Ok...it felt kind of nice to NOT write 2020 LMAO. Welcome to 2021! To kick off the brand new year, we're introducing a round of updates, including new bio and forbidden romance rules, our Secret Santa reveal, OTM winners and nominations, our monthly patrols, and a fun new infectious disease! So make sure to check out the January Announcements for all of the new content! As we leave 2020 behind us, we hope everyone is able to put themselves first this year and practice self-care! Here's to another one! Let's write some cats!
The Apostles is a warrior cats roleplay based in northern Wisconsin. On Lake Superior, the wild cats have made the Apostle Islands their home. It is on these islands - Rocky Island and South Twin Island - that the clan and tribe cats have lived in a peace and harmony that ebbs and flows with the tide.
But as the tides turn, so does the truce that binds them to one another; and as the water raises, a darkness follows, an evil that will end in bloodshed and violence.
It was a little past dawn. Orangeish-pink light covered the open skies, engulfing the island in its warmth. Cardinal sat just outside of his den, which was placed intentionally away from the main camp and faced away from the lake. The night before, he'd asked his brother, Fern to have the new to-be's ready and waiting for him in the tribe's camp. He also said to make sure they ate something small, not a meal though. His instructions had been clear, so he was confident that he would find his orders carried out by the time he arrived.
He would've done it himself, had he not been patrolling late with Sun the night before. They'd left right after his conversation with Fern, so he hoped his brother would not mind. A surge of excitement and anxiety made his heartbeat fasten. He never was a morning cat, but today would be different. With that on his mind, he headed towards the tribe's main camp in a fast lope.
Cardinal had been a consistent presence to Blackbird's kits from the day she'd told him that she was pregnant. He'd never considered if they liked him before, he just acted as their uncle and helped in whatever way Blackbird needed him to since their biological father would rather make a family with someone else. He refused to be apart of anything Talon was with the kits, in fact.
Still, today would be different. Fern and him were going to train the kits today. There would be no games, and he hoped they did not expect it to be fun. They may come to enjoy their training quickly, or they may not... but he hoped it would not impact their relationship with him negatively.
When he entered the camp, he spotted Fern's tabby pelt and approached his brother with a high tail. Upon closing the gap between him and his brother, he dipped his muzzle slightly.
"Good morning, brother. I hope you slept well last night," he meowed, and then asked with an expectant tone, "is everything in order for us to be off? The kits- I mean, to-be's - have they eaten a small portion? Nothing too big, I hope. I don't want them to be sluggish during training, but they will need the energy since we'll be gone at least all morning," he glanced around the area in search of their familiar faces.
Post by fallenreaper on Aug 2, 2020 9:38:05 GMT -6
Song didn’t know what to expect. Her training with Sun, at least in her mind, went extremely well. They managed to catch a fish yesterday then improve on their techniques, even swam some. Regardless of her efforts, she still had trouble controlling her movements. Her energy just flowed through her body like an endless river.
Even now after they finished their small breakfast, she couldn’t stay still for long. She bounced with each step and floated around her siblings. All of them now her fellow to-bes. It seemed every time her paws hit the ground, they just jerked back up and propel her to another location. At this point, she looked less like a to-be and more of a rowdy kit.
When her ears caught her uncle’s approach into the camp, she twisted around to face him. Her face lit up instantly upon recognizing him. A small trill rippled through her throat and escaped her lips, a habit she doubted she would ever outgrow. The sound reflected her too perfectly.
She stood to the side. Song let her more timid uncle address Cardinal first before she stepped in. The young she-cat always thought the world of her family, from her mother and father to her uncles. None of them could any wrong in her feline eyes. Idly, she continued to observe the conversation until Cardinal’s eyes locked onto her.
Her eyes blinked as she meowed her greeting then her question. “Hello, Uncle. What are we doing today?”
Word count: 200+ | Tags: gammaneise , Egotistic , Raven~ ~, catalysta , | Notes: Beware... Song is energetic today. I think she got a hold of some honey recently.
When Cardinal had offered, well… suggested that they spend some time training their sister’s kits, Fern leaped at the offer. It was the perfect opportunity, especially for the fresh to-be’s who’d be caught between wanting to be a stone-guard or a prey-hunter. They’d get a taste of both today, and maybe even the silver tabby himself would learn a few new stone-guard tricks.
Cardinal had left him with a precise set of instructions, much to Fern’s hidden amusement, though it at least showed that Cardinal was just as invested as he was in being a support for their sister and her children. Though his instructions had been somewhat rigid considering Fern’s own unplanned mentality, he promised to follow up. Cardinal looked absolutely exhausted after he’d returned from his patrol, after all, and he didn’t want to thank his brother with a group of to-bes who were nowhere near ready to train the next morning.
Within the main camp, Fern kept a watchful eye on his kin, making sure the three would be ready for their training. A semi-watchful eye, at least… A few extra bites wouldn’t hurt them too much. They’d probably be more concerned about the timing of their training than not being able to eat a full meal. Once Cardinal had made his entrance, the tom greeted him with a flick of his feathery tail, beckoning his brother over to greet their nieces and nephew afterwards, as well.
“Yes, we’re all sorted. Don’t worry about them too much, Cardinal, they’ll be ready.” His voice was still a purr, Fern still glad to see in a sense his own brand of affection towards their kin - preparation. “Let’s not push them too hard… Plenty of time to learn. I trust you’re in charge of the first activity, though?” He nudged the bright-furred tom with a shoulder, watching the to-be’s eventually draw closer to greet their other uncle with a smile on his muzzle.
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Falcon was still a bit tired from the training session with Sun, but he was determined not to lag behind. He wasn’t a kit anymore which meant that it wouldn’t be tolerated if he tried to spend all day in his den like he and his sisters had done back then. A breakfast helped him feel perkier, but not nearly as perky as Song. He sat with his shoulders pulled back and his chest thrust forward, trying to emulate his father’s important posture. Amusement twinkled in his eyes as his watched his sister flounce around them as they waited for their day to begin.
Once he noticed his uncles approaching, the three-legged tom stood and limped after his sister. He turned over his shoulder, silently beckoning Primrose with his tail to follow. It had just been him and Song when Sun had taken them out so he was excited to have both of his sisters at his side today.
Standing at Song’s side, he briefly dipped his head in greeting. ”Good morning,” he meowed. His eyes flicked sideways briefly when Song asked what they were going to be doing today before returning to Cardinal and Fern with interest. Would they have both kinds of training today? The prospect was exciting and even more so when said training was coming from such dear family.
[attr="class","next"]Blackbird would not be with them that morning, but then she hadn’t been for some time. Not since that day they’d become… she scrunched her face, pondering the word… to-bes. A to-be wasn’t a kit—that was how Blackbird had explained it. They had important things to do, and Primrose was quickly coming to the realization that those important things did not align with her own. Her days were spent under the sun, moving amongst the grass, stalking after things that ran and jumped and squealed too loud when you frightened them. It was nothing like her days at the lakeshore with Blackbird, gathering shells and listening to the water as it lapped up against one’s paws, cool-like and calming.
Nothing was calming about being a to-be.
And today, she knew, would be much the same. Already she felt weary, having been roused so early from her slumbers and corralled into the clearing by her siblings who never failed, it seemed, to be doing anything but sitting still. They’d chattered all over breakfast, filling the air with their noise like those water birds so often did, and she had listened as best she could, all while picking away at a fowl whose contents now weighed too heavy in her belly. It was not a good start to the morning, not by half, and yet Blackbird had been insistent. Blackbird said she had to be good. She had to listen, and she had to learn; Primrose knew she could do neither if she fled to her nest or retreated to the lakeshore as she had already done to look for shells. She needed to be here today.
And so she was, albeit begrudgingly, and so she remained, even as her stomach turned at the two cats that approached them, even as her eyes fell on a particularly enormous red tabby with his fiery coat and bird-bright eyes. She didn’t know that one, though she would have recognized Fern anywhere. It was to him she wished to flee to, to press against and trail after, but something in the manner of their approach stilled her, and so she remained planted a moment longer until her siblings tumbled forward, shouting their raucous greetings. The noise hurt her ears, but she did well in hiding it as she walked more slowly to join them.
Cardinal took note of the first of the kits to approach, though she seemed respectful in spite of the excitement that shined from her gaze. Her enthusiasm brought a smile to Cardinal's normally stoic features. He turned his attention back towards Fern, however, following Song's bright gaze to him as the tabby flicked his tail over Cardinal's flank in greeting.
"...all sorted...Let's not push them too hard. Plenty of time to learn. I trust you're in charge of the first activity, though?" Fern leaned in and gave him a friendly nudge. A smile lit up Fern's similar features, and for a moment Cardinal was reminded of Loon. He wondered if he caused the same thing for his other siblings, since the brothers had all looked very similar in build even as kits. He pushed the feelings to the back of his mind.
He gave a single nod at Fern's words, satisfied that what he'd asked for had been taken care of - and he was more than happy to take the lead. He didn't know why he'd been worried about things not getting done on time. Of course Fern could follow a few simple orders! Eh, he reminded himself, I'm probably just nervous about today. Gotta relax, Cardinal.
Cardinal's gaze flashed back upon the kits, who had all gathered. Song and Falcon seemed excited, or at least curious, about what they'd be doing for training. To Cardinal's knowledge, they'd already had a session with Sun. He was quite confident in Sun being one of the ones to train them, and he was happy it was her instead of... another stone-guard. That was, if it couldn't be him. Sun had told him briefly during their patrol the night before about the training session. It had been about navigating the water, learning to get comfortable with it. She said that Song and Falcon had done well. Primrose, however, had not been apart of the session. No matter, she would likely get to train in the water another time.
As his gaze hovered over Prim, he noticed that she didn't seem to be all there with them. Disinterested or unfocused, at the very least. It was likely because she was young, so he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt until she no longer deserved it.
"Hello, Uncle. What are we doing today?" Cardinal met the lithe black molly's eyes as she asked the question.
"Today Fern and I are going to train you, so it's not going to be a quick little session. Unless, of course, you ace every task given to you. The first?" Cardinal glanced towards Fern, "we're going to teach you how to read nature's signs. Come along, you won't find anything but signs of cats here," with a wave of his furry tail, he turned and led the way out of the main camp. Into the wilderness they tread, until Cardinal brought them to the place he had in mind. The camp was far enough away that the hubbub was muted and harder to hear.
Cardinal had brought them to the bottom of a slope, so the camp could no longer be seen either. He hoped that would help the to-be's get into 'training mode', to not be distracted by the noise or movement of the tribe cats back in the camp. There, at the bottom of the slope, were the faded prints of a coyote's tracks. They were rather old, but had been pushed into the mud on a rainy day - so they would take longer to go away.
He turned so the tracks were between him and the rest, motioning to them with his big paw, "Come and give this a sniff, examine it. Take your time. Remember it. It's important to know how to track any animal, whether you are a stone-guard or a prey-hunter. For guards, it's of the utmost importance that we can detect the first signs of a threat. If we can find that threat before it finds the tribe, that's the ideal situation. Our job is to prevent conflict with nature if we can, not just to fight off direct threats. It's about keeping the tribe safe and secure. For a prey-hunter, the reason is different," he looked to Fern, giving him a quick nod to show that he'd allow his brother to explain his rank's side of things.
Post by fallenreaper on Aug 23, 2020 12:29:00 GMT -6
The whole time Song sat, her feet twitched with energy. She couldn’t help it. The longer she stayed still, the more her paws knead the soft and damp ground. Her toes gathered the surface dirt and bunched it underneath her pads. She knew she would have to clean her claws later, but she didn’t mind. A simple wade into the water would do the trick.
The thought of water caused her to smirk. Her muscles were still sore from their adventure with Sun and the race within the water. She didn’t win, but she aimed to improve until she could complete the task given.
When Cardinal answered her question, her head turned over her shoulder. She spotted Falcon and Primrose approach the Uncles. Her sister’s smokey-black form was notably smaller despite being born first. Primrose timidly followed Falcon until he sat beside Song.
When her uncle announced they would be moving on, her tail flickered in eagerness. She rose to her feet then trotted closely behind the leading pair. Realizing Primrose might not keep up, the long-haired black smoke paused in her step every few paces then glanced back. Forcing herself to patiently wait for her sister and brother to catch up. She didn’t want them left out.
When they came to a stop, they all gathered around the paw print fixed into the mud. Uncle Cardinal explained the reason for tracking scents and turned to Fern for more details. A very clear difference between prey hunters and stone guards had been established in her mind now.
Gingerly, Song lowered her muzzle to the mud indentation. She inhaled the lingering scent. The damp earth and stale water overwhelmed the musky smell causing her to glance up at her Uncles. She pulled upright as she then looked to Falcon, questioning her Uncles.
Unable to get a proper scent, she decided to try to memorize the appearance. With a careful step to avoid ruining it, she pressed her own paw next to the print. She made a small dent then pulled it away. It was nearly double the length of her own and wider. The thought of whatever made this put her fur on end.
Fern was, all in all, rather impressed by the group of to-bes’ readiness for the day. Of course, he’d prepared them himself… Though it was nice to see that they had their manners about them as well as their appetites dealt with. Perhaps Cardinal’s presence had made them realise that the training was serious? Fern wasn’t one to make the young cats do too much per session, though Cardinal certainly had his wits about him. Future-proofing, eh? The silver tabby had never been too good at that. Primrose was just as silent as he was used to, though Song was the peppy molly she’d always been and Falcon still carried an air of energy about him. They wouldn’t be facing too many delays, hopefully.
“Nature’s signs… I’ve always loved this one,” he commented breezily as Cardinal laid out their first plan. “No nodding off, though. It’s not as easy as you think!” This was, at least, something they both had a certain sort of expertise in. Cardinal must have been aware… He really did think extensively about this day, didn’t he? How stressful it must be to be you, brother. Of course, it was purely the role of the stone guards to understand nature’s signs when they didn’t relate to the island’s prey. He still wouldn’t have to pitch in too much until it was time for them to get ready for hunting.
The silver tabby strolled alongside the group of to-bes as the red-furred stone guard led the way, accounting for each of their pupils as they worked towards their target area. Nobody would be missing out on this lesson… or any, for that matter! He was still cautious about letting them escape his sight. Before too long, the sound of voices was distant, whereas the island life was vibrant and made its presence known. Fern stopped beside his brother as the to-bes gathered by to listen to his words, the tom nodding silently along as he spoke. He watched them examine the predator’s tracks to gauge a reaction, noting with a warm smile that Song was rather intimidated by the strange pawprints.
When prompted, however, he cleared his throat. “Yes! You’re right, Cardinal. If you can’t track an animal, you can’t catch it. Or eat it. We track the life on the island by scent, sound… And signs like these.” He gestured towards the large pawprints with a feathered tail. “But even if we aren’t hunting the animal behind those tracks… It’s still important to pay attention to them. Prey-hunters have to keep this island in balance, too. We have to understand what animals are in abundance and which are not in order to avoid losing them entirely. That includes animals that other predators hunt. A good prey-hunter would let the stone-guards know of any signs of danger they come across on a hunt… So what would you say to Cardinal here if you saw these tracks on your own?” With that, he glanced expectantly at the young cats for an answer.
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With an excited bounce, almost like revving an engine, Falcon hopped twice on his front leg before setting off after his uncles and sisters. As they gathered around the pawprint, he watched as Song compared the size of her own paw to the print. As she withdrew, he hobbled forward to sniff curiously at the set mud. He thought that he could smell something musty other than wetness and earth, but he wasn’t entirely sure that he wasn’t just imagining it. The paw prints were so large… As the older cats went on about tracking, Falcon’s ears pressed backwards.
Uncertainly, he looked from the paw to his uncles. ”We don’t… We don’t hunt whatever that is, do we?” he asked. Maybe it’s just that they were small, but he hadn’t recalled ever seeing prey that had paws that matched that size while growing up. To be frank, he felt a bit of trepidation at the thought of how many cats it would take to take down the animal behind this paw.
But as Fern continued, Falcon figured that was his answer. If this was a print they would tell Cardinal about, it must be a danger rather than dinner. ”Would we tell him that we saw them and where they were headed?” he asked. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he looked down at the print. ”Maybe if we can tell how fresh they are?”
