camp BODYSNATCHERS ⊹₊° crowfood... prompt

[LUPINESONG]

❀‿ CW: DEPICTIONS OF A ROTTING ANIMAL + MAGGOTS. A WEE BIT SUPER YUCKY.

Sorting through the freshkill pile was not the most glamorous of tasks, of course, but Lupinepaw found she liked the routine of it. The repetitive motions of her paws and the neat stacking of prey were soothing to her in that quiet, mundane way that kept her thoughts buffered softly. It was a simple, uneventful task most of the time. Most.

Lupinepaw's foot brushed against an odd shape half-buried beneath the loose dirt and pine needles of the camp floor and she paused with a soft, "Hm?" The apprentice brushed away the dirt some more and dragged up the small shape from its place half-hidden and smooshed beneath the dirt until it rolled toward her paws. She blinked down at it for a second to realize what it was: Old Crowfood. The poor piece of kill was a mouse (or... something like that...), half-smashed, pulpy, and covered in dirt from beneath multiple days' worth of prey and debris, The smell it gave off was acrid and gag-worthy and it looked like... was it MOVING?!

Maggots.

Writhing little milky-white pupoid beasts wriggled from inside the rotten flesh and upon the surface of the carrion and the apprentice couldn't help but let out a disgusted shriek of horror, "EUUGHH!!!" A shiver zipped up her spine and she fluffed up in offense at the sight before her. The creeping feeling lingered upon the paw she used to touch the disgusting thing and she was suddenly struck by the image of one of the maggots having crawled onto her foot in the process. "Oh stars, did any get on me? Ew ew ew ew ew!" She shook out her paw vigorously, clenching her eyes closed as she couldn't bear to check herself.

Spoiler: ❀ prompt !

We need to make sure we're keeping our strength up! Ensure the fresh-kill pile is free of crowfood and make sure it's well-stocked!

NOBODY YET EVERYTHING ⊹₊°❀‿ A POOL TO SHED YOUR MEMORY

• OOC:
• 
• 
  — lupinekit . lupinepaw
  — trans she/her. 9mo apprentice of skyclan. padding after falconpaw
  — a tall, pretty, long-haired black smoke with low white and green eyes
  — smells like sweet lupine flowers and young pine needles
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — icon by antiigone, fullbody by pikaihao and chibi by rae
  — penned by eezy

​

 

[pricklykit]

Pricklykit craned her neck from out behind Lupinepaw, her gaze sparking with curiosity.

"Oh! What're those?" She pondered aloud as she looked at the wriggling specks upon the piece of what was once food, but now... maybe not so much. It smelled pungent, but not in the same way that herbs tended to. Instead, it smelled like it would probably send you to the medicine den. "Umm, better not eat that." She suggested, something that was likely already obvious to the apprentice. "What do we do with it...?" She asked, unsure of how SkyClan typically handled such a situation. Did they just throw it into the dirtplace? ​

pricklykit // black smoke tortoiseshell with yellow-green eyes // she/her // kit // 5 moons // skyclan​

 

[Drizzlepelt]

Drizzlepelt comes over to the fresh-kill pile after hearing the sudden commotion, wondering what’s going on. It’s not a predator tying to steal, so crowfood, maybe? But that scream is a little worse than just something being spoiled…

He worriedly walks over to Lupinepaw, trying to see what the issue is with his own eyes. It doesn’t take that long for the starch difference of the white wriggling to reach his eyes, allowing him to get what the issue is. “Oh StarClan,” he mutters, trying not to gag at the sight.

“Absolutely do not eat that,” Drizzlepelt says to Pricklykit sternly, hoping she gets the message. “They’re called maggots. They infest dead bodies and eat at them from the inside. Luckily it’s the eggs that are the real threat, so tossing it isn’t the problem. But touching it…” His entire body shutters.​

 

[BEETLEBACK]

CW: DESCRIPTIONS OF A ROTTING ANIMAL AND MAGGOTS.

Fur bristles at a sudden screech within their home. He assumes it is a threat is fully prepared to throw himself in battle, only to find the source is one of the apprentices raving about something in the freshkill pile. Drizzlepelt is already on the job, but he supposes an extra paw wouldn't be too bad. When he joins the group, it turns out that while it is not as serious as being clawed by a rogue the putrid maggot infested mouse was a threat alright. Geez this shit is rancid! How long has it even been here? Beetleback has had his share of putrid smells that crowfood isn't the worst thing he's smelled surprisingly.

Unlike Drizzlepelt he doesn't wince at the sight. That's not to say he loves seeing maggots either. If anything it's a good thing he isn't as troubled as his fellow clanmates when it comes to figure out what to do. He smiles hearing Drizzlepelt explain to Pricklykit why this is bad and what those wiggly white creatures are. Ehhh? Don't tell me you're all afraid of maggots. What if our clan gets infested with them? Will you run away?" Let it be known that he's teasing the group, the crooked smile resting on his face indication of such. His gaze moves towards a stick nearby. Looks good enough.

Without any warning, he retrieves the stick and looks down at the remains of a mouse. The maggots continue to feast on it, whatever's left anyways. Hmm this is gonna be gross no matter how you look at it. Look away little prickles, this is gonna be messy. Beetleback proceeds to shove the stick in the flesh of the deceased mouse, ignoring the squelching sound that emits from such an action. Once he feels the carcass is secure he carries it away from the group and pads to the exit of camp.

 

[pricklykit]

Maggots. The new word settled itself into Pricklykit's head as she curiously watched Beetleback handle things without fuss. He wasn't scared, so why should she be? Not yet having experienced green-leaf in full bloom, the she-kit hadn't seen many bugs skittering about. They sort of intrigued her-- a whole little world existed beneath her paws, beneath the dew-laden grass, easily missed by the untrained eye. However leaf-bare dragged on, and as of late it seemed not much of anything was stirring. Well, aside from the maggots that had made an old piece of fresh-kill their home. She supposed they were just trying to survive too, but she had to admit the sight was a little yucky. No squeals would escape the kitten however, and she wasn't fearful of the maggots themselves, just a little grossed out by the piece of rancid fresh-kill.

"I'm surprised it got left there long enough to get like that." Pricklykit noted. These moons the prey upon the pile seemed to get eaten quickly, and that there could never be enough. ​

pricklykit // black smoke tortoiseshell with yellow-green eyes // she/her // kit // 5 moons // skyclan​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

The scent of crowfood is thick and pungent, fuzzy on his tongue like the wet hide of a squirrel. Blazestar grimaces as he makes his way over to where Lupinepaw squeals, patting her thick fur with mismatched paws. “I don’t see any on you,” he murmurs, his blue eyes twinkling with humor. He can’t exactly blame her for her theatrics—the thought of touching the maggot-infested bit of prey is nauseating at best. He sits, a careful eye on Pricklykit as she inspects the rotting piece of fresh-kill. “This is crowfood,” he explains to the little she-kit. “It’s prey that’s gone bad. Once it’s really nasty, the maggots start swarming it.”

He lifts his gaze to Drizzlepelt and Beetleback, his nostrils still flared at the putrid scent of rotten flesh. “We’d better get rid of it before it does infest our Clan,” he mews. He gestures to the two of them. “Will you do the honors, or should I?” But it only seems fair that he does it himself now, so with a grimace, Blazestar heaves himself to his paws and bats the bit of crowfood away from the pile. To Pricklykit and Lupinepaw, he half-turns. “We only pick it up with our paws. Not our mouths. And we take it into the forest and bury it so it doesn’t draw any foxes or badgers.”

Resolutely, he bats it again, suppressing a shudder at the unnatural softness of it. He’s got to get it out of camp eventually…

, ”​

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