camp HARNESS YOUR HOPES ⚘ early frost

something stirred deep within the confides of leaf-fall, itching, clawing to break free. while the residents of thunderclan slept, it found a way out. when leafhusk woke up that morning, she could see her breath in thin clouds. the wind whistles harshly overhead, and the lead warrior stirs before waking up in a cold den.

her thick fur protects her from the sudden chill, but as she gazes across the early morning the ravine she knows there’s something off. "it’s cold." her eyes blink, staring at the thin frost curling around the edges of camp. it creeps in quickly, without warning, or a care. "why is it so cold?" she curls her nose up in displeasure, raising a paw and shaking the chill off her pads.



 

Stormywing's ears twitch as Leafhusk's voice breaks the early morning silence, and she sits up from her own nest, a small puff of white mist escaping her jaws as she exhales. "Ugh, you're telling me," She grumbles, shaking herself awake as the unexpected cold bites at her thin fur. She steps out into the clearing from the warmer den, her pads stiffening against the frosted ground, and her breath clouds the air with each sigh.

"Isn’t this a bit early for frost?” The tabby can't help the annoyance lacing her voice. She lifts a paw, inspecting it with a grimace. What's next, a snowstorm in the middle of leaf-fall? She loves the cold about as much as she loves sitting still, which is to say, not at all. The idea of being slowed down during training sessions with Coltpaw and Mottledpaw makes her want to groan.

She glances at Leafhusk, trying to brush off her irritation with a crooked smile and a flick of her tail. "Looks like we'll need to start running double-time to stay warm." Anything to keep moving and distract herself from the uncomfortable cold creeping through her pelt.
 

"It certainly wasn't this cold around this time last Leaf-fall," Softsight comments in agreement as she exits the warriors' den, puffing out her fur against the chill. She was only so certain because of everything that had taken place in the past year, otherwise she might not have recalled as easily. "Leaf-bare is already hard enough. We don't need to deal with more of it." She sighed, glancing around. It would be her first season with an apprentice, and the thought of waking up early to train Swiftpaw in such coldness wasn't the most appealing of situations.

"We just might be running so much, if the prey sees the frost same as us. They'll be heading for their burrows earlier than usual." She adds, frowning. Just when it looked like ThunderClan had gotten itself out of the fire, it was right back in another unfortunate situation. With any luck, it was just an out of the ordinary cold day - perhaps tomorrow would be something less intense.
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  • SOFTSIGHT warrior of thunderclan, fourteen moons
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
    penned by Archivist.archivist on discord.

 
〕Her joints felt stiff as her eyes began to blink open. The air held a certain chill that was usually reserved for at least another moon. As she slowly rose to her paws, the leader shook out her thick pelt, wishing it was enough to take the bite out of the air. Quiet paws carry her to the mouth of her den, and as she takes a step out into the camp her paw pad is met with a cold, wet texture that surprises her. Everything was covered in a layer of frost..."What?" As she spoke, a thick cloud fell from her muzzle, and she blinked a few times, making sure she was indeed awake and not just dreaming. Why in the stars was frost here already? Starclan, why are you punishing us? What have we done to anger you?

She padded out of her den, taking a few steps into the clearing. Her front right paw lifted and she shook it, her nose wrinkling in disgust at the cold feeling on her paws. This was the last thing she expected to wake up to, and by the surprised looks on her clanmates faces, they hadn't either. "We need to make sure the dens are ready if its going to start being cold already." The nursery was the top priority...the last thing they needed was sick kits before leafbare even came. "It shouldn't have frosted already..." Softsight was right, their prey would be just as surprised about the frost as they were.
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  • ooc.
  • FLAMESTAR —— leader of thunderclan , mentoring merlinpaw . storm x lily . littermate to nala, smokey, and nemo ✦ penned by icey !
    afab / she/her / 38 moons & ages every 20ᵗʰ
    widowed / heterosexual / closed to romance
    peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / underline & tag account when attacking
    —— difficult in battle


    speech”, 'thoughts', all opinions are in character
    tags — msg on discord for plots — toyhouse
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    a longhaired red tabby with low white and green eyes. flamewhisker's fur is a vibrant hue of red, riddled with thick classic tabby markings. her fur is medium in length, and she has a large, feathery tail. her chest, belly, tail tip, and her paws are dipped white. flamewhisker's eyes are a dark, deep shade of green. her shoulder has a large scar on it from a fight with a dog. she also has a shredded ear from a disagreement with a loner during her time alone before joining thunderclan. on particularly cold days, or sometimes before a major weather change, she will walk with a slight limp from her shoulder injury.
 
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ frost this early was no good sign, it nearly felt as condemning as her clanmates coughing and wheezing last season. nightbird's tongue rakes over her muzzle. she'd be stuck in that damned nursery regardless of when leafbare decided to arrive, the nursery that was still growing fuller.

her ears twitch a flamestar's judgement, her head dipping in a nod. "the nursery needs insulated," she mutters, tail twitching. she had felt it the night before, a cold chill creeping in through the walls better suited for warmer moons. "have someone drop off supplies, i'll handle it." nightbird needed to feel useful in some regard, her paws were growing all too restless as her kits neared apprenticeship. she'd take this as a teaching moment for them before the time came.
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  • NIGHTBIRD she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, 38 ☾'s
    a small black smoke molly with a white paw and pale silver eyes. currently a queen residing in the nursery.
    mate to raccoonstripe / / currently mentoring none.
    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.
 
A mirror of his mother's annoyance, Twilightkit does not lag far behind her. He had anticipated the cold to come soon - but even he, in all of his self importance and scrutiny, could not understand just how soon it truly is. Factually he knows this to be wrong. The way camp shimmers with the thin drops of frozen dew on just about every surface is unlike any manifestation of leaf-fall he could muster.

"I'll help," he says coolly, the tom's tone now mimicking the frigid air. He feels off-put by the fact that many of his denmates are now apprentices without him (though much of Twilightkit is glad, too, that he and his siblings have just one more moon together, before dispersed amongst mentors.) His paw may be lonesome but it will be useful; if he starts now, he thinks, in chores that other apprentices detest, then he will be on par with many of them when he does achieve his 'paw name.
 
a tawny ear flicks as stormywing makes a comment, and the lead warrior quirks an eyebrow at the gray warrior. "we? you’re the one with fur thinner than a mouse." she retorts with a playful grin, puffing her fur to enunciate her point. great… another leafbare where she’s expected to work to her bones. softsight is, unfortunately correct that they’ll be working overtime either way.

this is all too similar to the beginning of newleaf. respectable, useful warriors confided to the walls of the nursery; nightbird is two for two of sitting idle. at least her kids are eager to be useful, even though twilightkit's tone says otherwise. ah, thought that counts. "and make sure the prey hasn't scurried off yet, as softsight pointed out." she adds on with a sigh, rolling her shoulders, now beginning to ache from the cold.



 
His nest is always cold now.

It's only been a day, maybe two, since Doepath moved to the nursery. Admittedly at first, he had been excited! She'd be safe there, carrying their kits. She won't have to worry about the borders or even meals for herself. Sure, it's a rough time, but who really plans these things? But then the first night came, and he curled up in his nest alone. Sunshinespot detested the feeling of not having someone to hold so badly he debated asking Braveheart to nest with him for the next three seasons.

Sunshinespot wakes up in a bad mood. His normal grin doesn't stretch his scars like it usually does - in fact, his expression doesn't turn up at all. He lumbers from the warrior's den with a frown, green eyes flitting around to the warriors as they each complain about the frost. He does take note of it, the subtle crunch under paw. But as soon as they start talking about leafbare preparations, he zones out. He's no use to the Clan, not normally. On a plentiful day he may only catch one sparrow. But with all of the leaf litter and now frost...? He's useless.

He kicks out a hind leg at one of his ears, ignoring the extra bowing of his back he must do to reach. He's always been a... husky tom, he supposes. Maybe he packed on some weight for leafbare, since it decided to come early. Who cares? Not him by any measure.
 


tigerwing tucked her paws close to her chest. she had a rough day yesterday, and she was a bit down about her situation with howlpaw, but she was determined to allow the apprentice to grow at its own pace. She would not snap, (when did she ever do that anyways?), and she would not scowl- even as the apprentice bolted ahead and she raced to catch up.

her leg was sore, laying awkwardly to the side to be a lot more comfortable in its position. but she'd be not one to complain aloud about it. No shed deal with it. She was sure by now her leg wouldn't hurt, but it was a small pain compared to what it used to be.

the orange and chocolate warrior would blink green eyes around camp, tail swishing across the frost bitten ground. "Well, howlpaw, well search for insulation and bedding today-" she couldn't make room for options this time, as much as she wanted to. And hopefully, the apprentice wouldn't stray far again this time. Her gaze was gentle upon her apprentice. "Soon, the frost will take over to cold white snow. Prey will be scarce. Resources will be far and few-" she continues towards him, before finally shifting her gaze to Flamestar. She didn't need to explain further hopefully, and she didn't expect much of a conversation either. "So we have to work hard, but if you get too cold, we'll return, okay?"


A gentle smile upon her maw as she looked at her leader with pride, searching her gaze for approval in her words, or anything. She didn't always take initiative, so it was different to do so. And different, it wasn't always a bad thing at all.


 
He felt cold... A shiver crawls up his body like a bug digging into his skin. Cracking open a dark - riddled eye to look out of the already crowded apprentice's den, hazel eye flicking back and forth at clanmates talking about something. Discussing something, that made his ears twitch in a curious manner. He eventually slowly rose up from his nest, not bothering to groom his coat, which was sticking up every which way. Shaking various bits of moss or wayward sticks from his fur with a grumble, he makes his way to poke his head out of the apprentice's den.

The faux tortoiseshell ambles to the entrance with a scowl on his face. Poking his mismatched face outside of the den, his eyes widen slightly at the frost covering half of camp. Huh? His fur puffs up when a chill makes its way to the entrance where he stands, he carefully takes a paw and slowly eases himself out of the gloom of the den. This was the first for him. Though he did get dropped off in Thunderclan's land as a kit... in the snow. Deerpaw doesn't particularly enjoy the snow freezing him to bits. But he is curious on why did the weather skip over Leaf-fall? He swivels his ears up towards some of his clanmates putting in their own confused or annoyed inputs. Slowly blinking down at his dark paws, he lets himself step into the chilled frost letting a shiver take him as his bitten lips twitch slightly. Eh, it's not so bad.
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  • ( I-I CAN'T H-HANDLE IT! ) ˚₊‧ ♰ ‧₊˚ DEERPAW. ╱ thunderclan apprentice
    ⸝⸝ AMAB ; HE / HIM ; CURRENTLY 10 MOONS OLD. AGES EVERY 26TH.
    homosexual, ace / not actively looking — mentoring none.
    a scrawny longhaired black/dark ginger tortoiseshell tom with low white and hazel eyes.
    thoughts ; "Speech, 4d4344" ; attacks only
    may powerplay minor harm ╱ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
    smells like mud &. damp earth musk
    all opinions are ic! he's morbid and he sucks </3

    biography / @ on discord for plots
    — penned by calzone
 
⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊ So the odd ice crystals clinging to everything in camp were called frost, huh? When the heavy-coated apprentice reluctantly made her way out through the apprentice den, it was the first thing that cought her eye. She looked around in awe, so leaf fall has more surprises. Under her warm steps, the grass and sand made an inviting crunching sound. The air was so cold that her breath formed small clouds, and for some reason, the scars on her back feel weird and tense.

Dwindlingpaw sat amongst the cats gathered up talking about the strange weather. Tail wrapped securely around her chilled paws as her red tuffed ears rotated, catching little bits and pieces of everyone's worry. "How long until the snow comes?" she asked. Surly, it cannot get much colder than this.

"If we start soon, we could probably get more bedding for everyone by the time it arrives," The sooner the better. Hmm, insulate the elders den should be next after the nursery. Oh, and stock up the fresh kill pile since the uncertainty makes her nervous. Too much to do, but there's plenty of time, right?

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    Dwindlingpaw— She/Her ・ 10 moons ・ Thunderclan apprentice・ PENNED BY @Ghostunes!
    ☀︎ A charismatic colorful array of cream orange and red fur shaped like an apprentice.
    ☀︎ Crimsonsun x Shadedmoon
    ☀︎ Tags
 
Oh, how Addersnap loved the way the cold nipped at his skin with joyful glee, as though it were happy to be in his embrace once again. It brought him peace -- a break from the devilish heat that kept his fur untidy from the constant irritation on his skin, licking his fur so much that it felt raw that seemingly uneventful morning when he stretched his limbs. He fought back the wince of pain, biting down on his lip to maintain a calm composure when suddenly its touched graced him. Leaf-bare was an early blessing brought by StarClan, he was sure of it!

Though... these were the thoughts of a young apprentice. No, in fact they were not how a warrior should be thinking at all. It was so easy for the tomcat in that moment to forget the responsibility and, now, the authority that lay heavy on his striped shoulders. When the chocolate tabby closed his eyes, he could recall his first steps into the sinking white snow outside of the apprentice den, the star-struck shimmer in his sunlit eyes. But it was then when he heard the voice of Leafhusk outside the den that the pleasant chill that ran down his spine turned to ice, clinging to his bone in an uncomfortable manner from the realization. Why was it so cold this early into leaf-fall?

Stepping out of the warriors den and casting a glance to Deerpaw across the way, he stopped just short of the others with a look now spared to Leafhusk, then to Softsight. "Yea, leaff-'all wasn't like 'his last time." A lash of his feather-adorned tail indicated to the worry that was gnawing at him inside, the small nibble on his lip once again to pull himself together. Like Softsight, he was blessed with his own apprentice -- although, he wished now that it hadn't been super poor timing. Learning to communicate to someone younger than him, especially when Addersnap already struggled enough to create any type of small talk with others his age or older. Antlerbreeze, he thought, was different. She was easy to talk to.

Tearing his gaze from the swirling leaves in the air that made their way through the clearing, he turned to Dwindlingpaw with a thoughtful look on his features. "I dunno." He eventually concluded with a satisfied nod after thinking for a few seconds, yellow hues looking back towards the apprentice den. Addersnap fell silent as he watched for @SPARKPAW to exit the den, walking over whenever the young tom decided to do so and stopping before him. Despite the cold, they had to begin their training. "'F 'ere's anythin' left f-from the freshkill pile, go ahead 'n' get somethin'. Th-then we're gonna 'ead out af'er that for 'he tour." He nodded towards the pile as though nudging the boy, narrowed eyes glanced back at the crowd that was huddling somewhat close together to get as much warmth as they could despite the distance. Hopefully this was just some cold spell.