camp OTHER UNIVERSE [✦] ants

[Starlingheart]

It's another typical green-leaf day. The sun beats down on the cats in the forest below. Starlingheart supposes she should be grateful. The thick pines provided substantial shade, respite from the heat that plagued them. She cannot imagine what it would be like to live on the moors, all those wide open fields with little to no cover. She would die of heat exhaustion with her darker pelt, she's certain of it.

The medicine cat makes her way out of her den early that morning and blinks in the dappled sunlight, she stretches her snow-tipped front legs out in front of her, ears flicking backwards and back arching in the air to complete the movement. As she does though, she spots something out of the corner of her eye. A black stream. Curious, she makes her way over to the creatures. They do not acknowledge her approach, but instead continue marching on to an unknown destination, ShadowClans hollow is merely an obstacle to them to get where they are going.

With one paw, she reaches out and pokes one of them, the tiny creature flails and immediately Starlingheart feels bad for what she has done. She rights the bug gently and it rushes off to join the others. She has, of course, seen an ant before. But it has been back when she was a kit and back then she had not stopped to watch them move about in their strange way. She wonders if they have a leader, if they had warriors and queens and their own versions of kits and elders. "I wonder where they're going" she says out loud, green eyes watching as the stream of ants goes under the thorn barrier and makes their way slowly out of the camp. There are so many, and she also wonders about how there could be this many ants in the world. More than there are cats, that's for sure.
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[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Nettlekit noticed the moment his mother's warmth left the nest, and through drowsy blear attempted to spot her snowy-shadow form- but she was nowhere to be seen within the walls of their shared den. Waking up more with every moment, the kitten tugged himself to his paws, tongue tracing pin-sharp milk fangs. His mouth was dry and tacky, and the unpleasant sensation distracted him- though merely for a moment, for soon he spotted the crouched form of his mother. Curiosity was ever there as a silver thread, tugging him to-and-fro; so toward her he strode, following her eyeline to the swarm of bugs that surged single-file to the territory he had not yet seen.

Nettlekit's mouth, circular-shaped, soon parted in a question. Typical for him, though his curiosity never ceased being genuine. "Maybe they're hunting. Do they have a fresh-kill pile?" It was difficult to fathom what said pile would be stocked with... anything small enough for ants to get their jaws around them was not in Nettlekit's mental repertoire. ​

penned by pin ♡​

 

[FERNDANCE]

Bugs and Ferndance went together like ShadowClan and the night. They were her friends, living in her fur and around her den, each individual being named (though admittedly, they were nigh impossible to tell apart). The small congregation around a stream of ants caused the long-limbed Lead Warrior to stride over, peering over the pair before finding a spot by herself to observe the little insects. Questions were posed and Ferndance's ears perked forwards with a misplaced confidence. "Oh absolutely," she replied to Nettlekit, tone indicating that she had no clue if ants had a fresh-kill pile. It made sense, but then she realised she didn't know what ants ate and suddenly the idea made her tilt her head as she spoke. "Ants live in clans just like us, each one has a specific duty, they even have a warrior code... I would know...." She lay down parallel to the line of workers and lay her chin flat against the earth, nose a mere mousetail away from them. As she resisted the urge to pounce on the moving object, one ant stopped, spun in a circle, then continued. Emerald eyes blinked in a understanding. "I can speak ant."

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[valerianpaw]

Ferndance was strange. It was a simple fact that Valeriankit simply acknowledged and didn't think too much on. "Ants don't make noise, how do you speak to them?" She couldn't help but question, turning to the warrior. She only occasionally bug watched, as she often found her clanmates more entertaining to observe when not tailing her parents, especially in comparison to puny bugs. Maybe there was a way to communicate with bugs, Garlickit seemed to have the skill down when it came to snails, which were also silent creatures.​

[sweet like honey]​

 

[S A B L E T U F T]

can we leave it behind? — The concerns of bug society and their woes may have been a fleeting memory when Sabletuft was closer to kit age, but not in any recent time. The scarred toms mind was much more familiar with the rotating thoughts of prey, security, patrols, and maybe all three at once from time to time. With him and Ferndance now sharing the workload (and she wasn't the most favorable to work with, for his standards), he felt neck deep in his pursuits.

"Oh Ferndance absolutely speaks ant, her brains the size of one." The Lead grumbled bitterly as he passed her. "But go on, do translate all their ant-wisdom to our future warriors, will you? I'm sure its much more important than anything else we have to get done." — tags​