camp once upon a dark time | story telling w/kits

[BONERIPPLE]

Within the safety of their temporary nursery the woman has one of her kits between her paws. Her tongue rasps across the top of their head as she cleans their fur. It has been peaceful and quiet, things settling. She is still worried about the situation with Thunderclan but with the river flooded they shouldn't be worried about dogs as well. The current alone can steal cats from them. A rough sigh leaves the woman as she shifts her paws a little and she lifts her eyes to catch two kits watching her. They look curious, eager and she chuckles softly before allowing her own child to escape her for the moment. "Well don't you both just sit there staring. Come on over. I don't bite much." At least not since she became a medicine cat and then started her own family has she been biting at all. But she is sure that when her kits are apprentices she will be out there again and honing her skills. Curling her tail against her lanky body she then beckons both Hazekit and Poolkit by her side. She remembers when they were born and a soft hum pulls at her throat. Her life in Riverclan has not been easy but she doesn't mind it.

"You both seem very eager to ask questions. I don't mind it. Tell me what's on both of your minds." Her bright orange gaze flicks between the two and she lays her head down on her paws. Recalling her past or really anything shouldn't be that hard but she will keep things pg for these kits.

@POOLKIT @Hazekit | anyone else is free to respond and ask questions after the first two kits!​

 

[Hazewish]

WAKE UP TO THE SOUND OF YOUR FLEETING HEART ⋆⁺₊⋆

Hazekit doesn’t really have an opinion on Boneripple. She’s been around pretty much forever, as far as they’re concerned, so they don’t have any reason to mistrust her like other riverclanners might, but also… Well, Hazekit’s never seen her do anything cool. As far as they’re concerned, the only interesting queen in the nursery is their mom — and that’s because Willowroot is cool and needs no proof of it.

She’s willing to have her mind changed, though, and the reputation which follows Boneripple in the clan might be what does it. There are only so many cats who have seen beyond the river and deign to visit the nursery. Boneripple, having once been the very important medicine cat of a whole other clan and now residing a nest away from Hazekit, is an unprecedentedly accessible font of knowledge.

The trick, now, is to get that knowledge out.

They set to solving that issue with Poolkit, which mostly means looking intently at Boneripple and hoping something happens. It never fails to work (they can be quite unnerving). And here it works again: Boneripple beckons them forward with an open invitation to ask questions, which Hazekit pounces on immediately as they toddle closer.

”Shadowclan?” They ask eagerly, hoping to hear what life over there was like, if it was very different — if they really ate frogs.

[⋆]​

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[Sablemist]

In every situation you give me peace

Sablekit rests comfortably within the crook of Boneripple's forearms, blissfully relaxing as the dual toned molly groomed the top of her head. A content purr rumbled steadily within the girl's throat, periwinkle eyes practically closed during the process. Oh how she enjoyed bath time. She honestly did not understand why her brothers dreaded it so much. It left her fur so sleek and shiny afterwards, she would miss these moments once she became an apprentice. Sable's eyes blink open as her mother stops to address someone else. Spotting both Poolkit and Hazekit she remains quiet, curious as to what the pair desired to ask her mother. Once Hazekit finally pipes up with a one word answer, Sablekit recoils, frowning a bit before glancing up at Boneripple to gauge her response.

Not too long ago she'd overheard a few warriors gossiping and whispering rather unsavory things about her family and their ties to shadowclan. While she watched Cindershade and a few others scold the chatterboxes, the damage had already been done. And so now Sable's stance becomes defensive, pressing further against her mother as she eyes Hazekit. "Why do you want to know about something like that?" She quips with caution lacing her tone, though there is no malice there. ​

Don't gotta be afraid because you're in the lead​

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[willowroot]

( ☾ ) a soft yawn stretches the jaws of the queen as she lounges a few tail-lengths away from her fellow. the makeshift nursery is not pretty, but it does the best it can and willowroot has to give buckgait credit- she at least picked a good spot. eyes of fern flick softly from her own pelt to that of boneripple, and a small smile plays on the corners of her lips. her own children have known bone since their birth, and they treat her as such, with little of the caution their older clanmates might wear. willowroot has perhaps a better opinion of the soot hued molly than her clan, for spending moons in a nursery allows her to trust the other. as hazekit wriggles closer to the other queen, there is no alarm ringing in willowroot's head. boneripple is willing to entertain her kits- it's enough.

hazekit's little voice eagerly questions about shadowclan and there is a slight prickling in the smoke's fur. the marsh dwellers are a sore subject with the leads of riverclan, and she knows firsthand cicadastar's poor opinion of the clan. still, it's important for the young cats of the clan to learn about their rivals. resting her head upon her paws, she settles in for storytime. ​

( THE LIGHT YOU GAVE ME )

 

[BONERIPPLE]

Her figure stiffens the moment that the word of Shadowclan leaves the mouth of the child. Truly she has good and bad memories of the place and she wants nothing more than to move on but it is a part of her. She was brought up there, pulled in to live when she and her now deceased sister had no where else to go. A sigh pulls from her throat then and she smiles sadly, gently nudging her daughter with her muzzle. "It's alright, Sable." She begins with earnest before she lifts her head up then to focus on the child. Her tail curls against her body and she hums softly in thought. Trying to think of what she can say. She has little issue with bad mouthing them as she knows they do the same to her. Probably made up lies to ensure they looked better in the eyes of the clans. "Shadowclan...is not a warm clan. It's muddy, cold, some can even say filthy depending on your view. But it used to be my home for many many moons even before Shadowclan existed. But I fear it now has more dark hearts than good ones now."

Casting her eyes to the side she thinks once more before she chuckles gently. "Normally Shadowclanners hunt at night. Darkness is their ally. It's a tough place to live especially when one has to deal with the monster rats of the carrionplace." Her voice almost sounds ominous as she finally looks to the kits again.​

 

[POOLPAW]

poolkit hadn't meant to stare. such is unbecoming of a young lady, and she would hate to ruin the image she's carefully crafted. but boneripple is such an oddity to her, she couldn't stop herself in the moment. she's known the queen for the entire duration of her short life, but whispers talk of boneripple hailing from shadowclan. of being a medicine cat, once. it's hard to imagine anyone other than beesong fulfilling that role, but she supposed it makes sense that the other clans would have their own medicine cats.

they wonder why boneripple left. if poolkit had such an important, respected role in their clan, they wouldn't want to leave... they don't want to leave riverclan, either way, but that feeling intensifies when they think of being something to the clan like the leader or medicine cat.

boneripple notices poolkit and hazekit staring, beckoning them closer. poolkit's cheeks heat up at being caught, but she hides the embarrassment with a quick rasp of her tongue across the neat fur along her chest. hazekit, however, is straight to the point. they inquire about shadowclan, and poolkit's ears perk with thinly veiled interest. the older cats of the clan don't tend to talk about the marsh-dwellers around her, and what limited information she does know is trivial at best. they live in a swamp, they eat rats and twoleg trash, and they never bathe, according to the gossip she's listened in on. but boneripple doesn't seem to fit in with the image painted in her mind.

maybe that's why she'd left, then? perhaps the respect and admiration for her role weren't worth living in that hovel.

sablekit questions why hazekit would ask about shadowclan. "it's almost as if cats ask questions when they're curious," poolkit responds coolly, their voice dipping into passive-aggressive sarcasm. why shouldn't they ask about shadowclan? knowledge never hurts anyone.

boneripple shushes sablekit with reassurance and delves into the story... cold and dreary, the hearts of the marsh-dwellers shrouded in the darkness that they hunt within. poolkit wonders, suddenly, if exposing themselves to the cold shadows of the night is what chilled their hearts. "is that why they're called shadowclan?" the kit asks with a languid tilt of her head.​