sensitive topics loose lips sink ships | mean prank

[robinheart]

[tw; dead birds]

Leafbare left the apprentice den rather chilly, though it was warmer than being out under the stars. Robinpaw finds she sleeps deeper in the night, nose buried under her plush tail and body curled tightly against itself. But by dawn’s first light she typically rouses, her frame achy and begging to move to get her blood pumping and warmth circulating.

This morning should have begun as every other, though that would not be the case as soon as the tortoiseshell molly opened her eyes. Consciousness swirled behind sealed irises, her senses began to kick in, and immediately something felt off. Her nest felt crowded - a sensation she had not experienced since her kithood in the nursery. Then came the scent of copper and iron; an aroma that had only just left the territory after the rogue invasion and reclamation of RiverClan’s land. Warning alarms begin to ring in Robinpaw’s mind as she finally cracks open her eyes.

The dimmed den causes her pause as her vision acclimates but seconds later the apprentice lets out a scream and scrambles out of her nest in a flurry of multicolored fur and moss. Laying where she once slept were three dead robins, black unblinking eyes staring into the distance and fang puncture wounds leaking small amounts of crimson blood onto Robinpaw’s scattered nest and in some parts of her pelt.

Terror filled eyes and quickened pulse keep the poor apprentice glued to the apprentice den wall, her breath coming in sputters and body trembling at the shocking sight. Who could have done this? And why?

 

[Nettlepaw-]

NETTLEPAW ♂
RIVERCLAN
APPRENTICE
FOUR MOONS
BLIND IN BOTH EYES
BIOGRAPHY AND TAGS
APPRENTICED TO PIKESPLASH
PLAYED BY SHEOGORATH​

---

He tastes blood, feels the warmth of it across his fur, smells it within his nose. Though the boy is surrounded in darkness, he can feel the suffocating breath of countless feline bodies, screeching fury and alarm. The sound of claws ripping through flesh, teeth crunching down on bone... A scream shatters what's left of the dream, leaving the terror to bleed into the mortal world as Nettlepaw shoots up from his nest, talons coiling into the moss of his bedding as blind eyes flit through the den in a panic. As he scents the air though, he smells only the usual scents of the apprentice's den, along with that of a few birds. Robins, he realizes, sniffing the air.

"What is your problem?" Nettlepaw snaps, still trying to catch his breath from the sudden wake. "You got fish for brains?" The apprentice inquires with an icy tone, finally starting to calm his own nerves as fur lies flat once more. "Got enough problems as it is without some kittypet screaming like that, waking us all up." Oh, he's grumpy, in a foul mood to be sure. Fangs snap into the air as the boy marches up to Robinpaw with flattened ears and lashing tail. He wants to see what all the fuss is about, but as he feels around her nest with his large paws, all he finds are three dead birds. Seriously? Is she hiding this prey for herself? Ugh!

"You do!" The boy accuses sharply. She has fish for brains! "Weren't planning on sharing while hunting patrols come back empty-pawed? Maybe you got spooked by your own guilt!" Nettlepaw snarls, bristling once more, before he ducks his jaws toward the birds, "I'm taking these to the fresh-kill pile, where they belong." The apprentice's words cut through the air like sharpened daggers of ice, before he tries to arrange each bird so that he could pick up the three by their wings. Greedy fox-heart, probably wishes she was getting fat off kittypet food, the young tabby thinks to himself with a glare, marching out of the mouth of the den with the birds in his jaws.
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[valesight ➶]

⸙͎｡˚⋆ ⍋ ѧѦ ѧ⍋ ⸙͎｡˚⋆

Valepaw trots almost confidently into the apprentices' den, getting more and more used to being here. He misses the warmth of Apricotflower's nest... but it was getting easier to be apart from her. He has his mouth half open to spare a greeting to the two that are already there but- Robinpaw is visibly shaking.

And Nettlepaw is being cruel again.

"H-hey! Knock it off!" His shrill voice rises to a yell, a tone that does not match his usual somber, quiet tones. His spine practically bristles with anger, being forced to listen to such harmful venom from his den-mate. Robinpaw had been here the whole time! Had been in RiverClan longer than Valepaw had been! Was born here! "She was just asleep, sticks for brains!"

How could she have possibly stolen all those birds when she hadn't even left the den yet that morning?! Growling like a feral animal, Valepaw lets out menacing hiss, "Don't run from her you coward! I'll fight you myself!"

A sore spot... a nagging that had been chided at him over and over again. Velvetpaw felt it... had shoved that burden onto him the moment he could. The idea that 'outsiders' were not welcome here- well he had nowhere else to go... He was the one who'd been smuggled into camp in the dead of night like a secret. He was the one that should be treated like an outcast- just like Velvetpaw had said. He was the problem. Robinpaw wasn't.​

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[shellpaw]

she isn’t supposed to be near the apprentices den. not by any rule, per se, but the apprentices did not tend to take her presence well. she was easily tripped over, wet in the face and strange, and most of them simply tended to want their privacy. shellkit was enamored by the apprentices, though. they were bigger than her, and strong, and slept by themselves in a den just like the warriors den ( and she did, but they would do it alone. ). she is hanging around the corner, crouched to watch as valepaw enters and disappears into the shadows inside. shellkit can’t adjust her eyes enough to see, the snow so bright and stark around her, but she hears it.

the shouting starts, and shellkit is startled into a puffed stand. growling, hissing. panic is a feeling she hardly knows, and the fear sends her toppling forward, stumbling over her paws and onto her short muzzle before finally managing to go.

the lilac striped girl finds her, hazecloud, as quick as trembling stem legs would take her. she appears through the curtain of thistle cocooning the nursery, amber eyes alert and tail high. she has important news — but she has also slid into the nursery with similar drama before, to show the heavy queen that she’d caught a rolly-polly just earlier that same day. this time, though, she was even seriouser, ” they’re going to hurt eachother. “ breathy, as if struggling to catch her breath on every other syllable ; ominous, if she knew what that meant, ” in the apprentices den, ah.. they’re yelling. in there. “ and hazecloud would stop them from yelling, or being rude ; she did it to her like, all the time.

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𓇼 𝙎𝙊 𝙎𝙒𝙀𝙀𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙎𝙊 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝘿

• i. she’s tattling to @hazecloud >:3
  
  
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  SHELLKIT 𓆉 SHE / HER, KITTEN OF RIVERCLAN. KINDLING xx UNKNOWN, NIECE TO SMOKESTAR. 3 MOONS OLD, SMELLS LIKE SALT & RIVER BLOOMS. PENNED BY ANTLERS.
  delicate lilac - striped molly with sugarplum eyes she is pallid ; platinum splotched with ribbons of shell - touched cream, wisped ends like memories of a distant shore. feather breath and elderdown fur conceals a body worn fragile by tumultuous youth, too thin in some places and round with baby fat in others. her face is short - muzzled, framed half mast by eyes coined warm, sugared amber.
  
  currently exhibiting symptoms of whitecough. this includes a running nose, wheezing, sluggishness, and labored breathing. please keep contagion in mind.
  
  

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[Asphodelrain]

*+:｡.｡ Nettlepaw isn't the only one who wakes with a heart hammering in his throat.

It isn't often that Asphodelpaw feels he's done enough to warrant laying down. If sleeping was an option, he'd simply choose to never partake in the activity. He hates it, frankly. Mostly because nothing drives him more crazy than laying in one spot, doing absolutely nothing. His thoughts always storm the loudest when he's forced to still his paws, even more so when the goal is to relax, something the high-strung lynx views as a chore with no promise of fun in it - unlike collecting moss or getting prey for the kits and elders. At least he could learn stories and dodge needy children - sleeping, it was just him and the endless puffs of air from the kids around him. Close enough to make his pelt prickle but far enough to still be useless when he needs warmth.
No, he hates sleeping. His thoughts ran rampant while his body froze into a stiff icicle. It sucked.
And the dreams he had in those loose wisps of what could almost be called unconsciousness was nothing to enjoy.

Bubbles froth on his tongue as blood fills his nose. Wails from the dead pierce his ears, muffled by the water that strangles the last remnants of life from the clawing, reaching phantoms lunging to finish what they'd started with Asphodel...But with a trembling gasp, the boy holding his breath remembered that there hadn't been any smell of blood - there never is when you die drowning.
Blinking into focus, he watches dazedly as Nettlepaw howls at Robinpaw, who presses against the den wall with eyes wide in terror. Still half asleep (and the other half mending from shock) he struggles for a moment to piece together what was going on. Luckily his den-mates are happy to yell at each other the events that had transpired, with Nettlepaw accusing Robinpaw of hoarding prey while Valepaw argues that it had been planted.

"Valepaw dear starclan would you shut up" Asphodelpaw would hiss, rubbing a paw down his face. Rolling the stiffness out of his shoulders, the tom begrudgingly accepts that his allotted sleep time is now over, so he's not too upset to have been woken. Instead, he shifts his gaze between the three parties, lingering for a moment longer on Robinpaw before switching back to Valepaw.
"Let him go. He has a right to be mad for being woken up like that. Starting a fight solves nothing. Cool off" he can't imagine why Valepaw would want to pick a fight with a clanmate, especially in close quarters like these. But being a riverclan-born feline the idea of prejudice against him is a foreign concept.
At least, towards him, it is.
He looks warily at Robinpaw, wondering if the molly had stolen those birds for herself. After all, with prey being as scarce as it is now and Robinpaw's pampered roots, he wouldn't be surprised if a feline-like her wouldn't be able to handle going hungry. Still, he tries not to act without actual evidence - at least not while Robinpaw looks like she's about to pass out. Instead, Asphodelpaw inches close to her - hesitant for any reaction that she might now want to be touched or even near someone right now. "You uh...you okay, Robinpaw? Do you need to see Ravensong?"

Although Asphodelpaw firmly believes he isn't taking any sides, it's obvious by his lack of reprimanding Nettlepaw that he doesn't think the other apprentice did anything wrong.
After all, if you're gonna steal prey, you could at least do it quietly...
So much for not holding prejudice himself.

*+:｡.｡ Updated 11/22/23

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  GENERAL:
  ☆ Asphodelpaw
  ☆ DMAB— He/Him — Unsure
  ☆ 8 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ☆ Mentored by Crashingtide
  ☆ Riverclan — Apprentice
  
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ☆ Physically easy | mentally medium
  ☆ Attack in bold #9fc3fc
  injuries: None currently

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[Petalnose]

Bickering was heard from the apprentice's den, shouts back and forth. It was enough for her to get annoyed from her lounge beside the warrior's den, eyes tiredly blinking from the lack of rest and finish of tasks. A snarl flashed sharp canines as she heaved herself back up, storming into the crowded den with puffed fur of irritation. "Everyone shut your mouth!" A loud hiss was used in hopes to make the den silent for once, "I'll make sure you all are plucking ticks and changing nests if I hear this sort of unnecessary banter again! Kits you all are acting, it is embarrassing!" Eyes shift to the dead robins Nettlepaw moved to relocate, a hard glare placing on the blind apprentice and then shifting to Robinpaw. The puzzle pieces were starting to connect with an explanation and she blinked a bit softer, curiousity taking place in her fiery expression. "If I find whoever wasted such food for this joke, I will discipline them. This is disrespecting the code." Comforting in soothing tones wasn't normally Petalnose's way of reassuring but the words were made to make Robinpaw feel justice would be served. "I'll let Lichentail and Smokethroat know of this so we can keep a lookout for who is wasting their time bullying you instead of making their filthy paws work on their tasks and training. Ridiculous this all is. I don't want to hear this again." The molly shifted a harsh glare of warning on Asphodelpaw, lashing her tail in impatience. Only worse they were all making this, escalation was sure to come without the older interuption. She swore all the fiery apprentices would melt leafbare away, maybe then the lead warrior wouldn't intervene.

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[hazecloud]

The politics and dramas of the apprentices den was rather lost to Hazecloud entirely, not one to keep up with it in favor of those closer to her age and ranking. Apprentices were much like the wind in which they changed direction between who they liked, hates, or padded after. Aside from that, gossip among the apprentices was certainly low hanging fruit and more the style of elders and occasionally Snakeblink- she preferred more tasteful, useful observations.

But Shellkit is rushing into the nursery to report that the apprentices were not just bickering but they were about to brawl, the molly followed her lilac-creased informant to the scene. Sure enough they are yelling, and she's not surprised to find Asphodelpaw including himself in the trouble.

Hazecloud blinked at Petalnose's snapping tone, throwing the weight of her authority and driving forth the fear of being at the end of her tempered sword. She curled her tail around Shellkit out of habit. Robinpaw was Apricotflower's child, her friend's kin. Plucked from twolegs had so fearful of their leaders disgrace by kittypets that she thought herself safer in SkyClan than the home that had raised her. And now, moons after the River King's death Nettlepaw had been proving just that.

"Nettlepaw." The queens tone is a command. "When you're done you will apologize to Robinpaw. It is not your place to throw insults or any accusations without proof, and you are not a kit anymore to screech and shout over this." Valepaw had been right, if she was asleep just as the rest of them were, what was the point in keeping all that prey around? The girl was not stupid.

"Asphodelpaw." Followed the next. "You should take after your peer for defending a Clanmate from such baseless, unnecessary behavior. Valepaw did an honorable thing not letting his friend be ridiculed, when she has quite obviously been the victim of a prank in poor taste." However the chimeras feelings toward the queen since Rookfang dragged him in were still unknown to her, but Valepaw had always been kind and polite. She had no reason to believe he would act such a way without rightful cause.

"Petalnose, if you find who did it, I'd love for them to pay a visit to the nursery. Perhaps they need a few more moons under the queens care." Such wasteful use of prey when it was so scarce. All for the sake of scaring the poor molly- hadn't she repented enough? ​

 

[Nettlepaw-]

NETTLEPAW ♂
RIVERCLAN
APPRENTICE
FOUR MOONS
BLIND IN BOTH EYES
BIOGRAPHY AND TAGS
APPRENTICED TO PIKESPLASH
PLAYED BY SHEOGORATH​

---

Valepaw was a consistent thorn in the youth's side, and as Nettlepaw drops the robins on the fresh-kill pile, he turns back toward the apprentice's den with eyes frosty and challenging. If Valepaw wanted a fight, he'd get one. Fur bristles against the cold, needle tipped strands rising atop the young boy's neck as fangs bare to glint within the morning light. At least Asphodelpaw had some sense. If not for Shellkit running off to the nursery to tattle, there might have been a very real threat of a brawl. At least until Petalnose stepped in, words sharp, demanding, shattering the morning like a stone through the ice.

"You think this was a joke? Someone snuck the robins into her nest to... get her in trouble?" His disbelief is visible upon his expression, but Nettlepaw doesn't snap back at the Lead Warrior. He knows better than that, at least. Ugh, now Robinpaw has an excuse to be a greedy kittypet. Great. To make things worse, Hazecloud enters the den next, seemingly in agreement with Petalnose. Skin heats beneath fur as Nettlepaw stares blindly toward the back of the den, ears pressed to his skull and claws kneading at the earth for comfort. He doesn't feel like he's wrong. If someone is hoarding prey, Nettlepaw is going to call them out for it. Except, now he knew he couldn't trust the older warriors to do anything about it. I'll just handle it myself, next time there's a problem. His eyes narrow with determination. Hazecloud demands an apology, and the boy lashes his tail.

"Fine. Sorry, Robinpaw." He offers simply. It's not genuine. There's no meaning behind the forced apology. It's simply a word that he had been commanded to utter, and nothing more. Nettlepaw won't trust Robinpaw after this, but next time he catches her stealing prey, he'd be sure to make his displeasure known outside of camp, beyond the ear shot of RiverClan's older members. Think I'll let you get away with it? Think again. You, and any other apprentice who hoards food. Though his aqua green eyes stare through Robinpaw sightlessly, there is a sharpness to them, a threat that lingers unsaid. "Guess since the entire clan is awake now, we should get to work." A pointed statement, but the youth isn't exactly kidding. Anything to distract him from this nonsense.

"I'm gunna go take care of the elders." Away from all of you, he thinks bitterly, the last part unsaid, though certainly felt through the tension in the air. Nettlepaw is spiteful, too. Not only would he be getting precious time away from Robinpaw and Valepaw, but he'd also be taking away the opportunity for the older warriors to punish him with such duties. After all, they couldn't really tell him to go pick ticks off the elderly if he was already doing that.
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[valesight ➶]

⸙͎｡˚⋆ ⍋ ѧѦ ѧ⍋ ⸙͎｡˚⋆

He is already more than prepared to lunge for cream-brown fur like his own, ready to grapple and hiss and spit and fight if it means one less, stupid loudmouth thinking they can just say stuff and get away with it! He growls, watching the older boy stance to battle him, crouching low with teeth bared to face him. Asphodelpaw pipes up somewhere behind him and Valepaw seethes to hear his name shouted like it is his to command. Wild, emerald-fire eyes whirl to look at his den-mate and all sense of patience vanishing. "Keep my name out of your mouth, you fish-bone rabbit-heart," he spits. He went out of his way not to identify others by name and still... still... still they disrespected him. Used "Valepaw" like it was flavor text.

The lead warrior entering the den does absolutely nothing to quell his anger, finding her useless entirely. What kind of lead just yelled at everyone for being wrong when there was clearly two, very stupid boys trying to shove Robinpaw into a box that didn't fit her. Hazecloud's sudden appearance draws another hot fire into his belly, threatening to breath it like a dragon at her. She says his name and he practically vibrates with frustration.

"You don't get to call me that, witch," and before anyone else can rip into his flesh with a two-syllable identifier, he shoves past the pregnant molly to leave the den behind.

-- out !!​

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[robinheart]

As time moves in slow motion around her the world itself seems to be in a whirlwind of chaos. Robinpaw is coherent to the words spat her way by Nettlepaw, wincing tearfully as she is slapped once more with the insult of kittypet but much too shaken to defend herself in the moment. Not that she would have an opportunity to do so with Valepaw and Asphodelpaw stepping into the fray and voicing their own observations and displeasures (with her and with Nettlepaw). Robinpaw weakly shakes her head at Asphodelpaw's offer to fetch Ravensong - how embarrassing it would be to have to see the medicine cat over a few dead robins jokingly placed in her nest. No, she wouldn't want to inconvenience her clanmates even more than she has already.

Petalnose and Hazecloud break up the ever growing tension, their words wiser and threats more looming than anything the fiery apprentices could throw around. Robinpaw sniffles and hunches inward out of shame; she did nothing wrong yet she knows others will resent her for future punishments or being forced to offer an apology. All she ever wanted was to make up for her past mistake - hadn't she been making proper strides? Hadn't she shown herself a true RiverClanner by now? Repented and shed the ill-fitting term of kittypet?

Clearly not, given the traumatic prank and backlash that followed.

Citrine eyes barely glance Nettlepaw's way as the other gives a deflated apology. His words do not convey that he is truly apologetic for insulting her and assuming she was hoarding prey; his sharp cloudy gaze further solidifies that Robinpaw may never redeem herself in Nettlepaw's eyes. As for Valepaw, the young tom is pushing his way out of the den in a flurry of insults and raised tension. She doesn't even have the chance to thank him for standing up for her before he is gone from her sight. "I-I'm sorry... for causing such a mess," Robinpaw eventually murmurs to Petalnose and Hazecloud, her gaze dropping to the scattered remains of her nest and ears flattening against her skull. "I didn't mean to wake everyone. I just," what? What was her reasoning behind such a dramatic response? "I was scared."