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]

Oddly, this does calm Mothwing down a little. At least she's not the only one who doesn't entirely understand what's going on. She sits down and tucks her tail around her paws.

"Where is here? Whose territory is this?" she meows curiously.

[sporesprouter]

Tress sits on the grass a couple yards away from Mothwing. "No one is entirely sure about either, unfortunately. It's the house and grounds, but it seems to be a place between worlds that everyone comes to randomly, and nobody's found a way to leave yet. So I guess you could say it's everyone's territory who comes here."

She pauses. "If that didn't really make sense, I'm sorry."

[mothwingofriverclan]

Mothwing hadn't smelled any borders, so it makes sense that this isn't some group's territory. Then what the twoleg has said sinks in.

"We're... trapped here?" she asks, trying not to sound scared.

[sporesprouter]

"Yes. I'm sorry. At least so far. There are people here still trying to find a way out so everyone who wants to can get back to our homes."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"I didn't know twolegs could get trapped at all," Mothwing meows. "You're so big, I thought you could escape any cage. But I suppose this one is big enough for all of us." Her heart sinks at the thought of Frostpaw all alone, trying to heal the clan by herself. She's barely out of kithood. She hopes that Mistystar will send for Alderheart or Shadowsight to come help Frostpaw until Mothwing gets back.

"My name is Mothwing, by the way," she adds. "Do twolegs have names?"

[sporesprouter]

"Oh, we can definitely get trapped. Sometimes twolegs make cages for each other, too. Those are actually easier to get out of if you're small." Tress thinks briefly back to her time in the brig of the first ship she stowed away on after leaving home.

She smiles, though. "It's nice to meet you, Mothwing. We do have names, and mine is Tress."

[mothwingofriverclan]

Mothwing suddenly remembers the stories of Tigerstar keeping half-clan cats trapped when he'd made TigerClan, and shudders. That had been such a tragic time in RiverClan's history that many didn't like to speak of it, especially not while Leopardstar had still been alive. Sometimes Mothwing thought that her former leader could have faced more consequences for helping Tigerstar, but it wasn't as if she, Tigerstar's daughter, would have really been listened to on that subject.

"It's nice to meet you too, Tress. I know some cats who have escaped being trapped before, too, so maybe we can get out if we work together."

[sporesprouter]

"Hopefully so. The more clever minds we have working on the problem, the better, right?"

[mothwingofriverclan]

"I like that way of thinking," Mothwing meows. She remembers something her mother once told her about being a kittypet. "Maybe if we befriend whoever is keeping us trapped here, they'll let us out through a little door."

[sporesprouter]

"That would be lovely if it happened. Unfortunately, whoever's keeping us trapped here hasn't actually showed themselves either. Hard to befriend someone you don't know anything about." And Tress, of all people, would absolutely make an attempt at it.