09.30.2019 → There has been some exciting changes on CD lately! We've added a new monarchy to the groups of cats on the islands, as well as restructured the boards a bit to allow for some space - thus, redrawing the map! We've also promoted Nifty to Global Mod! There are some auditions open right now for JungleClan Deputy as well as for all of the new Kingdom of Mokuhau high ranks - Artemis
09.12.2019 → Unfortunately Elaedria is stepping down as administrator due to life being too busy to keep up! The site will be going through some restructuring in high ranks as well due to this. Effective immediately, the word count is now 100 minimum. Some more changes will be coming in the future - members have been emailed a survey to help us figure out what to change and how to get better. Thanks for your patience! - Artemis
WEATHER
Year 55, Scorching Sands 09.05.2019 → The temperatures of the islands are a steady 98° F on land/ high 80s in water. There is almost no breeze, the sun is uncomfortably warm.
Prey during the day is pretty scarce due to the heat, however is quite active after the sun goes down.
Lost in the dense jungles of scattered islands, facing perils unimagined by their ancestors, are three warrior groups - The traditional JungleClan, descendants of the original clans carried aboard a twoleg contraption from their home long ago and breaking new ground on old beliefs. Second, the curious TidalClan, made up of kittypets who chose to abandon their long since passed twoleg civilization ways for those of true felines. Lastly, the mysterious Tribe of Twisted Roots, hidden in the mist from others with their strange ways and a deeper knowledge of the land around them. Together they must learn how to take their fate into their own paws if they wish to survive this land of erupting mountains and roaring waters.
Join our crew and dive into an island-based Warriors roleplay - a twist on the original series by Erin Hunter. We are a semi-literate site with a minimum of 100 words per post.
Ticks this time of year were always a mess. The hot weather brought them creeping out, attached to the tropical foliage waiting for unsuspecting victims to brush against them. Not just the elders suffered, but the fighters and fledglings often came back from patrols and hunts with the little insects attached. Typically, they could deal with them on their own, but Turtlehop knew that even the fittest of cats appreciated a little help getting the trickily attached ones off.
They just often tried to wave her off. Act like it wasn't a big deal. Turtlehop knew better, and the healer wasn't easily shook away. The clan knew by now, even if she wasn't the strongest character, she couldn't be dissuaded from her duties. The tortoiseshell would follow a fighter through the whole territory dabbing mouse-bile on their ticks if she had to.
Mouse-bile, the most disgusting of remedies. Even if a fledgling was on punishment duties, she often tried to sneak them out of dealing with the nasty stuff. She was used to it. A poor six moon old cat didn't need to breathe in the stench! Turtlehop was fine doing it on her own.
It was methodical work, and she honestly loved it.
Today, she was carrying two wads of moss, attached to a stick, reeking of the pungent odor of bile. The elders got first treatment, but were their usual grouchy selves and almost caught her in the middle of an argument over which was the best hunting spot in the territory. She had to be graceful backing out of that conversation. It wasn't like she often hunted - how was she to know?
The fighters and fledglings would be easier targets to her aid. They were always polite, offering her respect she didn't sometimes think she deserved. She wasn't that important, was she? Surely Tinystar outshone her. Turtlehop stunk of herbs and bile and spent her days fiddling with herbs, not running a clan!
But at any rate, she headed over to the bundle of moss that was the fledgling's sleeping spot, looking to catch a few of the little rascals before they tucked in for the night. "Ticks, anyone?" came a muffled mumble from around her stick, the she-cat's tail twitching in the sort of way that meant business.
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Swiftwave - Jungleclan warrior Rain that Blurs the Sky - Tribe navigator Turtlehop - Tidalclan Healer
TUNAPAW looked up at Turtlehop with an excited glee in his eyes that totally ignored Turtlehop's down-to-earth mannerisms. Unlike the other Fledglings, he had little to no shame in asking for tick treatment. He was a sucker for comfort and bugs were close to his biggest pet peeve.
"Oh please! Me!" he bounced over to Turtlehop and flicked his tail at the annoying parts of his back he could never reach.
He knew Turtlehop always treated ticks on the elders first, and he was a slight bit ashamed he hadn't offered to do that himself. It was technically the job of the Fledglings, but they all despised the job enough to wiggle out of it. Plus, the elders were particularly condescending toward the young Fledgling cats and often insisted on keeping them there to listen to teachings about "life morals" and what not. Tunapaw didn't have that sort of patience.
"How were the elders?" he still asked sheepishly. Several other Fledglings groaned unapologetic question. He could at least be subtle about letting Turtlehop bail them out!
Tunapaw wasn't always the cleanest cat either, although he tried his best to stay as hygienic as possible. His day had been full of blunders, missed prey, and embarrassing training moments, yet the young tom remained forever unfazed. His mischievous nature brought many exciting adventures but unfortunately along with it, many ticks.
Tunapaw, was unsurprisingly, the first cat to jump for her attention. She could not help but beam around her uncomfortable mouthful at the little tomcat's enthusiasm. Most fledglings shied away from the foul stuff, acting as if they were much too tough to bother with it. She disliked wrangling them down, and honestly wished that cats (aside from elders) would just openly come to her for help more often. The black and white fledgling wasn't shy, to her delight, so she had no apprehension about gesturing him closer to work. "Of course sweetie," Turtlehop purred, her voice still a little distorted from her mouthful.
He asked after the elders, causing a collective groan. The young cats knew she shouldn't be helping them sneak out of the typical fledgling duties, even if she insisted it was fine and she had plenty of time on her hands anyway.
It was ah... A bit of a stretch, honestly. Healer duties took up a surprisingly large amount of time. But she wouldn't let them know that, of course.
Her tail twitched in amusement at any rate, as she nudged a wad of spare moss over with a paw. Balancing the stick bundle on it carefully, so not to let the precious bile drip off, she rubbed her cheek against Tunapaw's comfortingly and then had him settle lying down. "Oh, the usual," Turtlehop joked to the tom, parting the fur along his spine in search for ticks. "Achy, grouchy, arguing about the best places to hunt. They're sometimes hard to stand," she continued, talking a little louder so the group of fledglings could hear, "But they earned it. A full life of serving your clan means you get to annoy young cats too one day." There were always a few more bossy youngsters who'd fully enjoy that.
A fat tick was spotted near Tunapaw's shoulder blades. She grasped the stick and began dabbing bile onto it, till it dropped off. "How goes the exciting adventures of fledglings?" Turtlehop queried, with honest interest. She knew the kind of trouble her brothers had gotten up to...
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Swiftwave - Jungleclan warrior Rain that Blurs the Sky - Tribe navigator Turtlehop - Tidalclan Healer
TUNAPAW gave the rest of his fellow Fledglings a dirty look. He didn't see why they would turn down free tick removing services, especially from the Clan medicine cat who was bound to do it right. The smell didn't bother him that much. Tunapaw was used to getting into stinky situations out in the forest and was usually the grossest one to return.
"It goes alright," he purred excitedly. "Kraiteye is being super patient with me and I plan on continuing to test his patience."
His mentor was an experienced cat who was not short of teaching skills, but Tunapaw did not shy away from teasing him. Tunapaw was full of trouble and he wasn't ashamed of it. While the other Fledglings tried to appear responsible and mature, Tunapaw did not even attempt it. He embodied the youth and innocence of the Fledglings and knew that the Clan appreciated that occasionally.
That being said, the elders loved chatting with him but Tunapaw would do anything to wiggle out of talking to them. While he could fake a good conversation, he would really rather not hear story after story of exaggerated hunting adventures.
"Do medicine cats go on adventures too?" he asked naively. The enthusiastic Fledgling was not very insightful when it came to other cats' lives. How boring it must be to collect herbs all day that you might not even use!
Tunapaw, despite his cheekiness, never failed to elicited soft girlish giggles from her. Something about his happy-go-lucky attitude was just so refreshing in her life. Out of all the fledglings, he was probably her favorite. The messiest, the most often in trouble, but somehow just a ray of sunshine in their sometimes dark clan life. Turtlehop purred back at his tease, waiting till the nasty little insect released its hold on his back before trying to reply.
"Now don't give Kraiteye too much stress, Tunapaw," the healer joked back, though with a slight seriousness to her tone. "At his age, you're likely to give him heart jitters with your cheek." Hopefully, the pair would survive long enough for the black and white tomcat to become a proper warrior. She looked forward to the day he might feel a tad more responsibility and goof around a little less.
One tick down, she used her paws to part his fur in search of more. His question had her humming, attempting to think up anything interesting to tell him about that didn't involve the usual boring healer tasks. Her work was probably far from interesting, in all honesty. She wasn't running about getting into scraps, hunting, or climbing tall jungle trees. "We do," she answered slowly, "But in our own wa- oh Tunapaw, you have some fleas!"
A little black dot had jumped between her claws, and she practically leaped back in mild disgust - quite the feat for a healer trained in injuries and rather gruesome wounds, but fleas... Fleas held the other kind of disgust and fear. Where he'd picked them up, she had no idea.
There a disgruntled cry from the other fledglings, some skittering back slightly. "You'll need to come with me to my den, I'll give you a thorough grooming and put some herbs in your coat to repel them." She might need to come back in the morning and place some lemon grass around the bedding of the other fledglings, in case the vermin tried to spread.
"No need to panic," she reiterated, tail lashing with a renewed purpose as she bustled Tunapaw up and towards the entrance with her nose. "I'll leave the bile with you lot, if you have any ticks you need to treat immediately. If not, I'll be back tomorrow."
The work of a healer never ended, she thought with a sigh.
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Swiftwave - Jungleclan warrior Rain that Blurs the Sky - Tribe navigator Turtlehop - Tidalclan Healer
TUNAPAW gave the healer a confused look. He stared at the little black creature that jumped off him. Apparently healers were disgusted sometimes too... Blood and guts did not scare them, but fleas do?
All the other Fledglings shrank away from them in disgust. Did Turtlehop really have to announce it that loudly? The healer clearly had no issues with embarrassing him. Tunapaw glanced over shyly to the young she cats he had been trying so hard to impress. Hopefully they won't be too grossed out by this.
"Are fleas different from ticks?" he asked naively as Turtlehop shoved him out of the Fledgling's nests. Tunapaw did not realize he had fleas. Itchiness was all the same itchy feeling to him. He knew no difference. Quite frankly, he didn't know how fleas or ticks got into his fur, those little creatures amazed him with their seemingly constant presence in the Clan. He knew fleas and ticks were different creatures, but was unsure why one caused such a hussle and the other was practically ignored.
As he stepped into the healer's den, the strong smell of aromatic herbs hit his nose and he sneezed. He hardly ever came here, and really only needed to when he needed mouse bile for the elders or when he got a thorn in his pad. He wrinkled his nose at the weird smells. How could any young fledgling want to do this instead of be a fighter!? He stood fidgeting as he waited for Turtlehop to tell him which disgusting plant he needed to get rid of the fleas.
"Do you have an apprentice yet?" he batted at some fluffy cattails in the storage area. He wasn't sure how healer fledglings were selected but he certainly hoped to stay as far from it as possible. "Please do not pick me."
Turtlehop was mentally preparing herself to go through the Fledglings' bedding tomorrow, searching for any more signs of the little black insects that caused annoying itches. Even if she didn't find any, she would probably end up redoing the mossy nests herself anyway. It was just how she liked to work - nothing done by halves. She nearly missed Tunapaw's question, and certainly didn't notice how he looked at the other she-cats with a shy embarrassment. Healers didn't often think of those kind of romantic ventures... Or at least, she didn't.
"Mhmm," she replied with a brisk nod, leading him into her den. "Ticks generally bite one cat, then leave you alone. Fleas stay on you as long as they're untreated, and can hop onto others easily. So if I left you with them, next we'd know the whole camp would be flopped around itching instead of hunting." Turtlehop was making it out a tiny bit worse than it actually was, but that was a tactic to keep young cats grooming themselves frequently - and little Tunapaw definitely needed it.
She ducked into the little cleft she kept her herbs in, pawing out a pad-full of rosemary. As she turned back to the black and white tomcat, he asked her if she had an apprentice yet. Turtlepaw shook her head, chuckling. "I won't pick you, don't worry. I only will pick a cat who shows promise." So far, she had her eye on one fledgling, but she wouldn't be announcing anything till after discussing it with Tinystar. Certainly not to another, rather innocently blabbermouthed fledgling. "I haven't found the right cat yet, but I'd like to take on an apprentice soon." She was getting older, and she knew it. Turtlehop had moons still of serving her clan, but she refused to leave training another healer to the last minute. Look what happened to Palmsong, and he had been younger than she was now...
She began to chew up the rosemary, a pungent, but not unpleasant odor starting to fill the space around them. "Have any of your fellow fledglings shown interest?" Perhaps he knew better than her any cats his age who weren't suited to the path of a fighter..
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Swiftwave - Jungleclan warrior Rain that Blurs the Sky - Tribe navigator Turtlehop - Tidalclan Healer
"You show promise in other expertise!" Turtlehop shot back through a mouthful of herbs, shooting the young tom a small smile. He was such a personality, always up in the other young cats' business. It was good, but at times she could imagine his mouth running himself into a deep hole. In this case, she was using it her own advantage. She nodded understandingly to his words, knowing fully that his sibling, Bleakpaw, and Urchinpaw were most certainly not the cats she had in mind. They would wilt in the healer den - she needed someone who would grow.
Then he mentioned the two fledglings she'd been considering. Pearlpaw and Shellpaw. Both stood out as not quite fitting into the happy go lucky vibe that blanketed the group, and she'd been eyeing them since kithood. They both had hard upbringings - the healer, while not able to step in to help much as some family issues were beyond her power, felt compassion for them both. It reminded her of her own childhood, many moons ago, and the current estrangement with her family members. Part of her wanted to rescue them both, show them you could move past family trying to bring you down.
But that was beyond the point. She needed one who could hold the skills and knowledge of a healer. A small frown graced her muzzle at the mention of Pearlpaw not talking much. A healer needed the skills to deal with patients, give them comfort in times of need. Another tick up for Shellpaw - especially if she could ward off Tunapaw's flirting.
The last of the rosemary lapped into his fur, she purred a laugh. "Gorgeous is it? Does my favorite troublemaker have a little crush?" Turtlehop's whiskers twitched. "Though don't tell the others I said that." Couldn't have him running around with an inflated head being the healer's favorite. His poor mentor.
She swept back into her stores, rifling around for more herbs. "What kind of strange is Shellpaw? Does she go off in her own head a lot?" That could mean she was in fact more attuned to the gods, and their ancestors.
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Swiftwave - Jungleclan warrior Rain that Blurs the Sky - Tribe navigator Turtlehop - Tidalclan Healer
TUNAPAW sighed in relief as Turtlehop stopped rubbing more strange plants into his fur. He decided to sit around for a bit in the medicine cat's den. If he returned to the other fledglings now, they would certainly be disgusted by the strange smelling herbs and stay far away from him. Tunapaw was too embarrassed to go back, so he decided he would continue to bother Turtlehop. She didn't seem too annoyed yet, anyway. Perhaps it would be good to get on the good side of a medicine cat...
Tunapaw knew some of the other fledglings had weird family situations, but he was aware enough to know not to probe. Despite mounting tensions between his own parents, he was determined not to be affected. He and his sister Tangpaw led good, healthy lives, and he could not be more thankful for having a supportive sibling. He was young, and he did not quite understand the intricate relationships in the Clan.
"Gorgeous is it? Does my favorite troublemaker have a little crush?" Turtlehop's words made Tunapaw's face feel warm. Who was she to assume that! He was so young! But he wasn't going to let the medicine cat tease him. Tunapaw had no shame in owning up to it and had never been ashamed of his flirting. He took it was a compliment that he was a sociable and likable cat.
"So what if I do have a crush on Shellpaw?" he meowed playfully as he sifted curiously and messily through Turtlehop's strange herbs.
"You can't exactly blame me. She's super weird but cats with quirks are the most interesting! Sometimes I'm trying to talk to her and she will say the randomest things and seem like she's not really listening. But boy, does she remember the things I tell her! Sometimes I forget those things myself."
Tunapaw stopped at glanced at Turtlehop. Perhaps he was going off a little much about his fellow fledgling.
Tunapaw was settling in as if he was staying for a while. Turtlehop couldn't help but mentally sigh, because while she adored the feisty young fledgling, she knew in about a whiskers length of time he'd be making a mess in her stores. Young cats didn't seem to understand she had them organized for a reason.
Before she could say "mouse!", he was pawing through her herbs, and the older she-cat held back a loud sigh. At the very least, he was confirming her own decisions - Shellpaw held some interesting talents. "Having a strong memory is a useful asset to both fighters and healers," she purred knowingly, padding forward and crouching down beside him. The tortoiseshell wasn't offended by the scent of poultice in his coat, of course. She held no sign of being tired by his ramblings - it was lovely, hearing about clan life outside the healer den. Crushes and relations and so forth. Turtlehop herself had never thought of taking a mate. There was no rule saying she couldn't, but she knew doing so while being the only healer in the clan would certainly be frowned upon. Her duties came first. But, perhaps if Shellpaw learned quickly, she could think about taking a break from her own duties for a family...
She shook her head mentally. That was a long way off, and no one had ever shown her romantic interest.
"Quirks can be very interesting indeed. Just don't get too caught up in romances. You need to earn your fighter name first! And before that, learn to keep your coat handsome!" She nudged her nose into his ears affectionately. "When you're older, you'll have all the she-cats mooning after you. I'm a healer, I know things," she teased, winking.
It was the truth, at any rate. Charismatic toms always did well in the clan. She'd observed it for many moons, and helped birth many litters because of it.
She had a mental image of troublemaking mini Tunapaws running around her herb stores, and nearly snorted.
"Now, cmon dear. Would you like to help me paw these back in order?" Turtlehop purred, eager to get her stores back in order, and knowing having something to do would help Tunapaw settle.
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Swiftwave - Jungleclan warrior Rain that Blurs the Sky - Tribe navigator Turtlehop - Tidalclan Healer
TUNAPAW strutted around Turtlehop's den. He loved spending time here with the medicine cat. She was after all, one of the most patient cats in the Clan and thus was willing to put up with him. "My coat is already handsome!" he growled playfully. He then gazed up at Turtlehop with rounded eyes at her next words. "Really? You know that about me? I don't believe the gods would come down to gossip about me! I thought healers got visions and prophecies and stuff! What do you think my Fighter name will be then?"
Tunapaw could be quite gullible and while he was skeptical of Turtlehop's teasing, he couldn't help but secretly hope they were true. While he focused on his training, much of what he learned he used to show off instead of to hunt or fight. Tunapaw was not an aggressive cat, and he much preferred the day to day social life of the Clan to its army-like nature.
He rummaged through the herbs. He hadn't really messed that much up, had he? Tunapaw couldn't be sure. All the herbs looked pretty much the same to him, after all. They were all green, wrinkly, and smelly. How were these not already in order? "Oops, sorry Turtlehop! I didn't mean to mess up your supplies. I can't really tell these herbs apart... if Shellpaw and Pearlpaw become a healer fledgling, will they have to know all of these plants?" he meowed in confusion and disbelief.
He was at least an apologetic, and helpful young tom. She smiled at his awe of being able to differentiate herbs. It was difficult sometimes, but to a trained eye like her own, it had become as easy as sniffing out a mouse in the underbrush. "They will," she replied with a firm nod. "It looks hard, but didn't hunting seem hard when you were first learning? Soon enough, it's habit." Turtlehop began to paw the leaves apart with gentle movements, passing some of them to Tunapaw to make little piles of.
But, back to his earlier question. "We do," she chuckled, "But sometimes a good healer doesn't need visions and prophecies to see things. Sometimes it's intuition. As for your name.." She hummed solemnly, eyes narrowing as if in a trance. "I see.. I see Tinystar..." She gasped softly. "She's... Given you your fighter name.. It's.. It's.."
Her eyes opened fully, twinkling with good humor. "It's Tunafish!"
Okay, she definitely didn't have a vision just then. She was teasing, because she knew no right minded leader would ever name a poor cat such joke. Though her own name was Turtlehop, and that was quite the funny mental image...
She shook her fur out. "Seriously, though. I see a lot of potential in you. If you can learn to focus a little more, and goof off a little less.. You'll be a wonderful Tidalclan warrior." Turtlehop brushed her nose over his ears affectionately. "But never loose who you are. Your humor makes you, you."
She knew how it felt to have your personality crushed from you. Trying to be someone you weren't. It still left her lying in her nest at night, wondering how she would have turned out had she not had Palmsong taking an interest in her. Surely she would have been but a shell of who she was now? She hoped Tunapaw's mentor didn't crush too much of his plucky spirit.
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Swiftwave - Jungleclan warrior Rain that Blurs the Sky - Tribe navigator Turtlehop - Tidalclan Healer
TUNAPAW wrinkled his nose and tried to breathe less to avoid the pungent scent of herbs. He grudgingly began to attempt to sort them, and in his ignorance sorted them mostly incorrectly. But he was way to prideful to admit when he had gone wrong and just continued since Turtlehop told him to. Did these two piles that Turtlehop passed him go together? Oh well, they do now. Tunapaw thought to himself as he swept them into the same pile. Looks the same to me. I'm no Healer cat.
"You're right, I guess," he admitted to Turtlehop regarding hunting. It had been difficult for him when he started training with Kraiteye. Tunapaw never really realize he made much progress until he reflected back on it. "When I started out, I couldn't even tell the difference between a clam and an oyster."
Tunafish. Turtlehop's next statement made him bristle a little. He'd dreamed about his Fighter name. Maybe Tunaclaw or Tunasplash or even Tunafin. But Tunafish was too childish a name even for this young Fledgling. For a moment, he even believed Turtlehop. Healer visions were as mystical and magical to him.
"Aw come on! My name is already fishy enough... why would Tinystar feel the need to name me that?" he glanced up at Turtlehop and saw he exaggerated expression and twinkling eyes. She was obviously mess with him again, "You're pulling my paw again!"
Tunapaw was not exactly the one for a serious lecture yet. He was naive, and his life was a simple one. To him, personality was not something that was easily changed. Stubbornness often accompanied his feisty and playful ways, but he would never admit to it.
"I do not goof off! I bet you TidalClan Fighters can have fun too." Tunapaw proudly growled the clearly incorrect statement.
In all honesty, Turtlehop still couldn't tell the difference from a clam and an oyster. As long as they were edible, she didn't care what it was called. But anyway, she was distracted by poor Tunapaw not quite getting the joke at first. Bless his little soul, he thought she was serious! There was no way Tinystar would ever be in her right mind and name a fighter such a thing as Tunafish. Unless she severely disliked him. Turtlehop doubted that; Tunapaw was too much of a character.
She burst into soft giggles, and gently bapped his ears with her white paw. "I am, I'm sorry sweetie. Trust me, you won't be named Tunafish. That I can seriously guarantee." He wouldn't be disappointed with whatever name he received - she knew that. There'd never been a fighter who had. She purred softly, and began sorting herbs back into neat little piles.
"They can have fun," she agreed with a nod. "Not always, but life isn't good without a little fun." Which was very true. Sometimes, even she didn't take enough time to relax and goof off. It came with the title, she supposed. It was hard to be playful with cats who looked up to you. That's why she loved talking to fledglings - they let her be a little more silly. They expected life lessons, sometimes, but like Tunapaw, didn't take them seriously often. They just appreciated her treating them less like a fledgling, and more like a cat.
Perhaps, having an apprentice would lead to more lighthearted moments and fun. It would be good for the aging she-cat.
"Now, it's getting late," she purred eventually, as they finished getting the scattered leaves in order. "How about I make you up a nest, and you spend the night here? We'll get some more poultice on in the morning, and then you can go back to your friends flea-free tomorrow night."
For tonight, she would enjoy the warmth he offered the old church.
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Swiftwave - Jungleclan warrior Rain that Blurs the Sky - Tribe navigator Turtlehop - Tidalclan Healer
