Chapter 4 ☆ Those Who Wander

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Next: none Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1210435213/ Art + text series, updates on Saturdays ╔════════════ ∘◦ ☆ ◦∘ ════════════╗ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ Those Who Wander - Moon 4 ╚════════════ ∘◦ ❉ ◦∘ ════════════╝ Events: Back in what is now being referred to as “refugeclan,” sarcastically by some and genuinely by others, hunting has been suddenly successful. The clan has greatly improved their team-hunting methods, learning to attract, trick, ambush, or corner prey in more successful ways than their previous chasing methods. On one of these hunting patrols, Duskearth finds Beetlekit. Allegiance changes: Beetlekit is a dull blue striped she-cat with soft brown eyes who should have been an apprentice 2 moons ago, but her family fell apart and she became a rogue. She is submissive and compliant. Strengths: quick learner, jack of all trades Weaknesses: doormat. Poor self-introspection Relationships: Duskearth, still searching for a successor so he can leave to find his brother, grows increasingly frustrated as the existing clanmates all prove helpless at healing. Scorpionclaw, Sennaseed, and Mesquitewood are competent, but are much too overworked to add medical training to their plates. Yellowkit, Horizonkit, and Chasingkit are only 2 moons old - and even though they excitedly try to “help” Duskearth with his duties - they are much too young to learn. And Duskearth even reluctantly tried to teach Gilastar and Rattail, but they both proved utterly incompetent. The thought of Nightsoil getting further and further away makes Duskearth’s heart panic, and he starts to consider just… leaving. But when an owl attacks the prey pile and there’s a few assorted scratches among the warriors… oh boy. Duskearth’s protective instincts kick in - /no one/ knows how to wrap a cut and no one is keeping them /clean/ so they don’t get /infected./ It's all such minor cuts, but it's enough to tell Duskearth that his clan won’t survive without him. Besides, he believes that this clan is the best way to save a lot of lives, and he couldn’t live with himself if he left and the clan failed. Ugh…fine. Duskearth decides to stay. Sometimes he wishes he wasn’t so selfless. In the meantime, with the increased stock of prey lately, the clan votes that they can afford to take in another member. Search patrols are sent out again. Mesquitewood and Scorpionclaw are particularly excited, the former eager to help support another struggling rogue like she once was, and the latter proud that the clan will be growing again and will hopefully continue. But no one is more excited than Duskearth when a patrol yields Beetlekit. Beetlekit shows no appreciation towards the clan, nor rebellion against it, she simply accepts the nest Sennaseed made for her. She doesn’t talk. She stays out of the way. Mesquitewood is a little concerned for her, and dotes about her motherly, but doesn’t manage to get any emotion out of her. Duskearth takes full advantage of her, and quickly makes her his official apprentice. She takes to it, not quickly per se, but at a steady enough rate. Duskearth is a challenging teacher, pushing her harder and harder, but he's kind to Beetlepaw. (Sometimes he needs a stern reminder from Mesquitewood to stop thinking about Beetlepaw objectively and to treat her like a person). With every one of her successes, the clan becomes more optimistic about their survival. The only one who's indifferent is Rattail. Rattail shows no interest in Beetlepaw, he leaves her alone and never argues for or against her, which Scorpionclaw pegs as out-of-character. How come he's super involved in certain cats and not others? Perhaps there's some kind of criteria there... Scorpionclaw feels like she's onto something there but can't follow the train of thought any further. Besides, for once she's too distracted to think about Rattail too much. She's been acting strange and hormonal... She got into a short fight with Sennaseed over something trivial. He is lonely and terribly scared for Toadstep. Not knowing where his friend is and if he's alone has been driving Sennaseed crazy. He starts to become more hostile towards Gilastar for exiling the innocent cat. Mesquitewood's kits have been getting more involved in clan life lately, spending most of their time out of the den. Yellowkit takes to Beetlepaw quickly, chatting with her whenever he can. Beetlepaw gets a little annoyed at his constant chatter, but begins to appreciate the company. Chasingkit sees all the praise Beetlepaw gets from the clan, and starts to notice how it sounds much more sincere than the support she gets. Why do they love Beetlepaw more than her? Her jealousy begins to develop into self-doubt. Horizonkit is unsure how to approach the healer apprentice, but she's begun to worship Beetlepaw (she's just so cool!) and really wishes they could be friends. Gilastar, perched atop the plateau, sits and watches the clan carry out duties below (+)