Dayclan and Nightclan

[froscogo]

Many seasons had passed since the battle in the Dark Forest and the territories has since grown. Many more cats found their way to their new homes and settled into Clan life. Dayclan has grown secure in it's forests and grassland. And the old urban landscape now supports a new settlement: Nightclan. With enough space and prey to sustain the growing population of cats, there is at last a stable peace.

[froscogo]

Newflight looks up from his crouch, blinking at the heat of the sun. Four greenleafs had passed since his battle in the Dark forest. His brief time in that nightmare was long behind him. He had grown strong since then, as did the Clan. This greenleaf was sustaining a constant chorus of summer bugs. Even with the forest supporting a bounty of prey, the noise from the insects has made it pointless to try to listen for prey. A scent trail had lead the warrior to an old trunk crowded with long grass. So now he waits, watching for any movement that would reveal the mouse to his claws. Keeping his weight on his haunches, Newflight watches as a tiny brown creature appears and begins fidgeting for fronds of younger grass. The tom's white tail fluffs up and he pounces, picking up the mouse and neatly killing it in his teeth. Newflight turns briskly around and carries his prey back along his own scent trail. Once reaching a cluster of ferns, Newflight pauses to dig up the prey he had caught earlier. With another mouse, squirrel, and a robin it was time to meet back with his hunting patrol and return to camp. Managing to cram enough of each in his jaws, Newflight heaves his head and neck up to prevent himself from tripping over the squirrel dangling by its tail. Padding through the grass, his pawsteps feel the packed soil as the trail begins to naturally part, showing the frequent travel of the Dayclan warriors.
Before him, a dead tree stripped bare and whitewashed marks the junction of several small hunting trails before collecting together over a rise to form a path through tall grasses. Panting through his prey, Newflight blinks at the cool grasses. "Not much farther to camp." calls Willowrain. "You sure have your paws full with that prey, or rather, your face is full!" The medicine cat stood on one of the many rocks held in the tangle of roots. At her paws were fresh green bundles of healing herbs. Newflight lifts his tail in a friendly greeting as he sets down his haul. "Phew! I think I'll be picking the fur of that squirrel's tail out of my teeth all night."
"You never did like the taste of squirrel despite your habit of climbing trees." Newflight turned to see Marbleclaw walking up from another path with a small apprentice at her heels. It was Songpaw, Newflight's son. The young cat held his tail low and looked fragile compared to his lithe and glossy-coated mentor. The years of peace had treated Marbleclaw well and she had filled up to be a tough warrior. She brushed her striped tail sympathetically on Songpaw's shoulders. "Maybe you'll have better luck catching prey in the trees like your father." His deep amber eyes glanced up at her and then back to his paws. "Runningpaw will have caught something today, I just know it! He'll get to put it on the fresh-kill pile and everything." Songpaw replied softly. Newflight sighed and padded up to touch noses with his son. "It's not too late for you to catch something. My first catch was in the roots of a big tree." "Really?" Newflight nodded to Songpaw. He seemed to brighten a little and looked up at Marbleclaw. She flicked her ears at the trail-marker tree before them. "Want to give it a try?" Songbird looked behind him at the whitened tree towering above him and all of the roots that gripped large rocks and plants. He was kneading the ground thinking of all the prey that could live there. "Well?" prompted Marbleclaw gently to the little kitten. Songpaw looked up at her an nodded eagerly. "Ok, find where the wind is coming from and angle yourself into it. Then it's all about what you can see, smell, and try to hear."

[froscogo]

Hornetstripe couldn't keep his tail tip from flicking but the rest of him was completely still. The sharp tabby tom perched on a crumbling brick wall. Though his paws were cold, from this vantage point he could see over the entire camp and the beginnings of the forested territory used for hunting. He snorted to himself, impatient for the sun to rise. "I have important things to do today." Hornetstripe blinked his yellow eyes against a dusty breeze and focused his gaze on a heavy thorn bush with long drying tendrils climbing over themselves. Long yellowed grasses clustered around the openings along the shelter except for a well trampled opening. Sleeping inside were the young apprentices.
Today he was going to pair them with their mentors. Hornetstripe flexed his claws and thought back to yesterday. In no way was he the leader of Nightclan, but he was lucky enough to enjoy in some leadership duties. His leader was strong and determined with a sharp mind; Hornetstripe was happy to follow him. Dragontooth was away to receive his nine lives at the Star tree, and Hornetstripe was left to guard the clan and keep things organized. What better way to impress his leader than to come back to a fully functioning clan?
So in order to get the season started, Hornetstripe left the queens with the 'paws and went into the territory with all the possible mentors. He watched all of the Clan's warriors as they scrimmaged and hunted. Through observation, he learned a lot about them. Jumptooth for instance, balanced his bulk and compassion with his heavy and unrelenting battle style. Blackstorm excelled at pouncing from the shadows, whether it be prey or an intruder lead into an ambush.
Hornetstripe relaxed a little at the first ray of sunlight that pierced through the horizon clogged with the rubble and grasses. As soon as dawn was past,he was going to take all of the young cats himself and try to get a glimpse of the warrior waiting within.
He knew that Jumptooth want to mentor one of his kits, but their were plenty of other cats that had skills worthy of teaching.

[Frisby]

[Nightclan]

Blackstorm sat a stone ledge near the center of the maze, watching a stand of trees about a dozen lengths away. They grew in two neat rows, and were tall, fat, and gnarled with age. A thick grass sprung up between them, into which Dragontooth had disappeared. The whole scene was cast in predawn shadow, the kind of weary light that made Blackstorm a little sad. He had heard of the Star Tree, the special way you had to crawl in at the base, and wondered what parallel his new clan had here. He couldn't make out what Dragontooth was up to, and made a note to return at some point and investigate. He would be expected back at camp soon, or maybe already would be late.

He turned on silent paws and retraced his steps, wondering, with a stir of discomfort, if Dragontooth – Dragonstar – would scent him.
But the scents was oily here, and hard to parse. He put the thought aside.

By the time he returned to camp the sky was warming up from the early grey-blue, and the warm scent of a rat he had snagged and now carried between his jaws filled his nostrils. He waved a tail at Hornetstripe as he passed by the tom's perch and headed to the center of their encampment. All seemed quiet still, and he wondered if there would be anyone else looking for prey yet, or if it would be quite alright to help himself to his catch. The kits, he thought, a little begrudgingly, and set the rat down.

[froscogo]

Hornetstripe blinked once in greeting to Blackstorm as the silent warrior padded by with fresh-kill in his jaws. The deputy watched out of the edge of his vision to see if his clan-mate would fulfill his duty to provide. The moment of tenseness passed through his fur and Hornetstripe let his stiffness go when he saw the rat added to the pile.

"We may be a newer Clan..." He reflected to himself, "But Nightclan will not grow to be anything but the best whilst I am still here to help build it." With a final twitch in his long striped tail, Hornetstripe stood up and the light of dawn washed over him. The day had finally begun and he could set to work.

He leaped lightly down from the wall and stalked over to the apprentice den with long strides to stretch his legs. "Wake up Nightclan! Time to rise. You all have an important day today!" He rapped into the sleeping mass of kittens. He stepped back to give them some time to wake up properly and went to sit by Blackstorm and Jumptooth.

The massive warrior dipped his head to the sleek striped tabby. "Do you want any more paws to help you watch the apprentices today? I can wake more cats if you need them." Jumptooth's deep voice reminded Hornetstripe of sterness, but the senior cat had shown nothing but compassion and guidance towards them all.

His own sharp voice seemed inexperienced by comparison. Hornetstripe swallowed his doubt. "Wake them anyways, Whitewater is leading the dawn patrol and everyone else can start hunting." He fixed his eyes on Blackstorm. "You can lead the dusk patrol if you want to help with the paws today."

[froscogo]

Foxwit enjoyed the heat of the sun in his pelt, but now he had begun to feel hot and stuffy. He had been spending the better part of the day fortifying the camp walls since he did not have an apprentice to deal with. He enjoyed having the young cats as part of the clanlife, but if Foxwit was honest, he had no idea how to teach. He paused in his search for sharp young brambles. That wasn't completely true; Foxwit just didn't know how to teach a young cat. When his brother Stagears had been alive, Foxwit had helped to mentor and guide the injured tom through his deafness. All his brothers did. Him, and Wolfecho, and Dragontooth... A sudden rage gripped Foxwit and his eyes narrowed into slits. Dragontooth. He spat the name in his mind. His brother had been a leader for all of them. Dragontooth had lead them all through the wilds to find the clans of their ancestors. Dragontooth had spoke for them when the four brothers began their lives in Dayclan. Dragontooth had fought to protect him from the Dark Forest. Dragontooth...
Foxwit had been slashing out against the brambles in his grief and anger. He whipped around with a snarl when he heard the cat sneak up behind him.
"Hey! What do you.. ?" Foxwit immediately dropped his aggression and stood panting in front of the medicine cat Willowrain.
She had dropped her bundle in surprise and stepped up against the orange warrior to steady him. "What's got you so worked up like this Foxwit?" Carefully she began to pull thorns out his pelt.
Foxwit continued to fume for a few more heartbeats but his anger soon passed into sadness. In a whisper he asked "Why did he leave us?"
Willowrain finished picking out thorns before meeting the warrior's gaze. "I don't know Foxwit. Dragontooth is the only one who knows why he couldn't stay in the clan." She stepped away to pile up her herbs again and picked out some marigold leaves to chew. When the poultice was done she lapped the juice into Foxwit's scratches.
The warrior flinched against the sting. "If only we knew where he went."
Willowrain gave Foxwit a sympathetic glance. "Keep your whiskers up Foxwit, your clan needs you. And try to keep your pelt out of the thorns, huh?" With a flick of her ears the medicine cat picked up her herbs and left for the camp.