following this is a scattered and incomplete series of short passages of lore i've written for my original characters, a clan of cats named the drifting smoke express. due to being written as stress relief, the grammar is stylistically unfixed.

the adventures of the drifting smoke express, their ancestors in the star express, and the mysterious group of cats called the spire may be continued formally soon. in the meantime, please enjoy!

the drifting smoke express, shortened informally to smokeclan, is a clan of drifter cats that for one reason or another could never settle down as a kittypet, or as a loner. smokeclan, nestled in the comfort of an overgrown, abandoned, derelict old boxcar within the shade and luxury of so many, many overgrown juniper trees and willow trees. the boxcar serves as both the leader's den and the perch upon which the leader calls clan meetings, with dens and establishments otherwise built around the clearing, some of which repurposes other abandoned materials found near the area, such as pieces of an abandoned train- track. ◣

most of the clan tends to have a slightly more nomadic lifestyle; territory is generally informal for them at best, outside of hunts, and the clan tends to serve more as errand-runners for other cats, no matter their standing or background. need a message carried? they've got you covered. need someone to go fetch some hard-to-find herbs for you? they'll do it, as long as they get a cut. the main policy of the founder, luckysong, is that "the drifting smoke express does it's best to help other clans, cats, and anyone else with a passing need... as long as we get something in exchange." ◣

phew, that was over and done with; he can't say he ever wants to deal with that again, nine lives or no. finishing retrieving the herbs he'd buried earlier, he quickly started dragging his haul back to the clan, barely remembering to stop and carefully double-mark the signs he's been making on the way down so he doesn't lose his way too badly. it'd be even more embarrassing if he comes back only to have made no progress with the entire purpose of an exploration patrol; at least he's got enough fresh-kill for the clan to make up for his slightly reckless behavior. starclan knows he'll need to bribe sandwillow with the herbs once he steps foot back into the hollow - he's not looking forwards to another earful about how absolutely vole-brained he is on a regular basis. luckysong knows, thank you very much; he's very aware that he started out as clan leader doing impulsive and reckless activity, and he's sure as the dark forest is cold that he's not gonna stop anytime soon.

it takes a while for him to pad into camp, mouth full of herbs and scraps delicately balancing on his back using his tail for support; redfur, clearly just back from a hunting patrol, is the first to spot him off her spot near the fresh-kill pile, bounding over to him excitedly with a delighted yowl of greeting. "Luckysong! Welcome back, leader! How's the exploration, what's the territory like? Did you run into any trouble?"

he twitches his nose in a mixture of amusement and annoyance, cocking his head to one side to indicate his mouth was currently full of frankly disgusting tasting herbs; redfur's eyes flicked up and down him for a second, before dropping back into a sit with a sheepish giggle.

"Oh, sorry; you really have your paws full. Need any help getting that over to our doc?" she inquires sympathetically, and luckysong quickly shakes his head before bounding off towards the healer's den before she can ask any more questions.

she's a great cat, and he's very proud of how hardworking she is, but the last thing they need is redfur hearing about the coyote attack first. considering he can't spot shadewish anywhere yet, he'll rather chance sandwillow clawing an ear off than let the quick-tempered cat whip herself into a frenzy. he carefully pushes his way past the moss and lichen curtain, ducking under a willow branch, and quickly spat out the herbs onto the rocky ground near the right of the entrance, grimacing as he tried to get rid of the aftertaste. spitting once or twice after, he quickly collects himself before calling out deeper into the den. "'Ey, Sandwillow? You in, doc?"

"Coming, just a second," came the tired mew in response, a bit faint; luckysong waits for a few seconds before the second moss curtain dividing the front half of the healer's den and the back half parts and a familiar cream head pushes his way through, muzzle open in a yawn as he slightly dips his head in greeting. "Luckysong, welcome back. What're you in here bothering me for - an injury, or something for me? If it's the former, you know you can't just eat up my time organizing my herb stock for fun, right? That'll be the third time this quarter-moon." he quips dryly, and luckysong chuckles guiltily.

"A little of the former," he starts, and as sandwillow shoots him a disapproving look, he quickly continues. "But mostly the latter. Don't worry, doc, I ain't aimin'ta join StarClan that early! It's just a scratch; pro'lly don't have to look at it. But I found you some herbs on my exploration today, plus..."

he trails off hesitantly while sandwillow pads over to sniff the herbs he'd gathered, nodding approvingly and grasping the bundles in his mouth before padding off to sort them into his stores while luckysong tried to figure out a good way to explain what'd happened earlier. finally, as sandwillow finishes sorting away the lungworth, luckysong braces himself for the scathing response he was about to receive and continues. "Well, uh, found a coyote on the huntin' territory today. Mangy little fleab--"

"A coyote?!" sandwillow whirls to face him, disbelief dripping off his words as he narrows his eyes to his leader; luckysong, to his credit, manages to not immediately droop his ears to the side like a kit in the face of the medcat's tone. "Do not tell me you fought it on your own. Don't. If you tell me you're that stupid, I'll-- I don't even know how I'll handle that. Tell me you came straight back here, just now, to tell us all that."

"...I didn't fight it," luckysong begins weakly, barely not flinching from the steely glare sandwillow levels at him and cutting him off before he can start. "I promise, I didn't. I chased it off; not a scratch on me. From the coyote, at least," he adds, shaking his head weakly with a sheepish smile as sandwillow groans in deep exhaustion. "Really, I didn't! C'mon, Sandwil', you know I couldn't just leave it there. At least I got nine lives; what if the clan runs inta it?"

"The clan is not so stupid to try and chase off a predator on their own!" sandwillow retorts in exasperation, shaking his head and beginning to push luckysong out of the den. "What am I going to do with you? My leader is chasing his death wish so early. I can't perform miracles, you know!"

"I know, I know, but I'm fine. I just wanted'ta tell you, since Shadewish seems to be out--"

"Tell him what?" redfur's voice breaks into their conversation, startling luckysong into a frantic whirl to face the cinnamon-colored molly's inquisitive gaze, eyes excited; sandwillow heaves another sigh, though quieter this time, and luckysong can sense his friend's mutual apprehension of telling redfur this early.

"Is... is Shadewish back? Actually, where's he gone off'ta to begin with?" luckysong deflects, and redfur immediately tried to hide a scowl, much to luckysong's increasing exhaustion.

"Off on an exploration patrol, probably," she replies dismissively, almost rolling her eyes. he wearily glances back at sandwillow, who gives him a briefly sympathetic glance before returning to the irritated, exhausted look he was wearing beforehand - a reminder he's definitely not heard the end of their conversation. "I haven't seen him since he assigned me a hunting patrol this morning."

"Well, did he mention how long he's gonna be gone?" he tries, desperately trying to avoid telling the ambitious, impulsive cat about the predator sighting before his trusted deputy; sometimes he thinks that he was the worst mentor for her, considering how impulsive he is himself. she shrugs dismissively and flicks her tail in response.

"If he did, I didn't catch it. What's so important, anyways? Stuff that a deputy should take care of?" he doesn't miss the way slight contempt rolls off her words as she emphasizes it, and he almost decides to just fake being much more injured so sandwillow will whisk him back into the healer's den and away from this conversation. unfortunately, the medcat speaks first.

"Coyote sighting. It's nothing major, but of course, the deputy should know," sandwillow explains smoothly, tactfully ignoring the way her eyes light up at his words. "Luckysong will obviously tell everyone, but considering he just got back and is undoubtedly exhausted, you can't blame him for wanting to tell Shadewish first."

"A coyote?! On our hunting grounds?!" redfur exclaims, already on her paws and practically darting back and forth, tail lashing excitedly. "Why, we oughta--!! The nerve of those fleabeasts! Luckysong, just give the word and we can be out to chase that little pest ou--"

"It's fine," luckysong cuts her off exasperatedly, glancing at sandwillow in a moderate amount of despair and exhaustion. "I chased it off. It shouldn't bother us today, at least, and when Shadewish gets back we can organize a patrol to deal with it."

"Fox-dung!" redfur spits in reply, lashing her tail to punctuate it. "It's not even hurt?! Well, obviously, you aren't expected to kill one alone," she hastily adds, before returning to her previous level of vitriol and fury. "But we need to get rid of that thing A-S-A-P, leader! We can't wait for a deputy who just takes his time being away from camp the same day our leader's out--"

"Enough!" he snaps it so forcefully that even he's a little shocked; redfur immediately dies down, eyes wide with surprise, and he catches sandwillow cover his muzzle with one paw to hide a grin out of the corner of his eye. lashing his tail once, he sits on his haunches and sighs, desperately wishing that this was not happening and shadewish was in fact just resting in camp when he first got here so this conversation never would've began in the first place. "You'll treat your deputy with the same amount of respect you treat me, Redfur. That's an order. And we're waiting for him to get back before we do anything."

"Luckysong, a coyote is loose on the hunting grounds, and while you did a very noble and powerfully drove it away or deeper into Westcreek, we need to get mo--"

"What's all the commotion? You'd think a nest of bees fell into the healer's den, with this racket!" a new voice yowls over to them, cutting off both redfur and luckysong; the latter cat immediately shot up to glance at the entrance to camp, relief flooding his fur as shadewish made his way over to them with a questioning look. 'Thank StarClan,' he thought wearily.

"Shadewish," he greets, relief dripping off his voice and ignoring redfur's visible look of irritation and scorn as shadewish touches his tail to luckysong's in friendly greeting. "Hey, I was lookin' for ya. But, well, we got sidetracked..."

"I can see that," shadewish mews in response, a mixture of amusement and concern tinging his voice. "What's going on? I just got back from my exploration patrol, but Dustblossom can take my fresh-kill over to the pile..."

it takes a few minutes for luckysong to explain the unabridged version of the coyote encounter, suddenly uncaring of who else was listening as shadewish listens in rapt attention; redfur's neck fur bristles on end as she listens in, and sandwillow's exasperation is evident as he cuts in a few times to remind the three carriers that what luckysong did was incredibly vole-brained and if anyone else does that, he'll give them a few new wounds instead of fixing the old ones! as their leader explains. after he finishes the recap, suddenly weary as the day's events crash down on him, shadewish swishes his tail once and nods approvingly.

"Well, yeah, that was incredibly mousebrained of ya, Luckystar," the deputy mews, and luckysong winces at the second admonishment as well as the usage of his formal name. whoops. "But we should get a patrol together tomorrow at sunrise to go explore that area a bit more thoroughly. You're right," he nods to redfur, "It can't be allowed free roam around the hunting territory, not when apprentices practice their hunting and gathering around here. But we shouldn't set off tonight. Luckyst-- Luckysong's exhausted, see?"

redfur barely muffles a hiss, lashing her tail thrice in frustration, before stalking off; shadewish calls after her with a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "Meet me at sunrise with Luckysong if you want to come with, Redfur. We could use your strength in a battle, if it comes to that."

"I feel like somehow this is my fault," luckysong mumbles, eyes following redfur as she stalks off into the carrier's den, disappearing behind the moss. shadewish catches his look with genuine concern and sympathy in his eyes, but he's beaten to the response before he can even open his mouth.

"What, that you're reckless and faced a coyote on your own? Yes, that bit might be." sandwillow quips, before letting out a soft laugh and shaking his head. "Don't worry about her; she'll mellow out when she gets an apprentice, I think. Now, you better go get some rest, before I decide to take a few cues from a coyote myself."

luckysong takes his advice and scurries off to the leader's den, exhaustion from the day fully catching up to him as he curls up in his bedding and almost immediately falls asleep.

sunrise the next morning, he meets shadewish and redfur outside the boxcar; he's relieved to see redfur looking significantly calmer than yesterday, but unease still prickles his fur as he opens his jaws in a yawn and flicks his tail as greeting to the two.

"Morning, leader," shadewish remarks gently, touching the tip of his tail to luckysong's ear before straightening his stance. "Ready to go explore Westcreek some more, maybe find some nasty predators?"

he resists the urge to joke back and remark 'Do I have to?' to his deputy, well aware of redfur's presence and the rest of the clan waking up. "Yep, all good. You give out patrols for the day already, then?"

"All taken care of," he affirms, and luckysong nods once in affirmation before turning to face the eastern entrance out of camp. "Well, let's go then. Sunlight's burning, and all that."

the three cats quietly slip out of camp, and luckysong desperately hopes that today will be a much smoother and less-long day than yesterday.

when he accepts fogpaw as his apprentice, he doesn't know if he's doing the right thing.

starclan help him, the secret that they ask him to keep this time is too big, too much; to keep it means to take an apprentice, to allow smokeclan a new medcat, to train her in the ways of working with their ancestors as if it's going to mean anything moons from now. he doubts she'll ever take an apprentice of her own, even if they haven't told him that much - he can draw a conclusion as well as any other cat with ears and eyes.

he wonders if deadstar would keep the horrible truth a secret from the clan had starclan entrusted him; the obvious answer is probably no, and that's why owlwing has it cradled gently between his paws. he doesn't have the heart to tell them all, and he'd already been asked to keep it a secret, anyways. it's not for him to decide what happens. (he wishes it was. it's not fair.)

owlwing pronounces fogpaw a full medicine cat within 4 moons, knowing that in another moon, he will die. he'll leave fogpaw alone, and after that, two leaf-bares after, smokeclan will fall. rotted from the inside, a crack in their fragile revolutionary system exposed, an exile that had to made for the good of the clan biting them in their tail after only a precious few moons. (he doesn't know they'll tell her, too, on her deathbed.)

the impending destruction of smokeclan & the knowledge none of them will see the new smokeclan, lead by "a lucky star", is the hardest burden owlwing has ever been asked to carry. he doesn't know if this is the right thing to do, to keep it so close to his chest and pronounce a new medicine cat as if nothing was wrong. ' it's so unfair,' he thinks, bitter and sad as his apprentice joyfully yowls her new name to starclan. 'i don't want to see the clan fall apart! i don't want to shoulder this alone! i don't want to never have a mate! i don't want to be a good medicine cat & keep the panic from seizing the clan! i want to yowl like a kit for comfort and do everything in my paws to change this future!'

it isn't fair, and yet he keeps it. it would be so easy to spite this cruelty their ancestors pass onto them so indifferently - tell the clan, fight tooth and nail against the idea that his apprentice would be a wasted life.

it isn't fair, and yet he stays silent.

it is his greatest secret he's ever kept. it is the worst prophecy he's ever been given. he'll never forget that their great ancestors not just left them to face their clan dissolving, but asked a living cat to bear that knowledge without doing anything about it.

owlwing takes the knowledge that their clan is doomed to starclan. he wishes he hadn't.