why are the cats of nightbreeze becoming suddenly aggressive when they never used to be? why are their eyes torn out, rendering them blind? who is doing it to them? and why?
in a world where thunderclan and riverclan joined forces many moons ago, tu...
she ran up and grabbed his scruff in one swift motion. then she padded over and swung him over the cliff. he screeched. "what are you doing?"
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it wasn't that turtlemist wasn't smart. she was very smart, in fact. but she couldn't do the same things everyone else could. she tried hunting; but failed every time. she tried fighting; but couldn't get one hit in. it frustrated her. a lot.
and that was how she ended up being the "thinker" for stormcreek. it was just a title. she didn't do much except calculate the chances of things happening (which she did by making up random percentages) and find the leaders their favorite pieces of prey (adderstar liked trout, poppystar's favorite was sparrows).
it was boring, and after the first six months, turtlemist stopped trying. she wanted to challenge her brain. all she wanted was someone to give her a puzzle to solve or tell her there were mystery murders going on. such a shame there were no puzzles. or mystery murders.
but this morning, she felt things would change. and turtlemist usually knew when things were going to change.
when she stretched out her limbs, she accidentally struck a cat she knew to be called reedgaze, waking him up. "oops! i'm sorry," she exclaimed, jumping up in guilt. this is going to haunt me for the rest of the day, she thought remorsefully.
"s'okay," he mumbled, shifting and closing his eyes again. just to be safe, shellmist left the warriors den, stepping over the fifty-four cats that slept in there. it was a big clan, that was for sure.
when turtlemist finally weaved her way through the rest of the sleeping warriors and got out of the den, she inhaled a deep breath. the air smelled of morning dew and rain. definitely the best scent in the world, she thought wistfully. the coolness of the air felt good on her pelt. the sun was not apparent in the sky, but there were clouds floating above her, pale green and blue intermixed, slightly reminding turtlemist of the river.
poppystar was already awake, and sitting on the riverbank. her pale cream pelt stood out against the dark brown dirt. she turned around, her triangular face looking beautiful as ever. "hello there, talonmask," she murmured, shaking out a yawn. "er- i mean turtlemask."
"er, it's turtlemist," turtlemist meowed, walking over to sit next to her leader. the river bubbled next to their feet, and turtlemist could see baby shells poking out of the silt here and there.
"oh, right. sorry about that," the stormcreek leader said, flicking her tail. "see any trout today? i thought adderstar might like one this morning."
"no, i just woke up, poppystar. you're looking nice this morning."
"oh, thank you, dear. i hope adderstar will notice," she mewed, obviously embarrassed. shellmist noted internally that poppystar was angling her body towards the leaders' den, and that her eyes were constantly flicking towards the entrance. oh, the leader's got a crush!
"i'm sure she will, poppystar," turtlemist said reassuringly. "you always look lovely."
"thank you— oh, there she is!"
it was indeed adderstar. stormcreek's second leader was the biggest cat in the clan by far, and she was definitely the most fierce looking. her body was slick, well-muscled, and lithe. broad shoulders and scruffy neck fur completed her look. her dark brown fur was streaked with pale amber underneath, and she had a thin, white muzzle.
turtlemist always found it funny that adderstar was the sweetest cat in the clan, despite her appearance. she was kind to anyone she met.
"do i look okay?" poppystar whispered, both of her ears flicking nervously. "oh, no, she's coming!"
adderstar sat down next to turtlemist and poppystar, and her weight hitting the floor sounded like a boulder falling off a mountain.
"good morning, loves," she meowed. "how was the night? any good dreams?"
"poppystar's been dreaming of you," turtlemist blurted out. she burst into a fit of giggles, her tail slapping the ground as she laughed.
"turtlemask!" poppystar hissed, but then she started giggling, too. adderstar looked at them, a tiny smirk on her face.
"it's turtlemist," turtlemist corrected again, regaining a straight face, but then losing it through her giggles.
adderstar was laughing now, too. "i dreamt about you too, lovely," she meowed, casting a look at poppystar. her dark copper eyes glinted in the sunlight, and her pelt looked golden.
"oh— have you— have you really?" poppystar meowed, her white-patched tail flicking nervously. "are you serious?"
"yes, of course! always," the other she-cat said with a wink. "turtlemist, can myself and poppystar have a quick chat?"
"sure," turtlemist meowed. "and it's turtlemist. not turtlemask."
"i said turtlemist," adderstar meowed, tilting her head.
a few seconds ticked by.
"oh," turtlemist mewed awkwardly. she walked away from the two leaders. she wanted to find something to do, but there was nothing. the deputies, sorrelmask and cloudpebble, were out on the dawn patrols. turtlemist didn't have many friends in the clan, so there was no one to even talk to. the medicine cats were snappy, the apprentices were rude, and the warriors ignored her.
she sighed out loud, and decided she was going to go on a walk through the territory. this'll take a long time since the territory is such a massive stretch, she internally groaned. she set off, walking towards what she knew to be thunderclan's old territory. she trudged through the marshes that marked the boundary between old riverclan and thunderclan. her paws sank deep into the mud, and she she smelled something dreadful.
"ew," she said audibly, then smacked herself with her tail for speaking aloud. if no one can hear me, what's the point of talking? was something she constantly had to remind herself of.
she continued on, glancing at the territory around her. the sky was a pretty light blue now, with gray clouds floating about. a cricket chirped somewhere far off. and then, a large figure streaked across her vision, falling over when it reached the riverbank.
turtlemist ran over to the figure, and noticed three things before she even got to the body:
1) it was a nightbreeze cat. 2) it was a she-cat; presumably a mother from the milk-scent that drifted all the way over to turtlemist. 3) she was going blind, or was already blind, from the way she stumbled over everything in her path.
