Writing Prompts

Lostfire and Shelltoe - Warriors/Withering Flames

Initial Meeting/First Bonding Time

Lostfire felt sadness choke them. Their mentor, Pineclaw, had been murdered brutally, and they had no idea who could have done it. Now, the only cat they had to talk to was their brother, Blackclaw, and the warrior didn't want to bother their brother too much.

Turning to the right, they saw Shelltoe, their late mentor's mate, staring into nothingness. It must be even more painful for the poor she-cat. Maybe Lostfire should say something.

Padding up to the medicine cat, Lostfire sat down next to them. "I'm sorry for what happened to your mate, Pineclaw. He was my mentor and I don't know what I'll do without his guidance."

Shelltoe looked at Lostfire, almost startled for a moment, their body tensing up. Then they sighed and relaxed. "I don't know what I'll do either, but he wouldn't want me to lay around and be sad. It's so hard to get up and do anything right now, though," the she-cat almost whispered, her voice carrying on the breeze.

Before Lostfire could say anything else, Shelltoe continued on. "He always talked about how determined you were as an apprentice and that you would make a great, honorable warrior. He really cared about you, as if you were his own kit." The warrior's mouth gapped open. They didn't know what to say to that.

"I never bothered to find out if you were that great, though. So, would you like to go hunting with me? It would distract me from my grief," Shelltoe asked, tipping her head to the side.

Lostfire nodded slowly. "I would love to," they said, their voice oddly serious. Then they changed, quicker than the wind. "Let's see who can catch the most prey!" they laughed, and then rushed out of camp. Shelltoe was bewildered for a moment, but then their eyes lit up with amusement, and they raced into the forest after the warrior. It seemed that Lostfire had forgotten that she was a medicine cat. That was okay, though. The she-cat didn't mind.

____________

Second Bonding Time

Shelltoe sorted herbs, quiet and precise. Burying herself with work made her feel better and more relaxed. It also distracted her from feeling lonely.

Almost as if the warrior could sense that she was feeling sad, Lostfire slipped into the medicine den. "Hello! Need some help...sorting herbs?" They asked a bit awkwardly.

Shelltoe gave the non-binary cat a stern look. "You don't know what herb is what. How would you be useful at all?" She questioned, reflecting on how mouse-brained Lostfire seemed to be sometimes. How did Pineclaw teach them anything?

"Well, you hunted with me despite not being that good at it. How about I return the favor? It will be funny to watch me mess up, won't it?" Lostfire joked, sliding up next to Shelltoe. The she-cat sighed. She didn't seem to have that much of a choice, unless she wanted to go back to being lonely.

"See this blueish flower?" The warrior nodded. "It's called borage. You use this to help queens produce more milk, bring down fevers and help bellyaches and chest problems. Now sort them all into a neat pile," Lostfire stared doing so, and Shelltoe turned around to sort the dock leaves.

"Hey, what is this berry?" Shelltoe's eyes widened and she quickly slapped the Deathberry away from Lostfire. "How did you even manage to find that?! You're just like a kit, gravitating towards everything that could hurt you," the non-binary cat started laughing really hard, almost to the point where they looked like they could collapse.