love dies like a dog / introduction

[DUCKLEAP]

It was a hazy morning in the pine forest, the fog making the atmosphere much more silent that it appeared to be. Small snores and twitches of limbs could be heard in the dens of SkyClan's camp, signaling that slumber was still overtaking the clan as the sun was beginning its ascent into the sky... however, there was a disturbance in the air as a hollow ringing occasionally called out into the growing sunlight coming from just the outside of camp. Because of it's high pitched harmony, it easily swam through the camp and mixed with the swirling fog, almost creating a little dance as soft humming followed behind.

Duckleap hunched over a small crevasse in the soil, nose so close to the dirt you would think she was eating it. Again, the chime echoed through the air, and a smile creeped back onto her already upbeat features, a giggle erupting from her throat. She was pawing at a bell that she had found on a broken collar near the Twolegplace, having been abandoned and screaming her name in the wind as she stood over it with wide eyes. That same expression still lay on her face as her black nose scrunched up, lifting her head ever so slightly out of the hole, tongue slightly hanging out of her mouth.

The hole held her most prized Twoleg possessions. Anything that she had found near the border, or had been given to her by the daylight warriors (or sometimes even directly from random kittypets!) that interested the molly could be found in this very spot. Duckleap always made sure to dig over it before she would leave, keeping her precious items as safe as they could be from the elements. Rain was not a pleasant friend, however, and often ruined many of her collectables. To solve the issue, she'd just go out and get something new to replace it -- exploration knew no ends! Pawing at the bell again, not once did it cross her mind that maybe this wasn't the right timing for her to be messing with such a loud item. Sleep didn't treat her well, and she'd often be up more than she was in her bedding in the warriors den.​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Twitchbolt had never in his life slept well. In many ways he pitied Quillstrike in their relationship, but one of the prime reasons was his restlessness in heir shared nest. This morning, barely-born with new sunlight, was no exception- however it wasn't visions of terrible eventualities that lifted the brown-and-white tom to his feet, but rather the soft, eerie ringing that permeated the clearing like a stench. Like some kind of death toll, skittering through the air.

Pupils shrinking to slits, the shivering tom stalked over to the sound, his tracking skills sharpened to high alert even at this time in the morning. What he'd expected to come face-to-face with was some lost- or hunting- Twoleg, their strange skins jingling and clattering, but what he actually found was Duckleap. She was hunched like- like she was retching, or something... had she swallowed a Twoleg charm that was rolling around in her belly, sending an alarm with every movement.

A giggle shook her, and that was when he realised she was merely playing. The... the potential contamination clinging to lost Twoleg items unsettled him, and he took a precautionary step back, attention rapidly flickering from the ground to Duckleap's face to the ground again, back-and-forth. "Is- is this how you wake yourself up...?" Twitchbolt's expression was one of obvious befuddlement and vague disapproval, because... well, it wasn't just herself that Duckleap was rousing with this little game.​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[milkshakepaw]

Thankfully, or... Rather, unthankfully, Milkshakes twoleg had been up WAY too early for her liking today, opening the door and nudging poor little Milkshakepaw out the door at the crack of dawn. Could you believe it?! How rude! She had nothing to do but go to Skyclan and wait for everyone to wake up, oh, woe is her! Tiredly, and a little unhappily, she begins her long trek to Skyclan.

At the end of her trek, Duckleap and Twitchbolt stand. She stops in her tracks, blue eyes sparking with curiosity as she watches Duckleap do something with a small hole. Shes hunched over something odd... Something that makes a sound so familiar that it clicks in her brain near immediately. "Oh my gosh, bestie, did you find a bell somewhere?" comes her own chime, giggling at Twitchbolts comment. Ring, ring... "I'm soooo lucky my collar doesn't make that noise. Can you imagine hearing that every single moment of the day? Golly! I'd go mad!" she chirps playfully, shaking her head.

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆ ˚｡⋆ info

• ❝ mom doesn't think i fit in to the darling archetype; but thats an ancient pair of jeans. ❞
  ❥ milkshakepaw
  ❥ afab ,, she/her,, 7 months
  ❥ daylight apprentice of skyclan
  ❥ fluffy, curly-eared cream tabby she-cat w/low white & blue eyes [ has a red collar ]
  ❥ "speech, E18AAA" ,, thoughts
  ❥ bisexual ,, single
  ❥ smells like sweet cream & sprinkles

​

 

[DUCKLEAP]

Duckleap's rounded ears perked up at the slight rustling behind her from Twitchbolt's presence, a purr erupting from her throat despite the obvious disdain in his voice. "Happy sunrise to you too, Twitchbolt! Nah, who would wanna wake up to this sound? Ugh," a shiver crawled down her spine as the chimera stuck her tongue out, oblivious to the very fact that she had done that exact notion to the poor deputy. Her voice remained chipper as she continued on with her rambling: "I haven't been able to sleep! So sometimes when I'm reeeeally bored, I'll come over to my twoleg... things and start playing with them! I... don't know what this is, but it makes a noise every time I hit it! See?" Riiiiiiiing! The sound echoed through the fog again with a snicker as she bat at the bell, letting its irritating noise radiate through the air. Oh, Duckleap. If only she could see the turmoil she was putting her clanmates in by disrupting them of their sleep.

Milkshakepaw's voice was a new one, jolting her from her fixation on the bell as she lifted her hazel hues to meet the daylight apprentice's. "A bell you say, huh? How do you know about-" a gasp cut off her words as the molly put two and two together, realizing that she had a kittypet RIGHT BEFORE HER EYES! Yes, she could go to any of the daylight warriors or former kittypets turned official SkyClanners and ask them these questions, but despite her cunningness in hunting, she never quite had the brains to figure out some of the very obvious things surrounding her. "Oh my StarClan! You wear a collar? Is it uncomfortable? Itchy? Do you ever feel like just trying to gnaw it off, and then hiding it under your bedding as a prize to admire whenever you want?" Pausing only because she had run out of breath, Duckleap shook out her long, unkempt fur for a moment to gather herself as her breaths labored. "S-Sorry. Just got a bit excited there, heh. 'm Duckleap, I don't think we've met yet."​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

The response he gave Duckleap was very little more than a series of bewildered blinks- it wasn't long before Milkshakepaw came barrelling out of nowhere, excitedly chattering about how annoying something like that would be. He opened his mouth to agree with her, but Duckleap beat him to it, instead interrogating the daylight apprentice about her origins. He blinked again, tiredly. Had he been ailed with a headache when he'd woken up, or had it just come on now...?

A spasm shuddered his unruly pelt, fluttering blinks seizing his eyelids. Can't sleep. Right, well... now no one else could either... but was there a nicer way to say it? And- well, he didn't really feel like yelling at this time in the morning, it'd make him into some wold hypocrite, untamed and... nto calm enough to be deputy, certainly. "Do you think..." he murmured, defeated and hoarse, "Next time, you could... find something a bit quieter to occupy yourself with at this time in the morning?" Scruffy fur skittered, again. "The queens won't thank you if you've gotten the kits up." Stars, they needed all the rest they could get.​

penned by pin ✧​