camp but please don’t come near || nightmare

[betonyfrost]

When she wakes, it is with a soft sound. A gasp or an inhale—the preparation of a louder sound that never comes. When she wakes, she pushes herself upright, harsh enough that she feels a joint in her shoulder pop. The dream is already leaving her—behind it her mind still clings to the fading details. An acrid scent, she thinks, the selfsame red of an unripened cherry. She sits upright now, proper in her posture, and pants as if she has ran under heat.

“Dream,” She says by way of explanation to the faces that turn her way. Her voice comes out as a parched crackle—Betonyfrost swallows, and something tight in her throat clears. “It was just a dream.”

Even the details she could recall before feel distant now—had it been a berry? a scent in the air?—and Betonyfrost’s mind scratches at some internal threshold for them. It is gone from her now, despite her wondering. She stands and stretches before circling back down into her nest, paws folded and tail tucked to her side as it always is—confined to her nest, not touching anyone else, not even by mistake. A sigh, and her breath comes to her normal at last.

“A dream,” She repeats, this time to herself, “And nothing but.”
​

shadowclan warrior | blue mackerel tabby | 31 moons | tags​

 

[smogstar]

Precipitate movement knocks him from the groggy in-between state. Amber eyes unfurl to the den's silhouette, a blue-black smear in his awareness, hazy and soft, unmoored by definition. The world solidifies and snaps into clear outline, and the remnant smoke takes on the guise of Betonyfrost. "You can tell us all about it come daybreak," Smogmaw grumbles, first to speak among his stirred Clanmates. It'd been a dream, she said, and then reiterated the fact another three times. No elaboration as to its subject or content, just overzealous reassurances.

He endeavours to snuff out the coming yawn before it reveals itself, lips clenching as he exhales through his nostrils. His throat feels like he's downed a handfuls' worths-weight in dirt. A dull ache blooms from his spine, creeping to meet his head. Age is settling deeper into him, making its prescence noisily apparent. Already was falling back asleep a strenuous feat. Getting jolted back to consciousness so quickly did him no favours either.

He yawns again, unable to stifle the impulse in time, and as oxygen bathes the dry tract to his lungs in energy, his senses sharpen. The deputy is awake now, and for good.

"I'm awake now," he assures with a hushed rumble in his chest, "and prob'ly for good." Were it not Betonyfrost stirring him, he might've given better audience to the episode. As fortune would have it, though, it was in fact Betonyfrost, and for her, he lacked the capacity to invest his care. He slings his ponderous body to its feet with a heavy shift, dragging himself toward and out the den's entry.

Outside, he looks longingly to the leader's den, where unbroken rest surely lays. ​

 

[Duckshimmer]

*+:｡.｡ Duckshimmer twitches a chocolate-splotched ear as the night's peace breaks to the sound of grey tabbies having a chat. She debates for a moment gently reminding everyone to hush, when she blurrily takes note of one of the voices. Betonyfrost speaks with a hitch to her usually unshakable voice, explaining away the effects of a dream...a dream? Blinking, the woman stirs, hiding a toothy yawn behind a dainty paw. She wonders what a cat like Betonyfrost dreams of. Judging by the look in her bright green eyes, it doesn't seem to be anything good.

She spares a glance towards Smogmaw, unimpressed by his...what was he doing, exactly? Getting away from the conversation? Inviting her to open up to him outside? It's not a bad idea. Stretching each leg languidly, she looks back at Betonyfrost and her stubborn loafing and, with a smile to herself in the comfort of darkness, she doubts Smogmaw's "invitation" will be heeded.

"I'm glad to see you're not terribly disturbed" Duckshimmer meows, keeping her voice low. To not wake her clanmates, or to avoid scaring Betonyfrost away? Maybe a little of both. There's not a lot of space beside Betonyfrost, but Duckshimmer moves closer anyway. Perhaps now she'll thank Starclan for her petite size as she squeezes comfortably by Betonyfrost's side. She follows the grey tabby's lead and tucks her paws in close to her chest, ensuring none of her thick coat touches the other woman - she doubts Betonyfrost would appreciate a hug and a kiss on the forehead, after all.

"How're you feeling?" she asks, voice still soft, periwinkle eyes trained on Betonyfrost's overheated symptoms. Too hot, or is the great and powerful Betonyfrost afraid? It makes Duckshimmer smile a little, seeing a bit more humanity in the sharp-edged woman. It makes her smile a little less knowing she must endure her night terrors alone.

*+:｡.｡ Updated 12/15/23

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
  GENERAL:
  ⚜ Duckshimmer
  ⚜ DFAB— She/Her — Bisexual
  ⚜ 30 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ⚜ Mother to Singepaw, Swallowpaw and Sneezepaw
  ⚜ Shadowclan — Warrior
  
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ⚜Physically hard | mentally hard
  ⚜ Attack in bold #ffa98f
  injuries: None currently

​

 

[MIRESTAR]

It had been a conscious decision on Mirepurr's part to become and remain so in tune with their Clanmates' quirks. Some might deem its stretch into unreasonable territory a waste, or simply foolish, but Mirepurr prefers to know what's going on in those hearts. Caring only about matters such as patrols and shallow conversations does not suit them. They cannot possibly imagine a life where they do not spare another glance or thought at one of their peer's troubles; it would transform ShadowClan from a home into strictly something business-like, cold and wholly uncaring.

And yet, when the lull of sleep escapes them like a failed hunt and their eyes find Betonyfrost... well, is it wrong for someone to reconsider their own bits of moral code, just once?

Nightmares seldom spare worried minds. Even the most innocent and calm ones get them, seeing as kits sometimes yelp awake in the middle of the night, shaking until a queen presses a wet nose to their cheeks and murmur soft comforts into their ears. Mirepurr, too, is all too familiar with the feeling; of their body flinching as it gets tossed from dreamland into reality, brain forced to reboot after something disturbing.

Betonyfrost is no different. For all the distaste they harbor towards her, she is just another poor warrior who doesn't have the privilege of only friendly rabbits jumping into her maw when she closes her eyes at night.

Unlike Smogmaw and Duckshimmer however, Mirepurr does not find anything nice to say, no matter how they try to swipe their tongue over teeth, as if that'd inspire something nice. They opt to shifting in their nest and burrowing their nose further in and under their tail — perhaps if they keep their eyes closed, nobody will realize they're awake enough to eavesdrop.
​

 

[betonyfrost]

It is Smogmaw that is first to rise. In the lowlight, he is easy to watch with the same unblinking intensity one might watch a snake with—Betonyfrost doesn't think he'll strike, but her wary eyes track him regardless. There is a pain in her chest, cold like fear and as deep as the familiar ache of loss. It fades out of time with the memories of the dream—far slower to settle. Under the weight of that Betonyfrost doesn't have the patience for Smogmaw; watching him retreat should be a relief. Instead, even in Smogmaw's absence, he has found a way to annoy her.

"A kit," Still caught in a whisper, her voice comes out harsh. "If that wakes him for good, a surely the sound of a feather landing would rouse him." But he is already gone, and Betonyfrost knows better than to shout her complaints after him. With no other option, Betonyfrost is forced to swallow that frustration. The act is out of practice but it comes easily to Betonyfrost all the same—how long has it been since she has put her anger aside?

But then Duckshimmer is before her once again, and Betonyfrost is struck the strange thought made familiar that Duckshimmer truly wants to be Betonyfrost's friend—she doesn't recoil as she has previously done, but her paws from where they are folded beneath her chest. She exhales as she considers Duckshimmer's question, cool against her inner nose.

"It's odd," Despite the murmur to her words, her green eyes flick suspiciously. Any one of these sets of ears could be listening. How quickly will her words reach the status of rumor? "I don't remember what happened, and still..." And still her heart is slower to settle than her mind. She can't stop herself from trying to recall, now that the distractions are gone. One of her paws emerges from beneath her and overturns. She sees red on her pads, blinks, and the illusion is gone—back to a faded gray-brown.

"It was cold. I was cold," She's still missing something, but it doesn't come to her. Memory—real memory—attempts to fill in the blanks that her dream had left behind, but it isn't accurate—not to what she had saw while asleep. "Ridiculous."

shadowclan warrior | blue mackerel tabby | 31 moons | tags​

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[SHARPSHADOW]

She had only been half - asleep anyways, but it does her heart some good to blame Betonyfrost from what she was currently missing. A dream, before the complaints even arise, Betonyfrost offers. Sharpshadow couldn't bring herself to care either way. Smogmaw's yawn is a contagion, spurring on her own. She feels way too seen now, with moon - shine teeth put on display. She reaches to sink further into the shadows, fluffing herself and inching her crooked tail just a bit further. Smogmaw's rumble is sleep - laden. Duckshimmer's voice lacks it's usual... flair.

He doesn't agree. Or — no, he did, only because Betonyfrost would surely make it everyone's problem if she had been terribly disturbed. She is all the time, isn't she? Slighted by skitter of a bug or puff to close to her ear. She oughta be more like... more like...

Well, just because Smogmaw and Duckshimmer were awake didn't mean the rest of them should have to deal with the flapping of their gums. Tired eyes flit around the shaded den, searching for stirring heads or grumpy faces that might agree with her if she complains. She thinks she catches a shuffle from Mirepurr, but then she isn't sure.

In the end... she decides not to. Another yawn hits her, and in - set eyes flicker to Smogmaw, annoyed.

He rolls over in his nest, not wanting to see the shadow of frostbitten ears, anymore. He's groggy. Grumpy. Plus - it's Betonyfrost. He doesn't care what he says right now. " Maybe you were missing your ears. " He'd been an apprentice then, he thinks.​