Remorapaw’s Promise [TW: d3ath (not Remy's d3ath)] ˚.ೃ࿔˙˖°˚ Remorapaw was born during the cusp of leaf-bare, when the wind found its bite and cut through camp with frozen claws. His mother, Kelpblossom, was a gentle warrior who believed every bad day could be fixed with patience and soft words. However, that fateful leaf-bare turned out to be harder than anyone expected. Prey ran thin. Illness crept through camp like a shadow. Kelpblossom caught an illness while protecting her kit from the cold. She would press her body around him at night, and she would always push the best pieces of prey toward him. “I already ate,” she would lie. But she hadn’t. And it wasn't long before she was too weak to rise. One night, as the snow slipped into the nursery through a tear in the den wall, Remorakit woke to find his mother shivering violently. He wriggled closer, trying to warm her with his tiny body. When she opened her tired eyes and pulled Remorakit close, she rasped, “Promise me you’ll keep finding the good in things. Even when it feels like there isn’t any.” Remy promised, with eyes upturned into pure round moons, not understanding why his mother was saying this to him nor why her voice was barely above a whisper now. “I promise. But don’t worry!” he whispered. “I’ll be a warrior soon. I’ll catch you so much prey and keep you warm.” She smiled at him like he’d given her the world. The illness took hold quickly, with her breathing turning wet and ragged. The medic did what they could, but herbs were scarce. ----------- On that inevitable morning, Remorakit had snuck out of camp. He wanted to surprise his mother. He’d found a tiny, half-frozen minnow stranded in a shallow puddle not too far. It wasn’t much, and it barely wriggled. But to him, it was treasure. With jaws clamped around it, he carried it all the way back, paws growing numb from cold. But when he pushed into the nursery, the air felt wrong. Too still. And beside Kelpblossom was the medic. Remorakit padded forward, minnow dangling from his jaws. “Look, Mama,” he mumbled around it. “I hunted.” No one answered. Everyone in the nursery watched solemnly as Kelpblossom’s only kit slowly walked up and nudged her cheek. It was then that Remorakit realized her fur had truly gone cold. The minnow slipped from his mouth and landed beside his mother’s paw. Remy was alone. For a long time, he just stood there, waiting and wishing for her to wake up. Waiting for her to tell him he was on his way to become Seaclan’s next best warrior. But she never did. At her vigil, the gray-blue kitten refused to leave her side. He told her about the minnow again and again. About how he was going to give it to her. About how he thought she would react, how he believed that the minnow was given by Starclan to heal her. He pressed his face into her fur. “I kept my promise. I found something good-” a tear rolled down his cheek as he whispered, “but I was too slow.” When dawn came and they carried her away, he tried to follow. A warrior blocked him gently, a look of pity for Remorakit. That was the first time he screamed as he watched her for one last time. That night, as he hugged himself to sleep, he vowed to himself to always remember the way her fur smelled of brine and crushed herbs. The way her heartbeat steadied his. ----------- A moon later, he became Remorapaw. Perhaps those who knew of his tragedy expected him to turn cold as the winter that took his mother away, but he didn’t. He chose to smile. So Remorapaw grew brighter, like the sun rising after the cruelest leaf-bare. He rolls in the seaweed along the shore, letting his laughter carry through the sea-breeze, lighting up the camp. He lets the pieces cling to his pelt, the cool strands tangling in his fur like how Kelpbloom held him through the worst of the winter. And as the days slowly grew warmer, he picks flowers from the fields. The apprentice would tuck them into his pelt, not to keep, but to give away. He says they look better on everyone else. His mother would have wanted him to spread the good into other’s days. But despite it all, sometimes, when he thinks no one is watching, he sits by the nursery entrance. He stares at it like he’s listening for a voice that will never call him inside again. He remembers the weight of that tiny minnow hitting the ground beside his mother’s paw. He remembers that he was too late. Deep down, a part of him fears that if he stops shining, then the darkness that took his mother will catch him too. But Remy would never let that happen. Ever. Because somewhere in StarClan, he knows Kelpblossom is watching him. And he wanted her to know that he will keep his promise forever. ˚.ೃ࿔˙˖°˚ End Backstory ˚.ೃ࿔˙˖°˚ I am not responsible for any tears this may have caused Credits: Writing + art by me :D (second picture is Remy Mom!)
