FUNERAL CORTÈGE ↷ [ LURKING ]

[smogstar]

Rest doesn't come easy to Smogmaw, even at the most serene of times. This, however, is a decision made of his own accord.

There are no frontiers to his thoughts' travels, and the secrets behind a fair night's slumber are but a low priority when there's so much yet in demand of contemplation.

Certain circles will refer to this sort of behaviour as 'sleep deprivation'; mechanical jargon which devalues what he prefers to call 'using unspent time'. It hasn't ever come to the detriment of his well-being. On the contrary, he embraces his restless mind as the fundamental engine to success, and the added tension in his system keeps him vigilant to all possiblities.

Throngs of dozing felines lay littered across tonight's makeshift camp, stomachs rising and falling with a measured cadence. The moon sits at the cusp of the horizon and challenges the sun to emerge from its hiding place. Morning will come in a few blinks' time, that much Smogmaw is sure of—one develops an intuition for when dawn takes root after countless nights of observation. The rest will awaken before long, ready to push towards the grand fruit of their labour. Lungwort's starting to feel too little, too late, he finds himself pondering. We're a long ways yet from even finding the stuff - by the time we return, will there be anyone alive to cure?

He stands at the fringes of the clearing, idly shifting his weight from one flank to the other while he indulges in his thoughts. In addition to the grim idea already holding his attention, Smogmaw's thoughts bound through a plethora of subjects - things he'll say tomorrow, who he should befriend, ways in which he could improve ShadowClan, rules he would eliminate or add to the Warrior Code - all at a pace too rapid and disorganised to catalogue in a written manner.​

 

[batwing]

.i'll be your calm, —————————

————————— before the storm!.

▵ ———————— ◮ ———————— ▵

Batwing didn't sleep easy, even at home. So there was definitely a seperation to home and here, and thus, he was separated. He always felt more at home amongst branches dappled in the moonlight, closer to the stars and thus, his family, in turn. But the stars they had ascended to were long gone- Batwing's eyes could only pierce the sky so far, and he could hardly see the same dappled pattern that came at this time of year in the inky black they called the sky. Sitting on the fringes of the clearing, his breathing was even and measured, green eyes wide and focused.

He wasn't the only one, not by far.

His vision found the other now- studying him as he had on and off throughout the night. Smogmaw. Did he truly know what the other was up to, at any given time? No, not really. Batwing had a hard enough time keeping Stormywing and Lightstrike within eyeshot to truly study other members of other clans. Well, that was partially a lie- during the River crossing, he had enough sense to see which swimmers dove after those who slipped and which didn't. A breath left him then, the heart-stopping moment churning his brain as he kept Stormywing in his thoughts.

Batwing turned his vision back away, contempt to keep the silence the two were holding in peace. This had been the least stressful moment of the journey so far, he reflected, but the lack of sleep would likely bite him in the ass later.

"speech"​

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[dovethroat.]

Tendencies bordering on insomnia had become somewhat normal for Dovethroat, even during times when he should have physically been perfectly comfortable. Whether it was because of Ravensong or Hyacinthbreath or some third factor (or all at once), Dovethroat's circadian rhythm was easily wont to be thrown off balance entirely.

That was many words to say that Dovethroat had barely been sleeping at all, effectively. Just his luck to be separated from his closest confidant only a few sunrises after getting over a moons-long grudge.

Most nights, he finds somewhere open enough to look at the sky. Perhaps it just reminds him of being an apprentice, back when he and Ravensong shared a den and all felt much more simple. Really, he wished things were back to the way that they were. Perhaps they could make it so, but Dovethroat doubted it.

So absorbed in his doing nothing, Dovethroat does not notice the other two sitting near him. In his ignorance, he lets out an odd, stiff sort of meow that almost sounds like hacking something up—the sort of sound you would only ever voluntarily make when you were alone, or under the impression that you were.

[⋆]​

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[hazecloud]

Sleep does not typically struggle to find Hazecloud, unlike some of the company she kept at home. Even when her mind was ready to rest, Lichentail's paws often pulled her away to lurk in the night. And poor Rookfang, though he settled in his nest with her, his sleep was so often disturbed by nightmares. Nightmares she had seen similarly plague her brother when they were younger.

Her cause for restlessness tonight is not uncommon. A new place, she felt unsafe even in the clowder that surrounded her. Unfamiliar territory left her on edge as she is sure it is for so many others. Her head raised, blinking sleepily as she glanced over the collection of pelts. She counted the sleeping heads of RiverClan; Fernpaw, Mosspaw... She sees them most immediately. Fernpaw especially, she noticed, had stopped sleeping so closely to Iciclefang recently. She doesn't blame him...

Soft green sights rest on the dusty tom, up and awake a little further away. There are a few others close by but they don't appear to all be together purposefully. In the dark she recognized one of them as Batwing, the kind ThunderClanner that had helped them hold the bridge.

"Dovethroat, are you alright?" Her voice was clouded with an oncoming yawn, her maw stretching open while she stretched before settling beside him. The cool breeze reminded her of the next season to come, finding comfort in the cricketsong. Almost like home. "It's so quiet tonight. It's strange to think there's all this world out here. Makes our forest feel small."​

 

[GENTLESTORM]

✦ By no means was he was an insomniac but tonight, he seemed to struggle in finding sleep and his gaze would turn to see that a few others were still awake despite their dangerous bridge and river escapade. He notices Batwing amongst them and rises from he was originally being careful not to wake anyone that had been near him, he quietly makes his way over to his friend only to settle down near him and bump his shoulder in silent greeting. Hailstorm looks at the other through half lidded eyes before tilting his head to the side and mumbling in a quiet voice "You should probably try to get some sleep..." He muses despite knowing that the same would apply to him but before he can say anything else, he hears a stiff meow that sounds like hacking something up and his pelt bristles.

Well, that was one way to break the silence and he can't help but chuckle quietly in amusement before glancing over at all the sleeping bodies of their clanmates focusing on one for a heartbeat before he looks up to the skies listening to Hazecloud and can't help but silently agree. There was so many things that they were seeing and learning about that was beyond the territories of their clans, he can't wait to get home and tell everyone about it once they got the lungwort. A smaller thought blossoming in his mind. Would they still be... ? He cuts the thought short not wanting to even think of the possibility that they had travelled out here for nothing, no, he wants to believe that they would all still be there waiting for them.

* ˚✦ YOU FOUND ME HERE; UNDERGROUND

• 
  ✦ 47 moons old
  ✦ thunderclan warrior
  ✦ bisexual demiromantic; single
  ✦ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ✦ semi-difficult in combat; relies on strength and his burly build
  ✦ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ✦ penned by bosstaurus

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