TW for mentions of fighting, death, general Urchinclan mentality )) Urchinclan was a strange sort of home. It had taken them in, then orphaned them. It offered shelter, and posed threat. It sought simultaneously to make them strong and tear them apart. A very strange home indeed. ... Their first memory was their last one of their mother. They stood, still a kit, before Goldenmonster who lay dead. A death at the claws of the leader. They resented it. Not the lack of a parent, for they couldn't miss what they didn't know, but that their first memory was stained. ... https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33866804/comments/#comments-322244370 Their first fight had come at only a single moon old. The perpetrator was a kit, Bearkit, demanding to fight. At first, Bladderwortkit had refused. Fighting was Goldenmonster dead. It was the scar on their sister's shoulder. But when Bearkit came for them, thought left them and their unsheathed claw had lashed back. A mindless reaction. They knew now to avoid those. Bearkit had laughed, had fought, had taunted, until she left the thoroughly defeated Bladderwortkit in the dust. Moons later they heard Bearkit had died. Should it have pleased them? Their tormenter was gone. But Bladderwort had slashed back. ... https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/33866804/comments/#comments-322493578 "Soon, the chill of the blizzard reached his heart." Bladderwortkit loved all stories, but this one had been special. Told just for them. They'd shivered to hear of Snowclan, with it's deadly cold and it's heartless and careless clanmates. They'd been so glad, so so glad not to live there. Now they wondered if they did. ... "Let all cats old enough to kill each other..." Bladderwortkit shivered to here it. That was them now. That dreadful mark of station. Old enough to kill? That couldn't be them, but it was their summons. They would find out soon. ... It did not surprise Bladderwortpaw to find they were, quite frankly, a terrible apprentice. For one thing, they hated fighting. It still shook them, just as it had when Bearkit made her challenge. But eventually it dulled. Terror faded into routine. Strange, the way it could do that. ... "Trust the sea" "The sea? Maybe after I grow gills. But you feel safe here?" The advice came from their sister, who seemed quite at home swimming in a tidepool. The response from Bladderwort who had taken it as a sceptic. Something that could change with the turn of wind and cause such destruction was not to be trusted. They'd asked, directly, about the sea, but there was a wider question within. Could you trust what gave you nurture when you knew how easily it could be roused to violence? Bladderwort found, with increased certainty, that they could not. ... Sometimes they wondered what it would be to be a cat anywhere else. ... At rangerhood they learnt Urchinclan's worst-kept secret. The dark forest. They knew it, had heard cats swear in it's name since they were a kit. But this was something different. A solid, unavoidable admission. Urchinclan cats sought to be worthy of it's ranks. They sought to kill for glory. ... Bladderwortear wasn't stupid. They knew they couldn't fight. They weren't strong. Wasn't diligent. Wasn't bloodthirsty. Wasn't the Urchinclan warrior they were suppose to be. The clan did not benefit from their being here, and it would not suffer from their loss. So why were they still here? ... The moon they became a warrior, many things happened. There was the end to the Orcaear trials. The accused was to be scarred, they heard. Not exiled, to keep the clan safe, but scarred, to bear a cruel reminder of this failure. Then there was the tournament. A celebration of their clans best warriors, that seemed to excite nothing more than fighting. ... Their sister seemed to bloom like a flower in these blood-stained sands. Bladderwortleap felt more like a creeping vine to be trodden on until someone thought to remove it. They hadn't spoken to her so much these last few moons. Far less than they would have liked to. Shine seemed to always be busy. Hunting. Or talking. She had friends here. She was thriving. She'd even signed up for the Bloodleaf. Gladiator's championship. Urchinclan preached it was no place for the weak. That cats who couldn't provide were nothing more than a burden to be rid of. Did Shine think so to? Did she realise it meant Bladderwort? Where was Shinekit who had curled beside them in the nursery, wishing to find nice cats? They couldn't watch the battle that would come. Watch their sister fight for sport. It was see Shine die, or see her kill. Bladderwort knew their limits. There were things they could not do. End a life was one. Convince Shine not to may be another. They only hoped she knew what she was getting into, and that her thorns were sharp enough to protect her from it. (continued below)
Stepping away was easier than they thought. One final leap over the border. One final goodbye to their strange sort of home. Many cats were lost to the tides, Bladderwort could be one of them. They would live without the sea, find some distant place where they couldn't here it's taunting. They would see no one, but the passing rouge or traveller. To these they would not name themself Bladderwortleap. That was a name given by a cat who hadn't raised them and a clan they wouldn't follow. They would give the name Blade. A kithood nickname few would remember. Until then, the clan could wonder or forget. Let Bladderwort live in silence for a while. As you've probably realised if you read this far, I'll be moving Bladderwort to loners. They don't currently have enough exp to support themselves, so I'm just hoping the missing exp reports come in soon.
