his sister. Regardless he could only count his blessings that there wasn't a version of his sister running about; Selene knew catastrophes he would be sorting out on the daily.
"Well if you're not busy hunting perhaps you could walk with me as I survey the borders." He suggested, not bothering with any of his usual word games as he might with those outside his family. "With the recent evens in Sunclan I would like to make sure we are prepared for any.. unpleasantness."
He paused a moment, the reminder of the recent battle sent a small chill of anxiety in him as he recalled the unfortunate event. Even on the best of days Windsweptashes was relatively anxious, but in the days following he'd been shakier than usual. Although physically it could be argued he was a cat well-built for a fight owing to his larger and more athletic physique, mentally and emotionally combat tore at him. He wasn't one for violence or bloodshed, and he certainly was not well-equipped to handle the emotional shock and the feeling of unease and defenselessness that came post an attack on one's one soil.
But he tried his hardest to hide his unease at the mention of it, and instead gave a small nod at his uncle's request. "I can. Although I hope we're preparing for no reason, I'd rather us not be attacked again."
"Rest assured I'm walking the borders more due to the natural catastrophes they faced rather than their attack on us." It wasn't surprised to Puzzlemaker that Windsweptashes hadn't heard about their troubles; Moonclan had isolated themselves after the recent events. Truthfully the Siamese tom felt Sunclan had gotten what they deserved with the volcano eruption. He hoped that their time with the Renegade Regime had them breaking apart.
"They will need a lot of time to recover as well so I don't worry about our borders with them for attacks but rather that the devastation that has stricken their lands will affect us." He lead them towards that very border, interested in how much the death had spread.
Windsweptashes' ears pricked at the mention of the natural disaster. The tom had heard about the earthquakes that had ravaged the land of multiple clans and groups, it was the same reason, so he heard, that Sunclan had been so desperate as to atteck them for their supplies. But he could tell from the way Puzzlemaker spoke that the tom was referring to something else entirely.
Perhaps rumors of it had stirred up in Moonclan already that something had taken place, but that would have required Windsweptashes to actually have been social and engaged in the clan's gossip to have been in the know. He was about to ask Puzzlemaker about what could have possibly happened, whe for the first time he noticed a change in the air as they continued to approach the border. The smell of Sunclan was still present, but the scent of fire and smoke weighed heavier. He started to finally take note of bits of ash dotting the air like wayward snowflurries fluttering on past; he realized with a slight jolt of alarm that they had likely been flying past him for a while - though only now did the nature of their presence hit him.
"What happened?" Windsweptashes asked, finally getting his voice back from the shock of the realization. "Was it a wildfire, or...?"
"They say it was their god forsaking them, that the sun god caused a mountain to expel fire and bring them to ruin." He responded watching the ash and as their steps drew closer seeing the devastated landscape scraped bare by fire and desolation. A sigh escaped him as he looked at what was once a bountiful land be reduced to ruins. "It is easy to forget that one lives with a fire burning under the feet when their eyes are always towards the sky." He hummed.
"It is why while we worship Selene we must not forget that it is just not her mercy we are under but also that of our circumstances." While not what one might consider a true believer of the moon goddess he could see the tool her existence provided to him and make use of it. He glanced once more towards his nephew and seeing the still burning smoldered reflected in his wide blue eyes knew this was not a lesson Windsweptashes needed to learn.
The younger tom was well aware of changing circumstances easily leading many to doom. Seeing the tom standing tall as ashes swept by him carried on the wind he could only wish Beldam could see the son she had so callously left behind. What a picture he made as he held his head high regardless that this is where others would bow their own. "One cannot turn away from tragedy as it deserve witness just as much as triumphs do."
It was rather ironic, to be a cat named Windsweptashes now standing amongst windswept ashes, the likes of which continued to blows past him; a few now even beginning to fleck his pelt. The horror of what had happened to their neighboring clan was just beginning to set in, and with it the horror of what could happen to their own.
Tales of mountains exploding with fire was something that to the tom had always belonged in myth and legend, something beautifully horrific when weaved into some moral tale or in some poetic rhyme told by one of the clan's mothers or a wisened member of the council, but knowing that soon he was likely to see the true impact of such a deadly disaster that laid just next to their own territory now stirred in him feelings he wasn't exactly sure how to describe. It was made all the more surreal at Puzzlemaker's words of wisdom. Even in a normal situation the shadowhunter would have agreed with him; Windsweptashes himself had never been all that religious, and had certainly always been under the belief that one couldn't rely on just the gods to guide them, as reassuring as that belief was. And equally so, Windsweptashes felt it was undeniable that in spite of the horrors, to not acknoweledge tragedy and the knowledge to be found in it was quick to lead down a path of ignorance and to doom yourself to repeat your own or other's mistakes. But when said by Puzzlemaker so very close to the start of the area in which such a nightmarish tradegy had taken place, it felt somehow heavier, almost prophetic.
In the gravity of the moment, all the tom could find it in himself to do was nod, now bracing himself for whatever unholy sight the two of them would be met with when they did hit the border. It didn't feel like there were any good words to be added, everything worth being said had been said - the attempt to add on felt like it would lessen the impact. In fact even talking seemed wrong, and for a small moment Windsweptashes was hesitant to speak or respond. Only after it felt like a bit of the moment had passed did the tom dare to break the heavy silence.
"Are there any survivors, or is it all of Sunclan just... Gone?" The question chilled him very bone, the thought that over night an entire clan could be lost to one deadly event was such a terrifying concept, though it certainly was not an impossible one. Windsweptashes had heard tales of clans lost to one tragic situation or another, but much like mountains raining fire down upon the land, those too had been more like dreadful bedtime stories made to quell unruly kittens than real, potential events that could actually befall them. The thought that it could possibly have happened to a clan so close to home was almost inconcievable, and the tom found himself failing to even truly wrap his mind around such a possibility.
The question hung between them for a bit while small paws left prints in the ash that had drifted into the territory, blown by the winds that cut through Sunclan territory. Puzzlemaker made no motion to shake it out from between his toes, cared little for the soot now staining the brown of his fur gray. The ash and smoldering embers still burned, the tragedy fresh, but nature was a force of her own. Likely in only a few days the process of renewal would begin and ash would be carried and dispersed, grass would poke through the lingering piles, and rain would wash the rest into rivers. Finally their journey to the border came to an end, their destination reached.
Letting his paws rest right on a line that was no longer marked he finally took a large breath and felt the sting of smoke on the back of his throat. "From what I've gathered some of them were able to flee but not many. I have also heard the Nightclan prayed on their weakness and during the disaster stole some of Sunclans kits. So some bloodlines will carry on there, never to know of the sun their families once worshiped."
It was a little ironic even to think of, to think of a nocturnal cat where just a generation before their parents worshiped the sun, rejected the moons soft glow fervently. They would likely know nothing of that though, he doubted Kier would allow their origins to be known and if they did come to be known he doubted the new born Nightclan cats would care. If a cat was raised to only know one thing taking a leap of faith into the unknown didn't come readily.
Windsweptashes followed, but the horror, the fact he was shaken by everything he was taking in, was evident. The whirl of smoke that burned his eyes and nose were almost a numbed pain, turned to more like white-noise and a mere vaguely noticed sensation as his senses were dulled by shock.
He gazed out, over what remained of Sunclan's territory. It had held a desert once, but in spite of that it had had its greenery, it's beautiful, picturesque landscapes. He had never thought it as pretty as Moonclan was, or even its sister clan of Dayclan, but he had appreciated it nevertheless. Now, it was a wasteland, horrific in how it had been charred down to nothing. As Windsweptashes looked over the pitiful remains at what had been their neighboring clan's territory, Puzzlemaker's words too became an odd, hollow thing in the background. He was aware of them, took them in, but it all felt so surreal.
"That's... That's horrible." It was all he managed to half-choke out. Perhaps he should have been greatful, perhaps he should have held some bitter mirth to such a terrible tragedy befalling the clan that had once sat beside them. After all, how many of their clan-mate did they kill in their attack? How many more did they have starving from lack of food, or without healing from the lack of herbs from their raid? A crueler cat might have thought they deserved it, even a kind cat might have been able to turn a blind eye to the horror in the excuse of karma, but Windsweptashes could only feel pity and dispair. They had been their enemies, they had hurt them, but they had been cats too, just like them. How easily it could have been them, destroyed in bouts of fire and rock and rubble, and them who lost their kits in the chaos of the blaze. It was a nightmare really, and it pained him. Normally they would have tried to have pretended it didn't, normally they would have tried to put on the facade they were as spiteful as might have been expected of him to be against the clan that had harmed them, were heathens to them, who had for a long time been their bitter rivals and enemies. But in the face of such tragedy, he couldn't. He just couldn't.
