camp SO EDEN SANK TO GRIEF ꨄ︎ open

[eveningsun]

eveningpaw had made her presence in camp scarce. she had forced herself onto border patrol after border patrol, hoping, praying to catch a glimpse of a familiar piebald coat. it was torturous to come back each time with dimmed optimism, even more so to sit idle around camp. she often resorted to helping the queens and kits in the nursery in her downtime. it was like a gentle glow amidst darkness, a space that reminded her of when her family was whole.

she had spent all morning there, cleaning vacant nests that she had worked on only the day before, missed the dawn patrols departure by a hair. camp was quiet, a few cats shared tongues near the middle. for once, she couldn't be bothered to intrude on their gossip, fill her head with frivolous matters when there was something much more important looming. the tortoiseshell slipped by them with silence, tail grazing the ground behind her. the queens would be awaking soon, they would need breakfast. luckily, eveningpaw was happy to deliver.

pale gaze raked over the pile, scrutinizing each piece of prey. it had taken a few moments, but she had chosen the three finest, freshest kills, the most appetizing indeed. two plump birds and a mouse had been sectioned off. gathering them up, she began her journey back to the nursery with a quick trot and a downcast gaze. she hadn't seen a shadow before her, nor the paws it was attached to. the apprentice didn't even recognize what had happened until she saw her prey scattered on the ground, it didn't take long for her to feel a dull pain across the top of her head.

blinking up, she wouldn't quite meet the gaze of whoever she had ran into. "oh, um..." eve struggled for words, eyes flitting back down to the floor where the prey lay. her brows knit in uncertainty, surely the queen's wouldn't want to eat these now. decorated with dirt and stray pine needles, filthy. they would need an entire new selection, but she had already chosen the best. anything else would be subpar, unimpressive, a disappointment. her throat tightened, eyes grew heavy and wide. snowy paws reached out to retrieve the prey, one, two, where was the third? as she looked around for it, she saw paws once more, their sight seemed to startle her as she was forced to remember why her prey was scattered in the first place.

"oh! sorry, didn't see ya there!" it was a shaky excuse for a cheerful tone, outfitted with a grin that didn't meet her avoidant gaze. she didn't care to see their reaction, whether it be one of pity or anger. "you didn't happen to see where the other one went, did ya?" she asked, although now she wasn't even entirely sure there was a third to begin with. had she only grabbed two pieces? her brow laced once more as she tried to remember. there was a finch and a robin, both laid out at her paws. the third, it wouldn't be a bird. she knew there were only two suitable birds amidst the pile. "a squirrel, maybe?" ​

 

[Johnnyflame]

HE SAID, "WELL MY NAME'S JOHNNY, AND IT MIGHT BE A SIN
BUT I'LL TAKE YOUR BET, AND YOU'RE GONNA REGRET, CUZ IM THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN."​

---

Johnny couldn't pretend to understand the depth of grief so many of his clanmates were suffering. As close as he'd grown to the cats of the pine forest, he was still fresh in the eyes of the clan, a cat who was known and settled, but who hadn't yet had the time to cultivate connections that reached as deeply as those who'd been here for seasons upon seasons. If there was an individual who he considered himself exceptionally fond of though, it would have been Thistleback. The older toms presence -or lack thereof- had not gone unnoticed or without effect on Johnny. He missed the way those eyes of steel would watch him from across camp when he came back from a hunting patrol, or the subtle hints of care that came in the form of shared prey and forced downtime. While it would never measure up to the pain Thistles family was undoubtedly feeling, there was no doubting that Johnny felt a hollow space inside his heart where the piebald tom had once sat.

The cat who'd changed his life forever, was gone.

In a similar vein to Eveningpaw, Johnny had thrown himself headfirst into remaining busy. He took the kits out to play in order to give the queens time to themselves, stuck himself into every patrol he could manage, and never for a second let his paws fall isle unless he was conversing with a clanmates. He knew that part of it was his way of grieving, but beyond that, he felt like he owed it to Thistleback. This amazing tom who'd given Johnnys life a purpose beyond protecting twoleg gardens, who'd told him he was always welcome among his family- how could Johnny not pour every ounce of himself into the thing that Thistle cared most about; his clan and family?

The stocky bobtail had been returning to camp from a hunting patrol when he accidentally ran into someone, the prey in his jaws nearly falling from his grip, though he managed to save it at the last second. Damn- had he not been paying attention?

Molten eyes landed on Eveningpaw as she began gathering the prey she'd dropped, and the koi tabby was quick to drop the squirrel he was carrying at her paws where it wouldn't be dirtied. "Here, take this one. It was my fault anyways, walkin' around with my head in the clouds." he replied sheepishly, glancing around for the dirtied squirrel and pulling it toward himself. "I'll clean this one off and see if we can get him back to being presentable." he assured her, getting ready to pick the prey up before pausing.

He hadn't seen much of Thistles family since his disappearance, not even Deersong, who he'd fought alongside during the fox attack and fished with in the river. The stone she gifted him still sat in his bed back at home, tucked beneath his favorite blanket.

"I was gonna go look for duck feathers along the riverbank later on, something to make the queens nests a little softer- would you maybe want to come along?" he asked, head tilting in curiosity in a decidedly doggish manner. "Ya don't have to, of course! I know you've been busy." he added quickly, not wanting her to feel like she had to come along if she didn't feel like it. In fact, it was probably an entirely selfish whim to want to be around Thistlebacks family, but the bobtail couldn't help it.

OOC- would you be down for a private thread with Johnny and Evening?

---

​

 

[eveningsun]

johnny. he had said it was his fault, but that couldn't be true. she fixes him a nearly stern look, but whether he was lying for her sake or just as lost and dazed she didn't know. at the presentation of the freshly caught prey however, it was dropped. "oh, thanks! they'll like it," she hummed softly, taking it to place at her paws. would they though? would the nursery ridden skyclanners actually prefer this to her prior selection? she hoped so, hoped that they wouldn't berate her for this new piece. it wasn't as if they had before, but what if?

eveningpaw expected him to leave after, he must be busy. a lead warrior now, a position that was once thistleback's. she wondered if he were ever to return, would he be welcomed back with the same honor? or will the clan have moved on by then, forgotten everything he had done. she blinks softly, drawn back from her thoughts at his invitation. the riverbank, for duck feathers. was there something so special about them that the queens needed them specifically? or perhaps this was just another mission to get her mind off of things. still, the apprentice nodded, almost eagerly at the excuse to leave camp.

"yes, i'd- i'm sure they'd love that." it wasn't about her after all, the queens needed the feathers. softness for their nexts that had to be uncomfortable after inhabiting them for so long. "i'm barely busy, trying to be but..." it was a difficult situation. orangeblossom was still in the nursery, and while she was supposed to be under thistleback's wing until the deputy was released, that wasn't entirely possible at the moment. but she didn't want to bury poor johnny with the weight of her mind. "i've pretty much done everything possible around camp. twice," eve attempted at a joke but it fell flat, her ears twitching in embarrassment.

// omg absolutely i'd love that!​

 

[Orangestar]

"You're definitely the most dutiful 'paw of the moment." Orangeblossom adds, coming to a halt next to her apprentice. Pride shines softly in brown eyes, tail flicking over her flank. Even though Eveningpaw's training is being taken care of during her temporary retirement, Orangeblossom still holds attachment to the calico; even more so now with Thistleback gone, a spiky-shaped hole in every SkyClanner's heart that would no doubt impact his daughter deeper than anyone else in camp. As much as Orangeblossom's heart aches for the loss of her valued Clanmate, it must be a lot worse for his kin. For his kits. It's hard, at times, to see her; angular features pulled directly from her father's face at certain angles, especially when she frowns. And she's frowning now, slightly embarrassed during her conversation with the lead warrior.

Johnnyflame, too, is a cat suffering in the wake of Thistleback's disappearance. Any SkyClanner could see that the two toms had become close, though the deputy is unaware exactly how close; all she knows is that the tricolour has been distinctly unhappy ever since Thistleback had been snatched. Orangeblossom clears her throat quietly.

"Duck feathers would be a wonderful addition to our nests. If you want to go with Johnnyflame now, I can take these in to the little ones and tell them you'll visit later." The kits would be in for a rude shock when they became apprentices and they were the 'paws expected to bring their former denmates prey every night. The thought makes Orangeblossom's whiskers twitch with dry amusement.

— info

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  orangeblossom. tags.
  — she/her, skyclan deputy.
  — mentor to eveningpaw.
  — attack in #e08550. uses trees as an integral part of her fighting style.
  — mean enough to note that her thoughts don't reflect my opinions as a writer haha.
  — penned by mercibun; @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots. :]
  — art by merc!<3
  

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