heart heart head ➺ carved pumpkins, prompt

[doepath ࿔]

The lush scenery grows more colorful with each passing day... the leaves dark, flee their homes to float listlessly down to the forest floor... and then ultimately slumber. Only to be kicked up by the parade of paws that come trouncing down the path. Today was perfectly normal in most senses... just a leaf-fall afternoon surrounded by clan-mates preparing for the inevitable freeze on the horizon. What could they do but hope for the best and continue their routines? Doepath struggles to remember the last winter she'd endured... Shrouded by a healthy dose of fear, an exhausted mother struggling to make sure they remained fed... and then.... Fallow disappearing into the frost.

The glimmering of an odd light in the distance summons her interest... she'd grown quite familiar with these trails, needing to in order to prevent tripping at any slightest rise of the dirt. These were not apart of the typical ambiance... "What is that," she asked, turning towards her patrol-mates with far better sight than her own. Her nose scrunches in an effort to get a taste of the breeze, wondering if it might be some odd creature she'd never encountered before... There's nothing meaty about the scent... instead... a warm, ashy note. Is that... a fire? Her face falls into a confused frown, slowly creeping closer with her tail tucked low out of nervousness. "Do you think it's dangerous?"

What eludes her memory and does not come together neatly in her blurry vision... are a host of pumpkins, gouged of their shells to mimic different shapes. Some remain with candles alight though others, extinguished by a wayward breeze and hollow... a nice hiding spot for a mouse maybe.

please dont leave me ➺ in the dark

• group 7: carved pumpkins
  @Meadowpaw @vixencrown @WOLFPAW

• DOEPATH
  fourteen month old warrior of thunderclan
  she/her fawn sepia with low white and yellow eyes

 

[leafhusk]

days become shorter, the chills bring goosebumps on her skin, and branches twist and turn when they become bare. leaf-fall is creepy, undeniably so, and leafhusk isn't sure why she feels that way. twolegs begin to have more fun the second the leaves change color. she could hear them yowl happily into the night, her owner used to put little decorations on the shelves… she dreaded the one night every cycle where the doorbell would ring for what seemed like hours. twoleg kit screeches felt like nails on a chalkboard.

her eyes catch sight of the ominous glowing from afar. she sniffs the air, too, realizing what it is. "oh! i know what this is. they're harmless." she says, cautiously bounding ahead. if the pumpkins were around, than that means twolegs were close by. thankfully, their scent wasn't picked up, but she doubts they'll linger here for long, anyways.

"twolegs put these out every leaf-fall. i don't know why! but they go nuts for these weirdos." leafhusk raises a paw and pushes on one of the pumpkins gently, admiring the carved out shapes that glow. "they have shapes on them! look."

⚘

​

 

[Tybalt [Stagstrike]]

Tybalt stood just behind Doepath, offering a small nod as Leafhusk assured her that they were harmless. "Leafhusk is right," he agreed. "They do this every year. They can't really hurt you. Just don't tip over the ones with the fire in them and you'll be fine. They'll rot the longer they sit and then the mice and squirrels will come and start eating them." He remembered the pumpkins vaguely from his kithood, his parents finding easy prey gnawing on the carved gourds. "Who knows why the twolegs do anything, but it'll make for easy prey if they leave them out here alone for a bit."

 

[ORANGEPAW.]

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- he is eager to go after doepath. he just wants to make sure she's okay, so when he realizes that she has already left, he skips after her, as fast as his paw can carry him before he trips over himself, falling to the ground with a grunt. he blinks as he looks at what they're looking at, tilting his head, and pushing himself on his paws. gently he nudges against doepath with a soft purr in greeting before turning to look again. his eyes narrowed as he tilts his head further, falling over again with a small laugh.

"oh, they look silly."

he rolls fully over so he can look at them upside down, as if trying to get the full picture of what it is that he's looking at. he's not too sure, to be honest, but if leafhusk is one thing, she's smart, so they must be harmless, right? they smell awfully funny, though. he wonders why the twolegs even do such a thing? seems like it's not doing much of anything, except attracting curious cats. he stands up and pushes the lid off of one, staring at the unlit candle. fire must have gone out. his tail sways and he climbs in, getting nice and comfortable. you know what they say. if he fits, he sits.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── honestly, i thought that i would be dead by now ⋅❁⋅ calling security, keeping my head held down──┐‎

• 

• 
  ORANGEPAW ✩ he/they, apprentice of thunderclan, 11 moons.
  ⭃ rather large polydactyl orange tabby with white markings, green eyes, a broken left hind leg, and scars on his face and right side
  ⭃ npc x npc // no known family. mother is deceased
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ not necessarily great in battle. semi easy to attack due to lack of experience alone.
  ⭃ penned by scar ↛ @salemdraws on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[FALCONHEART]

𓍊𓋼 The changing of the seasons always comes as a shock to Falconheart. The change is gradual, day by day, but it seems that he's just suddenly woke up and realized that things are all different. The leaves were just green yesterday, and now they shine in every shade of orange and brown. Bugpaw and Littlepaw have yet to experience the coldest season, but the recent chill in the air is their first taste of it. As they meander along, the cream tabby glances over to the younger duo, a smile settled comfortably on his muzzle. His attention is drawn away from them, however, when Doepath's voice rises in a question. What is that, she asks, and the tom turns to look in the direction she indicates.

He isn't sure what he's expecting, but it certainly isn't… a bunch of pumpkins. They've been… mutilated? At least, it looks like they've been sliced into, their fragile innards exposed to the open air. In some of them, firelight glows—for a moment flames dance behind his eyelids, black smoke coiling into the air and blocking the sky. He blinks harshly, ears swiveling back to lie flat against his head. "Stay back until we know it's safe," he murmurs to his apprentices, fluffy tail flickering nervously. His head tilts to the side, and the tom takes a hesitant step forward. The others don't seem as cautious as they should be. Quickly though, Leafhusk speaks up to assure them all that the things are harmless. Despite the fire that flickers within them, Stagstrike pitches in that the pumpkins can't hurt them, somehow.

The lead warrior strides forward confidently and shoves at one of the pumpkins; it doesn't react in any way, and finally Falconheart allows his tensed shoulders to relax. Orangepaw approaches the things just as fearlessly as Leafhusk, leading the cream tabby to step closer as well. "That doesn't look comfortable at all," he says, face pinched. Orangepaw is a kind enough apprentice, but it doesn't seem like he thinks very deeply before making decisions. What if he'd sat directly on one of the small fires that are contained within some of the pumpkins? It could be dangerous, no matter how harmless Leafhusk and Stagstrike claim these pumpkins are.

heaven knows 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 how hard i’ve tried

• ooc: apprentice tags @LITTLEPAW @Bugpaw !
• 
• FALCONHEART ❯❯ he/him, thunderclan warrior
  ⭃ shorter than average cream tabby with white spotting. seems gloomy and has few friends, but is a hard worker and never neglects his duties.
  ⭃ son of flamestar and flycatcher ; brother to stormfeather, ravenpaw, bugpaw, sunpaw, squirrelpaw, sparrowpaw
  ⭃ mentoring bugpaw & littlepaw
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  ⭃ penned by foxlore

​

​

 

[sunshinespot]

Sunshinespot wanders alongside Doepath and the rest of the patrol, looking no different than a lost puppy in truth. He minds the borders, minds his paws, but he doesn't put his all into the venture (truth is he rarely does.) With cats like Falconheart and Leafhusk trotting about with them, he doesn't have the need to be on high alert. Even with the vague threats from ShadowClan the mottled tom feels calm and unbothered.

His mate brings attention to the pumpkins just ahead. Sunshinespot blinks once, twice, and before he can go for a third, their existence is explained by the lead warrior. Whatever fear he might've had is extinguished swiftly, and any temptation for it to return is smashed beneath a paw as he watches Orangepaw climb into one. A rough laugh barks from his throat, "'rangepaw, y'look just like it. Same color 'nd everythin'...!" the warrior chortles, tail sweeping around his form as he takes a leisurely rest.​

 

[Softsight]

Softsight peers at the carved pumpkins curiously from her spot near the rear of the patrol. She'd encountered these things once before, not long ago, but not in the state that they were in now - then, she'd watched from afar as the younger, more daring cats had smashed in the hard outer shell of the pumpkin, giving way to spilled entrails of seeds and gunk. But these were different; they were cleaned out rather nicely of their innards, and had seemed to be set up with some care.

"I have to say, I prefer them this way than when they're full." She commented. Stagstrike mentioned that in enough time, they would begin to rot, and bring prey to them in droves - perhaps ThunderClan would need to keep track of the pumpkins for spots to hunt when the Leafbare came. "The fire seems so dangerous. Twolegs really are reckless things."

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎OOC ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎ .ᐟ.ᐟ INFO ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• !

• 

• SOFTSIGHT ✩ warrior of thunderclan, fourteen moons
  → peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  → penned by Archivist → .archivist on discord.

​

 

[ivorypaw]

Ivorypaw had been only two moons when her housefolk had given her and Mother away to the woods. She'd never seen a pumpkin — inoffensive smelling and looking, to her, but strange, plump and almost blindingly orange. The white she-cat tastes the air; there's the subtle smoke, the tang of fire, but as Leafhusk and Stagstrike point out, the heat is well-contained and relatively non-dangerous.

Still, to see Orangepaw so carelessly approach one and fit himself inside... Ivorypaw frowns and shakes her head. "You're gonna get that gross stuff inside of it all over your fur," she chides. Something makes her uncomfortable about the situation, but then again, encountering Twoleg items always does. Forcing her to come face to face with the mealy-pelted creatures always evokes the word kittypet for her — and she could do without that reminder for the rest of her life, she thinks.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: mentor tag @PALEFIRE
• Adora . Ivorykit . Ivorypaw, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 8 moons old, ages realistically on the 16th.
  — mentored by Palefire ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a.
  — thunderclan apprentice. npc x npc, gen 1.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh white she-cat with curled ears and brown eyes. compassionate, righteous, naive, idealistic, self-doubting, self-destructive.

​

 

[TOADHOP]

In all honesty, he can't decide if twolegs like leaf-fall or hate it. It seems like all sorts of their strange ways decorate the outskirts of their territory now, like a new discovery is around the corner. Toadhop can't figure out why they do this — why the orange orbs some of the apprentices were playing with earlier in the season suddenly have faces, why they suddenly breathe fire.

Harmless, Leafhusk claims them to be. Stagstrike too. But why put them out, if not to cause harm?

" Is it to scare off their enemies? " he asks, an uncertain look cast upon the orange faces, towards the clanmates that draw closer to them. " Or... to mark their territory? " He isn't sure he wants to get too close until he knows for sure.
​

 

[vixencrown]

Leaves crunched underneath white toes, paws daintily pressing against the loud ground, trying to avoid as best she could to scare off prey as she awkwardly shuffled, narrowing her gaze at the leaves as more of a nuisance, despite the underlying beauty of it. 'Stop and smell the roses' was a phrase she could nearly scoff at. There didn't seem to be enough time to do such actions, rather with the cold that made her fur shudder- they had a lot to do, and the leaves of crimson and sunsets were to only bring on fret of the upcoming moons of hunger and even more work if not for their work now.

Vixencrown raised her slender head slightly as they approached and neared orange objects, laying out with designs carved out into them like a twisted display of 'art'. An ear flicked, recognizing the upcoming cats, but seeming to ignore them for now, besides pressing beside the cloud of fur that represents her sister, giving her a silent greeting and a gentle smile. "I envy your soft coat," she purrs, quietly, before bringing her attention back to her other clanmates. "It is getting chilly, quickly." She comments, before shrugging her shoulders.

Her gaze falls on Orangepaw, choosing to ignore it before pupils slit into crescents, and alarm rings through her voice. "That one has a cat in it!" Her usual practiced tone of calm breaking and cracking, the delicate undertones nearly a screech. "Orangepaw! Its not safe! What- what if you become one of these things!" Vixencrown takes a step back, eyes flickering between the apprentice and the carved pumpkin, before lifting a paw to point at the one she found, its flame crackling and burning behind the hole of an opening. ​

 

[WOLFPAW]

They stared awe-struck at the orange lights glowing in the distance, their tail lashing like a brake to stop them from moving any further towards it. "That's so cool..." Wolfpaw murmured, listening to tales of Twolegs as if their very life depended on them. One day, it possibly might. There was a commotion that caused them to smile somewhat, and, at Toadhop's questions, they did their best to answer with what limited knowledge they had.

"Light helps them see! I think? That's why they let the monsters eat them! Because monsters have light-eyes and..." They were no ShadowClanner, skulking about as if the dark was a second pelt, but their vision was certainly better than a Twoleg's... right? Wolfpaw's ears swivelled back, their orange eyes flittering towards empty air. "I don't know... it sounded better in my head."

​