IS THERE MAYBE ROOM IN YOUR TEMPORAL LOBE? ✧⭒ homesick?

[CHALK]

⭒✧ / sorry yall this is backwritten to sometime in the forest- i hope thats ok!

While the grounded, limited horizon the woodland provided was more familiar it was still a far cry from Skyclan's territory. Leaves simmered above them, sweeping edges and broad faces much larger than the needles of the pine forest. Dense undergrowth pressed flanks with insistence, a reminder to step carefully- who knew what else wandered within it? Chalk found the sensation uncomfortably similar to their group's time underground, able to dismiss it only with a breath of fresh air and glance towards the canopy-crowded sun. For the most part though, it was easier going and knowing Four Trees was ahead of them instead of at their tails was a good motivator.

The ivy-bound weight of the lungwort in the daylight warrior's mouth had long grown numb but in the wake of thinking of their destination he was reminded of its importance. As much as he'd tried to tie his selfish inclinations to the clan's plight in volunteering it was clear now how separate they were or should be. Little Wolf's death and all the near-misses gave him a truer grasp of mortality. Exploration was a byproduct, not the goal, and really he'd been stupid to see it otherwise. You couldn't learn if you were dead.

Struck by the need for pine scent and the needle corridors of Skyclan territory, Chalk loped up the nearest tree. It would be good to see his clanmates again, cure at paw. It'd be good to be useful again too- the daylight warrior had failed in every attempt to catch anything in this terrain. The thunderclanners proved invaluable with every passing day. His tail hung low, a silver strand.

"I think I'm missing home." The admission fell oddly, but any lapse in presentation was swallowed up with a warm blink to the nearest cat. Was it wrong that Skyclan felt more like home than the twolegplace did- that he wanted to return there most? Pressing past the thought, the oatpelt tom tacked on, "Are you looking forward to being back?"​

⭒ ———————————— ✧⭒​

 

[hazecloud]

The SkyClanners, at least the most of them, had proven to be good company many times over in their travels now. When the uncertain alliance between their Clans had come, she didn't know what to feel at the time. Her perspective hadn't changed much from the aftermath of the Great Battle, how Rain's colony had nearly driven all their numbers out to starvation. That they were invaders, spreading ill will across her home.

But time had begun to heal the scars that the Great Battle had scored across Fourtrees. Blazestar was a worthy ally when it counted (even if his refusal for aiding Sunningrocks was low), but the cats he chose to represent his Clan were fine figures of their capabilities. Not just former housecats blundering through the trees and clumsy in discovering how to hunt, but proper warriors that could protects and defend their home. That lived honorably under the watchful eye of their starry ancestors.

Somehow she has fallen in step with Chalk while the ThunderClanners led them through the thicket. Lungwort had become to hang heavy in her jaws for so long she worried her mouth might permanently remain open-mawed. Her worries were swept away as the tom moved aside.

I think I'm missing home. A low sinking feeling bubbled in the shared wistful memories of home. Hazecloud dropped her bundle between her paws, her head turned slightly. "I never had to intention to leave forever. I came here so that I would still have a home to come back to." After all of this, she might never want to leave again. The trials of this journey had certainly pushed her beyond her limits several times over... they were good lessons to learn, she would later realize, but perhaps enduring that once in a lifetime is good enough. ​

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

Chalk is familiar. Sharppaw did not like him— he is weird— but he is weirdly familiar. Familiar is comfortable. If there is something Sharppaw can trust him to do, it is to talk in that weirdly stiff way of his. I think I'm missing home. Polite, that's what it was. Sharppaw was not. He was not missing home at all— and yet he looked forward to it all the same. His eyes are narrowed with purpose; that thing rare and strange.

And a reply, I never had to intention to leave forever. Isn't that what they all had said? What they all had said when Sharppaw had asked what he'd asked? That's what we came for... That's what we're meant to do. He knows that. Of course he knew that. Did they think him stupid? He is anything but, he would show them. Want and meant are rarely the same. Rarely. " And then what will you do? " They believed they could change the world— and what would they do after? Return to who they've always been, how things have always been? Sharppaw wasn't sure if he could. No, he wasn't sure.

ooc ⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆ look, see, isn't it interesting? no, you're not even listening...

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• ( IS THAT NOT BRAVE ENOUGH FOR YOU? ) SHARPPAW: Mentored by Smogmaw
  —— he / she , no pref , icked by they prns ; fine with gendered terms ( tom, molly, etc... )
  —— currently 15 moons old. warrior ceremony delayed due to lackluster progress.
  
  a dark smoke feline that stands at an above average height. Easily identifiable by her namesake – an unruly mat of fur, destined to be cluttered by inconsistencies between her chimera fur. Burdened with a broken tail. Recently, she has realized it can still function, though she has wholly believed in its utter uselessness for so long that it cannot without great effort. Anxious, antisocial, paranoid. Sharppaw has not known peace for a single time in his life, and lives anticipating inevitable dangers to the detriment of herself and others.
  — Obsessed with the perceived 'game' within ShadowClan, the rules of which she is unaware of. Striving to be someone more likeable due to this.
  heavy ic opinions! he sucks.

​

 

[DUSKPOOL]

anger makes you stupid . stupid gets you killed .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

In a familiar, but unfamiliar environment that reminded him of the coiled passageways blanketed in grueling darkness, Duskpool trailed behind the group. Taking in the sight, Chalk propped up against one of the great oaks, Sharppaw and Hazecloud offering their own input, each vastly different from the next.

What will you do? He didn't have an answer to that, doubted any of 'em did then the same mundane answer, because what else could they say? None of 'em knew what they'd be returnin' to and hell maybe—Whatever was left of it. His brain helplessly supplied. To even humor the idea was baffling, but it wasn't out of the question, was it?

His kids were at the front of his mind, hoping to starclan they'd be there when he stepped paw into that camp that was more of a home than anything else. If he made it there, Duskpool would be damned if he didn't tell 'em how much he loved them.

"Don't think any of us know, kid." He rumbled, referring to Sharppaw's question. To return and split from cats that they'd known for more than a moon seemed daunting, but Duskpool had little attachment to any of them. A good thing. He wanted to believe. It wouldn't make it difficult to leave when they inevitably left to their own clans.

He had little reason for joinin' this journey, although a few of the SkyClanners probably had a suspicion. He didn't leave in the best mindset and still wasn't, but Duskpool made peace with it. "Just glad we're headin' home." He left after that, padding further ahead. ​

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thought speech​

 

[FERNGILL]

Fernpaw didn't know quite how well Sharppaw was going to take Duskpool's manner of calling everyone kid. The tense kinship between them about their shared extended apprenticeship made Fernpaw figure that they might often share opinions about things, but- Sharppaw had an odd way of being unreadable, odd flickers skittering across her expression, and that made him unable to be sure. Until he'd realised Duskpool just did it with everyone- even Bobbie, who couldn't be that much younger than him- it had stung a little bit, reminding him of long-suppressed inferiority. Did Sharppaw feel the same?

Swallowing, he chose to just ignore his wondering, sidling up to Chalk's side and bumping his shoulder lightly. The fawn tom was familiar enough, nearly-a-clanmate, there Fernpaw felt comfortable with it. He shone a grin like a beam of sunlight toward the Skyclanner's face, and his tone took on a bit of humour as he said, "I'm just focusing on getting out of this forest, for now."

It was a little bit of a lie, but a harmless one- pale and small, white as snow. He couldn't deny he'd looked a little bit to the future- to what would come next. To life with the cure, where he could laugh boisterously at Steepsnout's side again, and Mudpelt would at last have a different apprentice. ​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[Orangestar]

𝐵𝑈𝑇 𝑇𝑂 𝐴 𝑊𝑂𝑀𝐴𝑁, 𝐵𝑌 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐸𝑁𝐷 ✧ 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐋𝐋 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀

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  — orangeblossom | tags
  — she/her ; deputy of skyclan, mentoring eveningpaw.
  — scarred white-and-ginger she-cat with brown eyes.
  — "speech" ; thoughts
  — chibi by waluigipinball
  — penned by mercibun. @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots.
  
  

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Orangeblossom has never truly been a cat to succumb to blind idealism, the promise that it would all be okay when she knows with four seasons' knowledge how merciless Clan life can be-- yet, throughout this mission, she has refused to consider the thought that they might be too late. She has not spared time to entertain the idea of a decimated SkyClan, a hollowed-out shell of itself left stranded to the fates of Tallulahwing and Sheepcurl. Even now, she chases the image from her mind.

"Probably what I had been." She muses in response to Sharppaw's question instead, her meow muffled through the stems of lungwort clutched steadily in her jaws. Duskpool and Fernpaw have both already answered the ShadowClanner, though both of their responses are vague. Her tail flicks, deciding she would elaborate. "Sorting patrols, mentoring my apprentice, and helping Blazestar prepare SkyClan for whatever's next."

Her thoughts linger on home, realising with a deepening frown that this really is the longest she's been away from the pine forest in her entire life. She doesn't remember the brief stint with which she'd stayed with Alice's twolegs at birth, some thirty-five moons on from the event; and ever since then, she's never really left the Pines' canopy for more than a day.

Does she really miss it, though?

Of course, comes the answer, faster than she could ever anticipate. Of course she misses her home. She'd been born and raised among the pines, a Colony cat and now a SkyClanner. She misses her kits, especially having come so close to losing Cherrypaw. Glimmerpaw would no doubt be making great strides under Johnnyflame's dutiful guidance, and both Eggpaw and Hiccuppaw under their respective mentors too. Whenever she catches sight of her eldest, she finds herself sending a prayer skyward for the safety of the little (well, not-so-little, though still so young) calico's littermates.

Speaking of littermates ... she misses her own sister so much that it aches. Apple Stem had been so earnest in her promise to look after their kin, and Orangeblossom knows she'll never hear the end of it if she comes home to find them all safe and sound. When she comes home to find them all safe and sound. She finds herself looking forward to it.

"Do you think the twolegs that hang around your night-den are wondering where you've gone, Chalk?" She finds herself asking the daylight warrior, meeting his gaze curiously. In her thoughts she doesn't realise that she'd never answered his initial question, though her lengthy silence likely speaks volumes for her. As far as she knows he doesn't have a single twoleg family he takes care of, not like Alice does. Would his situation be any different?
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