sensitive topics COME WHAT MAY // second body discovery

// takes place after this thread
@THUNDERGLEAM @antlerpaw

Howlingstar walks solemnly through the undergrowth, her usually powerful stride now weighed down by a somber burden. The forest seems heavy around her, melancholy dripping from the branches and sorrowful whispers on the breeze. The walk back to camp is Morningcloud’s final one. Beside her, her clanmates help her bear the limp form of their fallen clanmate, blood from the warrior’s throat staining Thundergleam and Antlerpaw’s fur. The stillness in her body shakes her - she’d been too soft, too sweet for this fate. She feels more helpless than ever.

The sun begins to dip below the horizon, casting long shadows across the ravine and painting the sky with hues of deep orange and purple when the cats push their way through the bramble tunnel. The twilight seems to match the mood in the air as Howlingstar and the others move forward to the center of camp. The quiet murmur of her clanmates preparing for the night falls to a hush as clanmates see the limp form of Morningcloud, now placed gently on the ground. When the tabby straightens, her gaze sweeps over the faces of her companions, etched with worry and sorrow.

"Another of our own has been killed," She announces, not even bothering to keep the waver from her voice. "We have lost another to the paws of…whoever is doing this.” The threat here has not been vanquished, that much is clear. She stares down at the body for a long, silent moment - she can’t stomach looking looking at her torn out throat. Whoever did this was swift, not even giving the she-cat any time to fight back. “She wasn’t found near the border like Ploverhop was. She was by Snakerocks.” Are the exiles really intruding so much? Or…

She squeezes her eyes shut. “Has any other scent been found near the border?”

 
another one.

it hurts. oh, it weighs down on her fur. the grass tickles her paws, as if inviting her to be next. howlingstar speaks of the dead, but all she can hear is a loud buzzing of flies. strawberry pink blood stains the trio’s fur, a color that matches morningcloud’s fur uncomfortably. thunderclan will be quiet tonight, heavy with grief until the young molly is put into the ground.

leafhusk’s attention finally snaps back, the sepia shakes her head and blinks, refocusing her eyes. once more, she avoids staring directly at morningcloud’s body. "no, just… thunderclans." the twice, thrice look-over of the borders she had done after ploverhop’s demise came up empty. just thunderclan. only thunderclan, always. the forest feels stiller, now, and stale.. if snakerocks isn’t safe, is anywhere? she can feel her head suddenly swivel around, staring at her clanmates owlishly.​
 
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-ˋˏ ༻ ☀ ༺ ˎˊ-
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When Howlingstar emerges from the bramble-built entrance, Roeflame is smacked with a sickening sensation of deja-vu, only it is a different body being into camp this evening. Whatever she had been doing, whatever conversation she had been engaged in, the rosetted queen drops immediately.
In a series of hurried steps, Roeflame draws to her the growing crowd like a moth to a light, celadon hues wandering to Antlerpaw and Thundergleam in stricken horror. Another one of our own has been killed. Howlingstar sounds older than she ever has, and Roeflame’s gaze drops to the crimson-splashed form of her clanmate, unable to keep the small shake of her head at bay. When Howlingstars words to the clan come to a close, the lead warrior would gravitate towards her leaders flank, brushing her tail against the tabby she-cat in an attempt to offer any meager amount of comfort Roeflame good. She had never been good at that, though.
Leafhusk shakes her head, and selfishly Roeflame wishes more desperately than ever to shed her nursery-bound title and join her sepia council mate out there, could help get to the bottom of this. Roeflame knows she could.
Instead, a pale forepaw brushes against Morningclouds shoulder. “We’ll prepare her for vigil, so we can all say goodbye.” Each word is a lump in her throat, because to adorn another body in bits of mint and lavender makes the small warrior want to burst, but it is her duty.



  • ROEFLAME she/her, Lead Warrior of Thunderclan, twenty-two moons.
    petite cinnamon silver ticked tabby with murky green eyes & a small scar over her left eye.
    mate to Burnstorm ☀ mentor to Foxpaw
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted ☀ underline and tag when attacking
    penned by Noor@toyangel on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 
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A hush falls over the gentle murmur circulating through camp as Howlingstar, Thundergleam, and Antlerpaw shiver through the gorse tunnel. A body slides from their shoulders, limp, crushed against the leafmold. Her pelt is copper-splashed; there's the rank scent of cat-blood in the air. Raccoonstripe's tabby pelt spikes with unrest, with immediate anger that feels hot in his mouth. "StarClan!" His teeth gnash together. He gathers himself and sweeps close to the body, seeing Morningcloud's face in distorted repose. Another Clanmate, dead.

What's more troubling is the confirmation that the only scent had been ThunderClan's. This isn't the work of some steely-mouthed predator, of some rogue with no code of honor to bind them. Raccoonstripe stares at Morningcloud's body with a lump thickening in his throat.

Just what is going on here?

"Snakerocks? She was alone?" Raccoonstripe licks his lips; they're dry as sand. "Just like..." Just like Ploverhop.

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  • Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
    — "speech”, thoughts, attack
    — 43 moons old, ages realistically on the 5th.
    — mentored by n/a ; mentoring Thistlepaw ; previously mentored Wildheart, Moonwhisper
    — thunderclan lead warrior. gray wolf x howlingstar, gen 2.
    — currently mated to Nightbird.
    — penned by Marquette.

    lh black tabby with white and dark brown eyes. charismatic, charming, calculating, ambitious, shallow, manipulative.


 
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〕The haunting smell of blood gives the trio away before they emerge through the camp's tunnel. The deputy is on her paws heading towards the tunnel, when their leader and Thundergleam pad into the camp carrying Morningcloud's body. She feels sick to her stomach almost immediately, and she has to swallow back her sudden explosion of nerves. Her mouth felt dry, and she locked eyes with Howlingstar for a moment, not bothering to hide the grief that shown in them. "Not another one..." The words were barely above a whisper as she shook her head in disbelief. Ploverhop had just been found, murdered just like Morningcloud...

"I've doubled the patrols, but nobody has reported any scents. It's...It's just been Thunderclan." She couldn't believe what was going on. Thunderclanners were loyal, honorable...not cold blooded killers...not rogues. They had to figure out who was behind this, and soon. "I seen Bugpaw earlier, she said Morningcloud went out to hunt before their dusk patrol.." What would have been just another normal hunting trip, had turned into her last. What if Bugpaw had been with her? She could have very well lost her daughter today too...the thought made her feel lightheaded.
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  • FLAMEWHISKER —— deputy of thunderclan , mentoring none . storm x lily . littermate to nala, smokey, and nemo ✦ penned by icey !
    afab / she/her / 35 moons & ages every 20ᵗʰ
    widowed / heterosexual / closed to romance
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / underline & tag account when attacking
    —— difficult in battle

    speech”, 'thoughts', all opinions are in character
    tags — msg on discord for plots — toyhouse
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    a longhaired red tabby with low white and green eyes. flamewhisker's fur is a vibrant hue of red, riddled with thick classic tabby markings. her fur is medium in length, and she has a large, feathery tail. her chest, belly, tail tip, and her paws are dipped white. flamewhisker's eyes are a dark, deep shade of green. her shoulder has a large scar on it from a fight with a dog. she also has a shredded ear from a disagreement with a loner during her time alone before joining thunderclan. on particularly cold days, or sometimes before a major weather change, she will walk with a slight limp from her shoulder injury.
 
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𓍊𓋼 The leader’s entrance into camp is not a happy one. The gasps and looks of horror that greet her cause Falconheart’s ears to prick up, and he trots over to stand beside his mother quickly. His shoulder brushes against hers in a greeting, but his attention is taken by what she says. Bugpaw’s mentor? "Mom, what…" he doesn’t have to finish his question, as his eyes fall to the clanmate who lies before them all. The… body. Blank-eyed, a hollowed-out shell. Morningcloud. He didn’t know her well, but he knew her apprentice, the apprentice she’s left behind now.

Bugpaw. What if she’d been there, too? What if his baby sister had been killed, alongside Morningcloud? He’d never be able to get over it—and neither would their mother. As he stares down at his fallen clanmate, guilt wells up in his chest. He shouldn’t be… grateful, that Morningcloud had gone on her own. He should be devastated to have lost another clanmate. "I can help dig a grave for her," he offers. And a few more. He could put his tracking skills to work, but if the scent is only ThunderClan then it won’t lead anywhere new.

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  • FALCONHEART ❯❯ he/him, thunderclan warrior
    shorter than average cream tabby with white spotting. seems gloomy and has few friends, but is a hard worker and never neglects his duties.
    son of flamewhisker and flycatcher ; brother to stormfeather, scorchedpaw, bugpaw, sunpaw, squirrelpaw, sparrowpaw
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
    penned by foxlore
 
Howlingstar, Thundergleam and Antlerpaw return to camp with a body in tow. Sunpaw had never quite seen a once-living dead body, out of camp by the time Ploverhop's body had been brought back. He stops in his tracks, his previous sentence just completely cut off, hanging in the air as the apprentice he had been talking with also held a slack-jaw.

The three that had brought the body back were splashed red.

Death had never phased Sunpaw much, growing up with a dead father. Growing up hearing about him, seeing his grave. The body before him, drenched in crimson viscera, only just slightly unnerves him. And perhaps his first thought is selfish but his mind is racing, focusing on the torn throat on Bugpaws mentor. "Was she found alone?!" his voice rises higher, louder than he had intended it to as he pushes through the gathering crowd, bumping in to one cat before bouncing off the next to try and see if there was a tortoiseshell body being brought back.

Please, please don't be Bugpaw.

His heart nearly stops, but his mothers voice chimes in, Bugpaw said Morningcloud went to hunt by herself. He breathes a sigh of relief, because that means shes still somewhere around, and then... sadness. Morningcloud had been really nice, who- what could have done this to her? His bottom lip puffs out. Are we... even safe to leave camp anymore...? This was the second one, now, and inwardly hes glad he missed the first one brought back. This was sad. He feels sad. "M' sorry, Morningcloud..." he murmurs, as if somehow it was his fault she lies there dead. She should... still be here. But at the same time, shes probably really happy in Starclan- Maybe Dad helped her there?

He needs to go check on Bugpaw.

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    sunkit ,, sunpaw
    amab ,, he/him ,, 6 moons
    apprentice of thunderclan ,, mentored by ivytwist
    fluffy red tabby with heterochromia & low white
    "speech, ee5d6c" ,, thoughts
    smells like oak & flowers
    chibi by pin ,, penned by chuff
 
*+:。.。 Whispers and wails explode from the camp clearing, perking round ears atop a youthfully round head. Bugpaw didn't need to be a warrior greyed by experience to know the taste of tension, especially when the air was plunged in its acrid scent. She stares at the elder's den entrance for a long moment, her heart hammering in her chest as her paws are still over the tail of the older feline she'd been working with. "It's okay to be scared" the elder whispers to her, making Bugpaw jump. Immediately, the blue tortie is all smiles, shaking her head, "Oh uh - I'm not scared just um, all the noise out there has me" She lifts her ball of moss bile and giggles, "Ticked off?" It was bad, even Bugpaw couldn't deny it, and the elder's pitying expression was all the confirmation she needed.
It made her tummy hurt.
"Um. Ill go check and be right back, I'm sure it's nothing!" she continues to reassure, scooting away from the NPC elder before her soft eyes can bore any deeper into Bugpaw's soul. Morningcloud won't mind me leaving my chores for a little bit Bugpaw thinks as she pokes her head out of the elder's den, I wonder if she'd like the ticked joke she'll have to work on it a bit more, find better timing, then maybe! She's only heard her mentor laugh a few times, but never a full-belly roar of chortles - one day, Bugpaw things with a grin, determined to banish her anxiety, she'll hear Morningcloud laugh louder than a canary.

Too late.

Bugpaw's tummy really hurts now.

"Morningcloud!" Paws thud hard against the worn ground of her home's protected clearing, mirroring the drumbeat of her heart against her ribcage. "Can you keep up alright?" a soft voice and an earnest smile, careful to walk a little slower than usual so kitten-soft paws don't get lost behind. Bugpaw had admittedly wished her mentor could've been her big brother or her mom, but she'd found excitement nonetheless in the prospect of getting to know a member of her clan outside her comfort zone. Morningcloud, like her namesake, soft golds and gentle cotton down, eyes patient and gentle.

Soaked in blood and left cold by death.

Bugpaw couldn't bring herself to reach Morningcloud's body. Instead, her paws gave up beneath her, and she collapsed beside her brother, Sunpaw. "I should've gone with her" the little girl wailed, pressing her paws against her eyes to stave off the tears that wouldn't cease, "Th-the dusk pa-atrol, a-and if I-I'd done m-my chores fa-aster i-if I'd b-been qui-uicker I- she - she w-wouldn't have b-be-een alone" oh, Starclan, she'd been alone!
Unintelligible howls escaped the girl as she trembled into the ground, digging herself into her fluff, desperate to escape the torment of what lay before her - of who.

Death meant never getting to know a person. Death meant heartache for moons and moons and moons. Death meant forever, no taksies-backsies. But death never had a face before.

Death wasn't supposed to look so lonely.

"Hi Bugpaw" a glowing smile, a velvet nose, an excitement to show Bugpaw a whole new world, just the two of them. They were fated to be best friends!


Bugpaw sobbed harder.



  • GENERAL:
    Bugpaw
    DFAB— She/Her
    6 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
    Daughter to Flamewhisker and Flycatcher
    Sibling to Falconheart, Stormfeather, Lilykit, Butterflykit, Scorchedpaw, Squirrelpaw, Sunpaw
    Thunderclan — apprentice




    COMBAT:
    Physically easy | mentally easy
    Attack in bold pink
    injuries: None currently
[/i]​
 

So let's pretend we like each other

The announcement of another found dead had Yewflame moving over, Bugpaw crying over the loss of her mentor which made Yewflame pull on a false sense of sympathy for the apprentice. He had been there when the murder had happened and yet she pretended to be just as shocked as the others. "This is not your fault Bugpaw...if you been with her, who knows whats to say would have happened to you" he spoke softly, sweetly even while a facade sadness loomed over him.

His gaze drift to the others around them, all expressing that the only scents they've found were Thunderclan scent, Flamewhisker mentioning she was doubling patrols and the molly shook her head, keeping up this facade, a frustrated look peer on his face. "Whoever is doing this... Ploverhop... Morningcloud..." he trailed off and shook his head, gritting his teeth while he looked to her peers. Oh on the inside she was finding amusement from all of this, them mourning over a weak, pathetic kittypet blooded warrior, someone who wasn't their own. But on the outside he was angry, upset and frustrated.

Falconheart offered to help bury Morningcloud and he nodded before looking to Howlingstar, "I'll help bury her as well, if its needed. But if I'm needed else where-my paws are yours" he expressed calmly, yes. He'll help, he'll help throw them off track, to keep the truth from coming out-use the exiled cats as fuel to this fire, anything to keep them off from finding out who had truly taken the life of Morningcloud. After all, he was doing this for Thunderclan, for Howlingstar. Soon she'll see, right? That kitty-pet blood was weak, that they had no place here, right?
"speak""Thoughts"
 
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Emerging out from the darkened apprentice's den, the tortoiseshell tom pokes his head out. Eye lids heavy from waking up from a nap. His mismatched coat spiky and messed up from his tossing and turning in his nest. He lets his half-lidded gaze turn to the returning cats, blinking slowly.

Deerpaw is smacked with the sharp scent of copper, his nose twitches in an instant. It.... It smells so overwhelming or was it heavenly? He doesn't know or understand. An ear twitches at the hush that falls over camp, he lets his eyes roam over the crimson - splashed body of one Morningcloud. Spilling across the crushed body of a clanmate, he didn't know well or bothered to know. His stomach churns with an uncomfortable feeling... he wants to throw up. "T-that is... so gross. Ew." He mumbles, beneath his breath twitching his tail behind him. He stands outside of the apprentice's den with a wide - eyed stare, head craning forward and low as he watched his clanmates gather around the still body. Lips twitching up in one corner of his mouth.

The long - limbed apprentice slithers forward, with cautious steps towards the gathered felines. His mouth feels dry, as he exmines the body of the stilled molly from afar. He hears his heart hammering in his chest, as he scrunches his nose up at the acrid acent.

He wants to know, what bones were hidden in the crushed body... But, it really isn't his problem to cry over a cat he doesn't know, what was the point of crying over an already passed cat? He wants to laugh at the Thunderclanners grief, but he'll just look like a jerk...

He flinches as he hears the grief stricken cries of Bugpaw, he cringes back at the noise. Right. That was Bugpaw's mentor... Loud, cry quieter. A shaky grin splitting his face as his shoulders shook, letting a horrible sound free from his throat. He felt his eyes start to water. Why was he crying? He didn't know this one. Shaky breathes leaves him, as he chokes on his sudden snickers. He wants to disappear for laughing at everyones grief. He wants to sink into the ground and rot in his laughter with embarrassment.
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  • ( i can't handle it… ) ˚₊‧꒰ა ♰ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ DEERPAW. ╱ thunderclan apprentice
    amab ; HE / HIM ; 7 MOONS & AGES EVERY 26TH.
    undecided / not looking / open to puppy-crushes
    a scrawny longhaired black/dark ginger tortie and white tom with hazel eyes.
    thoughts ; "Speech, ff7844" ; attacks only
    may powerplay minor harm ╱ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
    smells like fresh caramelized apples & faint damp earth musk
    — all opinions are ic

    biography / @ on discord for plots
    — penned by calzone
 

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༻ ♥༺ It had been a rough last quarter moon for Littlekit, to say the least. In place of worrying about her impending apprentice ceremony, the chimera kitten was instead constantly plagued with what Skyclaw had shared with her. It was hard to even look at Howlingstar these days, the guilt was too much to stomach sometimes. Being around Skyclaw helped, though- he was always able to explain things in a logical and soothing way. Still, Littlekit tried not to hang around him or his prickly-pelted friends too much. She still held cats like Coltkit close, because cats like him were kind and innocent. Not that she’d ever defend him to Skyclaw so blatantly.
Littlekit has tucked herself behind the nursery when Bugpaw’s shrill screams have the earthy-pelted kitten springing to her paws, the fragile stems being handled all snapping in half.
Amber discs peer from a partially hidden view, but when all she can see is legs, she dares to inch closer as her mother stands beside Howlingstar.
She will never forget Morningclouds face, the grisly hole in the dead warriors throat. Something seized in the girls throat, Bugpaw’s wails rattling around in her brain. When Littlekit turns heel and runs before she can be shooed away by another warrior, it is only because her own body has begun to reject its insides at the sight, the smell. Littlekit cannot grasp the full picture, and she knows that she is missing all too much of it to make it make any sense. Something was going terribly, terrifyingly wrong. Make it make any sense.



  • LITTLEKIT she/her, kit of thunderclan, 4 moons.
    Amber-eyed, dense-furred chocolate smoked she-kit with black ribboning stretching across her face, foreleg, and tail.
    daughter of Roeflame && Burnstorm ࿏ sister to Beetlekit && Dovekit
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
    penned by Noor@toyangel on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

Pink eyes darkened dusky rose, with anger and sorrow both. She would cleanse herself of it all later ... feel no pain for poor, innocent Morningcloud- but in her heart she felt a nettle-twist of pain that she was not used to. This was ... this was not how Death was supposed to be - reasonless, and enacted by those who surely did not commune with the stard. Damage carved deep into the flesh of those who were innocent, of those who were not ready to meet it. There was life, still, for Morningcloud to live ... in time, Thundergleam would smile that she was in a more peaceful place. That her life would be eternally void of pain, of prejudice.

Now, there was nothing within her to smile. As she trudged alongside Antlerpaw and Howlingstar, her body buzzed with numbness, and crimson pupils stared into a plane unseen. Your spirit dances around us, Morningcloud... Thundergleam thought, briefly closing her eyes against the wave of emotion that began to surge from the camp. From every bewildered face, every eye glimmering with horror. Murder, senseless and undeserved. It sickened her, cats who enacted judgement without the right...

For StarClan to have wanted this ... it made no sense. This was a spit upon their plan, and Thundergleam knew in her heart it was her duty to purge them. "I pray ... she will give us strength in the days to come." The pale molly's eyes shone with emotion, and to the clouds her gaze was cast.
penned by pin ☾
 

Numb. Was that was she was? Another body strewn across her back, another's ichor dripping down her side from wounds rent into a body that was gone too soon. Another one. She couldn't be numb to this already- she wasn't even a warrior. As they made it through the gorse tunnel, she was silent, perhaps withdrawing to a... more typical sense of self- silent, tongue bit and held, eyes tilted down in grief and ears pinned backwards.

Nearly a shadow of how she was when first arriving to Thunderclan, she helped lower Morningcloud's body down. Lead warriors, deputy, warriors, apprentices- even kits approached. Witnessed Howlingstar speaking with a watery voice, witnessed Thundergleam's eyes lingering before closing- witnessing Antlerpaw three steps from a breakdown. When she inhales for what feels like the first time since they came across the body, the sob that follows is punctuated by Bugpaw's words.

I should've gone with her.

Antlerpaw's ears truly pinned backwards, biting down on her tongue until she tasted copper, tasted what scent permeated the air twice in the small space of one day and she tilted her head down, tears sliding down. She bit down into her cheek next, turning it towards her chest as another sob left her- and she took staggered steps backwards so her tears did not sully the corpse, Morningcloud's body. She does not know where to turn, who to press against- not Howlingstar, she's busy, not Leafhusk, not Flamewhisker, not Roeflame-

It is a sudden realization that she is still dirtied with another's blood, and Antlerpaw is turning to find her sisters. She is disappearing to find water soaked moss, to clean her body, to disappear from the crowd.
  • "speech"
    // out unless stopped!
  • ANTLERPAW she/her, apprentice of thunderclan, twelve moons.
    LH cinnamon lynx sepia with low white. smaller body, agile and slippery, fits really well in small gaps in the underbrush. soft spoken but strong and determined.
    mentored by howlingstar / / mentoring no one
    padding after no one / / sibling to fallowpaw and doepaw
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
    penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.