camp break me down ~ returning to camp

[Flamestar]

As she was flanked by her clanmates, padding through their forest once more, the more she felt like she was in a dream. There was no snow anywhere, no hard jagged rocks. No fox sized birds hunting them from above, trying to pick them off one by one. The air wasn't warm, but it was nothing compared to the freezing temperatures they had endured in the mountains. Her injured shoulder ached, but she pushed herself forward. The sooner they returned to camp, the sooner Berryheart could help Stormpaw...hopefully. Their pace was slow, but that was alright. Even without her daughter across her and two other of her clanmate's backs, she wasn't sure how fast she could walk anyways. Every joint in her body ached, and she felt as though if she didn't have Stormpaw to carry, she would probably collapse.

As the group emerged through the camp's tunnel, they were met with many surprised expressions. She turned to the closest clanmate, and motioned with her chin towards Berryheart's den. "Let him know we are back." Word would undoubtably spread through the camp faster than the wildfire had, but on the off chance he wasn't in the camp, he would need to be found. The sooner he looked at Stormpaw, the better. ​

★ born to find that great unknown

• @Flycatcher @MOUSENOSE @WHITELION @nightbird @HAILSTORM. @STORMPAW @LIGHTSTRIKE .
  
  tagged those who are returning, but feel free to respond before them!
  and mentioning @BERRYHEART :)​
• 
  FLAMEWHISKER of THUNDERCLAN
  LH red tabby with low white (masks black tabby, carries dilute, solid)
  — Lead Warrior of Thunderclan ; currently mentoring Acornpaw
  — she/her ; mated with Flycatcher
  — mother to Stormpaw & Falconpaw
  — 24 moons ; ages on the 20th
  — Smells like dirt, old leaves, tree sap, faint hint of flowers
  — will start a fight, will finish fights, will kill (case depending)
  — "speech" ; thoughts ; attacks
  — penned by Icey ! ; link to tags
  — link to toyhouse
  — funny guy art by waluigipinball​

 

[GENTLESTORM]

✦ Hailstorm was helping Flamewhisker carry Stormpaw back and his muscles, and paws ache but not as terribly as his beating heart that rests within his chest. The way it felt heavier with each step he took into Thunderclan territory, how it felt like someone was squeezing it, and he forced a smile while traveling along with the rest of the patrol. He remembers the darkness surrounding him, the cave that they were stuck in with the chance of their group being stuck there to die had it not been for Honeyjaw, and how she had woke him up to talk. "If - no - when we get back to the forest... Will you return as my mate?" He remembers her voice and how comforting it had been, the way the two of them finally stepped out form the caves and everything seemed promising. They'd return together to the forest as mates yet he walks here by himself without her and his eyes begin to sting.

The green of the forest reminding him of her eyes and soon enough Little Wolf was on his mind once more, it makes him realize that in a few days it would've been a moon since she had passed. He takes a deep breath despite how shaky it was and he clears his throat not wanting his voice to break from the overwhelming emotions that he felt "It's great to be home..." I wish you were here, Little. The sepia tom thinks with his ears laying flat against his skull, he wanted to leave camp in that moment. He felt like he was suffocating but he keeps to Flamewhisker's side with Stormpaw on his back still sporting a psuedo grin.

* ˚✦ YOU FOUND ME HERE; UNDERGROUND

• 
  ✦ 48 moons old
  ✦ thunderclan warrior
  ✦ bisexual demiromantic; mates with little wolf
  ✦ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ✦ semi-difficult in combat; relies on strength and his burly build
  ✦ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ✦ penned by bosstaurus

​

 

[barleysight.]

There was a somber air to the journey cats return, Barleysight was quick to notice. Though, they wanted to cheer, and congratulate their return, they were left speechless as Stormpaw was seen being carried by two warriors, and... Little Wolf was nowhere to be seen with them.

oh.

They heard the journey was going to be long and difficult, but they all looked absolutely exhausted, despite the Lungwurt held in their jaws. "Welcome home.." they said softly. they weren't sure what else to say. What were they supposed to say? A small gulp came from the chocolate tabby. "Do you need help, I can help carry her..?" she offered quietly.

 

[Magpiepaw]

—————————————————————⊰♰⊱————————————————————
Admittedly he was staring a little too hard around the camp when they walked in, him hobbling along close to Hailstorm and pausing every so often to glance over at Stormpaw being carried in. The ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice could not help but gawk a little, it was so much different here than his own him. This camp felt cozier somehow, the territory of ThunderClan was a little too crowded with trees for his liking but he rather liked how everything seemed oddly warm, perhaps it was just his proximity to so many big and longhaired cats that he felt as much but there was an sincerity in the few who approached that earned a polite smile.
"Hello." He chirps, his nose tilted up to find the aroma of herbs that would indicate which of these dens Berryheart and Lichenpaw were in - he wouldn't run off to see them immediately though, he'd wait her for what he assumed was Howlingstar's presence being required. He wondered if the earlier group had told her already about what happened and his excitement at the new sights quickly dampened at the thought.

————— ⸸ looks like the stars won't shine much longer ———— ⸸ so give me your hand

• OOC can go here.
• 
  
  
  Magpiepaw
  —⊰⋅ MCA of ShadowClan
  —⊰⋅ He/They
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ Black tom w/a white throat and blue-violet eyes.
  

​

 

[LIGHTSTRIKE .]

❝ WE HAVE YET TO CRASH ✧°.☀ —————————————————————————————
It felt great to be home, great in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. Great, even despite the injured form of Stormpaw draped across his Clanmates' backs, even despite the way his eyes flitted over her injuries for the umpteenth time in the past... since it happened.

Sucking in a slow breath, Lightstrike forced his eyes to wander, let them flit over the camp he had missed so much. Flamewhisker's voice was what drew him from his stupor, and he nodded once, forcing his paws to move from the spot they had rooted to. "Sure," he said, and wandered off.

His gaze was searching, looking for particular pelts in the crowd even as he briefly greeted Berryheart, only to promptly request his presence.

There he spotted her, their argument-turned-promise still ringing in his head. With something bordering a frown tugging at his lips, he strode over and stopped before the point, taking in the face he hadn't seen in person in moons. "I told you," he said after several beats of silence.

// talking to @Moonwhisper , fetching berryheart (already been pinged)

[penned by its_oliverr - ☀]

——————————— ☀.°✧ BUT WE STILL MAY AS WELL ENJOY IT ❞ ​

​

 

[Moonwhisper]

—————————————————————⊰☾⊱————————————————————
She knows already her mother will not be in the crowd returning and yet she seeks a black pelt out among them anyways, it is a cruel trick her heart plays hoping that they were all wrong and that Little Wolf would return. She knew better. She was smarter than that. But she still looked. Once that surge of despair filled her she finds her ice blue gaze seeking another, warm cream fur visible just near Flamewhisker and it makes her heart lurch with relief to know that at the very least they had not all been lost to the cold mountains. That some of them had come back. That he had.
She stands there frigid and unmoving, trying to find the will to step forward and greet them but she can't. She doesn't move. Moonwhisper isn't sure what it was that locked her in place but a lump of ice forms in her throat, chokes her words and leaves her standing there quietly frozen for a few seconds longer than she intended. Lightstrike reaches her before she can fully pull herself together and in three words melts her apprehension into puddle that pools warm in her belly.
"...you did. I believed you, I knew you would." Because she had threatened him that anything less would not be accepted and he rose to the challenge. Her shoulders tense and she lifts her head from its slouch and wishes she could be happier for it, but Little Wolf's death still settles darkly in her thoughts.
But despite that she managed a smile, not her usual sneer or aloof curl of black lips but a more sincere and hopeful one. "Welcome home, Lightstrike."
She leans forward to bump her head against his in the closest she really comes to anything akin to physical affection though it was probably preferable to being knocked on his tail again.

☾ break all the rules - live like a queen or die like a fool ☽ —— do you care what they think

•  
• 
  
  
  Moonwhisper
  —⊰⋅ Warrior of ThunderClan
  —⊰⋅ She/Her
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ LH Tortiseshell point w/ice blue eyes
  

​

 

[BURNSTORM]

It is strange, the way he knows in his head that his mother is not with the cats who are returning late and yet his eyes instinctually search for her anyways and he cannot help the sting his heart feels when she isn't there. Silently he chastises himself, he knows better than to give into false hope and yet... Even stranger is the fact that the last he had seen Flamewhisker he was not her equal. She had been a lead warrior his whole life, always a figure that must be obeyed and respected. To be elevated to the same position made him feel weird in a way he cannot quite explain.

Immediately his eyes find Stormpaw and though there is sympathy in his gaze he does not allow it to linger. It is not what she needs. "It's good to see you all again" he says to the nearest returning cat. He wants to go to Lightstrike, wants to ask his friend how the journey was and if he had gotten into any trouble but he sees the way his sister makes a beeline and he decides against it. He could let them have a moment uninterrupted, there would be plenty of time to catch up later. If Lightstrike happened to look his way though, he would offer him a warm smile and a nod of his head in greeting.

Magpiepaw's presence is a curiosity. The strange little apprentice was one of ShadowClan's, their medicine cats underling if he remembers correctly but he does not understand what he is doing here. Was ShadowClan so miserable that he held no excitement to return? Or was there perhaps another reason? He would not pry "I'll fetch Howlingstar" he says, golden eyes trained on the stranger for a long moment before he turns and leaves to fetch his grandmother.

// went to get @HOWLINGSTAR

​

 

[BERRYHEART]

Of course he had not yet left his den. Through the darkest times of the plague, Berryheart had in truth doubted if he would ever see the territory he loved so much again. But he rose, faced the light when he was fetched; as soon as he saw that Sandy was the one to face him, he knew what was happening. They would bring back their injured apprentice, ferried on the backs of the Thunderclanners who had stayed behind. Sunset, Sandy himself, Cloudy... and of course, Little Blue. Injured beyond belief; her wounds were dressed, likely thanks to Quills who stood nearby, unexpectedly, but it was clear she had been afflicted with something irreversible.

"Hello," he said to the ShadowClan apprentice, something of a subtle smile slanted across his jaw. Dreading the moment the black-and-white tom found out about Freckles' death, he tried to indulge in this doubtlessly brief moment of pleasantry. Looking to the returning cats with a clouded-over gaze, deep thought turning within the dull-green, Berryheart murmured "Help her to my den, please." There would be no promises made- but it would do well to lie her down, to gather as much information as he could about her injury from their ShadowClan visitor while he was here.

For once, though, he wouldn't leave it there. A small glint of happiness twinkled in his eye. "I'm glad you're home." To all of them. He would not say he was glad they were all home, though. It was untrue. Not all of them had made it home.​

PENNED BY PIN ☾​

 

[HOWLINGSTAR]

She had been napping - or rather, trying to nap - in her den when her grandson fetches her. The rest of the journeyers had returned today. She gets to her paws in a hurry and gives her pelt a swift shake to rid it of the moss that clings to it. On swift toes, she trots from her den to lay eyes on Flamewhisker, Hailstorm, Lightstrike, and...oh Stormpaw...you poor thing. Eyes filling with sympathy and relief, she approaches with a dip of her head. "Thank StarClan you've returned safely." She nods towards Berryheart, acknowledging his instructions and is preparing to help them get her to his den when she finally notices the pelt of raven fur standing just behind them.

"Oh," She mews in surprise, pausing in her steps to look him up and down. "Hello. You're Magpiepaw, right?" Starlingheart's apprentice. She turns to face him fully, noting his swaying form. She chooses to ignore it, instead tilting her head. "I am guessing you stayed behind to help Stormpaw. I thank you for that - ThunderClan thanks you." ​