camp swear it : ̗̀➛ intro

[MERLINPAW ✦]

Dreary clouds cover the sky and bring blankets of shadow into the camp below. Merlinpaw can't help but think the sight pretty in a strange, melancholically abstract way. They're not quite certain where the thought came from, usually their mind is quiet, nothing much to think about beyond typical apprentice duties considering they tend to stay away from any and all drama or whatnot. And socializing with their peers? No thank you. Merlinpaw can hardly interpret their own thoughts and emotions most of the time, but the idea of needing to do that for other cats? It's not even remotely appealing.

Friends... that's a concept almost as foreign the the blue hued apprentice as the idea of running through the moors or climbing the trees. Alien. It makes his insides squirm uncomfortably and he can't explain why. It's not as if making friends is impossible... nearly every cat in RiverClan has at least one they can consider friend, but Merlin? No... he'd actively avoided all attempts as of late and, since earning his 'paw name, he'd avoided them even more than he had as a kit. Why? They're... not sure. It could be a number of the reasons above, it could be none of them. Maybe Merlinpaw just isn't cut out for understanding cats, for making friends, or for forming real connections or bonds. But this isn't a pity party, and they've come to terms with this in some aspects.

They sit down near the entrance to the apprentices' den now, chewing the mud and muck from their claws. There's still chores to do, and they don't particularly fancy the idea of den reinforcement or checking the elders for ticks, but a job is a job. It gives them something to do, to focus their energy on instead of the pointless act of people watching. He'll never understand why cats do any of the things they do regardless of if he's watching it happen or not, so might as well put that energy into something useful. For the moment, though, they choose to finish their grooming.

i used to think // that memories were like pollen

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  ooc - could've sworn i posted this this morning *squints* oh well. open to anyone !!

• 
  #6360c4
  
• 
  (image) Merlinpaw * they/him* 8 moons
  short furred blue classic tabby w/ low white; brown eyes
  Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
  penned by Neptune.

​

 

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

Snakeblink has been in and out of camp a lot today already, going on patrol and fishing and Starclan knows what else. His duties run together like streams of water in the course of the day, a comforting and hazy routine of business that he has been attending to half-unconsciously today, his mind focused on other matters. But as he heaves himself out of the water and onto the rocks of camp with a bundle of reeds between his teeth, he thinks it will be his last trip today: he is set on weaving shut some pesky holes in the warrior’s den in anticipation of the falling temperature, and he suspects the meticulous task will eat away at the hours of daylight left.

Unless he has a little help. His eyes alight on a blue apprentice hard at work grooming themself, which as far as he’s concerned counts as idleness (Snakeblink himself is far from the best-groomed of the clan, and depends mostly on frequent swimming and a very short pelt to go on looking halfway presentable.)

”Ah, Merlinpaw, is it?” He asks, careful to enunciate around his burden. ”Has your mentor released you for the day? I could use some assistance with den repairs, if you are not otherwise occupied.”​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely​

ooc. information.

• 
  
• 
  
  
  — Snakeblink • he / him. 57 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  
  
  

​

​

 

[Twinklepaw!]

Twinklepaw made a lot of effort to make herself seem low effort, not in the way that she could pass as a lazy apprentice or anything like that. She put a lot of stock in doing her apprentice duties, chores included, but there was a balancing act to it. She can't do it all the time right away or else she'd look like an exceptional worker, today was one of those days where she tipped the scale of her perception in the other direction. As she peered her head outside of the apprentice den she noticed Merlinpaw seemingly had the right idea. They looked so effortlessly calm as they rested with the only diligent task seeming to be cleaning themself, she had half the mind to take a seat right next to him and partake in the leisure that he enjoyed.

Nothing can be a slow crawl though, the peace of the day will change into that upbeat fast pace drum of work. Snakeblink approaches with a delivery of more promised work, as they watch the interaction from the entrance of the apprentices den she considers her options. Twinklepaw could offer to help alongside Merlinpaw, making herself seem more reliable or she could try to sneak off to do something else which would probably work against them in terms of clan perception. Hm...

"Oh Snakeblink! Need help with den repairs?" The apprentice makes their presence known, bounding up to the pair with a pep in her walk. Head held up high as if she hadn't been weighing up what would be the less troublesome act for her, in the end she decided on a third option. "Keeping up health is important right? If Merlinpaw's well... paws! Are unkept he may have trouble with walking or swimming right?" Is it actually true? She didn't really know and she was hoping that the warrior wouldn't know either.

"Can I help instead? I promise I'll work extra hard" there was the thought that maybe Merlinpaw would hold them in high esteem for this selfless offer, to take up the burden of den repairs in exchange for them enjoying that peace just a little longer.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ AIM YOUR ARROW ➹ AT THE SKY‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• 
  
• 
• TWINKLEPAW
  They/she, RiverClan apprentice, 8 moons
  ★ A sleek yet tufted short haired blue point with blue eyes
  ☆ Littermates w/ Eveningpaw, Horizonpaw and Snowflakekit †
  ★ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ Speech (#C9BAF3), thoughts
  ★penned by Juice | ouijeejuice on discord
  

​

 

[MERLINPAW ✦]

Speak of the devil and she shall appear... or whatever that saying is. Snakeblink being the devil in this scenario. The request from the Lead Warrior for assistance with den wall reinforcement was... okay, not unwelcome exactly, but it had been the one thing they had been thinking about how much they just didn't want to do. They're about to open their mouth, ready to comply with the order regardless of their personal preferences, but they end up getting rescued instead. Twinklepaw is not a cat Merlinpaw knows well (something that can be said for practically every cat in their Clan), but her offer to help Snakeblink in their place is considerate.

Surely she has no ulterior motives. Surely.

So Merlinpaw finishes cleaning his nails. It takes only a few chews, but it gives him extra time to think of an appropriate response. He isn't sure what Twinklepaw is trying to gain out of taking the task for herself - it's just chores, nothing special, not likely to earn her any brownie point if that's what she's going for. It's just the job that's expected of her. Nothing more and nothing less.

"I don't mind helping," they decide eventually, briefly side eyeing Twinklepaw before returning their focus to the Lead Warrior. "What do you need done?" Far be it from him to deny a warrior's orders.

i used to think // that memories were like pollen

• 
  

  ooc -

• 
  #6360c4
• 
  (img) Merlinpaw * they/him* 8 moons
  short furred blue classic tabby w/ low white; brown eyes
  Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
  penned by Neptune. || Neptune on disc, dm me for plots

​

 

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

What strange creatures apprentices are. Snakeblink stares at Twinklepaw for an extra beat, at a loss for what to say (how different they are from their parents! Though he fancies he can see some of Lichenstar’s dour face in there) before he says slowly, ”I do not believe Merlinpaw will drop dead from dusty toes, no.”

But her offer to help does not fall on deaf ears — and neither does his initial conscript’s agreement to the task. ”Well, come along then, both of you: the work will go quicker with more paws set to the task.” He attempts a smile, which with the reeds still in his mouth and his usual propensity for awkward expressions looks terribly like a grimace.

He leads them a few steps away and finally puts down the bundle of reeds he was holding, freeing his mouth to more easily prattle away. ”The warrior’s den’s walls have developed some inconvenient holes, so we need to take out damaged reeds and weave in some fresh ones. It is easy enough work, though slow going — less so with the two of you helping, I suppose.” He gives them a look which he hopes comes out as more encouraging than long-suffering. ”All the dens will need such refreshing before Leaf-bare, but ours is rather crowded, and as such suffers more wear and tear than, say, the Elders’.” Though the apprentice’s den probably sprouts a new hole everyday, from all the scuffling young cats do in there.​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely​

ooc. information.

• 
  
• 
  
  
  — Snakeblink • he / him. 57 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  
  
  

​

​

 

[Twinklepaw!]

Huh! Guess he does know? She could only stare dumbfounded, pretty certain that Snakeblink would just go along with what she said. She assumed that he must be really wise, though Twinklepaw supposed that it didn't help that Merlinpaw decided that they didn't mind helping even after she had gone to the (unsolicited) effort to help him maybe get out of it. In this moment they decided that this was actually a test that was so well thought out that even she didn't know it was one. Clearly Merlinpaw had passed it, so they brushed off the surprise and marched straight into pride for her denmate.

So she beams at the blue tabby and tried to shake the tufts of longer fur by her cheeks into place, stretching resting limbs as some form of warm up. Presuming that repairing the dens wouldn't be some easy job, maybe she would be pleasantly surprised though! There's a prance in her walk, head held high as they attempt to catch a glimpse of the sky on the small jaunt towards the warriors den. The mention from Snakeblink about the work being rather slow semi dashed those hopes, slow was fine though since that probably meant that it wouldn't be too hard. They can't make out what the look he gives tha pair means but she hopes that it means it'll be an easy task. "It'll be obvious which ones are the damaged ones, right?" She assumed as much but thought it may actually be easier to ask early then make an assumption again.

"Do you think when the weathers warmer again the warriors den could be expanded?" If it had been expanded previously she had to admit that she hadn't noticed, it always seemed cramped in there... Then again the apprentices den can get pretty cramped too so she can't cast too harsh of a judgement in that direction. They had to wonder if expanding it would even fix the issue of the wear and tear since that wouldn't change the numbers, they had to have confidence that it wasn't a foolish question regardless. So with her tail raised high she marches right over to where they assumed the worse of the wear and tear was, eager to prove that it was in fact a really good idea to let her help with the repairs.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ AIM YOUR ARROW ➹ AT THE SKY‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• 
  
• 
• TWINKLEPAW
  They/she, RiverClan apprentice, 9 moons
  ★ A sleek yet tufted short haired blue point with blue eyes
  ☆ Littermates w/ Eveningpaw, Horizonpaw and Snowflakekit †
  ★ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ Speech (#C9BAF3), thoughts
  ★penned by Juice | ouijeejuice on discord
  

​

 

[MERLINPAW ✦]

Snakeblink would take them both for help, then. That was probably smart, the work would get done faster, and no one would be disappointed for getting turned away from the chore. Not that Merlinpaw really though being told not to do a chore was something that would ever result in complaining and tears, but... well, he still doesn't understand some of his denmates very well, so it's hard to gauge their reactions.

Twinklepaw is... interesting. There's not really another way they can describe her. Interesting enough to pursue a friendship with? No. No one's that interesting, but she's interesting enough to ponder the ways her brain ticks. There's work to be done, though, so he'll have to ponder the way her brain works later... or find a way to ask without directly asking, but that's an absolute last resort.

"I'd assume they're obvious, yeah," they agree, only half interested in the conversation. "Would we have to rebuild the whole den to expand it?" He asks, starting his question directed at Twinklepaw, and finishing directed at Snakeblink. "Wouldn't it just collapse if we expanded it now without adding more support?" It feels correct, this line of thinking, but Merlinpaw is genuinely asking to confirm the hunch.

i used to think // that memories were like pollen

• 
  

  ooc -

• 
  #6360c4
• 
  (img) Merlinpaw * they/him* 9 moons
  mentored by Streamsong
  short furred blue classic tabby w/ low white; brown eyes
  Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
  penned by Neptune. || Neptune on disc, dm me for plots

​