camp just a bump in the road // nest making

[Periwinklebreeze.]

TASTED LIGHT BUT FED THE DARK
WAITING FOR THEM ALL TO SEE​

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periwinklebreeze ❀ 18 moons ❀ demi-boy ❀ he/they ❀ windclan moor runner​

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With their return to camp, there is much to do to settle back in. All around him, cats are on edge - injuries being tended to, those who'd stayed behind only just coming back. And yet, periwinklebreeze finds his mind being otherwise occupied. The shadow of a boy stands at the edge of camp, staring at what once was his nesting spot - the one he'd chosen after vulturemasks death, when he'd at last joined the others in the hollow.

Nothing is left but snow and tattered grass - scents familiar to him but not his own. The bloody battle didn't reach here, thank the stars, but still it is utterly barren. But all that had mattered is gone. All the memories, the keepsakes, the gifts. Twice now, he's lost everything. Once upon his return from the journey - where nightingalecry had been bearer of bad news - the loss of the scraps of fur he'd kept from his brothers overshadowed by their mothers death. And now, his feather, the very last memento he'd had that's gone too. Eyes close for a moment as he takes a shuddering breath.

And then he gets to work - soft paws gathering up tattered remains, jaws wrapping around the bundle.He disappears behind the gorse wall - vanishes, if only for a few moments. And then he returns, pile of fresh scrap in his jaws. Long grass, fur, bark, even the snow itself is pushed and pulled until at last he's satisfied. Mind finds comfort in the familiar routine - an easy task, mind numbing in it's simplicity. And when he's done, he can only take a step back - contented in his efforts. It's not the same - and it never will be - but it's still his. That's enough for him.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

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T O ━ L O V E ━ M Y S E L F ━ I S ━ W A Y ━ T O ━ H A R D

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[downyfur]

Downypaw, unlike many of the injured, is thankful for to be confined in Wolfsong's herb-scented prison. They loathe the sight of their camp, now twice a battlefield. She loathes the memory of curling up at the edges of it, staring past Lilacstem's body into the weary gorse walls. She loathes the storm of thought that descended on her as soon as the sun fled, of her traitor blood and her traitor love for her traitor family and the traitor bodies.

Even now, she spends her nights wondering what Sootstar would think of her, if she even thought past Sunstride at all. They imagine her a chained beast, barricaded in the den she had once known as a sanctuary, kept alive by sheer madness. Or so they say.

Fresh air would do no harm though. The apprentice has been graciously allowed out of the medicine tunnels on account of it, and they immediately find themself lost in the ruins of WindClan camp. A yawn presses against the back of their teeth; on instinct, white-dipped paws lead them back towards the walls of camp.

A vaguely familiar figure draws them out of it. "Hi, Periwinklebreeze," they greet softly, coming to stand next to him. Their gaze follows his lone, similarly-colored eye towards the object of his attention. Pride, maybe, by the nature of staring at it and what it is. "Are you organizing? It looks nice." Offering a smile, she turns to peer at her taller, smokier mirror. "Do you still need help?"​

 

[RATTLEHEART]

With everything that had gone on lately, Rattleheart had hardly had any time to think about his own nest, or the process of recreating what he had left behind. Thus far he hadn't really had to worry about it, enclosed in Wolfsong's den whenever he didn't have the energy for helping out around camp. He didn't mind the heavy herb scent that clung to every corner, even if it wasn't nearly the same as the plush nest that he longed to be in once more. There would be time for that soon enough, when the wounds on his chest had knit together just a little bit more. For now he just surveyed the work of others, the least injured among them already making efforts to put their home together once more. Like a puzzle whose pieces had been scattered all over until recently.

Slow - intentionally slow, as not to bother his wounds - steps brought the tunneler up not long after Downypaw, nose wrinkling just the slightest bit as he took in the nothingness that had been left in the wake of the loyalists. It made sense that they would tear up the nests of those that had left for their own supplies, but there was still something extra ghoulish about it all. "Suppose it won't be long until the rest of us follow your lead. Maybe we should've taken some wool with us from the barn..." Rattleheart's scratchy tone was surprisingly light and conversational, hoping not to bring the mood down for either Periwinklebreeze or Downypaw. Not that most were particularly cheery at the moment, but Periwinkle at least seemed content with his work.

Pressing a paw down against one of the other nearby nests, his head tilted over to one side as he thought back to the barn they had spent the last couple of months exiled to. "It'll be nice to have nests like these again, huh? Instead of the hay piles we had to use back there. They really weren't so bad, but they made my nose itch terribly." He was far from the only one, a fond smile curling on his muzzle as he recalled Scorchstreak and Pinkpaw sneezing practically in unison when they'd grown too close to one of the larger hay piles. The nests they had built hadn't been nearly that bad, but they hadn't been perfect either.
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[ PENNED BY EO ]​