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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he winds were unsurprisingly rough as the sun began its ascension into the sky, bring the strong mixture of floral and herbal scents with it. Foxwhisper's cloudy blue orbs took in the wildflower meadow, a soft and serene sigh escaping body. It was a much needed break from the drastic changes taking place around her. With many of the near by clans suffering the mass devastation of floods and ailments, many survivors began to reach out to the other clans for aid, in particular Summerclan. The call to action required all paws to scout the borders for survivors and hunt endlessly to feed those who managed to weakly make their way to Summerclan camp. It had been days of relentless time and effort to the cause; Foxwhipser finally managed to make a bit of time to escape the madness for a moment of peace though it did not last very long as vivid memories of drenched and weak kits and queens resurfaced in the she-cat's mind. Foxwhisper's brows furrowed only slightly, her eyes falling slightly down to the floor with the heaviness of the emotions caused by the reminder. Like a flood itself, the small trickle of the memory quickly grew thick and unruly with more memories.
Doubt and shame grew the longer the she-cat remained on that rock in the meadows, the feelings nagging her to return back to camp where surely she would find much needed calls for help. With a heavy sigh and one last wistful glance at the colorful lands before her she rose from her haunches only to freeze immediately. Her large, expressive ears flickered as they caught the softest of sounds. With a graceful and swift turn, Foxwhisper's stormy orbs pierced fiercely behind her in search of the incoming intruder...
OOC Notes: Woot woot! New and fresh updates to my posts!
"We don't have enough herbs for this!" Hazelpaw spat to himself, his fur rising in agitation as he nosed a couple of poppy seeds into a small leaf to carry back. "But no, we're fine, though! We hafta act all kind and generous to these fleabags, as though we should be grateful for them coming to our Clan for help." After the Clan devastation the medicine cat den had been swamped with new travelers and more ailing cats than Hazelpaw could keep up with. It sure didn't help that he had recently become Graythorn's apprentice; he swore that Graythorn had been able to see into the future and knew that he had to have help or else be crushed under the sheer amount of patients. At a different time, Hazelpaw would have been more than happy to see all these new potential clanmates, but he barely had time to rest with running from cat to cat, repeating the same instructions every second or third time.
He had decided to go out of the camp and try to replenish the storage as best he could, before he needed to bolt back and help Graythorn again. Sighing, he bit the corners of the leaf into a pinch, and continued on his way. "Burdock, poppy seeds, and lavender," he mumbled to himself. This was his second time out gathering herbs, he could do this.
Paying more attention to keeping the poppy seeds in the leaf, he almost ran into someone, jolting him out of his thoughts, as he skidded to a stop. "I'm here!" He yelled in surprise, dropping the leaf and spilling the contents. For a moment, he stood there, mouth still open in shock, eyes watching the seeds disappear into the tall grass. Exhaustion and built up emotion caused him to deflate, and he dropped to the ground, resting his forehead on his paws. "I suppose you dunno where you could find poppy seeds?" Hazelpaw asked the figure, his voice muffled. He glanced up at her, and gave her a weary smile. "Not looking too good for a new medicine cat, am I?" He offered a weak chuckle.
n the moment Foxwhisper turned, she had caught sight of the small for of the newly appointed Medicine Cat Apprentice. The tuff of fur on Foxwhisper's back slowly descended as she took in the familiar face as he struggled to carry a folded leaf spilling with herbs of all colors and sizes. With the smallest of smiles, Foxwhisper watched on as the apprentice made his way towards her, visibly preoccupied with juggling the herbs in his mouth. Standing firm in place, Foxwhisper simply watched on as the apprenticed neared her, still unaware of his impending obstacle. Before he could crash into the slender she-cat, he snapped out of his trace, skidding into a rough stop, leading him to spill some contents of the leaf before the rest followed in his sudden declaration.
A soft chuckle escape the fiery red she-cat despite working hard to hold it back. "Hazelpaw." Foxwhisper addressed him calmly, recomposing herself as she began to take in the apprentice in his entirety. The weight of responsibility showed heavy on the young apprentice. If Foxwhisper had work, she could only imagine the young apprentice's load, but she was confident that her understanding of his workload was an underestimation of it's true quantity.
"What I see now isn't the sight I've used to judge the new medicine cat apprentice," Foxwhisper started, nudging the few herbs she could salvage back onto the large leaf "It is the sight of so many injured and weak cats back at camp who have patch up cuts, wrapped wounds and eased souls that's to the tireless work of both of our medicine cats" With her head still hung low to the ground, nudging the remainder of the herbs, Foxwhisper met the eyes of the young apprentice "You are doing an excellent job Hazelpaw..." Her words where heavy in earnest.
With a small smile, Foxwhisper pulled her head up, glancing at the furthest edge of the meadows, her mind reeling with past memories of her last scouting expedition. "I could have sworn I saw some Poppy still in bloom on the outer edge of the meadows." With no hesitation, Foxwhisper reached down to wrap up the salvaged herbs and grasped the edges of the leaf tightly in her mouth. "Come, I'll keep you some company."
The tips of his ears warmed, as he glanced away, not accustomed to the gentle response; Graythorn was a good mentor – he really was! – but warmth was unusual. Though Hazelpaw quickly scolded himself; he shouldn’t need this kind of praise, he wasn’t some mewling kit. And yet, it still felt nice to be acknowledged like that. Quite frankly, he felt like he was at his wit’s end and he was just so tired of it; his usual confidence had shrunk to a pea sized flicker, as he had stumbled from patient to patient, immediately forgetting their diagnosis as soon as he padded up to another one. Everything was going by too quickly and Hazelpaw wasn’t sure if he was thriving or surviving in his responsibilities.
But before the negative thoughts could spiral out of control, Hazelpaw got to his paws, shaking the dirt off of him. “Yeah I- I could use the company,” he said, dipping his head, still not fully meeting her eyes. “Thanks, Foxwhisper I…I appreciate it.” He wasn’t sure whether he was thanking her for carrying the herbs or for her reassurance, though he didn’t allow his mind to linger too long on that question.
When she mentioned the meadow, a mental map sprung into his mind and he felt his muscles relax – that was right, he remembered the meadows from the quick rundown that Graythorn gave him of herb locations. Assurance rose within him from the familiar location and he rolled his shoulders, becoming more determined.
“I promise it won’t take too long – I don’t want to keep you from anything you were doing,” Hazelpaw said, as he started forward. For a moment he was quiet, before he cleared his throat and glanced at her in the corner of his eyes. “You uh, won’t tell anybody about this, right? The whole struggling thing?” His voice pitched an octave higher in worry at the word “thing,” and he glanced over his shoulders, as though he expected to see their Clanmates right near the edge of the trees, watching and judging his every movement.
oxwhisper watched thoughtfully as the apprentice regained his composure, her instinctive motherly side finding prideful content in seeing the young cat pick himself up and keep moving, though it was clear there were still some trouble behind those small pair of eyes, but Foxwhisper kept her questions to herself, simply falling in step next to the apprentice as he melted back into work mode. The she-cat remained quiet, taking in each word the apprentice spoke, her eyes glancing down to the medicine cat before returning upwards, instinctively scanning the surroundings for any sign of disruption or danger.
"Why is there concern in revealing your struggle?" Foxwhisper asked gently, her words were as careful in asking as her steps were as she thoughtfully avoided trudging through flowers and herbs on their path.
He rolled his shoulders and glanced away again, becoming defensive. “Medicine cats shouldn’t be seen like that, we have an image to protect,” Hazelpaw replied, his voice clipped. “We have to protect the Clan, don’t we?” An edge of cockiness arose in his voice and a glitter appeared in his eyes; it was a new experience for him to have others rely on him, much less an entire Clan. Even while he complained and whined about how exhausted he was, there was still a small flicker of excitement that came from others coming to him in need.
“So, that’s why I can’t have others see me…like this.” Even though he had said that he was struggling, he still winced around the word. “If we find the seeds, this will all be worth it,” Hazelpaw mumbled under his breath. But he let out a sharp breath and straightened himself up.
“Enough about me-“ Hazelpaw finally met her gaze and gave her a cheerful smile. “Tell me, how are you doing? I’m sure they’re having you run around like crazy. Are you holding up OK?” He gave her a concerned look, furrowing his brow together. “I can only imagine how stressed you must feel – are you getting enough to eat? Sleeping well?”
oxwhisper silently took in the apprentice's words thoughtfully. "Hazelpaw," Foxwhipser started her voice was steady but her tone was unwavering as if to hint a warning in what was to come "Forgive me if I am too blunt, but I cannot understand your righteous idea of being an exception to struggle." As she spoke, she could feel a new tension grow in the air. "You know Hazelpaw, the struggle is apart of the journey every cat takes, its inevitable." Foxwhisper spoke up quietly, her words slow as they escape her mouth as to emphasis the importance in each syllable. "A leader is nothing without a clan, and a leader is only a reflection of those he or she give to their people. Despite the idea of power and influence a leader is expected to have, they are truly nothing but a servant to a larger cause; the growth of their clan."
"You should never feel ashamed of admitting or showing struggle. To struggle is to grow and learn and to create the narrative that you are a medicine cat and that exempts you from living and showing that hardship creates a blind spot in your journey because you lose the true essence of what it means to be a medicine cat and that is to serve and put others before you and above you as a true servant should."
There was a moment of silence as Hazelpaw watched Foxwhisper. Fur rose along his spine and he bit back a growl - tension crackled in the air and he sharply turned his head to the side to hide his curled lip. He didn't ask for this- this scolding! Wasn't Graythorn enough to be jumping down his throat like that? And what was with her superior attitude, as though he didn't already know that? "I can serve the Clan better if they had a more positive disposition towards me," Hazelpaw finally replied, having dispelled his flash of irritation. His voice was monotonous, as though he was nervous of showing any emotion. "If they trust me more and know that I can't easily be wavered, then I can better help them." He paused his walking, just as they were a couple foxlengths away from the edge of the meadow and tried to stare her down - which was a bit difficult as he had to crane his neck up to look at her in the eyes. "Because isn't that what a servant would do? Make sure that he can take care of others without a sign of weakness?" Hazelpaw almost spat out the word "servant" and for a moment, his unemotional tone faltered, and a flicker of anger appeared, before he took a breath and reigned it in.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," he said, closing his eyes as he tried to fight back any sharp words, "I appreciate your concern, but I didn't come out here for a lecture."
s expected, the fuse had been lit. Foxwhisper listened quietly, her gaze steady ahead of her, ocassionally glancing down at the bristling apprentice but largely giving his the space to vomit his frustration out. Foxwhisper slowly down until she came to a stop, slowly lowering the leaf of herbs down to the ground before looking back up at the young medicine cat, offering a small smile "How do you feel now that you've got that off your chest?" Foxwhipser spoke up as tension around them began to fizzle.
For a moment, he stared at Foxwhisper with his mouth open in surprise. Embarrassment and shame made his ear tips hot and his ears flattened against his skull. “You tricked me into saying that,” he muttered, eyeing her warily, “don’t be too proud of yourself.” He couldn’t believe it – she had been able to make him emotionally explode and it unnerved him. He hadn’t had this happen since-
No, he shouldn’t go there. With a shake of his head, he forced those thoughts away with a quiet grumble. “If I say ‘yes’ will you drop it?” Despite his hope, there was a hint of desperation in his voice, and he glanced at her for a quick second, before staring at the poppy seed patch, as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen before.
oxwhisper offered a small smile as the apprentice began to piece together what had happened. "There is no point in feeling ashamed to verbalize your thoughts." She meowed "You know Hazelpaw, when you hold back your emotions like that, it will build up to the point that one say, you'll explode and you will say things you won't mean in the process" Her own words caused an old memory to materialize, but she pushed it aside with a soft sigh, focusing back on the young cat next to her.
"It is apart of life to feel emotions. Of course with discernment, but you have to let yourself really feel them once in a while to help uncloud your mind and heart to understand the bigger picture of your circumstances." Her feather tail flicked the tom playfully at his side. " Breathe." She instructed, her voice firm but kind " The world isn't out to get you." She dipped back down to grasp the leaf filled herbs again and began to walk ahead, pausing for a moment to allow the apprentice to keep up.
Hazelpaw jumped back when her tail flicked against him, as though it was acid. His fur prickled uncomfortably, and he watched her without another comment. She unsettled him with her big words and calming aura – he wasn’t used to this kind of treatment. There would have to be stronger walls when he was around her. It felt as though even when he thought that he was one step ahead, he would do a doubletake to see that she had overtaken him, smiling peacefully down at him. He wasn’t sure how long her emotional capacity would last – perhaps if he just kept wearing her down she’d stop. But.
But a part of him did appreciate this attention and this guidance – and as he followed after her, he opened his mouth as if to say something more. Though Hazelpaw was quick to squash that thought with a quick shake of his head and a huff. No, this wasn’t right – she wasn’t his mother and he was fine without this whole situation.
“You seem to know a lot about all this,” Hazelpaw said, before he could stop himself, “this whole talking thing. Maybe you should look to become the leader or something.” As they crested the hill, his fur rippled in the wind and he looked down on the poppy field. After a moment of staring at the field, he padded towards the nearest flower to Foxwhisper and shook the plant so that the seeds fell into the leaf.
he she-cat couldn't hide the authentic surprise from her expression at Hazelpaw's sudden and unexpected comment, leaving her momentarily flustered before she shook her head, almost spilling the newly filled leaf of it's contents. "No, no I couldn't possibly, not me." She chuckled, dropping the leaf down to the dirt floor carefully to readjust its contents. Foxwhisper couldn't help but admit internally, the idea had cross her mind once or twice in her lifetime, but there was always something holding her back from reaching that vision. She smiled to herself as she lost herself in her thoughts.
" I am sure you would do a fine job as Leader with a tongue and mind as sharp as yours. You'd thwart off any unwanted intruders or threatening clans." She teased, bouncing the attention off of her and back to the young apprentice.
"What made you choose the path you are on now?" Foxwhisper asked suddenly, her pale and stormy eyes brewing with genuine intrigue.
Hazelpaw tipped his head to the side, a bit startled by her embarrassment – he hadn’t expected that, especially after how calm she had been before. After a moment, he realized that the entire time, she had been able to get a lot of information out of him without reciprocating. Just what is she planning on doing? The thought crossed his mind and wariness made him pause; those who had also used this tactic were known to collect all this information and use it as a bargaining chip, perhaps even blackmail. Foxwhisper had lived longer than he had, she surely had at least one interesting event happen to her in her lifetime. So why was she keeping so quiet?
“No, being deputy or leader seems too frustrating – it’s a bunch of politics and I’m not so much into the whole playing mind games thing.” Hazelpaw made a face and shook his head, hiding the lump that formed in his throat. Quite honestly, he had thought about it when he was younger – who didn’t when they were a kit? But the cards just weren’t in his favor, he wasn’t fast or strong enough to be a brave leader, he was too paranoid to be a calm leader, and he wasn’t sneaky enough to be a political leader. Sure, lying had become second nature to him, but there was always the guilt that made his stomach turn in knots.
At her question he paused in gathering the poppy seeds, mulling it over. Hazelpaw shrugged before turning back to his work. “It just felt right – you could even say that it was a calling, maybe destiny even!” But again, that was a lie.
he she-cat listened with immense interest at the apprentice's perspective. "It certainly is not an easy position for any cat to be in." Foxwhisper agreed. There was something honorable in being a leader, but Foxwhisper could never have imagined herself in the position, her dreams veered down a different path.
Foxwhisper couldn't help but chuckle softly "The idea of destiny sure has a funny way of making a decision feel more right don't you think?" she asked nudging a few poppy seeds that were slowly sliding off the leaf back into place. "I notice often too many cats mistaken fate for destiny." She thought outloud, not meaning for the words to come out.
so fancy~ )