camp grow the flowers i wish to protect [round]

[SCORCHSTAR]

Despite her pregnancy, Scorchstreak is determined to continue her regular duties as well as the duties expected of her as a lead warrior. She will not let this newest development deter her from her goals, from her responsibilities. She still gets up each morning, takes her breakfast, and then slips into the nearest tunnel to begin her hunting. Today, though, her morning tunneling is interrupted by the feeling of pressure on each side as she attempts to enter the tunnel. When she meets resistance, the calico scrambles backward, dark paws scrabbling uselessly against the dirt for a moment before she manages to shift herself safely back out of the tunnel entrance. It takes her a moment to realize why such a thing had happened—and then it hits her.

Her golden gaze shifts back over her shoulder to look at her dappled flank. As expected, her middle has grown larger, rounder in the past few days. It’s no wonder she cannot fit into the tunnel; she must look to her clanmates like some sort of overgrown berry. "Oh." Her voice is clipped, irritation coating the single word that she says. She’s glad, of course, that everything seems to be going well—that she seems to be growing larger with every passing day—but at the same time, it’s disappointment that shows clear in her expression. If she can’t even squeeze her way into the tunnels, then she can’t go on patrols.

Oh. Oh no. She’s going to be confined to camp, stuck in the nursery, waited on paw and foot by whichever poor apprentice annoys their mentor a bit too much on a given day. She does not want to feel useless, helpless, no matter what state she’s in.
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[ LIKE A RATTLESNAKE ]​

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[WEASELCLAW]

The wiry brown tabby is just returning from an early hunting excursion, @sparkpaw. a dark shadow at his flank. A rabbit -- small, but plump -- hangs unceremoniously from his jaws, and he's eager to get it back to camp and take Sparkpaw out again before the sun is too hot. Like his eldest daughter, his apprentice has dark fur that absorbs the heat. Weaselclaw wants to spare him the worst of the sun when possible, even if that means earlier-than-normal training regimens.

He just catches a reddish shape out of the corner of his eye, plugging one of the tunnel entrances. Puzzled, Weaselclaw turns his head and drops his rabbit. "Scorchstreak?" He asks, amusement beginning to dance in his blue eyes. He flicks Sparkpaw's flank with his white tail tip and pads closer to his fellow lead warrior. "You won't be going down there for awhile, I guess," he purrs. He sits and invites Sparkpaw to do the same for a moment. "I remember the day Sootstar realized she couldn't go into the tunnels anymore. She might've been bigger than you." His faux pas causes his eyes to widen, and a pale paw slaps over his muzzle. Oops. He never learns.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

 

[✧ Venomthroat.]

I REALLY COULDN'T CARE LESS

venomthroat | 27 months | non-binary | they/them | physically medium | mentally hard | attack in bold black

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Awkward though they may be, they are not stupid enough to make a comment on an expecting queens size - they'd made that mistake only once, and never again. They shudder at just the thought. Watching weasleclaw do so from where they lie has their lips twitching as they try to hold back a grin - oooh, they hope scorchstreak makes this entertaining. Honestly, they don't really see the appeal of having kits. Don't get them wrong, they're certainly glad they were born, but really they have no plans to ever have offspring of their own. Children are loud and fussy and annoying. They cannot even do anything on their own either - what a waste. It will be a shame to loose the helpful paws of a fellow warrior while she is dealing with her kits, but it is a simple fact of life. Oh well - can't be helped now.
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[Mintshade]

"Sootstar popped out several of the little buggers, means you'll be getting just as many probably, Gyeh heh heh!" The plight of a tunneler was an odd one, too small to be a Moor Runner and growth spurts were unfortunate but pregnancy was an instant duty killer whether you were far along or not if it kept you from squeezing into them burrows. Mintshade had never considered having kits, the thought had not even crossed her mind outside an immediate recoiling inwardly at the idea of kits alone, let alone hers. Chances are she'd never have them and she'd be happy for it, loud and messy little things and if she got as round as Scorchstreak did then she'd not be able to go to battle at a moment's notice; they were truly the worst fate she could imagine for herself.
"Are you stuck or just in disbelief?" Would they need to dig her out or was she just sorting out her feelings on her new developing litter and sudden inability to work. "...or bothhhhh?"
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[Bluepool]

Pregnancy is not something Bluepool had ever imagined on herself but something she had witnessed a few times now. She was old enough to have seen quite a few queens swell up until they looked like they were about to pop, had witnessed the births of quite a few kits but never before now had she been made to think 'How long would I go before giving up running?' She had been doing her early morning race across the moors for moons now, to have to break that easy routine would be the most difficult thing she would ever have to give up.

She comes to stand beside Mintshade, giving her sisters shoulder a gentle friendly bump in greeting, yellow eyes sympathetic to her fellow lead warriors plight. She, like her brother in law, also remembers when her sister had realized she couldn't continue her regular duties. She shoots Venomthroat a polite nod then speaks "Raising the next generation of warriors is just as, if not more important than hunting" she says in an attempt to console her friend. It's what she's been told her whole life, at least.

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[HOUNDTHISTLE]

"BECAUSE COWBOY DAN'S A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE COWBOY SCENE"​

Though Windclan never seemed to see an end to bouncy kits, it'd been admittedly a few moons since Houndsthistle had dealt with a she-cat who was pregnant. His amber eyes regarded Scorchstreak idly, that same guarded vacancy to his gaze he always carried as she stood there. He glanced to Weaselclaw as his words slipped and the large brute let out a soft snort through his nose, amused slightly by the lead-warrior's words but more interested in possibly seeing his ears be clawed off.
"Welp, I mean, ya could always jus' work with us on workin' on the walls and whatnot," He offered, unsure just how he could help this situation. Even with her he never much did anything save for make sure she had food and a warm, dry place to sleep. His only memory of mothers was his own, and, well, clouded with sickness, you ain't doing much.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[SCORCHSTAR]

Tugging her front completely out of the tunnel entrance takes a few more humiliating moments, but finally she manages to free herself in a whirl of dappled fur. Her tail lashes irritably as she lifts her gaze to meet the brown tabby’s, golden eyes narrowing as the tom states the obvious. They only narrow more, however, when Weaselclaw says that Sootstar may have been bigger than her. "You think I’m big? Please, tell me more about just how large I am." She lifts a scarred black brow at his careless phrasing, a frown tugging at her muzzle.

She refrains from smacking him upside the head, however, mostly because they have an audience now. The two night-black cats who appear next are similar only in appearance, and Scorchstreak’s mouth curls further into a scowl when Mintshade states that she’ll likely have a larger litter. She isn’t that rounded, is she? "I’m hoping for three kits at most. I’m not sure if I could keep up with any more than that." Perhaps she can handle a full five kits, though, if she passes them off to warriors who comment on her size. "And I wasn’t stuck. Only surprised. I wanted to keep tunneling until I gave birth, but it seems I am too large to fit."

Bluepool and Houndthistle offer some of the only polite responses to her predicament, and the tunneler gives each of them a smile in turn. Her fellow lead warrior attempts to comfort her by weighing the importance of raising new WindClanners against the importance of hunting. "You’re right," she says, though a sigh escapes her still. "No matter how useless I am, I’ll still be doing good for the clan." Houndthistle offers something for her to do, though—she smiles at the tom, flicking an ear in his direction. "That is true, too. I’ll do my best to keep up with whatever duties I’m able to." Even if she cannot squeeze her way into the tunnels, she can still contribute to the clan. The true issue will come when she has to nurse her kits and keep them contained inside of camp.
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[ LIKE A RATTLESNAKE ]​

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[VULTUREMASK]

Ugh, not another one. It hadn't been that long ago since Spiderbloom gave birth and now Scorchstreak just had to decide to become a mother too. He could still remember how horrifying birth had been so much he had embarassingly fainted. But who could blame him really. It was beyond his understanding how anyone could deal with seeing that monstrous birth of life...even less how a molly even could survive through it. Respect to them and thank starclan he had been blessed to be born as a tom.

Vulturemask did not look forward to this though but surely this would go well just like it had with Sootstar and Spiderbloom. His ssistence was not needed. No, no. They could do this without him....Vulturemask refused to believe this was part of his job!. If anyone even dared to claim such a statement he was gonna choke them with foxglove!.

He did not wish to be here, to be seen. So the medicine cat tried to be sneaky to get himself around them all by making sure he was staying at the background, even using his clanmate Venomthroat as camouflage. If they didn't notice him he could by ease sneak himself past them all so he could contunie on to avoid Scorchstreak.... the poor cursed one. How many of them would it be this spring?...How many would get the spring fever.

He didn't even dare thinking about it.


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[WEASELCLAW]

Weaselclaw ducks his head at Scorchstreak's obvious challenge. "You think I'm big? Please, tell me more about just how large I am." The tabby's grin is sheepish. "Hey, who said it was an insult?" He'd never have insulted Sootstar during her pregnancy, after all! Even if she had been comically round... He adds, "I think being so small emphasizes it more." He hopes Scorchstreak doesn't think he's insulting her.

His ears flick, and he greets Houndthistle, Bluepool, and even Mintshade with a courteous dip of his head. His Clanmates are all more tactful than he had been -- as are Venomthroat and Vulturemask, who say nothing -- but the tabby frowns at Scorchstreak's assertion that she's useless. "Bringing strong, healthy kits into the Clan is hardly useless." He purrs, thinking of his own five. "We need more future warriors with strong, noble blood." Less with traitor's blood.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​