camp LOOK WHO'S INSIDE AGAIN [✦] prompt, meal time

[TOADHOP]

Once, it was a rarity to see Toadhop on his own. When he'd first arrived in ThunderClan as a kit, he often sought out the company of his siblings — his littermate, first and foremost, and then the new, older sister who'd brought him to the oak forest second. Everywhere they went, he went too.

But company didn't last long. As an apprentice, it took more effort to seek them out — each off on their own, training to be warriors, being warriors. When he could find her, he'd join Ragwortpaw in conversation, listen to her share what she's learned in her day of training. When he can, he still tries to join Roeflame in conversation, tries to ask how her day went, to speak with her friends like they're his own.

It's difficult, now. Roeflame is busy — always busy — with her new promotion, with Burnstorm, with both. And Ragwortpaw...

He's on his own, more often than not.

He holds a squirrel between his jaws, eyes scanning the camp for silvered fur, only to no avail. Busy. Roeflame is always busy now. Maybe he can share his meal with her a different time, then. Toadhop supposes he should find a place to settle down and eat his squirrel alone then, but his gaze still lingers, still shifts across the clan. Other clanmates sit around eating their own meals, maybe he should join them? He.. should, right?

White paws shift, stepping toward a group sitting off to the side of the camp, only to stop. They'll judge him, he thinks, make him feel more out of place than what he already feels as he stands alone in the middle of camp, still holding prey in his jaws. He looks silly, he knows, fear-frozen like this.

With a sharp exhale through his nose, Toadhop finally turns, opting to settle alone under the shade of an oak tree. ​

✦ ABOUT

• // PROMPT: Toadhop used to cling to his siblings in social situations, but the only one he has left is now a lead warrior. How does he navigate these situations without Ragwortpaw and Roeflame?
• 

  TOADKIT ‣ TOADPAW ‣ TOADHOP
  ── Warrior of ThunderClan
  
  ── Cinderfrost x Grime
  ── AMAB; He/Him
  ── A brown tabby and white tom with blue eyes.
  ── Mentored by Stonepool
  ── "Speech"; Attack​

​

 

[FALCONHEART]

Seeing clanmates taking their meals on their own never fails to strike something within Falconheart. He remembers spending many meals alone during the early months of his apprenticeship, eating and hoping that someone would take pity on him and settle down nearby. But most of the time, that hadn’t happened, or it was only a family member who joined him as he ate. So now, when the young warrior spots Toadhop move away from a group of cats in favor of esting by himself, he is quick to stride over to join the other tom. As he stands before the brown tabby, he shifts nervously from paw to paw, tail flickering back and forth behind him. He doesn’t know the other warrior too well, but he knows if it were him, he’d want someone to come over and offer their company. Of course, not everyone in the clan shares the same opinion as him, but it’s worth a try, isn’t it?

He hasn’t brought his own meal along with him, deciding not to eat anything until he’s caught more prey for the day. He shouldn’t have his own meal before he’s caught enough to make sure the rest of the clan is fed. But that doesn’t mean he can’t sit beside the other tom while he eats, and maybe have a calm conversation while he eats. "Hey, Toadhop. Can I… uh, I was thinking you looked like you’re alone. Is it okay if I maybe sit here, too?" He flashes the other tom a bright smile and tips his head, attempting to seem welcoming.​

[ find me way out there ]​

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[Acornwish.]

ACORNPAW — how could I fear any hurricane?
Acornpaw was accustomed to eating in solitary, her peers often drifting to their own groups and family- and the others who chose to sit alone did not always seem so approachable to the sandy apprentice.
Ivy optics are promoted side-ways as she watches Toadhop settle down nearby, and while she wasn’t eating herself, Acornpaw couldn’t help but feel a bit miffed that her space was intruded upon.
Toadhop was nice though- from what she got to know of him while he still resided in the apprentices den, one of the more approachable lonely souls.
After a few moments of pondering, the chimera finally picks herself up to warily venture over.
"Hi Toadhop, hi Falconheart." Acornpaw greets with a curt nod towards both of the warriors. Wrenflutter would be proud of her proper greeting, she thinks. Besides, surely two new warriors would want to revel in their new names as much as possible… Acornpaw knows it would be all she’d want to hear.
"How’s warriorhood treating you?" She is quick to serve them the prompt, casting a curious look in both of their directions.
Is the warriors den better than the apprentices…?

"speech"
​

♡ —

•  

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[SPIDERLILY]

to be reborn , you have to die first .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

His muzzle crinkled, watching the three with a brief look of annoyance, succumbing to peculiar indifference with a drawn-out huff. It wasn’t a crime to sit alone, eating peacefully without the chatter of another clanmate, but it was practical when he was looking to steal the skull of someone’s eaten prey. “You should get used to being alone.” He muttered casually, sweeping a plumed tail across the ground, body propped against his mate’s sleeping hide. “Being alone isn’t awful.” He breathed grumpily. ​

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thought speech​

 

[Shinebug]

Shinepaw didn’t know Toadhop well, but it seemed the two might’ve been somewhat alike. Sky-blue eyes watched from their own self-imposed solitude as the warrior waffled about in the center of camp, looking for someone to eat with before resigning himself to the company of his own thoughts. It was a feeling the ball of fur knew well.

Not wanting to be judged, preferring to act like a piece of moss that occasionally hunted prey, that was what Shinepaw had become thanks to his own anxieties. However, as the apprentice witnessed a small crowd of company form around Toadhop, he couldn’t help but scoot forwards himself.

Shinepaw approached with his own prey, eyes firmly downcast as the boy sat next to Falconheart and quietly listened to the conversation. The shaft of sunlight was content like this, at least until Spiderlily spoke up. “Eating with people is better than by yourself…” Shinepaw mumbled after a moment, ignoring the fact that he’d just been doing that. “Conversations make food tase better…at least, that’s what I think.” Sky-blue eyes flicked towards Toadhop, wondering what the other’s opinion was. “Being alone isn’t awful, but it depends on why you’re alone, I guess…”​

 

[TOADHOP]

The brown tabby doesn’t expect much when he settles beneath the oak tree. He expects to eat alone, of course — he’s opted to by going over here in the first place. So, he can’t help the surprise that arises when his first bite is interrupted. Cerulean eyes go wide, a blink following as he looks up from the squirrel to meet Falconheart’s gaze.

“ Oh! Uh — “ Falconheart wants to join him, really? Toadhop quickly nods, shifting to allow for some room under the tree’s shade. “ Sure! Do you… Do you want a bite? I don’t think I’ll be able to finish this, and all — “ The squirrel was meant to be for him and Roeflame, but since his sister isn’t around, and someone’s asking to sit with him, he might as well share, right?

His gaze shifts from the cream tabby to another face who’s come to greet them. Toadhop blinks again.

“ Hello, Acornpaw, “ the tom greets the fawn-furred apprentice with a nod of his own. He didn’t expect this — conversing with others — when he’d come to sit over here, not one bit. The brown tabby’s head tilts to the side in contemplation of the apprentice’s question. “ It’s been… Uh… It’s been good, yeah. Any developments in the apprentice den? “ He doubts there’s been much. It hasn’t been all that long, really, since he’d shared a den with the younger.

And at Spiderlily’s voice, a frown begins to pull at his maw. Get used to being alone? Toadhop thinks he’s already getting used to it. “ Well… Well I — I was going to eat alone, “ he offers quietly, as if he’d done something wrong by sitting off to the side in the first place. His gaze shifts to Shinepaw, another face to join him. He dips his head in greeting at the apprentice’s defense.

“ Roeflame’s busy, “ he feeds into Shinepaw’s questioning with a small shrug. She’s a lead warrior, of course she’s busy. “ But, I’ve eaten alone before — it’s fine, really. “ It should be. According to Spiderlily, at least. ​

✦ ABOUT

• // this is DEFINITELY not late oops
• 

  TOADKIT ‣ TOADPAW ‣ TOADHOP
  ── Warrior of ThunderClan
  
  ── Cinderfrost x Grime
  ── AMAB; He/Him
  ── A brown tabby and white tom with blue eyes.
  ── Mentored by Stonepool
  ── "Speech"; Attack​

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