camp NOW I CAN SEE THE WHALES! + flurries

[smogstar]

Over the length of the past half-moon, the fairly mellow weather has taken a downhill turn. Mild days have become comfortless in what felt like a heartbeat, hardening the soil and lowering the swamp's pools to an oppressive temperature. Smogmaw thought it to be impossible, but these changes somehow made day-to-day life even more miserable. It's not as though this would be his first Leaf-bare, mind you - but the tom found himself stressing over the implications this new clan way of life had on his subsistence going forward.

There'd be no more retreating to the two-leg encampment, and no more moseying off to twolegplace in search of a cosy environment; as it stands, he's confined to these imaginary borders. Stuck to fend for himself through the chilliest of seasons, in perhaps the unfriendliest of the groups' territories.

His blank gaze keeps to the sky as he broods, the void above parallel to his current state of mind. Space parallels the emptiness within, while the stars resemble his fleeting thoughts and ideas. When some of the white orbs start to flutter about, Smogmaw briefly questions his own sanity. He realises what is happening seconds later. "Hell no," gripes the silver warrior. "You're not due for another moon, come back later," he continues, as if his soured words had any impact on the climate.​

 

[Frostbite]

Was that snow. Yes it was. Frostbite felt the icy chambers of his heart begin to melt from the joy he had just been slammed with.

"I hope it sticks." He says, blinking as some flakes landed on his face. It didn't annoy him. Not at all. If anything, he enjoyed the chill.

"Snows not that bad....." Said the guy who was fluffy and built for the cold. "I think it's pretty fun."

He reached a paw up to catch the flakes as they fell. Yes. Exquisite. So what if he looked childish catching snowflakes. He was HAPPY for once and that's what mattered.


​

 

[loampelt]

---

Loam had known the world was not a sedentary thing. Even without her watching, it changes around her. Frost curls its way around the bases of trees and on tall grasses in place of dew. The sun spends less time in the sky. Flowers and plants that had previously stood tall wilt, and new ones take their place.

Today, the sky wages war against ShadowClan.

Loam hadn't noticed the first strike. No, it isn't until she is struck herself that she is aware that it is even happening. Something cold graces her ear, and then another of the same thing lands only a few steps away from Loam. A white thing that dissolves into water almost immediately after touching the ground. Loam blinks and looks about, only to see the whole of camp is under siege.

"It got m-muh-me!" Loam shouts with the due amount of drama, then staggers as if gravely injured. She flops to her side and adds, "There's just t-tuh-too many! We're doomed!" And then, after visible consideration, closes her eyes and lets her tongue loll out of her mouth.​

---

tags ∘ shadowclan apprentice ∘ solid black with hazel eyes ∘ curled front foot ∘ 5 moons​

 

[ashpaw]

she hadn't been alive long enough to witness any snow before. as ashpaw gazed out across the camp, it looked like the sky was falling. little wet stars fell from thick clouds overhead. and although they were undeniably cold when they found a home on her dark nose, she couldn't bring herself to dislike the flurries.

the apprentice was in awe over the first signs of leaf-bare. a momentary look of peace and joy flashed across her face, but when she saw others looking in disdain to the weather, she covered it instantly. a stoic and hard glare now covered any other emotion. she wanted to belong. if they didn't like it, then she didn't either.

blue eyes glanced over to the dark furred feline creating a dramatic scene. tentative pawsteps carried her over to loam, who was now playing dead on the ground. "did they hurt you?" she asked almost timidly, her tone full of curiosity. they hadn't hurt her, maybe everyone felt them differently? ​

[ EVERYTHING IS BROKEN ]​

 

[CHILLEDSTAR.]

smogmaw didn't like the snow... but was there a reason for it other than his normal broodish nature? did he simply hate it because he couldn't escape it, or did he hate it because of what it would do to the clans in general? chilledgaze definitely didn't enjoy the snow. they were painfully aware of what that meant for shadowclan... there was barely any prey as it was. leafbare would not make it any easier for them. they'd starve. they would struggle and everyone would look at them and pitchstar to do something to fix it. and of course, there were gonna be cats praying desperately to starclan, only for there to be no answer. if they didn't answer them now, they sure as hell weren't gonna answer them in the worst season to grace the forest. a grunt leaves them, as they watched the snow, ears pinning back slightly. they... missed their mother on days like this. they were with her for their first snow... minkpaw never got that. minkpaw wouldn't ever get that. andbit made them sad to think about.

"alright, ma. try to go easy on us this year, okay? put in a good word for us up there."

their ears twitched as they sat back up, watching the others before nodding their head towards smogmaw.

"have to agree with smogmaw. i'd much rather it come back later... you are just saying you like the snow because you look like the snow."

​

[ NOBODY ELSE MATTERS, GIRL ]​

 

[Shimmerpaw]

SAM SHIMMERPAW - SHADOWCLAN - TOM - SINGLE - HOMOSEXUAL​

---

Shimmer had never experienced a winter before. He'd been born into sunny days and comfortable breezes, clear days and light spring showers. The long, bright days of spring and summer had ruled the majority of his life, and it was only in the last few months that he'd come to experience the other side of natures embrace. Sunny days became dull and cloudy. Warm breezes became frigid and biting. The entire world seemed to dim and pale around him as if the life was being drained from it, and yet he was assured time and time again that it would pass eventually.

And so, like the good boy he was, Shimmerpaw tried not to make a big deal out of it. He didn't want his new clanmates to think he was some inexperienced coward when he knew many of them were still questioning his presence there in general, and so he'd pushed his worries aside in favor of blindly trusting the cats around him, prefering to be liked and ignorant over disliked and inquisitive. He could figure stuff out on his own, and if he couldn't then there were a few friendly faces he could seek out to get those answers.

"This is snow, right?" he asked, baby blue eyes shifting to land on his mentor momentarily before flashing skyward to watch the little flakes of white float down toward them. "It doesn't seem so bad." he mused, giggling as a fat snowflake landed on his pink nose before melting away just as quickly.

​

---

-- A SMALL, SLEEK CREAM TABBY WITH SKY BLUE EYES. HE HAS HIGH WHITE MARKINGS WITH CREAM COLORED SPOTS AND SPECKLES ON THEM

 

[smogstar]

A shiver grips him by the shoulders. There's no shortage of fur on the pewter-toned tabby, thank StarClan, but it isn't enough to amend the fact that it's cold as balls out here. And as little specks of snow attach to his pelt, he feels his body temperature ebb away even further.

Peeved eyes of brown descend upon the white anatomy of Frostbite, reproaching the tom's indifference with his gaze. Snow's not too bad, eh? Smogmaw wonders if he'll say the same when he's keeling over from exposure to the cold, breathing his last. Fortunately for the alabaster feline, the deputy enters the scene to reprimand him first - in a manner much more subdued than the words Smogmaw had already picked out. "In a moon or so, we ought'a bury you in a snow heap somewheres," he muses, tacking onto Chilledgaze's comment about his appearance. "Whoever finds you gets to eat that day."

An arbitrary glance is slung in Loampaw's trajectory, finding amusement in the apprentice's defeat. The paws of snow have claimed their first life here in ShadowClan, and Leaf-bare still has yet to come.

His gaze then shifts towards his apprentice, who also considered the chilly weather with wonder in place of anguish. It appears he and Chilledgaze are outnumbered here. "Just wait 'til it covers everything in the swamp," scoffs the older warrior. The current measure of snowfall isn't enough to do so, but he knows such will be the case with another half-moon, give or take. "Once it gets everywhere, there's no escape. It's just white as far as the eye can see, and numbing to the touch. I know some folks who've lost feeling in their paws or lost the tips of their ears 'cause of the cold."

"I'd rather it not come at all," he complains, now looking towards the second-in-command. "If only StarClan just gave us a break for once- perhaps spare us from Leaf-bare's misery." ​