camp crumbling down // med den, overhearing

[Sunnyday]

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
//Follows on from this thread

The panic that consumed him began to lessen its grip the moment that Howlingstar left the med den, or rather stormed out. Though her words continued to ring out in his head over and over again in a loop. It hurt to be called a coward, but was it truly fair calling him that when he knew that murderers were waiting for him back among ThunderClan's ranks? Why should he be expected to live in fear for the rest of his life?

Slowly he eased himself back into his nest and once there he used his tail to scrape up the scattered bits of bedding that had been displaced during his episode. Embarrassment gripped him but at the time he couldn't help it, fear and memories and images of the potential future if he had returned had gripped him so tightly that he thought he would be swallowed by the very earth itself. Even now the tremors of the emotions continued to make him twitch, and what didn't help was when his ears tuned in to what was happening outside the den. In an instant his heart sank even further as Howlingstar regaled ShadowClan with all that she wanted to share.

"N-no... she's lying... That lying fox-heart, that's not the truth!" Sunnyday was helpless to make his voice heard from where he lay, and any hope of having Chilledstar see through it all was firmly dashed. He heard the judgement and knew that they wouldn't be taking him in. There was no hope of rescue now, no chance to salvage his life by proving that he wasn't what she claimed him to be. The tom laid his head down in defeat as a chill ran up the length of his spine. It was always going to be a one-sided fight, one he was destined to never win. Though now he feared for Sabletuft too. He had seen how he had tried to argue in his defence, which had warmed his heart, but at what cost? "She's robbed me of everything..."

I wish I had just died on that damned thunderpath.

No.

I'm going to make them understand the truth, that Howlingstar's word cannot be trusted. I'll prove to them who I truly am, I'll let them hear my story... my whole story. Including how its one set of rules for some in ThunderClan, and an entirely different set for her bloodkin!

His ears snapped back sharply as he made his choice. The fight wasn't over yet, this wasn't the time to roll over and die. He would prove himself to them all one way or another!

//All IC opinions! He's fizzing XD​

 

[GRANITEPELT]

He is nearer the medicine cat’s den than the commotion in the middle of ShadowClan’s camp. He is resentful, that there is an outsider taking up space in his den, that his kits must stay amongst the common kits in the nursery, corrupted by the drivel of the queens. As if he wants Halfshade anywhere near his children, so she can speak lies to them about their father… all because some frogbrained ThunderClan warrior had pushed another in front of a monster. Granitepelt almost smiles… it’s an impulsive thing to do, but the impulse must have been so great—he thinks briefly of Ghostpaw, choking on bogwater, of Poppypaw in the bear’s jaws, of Pitchstar’s wheezing as nightshade pulp oozes from between his teeth.

He can understand impulse, but this Basilwhisker at the very least should have ensured he made his kill. Imagine if he’d left Pitchstar there before knowing for sure he was dead… he’d be exiled, or maybe worse, never to have declared his love for Starlingheart, never to have fathered her kits.

And now he's hearing about Sabletuft's escapades to the Thunderpath... could that be true? Could there be some ulterior motive for Sabletuft's fierce defensive of a sniveling ThunderClan warrior? Granitepelt's curiosity is piqued.

Now the gray warrior hovers just outside the medicine cat’s den. The cat within, the one who’s caused all kinds of trouble between their Clans, begins to talk to himself almost madly. It’s not the truth, he says. She’s robbed me of everything. Granitepelt’s eyes shimmer. He peers into the den, sees the sand-pelted warrior seething and tearing at his nest. “You’ve not been sentenced to death. Life is full of possibilities… but the sooner you are out of my den where my children sleep, the better.” He withdraws, his smile growing.

He has a message to share.

✧ INFO.

• // out
• 
  — granitekit . granitepaw . granitepelt
  — he/him ; warrior of shadowclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Starlingheart
  — short-haired gray tom with white and green eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Meg

​

 

[Wheattail]

Amber eyes had flicked back and forth between two giants of the forest, watching their conversation as an autumn tail wavered to and fro. For Wheatpaw, all this amounted to theater. The she-cat didn’t consider herself a clan member, merely wearing its skin while she planned her abandonment. As a result, each exchange and revelation about Shadowclan’s unwelcome guest was dulled when it reached her ears, knowledge that the somali lookalike would soon be on her way sapping the excitement from the situation.

Perhaps that aloof perspective was why Wheatpaw was perhaps the only cat in camp at that moment who felt bad for Sunnyday.

Well, ‘bad’ was a strong word. Sympathetic, perhaps? From what little she’d seen of the now exiled warrior, at the very least he looked sorrowful. Everyone else didn’t have to lavish Sunnyday with praise, but from the she-cat’s perspective they could at least give him some slack.

“It is unkind to kick a cat while they are down.” Wheatpaw said matter-of-factly as she entered the medicine den, amber eyes flicking to Granitepelt for a moment. “Spare him your grief until he is fully healed, at least.” She tittered teasingly, still not taking the situation as seriously as everyone else. Turning to Sunnyday, though, her words took on a new tone. “The life of a loner is not so bad” The words left her somewhat encouragingly. It was the truth, as she saw it. “I remember some places - hollows, and the sort - that I settled down in before coming here. If you would like, I could give you some rough directions once you are better?”

In Wheatpaw’s eyes she was being helpful, though it was telling that her first piece of advice was to run.​

 

[Skunktail]

Skunktail finally decides to poke his nose into this business, having been listening in intrigue the entire time. Once Granitepelt takes his leave he is quick to wander in as well, catching the tail end and shaking his head in amusement at the gray tom's prickly demeanor. Yeah, sure wasn't pleasant having some ThunderClan outcast in the den you slept, he was just thankful they hadn't shoved the guy in the warrior's den temporarily and actually used the medicine cat den for its purpose rather than the nursery it had become, not that Skunktail disliked his little nieces and nephews. Wheatpaw was already inside when he arrived and he hears her admonish the retreating warrior and a paw is raised to attempt to gently cuff the ginger apprentice upside the ear, "Don't talk back to a warrior, hasn't your mentor taught you any respect at all? Go make yourself useful elsewhere-our leader made themselves clear that this cat is not welcome." Though hardly barbaric enough to toss an injured cat out he was by no means someone to be sympathetic too-from the sounds of it he did this to himself; after all who would you believe over a disgraced warrior and a leader blessed by StarClan itself? Besides, Howlingstar was from the old colony, had grown up alongside his mother and had her kits in this very camp area at one point; she couldn't be all that bad.
Whether Wheatpaw took off or not didn't matter, he loomed over the shaking and gibbering cream tom with a snide expression-it might have been a pleasant smile if not for the curl of his lips and his tone, "Looks bad for you fella, tell me is it true? Is it true you're another ThunderClanner who just can't resist the allure of us ShadowClanners?"
He remembers Flickerfire's shameful crime, Smogmaw dragging her body to camp. He remembers how Emberstar had been outed for breaking the very rule she created, a mockery of a leader. The forest hadn't had a good leader since his mother met her end on the same thunderpath Sunnyday nearly died upon but for once he thinks....it would have been better for a cat to be battered into nothing then.
​

 

[DOGFUR]

Dogfur did not normally find himself near the medicine den—but gravity and morbid curiosity brought the skinny tortoiseshell over to see what was stinking up their swamp. Ah. His eyes lightened. A ThunderClan cat, and his caretakers would not be taking him home. He listened as the golden warrior raved and rabbled and he glanced back at where Chilldstar was talking with Howlingstar.

"I mean," He gave a shrug of his boney shoulders, pushing his nose in as his former apprentice Granitepelt left to do whatever it is Granitepelts do. "Do you really expect for us to believe you, star-rotten as you are, over the words of a star-blessed cat?" He looks over at Howlingstar, and even though she is a foreign Clan leader, he can tell that leadership suits her well. ShadowClan has had unorthodox leaders but they make do. They are right for ShadowClan.

He does not say anything on the possibility of this warrior being in love with a ShadowClan cat. Surely that was far too coincidental.

​

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

† Sharppaw had not known what to think when a tom bearing ThunderClan scent had been dragged to their camp. At first – his hackled had raised. Maybe it had been too presumptuous, to kind to assume ThunderClan was not the band of thieves and killers that WindClan was.

Medical attention, it then proves to be, and Sharppaw could not help but peer curiously into the Medicine Cats’ den once or twice. Where one ThunderClanner went, more soon followed, and a strange, strained relationship began to be painted between the pale tom and the rest of his clan. For a moment, she had wondered just where the similarities between them lay, but… Moonpaw, she had been pleasant enough, hadn’t she? He must be wrong.

Sharppaw only maintains the frown upon her face. She cannot bring herself to come between Howlingstar and the throng of ShadowClan as context was laid. He instead finds herself closer to the traitor in question, not deaf to the clans’ ramblings nearby. For all of the tom’s dramatics, he finds little sympathy, aside from Wheatpaw, who Sharppaw is beginning to realize is a pretentious mouse - brain.

For once, Dogfur does not speak complete nonsence, and Sharppaw remains quiet for a long while. She wondered if the game was the same, no matter the clan. " Why would Howlingstar do that? " honestly, she asks. If he was so innocent, what would ThunderClan’s leader gain?

OOC † IN THE MIRROR 07.07.2023

•  
•  

• SHARPPAW: brother to Rookpaw. Mentored by Smogmaw
  —— he / she , no pref , icked by they prns ; fine with gendered terms ( tom, molly, etc... )
  —— currently 13 moons old. warrior ceremony delayed due to lackluster progress.
  
  anxious, antisocial, paranoid. Sharppaw is a creature living in constant fear. Most thoughts are irrational, but consistent in that they are borne from pessimism and generalized anxieties.
  — In an era of assessing what has set him back and figuring out what he wants.

​

 

[Sunnyday]

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
Sunnyday snapped his head up as he heard one of the ShadowClanners speak, Granitepelt, if he recalled the name correctly. His blue gaze grew more intense as he watched the figure until the tom disappeared. "I'd rather be out and working..." He murmured quietly before his attention shifted to that of Wheatpaw with a twitch of his ear. Becoming a loner was not what he wanted, it was a life he never expected to be thrust back into. Last time he had been out there in the wilds was during his kithood. His mother had been a loner at the time, and his father a kittypet. The lifestyle had nearly ended them which had seen them seek a better life elsewhere.

He was on the cusp of replying to the apprentice but it was Skunktail's words that rendered him speechless. What was being implied? Yes, he did feel strongly about Sabletuft, but they were just friends... right? Sabletuft didn't see him as being anything more than a friend, surely that was all. So why would anyone accuse them as being something more? "What are you suggesting?" The tom looked genuinely perplexed as he looked the ShadowClanner up and down.

Slowly he adjusted himself in the nest as he tried to ease himself off of his aching bruises, though given the battering he had taken from the monster it was hard to find a comfortable position. His breathing became laboured for a brief time as he struggled from the effort of moving and from the weight of the pain that ravaged his form. Though he refused to leave Dogfur and Sharppaw without an answer. "Even leaders can be flawed. Howlingstar and I have never gotten along, and she's always treated those in the clan in very different ways. Her family has always been treated highly, then the rest of us are treated poorly. I'm hardly the only one she's ground into the dirt under her paw either. I just find it funny that she continues to fail to share how I have nearly died protecting ThunderClan countless of times. I refused to assist with the takeover of Sunningrocks because it was merely her punishing RiverClan for failing to assist ThunderClan with the dogs. She never even paused to consider asking SkyClan for help, despite how plump the kittypets were. The warriors could have been spared injury, but instead the likes of myself had to hunt extra hard to keep the clan going following the battle."
​

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

†Sharppaw did not like ThunderClan. Not really. But she didn’t really dislike them more than she disliked anymore else, either. At the very least, he’s been to enough gatherings to say he’s seen Howlingstar. And he’d never thought her to be the brutish molly this stranger describes her as. Sootstar is quite obvious about her evilness, in comparison.

No, she has no reason to trust Howlingstar, but he doesn’t really have a reason to trust him either. She would rather him be a loner too, she thinks.

He didn’t really answer his question that well, but maybe he thinks he does. Sharppaw wonders if he has been included for not being good enough, but it sounded like Howlingstar and her warrior were saying more than that. Sharppaw can think of plenty of people that he did not like, and would continue to not like even if they almost died protecting them, or whatever. Sharppaw had almost died fighting WindClan, and that hadn’t given her anything. Why did he think he deserved so much?

It is here, that Sharppaw twists her muzzle. " What? What is – Why would that be SkyClan’s problem? " in an impulsive bought, she would balk, stumbling over her own words. Not all of ThunderClan was stupid like this – he knew from the gathering; from Moonwhisper. Maybe ShadowClan’s lives would be much easier if there merely bowed down to Howlingstar or Sootstar, but he would sooner die than. She recalls Iciclepaw – Iciclefangs glossy pelt the first time he had met her. They were just as plump, weren’t they? " You had to hunt extra in Leafbare? Wow, that must’ve sucked. " Anger quickly seeps into his tone, and for a moment – he may try to share a glance with his clanmates, who knew having to gnaw on rats and skinny lizards throughout Leafbare. Didn't ThunderClan catch on fire before or something too?

And he is momentarily self - conscious, because – was he talking to much? Was he saying the wrong thing? It was only ThunderClan though, why should he care? Muzzle wrinkled into a grimace, finally, he mumbles. " You sound like more of a kittypet than SkyClan. Maybe you should go be one. "

OOC † IN THE MIRROR 08.30.2023

• 
  
•  

• SHARPPAW: brother to Rookpaw. Mentored by Smogmaw
  —— he / she , no pref , icked by they prns ; fine with gendered terms ( tom, molly, etc... )
  —— currently 14 moons old. warrior ceremony delayed due to lackluster progress.
  
  anxious, antisocial, paranoid. Sharppaw is a creature living in constant fear. Most thoughts are irrational, but consistent in that they are borne from pessimism and generalized anxieties.
  — In an era of assessing what has set him back and figuring out what he wants.

​

 

[Skunktail]

"All cats are flawed, some more than others."
Sunnyday's insistence that Howlingstar picked her family over her clan was hilarious, or it would be if he knew who he was talking to. Skunktail valued family over the clan more than most might, his mother was leader, his brother was leader, his aunt medicine cat before her wretched and traitorous hide fled, his younger sister was medicine cat now as well, his other two remaining siblings were valued warriors. Preaching to the wrong choir there, but the cream tom probably didn't even realize he sounded foolish to Skunktail and Skunktail wasn't about to enlighten him on that aspect but he was going to laugh at the rest.
"All on your shoulders was it? Poor miserable you. Sorry, I don't buy it. Nearly died protecting your clan? That's every warrior worth his weight in prey. Hunted extra in leaf bare to feed your clan?" He shares a brief glance with Sharppaw's sarcastic reply, dripping venom and animosity and he can not help but be amused, "...it's almost like that's what a warrior is supposed to do. Anyways, heal up well and then get out. Your stench is filling my sister's den. Maybe you SHOULD consider kittypet life. I heard the kibble never dries up."
Snickering he turned, great plume of a striped tail raised as he pivoted about to go, no longer entertained enough to linger much longer.
​