camp There is a flower within my heart | kitten

[Dandelionwish]

He didn't like the thunderpath, memories of the stale scent of death that lingered days after that first patrol found Briarstar's remains were still as vivid as the day they happened. But he knew that dandelion often growed in this area and his stocks were alarmingly empty, though he saw not a single yellow flower in all his wandering there; it was going to be a miserable leaf-bare already and now there were more cats to keep track of and each day he felt the weight on his shoulders increase. It reminded him of the hawk that pinned him, the force of it pushing him into the ground, the scars on his shoulder blades itched with the recollection and he sighed wearily. There was no dandelion here, failed by his own namesake flower and left floundering.
Every day that pssed her wondered more and more if he should leave. If he should seek himself a new life somewhere else, but he is reminded each time of the countless cats who would die if they had no healer. Dandelionwish was not so stupid as to think himself skilled enough to save every cat, but he was capable enough to try and no other clan would aid them. Even ShadowClan, where he had one friend in Bonejaw, was not going to lift a paw to prevent the loss of WindClan life. She had even told him herself she had no love for his clan and he couldn't blame her...

His idling thoughts drew his focus up at the sharp scent of rot and death and both eyes widened as he gazed across the tar-covered path to the sight of what remained of a white and orange cat turned to carrion on the roadside. With a grimace he approached, frowning and despondent at the sight of the mangled body. Poor thing. He debated lingering long enough to bury her when another smell permeated through the thicker smell of the corpse; milk. Milk? A sharper glance told him this was a she-cat, what remained of her he could see was a distended belly and the nursery scent he had not smelt since Moonshadow had her kits. Kits! She had kits! A queen would never go too far from her litter, what drove her to scavenge over the thunderpath was surely hunger and so the kittens must not be far from this place and must be across it.

Dandelionwish's long chocolate limbs carried him briskly across the rumbling path and his searching and scanning eventually turned up a small hollow dug into the side of the hill that lead up to the path. He thrust his head into the hole, blinked as his gaze adjusted to the darkness and he spotted two motionless furred forms settled in the back. Too late, he thought, morosely but before he could draw his head back out one gave the faintest mewl. The medicine cat was digging frantically then, claws scraping the dirt to push him further into the hole where he could now see one of the kits was clearly dead but the other merely still, sleeping, a disgruntled mewl given from its black and white face upon being disturbed but he didn't hesitate to scruff the little scrap as he scrambled back. With little hesitation, the cold nip of the wind warning him not to linger, Dandelionwish made his trek back to the camp as quick as he could. Thankfully, he knew there was at least one queen who would take the child in. His arrival back to the camp was a direct beeline to the nursery itself and he peeked inside with a dirty face and the kitten continuing her squeaking protest. With that much energy left she must not be too far gone to save...
"Echolight?"

[ @Echolight . & @daisykit ! but not a pafp! ]
​

 

[Bristlekit]

DON'T MAKE ME BE THE BAD GUY​

---

When Bristlekit pokes his head outside of the nursery, he doesn't expect to see the medicine cat rushing across the clearing toward him, but perhaps what's even more shocking is the tiny scrap of feline fur that he holds within his maw. A kitten? Was it alive? Where had it come from? He recalls Coyotepaw's return from SkyClan after he had been stolen, and Bristlekit can't help but wonder if Dandelionwish had snatched this kit from some mother in another clan. Was that even allowed? Was it okay? Surely the mother would be worried... but if it's a SkyClan kit, he did the right thing. They would have taught it to be a kittypet! Bristlekit thinks. The scent is not SkyClan, though. No, he doesn't recognize it.

Bristlekit scampers out of the medicine cat's path with cobalt eyes that glowed with curiosity. With inquisitive vocals, the boy speaks, "Where did you get that kit? It's tiny!" The thing probably wasn't too old, but what does Bristlekit know about such things? He's pretty small himself. The dark tabby follows Dandelionwish into the den as the new kit is presented to Echolight.

"I guess it's a WindClan kit now, wherever it came from." He eventually comments with a shrug. Bristlekit didn't have a very high opinion of medicine cats, but if Dandelionwish had stolen this kit from another clan, then he had surely shown himself to be competent in battle. No queen would give up their kit willingly, after all! She was probably so sad now though, and Bristlekit knows that he should feel ashamed about that. Did WindClan really need any more cats? Sootstar had brought in all of those rogues, they already had an army compared to the other clans. I guess you can never have enough claws in a fight, he thinks to himself assuredly. WindClan was the best clan to be in anyways, so this kit would learn that she was lucky to have been brought here!​

 

[spiritpaw]

Shit, man! It's freezing today and shes grumbling under her breath (shes been doing this more than usual at this point) as @hyacinthbreath leads her deeper in to the moors. Her paws are frozen and she quite literally feels like shes gonna explode in to tiny icicles but theres a blur of color out in the distance. Spirit shares a terrified look with Hyacinth, noting that the form was Dandelionwish their medicine cat, and so they set back in a quick pace.

She bursts in to camp not too long after Dandelion, fur puffed out and eyes wide as her flanks heave with the effort to keep up with her energy. "Were you attacked?! What happ-" shes cut off as her eyes land on the kitten that Dandelion had brought in. Bristle is immediately talking but she blinks in surprise. "What the fuck?" she echoes the curse she heard adults say, the same one she had used in the border patrol to Riverclan. Dandelion had a child, he had a CHILD! She looks at him pointedly. Bro had to take care of the clan and now he had children! How weird...

...

And she was definitely judging him for it. "You guess?" she cocks a brow at Bristle. "Well I mean... Obviously. Its his kid, silly." she purses her lips. "Uhm... Congrats, I guess?" she blinks before sending a weird look towards her mentor. This was gonna hurt her head.​

"speech"​

 

[Echolight]

[post baby daddy drama for timeline purposes :,)]
The nursery was… different. She had gotten too big to go on her runs, and as her due date came closer and closer, she was becoming more and more limited mobility wise.
Not that she wanted to move anyways, she was too depressed. A giant hole had been punched through her heart, and she couldn’t bring herself to step foot out of the nursery for at least the last couple of days perhaps- she didn’t exactly know, time was becoming a blur.
Echolight?
What the fuck?
Chatter and commotion began to stir just outside the nursery, and Bristlekit was already leaving before the calico had even lifted her head.
She blinks once, the blurry silhouette of a cat quickly taking the form of Dandelionwish, but he wasn’t alone. In his jaws, he held a small kit- not a newborn from the looks of it, but incredibly frail.
"Oh goodness…" the breathless gasp is leaving her mouth before she can even register the presence of Spiritpaw and Bristlekit as well.
"Bring her here Dandy, she needs warmth" Echolight urged, newfound maternal instincts sparking from somewhere underneath all the grief and despair.
When the kitten would be placed down, Echolight would gently aim to sweep her into the crook of her stomach, draping her feathery tail over the kits freezing paws.
"Hello little one, it’s okay, don’t fret" she consoled softly, her heart chipping for the poor thing. She looked to Dandy once more with a puzzled expression, where had she come from?
Bristlekit nearby is suddenly registered by Echolight- but she doesn’t want the tom kit to overhear the possibly grizzly explanation, so she quickly turns to him.
"Bristlekit dear, could you try to find something small from the fresh-kill pile? Our new companion must be very hungry" she prompted the tabby, giving him a small gesture with her head to exit the nursery.


"Speech."
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[ WHAT A TIME ]​

 

[hyacinthbreath]

♚ More mouths to feed in this horrible leaf-bare..

Hyacinthbreath doesn't voice her displeasure at seeing Dandelionwish carrying a kit over the borders, but she sure does look at him with a questioning look in her eyes. Her friend was intelligent, he must know how close to starvation the Clan was. But he was a bleeding heart, and so was Hyacinthbreath; kits shouldn't be abandoned. Not anymore.

"Spiritpaw, get some moss from my nest and help the others get the kit settled in." Her eyes meet Dandelionwish's own, a question in them- This yours, mate? She wondered if he had snuck off and had kits with someone else, but it didn't make much sense to her. Dandy wasn't that type of tom. At least, she believed he wasn't. Perhaps she would pull Dandelionwish aside and talk to him about this later. ​

 

[Dandelionwish]

Echolight, sweet and kind Echolight-did not judge him for bringing her more work or another mouth for the clan to feed and just quickly ushered the kitten into her fold without hesitation. He was going to hunt her the fattest rabbit later as a thank you. With relief on his expression he set the little black and white bundle down at her side with a faint smile before turning to the HEATHENS that had followed him into the den with their noses twitching and gossiping about. Bristlekit he could forgive for being small and having an equally small brain, but he was going to roll Hyacinthbreath and her apprentice down a hill.
"Ya'll got BEES fer brains, swear to StarClan! Ain't mine! Ah'm nine moons ye fools!"
Who was even thinking about having kits at his age? Ridiculous. Besides if he wanted children he had an entire clan full of them to take care of already. Bunch of tomfoolery this was. He did need to explain it though, all things considered...
"There was a...there was a she-cat on the thunderpath by ShadowClan. I thought I scented milk on'er so I went look'n and found this'n there. Other one didn't make it, they must've just been weaned and she left to hunt...."
He wished he had gone out sooner, maybe he could've prevented the entire tragedy, maybe he could've saved the second kit. But what-ifs didn't solve anything and he did what he could. He'd take responsibility for this kitten but he wasn't about to abandon her.
​