camp butterfly in the skyyyy~ | o, moving stars

[Peachpaw.]

Peachkit crouched outside the nursery, staring up at the night sky. She took in the stars above, searching for the shapes she often heard her clanmates pointing out. Was every star a StarClan cat? And if so, did they all coordinate which of them were going to make up the images in the stars? This seemed awfully complicated to Peachkit, and she wondered how long it took to plan it all out.

She was in the middle of pondering this idea when a speck of movement caught her eye. A few, slightly brighter flecks of light in the sky, very clearly moving among the stars. Nobody had ever told her stars could move! Astonished by this new piece of knowledge, she scrabbled up the tallest boulder in camp and craned her neck to get a better look. Was the star on its way to make a new constellation? Did everyone else know about this and not told her? She stared wide eyed at the drifting stars.

// she's seeing lights from a plane/some other aircraft but obviously has no concept of this

 

[Bounceheart]

bounceheart ✧ she/her ✧ riverclan warrior (=˃ᆺ˂=)

In her moons, she had seen a few of these migrating stars. Her mother had told her a few tales of where the celestial cats were going - to lift up the sun, or they were falling from the sky to be born again. One of the stories she had heard said that they were cats being banished from StarClan - she wondered where they were going. But, Bounceheart had a favorite story of her own; something she felt she had experienced before.

Just as Peachkit, she had moved to get a better view of the shooting "stars". These were a certain kind - they moved across the sky, until you could not see them anymore. "A StarClan cat is going to visit someone's dreams." Though her eyes remained on the horizon, she was speaking to the kit. "Maybe you, if you hurry to bed." ​

 

[CRAPPIEPATCH]

The nighttime is meant for sleeping, but Crappiepaw’s nerves makes it hard to sleep sometimes. They always feel kind of anxious, but after dark it seems to only get worse. That’s how they find themself outside of the medicine den, staring out across the camp without a goal in mind. Peachkit steps out of the nursery and the apprentice is immediately on high alert. A few nights ago, the child—if she can even be called a child, being nearly the same size as Crappie himself—had spoken to him when he’d had a nightmare. So just in case she’s had a nightmare, the tortoiseshell pads over to sit beside her.

When the kit points out the moving lights in the sky, Crappie squints, finding the movement she’s talking about after just a few moments. Bounceheart explains that the moving star is a StarClan cat, and the tortoiseshell rolls their eyes. She’s sounding more and more like his dull mentor every day. He hopes she’ll try catnip again, just so she’ll be funny. "Lying to kits isn’t nice," they murmur, but don’t tear their gaze away from the light in the sky.

To Peachkit, they offer a small smile, genuine and sweet despite how tired they are. "I think sometimes stars just do that. They move around like it’s a game." They flick their tail, green eyes narrowing curiously. "Why are you up this late anyway, Peachkit?"
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[ FORTUNE LOVES THE BOLD ]​

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[GILLSIGHT]

Sometimes, Gillpaw has trouble sleeping. Excitement for the next day's tasks rattles in his head, all too loud for him to settle down - as if he gets a second wind.

This night is one of those sleepless nights. He tries his best to settle down, he promises, but... There are voices outside his nest! And how could he possibly go to sleep without knowing what was going on outside?

The black and white tom crawls out of his nest, and leaves the apprentice den. It isn't too hard to find who it is doing all the talking - what with most everyone else already nestled in their own nests. Gillpaw pads over, joining the chattering trio of Peachkit, Bounceheart, and Crappiepaw. They're looking at something... something in the sky?

"W-What're you l-looking at?" he asks, sunflower gaze narrowing as he focuses up at the stars. Something - a star? - moves across the sky, a red flash carried with it, every so often. He's never seen anything like it, though... maybe he just doesn't pay attention to the stars enough? Bounceheart says it's a StarClan cat going off to someone's dreams. Crappiepaw suggests StarClan is just playing.

"W-Well... W-Well maybe they're hunting?" he suggests, eyes locked onto the moving star, "M-maybe they've caught s-something, since they're carrying that.... t-that f-funny red thing with th-them?"
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[Peachpaw.]

Peachkit narrowed her eyes at Bounceheart as the warrior spoke. This seemed like just a lie to get her back to her nest. Well, it wasn't going to work! She was way too invested in this newfound drifting star phenomenon for any sleep. Crappiepaw appeared then, telling Bounceheart that lying to kits wasn't nice. "Yeah!" Peachkit agreed, and then quickly added, "Lying to anyone isn't nice!"

She looked back over to Crappiepaw. "I'm the same age as you," she told him. She wished Dogteeth wasn't so overprotective of her. She wasn't sick, or small anymore. She hadn't been fragile since the day Dogteeth had brought her back to the camp, and she'd been so young then she couldn't remember it. She gave an agitated huff as she finished speaking, only giving a shrug as Crappiepaw inquired about why she was still awake.

Gillpaw offered his own theory, and Peachkit sat back to consider it. "Maybe," she said quietly. "But what do you think they caught?" She watched the red light blinking alongside the moving star. "And why is it blinking?"

 

[GILLSIGHT]

Gillpaw blinks at Peachkit's questions, looking back up at the sky. It's flashing, right. What could the flashing mean? He wasn't sure, but, would he ever truly know? Perhaps not. Perhaps he wouldn't see another star quite like this one, ever again.

He thinks for a moment, inky tail swaying behind him as he ponders the blinking, moving star.

"A... A f-fish," he decides with a nod, "Th-they've caught a fish, and it's st-still moving in their m-mouth," Like how the fish liked to flop around when they were out of the water. That sounds about right to the young apprentice.
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