camp oh how the heart breaks | return

[Honeydapple]

For what seemed like days she had combed through every inch and nook within Thunderclan's territory. Splitting off from Raccoonstripe's group and setting out onto familiar paths. One's they used to galivant through on chilly nights and tree's they had cuddled beneath. Looking around every corner, scenting along borders, and even checking the waters. Nothing. The only thing that could explain his lack of presence was the Thunderpath but there was no scent of blood or body to be found. What they had found were distant tracks and a tuft of black fur caught in branches. Once the trail ran cold to the sickly black top she knew the patrol had exhausted their search. They had all left at early moonrise and were only now trudging back through the gorse tunnel come the first rays of daylight. She was beyond tired and filled with what could only be described as despair.

Please, Starclan bring him home to me. Please. Trudging past the patrol she stopped just shy of the warrior's den, knowing that their shared nest would be empty and cold. Looking back she watched as Burnstorm's patrol returned and their grim expressions were all she needed for an answer. Her heart felt rung out and battered all at once and finally Honyedapple could no longer hold the dam. Tears heavy and weary spilled over and dropped gracelessly to the dirt. All she could do was replay the look he had given her over and over. Full of fear and determination as the sky dipped into endless darkness and then he was gone.

Without any rhyme or reason as to why. Rarely, had they ever so much as tiffed but a small voice in her head kept saying; what if it was me? Did he leave because I didn't pay him any attention? Where did he go after all those night patrols? Did the wolves get him? She just didn't know and that fact frustrated her more than anything else. Her tears dissolved into quiet sobs that wracked her frame. What was she to do without her rock. How would she know he was safe or if he was hurt. How could she ever function again. Honeydapple just didn't know anymore and her will to go on was all but sapped.​

OOC | A continuation of this thread. Neither patrol was successful in their search and all that was found was some tracks leading to the Thunderpath and a tuft of his fur stuck to a tree limb near it.

Also a hint at something in her next post! ​

 

[Softsight]

Softpaw had been more than prepared to go out and assist Honeydapple in the search for her missing mate, Grizzlyjaw, but her mentor had told her it would be better if she stayed in camp, in the case that Grizzlyjaw returned there before the search patrols could find him. She had nodded obediently, not at all frustrated, just happy to help in what ways she could.

The albino apprentice perked up when she saw the patrols returning, but any hope she felt all but disappeared when she realized that they hadn't any extra members with them, and Honeydapple looked more distressed than ever.

"He didn't come back while you were out." Softpaw murmured as she approached Honeydapple, reluctantly giving her mentor the bad news. "Did you and the others find anything while you searched?" Even the smallest hint of something could light Honeydapple's hope.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎OOC ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎ .ᐟ.ᐟ INFO ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• !
  

• 

• SOFTPAW ✩ apprentice of thunderclan, six moons
  → peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  → penned by Archivist → .archivist on discord.
  

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[leafhusk]

it feels like thunderclan’s warriors are dropping, one by one. every moon they’re either mourning or burying a body before it’s gone stiff. while she wants to believe grizzlyjaw is still out there, leafhusk has her doubts, which hurts to think, because honeydapple hasn’t settled in hours. during the search patrol she pushed through every bush, hole, even the trees. the molly’s skills are best on the ground, but she still climbed up a branch or two, just to say she had.

the walk back into camp is sluggish, defeated- it’s like the older warrior had simply vanished. another good warrior, just gone. what else could they do? it’s hard to meet honeydapple’s eyes when the group enters the ravine, empty pawed.

she dismisses adderpaw with a flick of her tail, "go rest up. you’ve been walking all night." and a sigh.

she heads towards the warrior’s den to rest, but stops short when the tortie point’s sobs reach her ears. leafhusk stands there awkwardly unsure of what to do, and remembers when stormywing’s wails not too long ago. "i’m sorry, honeydapple." she decides upon, "the gathering is soon… maybe another clan has seen him, yeah?" leafhusk encourages with an awkward smile, standing beside the older molly, searching her face.

— a hyacinth scepter ⚘ ˖*°࿐

• 
  ◆ thunderclan warrior / / former kittypet・38 ☾
  ◆ mentoring adderpaw
  ◆ cis woman・she/her & bisexual
  ◆ peaceful & healing powerplay permitted・all opinions ic
  ◆ won't start fights・will try to end fights・won't kill
  ◆ excels in stealth and tracking & average at fighting
  ◆ written by maxine ♡ dogfriends. on discord

​

 

[Honeydapple]

Softpaw's gentle inquiry prompts her to suck in a watery breath. Starclan, why? Squeezing both eyes tightly, then opening them, the molly does her best not to sound as tormented as she feels. Low and wobbly, Honeydapple croaks a reply. "No. Nothing." More tears mar her pointed features as she struggles through the reality of it. Holding back the urge to sink into the earth, her head drooping forward and her paws trembling in place. Leafhusk's awkward encouragement does little to ease the pain, but Honeydapple puts on a brave smile nonetheless. "W-we can hope, and no worries dear." It was something to hold onto for the time being.

Aged memories flicker inside the she-cat's head through the haze of woe.

She had left the comfort of her parents many moons ago, taking off with a foolish tom to start an exciting adventure that quickly flipped into chaos. Trying and trying again to find her family only to be left with nothing but two-legs scraps. Had you not saved me that day, I would've never made it. A younger, gruffer-looking Grizzlyjaw beams a charming grin, and the rest was history. Dark nights watching storms, running through long stretches of fields, and the ghostly cool touch of his nose that wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

Now there was no one to mend away all of her fears and dry off the tears.

Just as the pale moggy was ready to pull herself together, a gut-wrenching nausea caused her to double over. "Oh, stars!" Honeydapple audibly gasps at the cramps, crouching close to the ground. Her voice comes softer and gritted by discomfort. "Not again..." Only a few sunrises ago had the pangs started, and a part of her had hoped it was just a bit of bad prey. I'll need to see Gentlestorm soon, maybe he can help? If she was meant to be lonely and heartbroken there was no reason to ignore a possible illness on top of it. After a few more moments of labored breaths, the sickly feeling ebbs away.

Shakily, she stands back on all fours and blinks sorrowfully to her clanmates. "Thank you both for trying to help. I'm so sorry you had to see me like this." Shaking her tufted head, she solemnly begins to walk past, heading towards the dirt place to settle her upset stomach in a more private setting.​

OOC | Aaaaand she's out unless some cat stops her! Hope ya'll enjoyed the little hint ​

 

[BURNSTORM]

Burnstorm had trudged across the territory until his bones ached, had encouraged his patrol to keep going, keep searching, for as long as they had been able. But no matter how badly they wanted it, no matter how much he prayed and begged, he could not will a missing cat into existence. Honeydapple's mate was gone and only the stars themselves could bring him back now.

It is not easy to call off the patrol, to turn around and go home with nothing to show for their efforts other than tired bodies and empty stomachs. He watches as Leafhusk dismisses her apprentice and then his golden eyes follow her line of sight and rest upon the grieving figure that was Honeydapple. His own heart feels as if it'll drop right out of his chest and onto the floor. "I'm sorry" he says softly because what else was there to say? Leafhusk suggests they ask after him at a gathering and he shoots her an uncertain look before he is able to stop himself. Surely if another clan had seen tail or hide of a ThunderClan warrior past their borders they would have already told them? Still, he supposes it doesn't hurt to ask...

When Honeydapple slowly plods off to find her nest he does not follow, though his body begs him to. There is something else he must attend to first. Dawn was poking through the clouds and he the whole ordeal made him miss his mate terribly. "Get some rest, I'm going to bring prey to the nursery for the queens to have when they wake up" A pathetic excuse really, he just wanted to be near Roeflame. With a flick of his shadowed tail, he heads to the fresh-kill pile to pick out the juiciest piece of prey he could find.

( ☼ ) come and take it

• 
  
• 
  BURNSTORM THUNDERCLAN LEAD WARRIOR ; HE / HIM ; BROTHER TO MORNINGPAW, MOONWHISPER, HOWLFIRE, FIREFLYPAW, SKYCLAW & DUSKBIRD ; MATE TO ROEFLAME ; FATHER TO DOVEKIT, BEETLEKIT, AND LITTLEKIT
  

  A large, sharp tongued, tom with long black fur and golden, oval shaped, eyes.

  ✦ Difficult in battle. A skilled fighter + fights honorably
  

​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Their search had been fruitless. There’d been hints of him—bits of fur strapped to brambles, a scent quivering in the breeze—but there is no telling what’s happened to him. All signs led to the Thunderpath, but they’d found neither his body nor any of his blood spilled near the area. It’s like he sprouted wings and took flight, away from the forest, away from the mate who needs him most. Raccoonstripe’s expression is dour as he and the rest of the search parties return to camp. “I’ll need to tell Howlingstar,” he murmurs, looking away from Honeydapple.

He thinks of Nightbird, of awakening in an empty nest, following a hollow trail, seeing scraps of silver-shaded fur on the gorse, and then finding… nothing. He swallows back a familiar bile, the bite of betrayal that still burns when he thinks of his sister Hollow Tree, of Patchpaw and her family, of all the cats who go missing when ThunderClan needs them here.

He's roused from his thoughts by Honeydapple’s bout of nausea. Burnstorm says he needs to bring prey to the nursery—a feeble excuse, Raccoonstripe thinks, to get away—and Leafhusk and Softpaw are nearby bearing glimmers of hope. Perhaps another Clan has seen them, the she-cat says, and Raccoonstripe murmurs, “Let’s hope it was a friendly Clan, if so.”

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Raccoon . Raccoonstripe, he/him w/ masculine terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 37 moons old, ages realistically on the 5th.
  — mentored by n/a ; mentoring none ; previously mentored Wildheart, Moonwhisper
  — thunderclan lead warrior. gray wolf x howlingstar, gen 2.
  — currently mated to Nightbird.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh black tabby with white and dark brown eyes. charismatic, charming, calculating, ambitious, shallow, manipulative.
  
  

​

 

[THISTLEPAW]

The first call to patrol at his mentor's side had left Thistlepaw frustrated. An interruption to his training for a cat that probably ran away like the rest? Not good enough to be a warrior. That wasn't his fault. But the longer they'd searched, the more his frustration turned in on himself. There was nothing. Nothing important, nothing like the actual cat. What if he had needed help, and their patrols were too slow? Or what if he really had just left? Crossing the thunderpath seemed daunting, but what other option was there? He'd ran away. No matter what the other cats needed. Maybe the anger is just his way of self-soothing, because the thought makes him sick with guilt.

"We can't trust any of them," the apprentice mutters, sullen. SkyClan, perhaps? But he'd heard of the last leader and the ill will ThunderClan still carried against his bloodline. ShadowClan cared little for anyone but themselves. WindClan and RiverClan– well they were obvious. They would have better luck asking loners and kittypets than the cats across their borders. They seem to like ThunderClan plenty.

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝗕𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 🙴 𝗕𝐎𝐍𝐄  ╱ 𝑾𝑨𝑺 𝑰𝑻 𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑻𝑯 𝑰𝑻? ＜03.03＞ ⸙

• OOC. —
• 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐖. HE - HIM. YOUNG APPRENTICE OF THUNDERCLAN. ————— the son of an ex-kittypet has spent most of his life confined to the medicine den. bad circumstances and worse healing left him in a limbo between life and death which he only just escaped. there's still recovering to do before his clanmates see him as anything more than a weak, sick kittypet.  ╱ PENNED BY REVELATIONS
  
  a prickly-furred chocolate and slate cat with amber eyes. though with a blocky, nearly bulky frame, thistlepaw has been softened, rounded, and stretched thin by his uncertain life. without work or play to thicken the pads of his paws or add strength to his limbs, his skin plays like canvas stretched taut over its frame, his fur a hazy cloak to cover the sickness. he seems soft and unwell in equal measure. certainly not an apprentice to be. . .

• "speech"

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