pafp shadows in the moonlight // scary story prompt

[STORMYWING]

Stormywing's eyes gleam mischievously as she gathers the small group under the Highrock, the night air thick with suspense. Falconheart remains out of view, likely waiting for his cue, but she knows he's nearby. He wouldn't miss this, especially after persuading her to do this for the kits and apprentices. The queens are gonna hate me... But she can't help the smirk that curves her maw. A little bit of fun is all she needed to try to lighten her spirits a bit. As curious eyes settle on her, she ducks her head, voice ominously low. "Alright...let me tell you about the tale of The Clawless Cat. She is an ancient, fearsome she-cat, cursed to wander the forest forever, searching for something she lost long ago - her missing claw. Long ago, she roamed these very woods, a fierce warrior with claws so sharp that no prey could escape her. But one night, during a fierce battle, she wrenched one of her precious claws-" Stormywing makes a motion in the air with her forepaw, as if she is gripping and pulling something unseen, "and she lost it in the dirt. Desperate to get it back, she scoured the battlefield even as her enemies retreated, but it was never found. Furious and ashamed, she died with the shame of her defeat, and StarClan cast her out, doomed to roam the forest endlessly."

Her voice drops to a whisper, so that cats would have to lean in to hear clearly. Golden eyes flick back and forth to meet each of their faces, her tail lashing with suspense. "Now, on moonless nights, some say you can hear her haunting wail. 'Where is my missing claw? Give it back to me...' She lurks in the shadows, seeking out any cat who dares to wander alone...and if she finds you..." The tabby pauses dramatically, her eyes wide, "she'll steal your claws for her own, so she can hunt once more!" She jumps to her paws, grinning now as she gets into it. "But the story doesn't end there. Two cats," Her eyes flick to the side, catching onto two of the listening clanmates that sit closest, "a young apprentice named Ivorypaw, and a brave warrior named Copperfang, decided to search for her."

"They ventured deep into the woods, determined to find her and put an end to the eerie legends. But as they walked, the forest grew darker, the trees thicker, and the air colder. Ivorypaw, always the curious one, wandered away from Copperfang and off the path to go searching for her on her own, thinking she'd be the one to stop her curse. But the deeper she went, the more she realized..." Stormywing leans in close, making sure to catch the apprentice's attention, "she wasn't alone." Soft pawsteps sound from somewhere around the corner of the Highrock, and she knows Falconheart is approaching to play his part. "Out of the shadows, she hears a voice...a rasping whisper..." That's your cue, cousin!

// please wait for @FALCONHEART

Other group members: @ivorypaw and @COPPERFANG. ​

 

[FALCONHEART]

𓍊𓋼 As it turns out, lifting Stormywing's spirits isn't as difficult as he'd thought it might be. Or maybe she's just good at hiding her pain beneath a mask now—but she certainly seems to be having a good time as she gestures dramatically and lifts her voice to tell the gathered cats her tale. The tale of the Clawless Cat. If he weren't trying so hard to be silent, Falconheart would scoff at the title. Of course, of all things, his cousin would produce a story starring him as the villain. As it is, he rolls his eyes, though he's more amused than upset by it. Now that his wounds have healed and his life seems to be getting back on track, he isn't so self-conscious about his missing claw. It still feels odd, not having a full set of claws on one paw, but it hasn't hindered his hunting too badly, at least. And he supposes it also makes for a good story.

Stormywing carries on with her narrative, weaving a story about a warrior and apprentice who went out in search of the Clawless Cat, and the cream tabby knows that it's nearly his time to shine. He doesn't yet step into view, but lingers just out of sight. A low hiss leaves his mouth, a keening noise of pain that reminds him of the sound he'd let out as he'd slashed brutal claws through Smokefur's pelt. "Who… walks alone in these woods?" He plays up the rasping of his voice, made so much more obvious in the chill of the night air.

"A young cat, with so many sharp claws to hunt with…" Finally, he rounds the Highrock with stiff, halting steps, his head held low and body hunched in on itself. On a good day, Falconheart is far from the picture of a fierce warrior who brings fear wherever she goes. Now, though, no smile lights blue-green eyes; they appear dulled, dead as fish eyes in the shadows cast over his face. He's never considered himself a particularly great actor, but in this moment, he isn't Falconheart at all—he's The Clawless Cat, star-cursed and caterwauling her fury to the sky, seeking a claw to replace what she'd lost. His gaze finds Copperfang in the group of listening cats, and then Ivorypaw. "I'll take one of yours as my own!" He doesn't give another pause before he lurches closer to the pristine white apprentice, holding up a paw to display the claws there—four of them, with one notably missing.

heaven knows 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 how hard i’ve tried

• ooc: —
• 
• FALCONHEART ❯❯ he/him, thunderclan warrior
  ⭃ shorter than average cream tabby with white spotting. seems gloomy and has few friends, but is a hard worker and never neglects his duties.
  ⭃ son of flamestar and flycatcher ; brother to stormfeather, ravenpaw, bugpaw, sunpaw, squirrelpaw, sparrowpaw
  ⭃ mentoring bugpaw & littlepaw
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  ⭃ penned by foxlore

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[mottledpaw]

· · ───────────── ·𖥸· ───────────── · ·

The tortoiseshell lingers to listen to this story with some amount of disinterest plastered to a frowning face. Stormywing's ideas of a fun time are vastly different from her own... but she won't deny that the opportunity to hear a good story is what keeps her firmly rooted here. Her gaze only watches her mentor out of its corners, appearing to stare off into space with a lacking care that is betrayed by the swivel of her ears to listen... A clawless cat... StarClan banished her for losing a claw? This whole thing makes less and less sense... and her faith in the silvery she-cat to tell a good story dwindles with the passing seconds... She hunkers a little closer to Ivorypaw, hoping her fellow apprentice isn't buying into this too much.

Why would you even wanna go looking for this ghostly thing anyways? Could you kill what wasn't there? It makes her queasy to consider... imagining the wispy figures of her parents being slaughtered a second time. Where did you go if you died when you were already dead? Her distressed trail of thought goes interrupted by a gravelly croaking nearby, the hair on her spine standing on end in surprise. What the hell? Stormywing was telling the truth? She doesn't get the chance to dissect it any longer before a looming figure is suddenly upon them. "AHHHHHHHH!" It is the most girlish scream she's ever been forced to make and after the stumbling shock of jumping back with fur bristling, she recognizes Falconheart in the aftermath for who he actually is.

"..... Is what I would say if your story didn't suck," she continues, glaring at Stormywing and trying to play it off that she hadn't just been scared out of her pelt for a few moments.​

 

[nightbird]

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ nightbird gathers her kits up to listen to whatever story stormywing had procured. she assumed it would be a tale of bravery, of her journey to the mountains or some battle thunderclan had valiantly won. whichever it is, nightbird has all but tuned out in favor of listening to the rustle of leaves overhead.

midway through, she catches on to the true contents of the tale. 'she'll steal your claws for her own,' the tabby explains ominously, and nightbird is wishing she had four extra sets of paws to efficiently cover each of her children's ears. her teeth press uncomfortably to her cheek, expression growing less content by the second. but the queen knew better than to try and wrangle kittens away. they were entralled by this clawless wonder born from the she-cat's imagination.

her attention is drawn away as a drawl sounds from around highrock's bend, shot back with mottledpaw's scream that has tattered ears pressing against her skull in retaliation. she cannot help but let out a huff of amusement as the dappled apprentice attempts to play it off casually."quite the imagination you all have," she mutters, subtle discontent seeping through. it was a meager attempt at waving off the story to fiction despite the fact that the damage had already been done.

BURNING SWORD // ───‎ ⋆ GUIDE MY HAND‎ ‎‎ ‎‎☽

• ooc ↛

• 

• 
  NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, 37 ☾'s
  ⭃ a small black smoke molly with a white paw and pale silver eyes. currently a queen residing in the nursery.
  ⭃ mate to raccoonstripe / / currently mentoring none.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

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[Dwindlingpaw]

⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊ It wasn't even that long ago that everyone was ever warned not to travel alone in the forest. Loosing one's claws would be a death sentence; being left with just your teeth isn't enough to defend yourself from attackers. Ivorypaw was going to be left alone in the woods with no claws and a ghost. Run away, Ivorypaw!

She curled up in a tight ball, paws tucked under her body, eyes wide and fur bristling as she listened to the Flaconheart finish Stormywing's story. What in Starclan name was wrong with them? They could clearly see kits larking around, and now they won't be able to sleep tonight! Then again, she probably won't either.

A thunderous scream from Mottlepaw pierced her ears, and Dwindlingpaw's soul almost left her body. She casts Nighbird a pitiful look as she tries to cover her spawn's ears. With her heart pounding in her chest, the red and cream apprentice quietly stands up ever so calmly heads back to the safe apprentice den.

ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  Dwindlingpaw— She/Her ･ 9 moons ･ Thunderclan apprentice･ PENNED BY @Ghostunes!

  ☀︎ A charismatic colorful array of cream orange and red fur shaped like an apprentice.
  
  ☀︎ Crimsonsun x Shadedmoon
  
  ☀︎ Tags​

 

[TWILIGHTPAW]

Twilightkit lingers beside her mother, too believing this a chance at a story with a moral or lesson. So many members of ThunderClan have faced feats far beyond her personal imagination - they've learned skills and tricks that she hoped they'd pass on to her. Yet just the same as her mother, she finds the tale swiftly shifting into that of a kitten's nightmare. The clawless cat... If Twilightkit were any bit the she-kit to speak out of turn, she'd point out the flaw in the fear. The feral she-cat in the story isn't clawless - she's missing only one claw...!

Her attention shifts to grooming her fur rather than paying mind to the story as it drags in both Ivorypaw and Copperfang. She doesn't notice when Falconheart gains, her attention only recaptured when Mottledpaw screams. The tenseness in her jaw pushes teeth into her tongue and she grits out an unhappy whimper, a drop of blood weeping from the new minor wound. Frustration now burls in Twilightkit's chest as she looks up at Falconheart, accusing him first in silence, and then breaking the illusion entirely. "You're Falconheart. You are not dead," as if she has to remind the tom at all.​

 

[Palefire]

Palefire was drawn to the group storytime after spying her apprentice lingering nearby alongside Copperfang, her lips quirking up in a quiet smile as she took a seat beside Nightbird. Similarly to her former mentor, she expected to hear the usual tale of brave warriors fighting for their clan, but the plot took a sudden twist when the fallen warrior apparently came back from the dead to haunt the forest. What a terrible thing that would be. The forest could be scary enough on its own, without having to worry about vengeful spirits hunting you. Thankfully, ghost stories were just that... stories. Right?

Her tail twitched amusedly as she watched Ivorypaw pretend to be the frightened apprentice, attacked by the dreaded Clawless Cat. Personally she thought that Falconheart's performance was inspiring, even drawing a soft laugh from the young warrior. But Twilightkit apparently felt different. The lynx-point quirked a brow as she craned her neck to glance down at the older kitten, trying to hide a smirk. She was definitely her mother's child. "I dunno..." she drawled in reply, her gaze sweeping the rest of the kittens in the crowd before falling to Falconheart again. "That sure looks like the Clawless Cat to me! Watch out Ivorypaw!" she cried to her apprentice while feigning a horrified look.

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‎‎ooc ♡ info

• 

• 
  PALEFIRE ♡ she / her, warrior of thunderclan, 20 moons
  ⭃ lh lilac lynx point w/ low white and blue eyes
  ⭃ single, crushing on no one / npc x npc / sister to bluestride
  ⭃ mentoring meadowpaw & ivorypaw / mentored by nightbird
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / all opinions ic
  ⭃ underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by limerence ↛ @limericks. on discord, dm for plots.

 

[ivorypaw]

Ivorypaw knows true horror — true horror is your mother, her body stiff by a Thunderpath, her blood in your nose; true horror is tasting an animal's flesh, never knowing there's poison buried beneath. The pristine apprentice sits in quiet amusement as Stormywing and Falconheart spin their tale, and though Mottledpaw sinks a little closer to her, Ivorypaw pays her little attention. Mottledpaw is Scarletpaw's sister, Meadowpaw's — and, no matter how she felt about kittypets now, the young apprentice is not comfortable even sharing a den with her.

Still... this is supposed to be fun, she knows, and against all odds, Stormywing and Falconheart are doing a pretty good job. Flamestar's son walks stiff-legged, as though he's risen from the earth, cold and decrepit; he waves a convincing paw toward Ivorypaw's face, ostensibly missing a claw...

Mottledpaw screams!, and Ivorypaw hears the kits shuffle in tandem. She puts both forepaws to her face in horror as Palefire tells her to watch out! "Noooo...! Don't take my claws!" She lets her eyes roll back into her head and collapses on the spot.

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

• ooc: —
• Adora . Ivorykit . Ivorypaw, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 8 moons old, ages realistically on the 16th.
  — mentored by Palefire ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a.
  — thunderclan apprentice. npc x npc, gen 1.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh white she-cat with curled ears and brown eyes. compassionate, righteous, naive, idealistic, self-doubting, self-destructive.

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[TIGERPAW]

She's nestled beside Nightbird and her sister, ears pricked to attention as Stormywing tells her story... She likes stories fine. She likes them better than games, cause she's just gotta sit and listen, and she doesn't have to compete or be better than anyone... It's not too hard to be a good listener. And as a good listener, she can say that The Clawless cat is being really dramatic... it's just one claw. That left, like, a bunch more to still go hunting and stuff with, while being just enough lost claws to have a cool title like The Clawless Cat now. If she had lost all her claws, she'd still be The Clawless Cat, but she wouldn't be able to do... do anything, really...! She got off easy only losing one, Tigerkit thinks.

Tension hands in the air...and Falconheart feels it, turning on his clanmates— Or, or she guesses they weren't Clanmates anymore. Like with her and Raccoonstripe. If he wanted them to pretend to be enemies, that's what they would do... Tigerkit turns to him with wide eyes. Mottledpaw lets out a shriek, and Tigetkit suddenly finds herself very brave for not shrieking. No, she'd be all tough-like... " Booooo! " she hurtles at The Clawless Cat, accompanied by a tiny hiss.

Twilightkit says something... Was Tigerkit better than pretending out her? Well- well she was gonna look real silly... the silliest if Twilightkit thought she was booing for real. She's not a dumb kit... " It's pretend, I think, " she tells Twilightkit. It felt weird to talk to him like she knew something he didn't, though. usually Twilightkit knew everything... Her ears flattern atop her head. She feels a bit wrong, but... she's doing good, isn't she? Because she's very smart, she's gonna tell Palefire. " Um, if you really saw The Clawless Cat before, you'd be dead, right? "

Oh, did that mean they should all be dead now? If Ivorypaw and Copperfang are in the story, were they all in it too? Her face furrows in consideration, and Ivorypaw just died, she thinks... But Falconheart— um, The Clawless Cat didn't even do nothing yet! " You can't faint before nothing happens! You gotta fight! " more surprised than scolding, she tells Ivorypaw. She's right, isn't she? She glances to Nightbird and Twilightkit, who surely thought fighting was better than um, falling over...​

 

[tigerwing]

Orange and chocolate paint dappled against the dirt, her tail swishing softly behind the scarred warrior as she listens to the story like a kit hearing one from the elders. A white toed paw brings herself closer to Stormywing as she begins to whisper, green eyes bright and wide- a telltale that she was invested. Sure, this was a story, sure, she was much more of a warrior, but Tigerwing was intent to enjoy the little things that she could. Intent to sometimes be a child when she could- not really. But she enjoyed pretending the reality of the world around her was merely background noise. She could not lament forever, she could not fret. For if she was sad- who would bring light to Thunderclan?

She sure hoped she did, even when her younger days came forth of finding a place to hide, lamenting of what she was too young to change, Tigerwing rather enjoyed pretending to be strong to her clan. Because she was strong. She was a warrior of Thunderclan! And that meant everything to her, or she would not have fought so hard to get back where she was now. And she had missed them all so dearly.

She shifted uneasily on her paws, as Stormywing whispered on about the clawless cat who wailed through the forest, crying of her claw she had lost, and how starclan had cast her aside to haunt the forests to forever search. How their clanmates ventured on a daring mission, eyes glancing over to Ivorypaw who seemed interested as well"N, before back at the grey and white warrior only for her pupils to suddenly dilate as a cry came from behind the rock.

The warrior tensed, muscles that were reforming slowly but surely tightening visibly against the thin fur of her pelt as she lowered herself slightly. A figure pulled themselves free of the dark shadows of High rock, wailing of their missing claw, before finally breaking free of the shadows to reveal just faintly Falconheart. A soft yelp of sorts escaped her as he lunged towards the apprentice, before pants of giggles drew from her chest. Mottledpaw screamed, and the white apprentice of Ivorypaw rolled over onto her back, feinting.

"Noooo, that was sooo good!" Tigerwing encouraged, pulling in on herself a bit as she watched the kits argue the theatrics, and a few seeming bored. She didn't agree. "Mottledpaw was soooo scared-" She teased, green eyes gently resting on the apprentice, a smile tugging at the white maw she held. Tigerkit seemed more confused than anything, but she didn't know what to tell the kit- as she had no clue. She knew that Falconheart was definitely not the clawless cat, but she wanted to further make him question the story to keep his curiousity high. "I dunno, Falconheart is missing a claw- maybe, that just means The Clawless Cat did get him!" ​

 

[STORMYWING]

Stormywing holds back a snicker as Mottledpaw's scream echoes around the clearing. Her apprentice's hasty attempt to play it off as a joke earns a raised brow and a mischievous flick of her tail. "Nice save, Mottledpaw," She teases lightly, eyes glinting with amusement. Her eyes sweep over the listening cats, spotting their range of reactions - fear, nervousness, confidence. She continues her story, voice dropping lower and more haunting. "She froze, and there she was - The Clawless Cat herself, ragged and torn, her eyes glowing like the moon." She can hardly contain her laughter as Falconheart lunges for Ivorypaw and she play along, squealing like a kit. The sight is finally enough to make her crack up, leaning back and holding her belly with a paw.

"Oh, man, some of you should've seen the looks on your faces! That was priceless!" She guffaws, tail lashing in satisfaction. She peeks an eye open towards her cousin and grins wide. "Very nice dramatic flair," She snickers, tears of amusement springing to her eyes.

But oh, she really should end this, huh? Trying to compose herself, she clears her throat and steps forward, raising her voice with a final flourish. "Perhaps the Clawless Cat really is just a story. Or maybe," Her eyes gleam with mischief as she lowers her voice conspiratorially, "she's still watching, waiting for another cat to find themselves alone on a new moon."
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