camp creature comfort ― gift for starling

[brookpaw.]

He couldn't entirely pinpoint why he was even going about this, beyond deciding he needed to prove a willingness to be friends. That, and as a tangible congratulations after his voice fell short. True to his internal word, Brookpaw set out to uncover the perfect gift from his trove of hidden treasures, buried beneath his mossy nest like a squirrel storing acorns. There wasn't much to select from, as he swiped aside the final layer of earth to reveal his collection. Before his muddy paws lay several bizarre finds: a see-through, crinkly tube that narrowed down into a point and was tipped with a flat white end, white meshy and soft material woven into a hook-shape with an opening on one end, a pawful of shiny flat circular pieces with serrated edges and colorful faces, and a red hollow tube that was narrower and longer than the first tube. Nothing seemed adequate enough, causing his face to scrunch with frustration as he sifted through the trash. Knocking aside some of the shiny circles, he uncovered a small springy loop, covered in soft material ― admittedly, something he loved to play with in his younger months. He paused upon seeing it again, before picking it up in his teeth and reburying the rest of his hoard. If he liked it, then she might like it too.

Finding Starling wasn't too hard, considering she was currently basking herself in a brief patch of sunlight around the main clearing. He approached her with a loping stride, grinning around the gift. The apprentice stopped in front of her, dropping the strange loop at her paws. "This is for you," he proclaimed with little context, quickly adding on, "Because, uh, you're gonna be stuck with Bonejaw all the time. Might get boring." Brookpaw crouched down, holding down the loop with one paw as he began to demonstrate how he once played with it. "It's really cool! You just - bite it, then pull back, and it'll snap!" Between his hurried words, he tugged the loop back with his teeth, keeping one end grounded with his paw, before letting it go. As promised, the strange loop did indeed snap back into its original form, barely affected by the stretching. A sheepish laugh escaped from the apprentice, moving his paw so that Starlingpaw could take it instead.

@STARLINGPAW . wait for starlingpaw to post first please !​

 

[Starlingheart]

Starlingpaw did not understand the need some of her clanmates possessed, the need that compelled them to pick up twoleg rubbish or other oddities and store them under their nests. Surely so many things tucked under the moss would make their sleeping space uncomfortable? She tries to imagine such a thing, lumps in her bed disrupting her sleep and she shudders. The she cat is not one for clutter, not one for keeping things. Everything is temporary, it is a lesson that she has learned early in life. Nothing stays.

There is a lot of time in the medicine cats den for contemplation. Her injury and her own foolishness are what keep her here, head buried between her paws. Selfishly she can’t help but wonder if Granitepaw is having a difficult time training without her, she wonders what they are learning, what they are doing, and she finds her paws itch to take her out of the den and find out, though she knows what a scolding she would get from her aunt.

Still, the den is suffocating and she needs out. The injured molly pushes herself to three paws, injured leg tucked up close to her and she makes her way outside to a patch of sun that shines between the pines. It warms her dark pelt, a good feeling with how cold it has gotten outside lately. And it’s only going to get colder, she reminds herself grimly, remembering why she had gone to the carrion place in the first place. With the cold came hunger. That is what the adults had said after all.

She is surprised to see another cat approach her. Even more surprised when it’s Brookpaw. Before her injury they had been den mates but outside of that one morning they had not interacted much. She is opening her mouth in what will surely be a broken greeting but he beats her. ‘This is for you’ her mouth hangs open in shock, water filling her eyes that she blinks stubbornly away. No one had ever given her something before. Not something she could keep anyways. She watches as he explains what it does and she smiles. She supposed she could make an exception to her no-trinket rule for such a thoughtful gift. "Th-thatsss s—s-sooo n-nu-nice of yu—yu-you" she says quietly, reaching out with one paw to bring the elastic loop closer to her. She inspects the thing for a moment, marveling at its strangeness. She had never seen anything quite like it! She reaches down and hesitantly pulls it with her teeth, watching it snap back to its original shape like it had for Brookpaw with a tiny laugh. "it-its fun" she admits. She liked the way it felt in her teeth, the way it stretched and snapped, the noise it made. He was right, this would keep her entertained. "A-are you are you s-s-sure y-you’re n-n—nooot g-go-going to-t-to miss m-miss it too mu-mu-much?" she asks, worried that he’ll want it back so soon after gifting it to her.
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[Poppypaw ★]

"WHOA-what is THAT SPROINGY DOINGY THING?!"
Consider her attention obtained, which was both a feat in itself and also not hard to do at all since if you showed weird enough she was bound to notice at some point. Mama called her a busybody but she wasn't sure what that meant! Her body was real busy she guessed, cause she was always running around and getting into things; if that's what it meant then sure she was! Real busy, all the time! She had stuff to do! Poppypaw clambered over to the two, voice as loud as her brightly colored pelt against the stark marshland territory. Brookpaw had given their new medicine cat a gift and she starred at it in delight-what a cool new toy! Starlingpaw was going to have plenty of fun with that because she knew she would! Maybe they should get her some more toys, the medicine cat den sounded like a super boring place to be! Utter dullsville! Bonejaw seemed okay but Bonejaw also always looked like someone sat on her frog when she was about to take a bite.
"That's really cool Brookpaw! Did ya find that somewhere? We should go treasure hunting! That would be fun! Starlingpaw can come too in case we have to fight badgers, we'll need someone to put our heads back one when they get popped off in the battle! Did I tell ya I lost a paw one time? Got it stuck in a hole and I was stuck super long so I'm pretty sure they had to take it off and get me a new one but I don't remember cause I fell asleep. Being stuck is real boring!" Poppypaw stopped speaking for a moment, sucked in a loud breath before continuing on, "I got a collection of cool stuff too! Maybe I can bring you a rock to look at! Did you know some rocks make you feel different things? I can bring you a rock that makes you happy! I'll have to look real hard cause most my rocks make you feel hungry!"

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[GRANITEPELT]

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮​

He's on his way to see her. He doesn't know why; he has other things he could be doing, more important things. There are dens that need patching up for the coming cold. The fresh-kill pile is pitifully thin.

But Starlingpaw occupies so much of his time now, and he isn't sure why, except he likes her company so much. She is the one cat in this Clan besides Siltpaw who listens to him when he speaks, who agrees with him, who does not mind the harsh edges that scrape against all of his other Clanmates.

He supposes anyone would visit their friend in the medicine cat's den. Anyone would. It's a normal thing to do. It's just strange that he has a friend, both to him and to everyone else, probably.

But his good cheer sours like milk left under a boiling sun. Brookpaw and Poppypaw are crowding around her. Starlingpaw has something between her forelegs, testing it with her teeth. A toy of some sort, though Granitepaw has never seen anything like it.

Slivers of emerald train on Brookpaw. Granitepaw's anger is immediate and hotter than fire. Who does this joke of a cat think he is, bringing her things?

He wants to make a scene. Oh, he wants to shred Brookpaw's ears, snarl in Poppypaw's face. He wants to shelter Starlingpaw from the rest of ShadowClan with his body like a fortress made of gray and white fur and long fangs.

Instead, he closes his eyes against the sight and takes a few shallow, quick breaths. They do nothing to calm him -- they are like wind fanning a wildfire. But he knows he cannot cause a scene, that it would upset Starlingpaw and probably the rest of the Clan if he did.

He's been here before. The time he hit Ghostpaw. The time he screamed at Bonejaw.

He can't let the flames inside him run wild. He knows that. Because they burn him too.

Granitepaw is not able to conceal his anger at Brookpaw for giving Starlingpaw a gift. Any cat who looks at him will know he is unhappy. An astute cat may even see it for what it is -- jealousy, bitter and stinging.

But he only stalks toward Starlingpaw on stiff, clumsy limbs. He touches his chin to the top of her head and pulls away immediately, as though the touch might singe them both. He forces himself to pay attention only to her, only to the gift itself. "It looks... interesting." He forces himself to direct his speech to Brookpaw after Poppypaw's explosive spiel about nothing.

- ,,​

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