In Which Shiny Seemed To Write a Short Story [open]

[TERNPAW]

"Hey Spidernose, can I ask you a question?" Three moon old Ternkit sat nestled into her father's side, enjoying the warmth emanating from him. She was like a lighter-colored growth, practically attached. He didn't seem to mind, despite the time. Her father was set on night guard and it was far past her bed time, but Spidernose seemed glad for the company.

He gave her an indulgent smile and licked the top of her head, smoothing back the fur around her ears. It had ruffled when she rubbed the top of her head on him. "Of course Ternkit. You know you can always come to me if you have questions and I swear I will do my best to answer them."

The kitten hesitated only a second before launching into it. The only sign of her nerves was that she wasn't looking him in the eyes, instead twitching her tail in front of her face and batting at it. "Well, we're called RiverClan, right?"

Spidernose blinked in surprise. "Yeeees..." he said slowly, not sure where his beloved daughter was going with this.

That's when she looked up. "Why though? I was listening to Gracklepaw before and he said that we don't have a river. We only have a stream. So why are we called RiverClan instead of StreamClan?"

"That's a very good question, sweetheart. We're called RiverClan because our ancestors were called RiverClan." He told her a story about their warrior ancestors once living in a forest, where RiverClan depended on the river that cut it off from the rest of the forest.

Modern day, Ternpaw stared down at the stream. It had been one of the first philosophical questions she'd asked her father, and Spidernose had done his best to answer each and every one of them, just like he said. But nostalgia wasn't why she was here.

The she-cat's paw lashed out, sweeping a fish from the water. She leaped on top of it and killed it with a single bite, licking her lips to get the taste. "... I still think we should be called StreamClan instead of RiverClan." she said aloud before turning back to her hunting duty.

[RIPPLEPOOL]

Ripplepool sat at the edge of the stream, starting at his refection. Rubbing his paws together, the tom cleaned them of the strong herb scent that had accumulated through the day. He'd been all over the territory, collecting herb after herb. Now, there was a decent pile a few tail lengths behind him, but he saw no reason to hurry back to camp. He'd just be stuck pulling out thorns. Of course, he usually didn't mind. He'd just been so preoccupied with other things.

Shaking his head, the tom began to lick his paws to dry them a bit. After a moment, he heard a voice not far of. Ternpaw, and she must be hunting, based on the sound of splashing he'd heard moments before. Does she not know why we're called RiverClan? Sighing, the tom shook his head. "We used to live by a River, when the Clans were first created, surely you know that?", he called. It seemed warrior apprentices didn't learn much else besides hunting and fighting. How did they not know out origins? "However, that's not why we're called RiverClan. Not entirely, at least."

### words | @patchpaw | AWWW YISSS

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