Warriors of the Plants

Inside the stone den 

The castle was quite eerie at night. It was windy and tree branches were banging against the tall windows that wrapped around the stone den. Ever small creak and every loose drip from a leak was heard, drip, drip, drip.

Smoke was one to keep in his anxiety, as it was expected for him to know how to control his own unwinding emotions during distress, but he always hated the dark and Castleclan was just too dark

Webswirl couldn't sleep. They had been sleeping fitfully ever since they went to the circus...they deeply regretted it. Regretted ever laying their eyes on Felix again. Having known their own parents didn't believe them. They were sitting on the windowsill looking out the window their black fur disheveled making them look even bigger

Thunder boomed in the far distance, or at least he presumed it was thunder. Back with gramps it could have been the trash collectors picking up their cans and leaving rumbling thunderstorms of raucous booms in its path. 

But Smoke wasn’t with his gramps or back in his neighborhood. He was tiptoeing around Castleclan trying to ease his fears based on the troublesome fact that insomnia caught up to him again.

Webswirl would hear Smoke's tiptoeing. They could tell when it was the creak of pawsteps or just the old floorboards groaning from age. They would move swiftly yet quietly from the windowsill going unnoticed as they approached Smoke.

Once they were right behind Smoke was when they finally revealed themselves. "Hey." They meowed gruffly towering over the other tom looking as if the shadows at come alive 

Smoke leapt up into the air, curling into a donut roll to soften his fall. Upon getting back up, he let out a high pitched  shriek when beady eyes stared at him, ripe from the shadows. Smoke backed up, his pelt bristling before he realized the shadows were no monster, it was rather Webswirl

Webswirl's ears pinned back slightly when Smoke let out such a high pitched shriek. "H-hey quiet down. You'll wake up the whole clan!" They growled

“Sorry!” Smoke said, sheepishly, trying to relax. “I just…it’s dark and you came from no where.”

"Sorry?" Webswirl meowed but truthfully they didn't even know they had snuck up on Smoke so well. "What are you doing up?" They asked in a whisper shaking their pelt

“Insomnia.” Smoke said with a bitter laugh. “And nightmares. Funny huh? I just, I’m still not used to the castle even though I’ve been here for a few moons. I was trying to find a way to relieve my tension an occupy my mind but I got more nervous if anything. What about you? Why are you up?”

Webswirl would slowly nod "I was the same why when I was first here.." They murmured before shrugging "Can't sleep." They simply meowed

“Anything in particular keeping you up?” Smoke asked, tilting his head

Webswirl would turn glaring their hazel eyes at Smoke "Why do you want to know?" They growled defensively

Smoke flinched, adjusting his color. “Sorry, question of habit.”

Webswirl let out a huff looking away before sighing. They were tired and Smoke didn't seem the type to be cruel... everybody else in the stone den liked them. Although that was the same case with Felix. "I just.. saw my parents for the first time in a long time.." They grunted simply looking back towards the window looking out at the gray sky

“I see. How did that make you feel?” Smoke asked softly

Webswirl sighed "Good. At first.." they muttered flicking their tail

“At first?” Smoke inquired, raising his brows.

Webswirl would look away from the window and at Smoke. They weren't exactly sure how to explain to Smoke everything that happened. "They sided with the cat who tried to murder me." They decided to simply say using a claw pointing at the web like scars over their eyes

By the stars, that caught him off guard. The last time he ever talked to someone regarding attempted murder was with Sunheart, and that was a tricky time for him. Smoke wasn’t sure how to approach the situation considering that he didn’t expect it to be murder, but all he could think was. “That’s not fair.” Smoke meowed. “That’s not fair for you at all.“

Webswirl would nod but saying it wasn't fair didn't change anything. It didn't change the fact Felix is still getting away with what he did...

“I’m sorry that happened to you. No parent should have to side with an abuser over their child. You don’t deserve that treatment considering the trauma sustained. I can only imagine what happened, and I sincerely wish that the meeting happened differently.”

Webswirl would look at Smoke as if Smoke had just spoken a different language

Okay while now this was awkward. “Did I say something wrong?”

"No.." Webswirl meowed "I've never told anybody else what happened.." they whispered shaking their head. They told cats they were from the circus but they never really said how they got chased out. Just that they were chased out and given their scars.

“Oh.” Smoke said. “Well thank you for sharing this with me. It is very personal so I understand why you wouldn’t bring it up.”

"..Do you think I should go back? Try again?" Webswirl asked. A bit of that scared little kit coming out. They were ripped away from their parents at a young age and they were just got to see them again and probably for the last time. "I won't ever get to see them again.." they murmured

“I can sense that you really care for them and are hurt by their actions.” Smoke said, “But I’m not sure if you being in that environment is the best. On the other hand, I do think you should talk this out with your parents, you need closure and they need to understand what happened to you wasn’t justified.”

Webswirl shook their head "They won't believe me. They won't believe *he* would do that. I just want to say my final goodbyes.." they muttered "I didn't get to last time," they sighed fidgeting with their front paws

“Will that help you feel better?” Smoke asked

Webswirl would look at the window. They haven't really thought about how they would feel about anything. They just trained and did what they were told. "..I have no idea." They sighed truthfully. Just this short conversation seeming to train them already

“I think you should go say your goodbyes in that case, but I want you to know that whatever you’re feeling is completely valid.” Smoke gently stated

Webswirl would make an awkward smile "Hah uh.. thank you.." they meowed. They looked quite cute with their sheepish smile. Not that intimidating mountainous cat. Just a tired looking tom

The sight was a bit surprising but it was warm. Smoke gently patted Webswirl with a smile of his own. The castle wasn’t that dark.

"You should get some sleep," They meowed standing up offering to lead Smoke back to the warrior's den

A yawn did escape the small grey cat, Smoke promptly excused himself but made no other attempt to hide his weariness. He was thankful that Webswirl accompanied him. “Thank you.”

Webswirl nodded padding along side the smaller cat. They padded into the warriors den making sure Smoke went and laid down before slipping back out of the warriors den

In Cactusclan territory 

Dawnpaw started running, she didn't know why she was running but he couldn't stop now, Dawnpaw closed their eyes as they felt the hot air on his face. She yelped in alarm as her paw hit a random rock hidden in the sand, they tumbled and landed face first.

Whirlwhisper growled in annoyance as the sounds Dawnpaw was making woke them up, they turned to face her, confused on what the apprentice was doing as there wasn't anything here, not even a random rat underground.

Dawnpaw coughed and spat out sand, growling in frustration as they stood up and tried to chuck the rock that caused them to trip across the desert, it didn't go very far so that made Dawnpaw even more angry. "STUPID ROCK!" They yowled.

Whirlwhisper flinched from the rage filled screams Dawnpaw was making, she opened her mouth to try and shut him up but Dawnpaw didn't hear her over his own screaming.

"STUPID STUPID STUPID!" Dawnpaw continued screaming, "STUPID HARRY! STUPID FORESTCLAN! STUPID THISTLESONG! STUPID EVERYTHING!" He lashed his tail as they clawed at the rock, almost accidentally yanking out her own claws, "I HATE THIS!"

Whirlwhisper originally was just gonna silently walk away and leaving Dawnpaw to do whatever they were here to do, but it seems like they really need someone to there for him right now,and Whirlwhisper is definitely not the best therapist but she figured she should at least try, but only because she was Duskpaw's sibling. "Um Dawnpaw? You aight?" They cleared her throat weakly.

Dawnpaw panted from tiredness, from the running and the screaming and lashing, he barely noticed Whirlwhisper. "WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY DOES THIS HAS TO HAPPEN?!"

Whirlwhisper was growing concerned now, she doesn't know what's happening back at camp, she knows about Forestclan but that's about it, they stopped keeping out with the drama a long time ago and just avoided the Forestclan border all together. Whirlwhisper gently tapped Dawnpaw's shoulder, or at least they tried to, she doesn't actually know if she did. "Dawnpaw..?"

Dawnpaw whirled around and smacked the thing that dared to touch them. "Don't touch me you foul-oh foxdung!" He widen his eyes in shock as she realized what she did. "Whirlwhisper! I-I didn't mean to do that! Promise!"

Whirlwhisper recoiled back from the hit, hissing in pain as she rubbed her face, "It's fine..." They managed to hiss, though it was pretty obvious that they were not fine.

Dawnpaw stared wide eyed at Whirlwhisper, feeling ashamed for letting her emotions lose control like that, they know they have anger issues, they let all that hate and anger fester inside of him and lash at anyone that happens to poke him at the wrong time. "I-I'm sorry! Do you need anything?"

Whirlwhisper shook her head, "No I'm fine, the pain is going away." They muttered nonchalantly as if nothing had happened. "What's got your fur into a twist?"

"It's just-I mean...nothing! Everything's fine!" Dawnpaw snapped loudly, "I'm sorry about hitting you and all, I was just feeling silly."

Whirlwhisper raised a brow, "Feeling silly?" She sat down and drew a paw over her ear, "I don't usually...do this, but since you're Duskpaw's family, you get a free pass."

Dawnpaw tilted his head in confusion, "What?"

Whirlwhisper sighed, "Tell me what's wrong with you. You're clearly not okay."

"OH uh..." Dawnpaw looked away in embarrassment, even though Whirlwhisper couldn't see that. "It's just...I want to help my brother and Sunheart but everything I do just seems to make their problems bigger! And that rouge! Harry! I don't know something about him just rubs my fur in the wrong way!"

Whirlwhisper nodded, waiting for Dawnpaw to continue.

Dawnpaw paced around in place, kicking up sand and sending dust everywhere, he was aware that he looked like a mess but it's not like Whirlwhisper can see their messy fur anyway. "Maybe I went too hard on him or something, but it's not like he got trapped in camp for 2 moons! And I was trying to do something good! Like help Sheepfish! And he did something bad! And he barely got punished! He got scolded and that's it! Dustytrail comforted him but no one comforted me!"

Whirlwhisper tilted their head in thought, "Uh huh..."

"You see my point?" Dawnpaw snarled, running their claws through his hair.

"I can't see." Whirlwhisper pointed out.

Dawnpaw scoffed in annoyance, "You get what I mean! Ugh! And Daylily is so stressed! I want to help him out but he doesn't want my help, is it because I'm still an apprentice or is it because I'm not helpful enough?! I mean I know he doesn't like to receive help, cuz it makes him feel useless or something but come on! I'm right here! Let me help!"

"But why do you think like that?" Whirlwhisper asked in confusion, not really understanding the apprentice.

Dawnpaw looked at Whirlwhisper blankly, "What do you mean?"

"You said that you want to help, but earlier you said that everytime you tried to help, you'd ruin everything?" Whirlwhisper explained, "So do you want to help or not?"

Dawnpaw faltered, "I...I want to help...I just don't know how." They mewed quietly, unsure of themself all of a sudden, "I just want to help and protect Daylily, cuz he had done so much for me, but I dunno...I just seem to stress him out more, and my efforts to protect just fall flat, he still gets hurt..."

Whirlwhisper sat there without moving a whisker.

Dawnpaw sighed, "I just wish I knew why I think differently from them."

Whirlwhisper flicked her tail and perked up her ears, "Think differently? What do you mean by that?"

Dawnpaw sighed again, "Everytime I meet someone new, I automatically think that they will hurt my family. I didn't used to be like this, I used to love making friends! But now...I just don't trust anyone anymore."

Whirlwhisper nodded understandingly, "I get that."

Dawnpaw looked up in surprise, "You do?"

Whirlwhisper turned to face the other way, feeling their pelt prickle, "Yea...something happened in my life and I could never trust ever again."

Dawnpaw looked curious, but decided not to ask incase it made them uncomfortable. "Oh...I'm uh sorry? Sorry I don't know how to respond to these kinds of things."

Whirlwhisper sniffed, "It's all good, do you feel better?"

Dawnpaw blinked, "Um I guess..? I'm not shouting anymore so that probably means something."

"Cool, I'm gonna catch myself some dinner, you can do whatever." Whirlwhisper did a big stretch and stood up straight, walking off to who knows where.

Dawnpaw watched Whirlwhisper walk off, wondering what happened to his clanmate when she was young, he was always curious about how Whirlwhisper got their scars. Dawnpaw stood up and shook some sand off her pelt, grooming it down to at least look presentable. Once they were done, they lifted his nose to the air and grumbled in frustration when she scented nothing. Dawnpaw sighed and made her way back to camp.

In Cactusclan camp 

Daylily searched for Sunheart, still perturbed by the vision he saw of an older Cactusclan 

Sunheart would be watching camp from the entrance watching the other cats as he soaked up the sun

There, fiery fur glimmering in the brash sunlight, sat Sunheart. He was almost bright as the golden rays that shown down on him, Daylily wasn’t sure whether he had to squint. He walled up to his uncle and sat down, a slight anxious tone to his face that was masked fairly well. 

To anyone else, his twitching and shifts would be normal, Daylily was known to always be moving in some way, but if they were within his family—it was the quirks he presented meant that he was unsettled

Sunheart would smile seeing Daylily approach him "Daylily," He meowed dipping his head with a smile before noticing his twitching and shifts. "You okay?" He asked worriedly

“Perfect, perfect. Excellent! My experiments didn’t go well today though,” Daylily said, stalling. Maybe his bad start to the day was a sign. But what for? WHAT COULD IT HAVE MEANT?!

Sunheart gave his a nephew incredulous look. Obviously not believing his former apprentice. "You sure?" He pressed "You don't seem to get this upset over some experiments,"

That’s right, Daylily would sob quietly and then move on. This was different. “Well, yeah...actually I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Sunheart nodded "Alright, what is it?" He asked curiously

“Remember that one dream I had..?” Daylily asked hesitantly. Now, he wasn’t quite sure whether he did share it with Sunheart. Did he?

"Hmm...which one?" Sunheart asked. Even if Daylily had shared this dream with Sunheart there was a very high chance the orange tom forgot

"Um the one after we both got our wounds treated, yours was the adder bite and mine were the thorns. The dream was about my throat getting sliced open..?” Daylily explained. That was one way to remember it

Sunheart tried to remember but he just couldn't and he wondered if he forgot. What kind of uncle was he forgetting something like that?! "Y-yeah what about it?" He meowed deciding just to play along

“Well I had a dream with the cats that I saw in former. At least some of them..” Daylily said quietly, unnerved. “And I don’t how to feel about it.”

Sunheart slowly nodded, "Well...I have dreams of cats I used to know," he offered

“But I don’t know anyone there! There was a cat called Trackrunner I think? And Bluetuft?“ Daylily pressed. “And it was all in cactusclan!”

Sunheart's eyes lit up "Trackrunner?" He echoed "That was Trackstar's warrior name," he meowed

“Trackstar?” Daylily asked, tilting his head. “Was Trackrunner—star the previous leader before Rainstar?”

Sunheart nodded, "Yeah she was the one that decided Larkswim would be my mentor," he muttered under his breath spitefully before shaking his head "How's that possible? You didn't know of Trackstar let alone their warrior name,"

Now Daylily was certain something was wrong. “She was in my dream.” He said awkwardly. “I saw cats fighting, like if Cactusclan had split?”

Sunheart slowly nodded "Really?" He breathed looking at Daylily with wide amber eyes "I know I never told you but.. CactusClan was split before," he meowed "I wasn't there myself but I heard stories of it,"

“What do you mean?” Daylily inquired, furrowing his brows

Sunheart took a breath as he tried to recall but he mostly learned about it through his mother. "Some disagreement.. I don't remember what but it basically split our clan in two. Fighting one another and what not,"

“So there was some sort of civil war.” Daylily murmured. “Why would I have a vision of that? I understand that the clan is tense and upset, it’s in great disarray but you don’t think it would call for a civil war again do you?”

"With what Bluetuft told me.. maybe.." Sunheart frowned sweeping his gaze over the clan. "Wait why would you be getting visions?" He meowed before remembering his disagreement with Thistlesong. Even if the med cat was right it wasn't fair to Daylily.. but he also didn't feel good keeping that away from his former apprentice

The younger cat pressed a paw to his head, frowning. “I’m not sure! Normally visions and anything else of the sorts should go to Thistlesong!”

"NO!" Sunheart snapped with a shocking amount of force in his voice. But he quickly regretted it "I mean..." there was no saving himself from this mistake. "If you want to go to Thistlesong I'd like to be there too.." he softly meowed

Daylily blinked in shock. His ears rung from the sudden burst. Was Sunheart alright? “Okayyy..”

Sunheart sighed knowing going to the medicine cat with a possible vision was the best idea. But he also didn't want to give Thistlesong more reason to put more pressure on Daylily

Daylily got back up, wondering what was wrong with Sunheart. He looked irritated at the mention of Thistlesong

Sunheart sighed licking his chest looking at Daylily. He was just worried for him.. he felt powerless to help Daylily. He hated feeling powerless all the time