camp DOVAHKIIN — rebuilding, rta

[CRAPPIEPATCH]

WindClan’s attack was unexpected, and the clan was ill-prepared to defend their temporary camp from the intruding warriors. A particularly nasty inky she-cat had wrecked some of their dens as well, toppling one of them directly atop Crappiepaw. The temporary shelter hadn’t been particularly difficult to struggle their way out of, though, and the calico hadn’t received too many injuries. They can’t help but to feel guilty, though, for being so unhelpful in such a monumental battle—one in which they lost beloved clanmates.

In the quiet of the morning, after a night spent tossing and turning and too full of nerves to truly do more than doze off and on, Crappiepaw sits in the center of their temporary camp. Surrounded by materials for building, their face the picture of determination, the apprentice grumbles under their breath as they struggle to weave dry reeds into a halfway decent pattern. The camp is somber, crying can be heard from somewhere, and the calico’s hackles are still raised in anticipation of another sneak attack. Despite the serenity of morning, nothing is even remotely peaceful.
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[ FORTUNE LOVES THE BOLD ]​

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[GLEAMPAW.]

A few sunrises ago, Gleampaw was in awe over the sunlight glistening upon the waters, a new conviction in her heart to spread joy and make sure that her clanmates were aware of the beauty in the world. Now, she was tired, nightmares flaring back up after she had finally soothed her mind. Why was RiverClan always plagued by horrid luck and tragedies?

There still was work that needed to be done, though.

She sighed, trying to force away the 'could have done's and 'should have done's from her mind. The past was the past, she needed to focus on the future. There were things to fix, and it was not a task for just one cat on their lonesome.

Spotting Crappiepaw, she offered them a smile - small and forced, but present. "Let me help you," she offered, settling down next to her older denmate. "You shouldn't have to do this alone. Besides, it'll go faster if you've got a few helping paws."

"Speech"​

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LIGHT UP THE SKY WITH SPARKLING HEAT!​

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[DARTERWING]

(=^･ｪ･^=))ﾉ彡♡ —”Oh hunny… let me help you with that weaving.” Unlike Gleampaw, Darterwing doesn’t ask for explanation. All the sudden she’s looming over Crappiepaw and looking at their current progress. She believes the reeds needed to be made even tighter together, she didn’t want any leaks occurring during the rain or worse, for the shelter to be destroyed again. ”When you go to weave this next bit Crappiepaw, I wan’t you to try this.” Darterwing grabs the ends of the reed and tries to demonstrate how to get a tight bind, like many adult RiverClan cats she’s quite skilled in the task. ”...If you do it like this, it’ll be more firm- stable.” Nonetheless, Crappiepaw may just be struggling because the condition the reeds were in, but she hopes nonetheless the quick demonstration was helpful. Maybe it even proved useful for Gleampaw too? — tags​

 

[koispots]

Gloompaw is missing, her body hurts, her girl is missing, everything hurts and shes wandering aimlessly looking for something to do, looking for something to keep her mind off of Gloom. It's... Not a welcome feeling, the void that has eaten her emotions, no, she'd rather feel everything than feel nothing at all. A casualty, there was... a casualty earlier and Koi just stared, unable to muster anything in the moment.

She spots her dear friend out of the corner of her eye, Crappiepaw. They're doing something... And Darterwing and Gleampaw are talking but it sounds like distant murmurs in her ears, something about weaving the reeds the correct way and... Something about help. Koipaw teeters over and plops herself besides her friend, peering over their shoulder as if she suddenly had no qualms about personal space. "Are you okay?" her own voice doesn't sound the same, and they didn't need any extra help with the reeds and if they did then she knows a side would be passed to her to help weave.

She just wants them to be okay too, she knew the battle shook a lot of souls. Damned rats...​

"speech"​

 

[hyacinthbreath]

Guilt.

Guilt eats at her like a parasite, digging beneath her skin and settling in to infect, infect, infect. Watching apprentices clean up the mess left behind because of something she caused made her heart ache with guilt. They help each other, and Hyacinthbreath takes an unsteady step forward- wanting to help them. But then stops abruptly.

"You look as if you need assistance," She meows, letting her presence be known in case they chose to reject her help. If they did, she wouldn't blame them, but as she lifts up a cattail, her claws rake through the corndog-shaped bud at the top before it falls apart in her paws. What's left is a fuzzy pile of fluff, white and grey in color. She quickly sets it all down, moving to the side of the makeshift den to lace pieces of the cotton through the den's weaving. "That way, the water will roll right off.. No more leaks, see?"​

❝ there are wounds inside me, gaping holes of disconnect.
can you drown inside your own body? can you suffocate within this mind? ❞

 

[CRAPPIEPATCH]

His silent work comes to an end when another apprentice approaches—Gleampaw, sitting beside him to offer her help. He gives her a wobbly smile, a token of his appreciation, and nod along as she speaks. He does not trust his voice, expecting it to be weak, but clears his throat and opens his mouth anyway. "Thank you. I am… not good at this." He gestures to his wreck of a weaving project with a paw, hoping that by some miracle the other apprentice is better at this than he is.

And perhaps Gleampaw is not better than he, but Darterwing seems to be. The she-cat does not waste time, getting right to the point of offering her help. She even goes so far as to demonstrate to them the best way of binding the reeds together. They nod once, stiffly, as she tells them to try out her method, and tired white paws begin to weave the reeds more tightly like she does. "This is more difficult than you make it look." They manage a smile to the dappled warrior as well, actually a bit proud of themself.

Their smile falters when their calico friend comes into sight, but they manage to keep a pitying expression off their face. Koipaw settles beside them, and they aim to gently bump their shoulder against hers. She asks whether they are okay, as though they have gone through half of what she has in the past few days. "I should be asking you that," they say to her, eyes narrowing as they observe her face. "Are you okay?" They know the answer. As good as she seems to be holding up, Gloompaw is gone, vanished without a trace. It must be eating her up inside, and to not even get the closure of knowing what happened… They cannot imagine how she feels.

Hyacinthbreath’s presence is not one that Crappiepaw is comfortable with, not with the reminder of the threat that she poses so stark. They blink up at the lilac-washed warrior when she gives her input, green eyes shuttered. Their trust in her is tenuous at best; they are not exactly keen to follow her instruction, even if she is more experienced than they are. "No leaks…" they echo her words, voice feather-light despite the furrow of their brows. But they grab a piece of the fluff anyway, moving to add it into their section of reeds.
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[ FORTUNE LOVES THE BOLD ]​

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[DARTERWING]

(=^･ｪ･^=))ﾉ彡♡ — Darterwing purrs in amusement, "We'll that's cuz' I've been doin' this way longer than you, honey!" She meows, drawing away so that the feline doesn't have her directly hovering. She knows some cats require patience and room to learn, she herself tends to stumble when the gaze of many can be felt on her pelt. "You'll get the hang of it, all of y'all, trust me!"

She then goes into quiet observation, leaving the apprentices to murmur and comfort each other. It was a bittersweet sight, they shouldn't have to go through all this... but seeing that they had each other's backs was sweet.

The presence of Hyacinithbreath makes her pelt twitch with nerves. The sight of the gray and white warrior was hard to swallow after recent events, but Darterwing was not one to be cruel. She was a hospitable feline and if Cicadastar hasn't thrown her out for all she cares the she-cat is a RiverClanner through and through. At Hyacinithbreath's instruction she nods her head in both greeting and approval.— tags​