Warriors of the Plants

In Lotus leaf camp 

Cherryblaze padded out into the clearing, the river nearby roaring loudly. Cherryblaze looked around at the camp, observing everycat quietly, from an edge of the clearing.

Pigeonthroat padded up to Cherryblaze and flicked their tail in greeting. "Hey," the fluffy cat said quietly.

Cherryblaze turned around. "Whassup, Pigey?" She asked, looking the cat up and down quickly. "You gone hunting yet?"

"Mmm...not yet." They shifted their paws slightly. "If you haven't already, would you be interested in going hunting with me? The weather seems pretty nice, and we might be able to catch more prey as a pair..." Pigeonthroat trailed off awkwardly.

Cherryblaze nodded her head slowly. "Whyyy not!" She said, gesturing for Pigeonthroat to follow her out into the territory. As she slowed to wait for Pigeonthroat, Cherryblaze hummed impatiently.

In Cactusclan territory 

Pigeonthroat followed Cherryblaze through the camp entrance and into the expansive territory of Cactusclan, feeling the cool sand on their paws. "S-so...where should we start?"

Cherryblaze rolled her eyes at the question. Pigeonthroat was older that her, didn't they know procedure? Rolling her eyes slightly, she gestured around. "Dunno?" She asked sarcastically. "Maybe see if you can smell some prey?"

Pigeonthroat looked away. "Sorry." They sniffed the air, searching for the scent of prey. As they closed their eyes to focus, though, they heard a small rustling noise from behind a rock. "There's something there," they whispered, crouching.

Cherryblaze focused her eyes on the rock, sniffing the air. "Lark..." She whispered, dropping into a crouch and creeping around the rock. She jumped out, killing the lark with a quick nip to the neck. "Niceee." She celebrated aloud.

"Nice catch," the fluffy cat mumbled, still feeling embarrassed. "Good job!" Pigeonthroat flashed a small smile at the younger cat before turning to face the desert.

Cherryblaze chuckled in a slightly haughty tone. "Sorry I kinda got ahead of myself there!" She said cherrily. "Should have been your bit of prey, you take the next one."

Pigeonthroat smiled. "Thanks!" They closed their eyes and sniffed the air again, but had no luck finding any prey. Pigeonthroat let out a small, frustrated huff before padding deeper into the territory in search of anything edible.

Cherryblaze had noticed her actions hadn't been appreciated by Pigeonthroat, so she decided to appologise. That seemed to go well, so maybe toning it down in the future was the way to go with Pigeonthroat. Who knows. Some more investigation could prove useful. Cherryblaze trotted up to Pigeonthroat, putting on a highly convincing smile. "So how are things going with you?" She asked.

Pigeonthroat met her gaze. She's just asking because she feels sorry for me because I can't catch any prey, they thought. Oh no. Oh no. She must think I'm a failure. "I'm not really sure? It's a nice temperature right now, though... normally it's either too hot for comfort or colder than I'd like." They smiled again. "Uh, what about you?"

Cherryblaze nodded along to Pigeonthroat. “That’s good to hear!” She said cheerfully. "I’m fine too, maybe a bit bored, but that’s to be expected."

Pigeonthroat nodded. "Y-yeah." Oh no. Is this boring her? They stopped walking for a moment to stiff the air. There! Prey. The cat dropped into a crouch and began stalking in the direction the scent was coming from. Pigeonthroat crept forward before dropping their weight to the floor, then pounced suddenly, landing on top of a small jerboa. With a swift bite to the neck, Pigeonthroat killed their prey.

Cherryblaze let out a light cheer. "Oh yay!" She said happily. "That was a nice catch!" Cherryblaze looked at the limp jerboa in the cat's paws.

Pigeonthroat gave a soft smile and moved the jerboa so it lay beside the lark Cherryblaze had caught. "We should probably find a place to stash out prey," they said.

Cherryblaze nodded. "Let's just dig a quick hole, shal we?" She said, as she worked away at the sand with her paws. As soon as the hole was finished, she shoved the two bits of prey into it.

"Yyyeah, sounds good!!" Pigeonthroat waited for her to finish digging before asking, "So, uh, how are you?" then looked down at their paws. "Oh wait, didn't I already ask you that? S-sorry..."

Cherryblaze smiled. "You did, you did." She said. "But it's fine. I forget I just said something alllll the time!"

Okay, so she doesn't hate me?? I think?? Pigeonthroat thought to themself. "Alright. So, we should probably get back to hunting? I thought we might try looking for prey over there-" they gestured with their tail toward another area of the territory.

Smiling, Cherryblaze nodded along. I must have them hook, line and sinker by now... She thought happily, before looking to where Pigeonthroat was pointing. "We just have to make sure we don't head too far, pro is somewhere over there."

"Y-yeah, of course!" Pigeonthroat began walking slowly in the general direction they had previously mentioned, stopping frequently to taste the air.

Cherryblaze sighed lightly. "I doubt we'll find anything more to be honest." She commented. In the cold of leafbare, they were lucky to find what they did.

"Yeah..." Pigeonthroat shook out their fluff, sending small puffs of sand in all directions. "But hey, what we did manage to catch looks pretty good. Maybe we could share your lark when we get back to camp? Or... uh, if not, that's fine!!" they mumbled.

Cherryblaze smiled at Pigeonthroat. "Yeah, i'd love to share!" She said warmly, and it felt genuine, even on her side. "Let's see if we can find one more bit of prey?"

Pigeonthroat smiled, feeling genuinely happy. "Alright!" they slowed and asked, "Would you like to lead the way, or-?"

"Sure!" Cherryblaze said, leading the way deeper into the territory. Sniffing the air, Cherryblaze's ears pricked. "I smelll more preyyyy!" She half sang happily.

"Do you want to try to catch whatever it is, or should I?" Pigeonthroat whispered. They crouched slightly, hanging back to let their friend lead the way.

Cherryblaze stopped, offering the way to Pigeonthroat first. "You catch it!" She said supportively.

Pigeonthroat nodded and lowered themself so that their belly fluff brushed against the sandy ground. They crept forward slowly, careful to be as quiet as possible, before pouncing forward. They landed on a sandgrouse, which they killed after biting the helpless bird's neck.

Cherryblaze let out a squeal of delight. "Oh good job!" She said, running up to Pigeonthroat and smiling. "Let's go fetch the other prey and head back to camp!"

Pigeonthroat grinned and began dragging the sandgrouse back in the direction of the prey storage. "Thank you!! And yeah." They waited for a moment for Cherryblaze to catch up.

At Lotus leaf camp 

Daylily padded towards the medicine den with his recent bundle of herbs. It was more feverfew, which was great for combatting the start of a sickness.

Hearing someone approaching, Thistlesong prepared himself for interaction. Well, at least the worst it could be was Harry. He sighed.

Daylily poked his head inside, his green eyes wide as the string scent from the herbs wafted toward him. He laid them down by the foot of one the makeshift shelves they had, sighing with relief as he finished walking back from the border. “Here you go, Thistlesong!” Daylily said, dropping off the feverfew.

Thistlesong looked dully at Daylily. "Oh." He said, looking between the feverfew and Daylily. "Thanks." He nodded. Thistlesong's mind fought for a second. Mouseheart, Sunheart, they both thought it was wrong to put a cat so young in charge. In a way, so did Thistlesong. But he could also see the leadership potential in Daylily. Turning it over in his mind for a second, Thistlesong made a decision. "Uh, Daylily?"

Daylily perked up, pausing his mental work on checking off the herbs they had stocked. “Yeah?” He inquired

That was a loaded question. Surely everyone thought of being leader at least once. Daylily remembered being called Daystar at a young age and being teased for his need for responsibility. A part of felt like if he did try, he could be a just leader. “I mean...possibly.” Daylily said honestly, chuckling a little. He narrowed his eyes as he wondered what drove the question. 

Cactusclan had a leadership issue and Thistlesong was the only form of authority there was. Daylily, anxious in his wake, was a bit like the medicine cat’s intern, taking up jobs to help the senior cat balance things out. At least he also had Sunheart (who was still missing). “I mean, I think it would be a lot of responsibility but I think I could be an okay leader if I was given the opportunity.” Daylily said

Thistlesong hesitated again, very much not used to having this sort of conversation. Or any conversation at all, if we're being honest. Then again, Thistlesong hated having to 'run' this hell-hole (though admittedly he wasn't doing a lot of the work). It would be nice to have a lot of the responsibility off his shoulders.

"I think you'd also be quite the leader." Thistlesong admitted. "Dispite your young age, I think you've taken up the responsibility well, as Starclan intended." Thistlesong hinted the little tad about Starclan, hoping the smart tom would catch on.

“As what?” Daylily stammered. His eyes widened. Did he hear that right..? “As Starclan intended? What...what are you saying Thistlesong?” Daylily asked, his voice light yet heavy. “Are you saying...you want me to be the next leader?”

Well, that prevented him from having to say it aloud. Thank starclan. "Yes." Thistlesong said simply. "A little while ago, a prophecy came to me, and I believe it was telling me that you, Daylily, were destined to be Cactusclan's next leader." Well, if Daylily was going to know, then he may as well know the whole story, Thistlesong reasoned to himself. "It's a lot to take in, but if you wish to become the leader of Cactusclan, then so be it."

Daylily pressed his lips into a thin line as a strange sense of thrill ran through him. He slapped himself, mentally of course. If he were to slap himself physically, Thistlesong would think something was wrong with him. Which there obviously was or could be. Being Leader... Daylily thought listlessly. It’s almost everyone’s dream.

The fact that Starclan approved of him as well. It was…exciting yet nerve wracking. A chill ran through his spine, making him shiver. His blood felt cold, his body felt as if he was dunked into icy water. Daystar. A voice whispered. Dawnkit, Duskkit, Foxkit and Shrewkit. But they were supportive. Daystar. Came Flintkit’s and Brownkit’s voices. But they were teasing and sneerful. 

“I...I want to think about it for a bit.” Daylily said quietly, “Wer—were there other candidates?”

Thistlesong shrugged. "None that starclan made me aware of." He said with a small grin. "And please, take all the time you need. I can imagine it's a tough decision."

Daylily nodded and stepped out of the den, feeling a tingle run through his fur

At the border between Flowerclan and Cactusclan 

Being a leader wasn’t anything that came easy. It took responsibility, responsibility over yourself, of others, and over all sorts of actions. You had to represent a group of your own, represent their needs and their wants, guide and protect them to make sure they thrive. 

Daylily had been doing such things at a young age. Back when he was still a kit that called himself a daughter. Windwhistle was only one cat. The monarch did his best to raise four kits on his own.It’s where Daylily came in. As the oldest he was given the task of overseeing the others and keeping them in check. He failed in some areas, came too short in trying protect their interests, but otherwise he was seen as the adored eldest brother. 

As he got older, his responsibilities extended beyond his family and went to the rest of his clan. Even if he didn’t necessarily see them as a family per say, he saw them as individuals who he had connections with, duties to, an obligation to uphold. Maybe they were friends to an extent but before all they were beings. Beings who deserved respect and attention and empathy. Daylily thought of Sunheart who would be an excellent clan leader. He was perfect for the job. Strong willed, mature, loyal. If not tired and drained. Sunheart didn’t want to be leader, he just wanted to retire. 

Daylily would never push him to be leader. Nor anyone. Especially considering the rules and expectations considering their current predicament of the Civil War. It wasn’t fair. Daylily wanted to be something he liked. He couldn’t do that however. Because…he had to step up and do something for the others. Uphold his end of the bargain, be that someone they can respect equally as well and be that someone he could be proud of. 

He already did so much work. So much more for the clan. From his time as a kit befriending Rainstar to his time as an apprentice assisting his clanmate’s justice, to his current place as a warrior who’s pushing past his post to do something—anything.

Daylily stared at the river, smiling at his own reflection. Maybe it wasn’t his fate to figure out his own identity, or what could have been had he not shouldered so much. But he maybe he could help others maintain and explore their own. “Okay.” He breathed out loud, setting his jaw. He can grieve for his childhood later.

At the moon pond 

Daylily took a deep breath. This was it. This was something he easily doing. He knew the clan was quite mixed when Thistlesong made the announcement. He was met with some cheers and the others stared at him with uncertainty. Daylily believed he was doing the right thing...right?

Thistlesong padded up to the moonpool, nodding to Daylily. "You ready?" He asked, taking a deep breath.

Daylily slightly shook, feeling his paws feel all jittery as he nodded. “Y-yeah!” He said, nodding his head. He can do this. Starclan believed in him. He had to as well. “Yes.”

Thistlesong nodded. "Dip your nose into the pond." He said. "Count of three. 1, 2...3."

Daylily closed his eyes and he dipped his head.

Daystar opened his eyes, tears stinging. His legs wobbled as he tried to stand up.

Thistlesong's eyes shined. "Congrats, Daystar." He said warmly. "We should get back to camp."

His voice was raspy, raw but real. “Of course.” Daystar meowed.