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]

Rhetoric, Mothwing understands. She can hold forth pretty well herself in that department.

"I hadn't thought about it like that before, but we certainly choose names with care," she meows. "We get the first half of our names from our mothers, and the second when we come of age, from our leaders. They have to be good at understanding which words sound good together."

[wickedwit]

"I'd be curious to hear more about your culture, if you'd like to share." He'd also like to pet the beautiful cat, but he restrains himself. "Is there a story behind the name Mothwing? There isn't much of one behind Claudius," he says wryly, "other than that Claudius was the name of an infirm leader disliked by his family¹."

¹ Well, when you say it like that, Claudius.

[mothwingofriverclan]

"I think my name was mostly chosen because my pelt is fairly pale, and wing sounds good with moth," she admits. "Your name reminds me of my nephew. My sister Tawnypelt--also a pretty self-explanatory name, honestly--named her son after our father, who was also a widely disliked leader. I think she meant for him to redeem the name, and to show that she wasn't ashamed of her heritage. Do you think your parents meant your name like that? Are you related to the first Claudius?"

[wickedwit]

"No, the first Claudius was a Roman," he says with a faint smile. Describing everything anew, to someone who has a culture and heritage removed from his own, lets him take another view on it. "You have leaders among your kind -- do you have nations or tribes? The Roman Empire was a very old nation of twolegs that fell after trying to rule all the other twolegs it came into contact with. I always thought my parents named me that way as a warning. My brother's a leader, and they wanted me to know that if I tried to take his place, I'd fail. Tawnypelt sounds far more admirable. Has she redeemed her name?"

[mothwingofriverclan]

"We have clans. And there is one tribe," she adds. An ancient clan sounds like the tales of LionClan, TigerClan and LeopardClan the elders like to tell, but of course those clans weren't real. This Roman Empire is more like the real TigerClan, the one her father had run. "Yes, her son became a leader as well, and he's doing a better job than his grandfather. Why didn't your parents want you to be the leader? Surely your brother could have chosen you as deputy."

[wickedwit]

"He could have chosen me as an advisor," he agrees. He settles down from crouching, sitting down and crossing his legs on the ground. It's more comfortable for conversation with a cat. "My parents could've raised me for it, could've taken the time to teach and train me, and had me work more closely with my brother so we built a rapport. Parents make poor choices, at times. So do leaders, and there's more pressure when one has to be both." It's the kindest thing he could ever say for his parents, who he's paid back for so long with indifference. Indifference was the best they'd given him, and he took it as his inheritance. "They were older, when they had me, and running out of time to make choices. They both died, before I reached adulthood. Without knowing the adult I'd be, they couldn't trust me with the power they held."

[mothwingofriverclan]

Mothwing listens to him seriously.

"Forgive me for my lack of understanding, but are leaders in your clan chosen by who their parents are?" It seems like a slightly crazy system for choosing leaders, though she supposes that most of the deputies in the forest right now are related to their leaders in some way. Still, she can't understand why that would be the system by default. "What if a leader doesn't want to have kits?"

[wickedwit]

Claudius laughs, and shakes his head. "A leader can still choose not to have kits, in my clan. Then some of the twolegs will have a vote to choose the leader after him. But it's a clan with very little trust between most of the twolegs. If it's unclear to them who the next leader will be, the twolegs in my clan will argue, and even go to war. So they try to prevent that by making leadership simple. The eldest son of the last leader is almost always made the next. It's a bad system, in fact, that the philosophers of other twoleg clans criticize. How are your leaders chosen?"

[mothwingofriverclan]

"A leader chooses a deputy. A deputy just has to be any warrior who has mentored at least one apprentice. If the deputy dies, a new one must be appointed before moonhigh that same day. Then when the leader loses their ninth life, the deputy becomes leader. Of course, if the deputy and the leader died at the same time, there would be some confusion¹, but that hasn't happened in my memory. Sometimes leaders do choose their own kits, but not always." Mothwing pauses. "Wait, why the eldest son and not the eldest kit regardless of gender?"

¹Definitely not the plot of the Warriors arc Mothwing was pulled from right before.

[wickedwit]

“Ah, yes, you've hit upon another problem with our system. You're quite insightful, Mothwing," Claudius says with a smile growing fond. "Some time ago, a daughter of the old king did lead our clan. She was what we call a queen regnant. Her son was elected leader when he was a kit himself, and so she made decisions on his behalf. They called her the sovereign lady and lord and guardian of the entire kingdom of Denmark, so she had a lot of power, and she used it decisively. She was said to be indomitable. But this only happens in rare cases, and it's always as a temporary measure, until the next leader is chosen or comes of age. I think, in the history of my clan, there have been many women who would make more capable leaders than the men. It's obvious to everyone that an indomitable queen is more capable than a two-year-old kit. But they still elected the kit, and not his mother. A lot has to happen, and usually someone has to die, for the clan to even consider a queen regnant. Do you see how many problems that creates? It makes the clan worse, but it's a tradition that our clan and other clans cleave to."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"Kits as leaders, and excluding she-cats? Completely mouse-brained," Mothwing agrees. "I think tradition causes more problems than it solves. I think this she-cat--or lady--sounds wonderful."

[wickedwit]

"I appreciate hearing your perspective," Claudius says with a sincere smile. "And I'll have to remember mouse-brained as an insult. A great deal of my clan's politics were mouse-brained, which is why I'm glad I'm not with them. This place has a more egalitarian clan, with no leaders."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"So I hear," Mothwing meows. "I'm beginning to like the idea."

[wickedwit]

"I do hope you'll come to enjoy it here," Claudius says politely and fondly. "Do you care for catmint? Twolegs drink it in tea for sleeplessness and colds, and I've a great deal of it harvested and drying in my workshop."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"Oh, that's great to hear!" Mothwing exclaims. "We also use it for illness, usually deadly ones. I have to keep it hidden at the back of my stores so kits don't get into it and make a mess. I'd be grateful if you could show me where it grows sometime, too." She stops and looks at Claudius's face, realizing he isn't just offering medicine. "You've probably seen how some cats act around it, haven't you? I always hear about kittypets just rolling around in it if their twolegs have it in their gardens. It does smell wonderful. I've never had enough to use for non-medical purposes, though."

[wickedwit]

"Well, I'll tell you right now I have an excess of it," Claudius says with a smile. "I didn't know it could be used to treat deadly illnesses in cats -- it's understandable why you'd wish to be sparing with your supply. But here it grows like a weed, and I need only a small amount for my sleeping draughts."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"It's definitely an interesting prospect," Mothwing admits. "This place really seems to have everything anyone could ever need, except the people and places we miss."

[wickedwit]

"That's very true," Claudius says, expression softening. "It's a disorienting experience, being spirited away to a place like this, far from everyone and everything you've known. Do tell me if there's anything I might do to make it easier on you."

[mothwingofriverclan]

"I appreciate it, Claudius."