sensitive topics I FOUND A REASON &. "abandoned" kit

[ORANGEPAW.]

WE WERE PLAYING IN THE SAND​

---

//cw: for blood, implied death/unintentional abandonment


all around the mulberry bush...

there is a certain level of cold that reaches under the thickened kitten coat of the orange tabby. he's tired, and caked in dried crimson, but he's been a good boy! he's done exactly as his mommy told him. she seemed really serious as she set him in hiding within a fallen log. she didn't look very much like herself but he didn't know that. not at all. all he knew, is that he was to stay right here until she came back! he has no idea how long ago that was.

the monkey chased the weasel...

he remembers it all. every single step his mom took to put him here. at first, it was a normal day! well, as normal as it could be for the two of them! she was hunting, and trying to show him exactly what to do. it looked like fun! she crouched to the ground, and told him to pay attention to exactly what she was doing, and he did! every single movement. every bunch of muscles. everything! he was really good at listening, like that! he watched from behind a bush as his mother pounced on a mouse, completing the kill swiftly and returning and dropping the mouse. he remembers being really excited about it! he was hungrrrry!! she wanted him to try, however, for his own catch.

"it's okay if you don't catch anything. i just want you to try, okay?"

he nods his head.

"okay! i can do it!"

he swears. he did exactly as his mama did. it was easy to follow her steps but... he didn't quite know what he was looking for. he knows the smell of prey, but not how to follow it. how to find it. his mother isn't far from him, he can still the occasional step on a leaf that she does purposefully to make sure he knows it. but... what happens next is kind of a blur. he doesn't really know why he doesn't remember. he has an excellent memory! his mom says it all the time!! all he knows is one moment he is trying to practice hunting, and the next his mom is scooping him up and running really really fast in the opposite direction!

the monkey stopped to pull up his sock...

she's breathing so heavy and she was bleeding! he wanted to say something but she insists she fine. she shoves him in the hole and crouches down, offering a swift lick to his cheek, eyes soft, even amongst the panic.

"i will be back as soon as i can. don't go anywhere. wait until I get back. I love you."

and then she's gone. he doesn't know how long its been. all he knows is that he's been waiting like a good kit for his mom to return. but he's getting so hungry, and so tired. he sleeps when he can, and he ate whatever was left of that mouse they caught. but... it's gone by now. he's hungry. he wonders when his mom will be back. he misses her. but ahe said she would be back and he has no reason not to believe her! so, he would wait! he could wait!

pop goes the weasel.


//tldr: nameless kitten is covered in his mother's blood, sitting inside of a log and waiting for her to return. she's dead and he has no idea he's been waiting for two days for her to come back
​

 

[Sproutberry]

Day in and day out the routine of being an apprentice was something that Sproutpaw had gotten used to quickly. Patrol, train, eat, sleep, repeat, he enjoyed the knowing of what was going to happen in the long run rather than being surprised daily on what would happen. Even if it was something different he was training in on the daily he knew that training would happen, whether he run across cats on patrols to the border or not he knew a patrol would be happening. What he was never prepared for, even despite the fact it seemed to happen often and had even happened to himself, was finding a kit within the territory, abandoned in one way or another.

Even if he could prepare himself for that he was sure that seeing a kit covered in blood was not something he would ever get used to.

The smell reached his nostrils first and with caution the apprentice had moved with his patrol, ears pricked the best they could to make sure there wouldn't be a cat coming towards them. When the scent led them to the log the young feline had looked around for a moment before peering over to see the blood-covered orange pelt of the tom-kit and a frown pasted itself quickly onto his maw before a step back was taken. "Guys there's a kit over here!" Quickly the apprentice would speak, looking back towards the kit. Though he felt sorry for the other and knew that they would more than likely take him back to the camp, there were no words of reassurance offered towards the young boy, just a sad look before turning away to wait for the rest of the patrol to catch up.

AN ANTHEM OF DEATH ๑ SINGS OUT A CRY

• -- mentor tag @BIGFANG

• 

• ๑ SH chocolate tabby/lilac chimera w/low white, heterochromia, folded ears
  ๑ rarely talks, listens to conversations
  ๑ 6 moons old; ages the 20th every month
  ๑ bisexual biromantic ; interested in no one
  ๑ currently being mentored by Bigfang
  ๑ not easy to befriend/interact with; slow to anger, slow to calm
  ๑ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ๑ easy in combat due to age
  ๑ peaceful powerplay allowed

​

 

[COPPERFANG.]

It was becoming a more regular occurrence to find abandoned kits in their territory - it had happened multiple times over the past few moons, and it was unfortunate every time. He was not a parent, and therefore he could not understand the circumstances that may make a cat leave their kit, but there was a mix of good and bad reasons, and many unfortunate situations layered on top. This, certainly, was one of the most.

As it became warmer, prey became more abundant, and it was a wonderful time for apprentices to learn to hunt. They would make mistakes, of course, as apprentices were expected to, and in a season like this, it would not mean that the clan would go hungry for one missing piece of prey. Before he can begin to instruct, though, he hears Sproutpaw call from a distance about a kit, and hunting would have to wait for now. He quickly follows the apprentice's voice, and immediately the smell of blood drifts his way, and once more he begins to fear the worst. Still, if Sproutpaw had not said anything, surely the kit must be alive - his pace quickens, and he comes to the log to look. Seeing the blood coating the poor kitten's fur sends a pang straight to his heart - first, they must make sure the blood does not belong to this kitten, though, and he carefully reaches into the log to pull the kitten out to inspect him worriedly. Of course, he was no medicine cat, so if the kit was wounded, there wouldn't be much that he could do, but at least they would know whether or not to fetch Gentlestorm.

// app tag @roaringpaw

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎IT'LL HELP YOU : ̗̀➛ SOME SUNNY DAY ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• speech, thoughts, actions
  

• 

• ☼ SH chocolate ticked tabby tom w/amber eyes
  ☼ 47 moons; ages every 3rd, npc x npc
  ☼ cis male he/him; bisexual, not purposely looking
  ☼ currently mentoring roaringpaw
  ☼ peaceful & healing powerplay permitted
  ☼ easy to befriend; will not start fights, will end fights
  

​

 

[freckleflame]

her days have been passing in a slow, syrupy haze ; time growing thick and slow with grief. she hides her time with patrol — with hungering, with training, with anything other than thought or reminiscence. the sun dapples bright through the tree line, illuminates the greenery she sniffs through in search of prey. she finds little, save a particular.. odor. something sour, like aging carrion. her maw parts to comment on it only seconds before bigfang’s apprentice shouts towards them, ” a kit? “ she echos questionably, curling her tail around bravepaw to urge him silently forward alongside her. she is hyper aware of his pawsteps, of his proximity and her ability to shield him should the kits mother be skulking about somewhere. memories of fallowpaw’s mother ring uncomfortably in her head as she approaches the apprentice where he sniffs at a fallen log.

freckleflame approaches on slow, heavy paws, lowering herself to peer past the cracking tree bark and into the small hollow where, sure enough, a kitten sat. spiked crimson with blood, browning in clumps where it had dried and grown old — she does her best not to gag at the scent, using the tremble in her throat to blurt a clumsy, ” umm hi. “ when evergreen eyes meet his own wide, youthful gaze. but copper fang is already pulling hm out without a word. gross. ” eugh, ‘least talk to the kid first.. you don’t know what’s could be all over ‘em. “ she mutters low so the kit wouldn’t overhear, wrinkling her nose a little despite the crease of worry at her brow. he was filthy, though his scent had rotten from whatever oily substance that thistled his ginger fur darker ( she prays she does already know what it was ).

swallowing hard, she blinks towards the kit again. she tries not to think of ginger fur, too bright eyes, a tender smile when she crouches to his height — as best she could with her bulk, anyway, ” i’m freckleflame. can you tell me your name? do you remember how you got here? “

𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙼𝙴 𝚂𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙴 -`☀︎´- 𝘗𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘌 𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘠 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘈 𝘞𝘏𝘐𝘓𝘌 𝘕𝘖𝘞

• i. @bravepaw : ̗̀➛ prentice tag
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  FRECKLEFLAME 𖦹 . LESBIAN, SINGLE. SMELLS LIKE SUN - WARMED OAK AND RICH, EARTHY MUSK. TWENTY MOONS OLD. FRIEND & SISTER TO MANY! NAMED A WARRIOR OF THUNDERCLAN ON 8 / 3 / 2023. MENTORING BRAVEPAW! PENNED BY ANTLERS --------------------------------------------
  
  she / her, eldest daughter of rabbitnose and the late sunfreckle. big, fluffy cream - ribboned tortoiseshell with seaglass eyes. larger than life! each and every part of her is broad ; wide in everything from her face to shoulders to her feathered tail, something reminiscent of her father’s kittypet heritage in the square of her chin and hulk of her figure. she appears illusionarily fluff - ridden at first, thickly pelted in shades of fire and soot, long & tangled, knotted with undergrowth — seeming soft and pudgy, and she is.. that figure curving into hard, hidden bulk along heavyset flanks and well - muscled limbs. a characteristic lack of personal space leads her to a slouching, touchy posture, often inclined to lean or bump against her peers.
  

  

  A LARGE, ATHLETIC MOLLY. somewhat brutish in the wake of her family's staggering loss, bull - headed and hardy with something to prove, freckleflame will often find herself in border disputes as an unsurprisingly formidable opponent. a slow but hard & heavy hitter.

  
  

​

 

[roaringsun]

❝ IF I COULD BURN THIS TOWN ✧°.☀ ————————————
HIS HUNTING LESSEONS WERE INTERRUPTED BY SPROUTPAW'S VOICE. His ears perk up at the mention of yet another abandoned kitten in their territory, and he swiftly follows after Copperfang to investigate. Was it such a common occurance?

The stench of blood hits his nose, and he instinctively covers his face with his paws. Roaringpaw hadn't yet gotten used to how strong the smell was, his expression contorting into one of disgust. "Do you think his parents left him here? Is the blood his?" He questions his thoughts aloud, wide brown-amber eyes looking at the kitten with concern and curiosity.


"speech" thoughts
OOC: -

[penned by nocthymia - ☀]

———————————— ☀.°✧ I WOULDNT HESITATE ❞ ​

​

 

[ORANGEPAW.]

WE WERE PLAYING IN THE SAND​

---

there are a lot of pawsteps that surround him. at first, perhaps, he thinks that it's his mom! she finally came back! so, he stands and moves to leave the log but the muffled voice stops him. whoever that was, it wasn't his mom! he twitched his ears before sitting back down, staring ahead with a wide smile on his kitly featured. he doesn't quite get what happens next because one moment he's just watching and waiting, and the next he's been tugged out of the hole he was told to wait in.

"huh? oh! hi! hi! whatcha doooing!?"

his body is being inspected, a cold nose running through his fur making his giggle, smiling widening.

"that tickles! hehe!"

his ears perked up as the big tom cat stops, and a she cat comes over, crouching to be the same height at the sitting kitten. oh! he knows what to do!

"hiiii!"

he chirps happily. totally nailed it. he listens to her speak with a tilt of his head, big round eyes of green blinking slowly.

"hi frrrreckleflaaame! i dunno what that is!"

he doesn't know what is name is. he's never been told it... if he even has one at all. still nothing seems to bother him. he just speaks with a happy and genuine smile. his ignorance is truly bliss.

"yeah! my mom put me here! she was running from something after she wanted to teach me to hunt! oh you wanna see! my mom said it was purrrrfect! lookit!"

he stands up on slightly wobbly legs, giggling for a moment before he lowers himself to the ground in a very dramatic pose, somewhat akin to a hunter's crouch.

"like thiiiis! and then she picked me up and started running really fast! like this!!"

he bunched his muscles and picked up a small twig before running in circles around the two warriors before tripping over his own paws.

"oof! im oooookay! ow ow!"

he lifted his paw that had a small splint within it but he just shook his rather big paw before putting it back down.

"she put me riiiight there and told me she loves me and to stay here for her to come back! and then I waited! and waited! annnnd waited!! and nowwww... uhm... oh! you guys are here! hiii!"

he had a really good memory! and he was really good at telling others what he remembered! he did a good job, he just knows it, so maybe that means his mama will be back soon! he's been a good kit! didn't good kits get their mamas back?

​

 

[COPPERFANG.]

The kit's words and behavior are enough to answer Roaringpaw's questions, so Copperfang doesn't bother, only giving his apprentice a grim look—thankfully, the blood was not the kit's, but apparently it was his mother's, from the sound of it. Many of the kits that had been picked up by ThunderClan in recent moons had been crying, wailing for their mothers—but not this little ginger kit. He seemed delighted, despite the blood that coated his fur, but he couldn't imagine that his cheerful attitude would remain when he realized that his mother would likely not be coming back.

That was a conversation that Copperfang did not really know how to have. "Well," He begins slowly, glancing at Freckleflame, "I know she said to wait in that log, there, but it isn't very safe out here for kittens. Even kittens with perfect hunting crouches," He adds gently in an attempt to keep the mood as light as it could be in a situation like this, "but we have a place not too far from here where you'll be safe and warm, and we can get you something to eat. You must be hungry and cold, aren't you, little one?" Despite the number of kits that were around, he knew that there was really no chance of Howlingstar refusing to take on another, especially in the case of a tragedy like this.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎IT'LL HELP YOU : ̗̀➛ SOME SUNNY DAY ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• speech, thoughts, actions
  

• 

• ☼ SH chocolate ticked tabby tom w/amber eyes
  ☼ 47 moons; ages every 3rd, npc x npc
  ☼ cis male he/him; bisexual, not purposely looking
  ☼ currently mentoring roaringpaw
  ☼ peaceful & healing powerplay permitted
  ☼ easy to befriend; will not start fights, will end fights
  

​

 

[braveheart : ̗̀➛]

☀ . ° ✦ Bravepaw's a bit distracted in today's patrol as the countless scents of newleaf pass through his senses. Bravepaw never got to see newleaf before, being most familiar with leaf-fall (his favorite, since he was born in it!) and leafbare. Many of the older warriors and apprentices recalled newleaf when it was cold, clinging onto the memory for warmth when the air was so frigid.

It smells like... something new. Duskbird had told him, and now that he's right in the middle of it all he understood now what it meant. He hadn't known what 'sunshine' could smell like until he sat in its warmth, soaking it up like a growing sprig. It was so different from the sunbeams that shone during leaf-fall. So similar to an embrace, instead.

As he semi-wandered around the patrol, taking in every fresh sprout and vibrant color of blooming flowers he made sure to at least stay close enough so Freckleflame could see him. It's not his mentor that had him returning to her side, though, but in fact his fellow apprentice. Sproutpaw's found a kitten! It smelled odd too, like the Owl Tree that night. He slowed whereas Freckleflame approached, an feeling of apprension weighing his paws in place.

"Oh, StarClan." He gasped in a soft murmur at the sight. This kit looked like it tumbled through a warpath all by himself!

✧　°　.　✶　.　°　✧​

ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  BRAVEPAW — HE/HIM ･ 7 MOONS ･ THUNDERCLAN & APPRENTICE ･ PENNED BY beatae!

  A Longhaired chocolate tabby/blue tabby chimera with deep blue eyes. Very thick coat that has started to grow into long, wispy curls. Developing into an awkward stage of kitten uglies as the rest of his body grows and changes. Severe scars from owl talons stretch across his shoulders and another that starts from his back down his left thigh.

​