camp OF ALL THAT YOU THOUGHT WAS GOOD ☀ GRIEF

[SUNFLOWERMASK]

————— ☀ —————
YOU ARE THE DAYLIGHT

Sunflowerpaw's brother was buried last night.

Half-brother. Brother. The difference doesn't really matter. He was their brother before the half- was appended onto it, through bond and not blood. They claimed him as their brother long before they knew of the mother whose blood bound them. She doesn't matter either; abandoned them, never a mother in any way that matter. Snowfeather was far more mother than she, even if the young Sunflowerkit was too naive to see it.

That doesn't matter either. Snowfeather is gone now, just like Vulturemask.

Vulturemask is gone. Dead and buried. Up there with the stars he so loved. Did he get to see his friend again? They don't know. They don't think it's worth it, if he did. They're still here. He's gone and they're still here, and now they have someone to wait for.

They don't want to wait.

Sunflowerpaw's claws tear into Vulturemask's nest, shredding it to pieces.

They're supposed to be looking for something, they came in here to look for something, where is it where did he put it? He can't have thrown it out, he wouldn't, he wouldn't. They thought it might be in his nest but it's not and he doesn't need a nest anymore, right? He won't mind. He's not coming back.

(And the thought of someone else using the nest makes them angry. It's Vulturemask's.)

They tear chunks from the moss with a frantic and single-minded fury, strewing them across the den. And then, a breath. Shaky. They're looking for something. It's not in the nest. With panicked steps they begin to ransack the den, brushing aside herbs with only slightly more delicacy than they tore the nest up with. It's got to be here somewhere. Whoever comes next mught throw it out, they have to find it.

And then —

There. Discarded but not fully, lying in an out-of-sight nook but still kept in his den. A delicate weaving of flowers, once bright shades of orange and red now turned dried and dead. Made for Vulturemask with their own paws.

Movements careful and delicate now, Sunflowerpaw slides the flower crown towards them. They pick it up oh-so-gently, turning towards the mouth of the den, seemingly heedless of the attention they've drawn through their destruction.

YOU ARE THE NIGHT
————— ☀ —————

.°☀ info ; visual

• // takes place the morning after this thead
  ​
• SUNFLOWERPAW named by their half-brother vulturemask after his friend and mentor.
  — they/them, 7 moons.
  — windclan apprentice, mentored by wolfsong.
  — reserved yet loyal, distrusts most. rarely speaks.
  
  primary character, high activity. penned by saturnid.​
• "SPEECH"
  ​
• 

​

 

[WOLFSONG]

── .∘°°∘. ── The rage had taken time to find Wolfsong— Ellisif, in those days. His body fought to heal while his sleep was restless, and it is not time alone that has cast a haze across those memories, but his own coherence. He had tossed and turned through delirium, weeping for his parents (both of them, yes), and finding sleep only when Sunnvar pressed in close against his side. It was an uneasy existence, caught between grief and a living ember of pain, and it was not until he returned fully to himself that wrath awakened. He had fallen while stumbling out of their den, his remaining eye's vision darkening until all he could see was the image in his mind of avenging his parents. Later, he turned that anger upon his father's memory.

He does not know that he has stopped.

The jagged stone that rubbed against his heart at the start has weathered slightly. It is no longer as sharp— or perhaps he has simply grown calluses thick enough that the ache does not cut him anew. But he understands how raw a wound can be at the start, and when he finds his apprentice in the medicine cat den, flowers in their mouth and wreckage in their wake, he steps inside. He does not step out, though they could pass him and simply leave if they wish.

"Such a gift should remain with him," he says quietly, in agreement with what he assumes is Sunflowerpaw's intention.
​

WOLFSONG of WINDCLAN ROGUE TURNED LEAD WARRIOR (MEDICINE CAT IN TRAINING). 35 MOONS, HE/HIM, NPC X NPC PARENTS. BIO, PINTEREST, & PLAYLIST.

medicinal expertise med. part ii med. part iii med. part iv

• — ★★★☆☆ WOUNDS: You're (mostly) in safe paws. You'll know if he's less experienced if he asks for your permission to try a treatment. No wound can scare him away from knowledge. — ★★★☆☆ INFECTION: He can prevent most infections. If you feel feverish, let him know— he'll hum thoughtfully over herbs and sniff your wound before saying, "With your blessing..."
• — ★☆☆☆☆ ACHES & PAINS: If you complain to him of pain, he'll ask where. If it's a headache, you'll likely feel a bit better. For anything else, "Try this, if you'd like, and tell me how you feel." — ★☆☆☆☆ BROKEN BONES: At best. he can ask you to remain lying down in the den. He may try to distract you with conversation while he considers what herb to feed you.
• — ★★★★★ TRAVELING HERBS: Going somewhere? No worries; Wolfsong knows just what you need to stay hale and healthy during your journey. The rest is up to you. — ☆☆☆☆☆ KITTING: He doesn't remember what it was like to be born. Coincidentally, that is the extent of his familiarity with kitting. At least he won't leave you without moral support.
• — ★☆☆☆☆ POISONS: It's best if you avoid eating anything unfamiliar to you— it's probably just as unfamiliar to Wolfsong. The best he can do is offer you yarrow and sit with you. — ★★☆☆☆ ILLNESS: If it's white or greencough, you'll likely recover. Otherwise, prepare for odd concoctions and the usual request that you consent to a little trial-and-error.

​

 

[Goldenstrike]

i'm no good man, you won't forget◎—————————————————
Sunflowerpaw had probably been the closest with Vulturemask. Goldenpaw hadn't been one to sit still and just hangout so he often ran off from Vulturemask. What a cruel foreshadowing. He hadn't gone to watch the body be buried. He actually hadn't seen the body for more than a couple minutes, he was so scared of it for some reason. He had been out on the moors until there were no more stars to cry at, they had been silent hot tears. Even now his eyes still burned from them and the lack of sleep. He had come back into camp to try and do something, maybe sleep, or eat? He didn't really know, and his body wasn't telling him anything.

He had droned around camp, hovering about the cats and their duties. He did that until the sounds of demolition caught his ears. Sunflowerpaw was the perpetrator of all the noise and when Goldenpaw approached he only felt guilt. Guilt for all his siblings. He felt guilty that he didn't go and comfort Sunflower and Shadow the night before, and he felt a crippling remorsefulness that he wouldn't be able to offer Vulturemask a gift like Sunflowerpaw would be. Well, offering a gift may be the wrong way to phrase it but Goldenpaw couldn't think of another. "it's pretty" he whispered it to the curly apprentice, hoarsely and under his breath. Avoiding looking into their eyes.
rude words i said, i'm still a mess◎————————◎penned by WriteAboutRadish
​

 

[RATTLEHEART]

Rattleheart's paws are still stained beige instead of white, worn down from the digging of the previous evening. She and her fellow tunnelers hadn't taken long to dig a proper grave for Vulturemask, yet still the dirt remained as a reminder until the next time she could get to the sun-warmed pool. Grooming her paws herself was always an option, but she never liked getting a mouthful of dirt - least of all dirt that had been dug up for a corpse. Part of her knew it was grotesque to think of Vulture in such a detached way as just a corpse, but she felt like she needed to. With all the death that had visited Windclan in recent moons, she couldn't afford to linger too long and risk losing herself.

It had been a slow morning, the sun crawling up in the sky as Rattleheart alternated between eating and glancing down at her paws, wondering how Vulturemask's family was faring. An answer came in the form of noise from nearby, the frenzied sound of someone digging through what had once been the tom's den. He wondered whose it would be now - Wolfsong, or someone else who came to take up the mantle? Out of those options, she would definitely prefer Wolfsong. He was a face she trusted, and one she knew had at least been helpful in the past. There was some apprehension in her chest as she headed for the den, eyes widening when she saw the chaos that Sunflowerpaw had left in their wake. Grief could manifest in the worst ways, but was scattering their herb supplies really necessary?

Slipping past both Wolfsong and Goldenpaw, Rattleheart's voice was soft when she addressed Sunflowerpaw. "It's touching that he kept it as long as he did... Wolfsong is right, I'm sure it can give him some extra peace." It's all the reassurance she can provide before she slips further inside, plucking up leaves from the floor. She doesn't know exactly where they all go - she had never been a medicine cat, after all - but she had visited enough in the past to know where at least a few of the usual nooks were. Normally she'd expect Sunflowerpaw to clean up their own mess, but some leeway could be given considering the circumstances.
​

[ PENNED BY EO ]​

 

[WEASELCLAW]

For all of Vulturemask’s brutality, the half-siblings he’d brought into the Clan are soft. Sunflowerpaw has all but wilted in the aftermath of their brother’s death. Weaselclaw does feel pity for them, for their brothers, but he has nothing in him to comfort any of the young apprentices. Vulturemask had despised Weaselclaw in life; the tabby lead warrior had certainly returned the favor. He watches Sunflowerpaw dismantle Vulturemask’s nest in a grief-laden fury, his blue eyes sympathetic but detached.

It's Wolfsong who first goes to the young feline, kindness on his lips. Weaselclaw watches mentor comfort apprentice, and he’s thinking of Sparkspirit. “Do you want to follow the trail?” He’d asked the young tom, his mother’s scent vanishing in the breeze. And Sparkspirit—then Sparkpaw—had shaken his head. “I just want to go back to camp, if that’s alright.” He feels something heavy ache in his chest, but he cannot identify it, and he does not try to.

Rattleheart, paws stained from digging the grave, offers Sunflowerpaw and Goldenpaw some kindness of their own. Weaselclaw wishes he could do the same—both are loyal WindClan apprentices, sharing blood with a cat who’d hailed from the marshes with Sootstar—but he cannot find it in himself to do so. Instead, he rises to his white paws, padding away with a haunted look in his blue eyes.

// out

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — weasel . weaselclaw
  — he/him ; lead warrior of windclan
  — heterosexual ; taken by Sootstar
  — short-haired chocolate tabby with white and blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Oliver

​

 

[SUNFLOWERMASK]

————— ☀ —————
YOU ARE THE DAYLIGHT

It is Wolfsong who finds them first, in the wreckage they've made of the medicine den. ""Such a gift should remain with him." Quiet words, gentle and understanding. They don't want to leave it with him. They want to keep it, selfishly, they want to keep him, Periwinklebreeze stole a tuft of fur from their brother and yet they have nothing.

But Wolfsong is right. It would serve him well, in StarClan. A little reminder of them, maybe. Wait for me, don't forget me. Or a bringer of peace, as Rattleheart says, her paws still stained from digging his grave. Surely he'd miss them, up in StarClan. Maybe he wants a little something of theirs to keep too. It was a gift, it would be unkind to take it back.

...Maybe they'll just keep a flower.

Goldenpaw's presence catches their eye. He'd fled, when he saw Vulturemask's corpse. They hardly remember it through their own grief, but they heard of it after. He'd fled. He was never as close to Vulturemask as they were. And he won't look them in the eye now. Their gaze lingers on him, conflicted, before they turn away, begin to head to the entrance.

They'll bring the flowers to him, lay them upon his grave. Not upon his head, as they'd like to; his burial was quick, too quick, as though the whole Clan was nothing less than eager to put him in the ground. No matter. If he had no one else in the Clan, at least he had Sunflowerpaw. He won't forget, with the flowers.

In silence, they carry their gift from the medicine den, eyes downturned.

YOU ARE THE NIGHT
————— ☀ —————

.°☀ info ; visual

• // out!!
  ​
• SUNFLOWERPAW named by their half-brother vulturemask after his friend and mentor.
  — they/them, 7 moons.
  — windclan apprentice, mentored by wolfsong.
  — reserved yet loyal, distrusts most. rarely speaks.
  
  primary character, high activity. penned by saturnid.​
• "SPEECH"
  ​
• 

​