This Is What We Know ✔️

v. do not mourn the villains

chapter five;
do not mourn the villains

p l o v e r p a w

With their mentor occupied by the return of his son, Ploverpaw took to busying themself in the medicine cat den with Kavaleaf for most of the day. She was rather demanding, despite the feline not being her own apprentice, but the work was refreshing and kept their mind off the events throwing the clan into slight turmoil.

Despite the constant flow of work, Ploverpaw learned a lot from the molly, who they discovered was only very recently made a medicine cat, proving only a pawful of moons older than them. She was also the oldest of three other littermates, despite being the smallest in size, and it was apparently a fact her closest littermate Sprucewhisp teased her the most for.

The only problem with the day was that it went too well, and Ploverpaw found themself more entangled in thoughts of getting to know the molly the same way they had come to know Heronpaw- confusing themself in the process. Love was a provocative yet tangible thing as an older apprentice, as any day they'd be warriors, but loving two cats in an equal and enchanting way was foreign to them and any cat around them.

"Kavaleaf! Can we steal your adopted apprentice?" Grousepaw greeted, coming to a halt so suddenly that Larkpaw, who was running behind her, tripped over her sister. She rolled to a stop on the medicine cat den floor and erupted into a series of coughs and laughs. "Sorry Larkpaw!"

Kavaleaf used her tail to suppress her giggles. "Your mentors worked you two hard I see. Learning how to defend the nursery, Larkpaw?"

"As is my place," the gray molly responded evenly before settling down. "Anyways, did you hear Sabledusk went missing, Kavaleaf?" She inquired nonchalantly, taking to groom the awkward parts of her coat that were ruffled in her sudden roll.

Ploverpaw nearly choked in surprise, but they suppressed it at Grousepaw's pointed look. "I did," Kavaleaf murmured, keeping her eyes on the ground as she said it. "What a terrible tragedy."

"Yeah right," Grousepaw huffed, flopping down on the soil. "Mind if we gossip?" Kavaleaf shook her head but nudged more herbs towards Ploverpaw, most likely wanting them to work through whatever the two sisters had to say. "Yarrowstar has been oddly quiet about it all day and I for one find it interesting."

"Why would the leader have anything interesting to say beyond the usual?" Ploverpaw wrinkled her nose as the scent of a particular herb sent her reeling back in surprise. "Were they close?"

"They were mates once," Heronpaw greeted, slinking inside the den and purring a greeting to Kavaleaf, who returned his affection wholeheartedly. Surprisingly, the interaction made Ploverpaw impossibly happy for some reason. "You two might wanna keep it quiet if you don't want the warriors on our tails for talking about it."

The orange tom cat settled next to Ploverpaw, pressing himself into their fur and offering a contagious look. "I remember being a kit on one of their adventures, and I heard them talk about their love. They were softer then, and they talked in such pretty, affluent ways. I guess deputyship got in the way, and Poppyfang was there for Yarrowstar in ways Sabledusk never was. So he moved on and had us three instead."

"Oh, I remember those adventures," Grousepaw whispered, closing her eyes. "Finchkit would always get too close to the river!" Her eyes flew open in shock at what she had said. Ploverpaw felt Heronpaw grow stiff by their side.

"Who's Finchkit?" Ploverpaw asked, quirking their head in Grousepaw's direction. Ultimately, though, it was Larkpaw who cut in.

"She was our sister, but she's dead now." The molly twisted her head to offer Kavaleaf a look Ploverpaw didn't catch, but when she was turned back she seemed much more relaxed, and Heronpaw was too.

"I almost feel bad for him. Sabledusk, I mean. Imagine loving someone and still not being enough for them," Ploverpaw shook their head, sighing deeply. "I mean, don't you? Feel bad for him?"

"Not for a second," Larkpaw replied. "Don't you dare feel bad for him either. He's still the villain in this story. Just because he had a normal life doesn't mean he didn't ruin someone else's." Her point wasn't lost on any of their ears, and Kavaleaf especially seemed interested.

She eventually added with a warm touch of the tail to Heronpaw and Ploverpaw, letting them know she knew exactly what had transpired between them and Sabledusk the sunset before.

"They're real," the medicine cat mreowed. "They have feelings, they're warriors. They can fall in love and be a friend, but that doesn't mean they're any less than a bad cat. Villains aren't made from dust- they're real."