Salmonleap | 27 moons | Female | New Queen
Location; Fernclan Camp
Mentions; Dewleaf

“I appreciate that, Dewleaf,” Salmonleap replied, “If you ever find yourself bored, I’m usually in the nursery. I wouldn’t mind the company, especially from you.”

She took Dewleaf’s words to heart, her brow furrowing in thought. Her own mother worried to a fault, and Salmonleap always felt caught in a thought spiral worrying that she may worry too much. What if her anxiety was genetic and she’d pass it on to her kits and her family was destined to be a bunch of worriers? She shook away the thought and tried to focus on the positive aspects of what Dewleaf said, because they were important, and she didn’t want to seem ungrateful for the kind compliment. Dewleaf’s purr soothed her, and the smile returned to her muzzle, “I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear someone say that, thank you. I just want to be better than my mother was...may she be resting peacefully with Starclan.”

“It’s weird to think we’re just thrust into life, I don’t know how anyone knows what they’re doin’!” Salmonleap went on, hesitating before continuing. Dewleaf was a trustworthy cat, and she never felt judged by her. “Their father…he was really confident. Very self assured and bold and I think part of me hoped, and still hopes, he might be the key to making sure my kits never feel the ways I’ve felt…” she trailed off, feeling a pang of self consciousness in her gut to be talking so much about herself and her situation, even if Dewleaf was inviting her to do so.

Aldergrove | 108 moons | Nonbinary | Elder
Location;Western Fernclan Territory
Mentions; Badgerpaw

Aldergrove felt a small smile pull at the edge of their lips, noticing how Badgerpaw seemed to relax as well. All the tension and concern from before seemed so far behind them now. They picked up the pace, knowing the way to the stream by heart, and listened to the younger cat think aloud.

“There should be, toads are quite fond of this humid weather. Salamanders as well.” they responded, falling quiet afterwards and just enjoying the surrounding sounds of life. It wasn’t an awfully long trek to the stream, but they did have to pass through a transitional area where the forest gradated outward into a rocky, mossy habitat. Aldergrove had walked this path many times before, but climbing up and over some of the larger rocks was proving to be more difficult as time went on. They tried not to let it be obvious that climbing and jumping took a bit of extra effort on their part.

Once they were a ways through the rocky area the sounds of the stream began to murmur through the air. Aldergrove’s mouth parted, inhaling the earthy scent of the water with a deep sigh. Redwoods still towered overhead, but where the stream cut through the land they were able to see a bit more of the sky, a gray swath of clouds passing overhead as the sunlight tried its best to pierce through the gaps. Aldergrove scanned the area for a moment, just in case they caught sight of any predators or trespassers, before looking over at Badgerpaw, “A good way to find toads when they aren’t active is to flip some of these stones over, they burrow in the soil to rest.”