development SINKING THROUGH TIME \ disappearance

[MARBLELEAF]

Marblepaw awakens into a flat, frozen wasteland; the air is still and clear for the first time in days. She shuffles out of her nest and into the ShadowClan camp, her whiskers trembling. The worst of her illness has faded, but her limbs feel weak as she attempts to traverse the snowdrifts toward Clanrock. What's left of their fresh-kill is frostbitten and inedible; the hunting patrols will have their work cut out for them, she thinks dismally. She knows she has a busy day ahead of her — their bravest Clanmates, those who had challenged the blizzard to feed and supply their Clan, had caught all manner of chills and sicknesses, and many of them would be waking soon.

But something draws Marblepaw to the leader's den, where Mirestar slumbers. Why is it so quiet, so eerily, hauntingly quiet? The snow seems to have muffled all outside influence; it's as though ShadowClan exists on its own.

"Mirestar?" She hesitantly pokes her nose into the den. Their nest is cool. Empty. That isn't necessarily a surprise on its own; Mirestar often goes to sleep in the nursery with their mate and kits, and that is where she heads next.

But they are not there, either, curled beside Lilacfur and the tiny breathing bodies they'd helped welcome into the world. Marblepaw's brow furrows, but she says nothing, not willing to wake her mother up for nothing.

The early morning sun glints upon the pale surface of the camp floor, and that's when she can see a spiral of fading pawprints leading just outside of camp. "Did... did anyone see where Mirestar went? It looks like they left camp before the storm ended," she mews, her paw pads beginning to tingle. Why had they risked it, when so many of their warriors had ended up sick or injured? Had they... had they gone alone, when the Clan needed them here?

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

• ooc: This is official notice to the Clan that Mirestar has disappeared. Cats with excellent tracking skills will be able to deduce they went toward Highstones, but no further trace of them will be found.
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 11 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.

​

 

[MAPLETUFT]

When the crack of dawn arrives, Mapletuft is out, handing patrols out to the cats who were healthy enough to do so, stressing hard about staying in pairs... Stars, if she loses a clanmate to the blizzard, due to her own poor planning... What would she do? Their life would be on her paws, blood stained on her pelt... Her eyes follow Marblepaw as she finishes up one, and then Marblepaw utters words that send an icicle dagger straight through her heart, her stomach dropping.

She hadn't assigned Mirestar to a patrol, which meant they had left before she had woke. When the temperature was colder, when it was still night, when it had still been snowing. How had she not noticed? How, how? Panic begins to seize her chest. "I didn't-" her breath hitches in her throat. Where Marblepaw was unwilling to wake Lilacfur, Mapletufts voice is a stark contrast of it. Lilacfur, realistically, would be the one Mirestar would tell if they were leaving, right? They had to have let someone know that they're "Lilacfur! Lilac- Where is she?" she knows shes more than likely in the nursery, but she grits her teeth, trying her damn hardest not to panic in front of all of her clanmates. Shes the deputy. She has to keep a calm and clear head despite the spiral staircase that her mind begins to walk down. "Did Mirestar tell anyone where they were going? Where are the guards from last night?" she takes a deep breath, finding herself half-repeating what Marblepaw had asked.

Mirestar was probably just feeling stuffy in camp and they took a walk. Thats all there is to it. They'll be back. This isn't like Smogstar. Mirestar wouldn't do that to them, of course they wouldn't. They wouldn't do that to her. To their new kits in the nursery, to their mate. To the clan. Instinctively, she looks for the council, eyes round with growing worry. For a fleeting moment, she is no longer the deputy searching for her leader, she is a mother searching for her child, for her baby, for someone she had watched grow up, someone she was family with, not by blood-ties but by choice.

She inhales sharply. "I will... Take another patrol out, and we will look. We can't have our leader... Away... For too long." why would they leave in the middle of the blizzard? Realistically, their pawprints would be covered by the time they set out, if they had left before the storm ended. In some cruel way, she has a feeling she won't find anything. She has a feeling she could scour Shadowclans entire territory, up and down, and find no trace. Her stomach rolls. Please come back to us. Please, Mirestar, please do not pull a Smogstar. This is all too familiar, and all too suffocating.

She's not ready for whatever news is about to come, whatever information this patrol is about to unearth. Please let me find you safe.

𝖶𝖧𝖤𝖭 𝖳𝖧𝖠𝖳 𝖬𝖮𝖮𝖭 𝖨𝖲 𝖡𝖨𝖦 𝖠𝖭𝖣 𝖡𝖱𝖨𝖦𝖧𝖳 *•.🍁.•* 𝖨𝖳𝖲 𝖠 𝖲𝖴𝖯𝖤𝖱𝖭𝖠𝖳𝖴𝖱𝖠𝖫 𝖣𝖤𝖫𝖨𝖦𝖧𝖳

• ❥ mapletuft ʚ♡ɞ cider
  ❥ cis female ʚ♡ɞ she/her ʚ♡ɞ 54 months
  ❥ shadowclan deputy ʚ♡ɞ mentoring lavenderpaw
  ❥ long-furred chocolate torbie/cinnamon tabby chimera ʚ♡ɞ elegant & flowy
  ❥ "speech, F17E23" ʚ♡ɞ thoughts
  ❥ widowed ʚ♡ɞ bisexual
  ❥ smells like spice & cool night air ʚ♡ɞ warm & crisp
  ❥ penned by chuff

 

[MILKBRIAR]

× With all of the commotion going on, Milkpaw's eyes managed to part, breaking him from his slumber. "What's going on?" he grumbled, raising to his paws after a stretch, attempting to wake his body before making way out into the cold. His ears twitched as he exited the bramble bush den, eyes immediately squinting in response to the sun.

Did anyone see where Mirestar went? Did Mirestar tell anyone where they were going? The panic began to bubble in his chest as Milkpaw tuned into on the chatter, realization finally hitting him as Marblepaw and Mapletuft's words settled in his ears. Mirestar was missing, and Mapletuft was going to send a patrol after their leader. "I'm coming with you." Milkpaw immediately spoke up, their voice filled with worry.

The longer they remained outside, the more the cold was able to slip through their long coat and nip at their skin. Milkpaw could only imagine how cold Mirestar must be, and only begin to wonder where they went. There was absolutely no way that Mirestar just ditched them. No, they wouldn't do that to their clan, their family. The apprentice shook his head and began to pace, anxiety overcoming them the longer they stood there, the longer the thoughts swirled in their mind.​

 

[AGATEPAW.]

Sleeplessness knew Agatepaw all too well, and yet the one night he succumbed to sweet slumber for a while rather than just pretending...

His mismatched eyes were wide, and he shuddered upon hearing Marblepaw's voice, asking where Mirestar had went. He didn't know. He didn't know and that terrified him.

Agatepaw's breath was caught in his throat, just staring. He'd be of no use with his frostbite. As much as he wanted to offer himself for the patrol, his paws ached still.

He stood, frozen other than trembling, uselessly, breathing heavily. 'Not again, not again. Does StarClan hate us that much?' Another leader gone, his pessimistic nature kicking in full swing. Paranoia crept in too, and he found himself repeating the thoughts in his head, not sure where to go from there.​

"Speech"​

---

STEP FROM THE DARK TO THE LIGHT​

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

He really wished he lived in a world where he didn't have to worry every moment that a clanmate is out of sight. Every moment that a Leader is not out of sight, especially. The ground does not shake. It does not tremble, overwhelmed by some reality that should never happen, or something... stupid like that. It sighs, more like. Resolves itself. Quiet panic makes itself known in the passing flanks of her clanmates, and Sharpshadow stands between them all, her eyes on something else entirely.

Had she ever believed in Mirestar? He can't really say that he had... but he had wanted to. Desperately, he had wanted to.

Mapletuft isn't any lesser for panicking. She's just... too hopeful, or something. Standing before Marblepaw with the rest of them, Sharpshadow's stature is not that of a Lead Warrior, not of a stone-willed warrior, willing to tear up the world to find their missing leader... And even if those things are true, they're crowded within an already-cracking shell. He wears defeat with the sag of his shoulders; with the hunch of his back. Dull eyes trudge across the forms of Milkpaw and Agatepaw both.

Where Smogstar's circumstances had worked against his disappearance at every turn, Mirestar's worked along side it handily. Gone in a blizzard. As good as gone, yeah. Mapletuft knows it, doesn't she? There's an itch in her sinuses; a burn at her nose... if Mirestar did not wander somewhere the snow didn't let them see, sickness would take them without a Medicine Cat. Mirestar would not have the benefit of an almost impossible situation that Smogstar had.

Apparently, it's without even trying that he does his best to silhouette the former leader. Hard dedication to a boring, intense-and-yet-not gaze was not what it had taken. Instead, it had been despair. Not the crestfallen, frown-written kind, but something that's solemnly quiet. Tragedy too-expected for her to cry, or... something like that.

He's already tired when he finds Mapletuft. " I'll go too. " As if he could say anything else.​

 

[Ternstar.]

FROM COFFIN TO THE CRADLE
I GOT DEMONS, I GOT ANGELS​

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

ternfrost ♛ 24 moons ♛ female ♛ she/her ♛ shadowclan queen ​

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

'"Did... did anyone see where Mirestar went? It looks like they left camp before the storm ended,'

Its deja vu, in the worst of ways - vibrant gaze flicking from Marblepaws scared face to Mapletufts - the deputies words hardly even reaching her ears. There is panic - a snowstorm, and blizzard, so bad it was foretold by the stars themselves - and their leader had vanished within in. And yet, for a moment, she feels only bitterness - worried not for Mirestar's sake, but for what it may mean for the clan. Magpiepaw, Chilledstar, Raggedbite, Needledrift. Hadn't the stars taken enough?

Cursed, she recalls - and in that moment, it takes on a whole new meaning.

Eyes narrow as she hums to herself, tail flicking - there is nothing for her to do here, nothing she can do, but to turn her head to the stars and wait for their leaders safe return.

━ actions & " speech, " & 'thoughts/quotes' ━

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I - S H O U L D- H A V E- B E E N- B O R N- W I T H-
A -W A R N I N G- L A B E L

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

 

[shalestorm]

There's an odd feeling in the air this morning, one Shalestorm can't quite place but leaves the feline feeling uneasy all the same. It's familiar, and it's unpleasant, and she does not want to feel like this again. Even worse, when she gets up to scour the bare bones prey pile, frowning at the empty section of ground, Marblepaw's voice reaches her, and the sinking of Shalestorm's gut echos that of the rest of her Clan. Mirestar is gone.

"Let's not panic just yet!" The warrior says, every the cheerful face. She puts on a smile, trying to be reassuring. "I'll come as well," she says to Mapletuft and Sharpshadow, "we'll bring our wayward leader home~" she says with a grin, despite the anxiety that prickles at her pelt and threatens to make the fur on her shoulders rise. They'll find Mirestar. They'll bring them home.

if I held your hand // would that be okay?

• ooc -
  
• 
  #e36f90
• 
  (img) Shalestorm * she/her* 28 moons
  blue point/blue chimera w/ low white; blue eyes
  Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
  penned by Neptune. || Neptune on disc, dm me for plots

​

 

[BATCHASER]

With the commotion rising up, he managed to peel open his eyes. Looking through the parted strands of fur, a twitch of a large ear– He peels himself, slowly out of his nest and slipping halfway through the Warrior's den. Concealed eyes still squinting at the sun's bright rays dappling among the camp clearing. When Marblepaw utters words, it sent his stomach falling as his breath hitches in his throat.

Quiet panic makes itself known. He wears defeat on his shoulders, letting them sag as his tail twitched where it laid behind him. His mismatched eyes slide across the forms of Milkpaw and Agatepaw. Gone as a blizzard... Mirestar is gone. There's an itch to his nose, as he grits his teeth together. His friend is just gone. Away with the wind. Hadn't starclan taken enough from them?

Batchaser does not cry for his fallen friend, he wishes he could. Nothing but a frown shows itself upon his mouth, he finds himself next to Mapletuft. "I'll... join too." He sighs. He's just tired of disappearing leaders.

𓂃 𝅄᠂ ⭒ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 ☽ 𝙃𝙄𝘿𝘿𝙀𝙉 𝙀𝙔𝙀𝙎 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙎𝙃𝘼𝙍𝙋 𝙂𝙍𝙄𝙉𝙎

•  

• temp batchaser ref.

  

• ( THAT'S ONE ENEMY DOWN! ) ⋆⁺₊ ☾ ⁺₊⋆ BATCHASER. ╱ shadowclan warrior.
  ― CISMALE ; HE / HIM ; CURRENTLY 37 MOONS OLD & AGES EVERY 10TH.
  ✦ pansexual / not actively looking — mentoring none.
  ✦ a tall shorthaired curly black smoke bicolor with gold/green heterochromia.
  ✦ thoughts ; "Speech, 7077A1" ; attacks only
  ✦ may powerplay minor harm ╱ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted
  ✦ smells like rain-soaked pavement, mist & sweet leaf rot
  — all opinions are ic
  
  — biography / @ on discord for plots
  — penned by calzone
  

​

 

[scalejaw]

★ Her paws are still bitten with frost when she pushes free of the warrior's den, despite being told t rest and treat her paws for another sunrise, her ears are perked forward. And when she hears the news, she stops, a monolith in the middle of camp. Mirestar's name rings like a bell across camp, echoing without an answer. Her head turned, quickly accessing the heads that she steps into camps.

Mapletuft's worry is tangible- she breathes it like ash on her tongue. Stepping towards her, her words answer the ringing bell, but it is off-tune, it is not the answer that should have responded. It isn't their voice that speaks to Mapletuft. "Deep breaths." She says, and it's more of an order then it is a friendly tone. Her words are ice-cold, bitten with their own frost. The frost of despair she refused to let creep. The frost of oncoming grief, her heart aching like Smogstar all over again. Like Smogmaw.

"I'll remain in camp." She volunteers a moment later, voice lifting to the rest of camp. Volunteers to remain behind, both because of the frostbite on her paws and the need to protect camp in their absence. Her paws are still wrapped at this point, still being treated, and she walks almost like a newborn fawn, shaking her paws with every other snow-laden and iced step. "Go find them." Scalejaw says this to Mapletuft, eyes meeting with wilder ones then her own.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎┌── AND JUST LIKE THE RAIN ⋅❁⋅ YOU CAST THE DUST INTO NOTHING ──┐‎

• "speech"

• 

• SCALEJAW 🌧 she/her, lead warrior of shadowclan, sixty-seven moons.
  ★ A SH black/LH blue smoke chimera with glowering orange eyes, tufts of fur that make her look dragon-akin, and scars that she wears with pride. motherly and stern attitude, with a warm streak for clanmates and a cruel streak for enemies.
  ★ mentoring no one
  ★ padding after no one / / mother to bonerattle, nightwhisper, and shadefall
  ★ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ★ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[SMOKYKIT]

It's not a slow thing, the voices that begin to seep in through the walls of the nursery, though this time at least it's only noise that wakes her, not the absence of a pair of bodies at her side. Blinking blearily, Smokykit has no care to decipher any of the chatter outside, and she very nearly drifts back into unconsciousness until the figure of Ternfrost glides past, heading toward the nursery entrance. "Whuh...?" she utters sleepily, more akin to a noise than a proper question, and though her limbs still feel heavy with sleep, they begin to stir. It's not particularly graceful, the way she pulls herself from the sleeping pile, but nonetheless, Smokykit begins to wobble towards the blinding white that awaits her, eyes narrowed both from the reflection of the sun across the snow and the stray tiredness that still clings tightly to her pelt.

They're all talking about something, something important, considering voices are raised more than the normal hush of dawn patrols, and it takes a few more moments for her to catch any semblance of words that make sense. Something about...Mirestar not being in camp? But, they were allowed outside as leader, right? Even in the swirling snow, the rest of ShadowClan went outside in the snow all the time still, to bring back prey and bedding and even trinkets, if she was lucky. It doesn't sound unusual to her, and yet the nervous tension hanging in the air seems to prove her otherwise; almost infectious, Smokykit suddenly feels restless, shuffling her paws around even though they're carefully kept out of the snow. If all the warriors were upset about this, should she be, too? Mirestar was a familiar figure in the nursery, ducking in and out to visit Lilacfur and their kits — that's not something that she wants to just disappear into the snow.

There's nothing to be done by her, really, save for watch the fleeting figures slip out across the unbroken snow; no help would she be, even if she wanted to venture out alongside the patrol, or if she were even capable of it. Not everybody slinks after their missing trail, and perhaps later she'll find it in her to bug someone about it, but for now she still feels leaden, even if sleep is finally starting to wear off. Is she supposed to just slip back into the nursery, crawl back into the pile among her siblings? While Mirestar is an unknown, while their litter sleeps peacefully nearby? The thought sends restless, uncertain energy thrumming through her, though neither does Smokykit feel like frolicking around to get it out. Instead, she turns to Ternfrost, pinched brow held skyward. "Are they gonna go bring Mirestar back?" she asks, and she can't help but release a yawn alongside the words. Surely all this fuss would be over nothing, and in a few hours Mirestar would be back in camp, safe and sound, though even in spite of her own internal reassurances, the nervous energy still hangs almost palpably in the air.​

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ THE RADIO PLAYS A FAMILIAR SONG 𖤓 AND YOU ARE LOVED, YOU ARE LOVED ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• OOC: -
  ​
• 
  
  
• SMOKYKIT —. She/her, kit of ShadowClan
  — .Flintwish x Ashenfall, littermate to Promisekit, Tinykit, & Mercykit
  — . 3 moons old, ages on the 1st
  — .An ill-proportioned, smoky molly with bright amber eyes and an exceedingly curly, tangled pelt.
  — .Enthusiastic and vibrant, easily distracted, prideful & caring - friendly within reason
  — .Peaceful & healing powerplay permitted - brushing up against her, shoulder bumps, etc.
  — .Penned by Hijinks - feel free to DM me on Discord to plot! ^^
  ​

 

[STONEPAW]

Stonepaw felt like he was going crazy. Mirestar now? Did StarClan hate them? First Smogstar's disappearance, which he (though he'd never admit it) was not over yet. They'd began to have a routine finally with Mapletuft being assigned deputy. He had his own troubles with Agatepaw. He still didn't even really know what happened there. Could they have a moment of peace? Of course not. "Mirestar is gone too?" he nearly barked out a laugh. It was a cold sound. "I'll come too." He was nothing if not a soldier. He might not do it happily but he'll search as long as he could.

---

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• "speech"

• 

• STONEPAW ✩ he/him, apprentice of shadowclan, ten moons
  ⭃ pretty lilac with low white and blue eyes. very driven, wants to be the best, pushy. has built up a bit of muscle but is still agile.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by Twitchtail ↛ @iliawonders on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​