camp SHE DEMANDS A SACRIFICE / intro

[SHADEPAW]

One white-splashed paw, carefully placed in front of the other. Their tail, slowly twitching back and forth. Their body was held low to the ground, a kittenish imitation of the apprentices that they had seen practicing their hunter's crouches. They were a seamless shadow, part of the marshy earth. They were a stealthy, elegant warrior. Probably, like, generally a good ShadowClanner, too.

Shadekit was stationed beside the thorny barrier that marked the entrance to camp, and they were trying so hard not to laugh that their whiskers were trembling with the effort. Whoever walked through that entrance next was gonna get it. They shifted their weight back and forth. Three months old, and gone were the days of just staying in the nursery and sleeping all day. They were going to spook someone so badly and it was going to be so funny. Everyone in the camp could see them, plain as day, but someone just entering camp? They sure hoped not. Pawsteps from the outside drew closer. Shadekit's ears flicked up. He leaned forward. He wiggled just a bit, trying to calculate the perfect distance to leap, and then there was the flash of fur as someone stepped into camp-

He pushed off with an excited squeal, paws outstretched. He butted his head into the poor soul and he tumbled head-over-paws, grabbing at their legs as he flopped in the dirt. A messy catch, but a success by Shadekit's very low standards, and he giggled delightedly, "Got you! I got you!"

[ whoever posts next can be the victim of shadekit's ambush <3 ]​

 

[Hawkstride]

★ ★ ★ Hawk was still learning the ins and outs of clan life, and had yet to really familiarize himself with Shadowclan's territory. Most days he was being accompanied, or watched, by various members of the clan, but today he'd managed to make it out of camp on his own. It was nice, being able to just take a stroll and enjoy the silence as he tried to learn his new surroundings. He'd only ever known the quiet solitude of life as a loner, broken up only by Pipit's trademark chatter or Snipe's occasional brooding comments. He wasn't used to the hustle and bustle of living amongst an entire group of cats, and there were days when he just felt overwhelmed by the chaos.

Take, for instance, the new group of kits that seemed to be terrorizing everyone. In all his life he'd never spent any time around kittens, apart from the days when he and his brothers were young themselves. He didn't really know how to act around them, and wasn't entirely comfortable with the way they always wanted to play. He was grown now, and surely had more important things to do than toss a mossball around with a little bundle of fur.

This sentiment was driven home when he wandered back into camp through the thorn-protected entrance, only to be bowled into by said little bundle of fur. Hawk startled with a low grunt and stumbled slightly, prepared to ignore the tiny terror were it not for the fact that Shadekit had now latched onto his forelegs. "Alright, alright, you got me," he grumbled halfheartedly with as much patience as he could muster, ivory-dipped paws trying to gently detangle the kitten from his limbs. His first instinct was to remove himself from the boisterous kit and continue about his day, but then he remembered all the times Pipit had called him a stick-in-the-mud. You're not on your own anymore; you've got to try to be a part of this.

He flashed Shadekit a miniscule smirk before dramatically falling to the ground, rolling over onto his back and reaching out to land a soft pat on the kitten's nose with one of his oversized paws. "Please, show mercy! I'm no match for a warrior as strong as you." He then pretended to cower by covering his face with his paws, sneakily peaking out to gauge the small tabby's next move; all the while, trying to ignore that itchy feeling of growing embarrassment eating at the much more shy part of him. He must look ridiculous, but he wanted to try not to care.

 

[BLOODPAW]

Being let out into the camp was giving Bloodkit experience after experience, to the point where retreating to the nursery for the night felt like a chore rather than a bodily expectation. Her eyes had often trailed to the thorny barrier that segregated kittens from the rest of the territory, daydreaming of what lay beyond, anxious to meet the place of her birth. It was a coincidence that that day, Shadekit had found the entrance first, the auburn kitten's head tilted as she tried to decipher what in StarClan's name her littermate was doing. Just as she was about to run up and ask her, Shadekit launched their assault on a passerby. Bloodkit jumped a foot in the air at the sight of Shadekit grasping onto Hawk's leg, holy bingle, she'd scored a nice hit! "YEAAAAH!" The cinnamon tabby squeaked with a large smile upon their maw, a singular canine tooth sticking out the right side of it.

She rallied to Shadekit's side, glee filling her copper eyes at the sight of a defeated Warrior. Stories of battle had always been Bloodkit's favourite, now, she got to see one in action, and it made her heart thrum in excitement. It made her realise she wanted in on the action too. Shadekit and Bloodkit, a combo the forest had never seen before - a knowing look was offered to Shadekit, one that tried to say 'I will help you' but read like 'I am hungry'[/i]. Needle-like claws unsheathed as she wiggled her haunches, lacking the 'decorum' of her sibling's hunting crouch. She didn't want to wait around for the right moment, she wanted to bite stuff! Waiting was boring. "EAT HIS YELLOW HEART!" Bloodkit's battle cry rang the few mouse lengths it carried as she attempted to leap onto the black smoke and chomp down on one of his toes, the tamest body part she thought to target at this point. It wasn't like Hawk was actually a villain, that deserved some mercy from the tiny terror.


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[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Oh, screaming. Kitten-screaming, so sort of a good kind... but kitten screaming in the already-stressful moons of Leafbare wasn't the most fun he'd ever had. Still, Nettlepaw rather had to find the fun in it- else, he'd probably go insane! Insanity ran in the family, didn't it? Something like that. Though kitten screaming, play-fighting, whatever they were doing... it didn't incentivise him to go on a murderous rampage. So he at least had that going for him... he didn't have those genetics, yet.

EAT HIS YELLOW HEART! Nettlepaw was unfazed by Bloodkit- what a unique name- screeching for his sibling to murder Hawk right on the floor in front of them all. Were they sure Bloodkit wasn't Granitepelt's son instead? Or... well, he supposed that tom had been a little more subtle about his killing. "Hearts are crimson, dear Bloodkit," Nettlepaw murmured, making no attempt to discourage the 'violence'. It was hardly violence at all- in fact, it was rather entertaining.​

penned by pin ♡​

 

[SHADEPAW]

Hawk's first attempts to dislodge Shadekit were met with tufted ears angling back and tiny paws batting harder at his. He could tell by the light sigh in Hawk's voice that he was trying to give the game up, but what kind of a play-fighter was he? Shadekit's siblings were better stand-ins for enemy warriors, or helpless prey, and they had encountered neither! Shadekit had no idea how fresh Hawk was to the clan, because even a handful of weeks ago, the little tabby had still been figuring out how to say words. He was given no grace... but that ended up not mattering much, because only a heartbeat later, with a quirk of the muzzle, he was playing along. Shadekit squeaked out, "Yesss!" as Hawk fell. A white paw batted at their face and they laughed, spooking backward before advancing again as Hawk cowered.

Then their attention was broken by Bloodkit's triumphant squeak and the tell-tale patter of paws. They turned moss-colored eyes from their victim to the cinnamon tabby. She had a wicked look on her face, and it was all the warning anyone got before she struck, with a rallying cry that made Shadekit just blink for a second. They did not have Bloodkit's propensity for battle- really, the pouncing and latching part was what felt natural to them, not the flurry of bites and scratches that came after in a battle. Bloodkit seemed to have a better idea of that, complete with a fun goal such as eating Hawk's heart. Which, according to Nettlepaw, had to be crimson. Distracted from the fight, Shadekit turned to look at the white-splashed apprentice. "It can't ever be yellow?" They asked, just double-checking. All the prey they ate was indeed red on the inside, but they sure did not know about cats. Not that they could remember, anyway.

They then turned back to Hawk and Bloodkit. "Bloodkit, we can't eat his heart, because he's already defeated! We have to- we have to show mercy!" They parroted Hawk, a laugh in their soft voice as they pushed it to be louder than usual. He would be dead if they ate his heart, and Shadekit's imagination was fully allowing for the possibility, even if she really knew there was no way Bloodkit could really hurt him. Nonetheless, he was begging for mercy. He was no match for even one warrior; he stood no chance against two. She tried to place her front paws on his shoulder and stare down at him, as if he had been truly pinned. "Wait, you are already defeated, right? Do you give up? Hey, have you ever been in a reaaal fight?"​

 

[jitterbug]

Jitterpaw huffs, aiming to gently bop Bloodkit with a paw. "Teeth to yourself, you little terror," ey grumbles, but it's good-natured, clearly putting on an act. After all, Bloodkit isn't actually being too aggressive, just a bit rowdy, and as long as the teeth aren't in eir toes, ey can find a bit of amusement in it. A few chirps escape em before ey speaks again. "Two to one isn't very fair, is it? Especially for two strong warriors like you and your sibling. Why don't you see if you can--" Ey's cut off for a second with a jerk of the neck and a quick gnashing of eir teeth before ey can finish eir sentence. "--see if you can take down Nettlepaw? Go get him." Ey directs the kit towards the other apprentice with a faint smirk.​

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"speech"​