camp happiness in misery ~~ grumbling

[Lizardbounce]

( ✧ ) He watched silently as the battle patrol left for Skyclan. His heart turned sour, and finally he couldn't take it anymore. How many battles had he missed out on? All of them. Sootstar never chose him, and there was only one reason why that he could think of. His missing leg. The ebony tom stalked out into the center of the camp, his plume-like tail lashing irritatedly behind him. "They think I'm useless, just because of my leg. I swore the same oath that everyone else is this clan did about being a loyal warrior, and they won't let me prove my loyalty." his voice grumbled under his breath, not caring if anyone else heard him. "They trust me to hunt, but not fight." Worthless No matter how hard he tried...that word was still always in the back of his mind. He should be out there with Scorchstreak and Rattleheart...not stuck in the camp like a kit.

//
takes place after the battle patrol left! he's just cranky (: ​

( YOU GOTTA BE SO COLD ; TO MAKE IT IN THIS WORLD )

 

[SNAKEHISS]

❪ TAGS ❫ — // tw: ableism mention

Also having been overlooked for the raiding party, Snakepaw found himself sitting in camp, emotions simmering like a hot spring in his gut. The apprentice only felt his frustrations amplify when Lizardbounce began to rant to nobody in particular. His ears flicked back, a soured scowl plastering onto his maw. Was Lizardbounce really all that surprised? Did he honestly think that Sootstar would put her faith in him? "WindClan cannot risk losing another battle. It only makes sense that Sootstar chose warriors with all their limbs to go with her." Those SkyClanners were soft, but a kittypet with intact limbs could take advantage of a three-legged cat. It would be easy to knock a cat like Lizardbounce off balance, and then what? Sootstar's son having a twoleg marking was embarrassing enough, surely she didn't want to risk losing one of her warriors to a member of the kittypet clan.

Flicking his tail, Snakepaw rasped his tongue over midnight chest fur, idly grooming himself as to keep his pelt free of imperfections. "Anyway, join the club. A lot of us didn't get to go, so don't feel so sorry for yourself." The apprentice issues a rather harsh sentiment, though it is only fueled by his own bitterness about not being able to attend as well. Snakepaw was healed from his bite wound, fully capable of taking on a SkyClanner! As one could imagine, he had been quite disappointed to learn that he would be spending the night hunkered down in camp while his clanmates were out claiming glory for themselves.​

 

[MOORBLOSSOM]

The yellow-eyed tom sat among those snubbed of the opportunity to take home some kittypet pelts, and in all sincerity, Moorpaw couldn't fault him for getting all steamed up over it. She, too, fancied a shot at engaging in a military expedition, optimally one where her claws could taste WindClan or ShadowClan blood. Though be it on account of who her parents were, or the eerie phenomenon of her mentors all meeting early ends, the girl found herself continuously neglected for those coveted opportunities. But, eh, she'll get her chance some day.

Moon-mantled paws would send the sprightly apprentice in Lizardbounce's trajectory. "Oh, knock it off, Snakepaw," she'd remark in passing, unable to muster even a sidelong glance towards the unpleasant tom. "Whynchu go slither away and bother someone else? S'not his fault he's all hobbly-wobbly." He speaks like someone who's never gotten a good cuff in the face, and hopefully that'll change one of these days.

There's an apologetic quality to her features as she verges on the three-limbed warrior. His hardships strike a chord within her, giving rise to empathy despite her outwardly aloof demeanour. If what he says is true, and the decision-makers in WindClan are truly disregarding him for his physical limitations, then it's an injustice of the gravest kind. "They dun'know what they're missing out on," mews the dark-furred apprentice, tilting her noggin askew and offering him a soft smile. "But, uh, look on the bright side! Maybe if you went, you'd lose another leg!" ​

 

[Spiderbloom]

Spiderbloom blinked slowly as the two apprentices talked to Lizardbounce. Snakepaw was just as insensitive as expected, and Moorpaws was trying her best.

"It's not impossible to fight on three legs.... You just have to adapt." She says to the apprentices. After all, Thunderclan had a lead warrior with three legs. Though, he was much bigger.

She isn't familiar with the trials Lizardbounce must face. She can barely imagine herself with three legs. She can understand not wanting to send him to battle, but also understands being upset for being underestimated.

"Perhaps you should try sparring more, that way your abilities will be more well known." She suggests.​

 

[AMBERTAIL]

Ambertail had not expected to go to battle. Unlike Lizardbounce, they do not mind it. Like with him, it was how things were– unlike him... they know that Sootstar was not wrong about him. The sky presses down, panic-filled. Shapes around him blur. The few times that he has sparred with his clanmates, it was an easy pin. Desperation did not equate to success. His paws and fangs would flail and sink in, and still they would push push push until they tunneler was held beneath their bulk or in clamped jaws. Sightless eyes do not watch the patrol go. Instead, they sit and listen to the pawsteps recede and the grass to begins to sing over it. Whistling winds, silence, and voices. Younger ones, and then an older. His ears flick around between them all.

"Snakepaw volunteers," the tunneler quips dryly. "Would Sootstar think better of the winner?"

˗ˏˋ〚  OOC NOTES INFORMATION 〛´ˎ˗

• ooc: —
• ──── ambertail. tunneler of windclan. nb, he or they.
  ──── adult, though precise age unlabeled as of now.
  ──── sexuality unknown. a strange windclan cryptid.
  
  ──── a tiny, yet proportionally long-limbed tortoiseshell with unfocused amber eyes. though they retain their color, ambertail is blind. those who don't know as much may be confused, and will certainly be met with dry responses from the tunneler himself.
• "speech"

​

 

[SOOTSPOT]

Sootspot knew there was a good reason why he hadn't gone on the raid, though his absence felt like spikes digging into his head whenever he thought about it. Tunnelers were not combatants suited for what WindClan was about to do, as they had not been suited for when ShadowClan's borders were tested, but it was all too easy to wonder what could have been had he been allowed to take the place of a useless Moor Runner too caught up in an eye injury to notice their leader had fallen. It was a bitterness that felt acrid on his tongue as he tried to hold it back, a placated, somewhat strained smile appearing on the maw of the dirt-specked chimera as he approached the group. He tilted his head towards Snakepaw and tutted his disapproval, eyes not so subtlety moving downwards towards the pink flesh piercing through the layers of black on the apprentice's forelimb. A gesture was made through a widened gaze towards it as his chin shot upwards once more, a silent question: do you really have the right to judge? Lame legs were surely no better than missing ones, right? The apprentice would have to hope his little encounter had only hurt his pride in the long term.

"It would be an insult for an... esteemed WindClan warrior to fight a wounded apprentice," he offered to Ambertail, words polite yet equally cutting, truthful, but not quite truthful enough to make his tone seem sincere. He was testing the waters, seeing who would defy the observation and who agreed, learning which side would be better to take when he felt the attention of his mother slowly fading. "Perhaps you would like to spar with me instead?" He offered Lizardbounce, pointed teeth flashing in a cocky grin. "I would still win, of course, but that is what practice is all about, no?" This was not a plea to earn Sootstar's approval, she would not be around to see his victory over a three-legged cat nor would she (or himself) find it impressive when he won. But, one rotten apple would spoil the whole bunch, and Sootspot had no intention of having Lizardbounce turn into rotten apple.
​

 

[Badgermoon]

Badgermoon understood the disappointment of not being able to accompany one's leader into battle. On those occasions when he did not receive the privilege of fighting for WindClan's honor, the restlessness was almost unendurable. That accounted for his tension now, plainly visible in the tight set of his muscular shoulders and the unusually fierce shine in his yellow eyes. He knew that it was his duty as Sootstar's second-in-command to remain at home and keep watch over the camp, and that, too, was a privilege...but he could not help but long to be in the throes of battle. Particularly if it meant I got to sink my claws into Orangeblossom again. The Kittypet King's prime servant!

"SkyClan's lucky you didn't go, Spiderbloom." Badgermoon remarked in approving tones as he strolled towards the group which had gathered around Lizardbounce. The deputy still remembered how the queen had taken one of Blazestar's lives in their desperate leaf-bare attack on the kittypet Clan: her prowess was not going to be forgotten by him anytime soon. He addressed Lizardbounce directly, sympathy and firmness present in equal parts as he spoke. "Not being chosen to fight in this battle does not mean WindClan doesn't honor your strength, ferocity, or cleverness." he tilted his head. "There are many factors that go into who is chosen; trust me, I know that firsthand."

Badgermoon flicked his gaze up at the stars, wondering how the patrol was doing, wondering if they'd arrived at their destination yet. He was brought back to Earth by the suggestion of a spar. "Snakepaw is nearly a warrior." he noted to Sootspot, one eyebrow quirking. "And he is recovering well from his injury." a small smile appeared on the black-and-white tom's face - a brief flash of teeth as an idea occurred to him. "But you're right - Lizardbounce is an experienced warrior, and would have an undue advantage. You, however, are much closer to my apprentice's age. Why don't the two of you spar?"​

 

[LUCKYPAW]

The night's only just begun, but to Luckykit it's already beginning to drag on, each minute met with bated breath and prickling anxiety. After the patrol had set out, he'd gone to hide away in the nursery, the most comforting place he could think of, but quickly he'd come to the realization that it only amplified his worries - too easy was it to imagine Scorchstreak in there, safe and away from the claws of their enemies. It quickly became too much, the nursery too stifling, and so he'd burst back out into the open, feeling all too vulnerable within the empty expanse of camp. Really, they hadn't taken that many warriors, but it still felt empty without them, and so Luckykit silently seeks out the company of those remaining who had begun gathering in the center of camp. The sight of both Lizardbounce and Badgermoon soothes his frazzled nerves slightly - knowing that they're both still here, along with the rest of his littermates, makes him feel less alone - though it also serves as a reminder that there are two more that should be here with them, two more whose fates are still unknown.

Settling next to Badgermoon like a shadow, Luckykit tries to think positively - after all, StarClan was on their side, even if they had lost the last two battles. Surely this time WindClan will prove victorious; Scorchstreak won't accept anything else, he knows, and so he won't imagine otherwise, either. He tunes into the conversation, looking for a distraction, and as Snakepaw needles Lizardbounce his expression darkens into a frown. Ordinarily, he might have jumped to his uncle's defense, indignantly spluttering something about him being a strong warrior regardless of his missing limb, but Luckykit can't bring himself to muster up any response, not while the patrol is still out there and potentially running into trouble at this very moment. How long had it been since they had left, again? It feels like an eternity, though he's certain it'll be at least another eternity before they return. For now, he listens to the others converse, throwing around the idea of a spar. The last thing he wants to see right now is fighting, between clanmates or not, but he doesn't plan on leaving Badgermoon's side, not until Scorchstreak returns - and she will return, he tells himself. Soon enough, they'll all return, and things will feel back to normal.​

[ PENNED BY HIJINKS ]​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

tw: ableist thoughts, use discretion

Truthfully, Weaselclaw is not in the mood to draw his claws against kittypet pelts. His loss against RiverClan, and his mate’s again ShadowClan, is still a sore spot for him. While he has no doubt an ambush on SkyClan would not result in a similar fate, the tabby is content for once to stay in camp. If he could just be alone, not having to listen to the ceaseless whining from some of his Clanmates, he could almost find some peace of mind.

The tabby scowls at Lizardbounce, wondering why the black warrior bothers complaining. Of course Sootstar doesn’t want to take a three-legged cat to a battle against tree climbers. Weaselclaw half-wonders if he’d be able to stagger to his paws if a cat dropped from a branch onto his back. It’s wonder enough he can bring home prey and patrol borders.

And Snakepaw, of course, is bitter, always bitter. Weaselclaw has to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The deputy’s apprentice has the poorest attitude out of anyone in the Clan. Secretly, he wonders if Badgermoon is secretly fostering Snakepaw’s lack of respect for his Clanmates, though Weaselclaw doesn’t know why he would. Perhaps he just doesn’t feel like disciplining the sour-tongued tom.

The tabby abandons his task and approaches Moorpaw, giving her a slight bump just above the tail in greeting. Sootspot, Ambertail, Badgermoon, and even little Luckykit are milling about the two feeling left out about participating in the ambush. The tabby watches each with a flat expression before saying, “Look at all the cats who weren’t selected to go. There are plenty of things needed to do in camp that aren’t trying to climb trees to catch kittypets.” He flicks his tail tip, turning his eyes down to Luckykit, Badgermoon and Scorchstreak’s kit. He offers the babe a smile and says, “That patrol has Scorchstreak. None of those kittypets will have any fur left by the time she’s done with them!”

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — weasel . weaselclaw
  — he/him ; lead warrior of windclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Sootstar
  — short-haired chocolate tabby with white and blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Oliver

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