camp empty bellies

[ashpaw!]

// retro river rescue

Tired paws drag on the sand as she seeks out something to eat. Her stomach is rumbling and it's been a cold, cold night and she doesn't know how she's gonna do anything today without a bite to eat first.

She isn't expecting the fresh-kill pile to be empty.

Ashpaw swallows, staring at the space where food should be... where food had always been, for almost her whole life. The elders and kits must have... there must not have been leftovers. And... and elders and kits and queens and sick cats have to eat first. She knows that.

You're not a kitten anymore, she tells herself, even as her stomach rumbles again. Her paws shiver against frosted sand, leaf-bare chill soaking in by the second. She won't cry. She refuses to cry. You're an apprentice. You'll be okay.

The girl glances around for Pebbleskip. Maybe he'll take her hunting today. She knows he was assigned to a patrol. Maybe she'll catch something. Maybe...

Maybe.

She glances over to find a clanmate staring, just as she is, at the pile-that-isn't-a-pile. Ashpaw tries for a smile. "You... you hungry too?"

"Maybe we'll catch something later—"

A vicious wind nearly bowls her over, ruffling ginger fur and leaving her shuddering with cold. Still she attempts to sound hopeful. "—on the h-hunting patrol. A-are you coming?"
​

—— " i found gold in the wreckage "

✦ ooc ✦ character information ✦ recent events

• idk i just figured a Hunger thread would be fitting. woo leafbare
  
  
• - 6 month old orange tabby with green eyes
  - apprenticed to lead warrior willowroot
  - happy-go-lucky, mischievous, hardworking
  - very friendly, but defensive of riverclan!
  - "speech"
• - disclosed being physically and psychologically abused by Spiderfall, who was exiled & who then killed her best friend
  
  - temporarily apprenticed to npc pebbleskip due to willowroot moving into the nursery
  

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[DARKWHISKER]

darkpaw has never seen the fresh-kill pile empty. he didn't even think that it could be anything other than filled with fish and land prey. that's how it's always been from the moment he'd teetered out of the nursery! even as the days grew shorter and the nights colder, there was always something waiting for him in the morning to eat.

today changes that.

he'd trotted over to the designated area, only to be met with emptiness staring back at him. his pebble clatters to the ground as his jaw goes slack. there's nothing, not even a minnow's tail. man... and darkpaw was really looking forward to breakfast, too. his stomach growls as if to agree, and his smile falls from his face. what was he going to eat, now? what were his clanmates going to eat? sand isn't all that filling... maybe he could find them all some green stuff from the bottom of the river? but, collecting enough for everyone would take forever...

ashpaw's voice startles him; in his stupor, he hadn't even noticed her standing there! darkpaw turns towards her, his smile returning for his friend. he doesn't want her to worry; it seems like she's been worrying way too much lately. "hi, ashpaw! didn't see you there." darkpaw keeps his voice cheery, his whiskers twitching as he talks. "yeah... i never thought i'd see the fresh-kill pile so empty! it's not even a pile, now, is it?" he chuckles, trying to ignore the emptiness in his belly.

ashpaw suggests that they might catch something on the hunting patrol. darkpaw nods, his smile becoming more natural. "yeah! fish have to eat, too, right? maybe they'll be out looking for food like we are." no matter what happens, riverclan will get through whatever life throws at them. one paw comes to rest on his pebble, reassured by its smooth surface brimming with starclan's blessing. they'll find prey somewhere.​

 

[iciclefang]

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮​

Though the stoic young tortoiseshell would never admit it, she's just as surprised as Ashpaw and Darkpaw to see that there's no prey at all to eat this morning. She stares, paws rooted to the ground as if frozen, at the place where their fresh-kill pile had always been. It's barren. Empty as her stomach.

She blinks, lifting her head back up at her littermate and her friend. They talk about the hunting patrol. "Are you two assigned? Smokethroat is... I'll need to go hunting, too, I guess. Maybe one of your mentors will take me along." She gives her mottled pelt a shake, hoping to dislodge the negative feelings she's woken up with today. Iciclepaw flexes her claws and stretches, warming up muscles still cold from sleep. "We've got to find something, even if it's just a lousy bird."

Or a rabbit, her mind whispers tauntingly. She flicks an ear to discourage the thought as if it's a fly feeding on fetid flesh.

- ,,​

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[CLAYFUR]

Clayfur, much like the trio of apprentices, is surprised to find the prey pile empty of prey; it's the unfortunate truth of the cold, though. There's not much to eat, and they have to work twice as hard, on stomachs only half as full as they're used to. He can't imagine how hard it is on the apprentices, who haven't had to live through a winter yet. Of course, he trusts that the clan will make it through, but there's still that old familiar tug of anxiety in his stomach. What if it's too much? He pushes the thought aside, trying to shake it off as he ambles over to join the apprentices.

His hip twinges as he comes to a stop behind Iciclepaw, hearing her mention a lousy bird. "Hey, birds aren't lousy," he butts in, a playful frown directed toward his niece. He looks to Ashpaw and Darkpaw, hoping that either of them will back him up—they have to, right?

"You’re planning on going hunting later? I can come, too, then." He asks, tipping his head to the side until he hears a small pop of his neck. He smiles at the little orange tabby, obviously the one who’s asked about the hunting patrol. "If that’s okay?"
​

[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​

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