wills-woodland-warriors

[wills-woodland-warriors]

fadingflea (sprout) family also links up to eye out family in multiple cases and also the Jackdafern family

I should make an in depth sprout family tree

I wonder how far a singular family tree could stretch....

FadingFlea's family extends to the Tunnel Family through Proteafang and Tawnytrot's relationship.

The Tunnel family extends to the SmallBasil family because of Lark/Leaf (surrogate) and also because Emberdawn herself was a surrogate for them.

SmallBasil's family also extends to the JackdawFern family because of Tawny/Leaf (surrogate)

JackdawFern's family also extend to the Tunnel Family through Tawny/Lark.

SmallBasil's family also extends to Sparktail's family for the same reason.

SmallBasil ALSO extends to the Gaping Maw family, because of Blood/Leaf (mates).

The Gaping Maw family also also extends to the Eye-Out family because Blackfinch and Falleniris are mates.

JackdawFern would also extend to the Eye-Out family because their kits are mates, and that would also extend to the Aspenroot/Kiteburn/Rookstorm family because those mates are in a poly with the three's own kits.

and those are just the main big families that I could remember on the top of my head!

There are so many more connections with smaller families or individuals

(family trees are now on the pinned post)

[wills-woodland-warriors]

[wills-woodland-warriors]

she’s banned from the daycare

Thoughts on Firelake?

[wills-woodland-warriors]

shaming lavenderblaze. everyone tell her off

[wills-woodland-warriors]

FleaThistle (throat slit by a fox, died choking on his own blood) has more canine-like, well, canines. His tail is bushier and fuller, and over time the black tip at the end of his tail will have silver hairs mixed in. His calls are more fox-like screeches, and he does the pounce thing Arctic foxes do when hunting voles in the snow… In FleaThistle’s case, Jackdaw’s tail. Feel free to add any suggestions! - @wills-woodland-warriors

My suggestions!

--puts food (when he has it and doesn't just eat it all) and other small items he values in caches to keep them safe

--his big tail helps him to regulate temperature when needed

--as foxes are omnivores, he might have a patch of plants that are just meant for food

--as well as screeches, emits other fox noises (high-pitched bark to alert of danger or possibly call for help).

--A group of foxes can be called a skulk. Maybe he refers to his family as this?

--Can run really fast (average foxes run up to 45 mph, average cats run up to 25)

--Maybe as he moves closer to the Brumal and the temperature drops more and more, his fur becomes whiter and whiter, also like an arctic fox (and he's able to withstand temperature as low as -70C)

#fleathistle #representation of death #Sprout family

[wills-woodland-warriors]

Did my ask about FleaThistles death traits send? I’m getting error messages on everything I do on tumblr lately because of storms - @wills-woodland-warriors

They did! I've just been distracted or tired since then, and when I receive asks, I want to be able to read and comprehend them properly

#Sorry for asking but my wifi has been literal horse shit #they’re putting in new wifi lines in our street (and tore up our garden to do it fml) and then a storm hit so now it’s even worse

[wills-woodland-warriors]

FleaThistle would do this :)

a Dark Forest cat that walks in living dreams just to hang out in the lush grass and prey-filled air

The dreaming cat sees them and wonders who tf are you and they're just like "oh yeah I'm dead. I don't have any messages for you, I'm not even StarClan but--no don't worry I don't want to kill you either lmao, I just saw the grass and thought it looked comfy. Can you dream up some mice? Thx!"

[wills-woodland-warriors]

Here are the bases for Doefire’s other kits!

their fathers are Weepingwobble (bio) and Lilyclaw (adoptive) [their parents are a poly]

I previously did the designs for their half-siblings, Ospreyflight and Scorpionscale, who are bio Lily’s

Lilyclaw was in Webstripe’s and Lilywater’s first litter (adopted by Scaleears and Ivyspots) and Weeping is a FadingFlea kit

--------------

Bases:

Coyote

Ibex

=================

@wills-woodland-warriors

@liberhoe

@starfalcon555

#weepingwobble #sprout family extended #sprout family

[wills-woodland-warriors]

Dark Forest Resident: Batkit

Aliases / Nicknames: ??

Gender: tom

Sexuality: homosexual

Family: unnamed mother, unnamed father, Pebblekit (sister), Barkkit (brother)

Other Relations: N/A

Clan: WindClan

Rank: kit

Characteristics: impulsive, afraid of heights, afraid of birds

Murder Motive: wants quiet

Number of Victims: 1 (unintentionally)

Number of Murders: 1 (unintentionally)

Murder Method: leaving in the open for a hawk

Known Victims: Gorsekit

Victim Profile: noisy kit

Cause of Death: shock

Cautionary Tale: ??

Story: 

He didn't understand.

He knew that it was cold outside, and that's why he had to stay in the nursery, especially during the night. But nothing had to be explained to him further than that; he didn't want to go outside when it was cold anyways.

So he didn't know the dangers.

He didn't know that you could die.

When Littlesplash had her litter of kits, the tiny things were so noisy!

Batkit was awed at first to see cats so small, and was amazed that he had been so small himself, but soon enough the little things showed irksome behaviour. In particular was Gorsekit, who cried for no good reason day-in and day-out.

Too, it seemed everyone in the nursery was a heavy sleeper--everyone but Batkit.

He had enough. He wanted some rest, and to get the noise away from him. So he picked the little kit up and plopped him outside of the nursery, where the den walls would muffle his cries. And maybe the cold would teach him to be quite!

Then he was gone.

Batkit woke to the alarmed wailing of Littlesplash, who cried that she couldn't find Gorsekit anywhere. The Clan searched around and, feeling guilty, Batkit did as well.

But soon it became clear that Gorsekit wasn't still in the camp. Had he run away? Had Batkit upset him that much? Now that he wasn't so irritated from a lack of sleep, he felt bad for what he had done, made worse by everyone's panic.

Still, he didn't tell them the truth, too afraid of being scolded. Instead, while everyone was distracted, he snuck out of camp in search of the little kit.

There was no scent trials. Batkit was getting lost.

A shadow loomed over him, and before he knew it, he was being carried into the air. He screeched, alarmed, which caught the attention of Littlesplash and a patrol, who had left the camp earlier to search for her son.

The queen leaped into the air, unbalancing the hawk. It dropped him, then grabbed him again by the tail while Littlesplash clawed at it. It gripped onto him tightly.

Littlesplash slipped, but managed to grab onto Batkit. She pulled him down, trying to free him at the same time that the hawk jerked upward. Then there was a tearing, and an awful pain that made him screech, then they were falling to the ground.

Batkit and Littlesplash survived the crash thanks to the cats below catching them, but something was wrong. He was breathing quickly, everything was distorted. Cats around him were panicking, and soon, it was all dark.

Additional Information: 

--If not for the shock, he would have survived his injuries--though his apprenticeship would definitely have to be delayed.

--Story inspired by both A Thief in ThunderClan and Tallstar's Revenge.

In TS, Stagkit took Tallkit out of the den because he kept crying, and Sandgorse found him.

--Gorsekit was out in the open, small, and loud, so a hawk quickly found him and took him in a heartbeat. I figured that if they didn't smell the hawk in ATiT, they wouldn't smell it here, and not when it was a blink-in-the-eye swoop.

--He is adopted by Tarantulastar and Hummingbirdstar (likely seeing the Gossamer Trees as somewhere a bird could never get him because of all the mesh). He is adopted when he is three moons old. Charkit/lynx, his adopted brother, is also three moons old, though they do have an age gap of roughly two weeks. This also makes him an adoptive Smalljump grandbaby!

--Base: F2U Oriental Shorthair Cat Base by Grassdew44 on DeviantArt (his ref is more his adult form)

#Oh poor little baby #i love him

[wills-woodland-warriors]

raisel purred, sitting up with a grin. “See? Now you’re all calmer!”

The Sward RPG--5

The cats found out that pink eyes are for murderers and yellow eyes for abusers. They become distrustful of the others around them, but don't wish to leave the only company.

----

@ambitiousauthor

@wills-woodland-warriors

@indigo-flightly-falls

@elementaldeityoffood

#the sward rpg

[wills-woodland-warriors]

I forgot to bookmark it, could I please have a link to all of the ref sheets?

Added the gang to the Refs! (also why does my computer screen look clean until I see it through my phone? Rip)

@ambitiousauthor

@wills-woodland-warriors

@indigo-flightly-falls

@elementaldeityoffood

[wills-woodland-warriors]

Raisel plopped down into a loaf next to Sandhowl, digging his claws into the dirt beneath him as the cats around him gave eachother looks of varying distrust. If he ran fast enough, could he leave before they started fighting? Would they fight? 

His mind was whirling, and he licked ar the fur on his chest nervously. Have any of them trained here aswell? 

So far BounceFur didn’t seem like much of a threat, so he tried to focus more on the others around them. His gaze drifted to the black she-cat across from him. 

How did LaurelDawn know so much? And with a prickling of fear and doubt down his spine, he wondered if any of them knew what he had done—or rather, hadn’t done, depending on who you asked. 

Well, someone had to say something soon, so he sighed and gave as confident and relaxed of a smile as he could.

Drawing the attention of those around him, he casually asked: “So what’s everyone’s favourite prey? Mines chicken,”

The Sward RPG--5

The cats found out that pink eyes are for murderers and yellow eyes for abusers. They become distrustful of the others around them, but don't wish to leave the only company.

----

@ambitiousauthor

@wills-woodland-warriors

@indigo-flightly-falls

@elementaldeityoffood

#the sward rpg #the sward

[wills-woodland-warriors]

a long while ago I had the idea that QuickStar runs a camp, so he probably runs it!

Dark Forest "boot camps"

I'm watching an "accurate boot camp scenes in movies" type video (that stuff isn't my thing generally but I thought it was interesting)

and I started to think what if the Dark Forest had something like that?

Not like the training in OOTS because it's meant to benefit the apprentices. But I pulled the connection from boot camp stuff because you'd probably have to train in harsh conditions to thrive in all Dark Forest environments and survive the most dangerous residences.

Maybe it's an occasional thing? Apprentices as we know have one mentor, so maybe they do most of their training that way, then at the [insert number of moons] mark they do the group thing to test their skills. They may do this a couple of times depending on how often it happens.

Then there's the question of who's in charge?

My top choices currently are Alderstar or Gorseheart/Emberdawn (cause obviously I'd choose my favourites)

There'd also be helpers, either permanent or occasional.

--Myrtlewing as one of the healers (cause he'd be bored)

--Sparktail to teach them how to handle/escape fire (and then set a 'training' fire) @elementaldeityoffood

--Grousemane who'd act as a heavily injured ally they'd have to rescue (and he'd enjoy just being dead weight while everyone tries to carry/drag him).

They'd also of course have to train in different environments:

--swim in the black currents (maybe from one shore to the other)

--scale branchless trees quickly + run across the branches of different trees (different types of trees of course)

--find their way out of a cave system (this one could potentially test teamwork as well as make them use their other senses)

--find their way out of specially dug tunnel systems (same as cave systems but they're more claustrophobic--maybe they do the cave first then when older move on to the tunnels).

--travel through the Gossamer Trees and whoever (team or individual) has the least webs on their pelt is rewarded (testing agility and awareness of their environment)

--Heads held in a Fool's Puddles so they train their ability to hold their breath for a long time.

And of course there would be the battle training. Maybe included in some of these as a surprise? You have to find your way through a cave...BUT SURPRISE THERE'S NOW ENEMIES YOU GOTTA FIGHT IN COMPLETE DARKNESS AND UNFAMILIAR LAND

These would almost all be the easy ones, and get progressively harder, like how the caves move on to tunnels.

You have to scale a tree (this would be done in normal training to prepare)

Now you have to scale a branchless tree (done in the first big training)

Now you have to scale a branchless tree that's stripped of bark so it's smooth (done in the second training). Might also be coated in something slippery in some parts.

You had to swim across strong currents in the first big training. Now the river is much larger, with no rocks or logs in the middle, and the currents are harsher.

[wills-woodland-warriors]

Tawny is very social! She probably drags protea around to socialize.

@wills-woodland-warriors

I don't know how Tawnytrot is so this might just apply to Protea, but I like to imagine that they're super chill and stonefaced 99% of the time but then their mate will lick their cheek and they instantly become a blushing mess

[wills-woodland-warriors]

skeletal sward cats (GhostPipes): a sward concept

more dark forest worldbuilding go brrr!

I imagine the stories of the first dark forest cats would come from some of the skeletal Sward cats being Norwegian forest cats, so very, very big. These cats are likely from very early days before the tribe of rushing water, or even a group that existed not long before it. The group that started all clans, if you will. 

But yeah, I like the idea of there being cats that are barely cats anymore, all memories and thoughts almost completely wiped from them, with only a taste for blood left. They wander the sward, maybe even In groups, and keep their distance until they see a reason to prey on cats lost in the sward. Maybe that’s why most of our characters ever spawn in the sward: all the ones that do are picked off by skeletal cats. 

Instead of the permanent wounds that the dark forest cats we know and love have, these cats have rotted away: not forgotten, as they are remembered in legends and myths, or even condemned by starclans themselves to forever haunt the sward as they lose all sense of reality, all feelings and emotions except a bloodlust for anyone they set their teeth on.  they appear as giant creatures, held together with exposed flesh, bloody bones and a sunken in, furless skull with bright red eyes. Maybe tufts of fur litter their spine, casting spike-like shadows. They can’t speak well, and when they open their mouths cackles and screams come out, maybe even mimicking and taunting like a mockingjay. That’s how they got their name: Ghostpipes. (Also named after one of my favourite fungis, but shh ignore that)

@residences-of-the-darkforest @elementaldeityoffood @ambitiousauthor @indigo-flightly-falls

#the sward monsters #the sward #ghostpipes

[wills-woodland-warriors]

The Sward -- part 2: Eyes

Previous

===================

The group was discouraged when no one seemed to know of a way out of the barren land–or even if there was a place out at all. But the fact that they were now surrounded by other cats sparked hope that none of them had held for a long time.

When no one could answer her question, Sandhowl went on. “I’m clearly dead.” She spared a glance at the foam curling over her bottom lip. “Would I be wrong to assume that this is the Dark Forest?”

Flashcry sighed, letting his shoulders fall. He tried not to think about the deep scars carved into his belly and legs, or how they had been bleeding a trail behind him for as long as he had been there. Which was…Stars, he had no idea how much time had passed. But one thing was for certain: he was well and truly dead.

“That is where we appear to be,” he muttered. “Thought it’d be a bit more of a forest.”

Raisel opened his jaws. “Well, there’s a considerable lack of a forest,” he commented, words overlapping with Flashcry’s observation, though the other tom didn’t seem to mind the interruption. “I should bring that up with someone when we get out of here.” He tilted his head, licking his bloodied paw. “Eh, it’s better than StarClan. I could do without the sand though, but sacrifices have to be made, I assume.” 

He plopped down in front of the white cat, rolling onto his back with his paws in the air, the drying wet-red sand falling off of them in clumps. What a day….or was it a week?

When Sandhowl proposed the question, Bouncefur had flinched with such intensity, it almost had them leaping off of the ground. They blinked hard for several heartbeats, unable to believe the possibility. It was only worse that every other cat seemed to agree that that…place...was really where they were. 

“The Dark Forest?” they gasped, finally able to speak. “But I didn’t do anything wrong!” Their  tail swished in a panic. “This has to be a mistake. A bad dream, right?....Though it’d be an awful long dream….” They eventually sank down on the rough gravel, putting their chin on their paws as they thought. Eventually, the ginger cat looked up with a furrow of their brow. “Why are you fellows here then? I thought we were ‘sposta wander around the Dark Forest alone forever or somethin’ like that.”

Laureldawn carefully resisted the urge to smack the ginger she-cat. “I did what I had to do,” she muttered, almost a growl.

Bouncefur was completely oblivious to the she-cat’s urge, and shook their head. “I mean like, why are we all together if we’re ‘sposta be wandering alone ‘n stuff.” They rested their head back down, humming in thought. “Unless this really is just a really, really long dream and I’m gonna wake back up to see my family again. I mean, one time I had a really long dream where I was a kit again and grew up to be an elder all in one dream! It felt really real too.”

Sandhowl couldn’t stop herself from staring at the ginger cat, a slithering horror crawling up her skin. The cat’s words, their mannerisms, it was reminiscent of someone she had known in life–someone she would rather forget, but who had haunted her dreams since the beginning. She considered their words. Maybe she really was trapped in a dream. Or a nightmare, surrounded by cats that resembled her victims but different enough to give her false hope.

She pushed the thoughts and memories away and took in the cats around her. Did it really matter all that much if they weren’t real? What harm does indulging do? Then, as she looked, she noticed something strange in their eyes.

“Are my eyes pink like yours?”

“‘Pink’?” Bouncefur repeated, tilting their head in response to the rather unexpected question. They stretched their neck toward the sandy she-cat to get a better look, not noticing as Sandhowl leaned away from her. “Uuuuuuuh, yeah, sorta.”  They pulled their neck back. “Wonder what that means…” The ginger cat hummed in thought again, before springing up, opening their mouth to speak before swiftly closing it again. The thought had been lost.

Meanwhile, Raisel tilted his head to the side, examining the cats around him. Their eyes were varying shades of pinks. “I’m assuming it’s unlikely we all got hit in the face with a branch, so it has to mean something. There’s definitely something more to this place,” he went on, “when I was trai…” he trailed off, correcting himself. “...listening to the stories, there were always trees and monsters. So how do we find them?”

“‘Monsters’?” Sandhowl repeated, alarmed. Were there Thunderpaths here, and she didn’t know it? Or…she shivered…did those great beasts travel wherever they wanted here, round black paws crushing anything in their path. 

Raisel nodded before realizing most of these cats around him were most likely from Clans. Well, that’s awkward. “Er, no…well, maybe? I actually don’t know if those kinds would be here. Do you think Twolegs go to the Dark Forest?” He glanced behind him, now picturing hoards of Twolegs grabbing at them with their bony, furless long paws. He shivered before continuing. “The stories my group would tell were more so of cats so thin, they were just skeletons, wandering the forest and ready to leap at you. They were said to be so old that your paws would crunch through their bones, but that they’d swarm in hoards, kinda like ghosts. And they were here to torment the cats sent to the Dark Forest.”

Fearful murmuring broke out among the group.

Laureldawn sighed a very heavy sigh, tired of these guessing games and kit-tales. “The pink means murderer," she told them all.

=============

There are more responses beyond this seen on Prompt 4, but I figured this was a good place to pause for the story.

Characeters:

Flashcry belongs to @indigo-flightly-falls

Laureldawn belongs to @ambitiousauthor

Raisel belongs to @wills-woodland-warriors

Bouncefur belongs to @elementaldeityoffood

Sandhowl (me)

#I’m absolutely loving this! #the sward rpg #raisel

[wills-woodland-warriors]

skeletal sward cats (GhostPipes): a sward concept

more dark forest worldbuilding go brrr!

I imagine the stories of the first dark forest cats would come from some of the skeletal Sward cats being Norwegian forest cats, so very, very big. These cats are likely from very early days before the tribe of rushing water, or even a group that existed not long before it. The group that started all clans, if you will. 

But yeah, I like the idea of there being cats that are barely cats anymore, all memories and thoughts almost completely wiped from them, with only a taste for blood left. They wander the sward, maybe even In groups, and keep their distance until they see a reason to prey on cats lost in the sward. Maybe that’s why most of our characters ever spawn in the sward: all the ones that do are picked off by skeletal cats. 

Instead of the permanent wounds that the dark forest cats we know and love have, these cats have rotted away: not forgotten, as they are remembered in legends and myths, or even condemned by starclans themselves to forever haunt the sward as they lose all sense of reality, all feelings and emotions except a bloodlust for anyone they set their teeth on.  they appear as giant creatures, held together with exposed flesh, bloody bones and a sunken in, furless skull with bright red eyes. Maybe tufts of fur litter their spine, casting spike-like shadows. They can’t speak well, and when they open their mouths cackles and screams come out, maybe even mimicking and taunting like a mockingjay. That’s how they got their name: Ghostpipes. (Also named after one of my favourite fungis, but shh ignore that)

@residences-of-the-darkforest @elementaldeityoffood @ambitiousauthor @indigo-flightly-falls

#dark tales #the sward rpg #skeletal cats #dark forest worldbuilding #worldbuilding #warriors worldbuilding