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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His brother, a medicine cat? Pondkit thought he might sulk all night long. Firekit didn't even want it, but Pondkit did: he wanted to be special, but now he never found be, not like his StarClan-chosen Solsticestar-approved brother. Why would his father waste a moment on him now that he had a special son to look after? Not that he would have anyway. Though the betrayal that hurt the most was his leader, the fact that she had chosen his brother over him, it wasn't the one that wold last. Most of all his anger was directed at his sibling.
He must have fallen asleep eventually, because he woke to find the towering trees surrounding him smelled far different from those of the forest outside their camp. He tilted his head to the side as he tentatively padded across the wet dirt underpaw, slitting his eyes against the misty fog hanging over the darkened landscape, and scanned the world for signs of life.
It was always disorienting, at first. The dead, leafless trees that towered above seemed to stretch upwards forever, so close together that even without leaves the branches blocked out any indication of a sky to guide a cat's way. The ground was similarly barren; the grass was brown and obnoxiously short, with only the occasional shrub or thorn bush to indicate any form of life whatsoever.
But there was life here. At least, in as far as the denizens of this place could claim they were alive.
Already, hidden in the shadows of the surrounding trees, a pair of yellow eyes watched the confused kit with interest. It wasn't too hard to find him; clan scents didn't exist here, there were only the scents of those who belonged, those from the other side, and those from the world below...the living. The tom who belonged to those yellow eyes observed Pondkit was growing fascination. It was a rarity that one so young would wander into these woods. The forest only called to those with an unyielding dissatisfaction of their lives, as well as a naiveness that allowed their minds to be easily shaped and manipulated. But...that wasn't what drew him to this kit. There was something else, something the scarred white tom couldn't exactly place. Why did this kit seem so familiar to him?
Though he waited, nobody came to tell at him. No nosy mother, no bossy leader, certainly not his father. Pondkit huffed, glancing bitterly down to his paws, then set his jaw. "Fine," he muttered. "If you aren't going to come looking and yell at me, then I'm going to explore. Nobody is going to tell me how high I can climb this time."
Rising to his paws, the undersized white-and-grey tomcat stalked toward the nearest of the trees and scowled determinedly up the unending trunk. He would climb past the first branch if he felt like it. Maybe he'd never come down. Leaping up, he sank his claws into the bark and started to strenuously haul his light body upward and toward the waiting canopy.
The tom smirked to himself as he watched the kit struggle to climb the tree. A free spirit, a rebel, an independent soul; all names for the same type of cat...an inherently selfish one. One that always yearned for greater things, but was never satisfied. Perfect. After watching the poor kit heave himself up the trunk for a few more moments, he made his move.
He leapt up, bounding from one branch, to another, to another, effortless climbing his way up toward where Pondkit was; all while staying out of sight. As if the younger tom wasn't too preoccupied to notice him anyway. Finally, he reached Pondkit's tree, and landed on a lone branch that was juuuuussssttttt out of the kit's reach. He laid down, lounging with his long, white tail lazily hanging in the air. "Quite impressive you've made it up this far," he meowed, grabbing the Pondkit's attention for the first time. "Very few cats, warriors or kits, have ever made it up this high. You're quite special."
He looked up sharply at the appearance of the tom and his voice sudden in the still air, aware for the first time he was not alone. He stilled a moment, hanging off the bark, his claws desperately holding to it as his legs ached with the need to let go, his reason screaming it was too far to fall now, he had to stay or climb up higher because there was no going back either. His mouth twitched into a petulant growl as he already anticipated the words he would hear, his ears flattening against his head, eyeing the branch the older cat rested on with envy.
Then he processed what it was he'd actually heard, and his brow furrowed. Nobody ever said that to him. Solsticestar was nice, but she would never let him climb this high, never let him he special. Jealousy and anger spiked through him and he looked up sharply and growled his assent to the stranger.
"I'm not gonna let you stop me. I'm staying special."
The mysterious tom let out a pleasant chuckle of amusement at Pondkit's determination. "I was never planning on stopping you," he retorted simply, smiling down at the kit. "Those who are special shouldn't be held back just to make the weaker feel better, should they?" He raised a brow at the little tom as he continued his impossible climb; yes, there was something very familiar about this kit. But what? "Come now, kit," he encouraged, "I know that you can push yourself even farther; you can reach me, or you could ever reach the very top of the tree. No one should be allowed to stop you, or prevent you from achieving your full potential."
Weak. Is that what they were? He mulled it over. His mother was very soft and she had been so sad to see him go, yes, she probably was weak. He loved her, but she was weak to try and stop him from being an apprentice like he wanted, to try and go against her leader yet so easily back down when ordered. Even Solsticestar herself must have some fearful weakness in her, that was why she steered him away from climbing higher than he wanted, told him to keep close and quiet and do as she told him. But he was special and he was strong. Nobody should stop him!
Energy flowed back into him and he attacked with ferocity, clawing his way higher and higher and refusing to look down. "No one can stop me," he repeated in a hiss, and it became a mantra in the back of his head as he climbed, one paw at a time. No one can stop me!
The tom's eyes widened as he watched the kit, memories of his past life flooding back to him as he recognized the look of pride and ferocity that radiated from the kit. Without thinking, he stood back on his feet and began jumping up the tree from branch to branch, keeping even with the kit as he watched him climb. That look in the young kit's eyes...he knew it well. There was only one other cat in the universe that had a look like that.
It had to be her.
"You! Kit!" He called, a broad, estatic grin spreading over his features. "I know you! You're of the line of Blakelystar, aren't you?!" Yes! Now that he got a closer look, didn't this kit resemble Blakeystar's young son Beck? It had to be!
Fortune was finally favoring him! What luck, that his Queen's successor would find his way to him here!
Chewing on the inside of his mouth, he mostly ignored the tom, focusing on his climb to the top. The name sounded vaguely familiar, like something his father would have said, but to be frank he had never cared for history lessons. They were boring and everyone was dead, so what did he care? Pondkit dragged himself up higher, then edged out onto a close branch, where he flopped over onto his back and lay panting and exhausted. He just had to catch his breath a bit, and then maybe he could keep climbing... it really wasn't fair that the older cat could catch up to him so easily. Pondkit hated being small.
The tom let out a snort of amusement before landing effortlessly on the same branch beside Pondkit. This kit had a one track mind; such a self-conscious disposition would never be fully quelled, no matter how skilled he would eventually become. This was Blakely's blood, no doubt about that. Being trapped here for so long, the Dark Forest warrior had grown incredibly perceptive; after such a climb, he could see in full the potential within the young one, as well as the vices and flaws that made clear to what extent Pondkit would be willing to go to achieve his goals...with a little push.
"You're quite remarkable," he purred, a hint of pride in his meow. The slender white figure took a seat, watching passively as Ponkit huffed and puffed. "But that should come to no surprise; you have the blood of leaders running in your veins. No lesser of a cat could've pushed themselves as hard as you have."
"Though unfortunately, I have to admit to you that reaching the top is quite literally impossible. The trees here actually go up forever. Just look down if you don't believe me."
He gestured towards the forest floor with a paw, and sure enough, despite having climbed so high up, in reality neither of them were any higher up in the tree than Pondkit's personal best in the waking world.
How did he get up here already?! Again?! Pondkit scowled at the warrior, tempted to push him over the side. It wasn’t malice or any desire to hurt Kidder -- he didn’t even think about the consequences of such a fall or that it could hurt the other cat. He just wanted to push him away for being annoying like he would his siblings when they were younger. It really wasn’t fair that he got to be so much bigger and climb so much faster.
He glanced down at the warrior’s words, ignoring his comments about leaders blood, but glowing on the inside at the praise. And Pondkit was beyond angry to see how short his climb had been. “That’s not FAIR!” he yowled, clambering back to his paws and lashing his tail. “You lied to me!”
He glared at him accusingly, biting his lip. Then he brushed past him and leaped for the trunk again, hauling himself up, up, and up to the next branch, then slinking onto it. He looked back down and sure enough… no higher. What kind of sick place was this?! Was this how all trees worked?!
"Did I?" Kidder shot back with a brief chuckle, slowly lowering himself down the tree trunk until his paws rested firmly on the forest floor. "It certainly felt like you were climbing that high, didn't it? What is the difference? Your determination outshines any other I've seen, and if you put your mind to it, you could accomplish just as great feats in the waking world." The tom lifted a paw to his muzzle and began to groom himself, patiently waiting for the kit to grow tired of attempting to figure out the tree and come join him.
Pondkit growled, glaring down at him. "The difference is I wasn't climbing high! What's the point of climbing if you never go anywhere?!" His tail lashed as his gaze returned to the tree, contemplating if he should continue or not. It was quickly becoming apparent it was a futile effort... but he launched himself at the trunk once again, scrambling higher, and repeated the process several more times before he was certain he was getting nowhere. Then, with a sigh, he descended to the lowest branch and stood over Kidder, reaching down as far as he could to try and swat the older cat over the head.