Introducing: Mothwing

[mothwingofriverclan]

Mothwing leaves camp at sunrise, wanting to beat the greenleaf heat. Herbs are plentiful this time of year, and Mothwing wants to find a few to take back to camp to teach Frostpaw their scents. She’s glad that she’d found a new apprentice with a connection to StarClan so quickly after Willowshine’s death, if only so that her clanmates wouldn’t bug her. She still doubts that they really need StarClan; it had been Bristlefrost that saved them from the impostor and the Dark Forest, not a bunch of mouse-brained dead cats. Still, Frostpaw was learning her herbs well, which was what really mattered.

Heading for the lakeshore, Mothwing keeps an eye out for borage, and maybe some rosemary. Padding up to the edge, Mothwing takes a look at her reflection. She’s getting old. Her dappled golden fur isn’t as shiny as it once was, and her amber eyes are tired, but she notes with satisfaction that she’s still bigger and stronger than most of her clanmates.

There’s an odd flicker in the lake, and Mothwing instinctively swats at it with her paw--extra fish is always welcome, even in bountiful greenleaf--but it turns out to be a trick of the light. Disappointed, she looks up, and is startled to find herself at a completely different lake. It’s much smaller than her lake, and she can’t see the Gathering island anywhere. Besides, it smells completely different--is it leaf-fall suddenly? She backs up a few steps, the fur on her back raising defensively.

For a moment, she wants to laugh--is this her first ever vision from StarClan? They couldn’t have sent this to her seasons ago, when her position was in question? Then she notices the large twoleg dwelling looming over the lake, and she feels a stupid kind of relief. There are definitely no twoleg dens in StarClan’s hunting grounds, so this isn’t a vision. On the other paw... she has no idea where she is.

“Is any cat here?” she meows as loudly as she dares. Unbeknownst to her, anyone walking by would understand her words, whether they were a cat, a twoleg, or any other person.

Comments

[mothwingofriverclan]

Mothwing hisses in surprise. A twoleg that can talk? She backs up cautiously, but he isn't trying to catch her, just looking at her.

"What is an einherji?" she meows. Maybe that's something different than a twoleg, though he looks no different than any twoleg she's ever seen making unreasonable amounts of noise near the river in greenleaf.

[summerdude]

"On of Odin's heroic dead," Magnus says, a little self-consciously. "Um, I guess you could call it a type of human?"

[mothwingofriverclan]

Human... Mothwing has a vague memory of hearing a kittypet or two refer to twolegs that way.

"Heroic dead," she repeats. "So this is tw--human StarClan?" Oh, fox-dung. She had worried that she wouldn't go to StarClan when she died, but she'd thought she might go wherever kittypets went, not a StarClan for a different type of animal entirely.

[summerdude]

"What's StarClan?" Magnus asks, curiously. "Some kind of -- halls of the dead? Most of the people here are alive, I think. Or a funky kind of exception, like me."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"Yes, it's where cats from my Clan--and all the Clans--go when they die," she meows. "Well, if they let you in." She can't believe she's explaining this. Even though she knows StarClan is real now, it still sounds like the type of silly tale an elder tells to keep kits entertained. "So you were exiled from your StarClan?"

[summerdude]

"Um, no," Magnus says. "Most people go to Helheim when they die -- that's Hel's home for dishonorable dead. If you die with a weapon in your hand engaged in an at of selfless heroism, you go to either Valhalla or Folkvanger^*. But that's only true of Vikings. Other places have other traditions. The Greeks have Hades, for example. Christians talk about Heaven and Hell, but I'm pretty sure they're wrong about that."

*Everyone please clap, he remembered its name!

[mothwingofriverclan]

Mothwing guesses she shouldn't be surprised that twolegs have as many afterlives as cats do, but she is. She's never really thought of twolegs as being all that different from each other before. She's learning a lot today.

"So you're a dead warrior of VikingClan," she meows. "But you're not sure how you got here." She pads over to Magnus and gently prods at his foot, trying to see if he's a ghost, like the spirit of Bramblestar was when he was barred from StarClan, or if he's solid.

[summerdude]

"Oh, I know how I got here," Magnus, who is quite solid, says. "I was taking the recycling chute out of Valhalla to go get falafel with my girlfriend and instead of landing at Fenway, I landed here. And I know how I ended up at Valhalla, too." He decides to spare the cat this particular story. "And everything in between. I just don't know how to get home from here."

[mothwingofriverclan]

Mothwing sheepishly stops batting at the twoleg's shoe.

"I don't know how to get home either. Or most of the words you just said," she meows. "But I guess I should start with names. I'm Mothwing. And you are...?"

[summerdude]

"Oh, sorry!" Magnus says. "I'm Magnus. Magnus Chase. Nice to meet you, Mothwing."

Because he cannot offer his hand to a cat to shake, he bows.

[mothwingofriverclan]

Mothwing dips her head back. This twoleg is strange, and Mothwing distrusts "heroic dead" on principle, but his bouncy manner reminds her of an apprentice. Actually--she has no idea how to tell how old twolegs are. He's taller than the very smallest ones she's seen, but maybe twolegs are like cats, and apprentices are the same size as adults.

"Have you... finished your training?" she asks, trying to get a sense for his age.

[summerdude]

"I don't think anyone ever finishes?" Magnus says, thoughtfully, absolutely not picking up on Mothwing's meaning. "Battle Practice is every day, forever."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"Oh, no," meows Mothwing, alarmed. "I don't think I could take it if I was an apprentice even a moon longer than I was."

[summerdude]

"What was your apprenticeship in?" Magnus asks, very much intrigued.

[mothwingofriverclan]

"I trained as a warrior, then as a medicine cat. I assume you're still training to be an einherji warrior?" Whatever that was.

[summerdude]

"Oh, I am an einherji warrior," Magnus says. "The practice is for the final battle." He's excited by the other thing Mothwing mentioned, though. "A medicine cat? I have healing powers. I'd love to learn what yours entail."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"I don't have any powers," Mothwing meows shortly. "I just learned my healing herbs the best I could, and I have many moons of practice."

[summerdude]

"Which makes it monumentally cooler," Magnus says. He laughs a little. "I'm a very bad warrior, so I try to be good at other things."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"Thank you!" Mothwing's pleased to hear someone respect that she heals without StarClan's help. "I'm sure you're great at what you choose to do."

[summerdude]

Magnus considers this. "I am very good at having friends," he decides. "Um, can I help you settle in at all, Mothwing? Is there stuff you need to be able to feel at home? Food, a particular sleeping arrangement?"

[mothwingofriverclan]

"Maybe you can tell me where to find moss or feathers so I can make a nest?" Mothwing gets up and scans the lakeshore. "I just need to find a good den out here. At home the medicine den is a thorn bush."

[summerdude]

"Oh, there's a cool clearing in the woods with a ton of moss," Magnus says, not bothering to add that he's been making sure the moss grows so he has a soft place to chill out when he's watching the clouds on his own and trying to feel his dad's presence. "And tons of bushes. We also have a lot of great places for a cat inside? Tons of armchairs. And books, if you wanted to nap on one while someone's reading. Someone usually is."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"I'm not a kittypet, so I don't live inside," Mothwing explains patiently. Her mother had mentioned armchairs to her a few times, and they did sound comfortable, but it's still too close to being a kittypet, even if Magnus wouldn't be a bad twoleg to have. "And I have the lake to fish in here, so I won't be hungry. Just show me the moss clearing, and I'll be fine."

[summerdude]

"Sure," Magnus says. "C'mon, I'll show you the way." He starts off in the direction of the clearing, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Mothwing is following. As he walks, he says, "So kittypets are different from... Clans?"

[mothwingofriverclan]

Magnus moves quickly, making enough noise to scare off any prey in the vicinity, but Mothwing's able to keep up.

"Very different. We clan cats reject the soft life of a kittypet," she recites. It's one part of the warrior code Mothwing actually understands. "We live on our own territories, not in the Twolegplace, and hunt our own food."