Northwater

Northwater is a bicolor brown-and-white she-cat with black paws and ears, along with amber eyes.

## Personality

Northwater is quiet, and almost creepily calm. She doesn't talk to many cats, preferring to stick with her circle. She can focus on any topic easily, but she is surprisingly the laziest of the siblings.  She is a serious cat who doesn't like much messing around, but doesn't mind a cat chattering her ear off as long as they don't mind her lazing at their paws; if there is a patch of sunlight that meets her demands, that is.  She has an otherwordly amount of patience, able to sit deal with some of the most annoying things in the world without so much as batting an eye and waiting until they pass to continue with what she had been doing.  However, she doesn't enjoy losing, and has a minor reputation as a sore loser.

## History

Formerly known as North, Northwater was born to a loner she-cat named Little alongside her three littermates; Spots, Shade, and Otter. Little refused to tell the four who their father was, until he came to visit them when they were so young they could barely remember him. A few moons later, Little gave birth to two more kits- Paws and Ice. Looking at the two, none of the older siblings could believe that they had the same father, but their mother reassured that they did (although, if this was a lie, no cat has discovered it yet).

Little died from greencough. When she had the disease, she had separated herself from her kits. North, Spots, and Ice were the cats who found her body. The six kits buried her, but stayed where they were living. When a wildfire occurred, the six were split up. Shade, Spots, and Ice found a home in WaveClan, becoming Forestpaw, Splashpaw, and Streamkit. North, Otter, and Paws found a home in MarshClan, becoming Northpaw, Otterpaw, and Pathkit.

## Long Posts

### wave/marsh sibs conversations, volume one

Northwater padded into Heartstones, Otterleap beside her. She moved out of the way of her Clanmates as the rest of them entered, and once she decided she wasn't an obstacle to anyone she paused. Her eyes drifted from Clanmate to MeadowClanner, MeadowClanner to Clanmate. WaveClan, she decided, must not have been there yet, and a glance at the Heart confirmed it - Halfstar was already there, and Reedstar was settling down, and she watched as her leader gave Halfstar a silent greeting and as the half-white half-red she-cat returned it.

Otterleap gave her a gentle nudge with her shoulder, drawing her attention back to the crowd she was a part of. "What're you waiting for?" she asked, a teasing look on her face. "Did Halfstar catch your eye? I know she's got a distinctive pelt, but she's a Clan leader, so I doubt she'd be okay with having some forbidden tryst between the two of you -"

Northwater rolled her eyes, and she had to repress the urge to roll her eyes. "Stop," she mewed, her voice coming out as more of a complaint than anything else. "I was just checking if Jaggedstar was there yet."

"Wondering if Streamshadow's gonna be here, too?"

"Her or Forestflight, yeah."

Otterleap's ears flicked back against her skull for a moment, and her face twitched into a half-grimace before she smoothed out the expression. Northwater pretended not to notice.

Both she-cats turned their attention to the WaveClan cats as they entered, immersing themselves among the crowd of MarshClan and MeadowClan cats and easily blending in. Instantly, Northwater went around to searching for a familiar white-and-gray pelt, or a brown tabby-and-cream one. No matter how much she looked around, her gaze sweeping through the crowd around her, she could spot neither of her WaveClan sisters. She turned to look at Otterleap, about to suggest that they go find someone else to go talk to before something careened into her side.

It wasn't too harsh of a blow, but it still surprised her enough to make her lose her balance. With a few frantic lashes of her tail, she managed to stabilize herself, and she looked up at whoever had knocked her over with a glare, only to be greeted by Forestflight's grinning face. Relief poured over Northwater, and a bit of tension that had been plaguing her since the first battle between their Clans left her. Forestflight was okay, she was standing in front of her uninjured and well, and she offered her sister a small smile as she straightened.

"Hello, Forestflight," she greeted, sitting down and flicking her tail behind her.

"That's a little bit too formal for family, wouldn't you think?" The tabby's grin stayed in place as she also sat back on her haunches.

"I don't think so."

"*I* do!"

"Every relationship is different," Northwater informed.

"You're just trying to sound smart, now."

"I'm just stating facts."

Beside her, Otterleap was still and silent. Finally, Forestflight turned her head to look at her - Northwater watched as something imperceptible crossed over her face for less than a heartbeat before she offered her a smile. It was one that was small and a bit shaky, but it was a smile none-the-less.

"Hey, Otterleap," the WaveClan she-cat mewed casually.

Otterleap hummed.

Forestflight's face fell, and her eyes darted to Northwater for a split second, as if she was asking for help. Northwater was torn between staying silent or leaving the now-awkward situation or helping her, and after another moment of silent she decided that it would probably be better to try and assist.

"How's WaveClan been?" Northwater asked.

"Well enough," Forestflight responded, her ears flicking towards her in an almost grateful manner. "The last of the cats that were sick finally got better, and the birds're coming back."

Northwater nodded. "Our prey's been coming back, as well," she meowed. "There's more birds, now, and I know that Otterleap's been enjoying having killdeer back."

Otterleap shrugged her shoulders from beside her. "I guess," she mewed. "We can't eat fish forever, at least."

Forestflight offered another, just as small and shaky smile. "We don't have to for *forever*," she told her. "Just a few moons."

Otterleap hummed. Again, Forestflight turned to Northwater for help, and this time she sighed.

"Do you two need to talk about something?" She watched as the two of them stiffened, opening their jaws to speak, but she cut them off. "And don't play dumb. It's better to get it over with."

Otterleap and Forestflight looked at each other. The silence between them was drawn out to the point where it was almost painful, and when they finally did speak they started to talk at the same time and had to go silent again. Neither of them seemed to have the courage to try again.

Again, Northwater sighed. "Do I have to mediate?" More silence. "I'll take that as a yes. Forestflight, you go first."

Forestflight's mouth opened and closed, opened and closed before she finally found her voice. "I'm sorry," she began. "I didn't know I was fighting your daughter, I never had the chance to meet either of them before - I just heard about them from you or Streamshadow - and if I knew who it was than I wouldn't have done it."

"I've been trying not to be mad," Otterleap responded, without Northwater's prompting. From where she was, she could see the fur along her spine and the back of her neck almost tremble - like her hackles were wanting to raise and she was doing her best to make sure they lied flat. "I know that you didn't know who you were fighting, and I know that Rainbriar doesn't know who you are and that her and Splashcreek can take care of themselves, and that they don't need me anymore. I shouldn't be mad, it doesn't make sense to be, but I am."

The two of them fell silent again. After a few moments too long, Otterleap spoke again.

"But I'm sorry that I fought you, too. I didn't want to."

"It's okay," Forestflight assured. "I didn't want to, either."

Hard conversation over and done with, Northwater turned her attention back to Forestflight. "I heard that Streamshadow wasn't in either of the battles," she stated.

Forestflight nodded her head. "Streamshadow... can't really fight," she meowed.

"Why not?" Northwater asked, tilting her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Otterleap leaning forwards slightly in interest.

"It's kinda complicated?" it came out sounding more like a question, but Northwater guessed it was supposed to be a statement. "I think you should hear it from her instead of me."

The two MarshClan cats nodded their heads in acceptance.

Forestflight gave Northwater a look that was a mix between curiosity and almost nervous. "Were you at the second battle?"

"No. Tawnyfang told me she wasn't there."

"Who's Tawnyfang?"

Otterleap cut in with a grin, though it seemed a bit forced. "Her love-interest."

This time, Northwater really did roll her eyes, though her ears warmed and her face flushed beneath her fur. "I don't have a love-interest."

Forestflight gave her a grin of her own. "Aw, come on!" she mewed, lifting a paw to swat gently at her muzzle - gentle blows that Northwater easily avoided with a lean backwards. "Don't we all have love-interests?"

"Are you saying that you have one?" Northwater shot back.

"Maybe."

Otterleap turned her attention to Forestflight, her anger apparently cast aside for the time being. "Well, now you *have* to share."

The rest of the night went on like that - Forestflight talking about Sunblaze, and how he'd gifted her coral once (though, at one point she mentioned a cat named Bluesky, and the look on her face grew thoughtful and distant - like her body was there but her mind wasn't - but it only lasted for a moment before she snapped back to her normal self and continued. Northwater and Otterleap shared a look, and wondered if Forestflight even realized that she'd drifted away from them for a moment), and then her and Otterleap would send Northwater teasing remarks; *You should give Tawnyfang coral, I bet she'd love that!* or *Maybe she'd like to get a sand dollar from you?* or *If you're going to confess, you have to make it big and special, Northwater, so she knows that you really care about her* that never failed to make her flush under her fur or feel something fluttering in her belly.

She pushed those feelings out of her mind the best that she could, and she decided enjoy her time with one of her WaveClan sisters while she could.

### otter dies and north goes "oh fuck she was right"

Northwater froze as soon as her eyes landed on Otterleap's still body. She wasn't breathing, and she knew that meant that she was dead, and it felt like the world had ground to a halt. It felt like the blood in her veins had turned to ice, and she didn't know what she was supposed to *do* — a complete contrast to how she usually was, following an order from Reedstar or Scarletflower or going out to hunt or on a walk, if she felt like it.

*Thank StarClan Prairiethorn is a warrior, now,* she thought, even though the thought really had no place in the moment and she hadn't had to train him for moons, now. All the same, if he was still her apprentice she would have to work on training him, and she knew that was something that she wasn't up to now.

She felt like she should be doing something, even something simple. Should she go closer to Otterleap, farther away? She didn't know, and even if she did, she couldn't get herself to move.

The only thing that got her moving was when she heard Pathstride approaching Otterleap, saw the tears streaming down her cheeks and heard her sobbing as she went. The younger she-cat collapsed next to the tabby and buried her face into her fur without hesitation, and Northwater found herself padding up to her and sitting down next to her, barely realizing that she was doing so.

Mainly, she was just in shock, because a cat as lively and happy and playful as Otterleap couldn't just be dead. A cat with a mate and daughters, time to spare for her to have another litter, even, couldn't just be gone.

But her body was sitting right in front of her, eerily still. At the same time, it felt like she could sit up and offer her a smile at any moment — or start asking Pathstride about *when are you and Breezeflight going to have kits? I want nieces and nephews!* or bother Northwater with *are you going to tell Tawnyfang how you feel, yet? I bet she's getting impatient!* because that felt more on-brand for her.

The thought of the she-cat made Northwater glance around camp, but she couldn't spot Tawnyfang anywhere — maybe she was on patrol, or still asleep? Still, some part of her wanted her to be with her right then, so much so that she *ached*.

It was a terrible time for her to realize that the warmth in her chest whenever she bickered with her, the fluttering in her belly whenever she deigned to acknowledge how beautiful she was (not just her mottled, pale tortoiseshell fur and her pale green eyes, but her stubbornness and her fire and the way she cared for her siblings despite everything), the flush under her fur whenever she was teased for her affections for her were all symptoms of her being in love with Tawnyfang.

*You were right, Otterleap,* Northwater thought, dipping her head and pressing her nose to her sister's fur. Her scent was covered up by the smell of herbs that the elders must have rubbed onto her pelt. *You were right.*