Just to the left of the waterfall's base is the mouth of a massive tunnel, and as you step closer the scent of bear is clearly present. This must have once been a bear's den, abandoned and re-purposed into a home for this clan. You venture deeper, swallowed by the darkness of the den and blink several times as your eyes adjust. Three pathways are laid out before you; the left leads into the medicine cat's den, the right to the nursery, and the central to the elder's den. The tunnel to the medicine cat's den, clearly dug by paw, dips down briefly before climbing upwards gently, just enough to be above the rest of the ground outside - in case of flooding. Light from glowing crystals and mushrooms brightens the den almost as if it were open to the sun and water drips from the ceiling where the waterfall above is beginning to eat through to the chamber, landing in an impossibly deep pool on the ground and telling you it's been dripping for some time to have eaten such a hole in the ground. Neat piles of herbs are arranged at the back of the den, soft nests to one side, and a final tunnel that leads to the med. cat's personal home to the other. You back out, turning to the nursery tunnel. Dug out in a similar fashion, this tunnel opens into a slightly larger cavern, so much warmer than the climate outside and completely dry. Nests line the walls, some occupied and others that have been empty for some time. Kits play in the center of the cavern with feathers or pine needles, watched closely by all of the queens as they share tongues in the brief respite. A smile lifts your muzzle and you retrace your steps back to the elder's den. It's utterly empty, nests still as perfect as they day they were made, and you can tell it has been for a long while. You turn to an approaching cat - Coldstar, the leader - and he explains to you that the elders are either still active in the clan or have gone off on their Last Hunt. This puzzles you greatly, but he goes on to tell you that his cats are proud and fierce, and would rather not be a burden on the younger generation by sitting helplessly in the den waiting for their time to join StarClan. If they know their time is coming, they head out with a patrol of their closest friends and family, leaving to the North to hunt the White Hare. You nod in understanding finally and follow the pale tom back out into the camp. He bounds up several outcropping rocks to the roots of a lone, massive pine tree. Its roots and the roots of its long-fallen brethren weave the walls of the leader's den below him, any open spaces filled with hardened mud and pine needles. The roots atop the leader's den are called the Sun's Claws, as they stretch like splayed claws from high above the cats in the camp, and it is here the leader calls his meetings. You follow him and poke your head into the tiny space in the roots that acts as an entrance to his den. The leader's den, just under the Sun's Claws, is warm, though not very spacious. His nest is made of downy feathers and young ferns, only just big enough for two cats and taking up every bit of space in the den. It looks cozy, befitting the leader of such a prestigious clan. Your attention turns finally back to the waterfall and the den behind and you steel yourself for the freezing leap to come. But as you approach, the curtain of water shifts to the side, giving you a dry entrance. You look up and notice two apprentices padding away from the upper falls after having pushed a large boulder into the path of the river, effectively blocking part of the water. Grateful, you make your way up the ledge that keeps the stream from flowing back into the den and cast a glance around. The cavern is sizable, with a low ceiling and water-smoothed stone floor, the entire clan could easily fit within. A short wall of pine needles and dried mud acts like a catch for any stray water, and the ground beyond it is dry. Littered throughout with pine needles and feathers, it all acts as one big nest with a cluster of indents near the back where cats have obviously been sleeping. The air is cool, though you imagine the combined body heat of the warriors and apprentices must warm it quite a bit during the night. As you make your way back into the center of the camp, you take a deep breath and sit to watch the goings-on. The clan emanates familial warmth and a loyal certainty that comes with complete trust in one another, and you decide that this is where you belong. |
South; The Thunderpath and Twoleg place act as a dangerous border between Galeclan and their close allies, Duskclan. Within the Twoleg place lives a group of pretenders, Strayclan[NPC]. East: OPEN West: OPEN
Coldstar takes up the head of the group, flicking his tail in a signal to follow him and the group picks their way through the entrance in single file and starts down the bank of the stream that gently turns into a full river. The apprentices are silent, eyes wide as they take in their first venture out of the camp. You, however, remember this path well as it's the one you took to arrive to the clan in the first place. The group halted pretty quickly at the roots of a massive, bare tree with branches that stretched into the sky like several skeletal tails. Coldstar pauses and speaks quickly. "Eagle's Roost, never come here alone and keep your eyes to the sky." His tone was solemn and serious, and you guessed he's already lost a couple of cats here. You continue, padding to the front of the group to walk in line with Coldstar. He briefly passes his tail over your flank, acknowledging and accepting your presence, as he turns to the river and a bridge made from the roots of Eagle's Roost tangled with several large stepping stones. It seemed safe enough, and Coldstar trudged over it confidently to the grassy island on the other side. It was warm there, the lack of trees allowing the sun's rays to reach the ground. A short blanket of clover and wild grasses covered the island, save for a trodden patch of earth in the very center. Your leader pads to the middle and sits, tail wrapping around his front paws as you and the other young cats gather before him and soak in the warm light. Finally, he addresses you all. "This is where you will spend most of your days as an apprentice, training until you feel as if you'll drop. This is Apprentice's Isle."
Now, the familiar sight of a twoleg nest came into view through the trees, though it was clearly abandoned. The colors on its outside crumbled and flaked, the solid-water squares were missing, and weeds grew over the structure as if the forest were reclaiming it. In front of it, some stone... thing made a path over the river where it joined the lake to the bank of an island. Coldstar leapt up the wooden ledges at the front of the nest, turning to face his charges. "This abandoned twoleg nest is also off-limits as before. It may be abandoned, but it's still home to snakes, and stray twolegs have been spotted here. Never come here without another cat. This," he meowed, jumping back down and padding over to the stone thing crossing the water, "is the Stone Tree, the safest bridge over the most dangerous waters." He motioned to the rocky rapids just under the bridge, and a few of the young cats next to you shivered before they followed the leader across and to the edge of the island where more twoleg things sat, this time sticks with thin strands of silverthorn strung in between encircling a patch of soft dirt that smelled of herbs. "Herb Grove, many of you will escort the medicine cats here as this is the only place in our territory where many of these herbs grow. It is essential to your survival."
"Spider's Orchard, the twolegs grow these sweettrees and eat the boulders that fall from them. We've tried to eat them as well, but they taste like earth and dust but are good for water if the need arises. A farmcat named Spider lives here, though he's probably back in his nest at this time." The group continued through the orchard and into the shadows at the edge of the noisy, stinky twoleg place. "I shouldn't have to tell you that here is strictly forbidden." Was all that came out of Coldstar before he hurried them beyond the forest of stone and to the edge of a thunderpath. This, too, stunk. Like buzzardfood and rot and burning, and you wanted to run and never look back. But it was important, as Coldstar paused to gather your attention. "This is the thunderpath that acts as the border between our clan and DuskClan." Looking across, you could see the sweeping plains and, just barely, the rocks that made up the clan's camp. "They are our allies, worthy of respect." And that was that. |