camp LIGHT THE FIRE BRIGHT // victory/departure

[butterflytuft]

// This takes place the dawn after all battles have been fought and won!

Butterflytuft had hardly been able to sleep. She knows it's not real, but she swears she can almost hear the screeches and battle cries of her clanmates, of all who fought beside them. And as always, she is useless, this time for good reason, at least. Plump with kits, she rests in the unfamiliar nursery, pressed close in the tight quarters to her fellow queens. She doesn't know how, but eventually exhaustion finally takes over and lulls her to sleep.

When she awakens, the dawn's light is barely visible within the tenebrous den, the tendrils that build up its walls so impressively bound. Still, enough makes its way through the den's entrance that she knows it is morning. Her tiny form slips from its depths, lemon eyes blinking against the light as she scans the camp. Rustling near the entrance, however, draws her attention, ears pricked. Is it...? Yes!

"They're back!" She trills, soft voice still managing to carry with it a rare excitement. The tortoiseshell moves swiftly towards the cats that flow steadily into the camp, her eyes widening as she takes in the array of wounds they bear. But the light within their eyes tells her they had won. The clans had been victorious against the lawless rogues. They could go home.​

 

[SOOTSTAR]

Sootstar rises onto her paws at the sound of a large patrol approaching. Boasting and triumphant voices could be heard mingled with mews of pain and sorrow. As they trickle back into the makeshift camp she looks for her deputy with eager eyes, were the rogues gone? Could they at last return home?

” @SUNSTRIDE , @WOLFSONG …” She calls for the two, once her gaze finally finds their rosette pelts she is swift to inquire. ”We are able to go back home now?” She looks both the deputy and medicine cat up and down for injuries.

☾ INFO BATTLE

• >> I am assuming Sootstar is to be at the burnt sycamore since she’s not been permitted inside camp.
• 
  » Soot ․ Sootstar
  » WindClan Leader
  » She/her ․ Mate to Weaselclaw
  » Tiny blue smoke she-cat with green eyes.
  » "Speech" ․ thoughts ․ attack
  
• 
  » A high-stamina foe who can be difficult to hit.
  » Excels in quick, short moves.
  » Fights to kill and maim
  » Fatal attack of choice is an underbelly dive.
  » May powerplay minor harm. Can powerplay healing

​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

◇────────────【☆】★【☆】────────────◇​

XXXXXBlazestar’s eyes glow with victory—but his tail drags the dust, and his paws are heavy with exhaustion and grief. The battle had been long and had spanned four territories, and Brightflame’s death still weighs on his broad shoulders. The Ragdoll’s smile is tremulous at Butterflytuft’s triumphant yowl, then turns to Sootstar and wordlessly nods, animosity dissipating like mist in a sunbeam between them. “Every Clan can go home now,” he murmurs. “I’ve come to help you and Howlfire back to camp—I heard she’d kitted?” He had not had the opportunity to meet his grandchildren yet, and it’s to his chagrin he must do it in this dismal place of shadows and foreign foliage, but at least now he can help bring them to their rightful home.

XXXXXAfter a moment, Blazestar looks for Chilledstar’s pale blue gaze. “SkyClan thanks you for your generosity,” he rasps. “We will not forget ShadowClan’s mercy, nor will we forget the way the Clans fought at our side. But it’s time we return to our own territories now.”

XXXXXHe turns to search for @SILVERSMOKE , @Johnnyflame and @TWITCHBOLT . “We’ll need to help the sick, too, and there’ll be kits to carry now. We’ll need all our warriors and apprentices helping.” He regards his council with warmth before turning to the task at paw.

─────────​

​

 

[MAPLEPATCH]

”Thank StarClan!” Maplepatch exclaims from where she sits with Foxkit just inside the nursery. Gently she picks up the small orange bundle and pads outside, she is still tired from kitting but is more than ready to return back home. Both she and Foxkit will be more comfortable where they rightfully belong. Gently she sets Foxkit down in a dry patch of land and looks to a ThunderClanner who stands beside her, ”I’m so excited to be going home… The swamplands just aren’t for me!” Foxkit mewls as if in agreement, ”And it seems Foxkit agrees.” The queen purrs.

✦ INFO

• » Maplepatch
  » ThunderClan Queen
  » She/her ․ Mate to Seedspring
  » Long-haried chocolate tortie with amber eyes.
  » "Speech" ․ thoughts ․ attack
  

​

 

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

Snakeblink stumbles into Shadowclan’s camp, his body heavy from exhaustion and aching from the battle. Most of the scratches and bites he sustained were light enough to have stopped bleeding on the trip back to the marshes, but he is bruised from nose to tail, or so it feels like. The victory hasn't even registered yet: he's too tired to feel relief. He considers taking a break as his paws bring him within the safe confines of the bramble-circled camp, but if he sits now he will have to be carried back home — and he came here for a reason.

”We will need to help the sick across the river,” he rasps to his nearest clanmate, swallowing a sigh. ”And the kits… ah. Could anyone fetch @willowroot?” He is not going to worm his way past the brambles protecting the nursery to grab all the kits out of their nests if he can help it; stars know he might accidentally bite one’s head off.

Echoing Blazestar’s words of thanks with a deep nod towards the vague crowd of Shadowclan cats, he drags himself towards the medicine den — to his apprentice and their plagued clanmates. He likes his chance of carrying them better: though they’re heavier than kits, they wriggle a lot less.​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely ​

ooc. information.

• going to help the cats out of the medicine den!
  
• — Snakeblink • he / him. 46 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  
  
  

​

​

 

[Softsight]

Softkit felt groggy as one of the strange queen's voice pierced through her slumber, but the she-cat's words were enough to have any remaining layer of sleep thrown off. They're back, are the only words that matter to Softkit, and she pushes her way to the mouth of the nursery, looking furtively outside and into the ShadowClan camp. If they were back, surely that meant that everything had gone according to plan and everyone was alright - and that meant that Softkit would get to see Whitelion again, and they and Vixenkit and Spiderlily would be able to go home.​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

Johnnyflame was unusually quiet on the way back.

The fight had gone well for the most part, their attack successful in cleaning out the last of the rogues and opening the doors for them all to return home.

Or at least, those that were left.

His jaw clenched at the memory of Brightpaw, bleeding out as Blazestar gave her a proper name. She'd fought like a warrior and she'd deserved to die as one- but not this young. Not like this.

Brightflame walked in Starclan now, and Johnny couldn't help but bitterly think that it should have been him instead. She was just a fucking kid.

Blazestars words snapped him from his thoughts, ears flicking back at the words all our warriors and apprentices helping. Not all of them, he wanted to say- but didn't.

"Aye, sir. Let's get everyone home." agreed the bloodstained tomcat, moving off to make himself useful.

OOC- killed a rogue and then saw his apprentice die, so he's not the happiest boy right now.

---

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

The swamplands, where the mud pulled as heavy as grief and its sullen atmosphere was matched only by the oddities of its inhabitants. Silversmoke drifted through it, the struggles wrought by wounds and long fur overshadowed by the sheer fuckery he had witnessed on what was supposed to be his deathbed. Creatures that claimed to be his siblings (no, they were his siblings, StarClan how he recognised their expressions and demeanours as if they'd separated only yesterday) saving him from a prolonged expiration, Brightflame's death had been an unfortunate afterthought in his pounding head as he tried to make sense of their arrival. Anakin and Tffany, lost to Twoleg machinations, suddenly upon SkyClan's territory, not only happy to shed blood, but happy to seemingly wear the stench of their owners on their pelts. Only Auburnflame was supposed to know of his heritage, what his words meant when he said he couldn't trust cats that allied with those against SkyClan's best interests. No stares were upon him that day, joy and grief had left little time for gossip on a Lead Warrior's personal life, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before he had to start answering uncomfortable questions.

Distracted, he almost didn't catch Blazestar's words at first, blinking rapidly towards the leader as he tried to decipher what remained of the Ragdoll's orders. "Thank you, ShadowClan." The soldier dipped his head, gratitude sincere. Their living arrangements had been poor, but it was better than nothing, something he'd been willing to offer RiverClan in a heartbeat. Something he would still offer RiverClan, knowing how his fishy friends had so easily led the rogues to their camp. "May we never meet again outside the full moon." He couldn't do this again, twice SkyClan had almost been lost, his heart would escape from its cage should there be a third time, he was certain of it. Silversmoke limped forward, eyes squinting with any step that caused pain to quake up his right leg. He looked for SkyClan's kittens — StarClan, Tiffany and Anakin? Really? — then for their sick — 'I should cuff them, running into battle like that. Mousebrains, they could've gotten themselves killed'' — and his nostrils flared. There had been rare moments where he had realised how much he'd missed having someone; siblings curled up watching fireflies dance across the night sky, the pride as a parent watched their child gain their warrior name.

He could have it too, wanted it too, so why did he feel so... resentful? Throat arid, Silversmoke tried to concentrate on what was in front of him, he was needed, he had to be present, but for the first time since joining the clan, the tabby found himself in need of a break. The promise of respite was there, he told himself, he just needed to travel a little longer. "Right, these kittens will be delicate, only pick them up if you've been told to by a Lead or Blazestar. The rest of you, find SkyClan's sick and help them to their feet. We have a long journey, but all of us will make it home." A promise.

​

 

[DARKWHISKER]

ੈ♡˳ . ° ✦ Labored breaths puffed through flared nostrils, still obstructed by the metallic tang of blood, Darkwhisker limps into ShadowClan's camp. Battered from nose to tail tip, blood crusting the claw marks across his shoulder. They had won, but he does not wear a triumphant expression; their victory had been earned through violence. Even though there had been no other option… Remorse gnaws at him in the aftermath.

Why must it always come down to unsheathed claws and bared fangs? He would defend his home and his family, no matter what… But Darkwhisker longs for peace to prevail.

Snakeblink rasps something to him. Darkwhisker is snapped from his thoughts, turning his head to the lead warrior. His movements are sluggish. The adrenaline and the determination have ebbed, leaving him feeling worn down.

The sick. Darkwhisker seems to stir a bit at Snakeblink's mention of the sick. Yes, of course. He's missed Mudpelt and Steepsnout so much since coming to the marsh… Even if they're delirious with fever, Darkwhisker looks forward to seeing them again, at least.

"I'll help my dad and Steep-" The realization hits him like a violent wave crashing over his head. Steepsnout isn't here anymore. It is saltwater to the wound, stinging him so sharply that he jerks back as if he'd been physically struck by his own words.

"…My dad. I'll help Mudpelt."

Others around him begin to offer their thanks to ShadowClan. Darkwhisker's ears perk marginally, his dull eyes finding the shadowy fur of Chilledstar. That's right... Despite the ache in both his body and his heart, he manages to force a small smile. ShadowClan deserves their gratitude for granting them sanctuary. "Thank you. The stars will sing their appreciation for ShadowClan's kindness." His words, though tired, are genuine. If it hadn't been for Chilledstar's generosity, none of them would've had a place to take refuge at.

✧　°　.　✶　.　°　✧​

ooc information

• —
• 

  DARKWHISKER — HE/HIM ･ 17 MOONS ･ RIVERCLAN WARRIOR ･ PENNED BY NICO

  tall, lithe dusky brown tom with splashes of white. a cheerful tom who tries to put a smile on the face of everyone he talks to, darkwhisker's life is devoted to spreading positivity in a world full of negativity. though his words may be fanciful— and coated in the sugar of white lies, at times— he is a well-intentioned, albeit overly idealistic, young warrior.

​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Through the dull buzz of victory, Twitchbolt could not help but still feel a little bit miserable. What they were trudging back to, injured, asa camp still brimming with sick on the brink of death. If the journeying cats didn't return soon, wouldn't all of this- this striving to take back their home be for nothing?

Twitchbolt desperately didn't want his head to start wandering down those pessimistic paths- he fought the thoughts quite desperately, face contorted into a light, quavering frown. All over, all over he ached and in his heard he hurt- the pain of creeping hopelessness was difficult to fight off. But- but, he wanted to be happy, and he should be, and so let the tiniest glimmer of hope ignite in pale olive eyes. When Blazestar looked to him for guidance, he nodded, slowly but surely.

Thanks were extended to ShadowClan, and Twitchbolt backed them up. "Yes- thanks," and it was breathless but genuine, flowing out of him like a sigh would. Some relief lay deep within the quake of his tone.

Their sick... their sick. Heeding Blazestar's command, he trudged toward what could only be the medicine den. Wide eyes settled upon the ill, the light dim and their silhouettes- thankfully- still heaving with breath. "We're going home. Lean... lean on me if you need me." His voice was brittle and felt hardly his own. ​

penned by pin ✧​