camp HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS || Gifts

[Garlicheart]

Garlicpaw had been working very hard recently. Hard in her training, but that wasn't her main goal for the time being. No, her goal was to cheer everyone up. During the times she had been out hunting for prey, she had also been hunting for suitable gifts for her clanmates and stashing them away in a hole close to camp. Over the course of the moon, she had gathered quite a trove of items. Rocks, feathers, moth wings, snail shells, there were even bones in the mix she had found or taken from prey. She wants her clan to be happy. She wants everyone to stop hurting and being gloomy and sad.

Thus her quest to get everyone in the clan something special began.

Garlicpaw had even gotten something for Halfshade, these funny flowers she found in the carrionplace. They were strange, they didn't feel like flowers normally did, but they looked exactly like flowers! Before she decided to sneak gifts into everyone's nest, she had taken this strange flower to her mother's grave and placed it carefully on top. She stayed there for a bit with teary eyes, hoping Halfshade would like her gift and wear it in starclan. There were no words to describe how much she missed her mother. She still wanted to cry about how it wasn't fair, how she wanted her back. She wanted to beg Starclan to let Halfshade come back to life until her voice gave out.

But she has accepted that it will never happen, even though it hurts so much.

Drying her eyes, she walks back to her stash to begin her plan. She tells the cats keeping watch outside the camp entrance to "Shhhh!" as she runs back and forth, in and out of camp when she saw most everyone was asleep or busy with her treasures to every nest she could. She made sure to hide her gifts as close to camp as possible so that the guards could watch her and make sure she was safe, and to her, she believes she hasn't broken any rules yet.

She goes to her family first, @APPLEPAW receiving a beautiful water lily. Garlicpaw had seen the flower and thought Applepaw would look stunning with it's petals. @ASHENPAW receives a sizeable lily pad that Garlicpaw thought would be SO COOL to wear like the wing covers of a beetle. And if not, it was sorta soft! @Swanpaw recieves a soft white feather from a bird she had seen, white as snow and the most elegant bird she's ever seen. She could only assume this was a swan, from the stories shes heard. She was lucky enough to collect a fallen feather from it without getting too close.

Her youngest siblings were next, and she hoped they liked their gifts too. They had been through so much, and they deserved to know that they were loved here. @Halfpaw recieves a pretty purple flower she had found, one that she thought would look pretty on her. @THORNPAW recieves the wings of the most beautiful moth she had ever seen, a soft green color with tails resembling their own. @Laurelpaw. gets little yellow flowers she had found in the marsh that still persisted through the frost, thinking they would look nice woven into his fur.

After she had finished her siblings, she began to dispense her gifts to the rest of the apprentices.

@Muddypaw recieves the biggest snail shell she's ever seen! It must have belonged to a powerful snail! @NETTLEPAW gets a cool rock she had found, round in shape with a pale stripe through it. @Briarpaw. recieves the feather of a bluejay, and her siblings, @SCREECHPAW and @Sweetpaw , recieve another pretty rock and a goose feather respectively. @newtpaw recieves a hawk feather she had found in good condition. She thought it was SO cool. @POPPYPAW recieves a snail shell not quite as big as Muddypaw's but still an impressive specimen. @BASILPAW recieves her favorite rock of the bunch, it was white and sparkly, like snow that didn't melt! @DEERPAW recieves the feather of an owl. It's colors reminded her of his own. @COMFREYPAW recieves a pretty red feather. @LIVIDPAW recieves the best crow feather she could find. @MURKYPAW recieves another fine specimen of a snail shell. Flintpaw recieves a moth wing, yellow and brown with little freckles on it. She thinks it's pretty cool. @Snowpaw. recieves a blue jay feather. Garlicpaw thinks it would look nice against their fur.

Now that she has conquered the apprentice's den, she moves to tackle the warriors den.

@smogmaw gets his first, the BIGGEST mushroom she could find. And it was safe, too! Because if it weren't Garlicpaw probably wouldn't be here right now. @MIREPURR , her mentor, gets the prettiest, shiniest raven feather. @Skunktail recieves the first bone of the evening, a rabbit skull she had taken from the unfortunate corpse of what was now crowfood on the thunderpath. She cleaned it up, and here it is. Rosemire is next on her hit list, and is lucky to recieve a rock from the stream nearby, smooth and round and a nice, earthy shade of orange. @SERPENTGRIN recieves a moth wing from another pretty specimen, though it was a darker colored moth rather than green. @Needledrift recieves another well kept crow feather. @scalejaw recieves an owl feather, Garlicpaw thinks it's fitting because Scalejaw is tough and owls are tough. @Maggotfur. recieves a brilliant red feather, thinking it would look striking against the white on her pelt. @ROOSTERSTRUT recieves her favorite flower, an allium. It's round and purple and brings her so much joy, she hopes it brings him joy too! It's the garlic flower! @lilacfur recieves a brilliant red feather. Garlicpaw knows she's hurting form Siltcloud, and she hopes this warm red feather makes her feel better. @Flamingmoth. recieves a moth wing, brown in color with an eyespot on the wing. She HAD to get him a moth wing. She looks to @pipit !! next. She doesn't know anything about Skunktail's new kids.... But he seems like a fun cat, so she found a pinecone that was the PERFECT shape and wrapped a pretty yellow flower around it and placed it in his nest. @Hawk gets a bone. It's a bird skull she cleaned up. @SNIPE recieves the same as Pipit, a nice shaped pinecone with a yellow flower wrapped around it. @FORESTSHADE recieves the same, but she had made sure to put EXTRA flowers in the pinecone so it would smell nicer for her!

In fact, she had so much fun with these pinecones, that she had made more of them with various other plants and put them in the rest of the warriors nests. All of them had a flower from what flowers remained, and happy with her work, she moves on to the nursery.

@FERNDANCE recieves a snail shell with markings that swirl. Garlicpaw wanted to get her a bone originally, but she felt with recent happenings that it might be innapropriate. And her kits, and any other kits in the nursery? She made SO many mossballs. A frightening amount. There were so many that she even asked one of the guards to help her bring them to the nursery. She hopes the kits have fun with all the mossballs.

And then, she goes to the medicine den. She had picked the prettiest blue bird feathers for @STARLINGHEART and @Magpiepaw. Starlingheart has been through more pain than Garlicpaw could ever imagine, and she feels there's no gift in the world that could make her feel better. Magpiepaw too, he had said he was unhappy here. That made her sad. So she thought and looked real hard for something special for them. These feathers are from a kind of bird she likes to look at, the round, fluffy birds make her feel warm and fuzzy inside. Happy. They were food, but they were also kind of cute. So, she plucked the nicest, most vibrant feathers for Starlingheart and Magpiepaw, hoping that they will bring them joy too.

And finally, @CHILLEDSTAR. She found a cool rock for them... It was a charming, lumpy shape and it may not be anything special, but it had moss on it as if it had its own pelt. It was almost too big for her to carry, but if she got her mouth around it JUST RIGHT she could manage. She looked silly with this rock in her mouth but it would be worth it! She even stuck a little flower into the moss to make it look pretty! She sets the rock by Chilledstar's nest

Her hard work was done.... She was proud of herself! She bounces back to her nest in the apprentice's den and curls up, eager to see everyone's reactions when they find their gifts.

((MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE UR ALL WONDERFUL AND I APPRECIATE U

if u didnt get tagged im so sry u still got a garlic present i was mostly going off of the census and those i knew from the top of my head in an attempt to get Everyone ue ))​

 

[APPLEJAW]

Applepaw is an early riser; accustomed to a rigorous training schedule. Silently, she shakes her limbs in a lengthy stretch; muscles freeing themselves from their stiffness as much as they could without smacking any of her surrounding clanmates. When cream jaws part in a yawn, through the pinch in her eyes, she catches a glimpse of color just outside her nest. Pale pink and yellow. There is no sun to reflect off of them just yet. Applepaw opens her eyes.

A water lily, left practically at her paws. The placement... perhaps too obvious to have been an accident. She blinks. Once, twice. Was it vain of her, to wonder if she had an admirer? No, that couldn't be true, for she looks across the heads of cats, and sees something lain at practically every ocupied nets. Bits and bobs. Things from nature. She looks to see if anyone was conspicuously out of place... but that didn't seem to be true. There were no obvious suspects...

Though she could really only think of one or two cats that would bother with such a thing. Were the warriors gifted too? The queens? The elders?

She breathes in the scent, and she supposes that it did not matter. It's... refreshing. Calming, she might even say, were it not for how things have been lately. And beneath that, if she strains, she may even think she catches a familiar scent of a sibling. Applepaw would find Garlicpaw in her nest, sleeping soundly. ...Perhaps it was an assumption, but not a farfetched one, she doesn't think.

Applepaw drags the gift deeper into her nest. It's fine enough, she supposes with a curl of her lip.

( one track mind, one track heart ) ༊ ( if i fail i'll fall apart )

• 
  

• 

• ( CAUSE I FEEL LIKE I'M THE WORST, SO I ALWAYS ACT LIKE I'M THE BEST ) APPLEPAW. apprentice of shadowclan. eldest sister to swanpaw, ashenpaw, and garlicpaw. ( + thornpaw, halfpaw & laurelpaw )
  —— she / her; confused by the use of others.
  —— currently 9 moons old as of 12.20.23. ages every 17th.
  
  longhaired blue torbie with a white chest, paws, and underbelly. A young cat you would describe as " bossy, " Applepaw is quick to take charge of any situation she sees herself as the probable head of. Naturally talented, and a rule - follower to a T, she thinks herself better than the majority of her peers. Not ignorant enough to think herself above a warrior, but seeks to gain that status as quickly as possible. Intensely self - motivated to be the best in a mixture of blind, childish desire, and never wanting to be afraid of anything ever again.

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[NETTLEPAW ♡]

For Nettlepaw, the stone did not smell of a sibling, or of anyone in particular... he was not a refined enough tracker for that level of nuance. He knew at the very least his gift had come from a Clanmate, though surprise kept its place in his gaze as he examined it. As he had awoken it had rolled under his foot like a dislodged clump of mud- but no, it was much prettier than mud. Much much much prettier, in fact. Boring old grey in colour, at first glance- but round like an eyeball, with a little streak of lightning running through it.

It would make a good hero in a story, he thought. He pushed that notion away, into a place only he could see it. A private place where all his stories dwelled.

Striding out into the early dawn, bright-eyes and ready, Nettlepaw carefully balanced his wonderful gift on the back of a snowy paw and beamed to rival the sunshine. "Now..." he began, scoping the surrounding faces. "It can't just be me who got a little trinket from some... dove-hearted drop of starlight shine, could it?" A ridiculous thing to say, but he beamed like it was- and it was- the truth, indeed.​

penned by pin ♡​

 

[THORNPAW]

Having hit a spike of busy work, Thornpaw was utterly exhausted, snoring away in her nest comfortably. As she stirred to life beside her denmates, she whined softly, forcing her paws to wiggle and clamoring slowly from her cozy bed. Better get going. I don't want my new mentor taking my ears. Shaking off the last remnants of sleep, she began to exit when a flash of green caught her eye. Hm? Looking at the other side of her bedding, two lovely wings sat stacked up on one another.

A curious twinkle shimmered in the blonde feline's gaze as she leaned over to investigate. The scent of Garlicpaw was written all over it, and for a moment, Thornpaw was stumped, staring silently at the pretty twin wings laid at her side. Her ears perked as Applepaw dragged an item into their nest. Oh. It's a gift. Alas, she connected the dots, and an unfamiliar sensation washed over them pleasantly.

With delicate paws, she brushed the moth wings closer and tucked them above her shoulder, nudging them into place as they locked with her barbary coat. There we go, that's a nice spot. Thornpaw's heart swelled to life, fueled by the quiet purr rumbling in her chest. Rejuvenated, the apprentice made a quick exit from the den and into the clearing.

Spotting Nettlepaw murmuring to themselves while balancing what appeared to be a rock on their paw. Looks like she's been busy. A small smile danced on her face as she got ready to start the day ahead, passing by the snowy tom with her tail raised high and her gift displayed proudly. I'll have to thank her later.​

 

[FERNDANCE]

Ferndance's nest was a notorious tip. Rhyme and reason had abandoned the placement of half of the things she had 'borrowed' from others, it seemed almost impossible to keep track of everything - for the scatterbrained cinnamon tabby, her den was one of the only things where she knew where everything was. When emerald eyes fluttered open for the first time that day, she had not expected to see a new addition to her hoard, and the thought send a cold lick down her spine. If she hadn't awoken to someone placing something there then... StarClan, would she have awoken if someone had tried to steal her kittens in the middle of the night? Ash and bile rose in her throat and she did her best to swallow it down, wrapping her tail comfortingly around her form. "It's not as fun when I'm just given the thing I want..." She tried to reason her icky feelings away as something else, when stealing was half the fun of having a hoard, it almost seemed boring to not have the opportunity. But that didn't sound entirely fair, someone had thought of her and given her something, that meant something in such tumultuous times.

An exhausted smile settled upon her pale muzzle. "Thank you mystery moggy..." she eventually mewed, swiping the snail shell closer towards herself. It was pretty, a reminder that she would have to find some more of them when her imprisonment was lifted.

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[Wheattail]

Standing in stark contrast to Ferndance, any cat could mistake Wheattail’s nest as not having ever been slept in. Moss and straw was always perfectly padded down, a nightly ritual to make sure nothing ever looked errantly out of place. A single insubordinate straw wouldn’t be tolerated, so why would any trinkets? It wasn’t as if the warrior wasn’t sentimental, but memories were her treasures, and she never saw the need to have them take physical form.

That was why when the autumn-hued cat awoke to find a similarly-shaded feather sticking straight out of her nest, amber eyes reflexively narrowed in annoyance. Wheattail was about to swipe the thing away, raising a paw to strike at it, but thankfully Garlicpaw’s scent broke through sleep’s haze just before she did anything rash.

Was this…a gift? The Somali lookalike was stunned on two fronts. First, she wasn’t used to being…given things, as embarrassing as it sounded. Living with a large family which seemed more concerned with hunting than each other followed by a long stretch of solitude as a loner meant that Shadowclan was her first exposure to this sort of thing. Secondly, this was Garlicpaw. The cat was creative, funny, but not - Wheattail let out a soft chuckle as she pictured a miniature mud monster in her nest instead - refined was the word she eventually decided on. Garlicpaw did not seem refined enough to give a gift like this.

And yet, she had. Amber eyes searched the warriors’ den, looking for potential witnesses among the still-sleeping cats as Wheattail gingerly took the feather and tucked it under herself before drifting back to sleep. “Thank you…” She mumbled.​

 

[SCREECHSTORM]

Screechpaw's nest — though haphazard in it's creation — is soft and comfortable in its near lack of trinkets. Other clanmates, he knows, carry treasures in their nests, like Eeriepaw, with his ... strange bird skull. The only prize Screechpaw takes claim to is that of what Magpiepaw had shared with him, an upward toss that floated the obsidian feather at the nursery's mouth.

That is, until he wakes one morning with a rock placed precariously beside him, safe between his curled form. Split-shaded eyes blink at the glinting gift, bewilderment at its presence. He doesn't remember bringing a rock back, doesn't remember setting anything in his nest. The scent that shrouds it is familiar, though, he isn't sure if it's just the apprentice den he's smelling, as he rises to his paws and carefully picks up the rock. Someone must know where it came from, right?

He steps out of the apprentice den, spotting cinnamon fur, another rock balanced upon a paw as Nettlepaw speaks his ever-strange words. He got one too, then? He sets his rock at his peer's paws, motions for him to look at it.

" Look! I got one too! " he says, face scrunching as he looks at the trinket, " From your... dove-drop star-whatever. " What did it mean, both the rock and the fellow apprentice's words? He isn't sure, but he can't help the spark of joy he feels from the sudden gift — he supposes he'll keep it, leave it in his nest alongside his feather. ​

✦ ABOUT

• 

  SCREECHKIT ‣ SCREECHPAW
  ── Apprentice of ShadowClan
  
  ── Forestshade x Vulturemask
  ── AMAB; He/Him
  ── A black/red tabby chimera with mismatched green eyes.
  ── Mentored by Chilledstar
  ── "Speech"; Attack​

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[lilacfur]

Lilacfur certainly hadn't been expecting to receive any special gifts out of the blue, but when she found herself waking beside the new appearance of a soft, scarlet feather. As she glanced around the den she noticed there were many little trinkets and oddities she hadn't seen before as well, but it carried the scent of one particular excitable apprentice.

"Looks like quite a few of us got visited by this special starlight." She mused with her nephew. He had gotten a rather impressive stone, might make a good decoration. For now Lilacfur had tucked the red feather into the curls at the base of her tail until she figured out where to place it later. "The warriors den is absolutely full of them."​

[ i need the clouds to cover me ]​

 

[LIVIDSMOKE]

It was early when Lividpaw awoke from his sleep just like any other morning. After he had done his morning stretches would seat up in the nest and only then did he pay attention to the crow feather that lay at the front of his paws. Blinking he would stare, no emotions shinning in his stormy blue eyes like usual. He was sure it had not been there when he went to bed last night. At first he thought it most have been Basilpaw who had dropped it there like some sort of gift...his brother had done so in the past so it would have made sense. However, the feather lacked the scent of his brother and he had returned back to his nest after Basilpaw had. Because of that it made little sense for it to be them.

It didn't take long for them to notice he had not been the only one who had been gifted with something in their nests. For a while he just observed as one after the other of his denmates awoke to their gifts. Finally his eye rested on sleeping Basilpaw and his nest noticing them too had something white laying inside their nest. Whatever this was suppose to mean Lividpaw decided to not think any further on this. He had training later this morning and he wished to eat before then. So without thinking any further on who it might have been or the feather itself Lividpaw left his nest and just walked outside leaving the crow feather behind.






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[Halfsun]

"SPEECH"
When Halfpaw awakes, she smells the floral perfume from her gift tickling her nose. Her eyes fly open and she sneezes. Surprised, she turns to the source and finds a purple flower resting on the edge of her nest. her first thought is that Nettlepaw, her closest friend, must have given it to her but when she turns to the cinnamon pelted tom she notes that he too has been the recipient of a gift. Next her thoughts float to her littermates, but they too have their own items.

Her eyebrows knit together, puzzled as she reaches a paw out to gently touch the petals. It was a gorgeous flower, one she would happily wear behind her ears for as long as it lived but... She wants to know who had given it to her. Other cats react similarly, murmuring grateful words to whoever had been kind enough to adorn all of their nests with gifts. Nettlepaw even goes as far as to call the gift-giver a dove-hearted drop of starlight shine, which elicits an amused snort to escape from her nose. Screechpaw, it seems, is inclined to agree.

When she looks around at the other apprentices, takes notes of who had gotten gifts she notices that nearly everyone was waking up to something in their nest. Everyone, that is, except her sister Garlicpaw. Immediately she is able to guess what had happened. Her sister, the cat with the kindest heart of any other she has ever met, had given out gifts to all their clanmates. How long must it have taken her? She wonders. She does not say anything, doesn't want to out Garlicpaw if she did not wish to be known, but she does look her way and smiles brightly as she fastens the flower behind one of her ears.

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