First her mom dies. Things only go downhill from there. Alongside raising her new siblings, Junco must navigate the now dangerous waters of life as a Wanderer. Death and feelings are the worst kind of problems.
Oriole was always very cheerful, and...
They had buried him last night. It was the hardest thing Oriole had ever done.
Not hard as in particularly difficult to accomplish physically, a different kind of struggle.
Branch had been the one thing she was certain about in her life. She knew that he loved her and that he always would. She knew that Branch would protect her and watch over her, carefully ensuring her happiness. She hadn't realized how important that was. She had thought he would always be there.
And now he wasn't.
Oriole had taken him for granted.
Even though they weren't related, he had been the only person she had ever really considered family. Branch had raised her from kithood, ever since he had found her on the side of a thunderpath, next to her mother's body. She wasn't sure who her father was, as he was not there.
When she was older, Branch had told her that her father had run. His scent trail led away from the terrible scene and into the woods.
That didn't matter.
She knew he was a better father anyway.
Now she sat by his grave, tail carefully curled over her paws. Junco had been with her, but she had gone with a few others to find a cat to watch the vote.
In the distance she could hear birds chirping, little squeaks, babies. Crying for their mothers, hungry and helpless. Oriole felt like them.
Junco had lost her parents too. Afterwards, she became quiet and withdrawn. Even though she was getting better, Oriole knew she would never be the same cat she was before.
I won't be like that. I know everyone thinks of me as the cheerful one and I intend to stay that way.
"Branch, I will never forget you. Not a day will go by that I will not feel my sadness. But I will not let it bring me down."
And with that, she got up from his grave and padded towards the rising sun, and the camp.
It's what he would have wanted from me.
When she got to the clearing, she noticed a small, blue she-cat sitting in the camp. Static was talking with her and turned to address everyone else.
"This is Lupine. She will watch the vote."
Estacado tilted his head, "Where will we do that?"
"That rock cave over there would be good, it's big enough and other cats won't be able to see what's going on inside," Junco was sitting a few tail lengths away from the group and had spoken up.
"Sounds good to me," Lupine walked over to the stump, "What do you need me to do?"
Static answered, "Just make sure nobody tampers with the leaves."
The wanderers used leaves to vote, they would designate spaces for each cat running, and if you put your leaf there, you voted for them. Who's running?
As though reading her mind, Static announced, "I'm an option, who else would like to put themselves up for vote?"
The clearing was silent.
"Surely someone else would like to be leader," Static said, barely faking confusion. Satisfaction was written across her face.
Across the clearing, Oriole could see Junco tearing at the earth with her claws and glaring at her sister, yet she said nothing, and turned away from the crowd.
The area felt hushed. Estacado looked around nervously, Snapdragon was shifting her paws, everyone but Llano seemed on edge. The yellow tom appeared to be oblivious to the feelings of everyone else. Oriole could feel tension building.
Why is Junco so angry? Why does it seem like Static knew this would happen? What's going on?
Static smirked, "Well I guess we won't be needing you, Lupine. The new leader of the Wanderers will be–"
"I want to be in the running!" Oriole cried.
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