camp did they really get pinned? ♡ moving dens

[GECKOSCREECH]

gossip is not unheard of in shadowclan and whenever the opprotunity presents itself someone is sure to start speaking in hushed whispers to another about something they've heard or saw and at first it starts off managable enough but the further the words spread the more likely that whatever was initially spoken is no longer whats being passed around. most of the time it ends up being just rubbish fibs made to ruffle someone else's feathers but sometimes they contained inklings of truth.

"have you heard. . . ?"

"i saw them sneak out of camp together once or twice!"

"no way! do you think its possible . . ."

a trio of warriors consisting of rattlejaw, tansycurl and beechmist can be seen gathered together in the corner of camp with a piece of prey being passed around as they chattered like squirrels. "i don't believe it! geckoscreech and chilledstar being an item seems less likely than toads flying! rattlejaw says incredulously, a gloved paw reaching over to drag the raven they shared closer to themselves to take a bite. "no seriously! they've been acting a little more lovey dovey than usual! not smogmaw and halfshade levels of affectionate but it's there! i mean, have you noticed our lead warrior is always getting dragged away by them?" tansycurl mews, a little grin gracing her features before looking towards beechmist who seems to be taking in such information with consideration. "y'know, now that you mention it. . ." the cream tabby hardly gets to put in his two-cents before he's suddenly being shushed by the other two because the subject of their conversation is walking back into camp and it seems she's carrying something with her. fresh nesting material. some would assume it's to add onto their current supply but instead geckoscreech was heading right for the leaders den.

perhaps that means. . .?

// this was meant to be that ye ol 100th post but ya know...i passed it so we pretend lmao​

∘₊✧ ONE LAST LIFELINE, I'M HANGING HIGH. ✧₊∘​

 

[Starlingheart]

In many ways, the young medicine cat was still a child pretending to be an adult. It doesn't feel right to call herself that, though she had reached that age, when there was still so much she didn't know. She had always thought that with adulthood, came wisdom, came knowing, but she supposed Bonejaw hadn't known everything. Still, she does not feel any different now then she did only a few short moons ago. Sure, she knows a little more, had a bit more life experience in her tired paws but she still feels as if there is so much she hasn't experienced, so much she was just guessing at.

Love is not one of those things.

Starlingheart has experienced many different types of love. Love for a mother, a brother, a friend and then more than a friend. A mate. It had started almost the exact same way that Chilledstar and Geckoscreeche's love was unfolding now, with Granitepaw moving into the same den as her. But back then, they had only been friends with something in common, loss and an extreme feeling of lonliness, desperation for someone to fill the void. Watching Geckoscreech and Chilledstar, she cannot help but wonder if they were experiencing the same.

Conversation drifts in and out of the young she cats ears but quite frankly? She doesn't care. Her ears flick in the direction of the musings of her clanmates and she turns to watch the lead warrior disappear into the leaders den but she does not comment, only just barely acknowledges it in her mind before carrying out her business. She had duties to attend to, after all.
​

 

[Ravenwatcher.]

So I walk alone down the darkest roads​

---

Well, this was a site to beheld, yet not surprising. Ravenwatcher's blue gaze drifted onto Geckoscreech as she made her way to the leader's den. Guess it was official now, and remembering how Betonyfrost looked to Chilledstar, it would be no surprise if the queen took this negatively.
Yet the young warrior believed she would never understand what love is or what it was like, she never sought out comfort from another, nor did she have those meaningful conversations with someone else.

She could not imagine sharing the same nest with someone else or feeling their fur brush against her's in the midst of night. Yet, seeing others enjoying such things was nice...Some going on to having their own kits which would help strengthen the clans while others did so simply out of love. So she would just nod and a bit not feeling any sort of resentment against the new found lovebirds but she did wonder how others would react as more start to put the puzzels together. Besides, Chilledstar needs the happiness, afterall the stress that came with leadership must be an unimaginable thing. Perhaps when she got chance she would congratulate the two when there weren't others gawking over them​

"speak""Thoughts"​

 

[GRANITEPELT]

Granitepelt thinks the warriors gossipping would have to have been blind to not know Chilledstar fancies Geckoscreech until just now. He watches the pale rosette queen move her nest into the leader's den with passive dark green eyes. He misses nothing -- there have been signs. Subtle brushes of one's flank against the other's, solidarity, support. Gentle words where neither feline are known for their softness. Chilledstar had shown more interest in their lead warrior than anyone else in the Clan, so he's not surprised they are making it official.

Wordless, Granitepelt brushes his flank against his own mate's. He meets her soft green eyes for a heartbeat before letting her attend to her medicine cat duties.

"I have more important things to do than gawk at our superiors," he mutters in passing to the three nosy cats. He's a warrior now, unencumbered with the burden of a mentor or an apprentice. He slinks out of camp on his own whims.

// out​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

 

[CHILLEDSTAR.]

DON'T YOU GIVE ME UP, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP​

---

they didn't get it. they still didn't get how someone like her, could love someone like them. but they don't look this gift horse in the mouth. falling in love with geckoscreech wasn't planned– hell if you asked them, they never would have even talked about love in a good fashion. yet... here they were. together. mated, officially, and now geckoscreech was moving into the leader den with them. they were glad about it. chilledstar didn't get a lot of rest as it was, but somehow chilled could manage better with her around. with a flick of their tail, they leave their den, eyes squinting as the gossip floods their ears. they only roll their eyes, before meeting geckoscreech, gently touching their nose to her cheek, a low and quiet purr in their chest.

"now would you look at that, love. they're so enthralled by your beautiful presence, they can't help but stare. can't say I blame them."
​

 

[Yarrowpaw]

There was, perhaps, no worse gossip partner than a kitten. Entirely ignorant to the concept of romantic love - beyond knowing that it existed among adults, and that his mother and his father did not possess it for one another - he had not the slightest idea what it felt like, looked like, or what sort of logistical problems it generated. Such as: moving one's nest into another's den. Betonyfrost's only son trotted past Ravenwatcher to stand near Starlingheart, oblivious to many things, including the fact that his own mother would surely not handle this scene well. "Is Geckoscreech the leader, now?" asked the chocolate tabby in a quiet, somewhat incredulous voice. Chilledstar was right there, and they seemed perfectly fine! Or at least as fine as the black-and-white cat ever was. As far as he knew, leaders only stopped being leaders when they died. Yarrowkit's light blue eyes drifted from the lead warrior to her mate and back again before trying out the name in his mouth: "Geck-o-star?" mm. Chilledstar had a better ring to it. What even was a gecko? Was it like a frog?​

 

[RIBBITLEAP]

Gossip is a pesky thing within the marshes. Like the frog's song that bore his name, gossip never fails to fill his ears in its ever-present call. Most of it is easy to drone out - who likes who, who's having kits, who missed their catch while hunting. Most of it, that is, until gossip about his own mother started to reach his ears.

"Geckoscreech and Chilledstar are getting quite close, aren't they?"

The first time he hears this, he's returning to camp from a hunting patrol. The first time he hears this, his stride freezes at the implications of such a sentence. His mother? And the leader? It sounded so absurd. So...

No. It was just silly gossip. It had to be. His mother is a lead warrior. Of course, she has to be close to the leader, right? She'd be doing a terrible job, if she didn't speak with Chilledstar, if she didn't take part in their council. It's merely a false tale with no proof to back it. Ribbitleap thinks the tale will die down quickly. Hopes, really.

But it doesn't. He hears whispers of his mother's name wherever he goes, hears the leader's name tied to it. Geckoscreech and Chilledstar.

For so long, it'd just been Geckoscreech and Ribbitleap. The tom had lost everyone else - his brother, his father, his grandfather, his aunt. Hearing a new name beside his mother's causes his stomach to twist each time. I'm going to lose her too.

"Do you think Ribbitleap knows? Maybe we can ask him?"

They never really do ask him, whenever his name is brought up, but he can feel the stares that follow the lingering question. Did they know that he didn't know? Did they know that Geckoscreech hadn't told him anything? That must mean their tale isn't true - Geckoscreech would've told him. She wouldn't not tell him, right?

Right?

He's trying to eat his meal, when the gossip starts up again. It's Rattlejaw, Tansycurl, and Beechmist that take to debating his mother's relationship with Chilledstar this time. They're loud and the way they speak only makes it harder to eat the prey that sits before him.

"Again?" he asks, "Geckoscreech is a lead warrior, she has to --" He's about to break into his usual insistence when the trio's words die down, their gaze pointed elsewhere. Pointed towards his mother, carrying moss. Straight to the leader's den, with hardly a glance at her own son. Straight to the leader's den, where Chilledstar awaits her, greets her with a press of the nose against her fur.

His stomach twists as he watches his world change, crumbling into something new. He's losing his mother too.

In the midst of those staring at two, he can feel eyes begin to turn to him. Ribbitleap tears his own gaze away from his shifting life, a frown pulling on his face. "What? Don't you all have something better to do than to stare at my mom?" he snaps at the crowd, tail lashing behind him. His gaze turns back to Geckoscreech and Chilledstar, his chest tightening as he looks from one to the other.

How could she not tell him?

He doesn't know what sits within him as he rises to his paws. Anger? Sadness? A mix of both? He's not sure, but he feels himself turning away from the sight. He needs to get out of here.

As Ribbitleap aims for the camp's exit, he can't help but wonder if Leaping Toad would be as distraught over this as he seems to be himself.
​