camp diamond eyes -- [return]

[crowflower]

The camp is quiet when Crowflower finally comes home.

It's not quite dark yet. The sun hangs heavy in the sky; a shining burst of orange that blazes like fire against the tapestry of dark blue, pale pink, and fluffy white clouds. Soon, it will sink beneath the horizon and sleep until morning. From her perch in the canopy of a small dogwood, Crow can see the shapes of her clanmates finishing their evening meals and preparing to usher the littlest ones off to bed. Night patrols are being organized and this afternoon's guards at the camp entrance are being replaced with fresh warriors. From this vantage point, everything seems the same as when she left it. She wonders if they noticed she was gone.

It's not the first time Crowflower vanished, but it was definitely the longest. It's not uncommon for the skunk-furred molly to become overwhelmed by the urge to get away. Away, away, away. She isn't like most cats. Normal things take a lot longer for her to overcome, and she gets bogged down by her attempts to understand her own emotions. During her apprenticeship, she would sometimes disappear for one or two days when she got so frustrated that she wasn't progressing as quickly as her peers. The first time someone had gotten angry at her, bared their teeth and raised their voice, Crow hid for a week, tucked into the abandoned burrow of some groundhog or badger. She refused to emerge until she understood every factor that led to the confrontation and every choice that she could have possibly made to avoid such an encounter. In retrospect, she rarely returned from her little vanishing acts with a better understanding of herself, but, at the very least, she would feel less likely to spontaneously combust.

This time, however, she hadn't meant to leave at all. Cherrypaw's departure hadn't helped, of course. The loss of her apprentice had created an absence of purpose within her that she hadn't expected. So she decided to leave to study the boar herds instead. Maybe, if she could figure out something about how they behaved, she could bring back useful information for her clan and maybe they would overlook her failure as a mentor. But things rarely go to plan. Her recollection of the previous month is foggy, at best. And what she did remember.... She winces, trying not to think about tusks that gored her or the stench of the twolegs who plucked her from the jaws of a hunting dog. Her bones ache. Her muscles are sore. The strange spiderwebs that the twolegs wove through her skin are terribly itchy. She doesn't know how long it's been since she was taken, but it took her several miserable days to wander through the territories after her escape from the twoleg place. She rolled in plenty of mud and waded through many streams on the journey but she still reeks of them.

All she wants is to return to her nest and curl up next to all her trinkets and treasures but there's a chance that her space had been cleared away to make room for another warrior. The mere thought of her clanmates removing her possessions fills her with dread. Surely they haven't forgotten about her already... Then again, she mostly kept to herself. She can't blame them for forgetting she was ever there in the first place. What about Wrenflutter and Kildeercry? Her sisters must've noticed her absence. Flamewhisker probably would've missed her too. And Wolfwind... Crowflower isn't sure why she feels afraid to go back. It's daunting to think about all the things she's missed, and maybe a part of her is worried that they won't recognize her with all the scars and the notched ear and her pelt shaved free of its tangles. Or maybe they won't want her back now that she's been defiled with twoleg stench and touched by their strange metal claws. She always preferred going unnoticed, but now she feels paralyzed with worry that maybe they never noticed her all.

Stars, this is all too much. She will just sleep out here tonight and figure it out in the morning. It's good enough that she can smell her clan and see them moving in the distance. For now, this is close enough. It's the safest she's felt in weeks.​

 

[Redwind]

The stench of twolegs made Redwind break from her position of patrol. Her amber eyes flickered around, tail twitching in alarm. She could only assume it was a kittypet, one who was venturing too close to their borders. So she trotted to the scent and slight shuffle of sound, pushing her way from the underbrush. "This is Thunderclan territory. Don't step any further, it's seen as a threat." She announced, landing a curious but suspicious gaze upon Crowflower. The dark molly in front of her seemed quite familiar, although she couldn't quite pinpoint the reason. She had seen many faces and made many acquaintances among her clan and allies. Not yet had she made any friend among kitty pets, although she held her ground, keeping her posture confident and ready for anything.

She gazed upon the odd patterns of thick cobweb like material weaved in her coat. She could only assume it was some way the twolegs did medicine as it seemed to be trying to put back together wounds and keep her pelt in one piece. An entirely more complicated and interesting way they patched up wounds. The warrior furrowed her brows in question to herself. Likely, this cat escaped or wanted a break. More likely, she couldn't afford a fight. So she put down most of her suspicion of threat, but she didn't greet as friendly as she did with her clan and allies,"Why are you here?"

She was disappointed she couldn’t put a name upon the face, only thinking she might have only passed glances with the skunk furred feline. She didn’t remember any personal conversations or silent sharing of space under the rays of the sun. It was quite odd for her not to remember, normally, she made sure everyone got some of her individual attention. She made sure she got to remember as many cats as she could. ​

 

[BURNSTORM]

Like Redwind, Burnstorm is also not super familiar with the shade pelted she cat but he had at least seen her in passing, knew that she had once spent a good deal of time with his cousin, Wolfwind. The dark-pelted tom comes to stand next to his fellow warrior, drawn forward by the stench of two-leg that now permeated the camp and made his nose wrinkle in disgust. Had Crowflower left to become a kittypet and was now crawling back? He personally never approved of her tendency to disappear within the territory, not contributing to the well-being of the clan. Now she had really done it though. "I'll go and wake Howlingstar, she'll want to know about this" he says with a huff, not bothering to explain who the intruder was. She may as well be a stranger anyways, as far as he was concerned. If she wanted to act like an outsider she could be treated like one for all he cared. With a flick of his plush tail he heads off to his grandmothers den to tell her the news.

// @HOWLINGSTAR
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[Flycatcher]

It had been a while since Flycatcher had last seen Crowflower. Although not overly close with the dark-furred she-cat he had liked her well enough, recalling her to be polite and kind from their few interactions in the past. When she had disappeared, Flycatcher admittedly was not sure if they would see her again. When the patrol comes across her, Flycatcher holds back, refraining from speaking for the moment but giving her a dip of the head in greeting. Burnstorm had already gone off in search of Howlingstar but that didn't mean Flycatcher couldn't try and pry some information whilst they waited. "It's been a while, Crowflower," He mewed, coolly. "Where have you been?"​

 

[HOWLINGSTAR]

When Burnstorm finds her preparing to fall asleep in her nest and tells her that Crowflower has returned, the she-cat is back on her paws in an instant. "Take me to her," She orders, stunned. The molly had disappeared so suddenly, Howlingstar had feared she had decided to abandon the clan, too. Like Spotflare. She shakes away the negative feelings that are bubbling up and follows her grandson on swift paws.

She finds the black-pelted she-cat cornered by a patrol, presumably the one Burnstorm had been a part of. Eyes blown wide, she steps forward, her nose wrinkling as the stench of twolegs meets her. "Crowflower, It's been nearly a moon-cycle and a half since we've seen you," She mews breathlessly, ears pricking. She moves to stand in between Flycatcher and Redwind, her sights never leaving the other warrior. "You smell like a kittypet." It's blunt, but the tabby is demanding answers. They had searched high and low for the missing she-cat and came up with nothing, but here she stands, back home, but...different. Her gaze lowers and she inspects the strange thorns sticking from her belly. The doings of twolegs?​

 

[Flamestar]

Watching Redwind abruptly break away from the patrol sparked worry within her. What had the other Molly scented...had the boars come back? As she quickly turned to follow her, the smell of kitty pet also stung her nose. The fur on her shoulders rose instinctively, and she picked up her pace. Had her sister came crawling back to pretend like she was a wild cat? If it was Nala, she would be going back home with several scars for her precious twolegs to fix.

As they crashed through the undergrowth, the source of the smell began to come into view. Flamewhisker came to a halt at Redwind's side, her eyes slowly widening with recognition. "Crowfeather!" she exclaimed, not able to hold her in excitement. Her friend had gone missing awhile ago, she had looked all over for her, but each time came up empty pawed. It wasn't too long ago that she had come to terms with the possibility that her friend was gone...either left willingly, or killed and never to be found. "You're alive..." these words were quieter, more of a whisper. She was glancing at the strange cobwebs that were weaved into her pelt. Was that the work of twolegs? She had so many questions...but before she could ask, their leader arrived.

You smell like a kittypet.

Howlingstar's words were blunt, and even though they weren't directed at her, they still stung. Had Crowfeather gone to the twolegs willingly? Had she actually been a kittypet until now? She couldn't imagine the other molly ever wanting to leave her clan...but she felt herself unknowingly holding her breath, waiting for her friend's answer.
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[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Raccoonstripe follows at Howlingstar’s heels, finally freed from his brother’s poultice-smearing clutches. He’d not expected Crowflower to ever return, and his mother’s observation—that she smells like a kittypet, wreathed in kibble scent and something awful and astringent—is maddening. The tabby observes her with scalding-hot dark eyes. “Didn’t think we’d see you alive again. There was a lot of blood where you went missing.” His fluffy tail sweeps the earth once, as if to punctuate his thoughts. “Is that where you went to lick your wounds? To some stinking Twoleg nest?”

He’s baffled by the idea. Crowflower has no kittypet affiliation. Her kin are ThunderClan warriors who’d hailed from the pine forest, and though at one time he’d thought poorly of all of Rain’s colony, there admittedly were many who’d fought by his side who’d become noble and respected warriors. He tastes the air again, grimacing at the strange webbing across her wounds, and wonders if Wolfwind will be happy to see her home again—even if it’s in this sort of state.

✧ INFO.

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  — raccoon . raccoonstripe
  — he/him ; lead warrior of thunderclan
  — heteroflexible ; single
  — long-haired black tabby with white and dark brown eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Rai

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