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!
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11.06.2022 The site has been transformed into an archive. Thank you for all the memories here!
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A bright new-leaf sun was situated high in the sky, smiling down on young Pikekit as he frolicked among the pretty flowers and pawed at the insects bumbling by. Today he chose not to be consumed by the death match between he and his brother that marched closer with the passage of time or his father's propensity towards not being a father. Today he was going to br a kit, and that was because he'd swindled Orchiddrop into playing with him. His golden tail waved eagerly behind him, a pair of sharp goldenrod eyes peering at the nursery for the first sign of the queen.
It was getting difficult for Orchiddrop to move quickly, what with her due date fast approaching. Every movement was an effort mentally and physically, but she had promised Pikekit to play with him today. He was a bright spot among the sea of despair she seemed to be living in, something young and energetic and innocent that Goldenshadow permitted her to have.
The white-furred queen roused herself from sleep- a sleep that lasted too long and occurred too frequently. "Good afternoon, Pikekit," she said, that bright smile that she showed the kit coming onto her features. "What are we going to play today? I've been looking forward to this all night."
"Really? Me too!" Pikekit wound himself between Orchiddrop's legs in greeting, leaning against her for an extra heartbeat before pulling away. He knew she was slowing down and becoming sleepier than usual (secretly, he enjoyed snuggling close for naps) but, innocent as he was, he chalked it up to the pregnancy and not the disease called Goldenshadow. Like the rest of their clanmates, he didn't see the manipulative or abusive sides to his father-- mainly because he never saw his father in the first place.
Trivial details aside, Pikekit was mature enough to know that there weren't a whole lot of games his stepmother would be able to play. So, falling into a quiet thought, he considered the different options they had. "How about 'I Spy?' Weevilkit and I like to play that together." A purr rumbled in his chest at the thought of the leader's son, who Pikekit was particularly fond of.
"I would love to play," she said with a purr, sinking down into a seated position in the leafbare sunshine. A glance sideways told her that Rosethorn was watching her from where she was sorting dried herbs near the medicine cat den, and Goldenshadow was watching all of them from where he was eating nearby.
Turning her head away from them both, she nudged Pikekit with a paw, playfully. "The strongest and bravest should go first- that's you. What do you spy?"
His chest puffed out at her remark. One day, he would be the strongest and the bravest in all of SummerClan, surpassing even Goldenshadow. Until that day came, however, Pikekit was content to let Orchiddrop stroke his ego and spend his free time making her smile, and he scoured the camp listlessly for something obscure. "I spy...somethiiiing," it droned on a little, "something yellow!"
Orchiddrop's eyes drifted to and fro, trying to catch a glimpse of what he might be talking about. "Is is... that dandelion over there?" she asked, lifting a paw to point. "Behind my sister?"
Pikekit followed where she pointed and then shook his head, announcing an overly eager "No!" that was trailed by giggles. Try as he might, he couldn't help but let his gaze move behind the fat little bee buzzing its way around some plants nearby.
Orchiddrop followed his gaze with a grin. "Hmm... is it that buzzing bee, by any chance?" She was sure her sister would be fed up with such easy games, but she never minded lowering herself to a kit's level, entering their world and letting them revel in youth and innocence instead of growing up too fast to keep up with the adults. "If it is, you have to fetch us a mouse to share from the fresh-kill pile."
"Oh, how'd you know!" It was less a question and more a reverent exclamation. Pikekit was already bounding away before she could answer him, rummaging through the pile to find the fattest, juiciest mouse to present to Orchiddrop. He pranced back over once he found one worthy enough to give to her, grinning up around where his teeth held the prey by its tail.
"Thank you, Pikekit," Orchiddrop said, leaning down to lick his forehead before taking the mouse. She laid down slowly, extending her paws out in front of her as she took a bite, then passed the mouse to her step son. "My turn. I spy something blue." There were a few things it could've been- the azure sky, the soft blue flowers budding in the corner of camp, or a nearby crystalline puddle.
As Pikekit chewed a mouthful of meat, his eyes roved across the camp at the various shades of blue coloring the world. Finally, he turned to Orchiddrop with a deviant smirk. "Is iiiitttt... your eyes?" There were so many options that she had to be tricking him!
"I can't see my own eyes, silly," Orchiddrop said with a laugh, giving him a moment to re-scan the area. Suddenly, there was a presence behind them, the threat that lurked ever present in the back of her mind. Goldenshadow, her doting mate and 'father' of her kits. The smile he gave them was deceptively kind, since they were out in the middle of camp and it would look good for him to be sweet to his growing family.
Orchiddrop's skin crawled as he laid beside her, curling himself around her possessively. However, she had long learned to control her reactions, and the smile she gave him was welcoming. She knew that if she reacted negatively to his presence, if she suggested he spend more time with his son, if she questioned him in any way, that he would later, in private, strike pain into her body and fear into her heart. So Orchiddrop presented herself as a loving, unquestioning mate, out of self-preservation.
That was the picture they presented now- a happily mated pair with an energetic son, cuddled up in the newleaf afternoon. Rosethorn was one of the few who severely doubted this image, and she watched them now, working with her herbs. Her ears tilted, catching rustling and murmuring at the camp entrance behind her. Curiously, she turned, catching sight of a leaf-bare hardened black tom, walking in with a slight limp. Oh no, she thought helplessly, glancing back at her sister with dread clutching her chest. That's not good.
"Hey, Rose." For the moment he was oblivious. For the moment he was hopeful, happy. His pads were cracked and frostbitten, pained where they collided with the dirt, but Crow didn't move dejectedly or painfully, didn't exude the aura of someone beaten down by mother nature or by time. In this moment, with that little spring breeze dragging the scent of blackberries and wildflowers throughout the camp, he was a cat flush with optimism and eagerness to finally, at long last, be together again with the love of his life. Firebright eyes rested only on the garden keeper for the moment, unaware of the scene unfolding across the camp from where he was warmly greeting Orchiddrop's sister.
Pikekit was exuberant to see his father settle down with Orchiddrop, and he scampered up to brush himself along Goldenshadow's chest, used to the fact that he would not receive a nuzzle in return. "Dad! Are you gonna play with us? Momma and I are playing 'I Spy' and I can't figure out what's blue!" He placed his nimble forepaws on Orchiddrop's side and peered up longingly at Goldenshadow, the two toms mirror images of each other.
Fondly, Crow found his attention drifting around camp. It was so different here than in SunClan. Even the atmosphere was different, with mirth and merriment taking the form of cats sharing tongues and kittens laughing in delight. It felt like it could have been home, the place he'd been searching for. It felt like he belonged here all his life and was just now finding it-- and that thought occurred in the same instant his expression began to crumble, the sun lancing across a scar all too familiar to him and a smile that had warmed his heart being offered to another tom. Someone else, someone tall and handsome and in SummerClan, someone who looked so, so similar to the kitten trampling his oceanside lover. "H-he was right. Y-you," Crow's broken face turned back to Rosethorn, the pain fracturing the previous serenity, "You lied to me."
Damn it, Rosethorn watched Crow's anguished expression, burning it into her mind. If this was her punishment, so be it. She would bear it. She had brought this about, when she could have sent Crow away. Rosethorn was partially responsible for this pain on his face. She glanced away, back towards Orchiddrop, who had now seen the newcomer.
The expression on the white-furred queen's face was just as painful to see. Orchiddrop looked like she'd seen a ghost, like this apparition was driving a knife into her heart and twisting it back and forth. Agony, regret, guilt, self-hatred mingled in a momentary cocktail on her features, before she gained control of herself and looked away again. "I don't feel well. Play without me," she mumbled suddenly, in low tones, to Goldenshadow and Pikekit. She stood, moving back to the safety and the shelter of the nursery.
"I didn't lie," Rosethorn said quietly, desperately, turning back to Crow. "Look, Crow- those are your kits growing in her stomach. I'm sure of it. I'm so, so sorry, Crow. I know how much this must hurt. I... I did what I thought I had to do. But you have to stay. Please don't run away." There was an urgent key to her plea, something in her eyes that begged him not to turn tail and abandon the one who had abandoned him. If he did... Rosethorn was certain her sister would meet an early end.
Like a disease, anger poisoned his bloodstream and tinted the world red, Crow's claws clutching the ground. "You said she loved me. You said she would be there, that she was unwell and couldn't be." If his words took shape and were to manifest into tangible objects, they would mold themselves into knives, and in this moment of raw, unchecked fury, he would have stabbed her with them. There was no flicker of humanity left in him, the claws of despair firm in his heart. "You should have told me the truth! I promised. I waited. I believed."
"Yes, I did!" Rosethorn snapped, her guilt flowing over into anger, before dropping her voice again so Goldenshadow couldn't hear them. "I lied to you because some things are more important than your feelings, more important than my guilt. I lied to you because Orchiddrop isn't herself- and because I think that stupid tom of hers is going to kill her if she tries to leave him. She's trapped in that stupid farce of a relationship. Hate me all you want, Crow. I can handle that. But if you leave, if you give up on Orchiddrop and she dies trying to protect your kits, that's on you!" Having said her piece, the pretty Garden Keeper fell silent, watching Crow with the same desperate expression, waiting to see what decision he would make.
"I'm not leaving!" snarled Crow in rapid succession, Rosethorn's reasoning and following insult striking nerves that he could scarcely conceal. "I'm not giving up on them." There was a notable emphasis in the statement, an implications that whatever steps he took in moving forward wouldn't be for Orchiddrop, at least not in this moment where the ebony tom and the pretty garden keeper faced off with varying levels of anger seeping into their voices. Orchiddrop's safety was still a high concern of his, despite how the image of her coiled up between a golden warrior and his golden son branded betrayal into his brain, but moreso than that, it would be impossible to disengage himself from the situation even if he could find it in himself to hate her. There were kits involved now. His kits were involved, and they were at the risk of whatever danger their mother was in, and even if he could let himself walk away from Orchiddrop, Crow could never leave behind his children.
He refused to look at Rosethorn again, certain a glance at her would ignite the fuse on his temper. "I'm not leaving," he repeated lowly, bitterly. "I won't let anything happen to them...to her. But Rosethorn...if this would be the last time I ever spoke to you again, I'd be okay with that." One day he would be willing to reconcile, to see past his heartbreak and understand that she was taking the actions she thought best to protect her sister in the same manner in which he would do whatever was necessary for his own littermates, but for now wisps of ice froze the impulse.
"Fine," Rosethorn said, turning away to hide the growing despair in her gaze. However much she played it off, she liked Crow- and to be rightfully hated by him cut deep. "I'm a big girl, Crow. I can handle that, if it means I did right by my sister." With that, she strode away, getting herself as far away from this hellfire as she could.
