camp π“†Ÿ tired eyes, waved goodbyes ࿐࿔ bad news


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  • The success of her own escape is made far less rewarding with the loss of one far younger. There is a tiny, selfish amount of solace in knowing it is not one of her own kits, or those a blood-line she had been woven into with the last few stitches of a tattered tapestry. The cries for help, of a name that still feels like a fraudulent identity, they ring in gong-tones- echoing and impossibly loud. They reverberate painfully between her ears and she is made certain by Foxtail's quivering silhouette that everyone is left rattled by their sudden losses. It only adds to a growing list...

    "Is... Snakeblink around," she asks, pressing into camp with a scrutinizing sweep of the camp for a familiar thorn-striped tom. If he must hear this, let it be from her who'd taken Turtlepaw and failed to keep her safe. To ensure that he would not find reasons to blame himself like he had the last loss of an apprentice under his care. "Is anyone hurt?" Is the second question she remembers to ask, turning to the rest of her returned patrol with panic-thin pupils. The spots where silver-stone vines had dug into her back sting but it isn't worth fussing over... does not feel deserving enough to be fussed over.

    There might still be hope that their wayward apprentice is not entirely lost to them... Robinheart had come back before- and with the fires that glowed like embers on the horizon, the Twolegs did not seem in a hurry to leave.
  • about
    speech hex code ✧ #6368A5
    ooc notes ✦ have a bullhead ! this is a follow up to the clatter private thread!
    tagging ✢ @Snakeblink and former patrol-mates:
    @otterbite
    @FOXTAIL
    @Tigersplash
    @BEEPAW
    @salmonshade
    penned by tieirlys
  • Λšγ€€γ€€β˜…β‹†. ΰΏΰΏ”γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€. γ€€β€ˆΛšγ€€.γ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€ . βœ¦γ€€γ€€γ€€ γ€€Λšγ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€ .
    γ€€γ€€γ€€.   γ€€γ€€Λšγ€€γ€€ γ€€γ€€*γ€€γ€€ γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€Λš γ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€β€ˆΛšγ€€.Λšγ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€. γ€€β€ˆΛšγ€€.γ€€γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€. γ€€β€ˆΛšγ€€ γ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€ ΰ©ˆβœ§Λ³Β·Λ–βœΆ βœ¦γ€€γ€€Λšγ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€. γ€€β€ˆΛš β˜…β‹†. ࿐࿔
    γ€€γ€€γ€€.   γ€€γ€€Λšγ€€γ€€ γ€€γ€€*γ€€γ€€ γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€Λš γ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€β€ˆΛšγ€€.Λšγ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€βœ¦γ€€γ€€γ€€.γ€€γ€€. γ€€β€ˆΛšγ€€.γ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€ γ€€γ€€ γ€€γ€€γ€€γ€€ βœ¦γ€€γ€€
 
MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”​

Snakeblink is proud of his apprentice, of the fine warrior she seems set to become β€” proud enough to have gladly sent her on patrol alone with Lichenstar, showing her off a little to his leader and his friend: look at how good of a job I am doing with her. But he is also… not old, but no longer a fresh-behind-the-ears loner: he has seen too many young cats be taken too soon, and it has made him a little overzealous in his protectiveness. So when Lichenstar asks for him he is right there already, pretending that his work on patching up a wall of the apprentice’s den is not a blatant excuse to linger near the entrance to camp.

”I am here, Lichenstar,” he meows politely, slinking towards them with a spring in his step. ”How did it go?”

The question, an unsubtle way of asking after his apprentice’s behavior, is indirectly answered by a quick look at the disheveled appearance of the patrol, Lichenstar’s concern over their wellbeing. He stops short, scanning the group more closely. ”What happened?” He asks, ears tilting back. ”Are you well? Where is Turtlepaw?”

β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€” so god damn lonely

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    β€” Snakeblink β€’ he / him. 51 ☾, riverclan warrior
    β€” a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
    β€” gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo


 
The dread that clings to the pelts of her Clanmates, lingering in the air about them like heavy storm clouds taut with lightning, is what draws Hawkcloud over to the returning patrol with wide, curious eyes. Her littermates are among the cats that pass through the reeds, looking both exhausted and high-strung with panic, and the she-cat's heart drops in her chest at the sight of their distress. She's thankful they seem to be alright, though, at least upon first glance β€” and touches her nose to Foxtail's cheek while Snakeblink also approaches.

The warrior demands to know where Turtlepaw is, and Hawkcloud takes a step back and scans the patrol with a troubled frown. The apprentice doesn't seem to be with them, and Hawkcloud's ears flatten against her head as it begins to sink in what might've happened. The optimistic part of her longs to hope that Turtlepaw simply had something to do on her own, and went off without the rest of the patrol. But then, why would every cat look so anguished? "What happened?" she repeats, because she doesn't know what else to ask. Her heart feels tight within her body, painfully anxious.​
 

⋆ q° ✩ γ€€There is something distant in Cricketpaw's eyes as he meets the leader. Something almost cold. They are being picked off one by one; it seems that every day another cat vanishes. He cannot help but ascribe meaning to it, looking upon the wispy silhouette of Lichenstar. Smokestar gave them protection, and now he is lost. Lost by the very deputy meant to protect them. The stars speak their disapproval clearly; RiverClan bears the curse of its loss.

He shakes himself. She will not speak such things in front of the leader, nor in front of the lead warrior. She watches with some distance as Snakeblink grows more and more panicked, and... Ah, yes. Duckpaw. That is who is missing from the returning patrol, they'd not noticed. Their voice is quiet. It does not waver. "Another disappearance, I would assume...?" Not the most tactful, but it is straight to the point. It is a foregone conclusion, and so she sees no issue in speaking it aloud.


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  • CRICKETPAW ✩ he / she / they, apprentice of riverclan, eleven moons.
    β­ƒ a wiry, curly-furred black smoke with clouded blue eyes.
    β­ƒ intelligent, egotistical, and strange, with an eye always turned to the stars.
    β­ƒ smokestar xx cicadastar, littermate to beepaw & cicadapaw
    β­ƒ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
    β­ƒ penned by SATURNID ↛ saturnids on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
 

Eveningkit had found that if she just stays still and quiet enough to listen, really listen, she is able to decipher who's the beholder of incoming paws before they even enter camp. It's especially useful when patrols consist of those who she craves the company of; in this instance, Lichenstar.

Normally, Eveningkit is amongst the first who arrives before Lichenstar's sight when they return. A strange case of hesitation holds her back this time, stopping mid-bounce and staring ahead.

Lichenstar looks like she had gone through varying stages of panic, now reduced to an exhausted mess who still has things to take care of. It had never occured to Eveningkit before, just how busy leaders are... but then again, she hadn't felt the need to bother Smokestar nearly as much as her mother. They turn back to ask if everyone's okay, and Eveningkit does a headcount then. How big was the patrol when it left...? There's someone missing.

She refuses the urge to ask questions right up until Cricketpaw speaks. "Who is it...?" At least it's not Lichenstar, she adds, the selfishness of such declaration entirely lost on a mind too young to really comprehend it.
 

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.Β·:*Β¨ΰΌΊ ☾ ΰΌ»Β¨*:Β·. The weary patrol that trickles into camp is large, impossible not to notice with a fatigued Lichenstar at its head. Lakemoon hadn’t been present to see the patrol take their leave, but as narrow azure optics glaze over the returning clanmates, it wasn’t difficult to tell that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
The tabby strides over, ears tipping forward as their leader asks for Snakeblink. His arrival is swift, anxious. Where is Turtlepaw?
The memory of Moonbeam disappearing in the wake of the twolegs ripples through her mind, how their medicine cat had been whisked into thin air. Lakemoon lets her eyelids flutter close for a long moment as she exhales. When she opens them once more, Cricketpaw has already said what everyone is thinking- anticipating.
β€œLet Lichenstar speak.” There is no chastise in her voice as the blue tabby flickers her gaze between Cricketpaw and Eveningkit, tone even and her stoic expression splintered with something grave. Jumping to conclusions would do no one any good, but from the appearance of the patrol alone… Cricketpaw must not be too far off in their assumption.



  • LAKEMOON ☾ she/her, warrior of riverclan, 27 moons.
    β­ƒ lanky blue tabby with low white and navy blue eyes and a slightly twisted right hind leg. A large facial scar stretches from her right brow to her left cheek, and another crosses at her chest and stretches down the length of her stomach.
    β­ƒ daughter of Tempestmoon && Lilypad ࿏ sister to Wolfwind ࿏ mate to Lilybloom & mother to Snowkit, Graykit
    β­ƒ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
    β­ƒ penned by Noor ↛ @toyangel on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

pawsteps thunder the undergrowth to life, the hushed and hurried gait of warriors return. strawberry - scorned eyes flit away from eveningkit with the sound of rustling reed, her mentors return eminent beyond evergreen stalks. she’d not been allowed on this expedition β€” her inexperience sings in still fluttering flanks, in claws still soft with disuse but frustration simmers in her blood at it still, at her idle and toiling paws. frostbleached features betray little more than an absent sniff as fog - bitten leader pushes through, a brief wrinkling of the velveteen ivory smattering her short muzzle ; she thinks to simper a complaint, a how did it go? was it really that dangerous?

their expression kills it on her tongue.

turtlepaw’s absence is hard to ignore. it blares at her as she sits up, calls out in wild birdsong, warbling whistles of alarm where lichenstar stands to call for her serpent - eyed advisor. he asks for her β€” no heartbeat of hesitation, only the faintest uptick of nervousness that writhes it’s way into her veins and runs her marrow heavy with dread. cricketpaw murmurs something about a disappearance, and shellpaw lifts her hoarse and aching voice to say, ” how can β€” how can someone disappear.. in front of a whole patrol of cats? β€œ how could they just.. take them like that, with so many warriors at their side? they hadn’t seen troutsnout, moonbeam, a small herb patrol.. was there nothing they could do, even in numbers? were these disappearances? lakemoon quiets them but imploring eyes flicker downward, peach fuzz tail aiming to coil light around her little sister β€” who is it..?

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  • SHELLPAW 𓆉 SHE / HER. SEVEN MOONS OLD, APPRENTICE OF RIVERCLAN, MENTORED BY LICHENTAIL ; SMELLS LIKE SALT & RIVER BLOOMS. HAZECLOUD xx LICHENTAIL, NIECE TO SMOKESTAR. PENNED BY ANTLERS ----------------- Β° ❀ ⋆
    frail alabaster molly with lilac striping and watery amber eyes.
    78128298_wohFIHxKbNARetE.png
    she is pallid ; platinum splotched with ribbons of dovey lilac curls, wisped ends like memories of a distant shore and plush enough to conceal the juts of malnutrition beneath. tufted elderdown fur conceals a body worn fragile by tumultuous youth, too thin in some places and round with baby fat in others. her face is short - muzzled, framed half mast by eyes coined rheumy, rosen amber. the anemic cold pink - purple at tender paws and nose tell a lifetime of sickness, further made obvious by the feathering weakness in half - whispered tones.
    CHRONICALLY ILL ; prone to wheezing, nose at a constant drip from longterm illness - induced nasal polyps. not contagious.