NO ROADS WILL LEAD US BACK // arriving at camp

[SOOTSTAR]

"Sootstar!" They had called, "We found a place with plenty of room- plenty big enough for all of us! Way more protection from wind and other beasts too."

WindClan has been searching for a permanent place to settle down for a while. The tall grass has served them well, but the ticks were terrible and they were always on the lookout for hawks. A place where her kits could be safer- her clan as a whole- would put the blue she-cats mind at ease. She trusts her clan-mates, and with a smile, she meows "Get packing!"

Sootstar grabs her children, and with her clan in tow, they follow behind the felines who had discovered the camp. "Make sure you watch your step when we get close. Go through the gorse tunnel- we've already had someone fall." Someone snickers, causing some amused chuckles to erupt.

It didn't take too long to arrive, single-filed they all marches through the gorse tunnel and into what appeared to be a sandy hollow. By stars... they were right... this place was perfect.
"I suppose we're officially home then." She purrs.

//I wanted to leave room for the non-NPC discoverers to explain how the camp will work! (Sleeping under the stars, moving to the tunnels when needed. Medicine cats den, leaders den, fresh-kill pile, etc. Remember Sootstar will name tallrock!

Threads from here on out will now take place in this camp. Goodby makeshift grass camp! ​

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[Duskfire]

I WANT SOMETHING JUST LIKE THIS​

---

Dusk had perhaps been the first of the Windclan cats to lay eyes on the new Windclan camp. He'd been surprised to find such a thing seated within the borders of the clan, but had moreso been surprised to learn that none of the other Windclanners had come across it before that moment either. Hunts Pheasants had fallen right into it, and it had taken Weasel spotting a way in and out to properly free the shecat from the thick walls of gorse. And after a small bit of exploration it had become apparent to all present that this was a place Sootstar would want to know about. Granted, he hadn't expected her to up and move everyone right away like this.

Nerves refused to settle as the makeshift camp was packed up and the entire camp hauled out across the grasslands. Green eyes would shift toward the smaller, dur-furred cat from time to time with unease, wondering why she would put so much trust in them like this. What if the place didn't meet her standards after all and everyone had been moved for nothing? Dusk still wasn't a real Windclan warrior yet, and he was beginning to value his place in the clan too much to risk losing it over incurring the shecats wrath.

Thankfully though, Sootstar seemed taken with the place as soon as they arrived.

The purr that accompanied her words of 'home' were quick to put the copper-gold tomcat at ease though. He still didn't feel entirely comfortable in the cofnines of the sandy hollow, but he allowed the clans excitement to carry him through it for now, riding off their high as theyf looded the clearing and began to look around.

"There aren't very many places to make dens." muttered an elder as they glanced around, and Dusks gaze shifted from them to Sootstar. "Actually, I was thinking it could be a good idea to just have the older cats sleep out here during the nicer weather. Stay close to the stars, you kow?" he suggested. He could remember her saying something about the stars more than once, and could only assume they meant something more to her than just pretty lights in the sky. "We can just fall back to the tunnels if the weathers bad." he added after a moment, shrugging his shoulders.

The suggestiong definitely didn't have anything to do with his claustrophobia. Nah.
​

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windclan warrior - male - 17 months - homosexual - polyamorous - single - tall, strong bengal tomcat

 

[hyacinthbreath]

Being marched in line with bunches of other cats wasn't exactly what Hyacinth was expecting when Sootstar had told them of a new home. She had moved plenty of times already, wasn't this enough? Though, she knew it was probably safer to move to this new camp, where predators bigger or stronger than them couldn't just snatch them up from the grass. She grunts as her paw is stepped on by a cat who glares at her, only for her to send a glare right back.

Rude. She thinks to herself, a contradiction. She slips through the gorse tunnels, and what she sees stuns her in place. Dusk's statement reverberates in the background, and she finds herself moving to search for Lavender by instinct. She could deal with this much, she could- but being without her mate in this place would be impossible for her.

I don't want to be alone.

She's reminded once again of how it felt to be a child, alone in a dark place where her parents left her to think of what she'd done wrong that day. Her eyes shut, and she takes a steady breath.

No, it's okay. You've got your Clan to protect. Lavender will come, too. She's probably just.. Late, or in the back of the line.

She glances around the newfound camp, and her eyes look up when Dusk mentions the stars above them. She squints. Would they.. Be watching them, from up here?​

 

[OWLPAW]

Home. Finally. Owlkit had spent her first moons of life without a proper home, so the whispers in the wind about a permanent camp caused the child's paws to tingle with excitement. She watched as those around her packed what little possessions they owned - she herself taking her favorite rock which reminded her of the strange rock her mother had described visiting, only smaller - and following Sootstar to their rendezvous. Owlkit was close behind her mother, as instructed, with her smooth white stone clutched firmly between her jaws. Sootstar led her and the rest of WindClan through a gorse tunnel. It was a tight fit, with everyone moving single-file to avoid brushing up against one another.

Sootstar stopped and Owlkit moved under her legs to get a glimpse of the camp before anyone bigger than her could crowd her out of a good view. It was open with a nice view of the sky. Owlkit loved stargazing and cloud watching, so she wasn't too concerned with the mutters about how exposed the camp was. As Dusk said, they could retreat to the tunnels if weather was bad. Owlkit moved from beneath her mother's legs into the center of the camp and dropped her rock so she could try out the word home on her own tongue. "I like our new home, Mother," she said. "You're sure we can stay forever?"​

 

[Harry Styles]

❀ flaxenkit ❀
little brown mackerel tabby with a white chest
3 moons old. lost her parents in the Great Battle

---

Flaxenkit has no one to follow, no one to hide under the legs of. She's sticking close by the most familiar cats she knows-- the cats her parents loved, when they were still alive; the cats her parents fought for. And they may not love her or know her well, but Flaxenkit knows they'll keep her safe.

"Home," Flax whispers. The idea of a home without her mom is... hard. But it's okay.

She skips and struggles and scampers along with the rest of the WindClanners, finally coming to rest at Owlkit's side. Flax doesn't know Sootstar (just that Soot is a BIG SCARY LADY that Flax hopes to impress, when she's a big grown-up warrior) but she's seen Owlkit around, that little stone between her teeth. Flax wants to be friends with her.

Owlkit steps out into the clearing, dropping the little rock, and Flax bounds forward too.

"I sure hope so," she says in response to Owlkit. "It's so nice! And StarClan can see us real good since there's such a big sky here." ​

/can you tell i barely skimmed the history and am only guessing at what's going on? if you can tell, pretend you can't

 

[WEASELCLAW]

Weasel walks behind Sootstar, paws finding the path familiar and yet different. He's been here before, to the place where Hunts Pheasants had fallen through gorse and snagged her fur. He's pleased Sootstar has decided it's an appropriate place for WindClan to call home, and he has to agree with Dusk and Flaxenkit in that the open sky being so near to them still is lovely.

"I agree," he says to Dusk, flicking his tail. "But nursing queens shouldn't be out here." He frowns slightly, remembering how he'd felt imagining Owlkit and Shrikekit being so exposed.

But now Sootstar's children are old enough to walk behind her, tails lifted and steps confident. He looks at Owlkit fondly as she asks her mother if they can stay here forever. Flaxenkit echoes her, says they're close enough to see StarClan from here.

StarClan. The entities who'd gifted Sootstar -- and Cicadastar, he belatedly knows -- multiple lives. He nods at the kits, pensive. "Perhaps that's more reason to stay here. It's protected, but still close to... StarClan." He curls his tail, pleased.
​

PENNED BY MARQUETTE​