camp GARDEN OF BONES ✩ return

[nightbird]

the walk home, the one thunderclan could not make together. little wolf, buried between the cold snow and rocky surface of the mountains, her family robbed of the chance to mourn over her tattered ebony pelt. and stormpaw, sprawled across the backs of all clans. she could not walk, they had nearly all stayed to help. the lungwort was now shared between the jaws of three, it's herbal scent suffocating more suffocating with each step.

they had met up with berryheart not long ago, but with mouths too full to talk of the events that had taken place they walked in relative silence. so close that nightbird could smell the forest's scent that had long since lost it's grasp on her pelt. crisp and autumnal, it was familiar. she sighed her relief into the bundle of lungwort.

soon, they passed through the gorse tunnel. nightbird ran her pelt up along it, a feeble attempt to soak thunderclan's scent back into her fur. once through, she didn't stop to announce anything or greet anyone's shocked gazes. after all, only three cats had returned from the mountains so far, it had to raise alarm. she didn't want to watch them panic for cats who were fine. "help berryheart get the lungwort into his den," she muttered to batwing and stormywing, sending them off with a wave of her tail. that was the first priority, it was what they were sent out to do.

by the time she had turned back, many faces had joined them all. nightbird didn't linger on any one for too long, searching for howlingstar and flycatcher. "the others had to stay behind, they are coming. stormpaw was injured and had to be carried. i promised we'd have patrols sent to highstones awaiting their arrival." but they weren't all coming. her ears twitched backwards slightly, guilt dragging them down from their upwards position. "little wolf... she is not with them. she gave her life to save a skyclan apprentice. i'm sorry." the words felt like they were equipped with thorns as they left her throat, nightbird cleared it to try and exterminate them.

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• @batwing @STORMYWING @BERRYHEART, she is currently addressing @HOWLINGSTAR and @Flycatcher.
  feel free to post, but please wait for howlingstar before double posting!
  
  
  

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• NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, twenty-six moons
  ⭃ nightbird is a small black smoke molly with pale silver eyes. a loner turned thunderclanner, her loyalty and drive to provide for her clan is unwavering. however, she is not known for harboring a bleeding heart, instead equipped with sarcastically fueled wit, brutal honesty, and a sharply edged tongue.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[Flycatcher]

With the small battle to drive out the rogues, Flycatcher's thoughts had not been with the returning cats. His thoughts had been consumed with driving the rogues out and then securing and rebuilding their home.

So, when he heard faint chatter arising from the gorse tunnel, coupled with new scents he quickly hurries over. Flycatcher knew it could only be the returning cats and he is overjoyed when he sees some familiar faces. But the joy does not last long. He counts only three cats present and his joy fades and alarm begins to settle in his bones when he realises Flamewhisker and Stormpaw were among those missing. Nightbird sent Stormywing and Batwing off to Berryheart's den before looking around, searching for himself and Howlingstar in particular.

"It is good to see you made it back safely, Nightbird," Flycatcher mews, his voice tight with worry. His concerns are briefly alleviated when she assured them the others were returning before his floored by the news of his daughter's injury. "Stormpaw...is she...is it serious?" Flycatcher assumed it had to be a bad injury if she needed to be carried. Oh stars, his mind races with fear. His heart goes out to Stormpaw and poor Flamewhisker who must have been worried sick. The injury of Stormpaw is not the only bad news Nightbird brings, revealing in a solemn voice that Little Wolf had given her life saving a SkyClan apprentice. "StarClan will honour her bravery," Flycatcher says quietly, before glancing at Howlingstar sympathetically. "You have my sympathies. Little Wolf was a fond friend of mine. A good and noble cat who served her clan well. She will be missed by all of us."​

 

[batwing]

.i'll be your calm, —————————

————————— before the storm!.

▵ ———————— ◮ ———————— ▵

Home. His chest ached with the thought of it, the familiar scent of the thick forest, the winding of thorn and ivy bush alike. The call of songbird overhead, and higher above, that of bird of prey. He walked alongside Nightbird, Berryheart, and Stormywing, his ears lowered at the thought of how small they were in return.

He broke through the gorse tunnel, eyes sweeping the camp. He could nearly cry with relief- after all, he missed the territory immensely, but there was something he missed more. With a dip of his head towards Nightbird, he headed towards the medicine cat den with the lungwort with Berryheart.

"speech"​

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[RACCOONSTRIPE]

◇────────────【☆】★【☆】────────────◇​

XXXXXA crisp voice cuts through the bustle of camp, one that Raccoonstripe had been waiting a moon and a half to hear again. Nightbird, small but commanding, orders the two warriors at her side to aid Berryheart. There’s the scent of lungwort, then, caressing the surface of his tongue. He smiles, boylike, and bounds toward the gorse tunnel on ungainly paws. “So, you really managed to pull it off,” he says, his tail swishing behind him. Nightbird smells different to him—sharp with mountain air, but there’s something muddy about her scent, too, as though her Clan scent has worn away, softened by time and proximity to other cats.

XXXXXHe doesn’t like it. He longs to rub his tabby pelt against her flank, restore her to where she should be, in his mind—reigning beside him, up-and-coming lead warriors of ThunderClan. The solemn expression she wears and the news she greets him and Flycatcher with give him pause, though, and the teasing he’d been armed with dies on his tongue like an overripe fruit on the vine.

XXXXX“She’s hurt so bad you had to split up?” He frowns. “So bad she has to be carried?” He gives Flycatcher an apologetic glance. His daughter may not even make it home, and if she does, just what shape will she be in, he thinks to himself.

XXXXXBut Nightbird isn’t done delivering her news. She addresses Howlingstar, mainly, but he stares at her with bitterness cloying his mouth, sitting like acid on his tongue. Little Wolf… she is not with them. Raccoonstripe chokes. “What are you talking about?” His ears flick forward, his tail beginning to lash. “She’s…”

XXXXXA SkyClan apprentice. She’s dead, and she gave her life for a SkyClan apprentice? Raccoonstripe stares at Nightbird, the poison in his mouth drying to ash. His claws unsheathe, unbidden, and he rakes them across the surface of the earth with a low but piercing growl. “You aren’t… you can’t… she can’t be dead! She—she still has kin here, and besides—what did you do with her body?” Desperation glows in his eyes. “You—you left her somewhere? No—no, that can’t be right, she should be here, where we can—where we can…”

XXXXXRaccoonstripe remembers the biting remarks he’d sent Little Wolf’s direction. Kittypet-lover, he’d thought to himself, eyeing her youngest kits with distaste. She brought shame to our family, more than once.

XXXXXHis breath is shallow. He scores the earth again, then again, as though it’s the pelt of a rogue who will not bleed, will not die.

XXXXX“Stars, why did it have to be her? I never got to say—I’ll never get to say…” I love you. I’m sorry. He stares helplessly at Nightbird, as though she could change it for him—as though she could take it back and unwind the time that has spilled, messily, and tangled at their paws.

─────────​

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[Moonwhisper]

—————————————————————⊰☾⊱————————————————————

They are home and she rushes to see them, paws burning from the speed with which she breaks from her current task to head in the direction where they were gathered. Even from a distance she can see the group is smaller, alarmingly so. She looks for her mother first and then the cream of Lightstrike's pelt and finds neither, her own fur flaring up in discomfort to round her frame and set her size to appear even larger.
Nightbird speaks as she comes to a step next to Raccoonstripe, her horror lifting as the lead warrior explains they were merely lingering behind; poor Stormpaw had been injured. They were taking their time getting her home safely. In a whirlwind of feelings she went from panicked, calm and once again twisting into a spiral of fear and distress.

Little Wolf - gave her life - SkyClan apprentice. Sorry. Sorry....

Sorry. Like Sorry mattered, like an apology did anything at all; worthless words uttered from even more worthless cats - why didn't any of SkyClan die for their own apprentice? Why did SkyClan keep taking from her everything she loved? She hated them more than she ever thought she could now.
Moonwhisper's blue eyes widen, pupils slit into slivers of black against the ice of her iris, she digs her claws into the ground where she stands as if the force and rigidity of her posture will help keep her upright. Her last conversation with her mother proper had been an argument. An argument over her name. Every other conversation they had after was brief, in passing, she became a warrior and never bothered to seek Little Wolf out to reconcile; holding her anger inside where it festered. Now she would never get to see her again, never get to apologize for how bratty she had been over such a trivial thing.
The tortie point says nothing, takes a step back and turns without a word said as she bolts for the edge of camp with a speed that her size betrays.

☾ break all the rules - live like a queen or die like a fool ☽ —— do you care what they think

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  Moonwhisper
  —⊰⋅ Warrior of ThunderClan
  —⊰⋅ She/Her
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ LH Tortiseshell point w/ice blue eyes
  —⊰⋅ penned by Rai
  

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[BURNSTORM]

Burnstorm is excited to see the journey cats return. He has missed his friends, missed his mother and instinctually he scans those who are back with golden eyes. Stormywing is there, but there are many who are missing. His tail, which moments ago was raised high in the air with happiness now droops low. It brushes against the ground and the smile that was on his face falls into a slight frown. Stormpaw had been injured Nightbird says. Many had stayed back to help her get home safely. Judging from her words and the look on the ebony mollies face, he is guessing that the apprentices prognosis was not exactly the best. He casts a sympathetic look in his mentors direction, it could not be easy to hear such a thing.

What Nightbird says next nearly knocks the wind out of him. Little Wolf is gone, she's not coming back. "What?" he says, certain he had misheard. He stares at Nightbird for a few long moments, an empty expression in his face and in his eyes. His uncles reaction barely registers in his mind, all he can think is that the lead warrior must be mistaken. His mother could not be dead, could not have given her life for a SkyClanner. Did that kittypet clan only know how to take? He feels as if he has lost so much to them and yet still they take more. Moonwhisper is bolting across the camp. No doubt to grieve in private but his claws curl into soft earth, anchoring him to this plane of existence.

"Raccoonstripe is right. We have to go- we have to get her body. We cant just leave her there. She needs to be here, buried here in ThunderClan" he, like his uncle, cannot believe they had left her behind. Tears swim in his eyes but stubbornly he does not allow them to shed. "I'll lead the patrol myself... we can bring her home we can..." his voice breaks as he trails off, shooting his grandmother a desperate, pleading look. It did not matter in his mind that she was likely moons away. "How did it happen?" he asks finally, his voice soft and tears finally spilling from his eyes and leaving a trail in his fur. He does not weep, not yet, but he cannot stop himself from crying in this moment.

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[HOWLINGSTAR]

Excited voices rise up around camp. Howlingstar pricks her ears, head lifting from where she nibbled at her meal. They're home! Someone says, and she is already pushing herself to her feet. There is a heaviness, though, as she rounds the Tallrock and lays eyes on the returning cats. Nightbird, Stormywing, and Batwing...that's all who returned. The latter two are bounding towards the medicine den, lungwort in tow, and the sight at least brings her relief. Duskpaw, Leopardtongue, Cloudyfur, Spiderlily, Shinepaw, Tigerpaw, and many more have finally fought all they had to fight. The cure is here for them.

But that heaviness has not left her. Because when she looks at the small group, it almost confirms her worst fear, almost confirms the dream she shared with Little Wolf had been real. Almost, because they're still missing half the group. She comes forward swiftly, stopping in between Flycatcher and Raccoonstripe in time to hear that the group had to split. Stormpaw had been left with a grave injury and needed to be carried back, something that strikes the leader with horror. She looks to her deputy and touches her tail-tip to his shoulder in comfort, murmuring a swift, "They will come back and Berryheart can treat her." Of course, she has no idea how dire the injury truly is.

The next words that leave Nightbird's jaws send the world into slow motion. But it is not shock written across Howlingstar's face. It is pained, excruciating acceptance. Her frown tightens and her eyes fill with tears. Her chin tucks to her chest as soft sobs shake her shoulders. There. There is that confirmation. She hadn't wanted to believe it, had chosen to try to not believe it. But as Raccoonstripe screams and her grandchildren mourn, it is cemented in even further.

Her other eldest daughter is dead. Howlingstar's first litter is gone.

Burnstorm looks to her, but she cannot look back. She isn't strong enough. Instead, she sinks back onto her haunches and cries, and cries, and cries for the third kit she has lost.​

 

[STORMYWING]

☁︎

Stormywing pushes her way through the bramble tunnel, inhaling the bracken scent with closed eyes. Home. She steps into camp, exhaustion evident in her tired eyes and worn stance. But she made it. All three of them did. And when she sees her uncle, sees Burnstorm, sees Little Wolf's other kin...she suddenly doesn't want to think about how they made it. Their clanmate did not. She has mourned, but everyone here will be finding out for the first time and she isn't sure she can take it. She is selfishly grateful for the orders given to her by Nightbird. A swift nod is given before she bolts after Batwing to Berryheart's den.

"Cloudyfur! Cloudyfur, I'm back!" She shouts through the herbs as she scrambles into the den. Her gaze searches wildly for her sister and for the medicine cat. Regardless, she spits out the flowers into a pile on the floor, doing her best to push out the sobbing she hears just outside.

// looking for @Cloudyfur @BERRYHEART

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[BERRYHEART]

The trek home had been long, or had felt long. He was not sure which. A path he had walked a thousand times to Highstones, stretched to infinity by what could only be grief. Many would falter at the lack of faces, and would be relieved to know they were following- but his family, they would not have the same luxury. Shady was not coming back. She was dead, and he had not prepared himself for the fresh pain of watching the rest of his family find out.

Seeing Stripes wail sent a shillelagh through his heart, strong as oak. The desperation on his face, the begging for something he must have known was impossible... retrieving her, it was not an option. However long ago she had died, this journey had taken so long to complete that risking more death to fetch her body seemed futile to him. Her soul was in the sky, now. And he knew his brother could not fact the same solace as he, knowing he might speak to her through prophecy or dream soon. At least he could reveal, whenever he next saw her, that Shady was among the stars.

Seeing his mother break down completely, seeing Little-little join the desperate plea that would only ever be pointless- he felt the sting of tears in his gaze again. Blinking them away, he lifted his head to stare forward. Past everyone, into the den that Bolt had streaked past him to get to. Sad eyes looked to the fragments of the journeying Thunderclanners- realising only Inky remained stood, Wings having shot off as well. "Thank you." His words were arid and neutral, but genuine all the same. Into crooked jaws, he scooped up all of the lungwort that he could carry and walked to his den. The death of Shady weighed heavily on his conscience still, but he had no time to weep now. He could have emotions later.​

PENNED BY PIN ☾​

 

[Sunfreckle]

—————————————————————⊰☀︎⊱————————————————————
He has only just managed to leave the nursery, kits sleeping and a moment of peace offered as a result and he sees Nightbird's dark pelt first as he hurries over with an enthusiasm that had been unseen as of late. The rogue attack and subsequent moving around and the loss of so many cats had left him with a tight numbness in his chest and he desperately wanted to be free of the grief that clung fast like morning dew. But that was not to be...
Sunfreckle slows his approach, pausing midstride to stare at the morose faces and Moonwhisper vanishing into the treeline out into the territory. He wouldn't claim to be the smartest of cats but it didn't take a genius to realize what had happened, Howlingstar's sudden broken wails only confirmed what he knew as soon as he took in the crumpled faces of his clanmates. Little Wolf was gone.
His heart clenches, he feels a jolt of pain lance through him, head spinning and throat tightening. They had been friends, they had raised their kits together, he had mourned with her when Morningpaw was lost and she had comforted him when he'd lost his own. A more wonderful and kind cat you would never meet again, a more loving mother you'd never find; she had her moments of foolishness but so did all of the rest of them. She was a tenacious, powerful warrior of ThunderClan and now her services had moved to the stars.
Sunfreckle gives a low whine of a sound, a hiccup of noise escaping him and he turns to push his head into Howlingstar's shoulder in a small gesture of comfort - he couldn't even imagine the loss, how heavy it was. He'd lost kits before but while terrible they had gone before he even knew them. She had lost so much, so many cats who she raised, cared for, watched bring new life into the world, mourned with and fought with. Just like that - gone.
He hopes she got to see her daughter in the next life, he hopes she knows how much she'll be missed.

——— ☀︎ light the fire, let it burn on top of you ——— ☀︎ breath again beneath the flames

•  
• 
  
  
  Sunfreckle
  —⊰⋅ Lead Warrior of ThunderClan
  —⊰⋅ He/Him
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ Large red tabby tom w/green eyes and no left foreleg.
  

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[skyclaw]

There's chatter by the camp's entrance - not subtle by any means, however given their recent circumstances, Skypaw is more inclined to believe it trouble before anything else. His claws dig into the ground underfoot as he clamors quickly from the apprentice's den - only to see mostly smiling faces, many obscured with purple and green blooms. The journeyers! They're back, and with lungwort! He thinks of his ailing brother and the many others resting in the medicine den and it feels like a weight is lifted off of his shoulders.

He trots closer, aiming to help with the bushels of lungwort, when he notices just how small the returning group is. At first, the answer is simple; the group had to split up, because Stormpaw got hurt. His chest pangs thinking of the other apprentice, and for a brief moment worry flashes in his mind's eye; if she must be carried, delaying her trip home, how bad are her injuries? Nonetheless, he figures that his mother must be with the delayed group, then. She's a soul too full of heart, too caring. She would carry every injured cat in the forest on her back if she could.

Wait... did he hear that right?

His mouth dries. His jaw slacks as Nightbird gently explains his mother's absence, but he doesn't quite process it. Flycatcher speaks of StarClan and Skypaw can't help when his limbs tense up. Is there even StarClan on the mountains? Sure, there's a sky of stars, just as there should've been grass and rocks and water - but do their star-thriving many truly even reach that far? Raccoonstripe and Burnstorm, they're right. Her body is just - just somewhere. They left her somewhere. Nowhere, even. Alone. She's dead?

"I -" he stumbles and stammers and wishes that he were like Moonwhisper, a coward in his emotions, more willing to grieve in the comfort of loneliness. Howlingstar is sobbing and so many others struggle to hold back their emotions, "No, no. Little Wolf... she has to come back, she has to, she - her home is here, not those - those fox-dunged mountains!" Where is his mother? Where is she?!

His grief manifests more and more as his tone grows angrier, tears welling up in his eyes yet not yet spilling. What about Duskpaw? When was the last time his brother even spoke to their mother? How fair is all this, then, that so many other cats get to come home, to watch their loved ones come alive again, yet he and his siblings have to live on having lost their sole parent? No, not even that. Burnstorm, Moonwhisper - they have Blazestar. They have that - that kitty-pet to call on, the very one who leads the very Clan who houses the very apprentice that his mother DIED for. Duskpaw and himself... they have no one.

They're alone.

She's dead.

The tears finally cascade and he chokes out a sob. Skypaw looks at his mentor, gauges what his punishment might be, and then firmly states, "I'm going on a walk." He says no more, offers no help nor a goodbye (or welcome home to the journey members.) The chimera tom walks to the camp's exit and leaves it seamlessly, just so long as no one tugs on his tail to keep him in camp.

( in & out unless forcefully stopped! )​

 

[Honeydapple]

Happiness felt tangible as she witnessed the joyous reunion of the journeying cats with their returning clanmates. Giddily, she called to the approaching cats. "Welcome, back!" A smile settled pleasantly on her maw as she bounded closer. The atmosphere felt alive with welcomes. However, in the world they lived in, relief swiftly twisted into something uglier.

Once news of Stormpaw's injury and Little Wolf's death reached her ears it felt like a downpour after a clear day. Elation replaced by stunned silence, as a heavy cloud of sorrow loomed over the scene. Her blue gaze blurred with a mixture of lost emotions as the magnitude of the loss settled. Little Wolf, a warrior who had once walked among them, was now gone without a trace, without a body to lay to rest. The pain of such a loss cut deep, and Honeydapple felt it like an open wound.

As she watched Howlingstar's crumble, a leader who had lost a daughter and no time to prepare. Honeydapple's heart ached with empathy for her. She knew what it felt like to lose someone dear, to lose the light of your life, and it was a pain like no other. Her own memories swamped in, and she felt her eyes well up with tears.

The earlier joy that had filled the atmosphere soured. A fresh wound opening from witnessing the news of Little Wolf's loss. Echoing the old ones in her own heart. A pain akin to no other and the grief all too familiar. Tears welled in the moggy's eyes as she looked to the ground. Why... All of that just for more tragedy. Her shoulders slumped as the earlier joy sucked from her expression. Understanding as large as the sea crashed and swayed inside the pointed molly.

Quietly, she stepped towards the grieving family and stood close by. Offering her presence as support while they tried to pick up the pieces. Honeydapple didn't believe she had the right to speak out or offer sympathies. Nothing could ever be sufficient enough when a mother grieved her children.

Honeydapple's thoughts soon turned to the sky, sending out a silent prayer to Little-Wolf. May she find her way back home among the stars, where pain and sorrow no longer exist. Despite it being her best effort the pale she-cat knew it wouldn't be the answer only a hope.​

 

[Cloudyfur]

CLOUDYFUR / 16 moons — up in the sky It was her sister's voice that brought Cloudyfur back to herself. Berryheart said that what she needed was rest, and she trusted him, and so she had lain in the medicine den for so long that time had lost its meaning. When she felt like it, which was not often, she ate. For many, being stuck in a nest so long would be torture, but that wasn't what bothered her. No, what bothered her most was her fear for her sister's safety. At least, it was when she was lucid enough to be bothered by anything at all.

The thought that Stormywing might get hurt on her behalf terrified her. It was for her sake that her sister had volunteered for the journey, after all. If she returned injured - or worse, did not return at all - the guilt will kill Cloudyfur surer than the yellowcough would.

They had come to Thunderclan together, they should be looking after each other; not desperately fighting to survive on opposite sides of the world.

Blinking, she slowly raised her head toward the sound of that familiar voice. It almost felt too good to be true. "Stormywing...?" Her words were cut off by a rough cough. For a moment she had thought that this might be a dream, but the soreness of her throat told her surer than anything else would that this was real. Stormywing was home "You're safe." She breathed in disbelief, unable to find anything more to say. Tears of relief threatened the corners of her eyes.

Cloudyfur gazed lovingly at her sister. Weakly, she smiled. Everything was going to be okay now, she was certain of it.

Her ears perked up, hearing the distraught cries from outside. She frowned, attempting to peer around Stormywing. "What's going on?"

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