Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
News & Updates
11.06.2022 The site has been transformed into an archive. Thank you for all the memories here!
Here on Classic we understand that sometimes life can get difficult and we struggle. We may need to receive advice, vent, know that we are not alone in our difficult times, or even just have someone listen to what's going on in our lives. In light of these times, we have created the support threads below that are open to all of our members at any time.
It had been three days since she last had a meal, and it had been nearly that long since she had been seen in camp. As soon as Jackdawpaw had cleared her, she had gone straight to Larkspur to tell her that she needed to take a "diplomatic journey." Of course, Larkspur hadn't wanted her to go alone; after all, the leader was only newly adjusting to the near blindness in her blue eye. But, with the herbs Jackdawpaw had given her still tightly wrapped around her head, she had promptly told her deputy that she didn't have a say in the matter, she was going alone. That, plus the look in her eye, must have made her realize that she was not, in fact, playing games. She needed to be out of that camp, away from everyone else. She needed time to think, to escape the prying eyes. So, she took off into the forest to clear her head.
Clearing her head had mostly meant pacing through whatever loner territory she could find, not unlike Jacob did in his wolf form after he found out Bella was pregnant. She had probably gotten lost once or twice, and she didn't look like she'd slept since she had left. Whatever she had done the last few days, it wasn't take care of herself. At the beginning, she had had to take time to calm herself down. Now, Pinesimmer had been irritating before, but this? This was attempted murder, and SunClan knew it. She knew it, and had a brand new cloud in her eye to prove it. If she had seen him before she had time to calm down, she probably would have killed him, and not in a good way. She would have savored each drop of blood, a revenge pure enough to make up for the fact that he had done this to her. She couldn't imagine NightClan would have approved of the particular method that she would have liked to go about it. After she had calmed down, the anger had become grief. She was losing control. She obviously didn't have control over her medicine cat, her personal life was teneous at best, and it felt like the world was collapsing. There was a part of her that just needed to cry, to let herself break down so that she could rebuild. And rebuild she did, the final day of her absence. Gone was the anger, the sadness, replaced by a steely determination. She would not let him win, not this time.
She sighed, taking her first step on NightClan territory in days. It was time to go home. Yet, there was still a part of her that didn't want to, a part of her that couldn't help but wonder: was this how things were supposed to be?
Larkspur would've argued that Aspenstar stay, but she knew if she had that she would be the next one to end up half blind. For the last three days, she'd been an anxious wreck in private, though she'd managed to keep her composure in front of the rest of Nightclan. She could feel the tension in the air, her worried clanmates unsure of what to think about their leader who had slipped away, a deputy just learning how to lead, and a medicine cat that couldn't be trusted. The feline was grateful for Jackdawpaw. While she'd been stressed out about the leader's "journey", she'd been taking lavender almost every morning to soothe herself into the point of sleep. She'd been sending out patrols, larger than maybe necessary, and ordering heavy duty training for the apprentices. Right now, they needed all the help they could get, even if that meant more difficult tasks than usual.
She watched everything now, her blue eyes neutral. That was the problem with Larkspur, she was constantly neutral. Hardly anyone could see past her, and she feared the way others perceived her. Did they think she didn't care about their leader? Because she did, possibly more than she should. Larkspur shakes her head and hops down from her guard point, dipping her head past warriors, slipping in to find Phantomfox. "I'm going for a bit. The clan is in your paws." Her gaze was steady, a challenge behind it. He needed to protect the clan, and he could probably better than anyone else.
She leaves the camp, not quite sure where she would be headed, but her paws had a different idea. The black she-cat finds herself in her thinking spot, the mossy bed looking over a part of the multi-falls. The scent of Aspenstar was stale, from their "date" from awhile back. Was that only a week ago? She sighs softly. She was more worried than she would've cared to admit, and her fear was that something had happened. The fawn she-cat hadn't said where she was going, and all Larkspur could do was hope that everything would be okay.
Perhaps she should have felt more badly about leaving Larkspur on her own. Well, it wasn’t really her own, was it? All of the positions were filled, apart from potentially her medicine cat. She still hadn’t decided quite what to do with him, and there was a small but not negligible part that hoped that Phantomfox had finally taken out the trash. She doubted it, but wouldn’t put it past him. Larkspur would just have to understand, whether she wanted to or not, right ?
As if fate herself wanted Aspenstar to have to immediately deal with her deputy, she found herself padding to the same place. It was the last bit of peace she had before the dog fight. She immediately realized that she wasn’t alone, though, and the half blind she-cat let out an awkward chuckle to announce her arrival. “I told you that I would be back as soon as things were taken care of, didn’t I?” Her tone was apologetic. If they had been under any different circumstances at all, Aspenstar would have told her more. But, she had needed to get out. She had been a ticking time bomb, and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt the cats she loved. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on ones opinion), Larkspur fell into the category of cats she loved. Aspenstar couldn’t expect Larkspur to understand, though. No one really would.
Larkspur wouldn't hesitate to help Phantomfox. She had never felt blind rage towards anyone in her life before, but the tom could bring it out of her without question. She was nervous to have Pinesimmer in the position of medicine cat. How could she possibly hold any trust that the tom would care for the clan at all? That he wasn't here to watch Nightclan fall and destroy itself inside out? Larkspur couldn't understand how Starclan could ever trust that cat to be in such a high position of power, and how they had expected Aspenstar to do it without pulling teeth. The wretched tom had essentially committed treason, and had left Aspenstar forever scarred.
Soon Aspenstar's scent wasn't stale, and the she-cat lifts her head from her paws in confusion. Her head snaps at the other's voice and she stands quickly, her guard falling completely. She presses her nose into Aspenstar's cheek, just to make sure she was solid, and she wasn't a ghost. "I was so worried," She breathes in relief, before awkwardly taking a step back from the embrace. Larkspur didn't tend to be so outwardly physically affectionate, but the drop of her heart to her feet had crushed any formality on its way down. "What happened, Aspenstar? Where did you go?" She tilted her head, blue eyes inquisitive.
She was neither surprised nor unsurprised at her embrace; in fact, if anything, she was surprised that she didn't get bonked a few times for taking off. When she immediately pulled away, Aspenstar found herself brushing against her deputy's side, equal parts to prove she really was okay and to recognize and apologize for her friend's worry. Plus, there was a small part of her that liked physical contact with Larkspur, even though she'd probably sweat nervously if anyone accused her of that. "You didn't have to worry, you know. I still have eight lives, I would have really had to mess up to lose all of them and not come back, okay?" Was that the most comforting ? Probably not, but Aspenstar wasn't super good at comforting.
She then let out an awkward cough. "I needed time," she admitted. "It was dangerous for everyone for me to stay in the camp, to stay in the territory. I almost snapped." She flexed her claws into the dirt. "So, I walked, and walked, and walked, until finally it felt less like the only way for me to feel better was bloodshed." She shifted slightly. "I also needed time to think. He tried to kill me, Larkspur," she meowed, her voice soft. "StarClan told me I had to put him in the position. Why did they do that?"
"You're not allowed to lose them ever." she mumbles, leaning into Aspenstar's contact, an unfamiliar yet not unwelcome embrace she wasn't used to from anyone, let alone Aspenstar. "You still have all eight right?" she looks the leader dead in the eye, hers hardened with concern. Then she softens once more, running her nose gently along the fawn's cheek.
Larkspur listens intently to the she-cat, her eyes on her until she asks about Starclan. Eventually she sits down, wrapping her tail around her paws. Her gaze finds the waterfalls as she ponders the question, chewing on the inside of her cheeks as she attempts to formulate an answer that made any sense to her at all. Her eyes reflect the sky as she glances up, little white specks gleaming back as she studies the stars. "Sometimes, I don't think they have anyone's best interest at hand, but then I remember the prophecies that have come true, and everything else. I think they must have a reason, but maybe we haven't seen it yet. Of course, that's just me being optimistic. I want to rip his tongue out and then his ears to shreds." she shakes her head. "I don't understand him."
She squinted at her deputy. "Isn't it directly against your best interest if I never lose a life again?" she teased. "You wanna get stuck as deputy forever, doin' all the dirty work, never getting a chance to tell someone else to do said dirty work? Suit yourself is all I've gotta say." Aspenstar let out a soft purr, before rolling her eyes. "Yes, mom, I sure do have all eight," she then grumbled, her head ducking slightly. Even if she didn't, she probably wouldn't have told Larkspur, though. That felt like a bad idea.
"I used to think that the stars always had our best interests in mind. That if I did everything right, if I followed their every beck and call, that they would for once give us a break. I did everything for them, things I never wanted to do. I didn't want to be NightClan leader, not this way. But I did it because they called me to. And this is the thanks I get for devoting my entire life to them?" She shook her head in frustration. "I just don't understand. I wish i could. Things would be so much easier if I understood." Some things, though, one wasn't meant to understand, and the ways of the universe were some of those things.
She tilted her head. "I don't think I could if I had the chance now," she meowed in response to her comment about Pinesimmer. "Three days ago, I was ready to kill, and I'm sure I would have." It was an awful thing to admit, and there was a part of her that hated herself for it. "But now, I think the best I could do is leave him a few scratches. It's a funny thing. No matter what he does, there's a part of me that doesn't want him hurt. What an unfortunate part. Things would be so much less complicated if I let Phantomfox eat him already."
"whoever said I agreed to being your deputy because I wanted to be leader?" she scoffs, shaking her head gently. For how intelligent Aspenstar was, it didn't quite transfer to the emotions of others. "I don't mind doing the dirty work just so long as it means you're safe." Larkspur shrugs. The she-cat had gotten awfully brave lately, but the longer she went on, the less she cared about professionalism and formality.
Larkspur listens to the light colored she-cat, her eyes searching Aspenstar's face. "I didn't know you didn't want to be leader." the black cat admits, her head tilting easily to the side. "You always seemed to fall naturally into it. Like the universe wanted you there. You just took it with grace," Larkspur had always been obedient and ready to roll with the punches, even when that meant Phantomfox stepping down and Aspenstar coming in.
It was interesting, to look back at everything now. Aspenstar and Larkspur hadn't been in the same training class, but she had always looked up to her. Aspenstar had always succeeded in everything she tried to do, and outshone everyone. Larkspur had always admired that about her, even when they were young.
Larkspur is brought back to the present from her (GAY) thoughts, a soft sigh falling from her being. "There must be some good reason you keep him around. At least he's passing on herb knowledge to Jackdawpaw." she chuckles. "Everything will turn out okay, Aspen. I think you're being too hard on yourself. But when aren't you." A half smile falls over her face. "The cats in Starclan are mousebrains anyways. ALways speaking in tongues."
Aspenstar let out a purr of amusement. "If you didn't become my deputy to become leader, why'd ya do it? To have unlimited access to my stunning good looks?" she teased. For all of the time she needed to be away, it was good to be back around the cats that she loved, the cats that loved her. The three days she had been gone had taught her that, as a dull ache of longing had settled in the pit of her stomach for camp the nights she was away. She nudged her deputy's side affectionately, before sighing.
Aspenstar tilted her head. "Maybe one day I wanted to," she meowed with a shrug. "But I wanted to grow into it, you know? I wanted a trial and error period and maybe some guidance and instead I got this," she waved her tail absently, referring to all of the things that had happened in the last six moons. "It's better now, but at the beginning..." Before she and Larkspur had befriended each other, Aspenstar had been a bundle of anxiety and feelings of not good enough. "At the beginning I was just a naive kid, thrown in far too deep. Oakleaf's death was the first 'bad' thing to ever happen to me. Before that, everything was perfect." Well, that was a half-truth, but Aspenstar wasn't the first cat to divulge stories of her young childhood, of being molded into the perfect soldier. "When Phantomfox first approached me, I thought it was going to be the best day of my life. I'd been picked as deputy! But, well, that wasn't exactly what the stars had in mind, and things sort of crumbled for a while. Maybe they're still crumbling. I don't know." She looked off into the distance for a long moment, her gaze stormy.
She looked back to Larkspur for a moment, a small smile on her face. "I appreciate you, you know?" Well, she more than appreciated her deputy, but emotions made things so complicated. "Watch the stars with me?" she then asked, glancing up at the mostly clear sky. "They might be mouse brains up there, but the night sky always has a way of making me feel a little more complete."
Larkspur rolls her eyes with a smile, nosing Aspenstar's shoulder. "I did it for you," she says quietly, not so much teasing as there might've been. The black she-cat was aware that her leader was one to take on many romances, not the type to settle down. The fact didn't bother Lark, nor did it affect her feelings she held. It felt strange, however, to make any attempt to take whatever they had to any other level. Whatever happened now suited her just fine. She was in her innermost circle, her deputy for goodness sake, and she was quite content to be that.
"I'd never known that." Larkspur watches her intently, listening to the story Aspenstar was giving her. She figured vulnerability like this was uncommon to the other she-cat, so she just listens, she doesn't speak much, just nodding where she felt like it belonged. "I suppose things don't have a way of working out the way we think they should." Larkspur cracks a smile. "For what it's worth? I think you're doing a pretty good job all things considered. Nightclan is thriving now, where it certainly wasn't before."
"Anytime," Larkspur gives a slow blink of gratitude, before nodding easily. She looks up with the cat beside her, closing her eyes for a moment, listening to the rush of water, to the wind, to the breathing of Aspenstar. She felt oddly at peace, even though chaos was continuing to erupt around them. It had to all come together eventually.
"Oh, yeah?" she responded, although her tone was more thoughtful than anything. There was a part of her that loved the eyes on her, loved the fact that she had more than one cat, it seemed, who did things explicitly for her. It meant that she meant something, that she'd finally made it. Perhaps that part was the part that Pinesimmer was right about; it was shallow and almost a narcissist. She couldn't help it though, could she ? The larger part of her appreciated her response for a completely different reason. It often felt like the world was against her, but at least she knew that she had Larkspur on her side.
Aspenstar flicked her ear in response, before smiling. "I appreciate that," she meowed. "I've done all I can to ensure NightClan has an easier go at it than it's been having. I'm glad my work has paid off." She dipped her head to the side, before looking up.
"You see those stars," she meowed, gesturing with her tail to a constellation. "Lostriver used to find different constellations and tell me stories about them on nights when he was satisfied with my training," she meowed. "That was the first one he ever showed me. See how it forms a weird shape? He called it Ursa Major, told me a story of huge woolly monsters he called bears and how they came to live in the sky." It was a strange memory to share, as Aspenstar shared memories infrequently at best, but her voice was a little more level than it had been moments before. "A whole sky full of stories."
Larkspur glances up at the stars as Aspenstar pointed them out, listening intently to the story that she had to share. The leader didn't share many stories of her childhood, and when she did, Larkspur felt warm. Like she'd been given something all her own. She knew that may not be the case, and she'd likely shared with someone else, but in this moment, it felt like just the two of them.
She inhales softly, her affection brimming just beneath her tongue. And yet, she bit the words off, unable to formulate what she would've wanted to. Instead she stands quietly, her blue eyes thoughtful. "Thank you for telling me about them," she smiles, closing her eyes for a brief moment.
When she opens them again, she tilts her head with speculation. "I hardly remember my parents." She says with hesitation, but continues on. "They left me behind when I was a kitten. Everyone knows that though. I was the talk of the clan for months. I heard the things said about me. Pity, mostly." Larkspur laughs softly, a bitter edge to the joyful sound. "When I became an apprentice, I vowed to fit in. I worked so hard to be accepted, and remembered for anything other than the abandoned kit." She looks at Aspenstar fully, her eyes gentle. "This is the first time I think I've ever felt fully accepted. Thank you for making me apart of something."
