camp Crushing Thirties // RTA

[Earthsoul]

Earthsoul had been gone far too long.

Though, in fairness, it wasn’t entirely the old man’s fault. After the first few times the warrior-turned-kittypet snuck out to see his friends in Skyclan, his twolegs had tightened the (thankfully metaphorical) leash. Doors were locked more often, a hole in the fence was patched up, and it seemed like at least one of the housefolk was always awake to hinder any escape attempts.

Of course, it wasn’t all bad. Earthsoul was well fed, and the old man had things to keep him busy. Peach (the Moggy’s kittypet roommate) had been shooting up like a weed, and was always concocting some new game to play to pass the time. It was also fascinating seeing the twolegs take care of their own kit, which seemed to be in good health (as far as he could tell, anyway. He wasn’t a medicine cat.) A small huff of laughter escaped the elder as he wondered how Dawnglare would go about treating a twoleg kit.

As the baby grew, though, slowly the restrictions on his life had been eased. Earthsoul wondered if the secure state of the twoleg nest had less to do with him and more to do with the housefolk being worried about their child, which the Skyclanner supposed he could respect. After all, some queens didn’t let their kits leave the nursery. Perhaps the uprights just didn’t want the young one to run off and eat deathberries or something, and he just so happened to get caught in the crossfire.

Whatever the reason, Earthsoul breathed deeply as he trotted away from the twolegplace for the first time in moons. Once again the elder had asked Peach if he wanted to accompany him, and once again the kit had declined. The warrior would’ve appreciated the company, but being alone with the sounds of the forest was nice in its own way.

Expectedly, thoughts turned to how his clanmates were doing. Had they worried about him? A morbid smile crossed graying features as earthsoul imagined a mock funeral, bereft of a body as his peers assumed that time had finally claimed him. The elder threw back his head in a boisterous laugh as he picked up his pace. He would just have to let them know he was still kicking!

Bursting into camp, the elder’s endless energy was primed to explode as emerald eyes took in the faces around him, familiar and new. “Y’know, y’all could come and visit sometime!” the grandpa said with a grin, announcing his presence. “Happy to say I’m not dead, despite what my housefolk have been feedin’ me” he started, staring hungrily at the prey pile. “Speakin’ of, twoleg kits are weird! Been watchin’ the one at my place for a while. Moons’ve passed and it’s still movin’ on all fours, not two like the big ones. I think it might be broken.”

Realizing he’d been rambling once again, Earthsoul stopped his riveting tale. “So, how’ve y’all been?”​

 

[sheepcurl]

Earthsouls sudden entrance was… something, alright! Sheep had just collected Green from the apprentice den, ready to go out on a small hunting excursion, until the older tom had bursted in with seemingly boundless energy. Sheep would be lying if she said it hadn’t made her jump, with wide eyes and head whipping towards the other. Fur would flatten once she realizes who it was, however.

“Hola, amigo!” she’d chime back, flicking an ear in greeting as she listens to him talk. He speaks about how his twoleg kit walks on four legs and vaguely does she remember seeing that around in her old home, spouting the same incoherent blabbering that the older ones would speak of. Sheep would just meow back sometimes, it seemed to make them happy anyways. “Maybe it’s a slow learner? We all start somewhere.” she purrs in amusement, looking down to Green to see his reaction to the twoleg kit. Has he ever seen one? She’s not sure, but they’re… like mini spawns of the big ones. “Life has been good, we’ve missed you! I’m so glad you’re able to come by.” she offers another kind smile, another flick of the ear as she waits for her apprentice to add anything or for someone else to butt in.

She would refrain from… Saying anything soul crushing about recent happenings. She’ll let others break the news, instead.


// @GREENPAW

 

[BLAZESTAR]

He hears a faintly familiar voice, and he is stirred from his den. Dazed-still, the Ragdoll rubs the sleep from his eyes, remnants of troubled dreams. Life itself seems a nightmare still, one he inexplicably cannot pull himself out of, and the days just keep getting worse. Two dead kits, a trusted warrior betraying him, a murderous rogue slaughtered in his camp, a warrior vanishing mysteriously in their own territory.

Blazestar hauls himself to his paws and pulls himself through the elderberry bush guarding his den. Earthsoul has returned from a long hiatus, pent-up by the twolegs caring for him. Blazestar cannot bring himself to offer a smile, but he does dip his head to the older tom. "Welcome back. I'm glad no harm has come to you." He glances at Sheepcurl; her exuberance exhausts what energy he has, just by proxy. "We've been..." He trails off, eyes blank. There is no way to describe it, really. Not that he's capable of.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

​

 

[Earthsoul]

As emerald eyes take in the scene around him, the elder’s infinite smile dims ever so slightly. A sense of melancholy seemed to have shouldered its way into skyclan, though some were dealing with the sadness better than others. As Sheepcurl approached and entertained his attempt at a conversation starter, Earthsoul’s attention was already elsewhere, investigating what was lying below the surface. The talkative tomcat still stays the course he created, though, clinging to the hope that he was imagining the dread in the air. “How long does it take t’ learn t’ walk on twos, though? I knew a loner once who could do it for short bursts, used it as a party trick to entertain us. I asked him how long it took to learn, and he said that one day he set his mind to it and up he went! …’course after that I spent a moon straight trying to learn with no luck, so maybe he was just a liar.”

Something about Sheepcurl’s tone set him on edge. She was hiding something, of that much the elder was certain. Earthsoul didn’t get the chance to press for the truth before Blazestar appeared, looking like a tree that was somehow still standing after a tornado had swept through. The daylight warrior returns the gesture of respect, and teeth grit at his leader’s pause.

“I wish I could say the same to you” he began, taking in the faces of those around him. There is a momentary annoyance at Sheepcurl that is quickly brushed aside. She just didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, perfectly understandable. “I…I’m sorry. Y’all took me in, but I haven’t been payin’ that debt back. Maybe if I’d found a way to slip away from my twolegs sooner…” The elder shakes graying features, trying to stay away from focusing on the past. What’s done is done. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is my mind, tongue, and claws are at your disposal. Whatever will help ease this burden faster, I’ll do it.” ​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

Earthsoul was still alive, good. That was... good. In a sea of uncertainties, it was nice to know that old age (or twoleg cruelty) had not taken the tom yet. More and more the hints of the wilderness disappeared from the other, his scent unnatural to the maine coon, and his anecdotes beginning to include twoleg kits instead of feline ones. He kneaded his paws uncomfortably, offering the elder a respectful dip of his head should the tom turn to look at him. He'd never known a cat become a kittypet and have it turn out well, as good as Earthsoul's life had become, Silversmoke couldn't help but fear that it was all a facade. They'd get a stronger, healthier cat and forget all about him, or they'd take him to the vet for greencough and never let him return. SIlently, he listened to Blazestar and Sheepcurl address Earthsoul, his tufted ears flicking at their words. No one seemed willing to say how dire SkyClan's situation had become, no one except for the silver tabby, whose sharp tongue moved faster than his brain. "Two of our own have gone missing: Ashenclaw and Howlpaw, you remember them, right?"

The first name still made his heart pang with grief. Other news had rocked SkyClan too, but a bloody execution and a betrayal couldn't be addressed until the two were home safe. Perhaps Kuiper had had something to do with Howlpaw's disappearance, for Blazestar's sake, he chose to believe the killer was using his last breath to try and hurt them when his claws could not. He considered the elder with his head at a slight angle - stars could some SkyClanners learn a thing or two about dedication from this defector. Even when his heart was torn between two worlds, he could piece it together for the wildcats' sakes.... wait, had he just complimented a daylight warrior? His ears grew hot, his throat clearing for reasons only the tabby would know. "We'll be needing your senses more than your claws I think, Earthsoul. Have you seen anything suspicious? Can you keep an eye out when you're back home?" His mouth kept in a stalwart frown, Silversmoke held on to the faint hope that perhaps Earthsoul had seen something. Regardless, he didn't see Blazestar allowing him to fight SkyClan's battles. Unreliable schedule aside, Earthsoul was old, liable to get hurt far worse than a cat in its prime. Silversmoke hoped his request would at least ease the burden of Earthsoul's debt.

​

 

[GREENEYES]

A yawn is just barely escaping his mouth when Earthsoul bursts into camp. The daylight warrior's arrival is sudden and startling - an entrance that wakes the half-asleep apprentice up for sure.

"Oh! Hola, Earthsoul!" he chirps, blinking away sleep as he stands beside Sheepcurl. His mentor had only just woken him for the day, after all. He's glad to see the elder again, glad he's decided to come back. Some daylight warriors are gone for even longer, he knows, a stipulation of having to live with twolegs, he supposes.

Speaking of -- "Maybe it thinks it's a cat?" Greenpaw asks, tilting his head. Or maybe something's just wrong with the twoleg kit? Afterall, aren't twolegs supposed to walk on two legs? He hopes its alright - maybe the kit's parents will have to take it to their medicine cat... er... medicine twoleg..?

Greenpaw wants to ask more of this twoleg kit, perhaps see if Fireflypaw has any idea if it needs healing, but the time for any of that passes quickly, as he's reminded of the pine forest's mishaps during Earthsoul's absence. Of Howlpaw and Ashenclaw's disappearance, as Silversmoke asks the daylight warrior about their missing clanmates. Worry fills him as he listens on - if Earthsoul hasn't seen them either, then what? How many cats can they keep asking before the worst is confirmed?

"Do you think you can find them?" he quietly asks Earthsoul, hoping - praying - that someone can.
​

 

[Earthsoul]

As if fate itself wished for a cat that matched the tone this conversation had taken to appear, Silversmoke stepped forwards and said what everyone else was afraid to, like they were worried speaking the words into the air would make their clanmates’ fates concrete. Earthsoul’s eyes widen in horror as the truth is laid bare before him, strangely appreciating the other’s bluntness.

“That’s…” The elder couldn’t find the words, and it seemed he wasn’t alone. Earthsoul and Silversmoke were very different beings, but it seemed the stoic warrior was taking the situation just as hard as those around him.

His opposite’s question practically tore a hole in his heart, sensing the barely-held-back desperation in his voice. Earthsoul searched his memory, but there was nothing more than tranquil days. After a long silence, the experienced cat opened his mouth to speak. What should he say? Should he be comforting, fabricating hope where there was none? Like a magician pulling possible solutions out of a hat. No, Silversmoke had given him the courtesy of telling the truth outright, he should do the same.

Slowly, graying features shook side to side. “If anythin’ was amiss in the twolegplace, word woulda filtered down to me eventually.” The tomcat had wasted no time making friends with the kittypets he now called neighbors, building a social spiderweb. If anything were to touch one of its silk strings, he was sure he’d have heard. “I’ll ask everyone if they’ve seen anything the moment I’m back, though. Whatever’ll help.”

Just as the elder had begun to cloud himself in hardened determination, Greenpw’s question broke him all over again. Earthsould wouldn’t, couldn’t make any promises to the young cat. Tentatively, he answers. “If they’ve ended up staying with any housefolk, I’ll find out about it. Someone’s sure to tell me about any new skyclanners on the block, after all. Beyond that…I’ll try my best.” ​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

Blazestar looks to Silversmoke with gratitude. The lead warrior is able to verbalize what he and Sheepcurl hadn't been able to. He can see Earthsoul's reaction is one of horror -- and worse, a clear lack of knowledge. The elderly tom shakes his head. "If anythin' was amiss in the Twolegplace, word woulda filtered down to me eventually."

Blazestar's ears droop. "That makes sense. Our daylight warriors have heard nothing, either." He looks at Greenpaw, his fur prickling with uncertainty. "We would appreciate you keeping an ear out, an eye out. I suppose... we never know. Perhaps one of the kittypets living in the Twolegplace know something..."​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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