camp LET IT HAPPEN ♱ [ 9/19 PATROLS ]

Wrong, is what this is: Sharpshadow pushing her way to the Clan's helm at the crack of dawn. She definitely doesn't manage to walk with the acute purpose Smogstar had accrued over all those moons... Hell, she probably couldn't even live up to Mirepurr's, weird mimicry that it was. For all they lacked in experience, they almost sort-of made up for with that glimmer of sincerity in their eyes. And of course Smogstar had cared... he had to, to stay here for so long. Even still, his eyes had lacked that... brightness, she supposes.

It wouldn't be fair to either of them to ever compare himself to them, honestly. Sharpshadow looks like he'd wandered into the clearing by complete accident, and in a way, he kind of has. This was never meant for him, after all. Smogstar had certainly thought the same.

By the virtue of being a replacement's replacement, she stands before Clanrock. Just how was she meant to garner attention the way Smogstar had? It flocked to him easily, despite his unassuming face and flea-ridden back. It was in the dark-wood eyes, in the caterwaul, in, somehow, the low drone... Was it a recipe for success, or something just for him? ...Sharpshadow knows he would make a fool of himself if he tried the same things.

So... " Um, " an amazing start, already. Her head passes around the clearing, a pallid gaze hoping desperately that the routine of it all would be enough to pull cats in. " I'm doing patrols today. " The next issue: how exactly did someone go about this?

A few sunrises later, Smogstar's absence is still looming above them all. Search parties. They need search parties. It's all her mind can insist, even though they've done those already; even though they had all been fruitless, somehow, hardly tethering onto a scent. Sharpshadow refuses to believe that's it. There had to be something else to it - something that they're missing. A set of fangs peek just over her lip. She had to push back the haze of panic, so they could pretend things are... normal. Then again - maybe ShadowClan was such a disaster that the guise of normalcy would be abnormal in itself.

A swear is hissed beneath her breath. Nerves goad out a rare swing of her tail. Were they all thinking about how terrible her posture was? They better not be, with Smogstar's horrible slouch - but then, he pulled everything off better than he ever would... " Okay, um. " StarClan, could she just relax? " ThunderClan. I'll go, and I'll take... Scalejaw and... " Her ears flatten to her skull as she overlooks the crowd... Her gaze catches onto double shades of blue, a half - toned face that surely, was freaking out as much as he was? Not like - not like that was her problem, but, ah... " Halfsun, you come too. "

Her face furrows. " ...WindClan. " Was it stupid to wonder if they somehow played a part in Smogstar's disappearance? With their track record, surely not. But... No offense to Smogstar, he wouldn't be as easy to move around as a kit... " Forestshade, could you, y'know, investigate? I mean- mark the border and stuff, but... " She'd... get it, wouldn't she? " Take F-flintwish and Applejaw, and um, your guys' apprentices. Obviously. " Did she even have to say that? She probably didn't.

" It's Leaf-bare now so... We should stay fed while we can, I guess. " It felt weird to boss around someone that's kind of her superior, but it's what Mirepurr and Smogstar have done. Plus, could she even call something like this bossing? " Um, Mirepurr, maybe you could go hunting? Take, um... Sparrowheart and Shriketalon with you. Yeah. " His frown goes deeper still - which is apparently possible - when her gaze crosses Smogstar's apprentice... They should have been a warrior by now, too... " You can go too, Bloodpaw. " Something like sympathy maybe, briefly flashes across her gaze. If Sharpshadow had still been an apprentice now... " Later tonight, Batchaser, maybe you could take Willowburn and Haretooth with you for some night hunting? " Maybe being out at nighttime could somehow provide them with some additional information... " Watch each other's backs. " Not to be a stick in the mud, but, " I'm serious. "

And now... what else? Another look for Smogstar patrol was probably a bit extra, with three that would already be roaming the territory. Could one more really hurt, though? Maybe he could just pretend its something else? Uh, kill two birds with one stone. " Starlingheart - maybe you could go... looking for herbs or whatever? Uh, yeah. " It couldn't hurt. Who knows what might happen with Smogstar gone, anyways... " Wormwatcher and Laurelgrin- could you look after her and Marblepaw? Thanks. "

Unease prickles along her pelt. Who knew where Smogstar could possibly be- and who knows who may somehow catch wind of that fact. ShadowClan has had a spy before; it isn't... complete nonsense. " Let's... strengthen camp's defenses, " he says. A brief glance of is that okay? is cast to Mirepurr. His gaze would find Ferndance then, someone who he knew had... concerns about camp's safety. If she took anything seriously, it would be this, right? " Ferndance, Snowlark, and Salamandersnap... but also um, anyone else that wants to would be nice. Patch up any holes in the barrier or strengthen the dens or... " She frowns in the direction of the nursery. He didn't wanna shout, like, what if we get attacked? but... " Maybe... even the kits could use some... schooling? Just- take care of camp please. Make sure we're o-okay. " At least one of them ought to understand.

And so... she desperately hopes that she hadn't terribly screwed something up. " All of you... " he breathes. " Regardless of what you're doing - where you're going... please... please look for Smogstar. "

 
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Smogstar's disappearance had set an uneasy precedent among ShadowClan, and even as Gigglepaw watched Sharpshadow make their way into the center of camp to, she assumed, set up some patrols, she couldn't find it in her to offer the nervous lead warrior a smile. Sharpshadow did as Gigglepaw had expected, splitting cats up into groups to defend the edges of ShadowClan's territory, and the direction that they look for Smogstar on their ways went unspoken even before Sharpshadow mentioned it at the end of their assignments.

"Heard." Was Gigglepaw's dispassionate reply, and she moved through those gathered to find a spot at Forestshade's side, the older she-cat readying their group to go to the WindClan border. She would be going on a patrol with her brother, and she flashed Branchpaw a weak smile. Their first outing together should have been something more spirited, she thought, but instead they were on the lookout for a leader that had gone missing. Smogstar... Gigglepaw found herself fighting back tears as they pricked the corners of her eyes. He was fine, wasn't he? He'd just... gotten lost, was all.
  • !
  • 80344329_6S8RlcnnRCmX1ej.png
  • GIGGLEPAW apprentice of shadowclan, six moons
    blinks incessantly & uncontrollably.
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
    penned by Archivist.archivist on discord.

 

As the call for the daily patrols begins, Salamandersnap approaches the lead warrior, dipping her head respectfully as she waits for her assignment. However, as the woman speaks it becomes more apparent that she's nervous? The molly has to hold back a snort of distaste at the thought. Why couldn't they have elected someone who was more confident, more qualified to hand out the patrols? Her tail flicks silently behind her, the only true signal to her displeased thoughts as she catches her name on Sharpshadow's breath. A soft nod would follow as she moves to find Snowlark and Ferndance so they could begin strengthening camp.

  • ooc. — ​
  • SALAMANDERSNAP
    ↪ salamandersnap / cisgender female (she/her)
    ↪ 24 moons / ages realistically on the 19th
    ↪ shadowclan warrior
    ↪ lh black smoke
    ↪ "speech" / thoughts
    ↪ peaceful/healing actions may be powerplayed / attack in underline & @/account
    ↪ note: all thoughts/actions are based off ic opinions only !!
    ↪ penned by halimede
 

It is impossibly cruel for daily life to return like it does.

Dawn breaks without a hint of hope; it simply bathes the camp in yellowish light, but it does nothing to lift Mirepurr's spirits. They haven't slept since Lilacfur alerted them to the mysterious disappearance of Smogstar... has only managed to become intimately familiar with the back of their eyelids as they attempt to rest. If they sleep, they are jolted awake by a nightmare or a wave of nausea just a few hours after. Miserable, is what Mirepurr is.

Sharpshadow takes their place; they feel guilty for springing that duty onto her, knowing just how scary it had been for them to do so in Smogstar's stead, but they know of their own inability to assign names to locations right now. Mirepurr would certainly send the same pawful of cats to the exact same border and not blink an eye.

He is a bundle of nerves, fraying at the ends and unable to stand still. Mirepurr cannot blame her — will not blame her when they, too, feel just as terrible. There is no lack of patience in their eyes; even as Sharpshadow stumbles through words and assignments, Mirepurr levels them with a look. It would be encouraging, and it is meant to be encouraging, but they cannot force a smile on their face now.

They nod when Sharpshadow looks to them for confirmation. It makes them sick, the fact that she can't look at Smogstar instead of them.

"Thank you," they mutter only for Sharpshadow's flicking ears to hear as he descends from the Clanrock. It is one less thing to worry about.

Then, they look towards their own hunting patrol. "We will leave soon." Hunting; a distraction.
 

Sleep is rare, the past few moon-cycles. It's rare for her to lay more then a couple of hours, to not think on what has happened. On what is missing, a den she had rested in perhaps once before it grew thick with a sickness that.. no, she refused to think that. He was alive. He couldn't have abandoned them. Her ears twitch, dulled vision- not unakin to that of right after Chilledstar's final death- moving to Sharpshadow.

Her heart stung with the realization that she was given responsibility like that. Mirepurr has settled the weight of sending patrols, search parties, to other territories. She swallows gently, her ears turning and curling back briefly before she pushes to her paws. Her thoughts do not mirror that of Salamandersnap's- she knew who Sharpshadow's former mentor was. She had ever reason to believe he could handle it.

She is perhaps a hint surprised to hear her name as one of the first, but it only steeled her determination. That floaty, lost look left her eyes in an instant. Given something to do, to follow an order, to direct this built up energy to a task was just what she needed. Scalejaw let a breath leave her, and her head dipped to the lead. Vision shifted to Mirepurr, minutes later, as he descended from Clanrock.

Glowering coals of vision rested for a long moment, unreadable, before she turned away to prepare for the patrol Sharpshadow would lead.
  • "speech"
  • SCALEJAW 🌧 she/her, warrior of shadowclan, sixty five moons.
    A SH black/LH blue smoke chimera with glowering orange eyes, tufts of fur that make her look dragon-akin, and scars that she wears with pride. motherly and stern attitude, with a warm streak for clanmates and a cruel streak for enemies.
    mentoring no one
    padding after no one / / mother to bonerattle, nightwhisper, and shadefall
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
    penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.