#flaming moon badgers

[cryptidclaw]

Cryptidclaw's WC Prefixes List!

Yall said you were interested in seeing it so here it is! 

This is a collection of mostly Flora, Fauna, Rocks, and other such things that can be found in Britain since that’s where the books take place! 

I also have other Prefixes that have to do with pelt colors and patterns as well!

Here’s a link to the doc if you dont want to expand a 650 word list on your Tumblr feed lol! the doc is also in my drive linked in my pined post!

below is the actual list! If there are any names you think I should add plz tell me!

EDIT: I will update the doc with new names as I come up with them or have them suggested to me, but I wont update the list on this post! Plz visit my doc for a more updated version!

Animals

Mammal

Badger

Bat

Bear

Beaver

Bison

Boar

Buck

Calf

Cow

Deer

Elk

Fawn

Ferret

Fox

Goat

Hare

Horse

Lamb

Lynx

Marten

Mole

Mouse

Otter

Rabbit

Rat

Seal

Sheep

Shrew

Squirrel

Stoat

Vole

Weasel

Wolf

Wolverine

Amphibians

Frog

Newt

Toad

Reptiles

Scale

Adder

Lizard

Snake

Turtle

Shell

Birds

Bird

Down

Feather

Albatross

Bittern

Buzzard

Chaffinch

Chick

Chicken

Coot

Cormorant

Corvid

Crane

Crow

Curlew

Dove

Duck

Dunlin

Eagle

Egret

Falcon

Finch

Gannet

Goose

Grouse

Gull

Hawk

Hen

Heron

Ibis

Jackdaw

Jay

Kestrel

Kite

Lark

Magpie

Mallard

Merlin

Mockingbird

Murrelet

Nightingale

Osprey

Owl

Partridge

Pelican

Peregrine

Petrel

Pheasant

Pigeon

Plover

Puffin

Quail

Raven

Robin

Rook

Rooster

Ruff

Shrike

Snipe

Sparrow

Starling

Stork

Swallow

Swan

Swift

Tern

Thrasher

Thrush

Vulture

Warbler

Whimbrel

Wren

Freshwater Fish 

Fish

Bass

Bream 

Carp

Dace

Eel

Lamprey

Loach

Minnow

Perch

Pike

Rudd

Salmon

Sterlet

Tench

Trout

Roach

Saltwater fish and other Sea creatures (would cats be able to find some of these? Probably not, I don't care tho)

Alge

Barnacle

Bass (Saltwater version)

Bream (Saltwater version)

Brill

Clam

Cod

Crab

Dolphin

Eel (Saltwater version)

Flounder

Garfish

Halibut

Kelp

Lobster

Mackerel

Mollusk

Orca

Prawn

Ray

Seal

Shark

Shrimp

Starfish

Sting

Urchin

Whale

Insects and Arachnids

Honey

Insect

Web

Ant

Bee

Beetle

Bug

Butterfly

Caterpillar

Cricket

Damselfly

Dragonfly

Fly

Grasshopper

Grub

Hornet

Maggot

Moth

Spider

Wasp

Worm

Trees

Acorn

Bark

Branch

Forest

Hollow

Log

Root

Stump

Timber

Tree

Twig

Wood

Alder

Apple

Ash

Aspen

Beech

Birch

Cedar

Cherry

Chestnut

Cypress

Elm

Fir

Hawthorn

Hazel

Hemlock

Linden

Maple

Oak

Pear

Poplar

Rowan

Redwood

Spruce

Willow

Yew

Flowers, Shrubs and Other plants

Berry

Blossom

Briar

Field

Flower

Leaf

Meadow

Needle

Petal

Shrub

Stem

Thicket

Thorn

Vine

Anemone 

Apricot

Barley 

Bellflower

Bluebell

Borage

Bracken

Bramble

Briar

Burnet

Buttercup

Campion

Chamomile

Chanterelle

Chicory

Clover

Cornflower

Daffodil

Daisy

Dandelion

Dogwood

Fallow

Fennel

Fern

Flax

Foxglove

Furze

Garlic

Ginger

Gorse

Grass

Hay

Heather

Holly

Honeysuckle

Hop

Hyacinth

Iris

Ivy

Juniper

Lavender

Lichen

Lilac

Lilly

Mallow

Marigold

Mint

Mistletoe

Moss

Moss

Mushroom

Nettle

Nightshade

Oat

Olive

Orchid

Parsley

Periwinkle

Pine

Poppy

Primrose

Privet

Raspberry

Reed

Reedmace

Rose

Rush

Rye

Saffron

Sage

Sedge

Seed

Snowdrop

Spindle

Strawberry

Tangerine

Tansy

Teasel

Thistle

Thrift

Thyme

Violet

Weed

Wheat

Woodruff

Yarrow

Rocks and earth

Agate

Amber

Amethyst

Arch

Basalt

Bounder

Cave

Chalk

Coal

Copper

Dirt

Dust

Flint

Garnet

Gold

Granite

Hill

Iron

Jagged

Jet

Mountain

Mud

Peak

Pebble

Pinnacle

Pit

Quartz

Ridge

Rock

Rubble

Ruby

Rust(y)

Sand

Sapphire

Sediment

Silt

Silver

Slate

Soil

Spire

Stone

Trench

Zircon

Water Formations

Bay

Cove

Creek

Delta

Lake

Marsh

Ocean

Pool

Puddle

River

Sea

Water

Weather and such

Autumn

Avalanche

Balmy

Blaze

Blizzard

Breeze

Burnt

Chill

Cinder

Cloud

Cold

Dew

Drift

Drizzle

Drought

Dry

Ember

Fall

Fire

Flame

Flood

Fog

Freeze

Frost

Frozen

Gale

Gust

Hail

Ice

Icicle

Lightening

Mist

Muggy

Rain 

Scorch

Singe

Sky

Sleet

Sloe

Smoke

Snow

Snowflake

Soot

Sorrel

Spark

Spring

Steam

Storm

Summer

Sun

Thunder

Water

Wave

Wet

Wind

Winter

Celestial??

Comet

Dawn

Dusk

Evening 

Midnight

Moon

Morning

Night

Noon

Twilight

Cat Features, Traits, and Misc. 

Azure

Beige

Big

Black

Blonde

Blotch(ed)

Blue

Bounce

Bright 

Brindle

Broken

Bronze

Brown

Bumble

Burgundy

Call

Carmine

Claw

Cobalt

Cream

Crimson

Cry

Curl(y)

Dapple

Dark

Dot(ted)

Dusky

Ebony

Echo

Fallen

Fleck(ed)

Fluffy

Freckle

Ginger

Golden

Gray

Green

Heavy

Kink

Knot(ted)

Light

Little

Lost

Loud

Marbled

Mew

Milk

Mottle

Mumble

Ochre

Odd

One

Orange

Pale

Patch(ed)

Pounce 

Prickle

Ragged

Red

Ripple

Rough

Rugged

Russet

Scarlet

Shade

Shaggy

Sharp

Shimmer

Shining

Small

Smudge

Soft

Song

Speckle

Spike

Splash

Spot(ted)

Streak

Stripe(d)

Strong

Stump(y)

Sweet

Tall

Talon

Tangle

Tatter(ed)

Tawny

Tiny

Tough

Tumble

Twist

Violet

Whisker

Whisper

White

Wild

Wooly

Yellow

#cryptidclaw's warriors au #? #Im tempted to use these in the au #some characters deserve some more fun names hehe #rise of change #warrior cats #warrior cats design #warriors #warriors names #warriors naming #warriors prefixes

[mousetoe-wc]

I Got bored one time awhile ago and made a list of every prefix plus some into organised sections so I thought I might as well share.

All the ones that aren’t cannon to warriors, yet at lest are bold

Describing names

Colours: red, russet, copper, golden, amber, yellow, green, blue, violet, pink, white, gray, black, ebony, dark, pale, silver, brown, tawny, fallow

Pattern, Texture + Size: spot/ted, dapple, speckle, freckle, brindle, patch, mottle, ragged, tangle, kink, bristle, fuzzy, curl/y, wooly, soft, sleek, little, tiny, small, slight, short, tall, long, big, heavy, crooked, broken, half, stumpy, shred, torn, jagged

Actions + Character: flip, pounce, bounce, jump, hop, crouch, down, low, drift, flail, strike, running, fidget, mumble, whistle, snap, sneeze, shiver/ing, shining, flutter, fallen, lost, rush, fleet, quick, shy, sweet, brave, loud, quiet, wild, hope, wish,

Other: claw, whisker, dead, odd, one, spike, fringe, echo, song, hallow, haven

Elements

Time + Weather: day, night, dusk, dawn, morning, sky, sun/ny, moon, storm, lightning, thunder, cloud/y, mist/y, fog, snow, blizzard, ice, frost, dew, drizzle, rain, clear, wind, breeze, gale, shadow, shade, bright, light,

Earth/Water/Fire names: stone, rock, boulder, slate, flint, pebble, gravel, sand/y, dust, mud/dy, meadow, hill, rubble, river, ripple, whorl, float, rapid, shimmer, lake, swamp, marsh, wave, wet, bubbling, splash, puddle, pool, creek, fire, flame, flicker, flash, blaze, scorch, ember, spark, ash, soot, cinder, smoke

Plants

Trees: alder, aspen, birch, beech, cedar, cypress, pine, elm, willow, oak, larch, maple, bay, rowan, timber, bark, log, wood, twig, acorn, cone, seed, spire

Berry/Nut/Fruit/Herb: juniper, elder, sloe, holly, yew, mistle, bramble, hickory, hazel, chestnut, nut, apple, cherry, cranberry, olive, pear, plum, peach, chive, mint, fennel, sage, basil, mallow, parsley

Flowers: aster, poppy, primrose, rose, bluebell, marigold, tansy, pansy, briar, cherry, daisy, dandelion, daffodil, tulip, violet, lily, myrtle, thrift, yarrow, heather, lavender, blossom, bloom, flower, petal

Other: leaf, frond, fern, bracken, sorrel, hay, rye, oat, wheat, cotton, reed, pod, cinnamon, milkweed, grass, clover, weed, stem, sedge, gorse, furze, flax, nettle, thistle, ivy, moss, lichen, bush, vine, root, thorn, prickle, nectar

Animals

Mammals: mouse, rat, mole, vole, shrew, squirrel, hedgehog, bat, rabbit, hare, ferret, weasel, stoat, mink, marten, otter, hog, wolf, hound, fox, vixen, badger, deer, doe, stag, fawn, sheep, cow, pig, lion, tiger, leopard, lynx, milk

Birds: robin, jay, cardinal, thrush, sparrow, swallow, shrike, starling, rook, swift, dove, pigeon, crow, raven, duck, goose, heron, wren, finch, swan, stork, quail, gull, lark, owl, eagle, hawk, kestrel, buzzard, kite, hoot, feather, bird, egg, talon

Fish, Reptiles + Amphibians: pike, perch, pollack, trout, tench, cod, carp, bass, bream, eel, minnow, fin, snake, adder, lizard, turtle, frog, toad, newt

Bug type Names: bug, lady or ladybug, moth, spider, ant, snail, slug, beetle, bee, wasp, dragon or dragonfly, bumble, worm, maggot, cricket, fly, midge, web, honey

Skyclan + Warriorclan: Bella, Billy, Big, Harry, Harvey, Snook, Ebony, Monkey

#warrior cats #wc

[ebonyclaw]

Flames Reduced to Ash: A Leafpool AU

Fanfic under the cut!

That evening, Leafpool was busier than she had been in a long time. The last time that she had felt this essential was during the aftermath of the badger invasion. Just like what had happened all those moons ago, today there were many injured clanmates for her to attend to, as well as medicinal supplies for her to gather, organize, and stockpile. Cats were brought to her choking: with lungs full of smoke, pelts full of ash, and scalding burn wounds. Their eyes were frenzied with pain and fear as she cared for each and every one of them as if they were her own kits. She soothed their pain with herbal poultices, comforting them with her soft voice and gentle touch. Due to the sheer amount of patients that she was faced with after this latest catastrophe, she kept only those with the most severe injuries in her den that night. The rest with more minor burns were sent to recover in their usual sleeping areas.

At this point, Leafpool was running dangerously low on both sleep and patience. After all, it is hard work being the ever-accommodating medicine cat of Thunderclan, especially in the wake of a disaster such as the great fire which had devastated their camp. What Leafpool really needed was a break, but for some reason, her former apprentice Jayfeather was nowhere to be found. It was now moonhigh, and the brown tabby was getting increasingly anxious.

Just as this anxiety began to stir in her mind was the silence broken by a rustling at her den entrance. Turning her head, Leafpool spotted a thick-furred ginger cat roughly shouldering her way in.

“Squirrelflight!” Leafpool breathed a sigh of relief, leaping from her nest, “I was beginning to worry! Have you seen…“

This momentary relief was short-lived, as Leafpool then got a better look at her dear sister. Squirrelflight’s pelt was patchy and burned, and she also had deep scratches oozing blood on her shoulder. She looked exhausted and ready to collapse. When Leafpool looked into her sister’s eyes, she saw a dark and haunted expression returning her gaze.

Leafpool rushed to her storage to get some herbs to treat Squirrelflight’s wounds. As she was hurriedly gathering some cobwebs to stop the bleeding on her sister’s shoulder, she was interrupted by her harsh mew.

“The kits… Leafpool… they know.” Squirrelflight croaked. 

Leafpool’s eyes shot wide open and she immediately looked around the den at her sleeping patients. With a nervous flick of her tail, she gestured for Squirrelflight to take this discussion outside, offering her a shoulder to lean on for support. They did not walk far, as Squirrelflight had already used most of her energy just making it to the medicine den. However, this conversation needed to take place where prying ears could not overhear. Sitting down and tucking her tail over her paws to hide the trembling, Leafpool looked her sister in the eye.

“Tell me Squirrelflight… What exactly happened during the fire?”

Squirrelflight began to let out several raspy coughs, her lungs and throat still raw from inhaling smoke. After her flank ceased heaving, she turned to look at Leafpool with serious eyes.

“During the fire: Jayfeather, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and myself were all searching for an escape route. We were surrounded on all sides by roaring flames, and things were looking bad. However, just as we were about to cross a fallen log to safety, Ashfur appeared from the smoke and blocked our exit.”

Following along with the story attentively thus far, Leafpool was left shocked. Ashfur? But he was their trusted clanmate!

Squirrelflight continued, “I yowled at him to move, to let us go, but you should have seen the hatred in his eyes… Leaf, it was chilling.” She shuddered when recalling the thought of the gray tom’s icy gaze. “It was as if this was a long time coming, like he was waiting for this perfect moment of revenge.”

Leafpool shuffled closer to her sister and gave her cheek a comforting lick, but Squirrelflight was not done with her story yet. She continued, “He was still… so angry that I refused to be his mate all those moons ago.” The ginger cat sounded hollow, “He couldn’t accept that I had long since moved on, that EVERYBODY else had already moved on. For Starclan’s sake Leafpool, the kits are all fully grown warriors now!”

Leafpool was left dumbfounded and completely unable to understand. How could a cat carry a grudge over something so trivial for so long?

“He was furious, and he was yelling about how much pain he was in and how it was all my fault… About how he didn’t ever hate Brambleclaw, he only ever hated ME for rejecting him.” Squirrelflight sneered in contempt, “At that point, I just wanted to make sure that the others could get to safety, so I asked him to please let them go. I thought that since his issue was with me he would have no reason to hurt them.”

Leafpool’s eyes were wide with sympathy, and she wrapped her tail around Squirrelflight’s own quivering tail. 

“B-but he said that they deserved to die too! He said that he would do anything to hurt me… including murdering those three! So… I told them all. I was so angry that he would dare to harm those innocent cats that it just erupted out of me. I said that Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather were not my kits.”

Squirrelflight looked defeated and her ears fell flat, “Leafpool you should have seen their faces…”

Leafpool’s eyes misted over as she was overcome by the reality of the situation. She couldn’t help but to let out a gentle sob. Squirrelflight noticed her sister’s distress and rasped her tongue over her head,

“They do not know who their real parents are, don’t worry,” she mewed, reversing their roles as she turned to comfort Leafpool, “They didn’t even ask. They seemed to want nothing more to do with me as soon as we escaped the fire.”

This did not comfort Leafpool in the slightest. “But you ARE their mother Squirrelfight! Just as much as I am!” Squirrelflight tensed, surprised, as Leafpool continued, “You and Brambleclaw, you are the two cats who raised them! It wasn’t me, and it sure as Starclan was not Crowfeather. You will always be their mother.”

Squirrelflight sighed, “I do not know if they see it that way, Leaf.”

“They will surely come around, they were just shocked and scared, especially after having their lives threatened by their own clanmate! They have had a very eventful day… As a matter of fact, so have you. Go rest now Squirrel, we will work through this together, starting tomorrow.”

Squirrelflight met her sister’s eyes and blinked in exhausted appreciation before turning to go to the warrior’s den. Leafpool watched her leave, feeling like there were ants crawling under her pelt. That cat, their clanmate Ashfur, was suddenly very, very dangerous.

Leafpool padded back towards the entrance of the medicine den, her mind buzzing like a swarm of biting mosquitoes. Ashfur. Ashfur. Ashfur. 

He knows now that my children had to be kept a secret. After all, they are not only the children of an inter-clan relationship, they were also the children of a medicine cat! He may not know why, or who their real parents were, but with some digging he could find out. This was much worse than Squirrelflight let on. This could ruin everything, not only my position within Thunderclan, but the lives of my family as well…

While her consciousness was still rushing, Leafpool spotted him. In the darkness of the night, near the bramble barrier at the edge of the camp, there was a pair of glinting blue eyes staring back at her. The eyes blinked and disappeared, and Leafpool saw a spotted tail flick briefly into sight as the other cat turned and left. 

Rising to her paws, Leafpool began to move without even deciding to. Despite not having the same warrior training as her sister, Leafpool’s instincts took over as she began to tail the smoky gray tom through Thunderclan’s vast forest territory. She followed his scent over fallen logs and across streams, making sure to always stay hidden in the brush. They were heading deep into Thunderclan territory, and Leafpool could not help but wonder about his intended destination. Where could he possibly be going at this hour?

Suddenly, the scent that she was following was alarmingly close, he must have stopped moving. Crouching low, Leafpool peered out from between the leaves to see Ashfur pacing back and forth by the large river that cuts through their whole territory. His tail was lashing and his brow was furrowed. The gray tom then unsheathed his claws and slashed at a nearby piece of brush, letting out a frustrated hiss. Due to the exchange she just shared with Squirrelflight, Leafpool knew the context for this show of aggression. She realized that the reason that he was so angry was that he did not succeed in his scheme.

Leafpool couldn’t believe her eyes, she had always known that Ashfur was not her most pleasant clanmate, but she was never aware of just how much hatred he harbored in his heart. It is not as though she had disbelieved Squirrelflight’s story, but hearing about Ashfur’s true nature was different than seeing it herself firsthand. Leafpool knew then that she should leave, she had to return to her den and pretend that she saw nothing. However, her paws felt rooted in place, and her breath was becoming heavier. She kept watching the angry tom while her heartbeat accelerated. Her thoughts were spinning with fear, as the cat before her was clearly unhinged, and he also had a grudge against her dear sister. 

The emotion that began as terror quickly flickered into a rage that surprised Leafpool with its ferocity. She thought of how scared her children must have been during that confrontation in the fire. Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, Jayfeather… Squirrelflight… I love you all so dearly, and this selfish cat nearly took you all away from me! How dare he!

With trembling legs, she took a single step back, only to feel her paw land right onto a twig. The snap was quiet, but Ashfur’s ears immediately shot upwards. He was now on edge, as his eyes frantically darted around the clearing for the source of the sound. Leafpool held her breath and lowered herself even further, until her belly was brushing against the forest floor. Now, Ashfur was sniffing around the edges of the clearing, getting nearer and nearer to her hiding place. Leafpool felt her claws quietly unsheath and dig into the moss. As Ashfur got closer, Leafpool held her breath. 

Suddenly, recognition sparked in Ashfur’s eyes and he threw his head back.

“I know that you are here, Leafpool!” He yowled, fur bristling, “I can smell your fear-scent!”

Leafpool felt her muscles tense. The sound of her name sent a jolt of lightning down her spine.

“I am sure that Squirrelflight would be DEVASTATED if something were to happen to her sister!” Ashfur meowed smugly, flexing his claws.

Leafpool felt her blood go cold, fully realizing the precarious situation that she had placed herself in. They were both deep in Thunderclan territory with no other cat around, late at night. Far enough away from Thunderclan camp that their sleeping clanmates would not hear any yowling in the distance. Ashfur was a formidable warrior, with many moons of battle experience, and Leafpool was a cat trained only in healing and botany. He was also particularly dangerous for another reason, and that was the strength of his undying hatred against Squirrelflight. Leafpool then understood that if he were to find her now, it would result in a fight to the death. This would be a fight where the odds would be heavily stacked against her.

Leafpool knew then what she had to do. Not only for her own safety in her current situation, but also for the safety of her family in the long-term. She rose a little from the ground, enough to gather her strength in her haunches. She could see Ashfur’s gray paws approaching the bush that she was hiding inside. Up until now her thoughts had been a surging river, but at this moment, her mind went scarily silent. She patiently waited for an opportunity to present itself.

When Ashfur crouched beside her hiding spot to investigate closer, his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to say something. These words never left his mouth however, as Leafpool erupted from the foliage and wrapped her claws around Ashfur’s speckled shoulders. She had the element of surprise, and she knew that she had to finish her attack quickly before he retaliated. Leafpool used all of her weight to bring Ashfur to the ground as he was spitting in rage. His claws flashed past her face to score a scratch in her flank, and her blood splattered onto the stones beneath them. Leafpool gazed into his eyes, aglow with fury, to see nothing but a stranger behind them. She did not hesitate, with the thoughts of her sister and children drowning out any doubt or fear that may have remained in her heart. Pinning the tom to the ground, Leafpool sunk her teeth deep into the light fur of his throat. She held fast, and as he writhed underneath her, she felt his skin pull and tear away in her jaws. Leafpool did not hunt prey for her clan, so she was shocked at just how warm the fresh blood was on her tongue. This must be what catching fresh-kill feels like! She thought, mortified.

After his thrashing slowly began to subside, Ashfur went limp in Leafpool’s grasp. She loosened her grip on his shoulders, and removed her fangs from his neck. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, and he was convulsing at her paws. After a few seconds of a sickening gurgling, he went silent, blood trickling down his chin. Leafpool decided then to take a good look at the wound, just to be absolutely sure that it had killed him. The wound was deep and messy, and was surrounded by torn fur and exposed bloody tissue. This was a kill accomplished by an inexperienced killer, and it was sloppy. The part of her that was a medicine cat grimaced, and she immediately knew that the wound was fatal. 

At once, Leafpool was struck by both a sensation of relief, and that of a deep and existential horror. She felt as though she was going to be sick. Never in her life did she ever expect to be a cat who would intentionally  kill another, not with her line of work as a healer. She restrained herself from retching, and she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She inhaled and exhaled the crisp night air, grounding herself and relieving her nausea. I am used to seeing nasty wounds and smelling blood. She attempted to reassure herself.

The corpse of the gray tom could not be left here in the clearing, and Leafpool knew that. While his open throat could have been caused by a fox or dog, especially given how messy the kill was, the deep scratches on his shoulders were clearly that of a cat’s. Leafpool was certain that his body would be discovered by her clan’s dawn patrol the next day if he were to be left here. It would be better for Ashfur to be considered missing, as opposed to being found as a murder victim. That could lead to a lot of trouble, and potentially even conflict with another clan if they got blamed for his death. Leafpool did not even want to imagine what the consequences would be if she was discovered to be his killer.

Now that the adrenaline coursing through her veins had stopped, Leafpool suddenly felt very small and weak. Using the last remnants of her strength, She hoisted up Ashfur’s body so that it was draped over her back. Slowly and painfully, she hobbled with him towards the riverbank. His back legs dragged across the ground, and his throat was leaking a bloody trail onto the soil. Finally, once she had reached the edge of the river, she shrugged off his body into the churning current below. This river was the deepest and the swiftest on their territory. Leafpool hoped that his body would be carried all the way to the lake so that it would disappear for good. It would be best if Thunderclan quickly forgot about this rotten tom. Leafpool thought darkly.

She watched as his body vanished downstream, and then she washed herself clean with the water. She also cleaned away the bloody trail that he left behind, as her clanmates would be able to tell by the scent that it was cat blood. She looked through the canopy of leaves above her, at the slivers of visible night sky. The stars above twinkled mockingly back at her, almost as if they were saying, we saw what you have done. Leafpool felt a rush of indignation at this perceived scrutiny. Judge me however you like! She thought bitterly to herself, I have served you for my entire life, and all you have done is abandon me when I have needed you the most.

It would soon be sunrise, and Leafpool had to return to the camp before it was time for the dawn patrol. She hurriedly retraced her steps through the forest, all the way back to her den before collapsing in utter exhaustion. The blackness of sleep began to overtake her within moments. Her bravado in the face of her ancestors from earlier had already begun to fade, being replaced by an inescapable terror that shook her to her very core. Oh Starclan, what have I done?

#Warrior Cats #Leafpool #ashfur #doodles #fanfic #i had a ton of fun writing this! #i have only been recently getting back into creative writing so be nice :) #i also NEEDED to draw a companion illustration for this! #let leafpool do a MURDER she has earned it

[blackjackkent]

OK, loading up the map in preparation to go hunt down Gortash, and I notice something veeeeeeeery interesting.

Wyrm's Rock waypoint no longer exists.

The quest journal also indicates that invading the Iron Throne and rescuing Ravengard et. al. was the point of no return on any possible alliance with Gortash, not that we were going to take that anyway.

So I'm going to take this to mean that probably everyone in Wyrm's Rock has been given orders to kill us on sight. We need to go there, however, because Gortash is hanging out in his office there waiting for us.

So this is a shame... for them. >:) Time to chug a hill giant potion and Get Down To Business.

Called it.

It looks like we basically have to fight every Flaming Fist between Basilisk Gate and the door of Enver's office - as well as their big metal buddies.

Combat highlights as we work through the fortress:

This is our first time trying to fight a Steel Watcher and goddamn do they have a lot of health. (206 HP on Balanced Difficulty) But they take a fist or a trident or an owlbear claw or a greatsword or a hamster to the face just as well as anybody.

We're trying out Jaheira's new build, which is super fun and allows us to summon a dryad until long rest to travel and fight with us, raise fungal zombies out of dead enemies, and turn into an owlbear and rampage with more or less the same rage mechanic that Karlach and Minsc have. Team Juggernaut now officially includes all four party members. :D

This is our first time trying to fight a Steel Watcher and goddamn do they have a lot of health. (206 HP on Balanced Difficulty) But they take a fist or a trident or an owlbear claw or a greatsword or a hamster to the face just as well as anybody.

They do however also do this when they start getting low health:

This definitely complicates the fight somewhat as it means they need to be finished off at range. They also start making the most incredibly anxiety-inducing noise once this condition is activated. O.O

The bright side is the damage from the explosion also hurts the Watcher's allies; one of the Fist got completely finished off this way.

Sent Jaheira running into the backline as an owlbear and she got this incredible low growl in her voice and went "I go hunting..." I love her.

Apparently her enrage mechanic, which can make nearby creatures Frightened, is also indiscriminate and could make our team afraid as well. I don't blame them but this does mean I need to be somewhat careful with her positioning. XD

Apparently killing a Steel Watcher triggers something called "Pursuit Protocol" which means for 20 turns every Steel Watcher in the city is hostile. This seems not particularly relevant to Hector's situation but I guess might be relevant if you were doing multiplayer and had split the party.

The somewhat nice thing about this team composition is that I've managed to reach a point where almost no one is using spell slots for anything significant. This is probably somewhere near the exact opposite of an optimal party setup, but it does mean short and long rest usage is basically entirely dependent on when the team gets too battered to continue. Which takes a while. XD

These are, however, definitely not easy fights. That self-destruction protocol really is quite devastating when it goes off, particularly combined with the fact that the Steel Watchers seem to be centered around CC skills. Their fundamental strategy seems to be "trap enemy in place and then explode on them".

I completely forgot I had given Karlach, many many moons ago, the Aspect of the Honey Badger, which auto-rages her as a reaction when she's Frightened, Charmed, or Poisoned. This is the first time I've actually seen it proc and it startled me. XD

(I did have to restart this fight once because I did some poor opening strategy before I understood how the Steel Watchers worked. o.o; RIP Tragically for Team Juggernaut, who excel in close quarters, range is very important here, so I don't really get to test out Jaheira's owlbear form. Better strategy: lots of zomber summons, Minsc throwing Nyrula, Hector opening with Stagger Flurry of Blows so he can back out after doing damage, and Karlach taking potshots with a crossbow. Boo keeps getting flattened immediately so we imagine him squeaking encouragement from the sidelines)

Look at me using Strategy and entangling the door where all the Fist are trying to come out of. \o/

This is actually a really hard fight jfc. Five watchers plus adds is no joke.

But we got through in the end, with everyone alive and only one reset! I think I'm getting better at this game. :D

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #def gonna back out and pop a long rest before going to deal with gortash though #yeeks #ugh we're probably going to have to do this AGAIN upstairs before we can get to him aren't we #shit #aight short rest then upstairs then long rest then gortash #can't afford to waste too many hill giant potions

[greekstar]

Warrior cat name Ideas Prefixes - A-Z A Acorn Adder Amber Ant Apple Arch Arrow Aspen Ash Asher Alder Amber B Badger Bark Beech Bellow Birch Berry Bird Black Blizzard Brave Breeze Bright Brown Bell Bug Beetle Bluebell Blue Bounce Brindle Brush Bush Buzzard Buzz Bee Bumble Bass Basil Bubble Brine Beaver Bison (I feel like this only goes good with ‘horn’ or Bisonpelt/fur.) Bat Bone Butterfly Burdock Broken Bramble Bracken Bay Brisk Blossom Briar Boil Branch Bud C Cloud Cloudy Crystal Cold Cricket Cliff Cardinal Crying Cougar Coyote Cobweb Chick Cow Cave Cheetah Carrot Coral Cactus Claw Cedar Cherry Cinder Clover Copper Creek Crooked Crouch Crow D Dew Dewy Duck Dusty Dust Dune Down Dagger Dodge Dolphin Daisy Doe Dapple Dappled Dark Dawn Dead Dove Drift Dusk E Eagle Ebony Echo Egg Eel Ember F Fallen Fallow Fawn Feather Fennel Fern Ferret Finch Fire Flame Fleet Flint Flower Flow Fly Fox Freckle Frog Frost Furze Fuzzy Foal Falling Fall G Gale Gust Golden Gold Goose Gorse Gorge Grass Gray Green Grass Goldfish Guppy Ghost H Hail Half Hare Hawk Hay Hoot Hazel Heather Heavy Hollow Holly Honey Honeycomb Hummingbird Horse Happy Hornet Hound Heron I Ice Ivy J Jagged Jay Joy Jaguar Jackdaw Jump Juniper K Kestrel Kink Koi L Lake Larch Leaf Lark Leopard Lichen Lightning Lily Lion Little Lizard Log Long Lost Loud Low Lynx M Maggot Mallow Maple Marsh Meadow Milk Minnow Mint Mist Misty Mole Moon Morning Moss Mossy Moth Mottle Mouse Mouth Mud Mumble Mink Muddy Moonlight Mountain Mushroom Monkey N Nettle Needle Nut Newt Night Nimble O Oak Oat Odd Olive One Otter Owl Orange Ocean Orca Opal P Pale Perch Pool Pike Peak Prickle Pounce Pine Petal Petal Pebble Pear Patch Pirate(kittypet or loner) Polar Peach Panda Pond Pigeon Plum Q Quail Quick R Rabbit Rain Ragged Rat Rattle Root Raspberry Reed Red Robin Rock Rose Rowan Rubble Running Rushing Rush Russet Rust Rye Raven Raccoon Rustle Rattlesnake Ravine Rapid S Sage Short Sheep Sedge Shrew Slate Slow Snail Sneeze Sorrel Soot Spider Spruce Sun Sunny Swallow Shallow Shade Sharp Scorch Sand Sandy Sky Silver Smoke Snake Soft Snow Sparrow Speckle Splash Spotted Squirrel Stalking Stalk Stalker Starling Stone Storm Stumpy Stump Sweet Swift Shred Sloe Shell Seed Shimmer Shimmering Skunk Spirit Squid Shy Sound Summer Sapphire Spiraling Spiral Shark Saturn T Tall Talon Tooth Timber Tiger Twig Tumble Thorn Thistle Thrush Tawny Tangle Ting Trout Torn Toad Tiny V Vine Vixen Void Vole W Wasp Weasel Web Weed Wet Whisker White Whale Wild Willow Wind Wolf Winter Wisteria Whisper Whispering Water Wave Waver Whisper Watermelon Whistle Wood Y Yellow

Yew

Yarrow- suggested

You guys DONT WANNA KNOW how LONG this took. I’m crying. And I might’ve missed some so feel free to send me messages in chat to request me editing it and putting it in some (not like messaging but the. Chat in this post lol.)

@cryptidclaw I also did this for our Au to help us with renaming.

I will get to suffixes soon I promise.

#Greekstar’s Suffixes/Prefixes #name ideas #Prefixes #suffixes #Just some name suggestions.

[escapeinmybookshelf]

Commissioned art for me by sonshine_arts

———

My name is Kara, I have been in HP fandoms for years. My favorite ships are 90% non-canon. My first fanfic I read was for the animated cartoon X-men Evolution. I read fanfiction since I was in middle school that were posted on LiveJournal (yes I am that old, lol), fanfiction.net, and here on tumblr. After middle school is when I started writing my own and were originally publishing them on ff.net, tumblr and a FB group I was apart of. Now I am focusing on moving my works to AO3 and of course reading more amazing stories published. If you like my work please leave a comment, bookmark or kudos. I ask that you do not re-post my fics on other sites.

AO3 - EscapeInMyBookshelf

Instagram - EscapeInMyBookshelf

My favorite Harry Potter ships: Fire and Ice (Drinny) - Draco/Ginny, Leather & Libraries (Dramione) - Draco/Hermione, Flames of Mystery - Blaise/Ginny, Flaming Broomstick - Oliver/Ginny, Draconic Beauty - Charlie/Gabrielle, Books and Quills - Percy/Hermione, Crazy Quidittch - Oliver/Luna, Dreamy Looks and Pranks - Fred/Luna, Dungbombs and S-P-E-W - George/Hermione, Fang and Flora - Bill/Fleur,Frozen Moonlight (Druna) - Draco/Luna, Gillyweed - Harry/Gabrielle, Golden Embers - Ron/Pansy, Good Ship R/H - Ron/Hermione, Head Games - Blaise/Luna, Loonies and Lions - Harry/Luna, Loony Trickster - George/Luna, Miracles - Fred/Hermione, Red Moon - Ron/Luna, Remembered and Remaining - Cedric/Cho, Scorching Badger - Cedric/Ginny, Strangely Perfect - Cedric Diggory/Luna Lovegood, Tenera per Validus - Ron/Gabrielle, The Government Stole My Toad - Neville/Luna, Always - Lily/Severus, Moon Petals - Remus/Lily, Thorn and Buck, Wotcher Wolvie - Remus/Tonks, Serpente Amour - Draco/Blaise, WolfStar - Remus/Sirius, Difference and Appreciation - Severus/Ginny, Gin 'n' Tonic - Tom/Ginny, Seduction - Lucius/Ginny, Embracing the Darkness - Draco/Ginny/Blaise, Fire and Lightning - Harry/Ginny/Draco, Puppy Books - Sirius/Hermione/Remus, Three's Company - Fred/Hermione/George, Guard Dogs - Sirius/Remus/Ginny… and truthfully many more.

#introduction #blog intro #intro post #introductory post #pinned intro #hp fanfic #harry potter ships #fanfic ao3 #harry potter fanfiction #fanfic writer #fanfic writing #fanfic readers #fanfic authors #ao3 link #ao3 author #ao3 writer #ao3feed #writers on ao3 #writers on tumblr #fanfic author

[foxglove-the-never-fairy]

Fairy Names Pt. 2

Fly with you! It’s been a while hasn’t it? Anyway, I’m here for a second part of one of my most popular posts.

The first post listed fairy names that were used in the DS game “Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue” in the create-a-fairy section of the game. While the names provided were feminine, I have pulled all of the masculine fairy names from the original Pixie Hollow game. Some names are repeats from the original post, but I kept them in as I wanted to get this out as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy. Here’s the original post.

~🧚🏻‍♀️🔥 Foxglove 

First

Aaron

Ace

Acorn

Agate

Ajay

Alabaster

Alder

Alec

Aleron

Alex

Anchor

Andrew

Archer

Axel

Badger

Bailey

Baker

Bale

Banjo

Barclay

Basil

Benjy

Bert

Bevel

Birch

Bo

Boomer

Boone

Brock

Bruce

Brynn

Buddy

Burr

Burton

Buster

Calder

Casper

Cecil

Cedar

Chance

Chase

Chip

Clay

Cliff

Coal

Cog

Comet

Cosmo

Cote

Covey

Crag

Crane

Cyan

Dale

Dane

Darius

Darrin

Dawson

Decker

Deon

Devlin

Dewey

Donner

Drake

Dug

Dunn

Dustin

Dusty

Echo

Eddy

Edward

Elk

Emery

Erik

Ernie

Errol

Fennel

Fincher

Finn

Fir

Flint

Ford

Francis

Garnet

Glen

Gourd

Gourdie

Grove

Grub

Gull

Hale

Hare

Harris

Hawk

Henry

Heron

Hob

Jacob

James

Jasper

Jay

Kernal

Koto

Lance

Lark

Leaf

Lore

Lute

Lyric

Martin

Maze

Mica

Michal

Nadir

Nester

Oak

Ollie

Onyx

Otter

Peat

Pier

Pine

Quake

Quarry

Quinn

Rain

Ranger

Reed

Richard

River

Robin

Rook

Rusty

Rye

Sage

Sam

Scout

Sean

Seth

Shale

Shoal

Skimmer

Skyler

Spike

Spruce

Sterling

Stone

Tad

Teak

Thatcher

Thistle

Timber

Tiny

Toadstool

Tobey

Todd

Topher

Torn

Torrey

Vail

Valiant

Vern

Vic

Wedge

Wes

Wren

Wynn

Zak

 Middle

Air

Almond

Apple

Aspen

Autumn

Badger

Bark

Beacon

Bear

Bitter

Brave

Bright

Brisk

Broom

Bumble

Candle

Cedar

Chilly

Citrus

Cloud

Cloudy

Clover

Cocoa

Copper

Cricket

Crow

Cub

Dapple

Dash

Day

Drift

Eagle

Elm

Evening

Falcon

Far

Fern

Fig

Fire

Fleet

Flicker

Foggy

Fox

Frost

Frozen

Funny

Garlic

Green

Hail

Hasty

Hawk

Hickory

Holly

Hurry

Ice

Ivy

Jelly

Jumpy

Lemon

Light

Lightning

Lime

Little

Lock

Lotus

Magic

Mango

Maple

Merry

Misty

Moon

Morning

Moss

Mossy

Mountain

Muddy

Never

Nickel

Night

Nimble

Oak

Orange

Otter

Parsley

Pear

Pebble

Pepper

Pine

Plum

Pollen

Pumpkin

Purple

Quick

Rain

Rainy

Rock

Rumble

Sage

Sandy

Sea

Shy

Silk

Slight

Snow

Sour

Speedy

Spider

Spring

Squall

Star

Storm

Stout

Strong

Sugar

Summer

Sun

Swift

Tangle

Thunder

Tiny

Toad

Tumble

Twisty

Water

Whiffle

Wild

Wind

Winter

Wrinkle

 Last

Beam

Bee

Bell

Berry

Breath

Breeze

Bug

Button

Buzz

Chill

Chime

Cliff

Cloud

Clove

Crash

Curl

Dale

Dance

Dash

Dew

Din

Drop

Dust

Ear

Elbow

Eye

Feather

Field

Fig

Flame

Flap

Flash

Fleck

Flight

Flip

Flipper

Fly

Fog

Foot

Forest

Freeze

Fruit

Garden

Gem

Glade

Glimmer

Glow

Gourd

Grace

Griddlee

Gust

Heart

Hill

Hop

Horn

Hush

Jewel

Knee

Lake

Light

Lock

Loop

Lull

Meadow

Mello

Mint

Mist

Moon

Muddle

Muse

Newt

Noise

Nose

Peal

Pebble

Petal

Pin

Plume

Pond

Pool

Ray

Ripple

River

Roar

Root

Row

Ruckus

Rumble

Sand

Shadow

Sky

Smash

Song

Spark

Sparkle

Sparrow

Speck

Spirit

Splash

Spring

Sprite

Sprout

Stem

Stone

Storm

Stream

Stripe

Swamp

Swirls

Thistle

Thorn

Toad

Tree

Twill

Twist

Vale

Valley

Vine

Weather

Web

Whirl

Whisk

Whisper

Willow

Wind

Wing

Wings

Wink

Wish

#Disney Fairies #Pixie Hollow #pixie hollow online #fairy #fairy names #Tinker Bell #Tinkerbell

[gaoau]

betelgeuse

I Love You(r Words) warnings — none. word count — 702

prev. — next.

Forty minutes in an empty train, mumbling nonsense instead of words, are worth it when the universe extends over their heads in the quiet of the night. They rest against the trunk of a tree as it stands tall and proud, stable in the instability of reality. Its branches, like sturdy feathers or elongated nails, stretch into the falling sky, reaching for stars the color of soft fires and hard-working bees twinkling across the landscape. The cooling breeze is velvet as it swims in-between the foliage.

Komori doesn't know about constellations, but [Name] holds facts she caught in whispers. The shapes in the sky offered a piece of knowledge on hours she spent awake. She presses her shoulder against his, tracing imaginary connections among the beams of light dotting the scenery and his eyes at the same time. "That's Orion's belt, made up of the Three Sisters. And if you go down, that red star there is his injured shoulder. I don't know its name, but it's my favorite star, considered a runaway star, isolated from the rest."

"Runaway like us?" Komori slips his hand into hers, bringing it down to his lap before she merges with the nebulas and joins Orion in his perpetual fight against the charging bull. She's always chased hares with her loyal hunting dog by her side.

"We'll be back home tomorrow." Her eyes stick to the flaming red hue of the constellation's flowing blood.

"But nobody knows where we are now."

"You told Sakusa, though, didn't you?"

"He's not here, is he?"

"There's nobody here."

Komori shifts his sights from Orion's brave swinging sword to [Name]'s sparkling gaze. She doesn't quite hold supernovas or gemstones in her irises; there's a dimming light akin to the dead stars becoming extinct in the span of a few decades. The waxing moon drapes a glow over her features like a veil, but it doesn't fit her. She's right; there's nobody there.

"Why is Orion upside-down?"

[Name] turns to meet the sky staring back at her. "He isn't. We are. Mirrors like to trick our eyes, but they can't lie."

"Why's that?"

"Don't mirrors speak to you?"

"Should they?" Silence pushes through after his question as [Name] looks away from him with a grin tugging at her lips. She hears the melodies from the Milky Way play in her mind. The chill of her hand disappears from his grasp and the weight of her burdens nuzzles onto his lap. "What do they tell you?" Komori inquires, threading his fingers through tangled strands of hair.

"That sorrows make people cruel."

"Have your sorrows made you cruel?"

"You tell me."

"Your life is weak, [Name], don't listen to what others tell you."

A chuckle escapes her. Words meaningless, tangled up, started and ended, jumped over, avoided, searched for. Conversations they share and sentences they fling back and forth between one another. She finds his eyes admiring the sight of her relaxation sprawled across his legs. A blue so deep yet so shallow, arms open for her to drown in when comfort is needed, they're entrancing, "and I could never speak a line as bright."

"As bright as what?" Komori hums. She only shares a small percentage of her thoughts unless she's requested to shower the world with her words.

"As the potential you carry to become a friend."

"Aren't I already? I'm very friendly."

"So is a badger."

It's his turn to laugh out loud. His neck cranes to the side and his fist hovers over his mouth. "Ah, fuck, you got me there."

"You're the best I got, Motoya."

"And you're the worst I got."

"You're my favorite boy."

"You say that every time."

"Because it's true. You're my favorite boy."

"You're my favorite girl."

"What's my name?"

"Don't ask me that."

"What should I ask you?"

"Clowns."

"Clowns?"

"Include clowns."

"You're always with me."

"What's your name, [Name]?"

"Don't ask that. Instead, say let's go steady."

"Let's go steady."

#I Love You(r Words) #Haikyuu #Komori Motoya #Komori Motoya x Reader #Komori x Reader #Haikyuu x Reader

[weezlbot]

tag yourself: maiar

eonwe. feathers. “nesting” behavior. jewelry. turquoise and aquamarine. sunshine. cool breezes. blue skies. light rain. you’d have wings if you could. birds of all kinds. even the weird ones like vultures and cassowaries. authority likes you. teacher’s pet. loose, ornate, colorful clothing. 

ilmare. moths. caterpillars. you’d also have wings if you could. stargazing. constellations. the moon. silver. bats. glitter. LED lights. sparkles. mist. liking women. you probably raise caterpillars, or have at one point, or want to. baking bread. honey. sparkles. cool white light. 

melian. deep greens. wearing the pants in your relationships. giving advice that no one listens to. pale blues. dance. singing. nightingales. starlings. blackbirds. hydrangeas. globe thistles. mist. fog. shade. optical illusions. studying forestry. studying politics. isolationism. protecting your own. suspicion of strangers. 

olorin/gandalf. having a fireworks license, maybe even making your own fireworks. soft clothes. growing your hair long. the weight of responsibility. wishing you had more help than you do. you’ve got a lot of friends and you love them all. ninety percent of everything you say is sarcasm. teaching others. studying everything. candles. pipes. fireplaces. recliners. knitted rugs and blankets. soft yarn. 

curumo/saruman. craftsmanship. bad taste in friends. you want power, prestige and success. morals are a little flimsy. secretly, you idolize deviants and “bad boys.” you befriend terrible people and pathetic little guys exclusively. black iron. metalworking. you respect the arts. being a physical learner. making stuff. calluses. work-worn hands. 

aiwendil/radagast. exotic pets. normal pets. large pets. small pets. pets pets pets. loving animals. you’re either vegetarian or you really don’t like to think about where your food comes from. volunteer work with animals. you don’t mind dirt. the smell of the forest. mushrooms. you can grow anything. you can raise anything. you can cultivate anything. 

osse. having a temper. thunderstorms. swimming. sharp teeth. rough skin. strong hands. rope. shells. brass instruments. horns. rum. deep in your heart, you love soft, tender things, but you worry they’ll tear and dissolve under your grip. rocky beaches. salt. broken glass. 

uinen. being even-keeled. long walks on the beach. sunshine. collecting shells. pearls. sandals. white girl beach aesthetic. soft skin. sunbathing. swimming. warm rain. sand. coral. flutes. singing. xylophones. sea glass. white woman drinks with little umbrellas in them. 

alatar. the joy of the journey. you’re impulse driven. easily distracted. you have a best friend. you love them. you’re on an Adventure with them. dogs. horses. you have a little weenie dog. he likes to dig after beasts in the ground--bunnies, chipmunks, badgers, raccoons. flowering meadows. deep forests. trackless desert. mountains. roads that lead anywhere. roads that lead nowhere. 

pallando. travelling with your best friend. the wild places of the world. self sufficiency. you had a purpose, you think, but it wasn’t enough for you, so you left to find something more. Retrievers and shepherd dogs are the best.  trackless desert. wide plains. mountains. you want to see it all.

arien. cats. fluffy and round. sunbathing. summertime. berries. wildflowers. pastries. bonfires. candles. open flames. plants. you probably have a garden. lingering warmth. the sun that burns through fog and cloud. blue skies. leaves. thorns. don’t get too close. wait, please do. 

tilion. wolves. silver. night. cool weather. light winds. moonstones. star gems--sapphires, rubies, etcetera. you like wolfdogs, huskies, shepherds, all the medium-large dogs with herding instincts. moonstones. fog. mist. the far, hazy places of the world. I’d like to get closer to you. 

sauron. you’re into some weird shit. knives, whips, and chains, for the aesthetic. working with your hands. being the darling of your superiors. liking jewelry, especially rings. making your own jewelry. candles. lanterns. open flames. black iron. cold, piercing steel. copper. metalwork. blood on skin. wine. sharp knives. burning heat. freezing cold. so many extremes. 

the balrogs. liking whips and chains as an aesthetic. living on the edge. feeling like your superiors favor someone else above you. shade. basements. you either actively spelunk or you’d like to. fireworks. preferably illegal ones. caves. mountains. you’ve got a few people you like, but not many. cool black stone. leather. 

#blood #eonwe #ilmare #melian #gandalf #olorin #saruman #radagast #aiwendil #curumo #osse #uinen #alatar #pallando #arien #tilion #sauron #balrog #tag yourself #tag your friends #tag your faves #aesthetic #more of these #I just realized that out of 14 maiar 3 of them are maiar of Orome #that's like... a lot #technically there are a few different versions for who exactly alatar and pallando served #but I like the maiar of Orome one #this info is in unfinished tales if you're curious #lmk and I can send you a pdf

[potatos-messy-mind]

So i decided to put this up here. I wil eventually be making one for Chun, no worries, but wanted to post this here for future reference for myself and anyone else who needs it. Since this is going to be a big reference sheet, I will include any and all reference images that are important. At the top are References for Tao's appearance, and below that are images of certain items he has with him at all times amd any other images that are relevant.

But first, I'm going to include each artist who drew the images, including the two so far that i've drawn. If any more images that relate to Tao's powers are made, I will update this with said image and the proper credit.

Artist creds

On Twitter: lupinebones77(Most of Tao's current refs aside from King and the inscence burner)

melocelli (Kaiju form)

torikalmia (King and the Incense burner)

deni_acp (Yang image)

On Deviantart: TropicalIndigo (Jinjing image)

My art: Tiger/Snow Leapord Hybrid, Li Yun(Electric/dark big cat).

Some general Info about Tao before we get into his powers.

Relationship Status: Taken by their partner/Fiancée Zihou

Age: est. 1500 (at least half the age of Wukong and Macaque)

Gender: Intersex (both male and female genetalia)

Pronouns: He/Him, She/Her, They/Them

Sexuality: Demisexual

Mental illnesses: Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, DID (magic makes this work somewhat differently in demons from how it presents irl), CPTSD

Physical Illnesses: Asthma, Pulmonary Atresia

Incense Burner/Ball and Chain Weapon

This incense burner is wrapped around Tao's waist and tends to spew some of his mist magic at any given time. It acts as both a weapon and storage. It can be used similarly to the ball and chain weapon from twilight princess, but can grow and shrink depending on what Tao needs. Misty spikes appear on the sphere when Tao is using it as a weapon.

King

A plushie made in Wukong's likeness that Macaque made for Tao when she was little. They told Macaque what clothes he wanted the little guy to wear, after seeing a future vision of baba wearing his more modern outfit. Has several small pocket dimensions inside of him that Tao can go into at any time.

Tao's Powers

Blessings of the White Snake

• Forked Tounge

• Hands(all four) can morph into snake heads

• Heatvision (Using his forked tounge.)

• More liquid/snakelike movement

Powers from Sun Wukong

72 Transformations

• Panda(Bear)

• Phoenix (Bird)

• Tiger/Snow Leapord hybrid (Big Cat)

• English Lop (Rabbit)

• Chow Chow (Dog)

• Long Eared Jeroba (Mouse)

• Chinese Moon/Silk Moth hybrid (Bug)

• Maine Coon (Domestic Cat)

• Datong (Horse)

• Impressed Tortise (Tortise)

• Yellow Pond Turtle (Turtle)

• Leatherback Turtle (Sea Turtle)

• Dulong Cow (Bull/Bovine)

• King Cobra/Burmese Python Hybrid (Snake)

• Chinese Water Dragon (Lizard)

• Tokay Gecko (Gecko)

• Chinese Alligator

• Eastern Dragon

• Yangtze Finless Porpoise (Porpoise)

• Hainan Eld's Deer

• Himilayan Marmot

• Steppe Polecat (Ferret)

• Asian Small-Clawed Otter

• Asian Badger

• Rhesus Macaque/Golden Snub Nosed Monkey Hybrid

108,000 Leap Somersault

Useful, but can cause Tao to have an asthma attack if preformed too fast or in a place with lots of debris.

Chi Manipulation

Mainly used in exorcisms and not in actual combat with living beings.

Flight

Loves soaring all on her own. can use his body to propel himself around and even gets help from the wind.

Replication/Shadow Cloning

Makes misty clones that can take on a physical appearance if nessicary.

Telepathic communication/Astral Projection

Has links to Wukong, Macaque, Chun and Zihou, but can easily astral project to anyone so long as they accept.

Flaming Fist of Fury

Strengthened by the Yang Samadhi fire to dangerous levels

Lazer eyes

Has the ability to use this power, but has never done so.

Gold Vision

Capable of using this in it's original state, and an altered version that allows him to see as if he wasn't blind.

Kaiju Form/Smoke Generation

Inherited from both parents (I will go i to more detail about his Kaiju in Macaque's section.)

Powers from Liu Er (Macaque)

Enhanced Hearing

Although Tao only has one extra set of ears, his hearing is still very sensitive.

Shadow Manipulation

Tao's shadows are more fluid-like in appearance compared to Macaque's.

She is capable of calling upon their mother's shadows should he ever find the need to.

Shadow Cloning/Replication

Clones usually take on a misty, cloud-like appearance, but have the ability to turn into identical clones to the original. Shadow clones of Macaque's can also be summoned if needed.

Shadow Transportation

Tao can use this ability easily, and the shadows tend to do most of the work for him. Macaque can sense each time Tao uses the shadows to warp.

Smoke Generation /Kaiju form

A misty form with a stone-like mask and chest plate with all four of the hands being stone as well as some stone bits around her wrists and tail. This form has three alternate forms depending on Tao's mood and the element that corresponds to it.

The Kaiju's base form

Height: Mainly between 120 Meters (394 Feet) and 158 Meters (521 feet), but can shrink to smaller heights. (Imagine the heights between Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Kong and King Ghidorah)

Fire Form

Uses the Yang half of the Samadhi Fire to further fuel itself. The base form has only parts of Tao's hair, the twin tips of his tail and around his wrists ignite, the same places where his stone parts are excluding the stone mask and chest piece. This differs fron his fiery wrath form, in which the entire body of the kaiju is engulfed in flames, which burn any and all they come in contact with.

Water Form

Uses the primal power of Tao's water abilities to fuel it. This form is rarely used for fighting and more as a method of escape, as it can seemingly 'melt' into any large body of water and vanish. Every time this form appears, heavy monsoon-like rains follow. This form is completely made of water with the exception of the stone bits.

Dual Form

A mix of all three forms and is the most destructive in terms of passive property damage. It has currently never been used, and for good reason. It's power alone rivals the power of the primordeal gods of old. The Yang Samadhi fire is unaffected by the water from this kaiju.

Powers Unique to Tao

• Echolocation

• True Sight (A modified verison of Gold Vision that allows Tao to see as if he wasn't blind)

• Familiar creation, allowed him to summon a unique companion based deeply on his personality. There are currently three. These three count as pokemon in the Pokemon AU I have for Tao.

Yang (Height: 9'2" Feet)

A fiery ghost dog that has been Tao's friend and companion since they were young. He used to be a living being, a half hellhound. Died protecting his master, and once in the Diyu he became so distraught and enraged over his master still being in danger that he singlehandedly broke out of the Underworld by digging himself out. His flames were so intense at that point that no one could get close without severe casualty to their person, not even the 10 kings. He lost all skin on his paws and head aside from his ears in the act, and successfully escaped to return to his master's side.

He is the only being aside from Wukong that has successfully escaped the Diyu, and since his only goal was to be reunited with his master, the ten kings decided it wasn't worth trying to bring him back. His bays, barks and howls is so intimidating that most sane beings will instinctively flee upon hearing it. He is semi-incorporeal. he consumed his own body as a spirit upon returning to battle and can choose to be more ghost-like or not. Yang often stays in Tao's incense burner/pokeball, or his master's shadow when not needed at that moment. Yang can control his flames to the point that allies will not be burned by them, but instead feel very warm. He's the perfect heater on cold winter days.

Jinjing (Height: 3'5" Feet)

A spunky fishy fox familiar that has also been with Tao since she was young. She acts like a service animal when Tao goes out and about, since Yang and Li are too big to do so without issue. Yang may be able to phase through walls but his Aura is extremely intimidating even for Erlang's hounds. and Li is far too big to be able to fit comfortably in most places. Jinjing knows DPT, can retrieve Tao's medicine on command, and helps to break them out of anything from a spiraling episode to ADHD paralysis (Not a medical term). Those big blue flowing antennae can act as hands if she really wants to use them. The webbed collar is backwards to help with drag in the water. when she flips it out, it helps slow her down in the water and causes drag. She can also inflate it enough to keep her head above water.

Li Yun (Height: 6'0" Feet)

The newest of the familiars, Li is the second most intimidating of the them. They can summon lightning storms at will and are capable of absorbing electricity. Their barks can sound for miles, and wherever they step, thunder and lightning are said to follow. They are generally neutral in most affairs and are more reserved than their Fire and Water counterparts. If Li isn't running about and stretching their legs, they're either in Tao's incense burner/their pokeball, patrolling Megaopolis from the rooftops, or by their Master's side.

• Feelers by his ears that allow him to sense the most subtle changes in the atmosphere.

Past/Future Sight

Able to see into the past or future. This ability is very different how his mother Liu Er sees into the past and future. Tao can only see one type of vision at a time. The triggers for both visions are very different and he can only see one type at a time. The inner color of his each represent the past (Purple) and the future (Yellow). When having either vision, his eye swill glow a pearlescent white color, and some kind of sparkling dust matching the color of the inside ear comes out of the corresponding set of ears.

The past visions are usually triggered by physically touching an object that either has a spirit or spiritual energy attached. Places that have a lot of spiritual energy can also trigger a vision the moment Tao finds a high enough concentration of energy. Sometimes he will move around during these visions, coming to in places he didn't pass out in.

Future visions are different with the exception of the glowing eyes and yellow dust. These visions can happen at any time, and leave Tao completely immobile until it ends.

Those who ingest the dust from either set of ears will temporarily gain the ability of future sight or past visions. These only have one use and may drive one mad the more they ingest. Humans and demons from all over sought to capture Tao for his oracle abilities, and to collect the dust he creates during a future vision.

Yang Samadhi Fire

Unlike what has been told about this powerful flame, in reality it was split into two seperate pieces long before the birth of Red Son. Tao possesses the 'Yang Half' of this flame, equally as powerful as the 'Yin' Half Red Son was born with. What is different about this flame is that ist is less likely to be triggered by emotion, but for Tao anger is the only trigger outside of activating the flames himself.

The flame tends to have more untriggered power behind it despite being of equal power to the Yin half. This flame tends to have a higher power output in the spring and summer months in accordance to Yin and Yang. It is a calmer flame compared to the Yin half, which feeds off of the emotions of it's host, and in Red Son and Mei's case makes it harder for the host to control their emotions.

The Yang Half of the flames is the only thing capable of completely calming the flames of the Yin.

In the primal days, the combined flames were said to scorch anything it touched into nothing, and was split in two in an attempt to mitigate the intense damage it caused when it raged unchecked. For the time being, the Samadhi Fire will remain seperated until the proper time.

Water Manipulation The ability to use and manipulate water (In a similar mannter to the water benders of ATLA, but with some differences.) to his whim.

Thanks to the maleability of the water in his body plus the blessing of the White Snake, Tao is able to extend his limbs far past their normal limits. when using this ability they can move around as if there are no bones in his arms. They can also extend and retract at will.

An extension of this ability is an extremely dangerous one,

Blood Bending

Tao is able to control the blood of living beings, being completely capable of controlling their bodies. Most beings can attempt to resist and break free, but anyone blood related to Tao will be unable to control their body until he releases them. This only works on Wukong, Macaque and Chun. Tao doesn't like using this power often, however he often uses liquid bending to help defeat any construct that uses a similar circulatory-like system.

When they were younger, Tao would often cause some unintentional issues, as when she cried, rain would start to fall in a certain raduis around him and quickly become monsoon level rains if left unchecked.

Siren Song

Tao has a singing voice similar to the likes of sea sirens, being able to influence and/or control others through his voice. His voice is also powerful enough to rip flesh off of bone should he choose to use it, or cause the user hearing it to go mad. However this power is rarely used due to Tao not wanting to cause potential death and/or property damage. The inside of her mouth glows yellow when using this ability. Glamours/Illusions

Tao can use glamour to take on a human appearance at any time, and prefers to not look so much like a monkie. He can also make illusions with his shadow abilities.

Water Warping/Portals

Tao is capable of using a very unique method of travel similar to shadow warping. The main difference is the stream of magic that is being used. Warping through water is usually done by oracles, as the stream of water magic used to travel is also the closest to the timespace stream, the flow of time and space around that entire dimension, In it's own pocket dimension, a seemingly strange place where water flows around breathable air in a tubelike tunnel from all sides. This is an area that only oracles can access, and with the floating islands scattered about it is safe for them to make living areas there.

Water Portals

These take more concentration to use, but are very handy for travel; as the requirement for warping is different. Unless the place is somewhere Tao has visited before, he can warp to and from any large puddle or body of water to anywhere in the world, even places he hasnt visited before.

Tao can also breathe underwater, but doesn't really need to breathe at all.

Primal Diety

Tao and his sister have full control over certain elements, regardless of the control gods from China and other pantheons have. In other words, an example being that the gods of the sea (ex. Posiedon) loose their control if Tao extends his control of water to the entire planet, same with fire.

Misty Form

Tao can turn himself into mist at will and change back at any time. He is more succeptable to being trapped in items like jars with an airtight lid or enchanted items of the same ilk, but he can return to a shrunken form at any time, or change back to his normal size and potentially break the item holding him if it isn't strong enough to contain him.

Fairly Recent Abilities

Tao was kidnapped by the Spider Queen some time during her attempted takeover of Megaopolis in the season 2 finale. See tried to turn them into a spider demon, but the only thing the venom did was give her silk glands in her hands that produce high quality enchanted silk (Silk moth like silk). This is abnormal since there is no other creature that can create enchanted silk naturally, so Spider Queen took quick advantage of this, using Tao as a silk producer for her takeover. Unfortunately making so much silk at once caused Tao's pawpads to become agitated and inflamed, and they stopped producing enchanted silk. Fortunately he managed to escape before the Lady Bone Demon tried to capture him for his half of the Samadhi fire.

The silk strands come out through the pawpads on their hands, and by pressing them together and stretching his arms apart, the silk forms into thick, glowing strands with each motion. This raw material can be used in many products from clothing to armor to fabric.

Misc. Info

• Tao is capable of storing immense amounts of magical power and has more potent magic than his twin sister. His snake heads, when not hands can sink their fangs into a person and suck their life essence and even their soul from their body.

• They a connection to death and the 10 kings, and his mist magic is capable of acting on its own and raising the dead, mainly those who's lives were tragically cut short.

• She sometimes sleepwalks, and depending on the phase of the tide, either moves around like a slow shambling zombie (low tide) or gets aggressive in his sleep and goes into water kaiju form (High Tide). this is one of the only times the water form becomes aggressive.

• Being physically intersex leaves him a target for European alchemists from all over.

• Sometimes purple and gold christhamanthemums spring from her bare feet whenever they touch natural ground. (Think Amaterasu from okami when she runs) these flowers have very potent medical properties.

• Their familiars are an extension of his magic and personality given form, and usually reside in his incense burner/Pokeballs/Shadow (Yang only) when not needed or resting.

• Her fire antlers were once crystal-like purple horns, that upon awakening the samadhi fire burst into flame. These flames started small in the beginning, but grew with age. They shrink to a smaller size during sleep.

That's everything I have at this time! This will be updated each time there is a change or new reference image. If you've read this far, thank you for actually reading all the way through! I would give you a cookie if I could. Tao is one of my most developed OCs, and I hope you've enjoyed reading this, I put a lot of research into him and the AU he's a part of as a whole, and I can go into more detail on the world building I've done at a later date if anyone is interested!

#lego monkie kid oc #commissioned art #shadowpeach fankid #powers and abilities #my art #not my art #Tao Yin

[thistledown-au-warriors]

fire and ice - chapter 1

< Prologue || Index || Chapter 2 >

Fire Heart shivered. His flame-colored fur still felt greenleaf-light, it would be a while before it was thick enough to keep out cold like this. He followed his mentor through the camp's gorse tunnel, a young rabbit in his jaws. The air was crisp and cold from an early sunset.

In his mind, he replayed last moon's victory at the ShadowClan camp: Broken Tail’s glittering eyes as the ShadowClan leader backed away, hissing threats, before fleeing into the trees after his traitorous companions. The remaining ShadowClan cats had been grateful to ThunderClan for helping them to get rid of their cruel leader, and for the peace ThunderClan had promised them while they recovered. 

Broken Tail had not just brought chaos to his own Clan — he had driven the whole of WindClan from their camp, right out of Clan territory. He had been a dark shadow in the forest since before Fire Heart had left his kittypet life to join ThunderClan.

But for Fire Heart, there was another shadow troubling his mind: Tiger's Claw, ThunderClan’s deputy. Fire Heart shivered again as he thought of the great ThunderClan warrior who had terrorized his own apprentice and kin, Raven Shadow. In the end, Fire Heart and his best friend, Gray Stripe, had helped the frightened apprentice to escape into the Twoleg territory beyond the uplands. Afterward, Fire Heart had told the Clan that Raven Shadow had been killed by ShadowClan.

If what Raven Shadow said about Tiger's Claw was true, it was best if the ThunderClan deputy believed his apprentice had died, for he knew a secret Tiger's Claw would do anything to conceal. Raven Shadow had told Fire Heart that the mighty tabby warrior had murdered Red Tail, the old ThunderClan deputy and his own former mate, in the hope that he would become the new deputy... which, eventually, he had. 

I must warn Blue Fur , Fire Heart reminded himself. Blue Fur had mourned Red Tail’s death with the rest of the Clan, believing him to have been killed in battle by Oak Heart, the deputy of RiverClan. Fire Heart had hesitated before, knowing how important Tiger's Claw was to her, but the danger was too great. Blue Fur needed to know that her Clan was harboring a cold-blooded murderer.

The past several days had been busy. It seemed that every time he and Gray Stripe weren't doing their camp duties or out with their mentors, Tiger's Claw sent them out on patrol or on hunting duty. Fire Heart had stayed alert, looking for a chance to talk with Blue Fur alone, but when he wasn’t out, the ThunderClan leader always seemed to be stuck in her den with the deputy or one of the bodyguards he'd appointed her and refused to dismiss in just case Broken Tail retaliated.

Fire Heart shook his head to clear it as Misty Step led the way to the fresh-kill pile. She deposited her own catch, a plump water vole, and turned her blue eyes back at him.

"Can you take your catch to the healers? I don't believe Violet Fang and Stone Pelt had their share yet." At Fire Heart's nod, she continued, gaze darkening. "Make sure he eats, please."

Stone Pelt hadn't been the same cat since Leaf Spots died. He only left the den when he really had to, such as when Violet Fang had to send him on an errand, and the older healer was having to pick up the slack for him. His interest in learning anything seemed to dwindle, and his appetite was near non-existent. Whenever Fire Heart saw the tom, he was reminded of Blue Fur's utterly defeated pose on the night of Lion's Heart's death. No one could blame the healer apprentice, he had lost his mentor and his father — Thrush Wing — in the span of days, and his mother lost some of her lives.

As Fire Heart padded towards the healers' clearing, the delighted squeals of kits sounded through the camp. He saw Swift Bird near the nursery giving a badger-ride to two of Frost Shine's kits, while the other two scampered around his heels eager for their turn. Hop Speckle watched them diligently, no doubt letting the younger queens have some time for themselves, only sometimes turning to lick her heavily pregnant belly.

It was good to see Swift Bird having some fun with his younger denmates. Little over a quarter moon before, Golden Flower's other kit — Leaping Lynx — had suddenly passed away. The young molly got very sick after eating something bad, and despite Violet Fang's best efforts, she joined StarClan. One of Brindle Face's kits had also gotten sick, and he too passed away - which Blue Fur seemed to have taken just as badly as the kits' mothers. Fire Heart felt his claws slide out with rage as he remembered overhearing Dark Pine telling his apprentice that perhaps the old molly had poisoned the kits so she wouldn't have to treat them properly, despite being part of the ShadowClan raid and rescue mission, and thus having seen Violet Fang prove her loyalty.

The ginger apprentice brushed his way through the ferns. A large split rock stood in a corner of a small shaded glade. Leaf Spots had lived here for a long time before Violet Fang, and the tortoiseshell's stale scent still clung to the leaves. By the small pool on the edge of the clearing, Stone Pelt crouched, staring at the water with a pile of roots beside him. He didn't acknowledge Fire Heart as he walked in, but began half-heartedly washing away the dirt from some of the roots.

Fire Heart nodded at him, regardless of whether the tom saw it or not, and made his way through the clearing to the crack in the rock where herbs were stored.

Violet Fang was busy storing herbs inside. There were several heaps of leaves gathered in front of her. Fire Heart had never seen the inside of the split rock, and squinting through the darkness he could make out two nests inside beside a pile of moss, and several rows carved in the stone, where the old molly was placing the herbs in. Fire Heart's mind sparked the faint recollection of a Twoleg kitchen, and he shook his head to clear it.

Violet Fang paused to look at him. "Fire Heart." she greeted. "Come to bring us some fresh-kill?"

Fire Heart nodded, placing the rabbit on the ground. "Misty Step and I just came back with it." he informed. Then, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Stone Pelt wasn't paying attention, he lowered his head to whisper. "She asked me to make sure that Stone Pelt eats."

Violet Fang grimaced. "I've been trying. No cat should be that lean this early in leaf-fall." her tail lashed. "That young fool is letting himself drown in his grief. At this point he'll just drag himself to the fresh-kill pile and lie down in it."

Fire Heart blinked, taken aback by the fierceness of her words. "Shouldn't you go easier on him? He's lost so much." 

Her orange gaze bore into his eyes with an intensity that made him want to look away. "So have his clanmates. So have his sisters and mother. And if he doesn't pull himself together, they'll lose him too." She meowed. Fire Heart felt himself swallow dry. Violet Fang stared down at the rabbit. "Tell your mentor not to worry. I'll deal with Stone Pelt."

She grabbed the fresh-kill between her jaws and quickly brushed past Fire Heart to get to her apprentice.

Feeling like he'd been dismissed, the ginger tom left through the fern tunnel before he could overhear their conversation.

***

Fire Heart licked his lips. Gray Stripe lay beside him washing his flank. They had just finished sharing a meal beside the apprentices' tree stump. The sun had set and Fire Heart could see the moon, almost full now, gleaming in a cold, clear sky. 

He began to wash his paw, his eyes flicking around the camp, searching hopefully for Blue Fur.

“What are you looking for?” meowed Gray Stripe through a tongueful of fur.

“Blue Fur.” Fire Heart answered, lowering his paw.

“Why?” Gray Stripe stopped washing and looked up at his friend. “You’ve had one eye on her ever since Leaf Spots' vigil. What are you planning to do?”

“I have to tell her where Raven Shadow is, and warn her about Tiger's Claw.” Fire Heart meowed.

“You promised Raven Shadow you’d tell them he was dead!” Gray Stripe meowed, sounding amazed. "We sat vigil for him!"

“I only promised to tell Tiger's Claw he was dead. Blue Fur should know the whole story. She needs to know what her deputy is capable of.”

Gray Stripe lowered his voice to an urgent hiss. “But we only have Raven Shadow’s word that Tiger's Claw killed Red Tail.”

“And don’t you believe him?” Fire Heart couldn’t help feeling shocked by his friend’s doubts.

“Look, if Tiger's Claw lied about killing Oak Heart in revenge for Red Tail’s death, that means Red Tail must have killed Oak Heart himself. And I can’t believe that Red Tail would have deliberately killed another Clan deputy in battle. It goes against the warrior code — we fight to prove our strength and defend our territory, not to kill each other. Plus, Mossy Patch was there too, and she backs up Tiger's Claw's word. She's Blue Fur's daughter. This puts in question her loyalty.”

“But I’m not trying to make accusations against either of them!” Fire Heart protested. “It’s Tiger's Claw who is the problem.” Fire Heart had never met the old deputy, but he knew Red Tail had been deeply respected by all the Clan. And from what he knew, Mossy Patch was a very loyal and kind cat, and had been too far away from Tiger's Claw by that point to see what he did. He didn't believe she would lie to protect him over telling her mother the truth, but rather just didn't think to not trust her Clanmate's word.

Gray Stripe didn’t meet Fire Heart’s gaze. “What you are saying has implications for Red Tail and Mossy Patch's honor. And none of the other cats have a problem with Tiger's Claw. It was only Raven Shadow who was scared of him.”

An uneasy shiver ran down Fire Heart’s spine. “So you think Raven Shadow made the story up just because he didn’t get along with his mentor? His own mother's littermate?” he inquired scornfully.

“No.” mumbled Gray Stripe. “I just think we should be careful.”

Fire Heart looked into his friend’s worried eyes and began to wonder. He supposed Gray Stripe did have a point — they were both mere apprentices still, so they were in no position to start hurling accusations at one of the Clan’s most senior warriors.

“...It’s okay.” Fire Heart meowed at last. “You can stay out of it.” A twinge of regret flickered in his belly as Gray Stripe nodded and returned to washing. Fire Heart believed that Gray Stripe was wrong to think it was only Raven Shadow who had a problem with Tiger's Claw. His own instincts told him that the ThunderClan deputy should not be trusted, and Black Leopard had seemed disgusted at the way her brother had not-so-subtly hinted at her son being a traitor. He had to share his suspicions with Blue Fur, for her safety and the safety of the Clan.

A glimpse of gray fur on the other side of the clearing told Fire Heart that Blue Fur had emerged from her den — alone, for once. He scrambled to his paws, but the ThunderClan leader leaped straight up onto the Highrock and called to the Clan. Fire Heart lashed his tail impatiently.

Gray Stripe’s ears flicked excitedly as he heard Blue Fur’s call. “A ceremony?” he meowed. "It must be Swift Bird's. He completed six moons this quarter moon."

He bounded over to join the cats gathering at the edge of the clearing, and, still itching with frustration, Fire Heart followed.

The small black-and-white kit padded into the clearing, with Golden Flower beside him. His soft paws made no sound on the hard earth, and his fur glimmered like it had just been thoroughly groomed. Swift Bird walked toward the Highrock with his pale eyes lowered and Fire Heart almost expected to see him tremble — there was something in the slope of this kit’s shoulders that made him seem too young and timid to be an apprentice. 

“Swift Bird.” Blue Fur meowed, staring down at the kit. Her fur looked hastily groomed, but her voice was clear and steady. “You have completed the age of six moons. It's time you began your journey as an apprentice.”

There was no flash of determination in the eyes of the black-and-white kit as he looked up at his leader. Instead his amber eyes were wide with anxiety.

Fire Heart turned his head as Pale Tail got up from the crowd. 

"Pale Tail must be the mentor, he had been dropping hints he'd be getting his first apprentice for days." Gray Stripe whispered in Fire Heart's ear.

Blue Fur spoke again, beckoning the warrior. “Pale Tail, you were Dark Pine’s apprentice. He taught you well, and you have become a fierce and loyal warrior. I hope you will pass some of these qualities on to Swift Bird.”

Fire Heart searched the brash warrior's face for an expression of disdain as he looked down at Swift Bird. But the warrior’s eyes softened as he met his new apprentice’s gaze, and gently the two Clan cats touched noses. “It’s okay, you’re doing fine.” Pale Tail murmured encouragingly. Yeah, right , Fire Heart thought bitterly. Just because he’s Clanborn . Pale Tail sure didn’t welcome me like that. The warrior had taunted him viciously on his first day with the Clan, mocking his kittypet origins. Fire Heart had disliked him ever since.

He glanced around the rest of the Clan and felt a pang of resentment as the cats began to murmur congratulations to the new apprentice.

“What’s up with you?” whispered Gray Stripe. “Our new denmate will be the one picking the elders' ticks now.”

Fire Heart twitched his whiskers in amusement, and pushed away his resentment. It was true, he and Gray Stripe had been training intensely for three moons now. Their warrior ceremony was getting closer and closer. 

He had a Clan name and was a part of ThunderClan now, and surely that was all that mattered?

#thistledown au #thistledown fire and ice

[florida-star]

Oh my god 0lease tell me.abput Bumblenose

ABSOLUTELY MY FRIEND

This fucker. this absolute bastard man.

i have so much to say about him that would spoil the story but honestly i dont plan to make it a comic, its just my own silly fanclan ANYWAYS. heres a rundown of his story for u anon <3 tysm for asking abt him so i can ramble on abt my story

so he’s always been a jealous fucker and when his clanmate Sootstripe reveals she’s pregnant, hes furious. not because he liked her, but because he liked her mate, Lionclaw, and thought he was too good for her. to calm his jealousy and such, he has a fling with a kittypet named Bonnabelle, and soon brings a young Cricketkit into camp. nobodys questions him, as their clan has been raised on the belief that any cat is welcome, regardless of origin, and will not be questioned on it

a few moons pass and he’s given one of Sootstripes kits as an apprentice, Darkpaw. and to try and make this shorter, one day he snaps and kills Darkpaw. another apprentice, Creekpaw, witnesses it in a ravenpaw fashion, while hunting. Bumblenose notices her and forces her to be silent about it otherwise he would kill her the same. she, being stubborn as hell, tells her brother Badgerpaw, the medicine cat apprentice, who Bumblenose would assumedly never kill.

nd basically their story is finding some way of getting Bumblenose to be exiled but its proving extremely difficult as the leader, OrchidStar, and Bumblenose are very close, and she trusts him with her own lives

so shortly after Badgerpaw becomes Badgerwillow, he rounds up all the cats he trusts most. his sister Creekpaw, Darkpaws brother Slushpaw, and bumbles son, Cricketleap, and reveals to the other two the truth. Slushpaw immediately trusts the med cats words, while Cricketleap is shocked his father would ever do such a thing, but eventually comes to realize its all too true

so they confront him(minus cricket) aaand suddenly the whole camp is on fire. someone from another clan set their own camp on fire for reasons i might explain another time but it spreads to their clan at that time, so they all have to run and abandon it

while trying to escape, bumblenose, badgerwillow, and cricketleap get stuck in one area and the badger further confronts bumblenose. he attacks badgerwillow, saying he ‘had his reasons to kill darkpaw’, and is about to snap the medicine cats neck when hes thrown off by Cricketleap.(for reference, Bumble is average cat size and Cricketleap is a fucking behemoth. mainecoon size. bumble got launched.)

Cricket yells at his father about how horrible what he did was, begging him to explain why he did it, why did he kill his own clanmate? And at this point, Bumble doesn’t care now, thinking hes about to die and attacks his son, not wanting to go down pathetically. it leads to Bumble getting himself killed by the two, and they escape the flames, telling the clan that Bumblenose hit his head while trying to escape and died that way. hes mourned, but the clan soon comes to realize he is nowhere to be found in starclans realm.

*btw the reason creekpaw and slushpaw still have their apprentice names is due to OrchidStar. she refused to name them after they nearly died trying to fight an alligator all on their own. their reason was they wanted to try and speed their apprenticeship up, buuut they just got very banged up because of it.

#this is surprisingly an extremely condensed version of the story #there is SO much more to it that i dont know how to fit into text but yea #tw character death #everglade strifes spoilers #everglade strifes #bumblenose #cricketleap #badgerwillow #creekpaw #darkpaw #slushpaw #orchidstar #GOD so many ocs i gotta tag for this #but.. i must #for the sake of keeping this blog somewhat organized #bonnabelle(kittypet) #sootstripe #lionclaw #i mightve forgotten some details but forgive me #i got a miraine and its like 8 am i just woke up a while ago

[saintchaser]

did you get enough love, my little dove?

their loving had been a matter of just four years, less than any of their friends had, but when they had fallen, there was no coming back for them. and they didn't mind. a ring on marlene's fingers and a smile on dorcas' face said it all.

why do you cry?

but they didn't have much time, and, when dorcas staggered into their home for the first time in a while, she wasn't there anymore. that wasn't the marlene mckinnon that they knew. their lover... was dead. and they cried, and mourned, and went mad with the pain of grief, and if they had to lose and hurt, so would the others. they'd put them down. for her. it was all for her.

and i'm sorry i left, but it was for the best

she left too early, she knew she did. but her death wasn't going to be in vain, because dorcas would avenge her. dorcas, the soul of a lion with the kindness of the badger, the wits of the raven, and the cunningness of the snake. they were invincible, and marlene knew that.

though it never felt right

she didn't want to leave dorcas behind, but that wasn't her choice to make. it had been peter's.

my little versailles

"we'll meet again, my sunshine."

♡

the hospital asked should the body be cast

their friends asked them if they wanted to participate in the funeral, and dorcas laughed. because that was not what marlene would have wanted, they knew that, (she would have wanted them there, and it was stupid to even insinuate that she didn't, so that dorcas wouldn't come; and she wouldn't have wanted a funeral: she wanted to be cremated, and her last place of forever's sleep to be her homeplace), and they would come, no matter what anyone else had to say.

before i say goodbye, my star in the sky

they'd need to say their last goodbye, before they'd leave. before they'd do what is right, to keep the flame of marlene and their love for her burning.

such a funny thought, to wrap you up in cloth

it seemed funny, the idea that any of them could die. they were so young, so alive, invincible, so, so young, and yet. marlene was the first one to go. and they'd fall too, like soldiers on the battlefield, because that was exactly what they were.

do you find it alright, my dragonfly?

dorcas wondered if they were doing the right thing. if that was really what she would have wanted.

shall we look at the moon, my little loon?

and they'd look at the stars and call marlene's name out, shouting until their throat ached and their voice was hoarse, but it was all in vain.

why do you cry?

emotionally speaking, dorcas were stronger than any of the ones left. so why could they take it, and dorcas couldn't?, their friends wondered. because marlene was the only one that they had ever loved. it had been her, and it always would have been, in any universe.

make the most of your life, while it is rife

marlene would have wanted them to live life to the fullest.

while it is light

until the last minute.

#song: fourth of july by sufjan stevens #who by the way is one of the best artists imo (bias because he's also on of my favorites) #grief tw #death tw #anyways dorlene angst!! of course it's dorlene angst with slight allusions to tggc #scar... :)) #marlene mckinnon #marlene mckinnon angst #dorcas meadowes #dorcas meadowes angst #dorlene #dorlene angst #my writing #song fic

[twilights-800-cats]

<< Chapter 15 || Chapter 16 || Chapter 17 || From the Beginning || Patreon >>

Chapter 16

Crowflight stared at Duskwhisker, and Duskwhisker stared at Crowflight.

The haze of Shadepaw’s comforting presence had been snatched away so suddenly that Crowflight wasn’t sure how to breathe, for a moment. His heart thudded in his ears, and his mind was whirling so frantically that he couldn’t pin down a thought if it meant stopping Duskwhisker from tearing out his throat, right then and there.

The moon hung in the sky over their heads, turning both of their dark pelts to silver. Frosty breaths billowed from their noses, and the cold air was slowly creeping over the grass around them like chilling spiderwebs. The cold filled in that once-warm place in Crowflight, freezing his limbs in place despite wanting nothing more than to flee.

Finally, Duskwhisker spoke, her voice taut: “What in StarClan’s name was that?”

Crowflight blinked. “I...” He grappled for something, anything, to assuage his friend; to make this better, somehow. He managed, “We were just saying good-bye.”

Duskwhisker blinked at him, clearly not believing that.

“I’m not lying,” Crowflight growled. Frustration flashed hot between his shoulders. “That’s all we were doing!”

“Uh-huh, sure,” Duskwhisker snapped. Her steps were stiff as she padded down the slope, meeting Crowflight almost muzzle to muzzle. Her eyes were sharp as claws, glowing like flames. “Because that’s just how two friends say good-bye these days, hm?”

Crowflight curled his lip. “What are you insinuating?” he demanded.

Duskwhisker’s tail lashed. “WindClan is in enough trouble as it is without you padding after ThunderClan’s medicine cat.” Her voice was harsh, like the sting of a wasp.

Crowflight’s fur bushed, heat rushing through his skin as if it were suddenly the middle of greenleaf, not the cold reality of leafbare. He dug his claws into the freezing earth.

“It’s not like that!” he insisted. “Not at all!”

Duskwhisker’s eyes flashed, like the frosty stars that hung above. She hissed, “Who do you think I am, Crowflight? Some fluff-brained kitten that just opened their eyes?”

Crowflight felt the fur along his spine rising, now. “It’s not like that!” He repeated, his tone grating against his throat. “We’re just friends – we've been through a lot together, you know that!”

Duskwhisker’s gaze burned into his. “Lie to me all you like, Crowflight, but don’t you dare lie to yourself.”

Crowflight bit his tongue. Her words stung like claws, and he wasn’t sure how to respond. His stomach churned, his pelt going from hot to cold and then to hot again as his mind grappled with what Duskwhisker had said.

It was no use arguing with her. She had seen what she had seen, and even if it wasn’t (it wasn’t, it couldn’t be) what she was thinking, the rest of WindClan would be far more inclined to take her side than his.

“You’re going to tell the Clan, then?” he guessed. “Tell them I’m disloyal? A traitor?” It wouldn’t be much of a stretch, Crowflight thought somberly – after all, he had been the one to leave his Clan to travel with cats from other Clans, even if it had been for WindClan’s sake. There was more than one of his Clanmates that had looked at him with distrust when he’d come back from that first journey.

To his surprise, though, Duskwhisker’s intense gaze softened, and she sighed. “No,” she said, her shoulders relaxing. “I’m not. You’re my friend, Crowflight – I just want you to be careful, that’s all.”

Crowflight stared at her. “Really?” he asked, dumbfounded.

Duskwhisker’s gaze turned intense again. “Really.” She repeated, as if she were scolding a kit. “Don’t make me regret it, fluff-brain. You listened to me complain about Smokewillow and you put up with me badgering you, and you brought us here. That’s worth a little goodwill... to a point.”

“To a point,” Crowflight repeated, uncertainty making him clench his claws into the dirt.

Duskwhisker narrowed her gaze. “You’re my friend, Crowflight, but I’m not going to fight two whole Clans for you.” She nodded to the woods, over the border. “Whatever this is – whatever you think this is – it's going to cause trouble, sooner or later. As your friend I’m telling you, again, to be careful.”

“There’s nothing to ‘be careful’ about,” Crowflight told her. He swallowed around a lump in his throat as he stared Duskwhisker in the eye. Self-hatred unfurled its wings in his belly. “Some friendships are hard to let go of, that’s all.”

Duskwhisker twitched her whiskers. “Sure, they are,” she muttered. Her narrowed gaze was skeptical. “Sure.”

The black she-cat turned away, then; her shoulders lit silver by the moon as she ended this conversation with her body. “Come on,” she meowed. “We’ve got somewhere to be.”

Crowflight tilted his head, confusion chasing away the tense emotions of just heartbeats ago. “Where?” he wondered.

“Just follow me, fluff-brain.”

———————————————————

Cold gripped the moorland as Crowflight trudged after Duskwhisker. She was hurrying, which Crowflight was grateful for, but she wasn’t answering the question that was most prominent on his mind.

His paws stung. “You’ve spent half the night calling me a fluff-brain,” he mewed, breath fogging before his nose, “but you’re the one dragging me around in the middle of night in leafbare. This had better be worth it if I catch greencough!”

Duskwhisker turned her muzzle over her shoulder. “It will be,” she insisted. “Now hurry up!”

Crowflight suppressed a growl of frustration, but his annoyance faded as the rowan tree appeared just over the crest of the hill they had been climbing. Almost home, he thought. After trekking halfway around the lake and then some, curling up in his nest and sleeping till sunhigh sounded like a dream come true.

But instead of heading right for the camp entrance, Duskwhisker tilted their direction – now, they were heading for the tall boulder that stuck up from the hill, the place where the two of them had spoken about Smokewillow earlier in the day. Crowflight wanted to ask why, as they passed beneath its shadow, they were going this way instead of right into camp, but he kept his jaws shut.

They came around the big hill, until they were in the shadow of the rowan’s branches. Moonlight turned the entire tree to silver, its branches bright white claws touching the stars. Crowflight pulled up, stopping in surprise – most of WindClan was there, gathered in the thin shadows, and, standing beside Tallstar’s grave, at the head of them all, was Mudclaw.

At the sight of Duskwhisker and Crowflight, Mudclaw nodded. “Good,” he mewed, “we can begin.”

Crowflight cautiously stepped into the crowd. He counted the pricked ears, outlined in silver light, and realized that this was his entire Clan, even Whitetail, who looked a lot healthier than she had in days – notably missing though were Robinwing, the apprentices, the medicine cats, Ashfoot, and, most concerning of all, Onewhisker.  

Scratching behind his ear, Tornear complained, “What’s all this for, Mudclaw? It’s freezing out here!”

“Yeah,” muttered Webfoot beside him. “Not all of us have our leafbare fur in!”

“I’ve got dawn patrol,” sighed Emberstep. “Get on with it!”

“I promise I won’t keep you too late,” Mudclaw meowed, his tone cordial.

Crowflight settled in beside Duskwhisker, casting her a questioning glance. The entire atmosphere seemed off, secretive and clandestine in a way that made Crowflight’s fur crawl in an ominous sort of way. This felt far more like something ShadowClan would do, not WindClan!

Duskwhisker offered him no answers, however – she looked up at Mudclaw with shining, expectant eyes.

Mudclaw scanned the crowd and began to speak: “Each and every one of us is a loyal WindClan warrior, down to our bones, are we not?”

“Of course we are!” yowled Tornear. He looked impatient, offended. “Mudclaw, what are you playing at? Get to the point!”

“Fine. Why are we allowing ThunderClan to dictate WindClan’s path in this new land?” Mudclaw demanded, his gaze sharpening. Before any cat could respond, he swept on: “First, they manipulate Tallstar into a friendship between our two Clans, and then they influence him to choose Onewhisker to be leader. Now, they take our territory without a hint of protest! What comes next?”

“You can’t prove that it was ThunderClan that influenced Tallstar,” Smokewillow pointed out. His head glowed silver in the moonlight. “I might agree with you through all the rest, Mudclaw, but we don’t know what went on when Tallstar died.”

“Yeah, we don’t!” Duskwhisker hopped to her paws, her voice rising above her Clanmate’s. “Not even Barkface was allowed to hear Tallstar’s last words. Doesn’t that seem odd to any of you?” Her eyes blazed against her shadowy coat and Crowflight wanted to shrink at the sharpness of her tone.  

Smokewillow’s ear twitched. “I mean...” he trailed off, looking down at his paws uncertainly.

“ThunderClan has never meant us any harm before,” Whitetail mewed, raising her chin confidently. “I can’t count on one paw how many times they’ve helped us!”

Mudclaw’s gaze leveled on the white she-cat. “Did we really need their help, though? Can we not defend ourselves?”

“When we were driven out of our home, back in the old forest, only ThunderClan thought to come find us,” Webfoot pointed out. “Without their aid, we might not even be here right now! The other Clans were ready to split our territory up for themselves!”

Bolstered by her Clanmate, Whitetail carried on: “And when LionClan and BloodClan threatened us, it was ThunderClan that stood by our side through it all! We could never have faced those challenges ourselves, no matter how strong we were then or now!”

Crowflight felt his discomfort grow. Whitetail and Webfoot were right, certainly, but...

Mudclaw’s tail waved. “Fringe cases,” he determined. “In times such as those, no Clan could’ve stood alone. I’m talking here about the little things; the herb-trading, the warnings of battles to come, the leniency on accidental prey-theft or border crossings. ThunderClan has treated WindClan territory as if it were their own for seasons, always pressing our every boundary, all while patronizing us at every turn, as if we were each still kits at our mother’s belly!”

“Tallstar and Tinystar’s friendship led to a peace WindClan hasn’t known for ages,” Whitetail meowed, her voice hard. “I don’t think you’re being fair.”

“Answer me this, Whitetail,” Mudclaw growled, “why were neither Barkface nor Ryewhisper allowed to see Tallstar before his death? Who prevented them from hearing our leader’s last words?”

Crowflight felt his whiskers tremble. Cats all around fell silent, all eyes on Whitetail for her response. The white she-cat's eyes narrowed to slits.

“It was Tallstar,” Whitetail responded. For the first time, her tone seemed to falter. Her pale muzzle lowered. “I think – no one was allowed anywhere near the nest at the time.”

“Couldn’t it have been Tinystar? Or Mistyfoot?” Mudclaw reasoned, pressing the senior warrior. “Onewhisker, even?”

Whitetail bristled again, lashing her tail. “That’s not-”

Mudclaw raised his muzzle. “Tallstar’s mind was not all his own when he was dying,” he called to the crowd. “I say it could have been very easy for Tinystar or Mistyfoot to manipulate him into changing his mind in his last moments!”

Crowflight bristled, now, unable to keep silent. “Say what you like about Tinystar,” he yowled, heart thudding in his ears, “but I know Mistyfoot better than any cat here – she would never agree to do anything like that!”

Mudclaw’s eyes narrowed on him, now, pinning him like a hawk. “And what if she were offered deputyship of ThunderClan?”

“She’s not deputy of ThunderClan, though,” Crowflight snapped back, quick as a snake. “Even if she were the type of cat to fall for something like that – and she’s not - she didn’t get what she was promised, anyway! What would the point of that be?”

Though deputyship was Mistyfoot’s desire, he still couldn’t imagine her doing something so manipulative. He was confident in his words to the ends of his whiskers, but that didn’t stop a little flicker of doubt from forming in his mind. What if he was wrong?

I can’t be wrong, Crowflight thought firmly. He felt the eyes of his Clanmates on him. If I falter, they’ll pounce on it.

Mudclaw’s lip curled. “You didn’t know her mother, Crowflight. Trust me – the berry did not fall far from the bush.”

A flame lit in Crowflight’s chest. “Mistyfoot is nothing like Bluestar!” he roared. He was bristling from ears to tail, his claws sinking into the earth. All sense of cold and uncertainty had fled in the wake of his anger on behalf of his friend. How dare he!

It seemed, though, that Crowflight was the only one so certain – Mudclaw's words had given the rest of WindClan pause, even causing Whitetail to step back and wrap her tail around her paws, worry clouding her gaze.

“Mistyfoot led us all here, you crow-hearts!” Crowflight spat, baring his teeth. “Do you all really think so little of that?” He glared at his Clanmates, and found that none met his gaze, not even Duskwhisker. He turned his stare to Mudclaw, daring him to keep speaking.  

Mudclaw frowned deeply, his eyes glittering. “I’ll concede that I may have gone too far, there,” he admitted. “Mistyfoot might’ve been coerced, might not have. Maybe her reward awaits when Onewhisker gets his nine lives – only StarClan knows for sure.”

Crowflight dug his claws into the earth, frustrated. There was clearly no convincing Mudclaw of anything, not when he held all the power in this scenario.

“So... what’s the point of this, then?” Webfoot asked, a tremor in his voice. “Why gather us all here?”

“Because we as a Clan have a decision to make,” Mudclaw growled. “A decision that, if we do not make it as one, WindClan will divide and die for.”

Whitetail’s mew was grim and certain: “You want to depose Onewhisker.”

Mudclaw blinked at her, slowly, and then nodded. He meowed, “From the moment of his appointment, Onewhisker has proven he is not the leader that WindClan needs. With the proof of his appointment lying in the paws of cats who have little incentive to tell the truth, and no precedent in the warrior code for such a situation... it falls to us.”

A ripple of unease flowed through the crowd. Crowflight stared up at Mudclaw, his anger giving way to a numb sort of shock – he'd known that Mudclaw was unhappy with being forced to give up his position, he’d known that something bad would probably come of it... but he didn’t think it would be this soon. To be perfectly honest, Crowflight had thought that it would all fade away, given time – a bad memory in the minds of older generations, a cautionary tale to tell kits of the future.

But it wasn’t.

“So, what is it you want to do?” asked Tornear, his voice tense. His gaze wavered upon his Clanmate. “K-Kill Onewhisker?”

Mudclaw’s eyes widened, and the crowd murmured in shock. “Of course not!” Mudclaw hissed over their worried voices. “Never! But he must be made to see that he is not meant for this position!”

“And who would take his place?” Whitetail wondered, her tail twisting. “You?”

Mudclaw hesitated, and then shrugged. “Possibly. If StarClan wills it. I was the rightfully-appointed deputy before.”

“So, you go through all this just to say that you want the power for yourself?” Whitetail rose to her paws, lashing her tail. She glared at her Clanmates. “I don’t know about you, but I’m done here, and you should all think about heading to your nests yourselves.”

The small white she-cat stomped off, then, parting from the crowd with a huff. Webfoot rolled his eyes and joined her, complaining, “Lot of talk, no real solutions...” A moment later, Tornear followed, his pawsteps hesitant as he gave Mudclaw one final glance before he left, too.

Crowflight’s heart beat in his eyes. Should he go with them? He stared after Tornear as the tabby warrior’s tail whisked away behind the hillside. If he left, though, who would listen to the rest of what Mudclaw had to say? Who would know what he might plan?

It seemed that those three were the only ones certain about their opinions. Poppyfoot looked unsure, but she didn’t budge, the same as Bramblefur beside her. Smokewillow stared down at his paws, clearly conflicted. The rest, however, looked fully ready to listen to Mudclaw’s every word, and that sent a chill down Crowflight’s spine – that's nearly half of WindClan agreeing with him!

“It’s true, I haven't much of a plan, yet,” Mudclaw meowed, looking down at the cats that remained. “But it won’t be long. I’ll be sure to let you all know when I’ve thought of something. We’ll bring our plan to Ashfoot and the medicine cats, and we can go from there.”

“What if they don’t agree?” asked Bramblefur, her eyes wide.

Mudclaw’s eyes flashed. “We’ll face that foe when we come to it. Get to your nests, all of you. There’s much to do in the days to come.”

The crowd parted, then, clustering up into uncertain groups as they padded away from the tree. Crowflight watched Mudclaw clamber down from the hillside, stalking towards he and Duskwhisker with purpose.

“I’m sorry for insulting your friend,” Mudclaw meowed, blinking at Crowflight. “I didn’t mean it to come off that way.”

Crowflight curled his lip. “Whatever,” he growled.

Mudclaw’s eyes flashed with annoyance at that, before he turned his muzzle to Duskwhisker. “Thank you for your help getting the others here tonight,” he told her. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Duskwhisker dipped her head. “Of course, Mudclaw.”

Mudclaw seemed to take that as the end of the conversation, stalking between the two cats and off into the night.

Crowflight glared at Duskwhisker. “You set this up?” he growled.

Duskwhisker licked her chest fur self-consciously. “He asked me to help,” she explained. “It’s hard to reach every cat in the Clan without things being revealed to those that don’t need to hear it yet.”

Crowflight frowned at her, something stinging his heart. He knew that she harbored doubts about Onewhisker, but he didn’t like that she had done this. She was right – this meeting would never have been able to happen if Onewhisker or Ashfoot or Barkface had caught wind, and Duskwhisker had kept the apprentices out of it, which Crowflight appreciated... but did it have to be her?

“Do you even know what you’re starting?” he hissed. “What this could do to WindClan?” Shadepaw’s dream pulsed in his mind – was this the beginning of that horrible omen? The thunder before the storm?

Duskwhisker frowned, lifting her chin. “I hope it will make us stronger, in the end. Able to stand on our own paws, with no other Clans pulling our whiskers. Isn’t that what you want, too?” Her gaze implored him.

“There’s nothing wrong with accepting help now and then,” Crowflight pointed out. “We wouldn’t have made it this far without the other Clans, that’s for sure.”

“Sure, sure,” Duskwhisker mewed, “but all the time, with the costs growing higher and higher? Count me out. I’m WindClan, and I don’t want to be anything else. I don’t think we should risk becoming anything else. In this new place, we can finally do that – show the other Clans that we’re strong, that we’ve always been strong.”

Her gaze grew hard. “I know where I stand, Crowflight – you need to figure out where you’re at, sooner rather than later.”

Duskwhisker loped off then, ending their conversation before Crowflight could respond. Crowflight stared after her, this cat that he had thought to be his friend. Was that the case, still? His mind buzzed. He had no idea, and he was too tired to try and sort through it all now.

He slunk off after her, tail dragging in the cold grass.

#tb au #tb starlight

[leahhuetemaines]

NEW FROM FINISHING LINE PRESS: HORSETHIEF MEADOWS: The Collected Poems of Alex Leavens

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ONE LAST WORD PROGRAM

Alex Alan Leavens, was born on July 30, 1975 and raised in Portland, Oregon, as a fourth- generation Oregonian, whose great-grandfather arrived in 1895. He developed his interest in the outdoors as a child, and attended Prescott College in Arizona, where he lived for a year in a wickiup he designed and built. He also attended the Boulder Outdoor Survival School, which led him to start two businesses: the Old Federal Ax Company and the Oregon School of Survival and Tracking. He taught skills ranging from making primitive pottery of the Anasazi tradition to animal track identification. He also served as a firefighter in Arizona, southern California, and the Olympic National Park.

Alex later received a Bachelors degree in English Literature at Portland State University, where he graduated summa cum laude. He honed his craftsmanship skills at properties he and his family owned in Portland, volunteered at the Portland Museum of Art, became an expert baker and charcuterist, and hunted and fished throughout the Oregon backcountry. He also began writing–first a novel, The Border, and then poems infused with his devotion to craftsmanship, art, and a unique perspective on nature. In just a few years, Alex published numerous poems in literary magazines, including Cathexis Northwest, Cirque, Clover, The Ekphrastic Review, Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Montana Mouthful, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, Perceptions Magazine, Wild Roof Journal, and Windfall. Sadly, as his career as a poet began to flourish, Alex Leavens died by suicide on August 13, 2021. The poems he left behind are gathered here. –Eric le Fatte

PRAISE FOR HORSETHIEF MEADOWS: The Collected Poems of Alex Leavens

As with John Haines, Alaska’s poet of the wild, or Gary Snyder, Alex Leavens is a poet of deep #ecology. His posthumous collection, Horsethief Meadows, brings poems of reverence, wisdom and precision in observation of the natural world, as with these lines: “…the mountain lion had the same tint as the moon ….” With felt grief as wildfires burn out of control, Leavens observes that “flames climb into treetops to ferry substances, no longer bound to earth…”

–Sandra L. Kleven, publisher/editor, CIRQUE: A Literary Journal, and Cirque Press

In the work of the late Alex Leavens, the reader finds compelling poetry of place with a poet who serves as guide and teacher to the backcountry Pacific Northwest. But also found in his poems is a student of witness: we experience the “behaviors and talents of the cold,” see tracks of bears “that won’t heal over,” admire a “thin, wet brush” of a mink at “that lake nobody knows.” With maturity and métier, Alex held a steady gaze over difficult landscapes of harsh seasons, centuries of human intervention, and increasingly, traumatically, fire.

–John Miller, author of Olympic

The poems in Alex Leavens’ collection, Horsethief Meadows, measure the human against the “circumference of the world.” Leavens’ narrator is a shapeshifter moving through that world, helping us to remember we are all one: “and the wind/ found its way down/ into the dry mouth of the badger’s sett,/ down into the earth/ to remind the grove/ to stay joined/ at the root,/ to speak as one living thing.” In poetry “equal to the horizon,/ equal to the morning sun,” Leavens puts us there at the center of things—circling with the hawk overhead, wandering with the cougar down through a streambed, or sunning our wings with the butterfly. A lyric work of interconnectedness between the human and the natural worlds, Leavens’ poems burn like a fire, showing us the way in “that small matter/ of living/ at the center/ of the dark.”

–Peter Grandbois, author of Last Night I Aged a Hundred Years

Please share/repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #read #poems #literature #poetry

[larkaloke]

Books I've Been Reading

I've been thinking about posting some kind of short "books I read last year" list for a while (since the end of last year, in fact), so I'm just going to go ahead and do it now. This should be from 2020 through to 2022, but a couple from 2019 might have snuck in there as well, mostly in non-fiction. I'm more sure of the fiction.

FICTION

Elatsoe (Darcy Little Badger)

The House of Shattered Wings (Aliette de Bodard)

The House of Binding Thorns (Aliette de Bodard)

The House of Sundering Flames (Aliette de Bodard)

Of Dragons, Feasts, and Murders (Aliette de Bodard)

Of Charms, Ghosts, and Grievances (Aliette de Bodard)

* The Killing Moon (N.K. Jemisin)

* The Shadowed Sun (N.K. Jemisin)

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (N.K. Jemisin)

The Broken Kingdoms (N.K. Jemisin)

The Kingdom of Gods (N.K. Jemisin)

The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps (Kai Ashante Wilson)

Witchmark (C.L. Polk)

Stormsong (C.L. Polk)

Soulstar (C.L. Polk)

Conspirator (C.J. Cherryh)

Deceiver (C.J. Cherryh)

Betrayer (C.J. Cherryh)

Intruder (C.J. Cherryh)

Protector (C.J. Cherryh)

Peacemaker (C.J. Cherryh)

Red Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson)

Green Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson)

Blue Mars (Kim Stanley Robinson)

Gideon the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

Harrow the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

Nona the Ninth (Tamsyn Muir)

* Ancillary Justice (Ann Leckie)

* Ancillary Sword (Ann Leckie)

* Ancillary Mercy (Ann Leckie)

Hermetica (Alan Lea)

Binti Trilogy (Nnedi Okorafor)

The Black Tides of Heaven (Neon Yang)

The Red Threads of Fortune (Neon Yang)

The Descent of Monsters (Neon Yang)

The Ascent to Godhood (Neon Yang)

If you got the idea that I tend to read series, yeah, that's true.

NON-FICTION

* Dinosaurs Rediscovered (Michael J. Benson)

The World of Dinosaurs (Mark A. Norell)

The Paleo Art of Julius Csotonyi (Julius Csotonyi and Steve White)

Dinosaur Art (edited by Steve White)

Dinosaur: Facts and Figures: the Therapods (Molina-Perez and Larramendi)

Dinosaur: Facts and Figures: the Sauropods (Molina-Perez and Larramendi)

Astrophysics For People In A Hurry (Neil de Grasse Tyson)

* The End of Everything (Katie Mack)

* The Disordered Cosmos (Chanda Prescod-Weinstein)

How Steam Locomotives Really Work (Semmens and Goldfinch)

Non-binary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity (Rajunov and Duane)

Stage Combat: Swordplay From Shakespeare to the Present (John Lennox)

Combat Theory: The Foundations of the Fight (John Lennox)

Ghosting the News (Margaret Sullivan)

The Bright Ages (Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry)

In Emergency, Break Glass (Nate Anderson)

* Learn How to Master the Art of Kart Driving (Terence Dove)

I was going to do some sort of ratings or something, but I'll save that for a more in-depth post somewhere else.

I was going to do some sort of ratings, but in lieu of that I just marked with a * books that ended up as new favorites (for fiction) or were particularly interesting or useful (for non-fiction). Not to imply that I disliked the others, of course. Something I actually disliked would probably not have been finished.

#reading #what i've been reading #books and reading