UNDER YOUR SKIN ☁️ disappearance

[GLOOMPAW]

With her scent fresh-now-staling in her nest, Gloompaw was gone. There was nothing else to it, the only remains of her being there was the decorations in and under her nest. The dried flowers Koipaw had given her, quietly tucked into the parts of her nest, and shells that she'd traded with other clanmates.

She hadn't been seen since last night, where she'd gone to bed. When asking around the previous morning, one would realize nobody saw her left, especially not with a reason. Her scent could be traced out of the camp... and then it simply stopped, a few feet away, the rest of it covered by the early risers footsteps.

The hours passed without her return or any sign of her. It seemed that not only was she absent from camp, she couldn't be found within the entire territory. She wasn't returning any time soon, it seemed. There were no clues to her departure as well, it was fully a mystery. Without a trace.

Was something foul afoot? Had something -- or someone -- gotten her?​

 

[willowroot]

( ☾ ) gloompaw and willowroot have formed a sort of quiet kinship with one another. the smoke remembers moons ago, a scrap of fur, hissing and spitting in defiance under her own slender paws. the medic, kitten then, had with her a fire seen in warriors of old, and willow appreciates that about her. every few days or so, the two will share a meal, catch up, if possible, and the lead warrior hums softly to herself as she selects a fish from the pile and trots towards the makeshift medicine den.

pushing in to greet the girl, she is instead greeted with a cold nest. "gloompaw?" she'll call, ears twitching as she scans the den. moving closer to the nest, the scent of the girl is stale, although her little trinkets remain decorating her nest. backing out of the den and glancing around the clearing, the smoke returns her fish to the kill pile. no sign of the spitfire lingers within the camp, and upon asking several npcs, no one has seen the apprentice in some time. worry begins to churn in willowroot's stomach as she stands beside the medicine den. "has anyone seen gloompaw? anyone been in the medicine den in a while?" she'll call. it's not that she doubts the word of her npc warriors, but surely someone must have witnessed the early rising of the medicine cat's apprentice. ​

( THE LIGHT YOU GAVE ME )

 

[CICADASTAR]

his face.. hurts. a cruel truth, one he knows would not change any time soon — he finds himself hobbling towards beesong’s den more often than not, urges them to fix the side of his muzzle that only seemed to rip further the more days that passed. the river phantom had notoriously never been good at keeping his mouth closed, even less so now that he needed to. so here he was — head low, skulking towards the medicine den with blood dribbling about the corner of his mouth, staining ivory a deep, crusted red. nothing serious, however inclined he may be to disagree. this time, he’d only been trying to eat, stretching his naw around a delectable - looking trout only for pain to strike up the side of his face, snapping his jaws closed with an agonized hiss, “ frog - dung! “ he’d spat, winced as it aches again with the movement. no. he couldn’t keep his mouth shut to save his life.

‘ has anyone seen gloompaw? ‘

he’s close enough to the den to hear, to see the familiar shape of his lead warrior standing rigid just outside of it, “ what? no — “ he hadn’t. not in quite a bit, but he had only assumed she’d been out, searching the thawing territory for herbs. coming alongside the smoke, he dips his head into the den, blinks wide, pallid eyes against the darkness as if he could see something willowroot could not. instead, he’s met with the same empty nest, scent fading amidst its crumpled moss, “ when was the last time you seen her? “ it’s quick, the still - throbbing ache in his face momentarily forgotten as he backs up, tosses his head about the small clearing, scans the youth that mills about and not one striking blue, not one matching those fiery orange eyes. his mouth parts, aims to take in the mixing scents around him and.. nothing. just a faint, ebbing trail he can barely make out above the iron scent just beneath his nose. beesong.. maybe beesong knows. surely, yes? if they found the cinnamon tabby, they would find gloompaw.. but where were they?

“ find beesong, i.. maybe he sent her out. maybe, maybe they.. “ since last night? his ears begin to lower, “ they’ll know. “ a little spitfire, she could have just run off, right?

− ♱ information out of character ⟐ visual reference translated ♱ −

• ˖ ⁺ ｡ ˚ ⠀ CICADASTAR⠀⠀−−−c−−−⠀⠀king of the rivers.
  m. he / him. black smoke & tortoiseshell chimera with intense salt - blue eyes. a handsome, looming tom bearing patchwork black - silver curls that fall over his slim figure in loose, shining rivulets, broken with white and glossy from his fish diet. descending from a heritage of overtyped oriental shorthairs, cicadastar stands unusually tall amongst his peers, and holds himself with a tragic grace, poised and prim and ever - aware of how he is being perceived.
  
  ᨒ gay, courting smokethroat. smells like wet stone & moss.
  ᨒ speaks with a german accent. 40 moons, ages on the eighth.
  
  penned by antlers​
  
  
• 
• none.

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[CLAYFUR]

He feels guilty to say it, but Clayfur hadn’t even noticed that the healer’s apprentice was gone until Willow spoke up. Cicadastar is quick to agree, speaking of Beesong—they should ask the healer what he knows. Maybe this is a misunderstanding, and Gloom is simply out collecting herbs or something. That doesn’t make sense, though, because her scent isn’t strong enough for her to have left only recently.

He glances around as though the apprentice will pop from the brush or from a tree, claiming a prank or some other playful trick. But no Gloom appears, and earthen ears lie flat against his head. Voice full of nerves, he mumbles, "Maybe she got lost somewhere…" He thinks of the gorge. Flinches. That’s not a great thought. But surely she didn’t leave voluntarily, and imagining any other scenario is too painful to consider. Maybe they’re all just overreacting to the adventurous nature of an apprentice.
​

[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​

​

 

[Snakeblink]

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

Has anyone seen gloompaw?

Willowroot’s words have Snakeblink freezing in place, blood running cold. No, it’s probably nothing — medicine cats are easy to lose track of, coming and going as they search for herbs and attend to wounded cats left to convalesce in their own nest. He shouldn’t jump to conclusions.

But they’ve lost too many apprentices already. If Gloompaw has disappeared as well—

Shaking off that train of thought, Snakeblink racks his mind for the last glimpse he caught of the blue smoke adolescent. He can’t remember. Why can’t he remember? He swore to pay closer attention to the apprentices so this exact scenario would not happen again. He finds his concern echoes on the face of Cicadastar and his fellow lead warrior, which only serves to worry him further. Their leader can be as paranoid as he is, but Willowroot usually feels unflappable.

”Let’s hope it’s only that,” he tells Clayfur as the tom suggests the apprentice may only be lost somewhere. ”But better we go looking either way. I’ll see if I can find Beesong,” he adds, looking at Cicadastar, before slinking off to go find the medicine cat.
​

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

ooc. information.

• 
  
• — Snakeblink • he / him. 37 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  
  
  

​

​

 

[FERNGILL]

The conversation snagged Fernpaw's attention readily- but this was no fun mystery or game. Cicadastar, Clayfur, Willowroot and Snakeblink- there was tangible, genuine concern in their voices, and the ginger tom could recognise it. Head tilted at an inquisitive angle, there was a dark storm of apprehension in his bulging eyes as he wandered over, craning his neck a little as he looked for any sight of the pebble-furred medicine cat apprentice.

His face soon mirrored the worry of his elders, his voice thickened with emotion and wavering a little as he tried to assert himself. "We'll find her..." and he really did try to believe it, try to set the words as sure as stone in his mind. He- he needed to know if she'd forgiven him for misplacing her tooth in the flood. He wanted to give her another pebble that looked like her, he wanted to... "I'll help look."

Maybe it was a distraction from the worst case scenario, but- if they looked for her, he wanted to help too. She was his friend.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[iciclefang]

Iciclepaw hadn't noticed Gloompaw's absence, either, but that's not surprising for her. The life of a warrior apprentice and that of a medicine cat apprentice are so different that their paths do not intersect often. She'd be inclined to believe Gloompaw had gone out to collect herbs, but when she tastes the air as the others do, her concern deepens. No one is gathering plants for that long.

"Lost in our own territory?" She questions, giving Clayfur a concerned glance. Why would Gloompaw have gone further? She, too, thinks of the gorge, swollen with water, and her frown deepens. Fernpaw offers himself to help look for her, and Iciclepaw steps beside him and lifts her chin to look at Snakeblink, Willowroot, and Cicadastar. "I'll go too," she adds. She doesn't say so, but her tracking skills are decidedly better than her littermate's.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

​

 

[koispots]

She has flowers for Gloompaw, yes, she has more. None of the budding beauties in their territory would ever compare to her gratefulness for the other girl and so she had kept picking, picking, returned with a bouquet for the one cat that makes her heart soar. Her best friend, Koi denies anything more like usual. Despite their differing schedules, Koi always made time for Gloom and as she pushes in to the temporary cat she listens in on the conversation. Flowers fall to the ground as an icy anxiety begins to settle in her stomach, makes its home in her chest.

"You guys, I was just with her a day ago. She's not missing, watch." for once she smiles, shakes her head as if everything was alright. She pads towards the medicine den as if shes about to prove them all wrong and she pokes her head in only to be met with a stale scent. It's enough to almost make her lose her composure, start screeching like a banshee in camp, wailing, where is she? "My girl-" she cuts herself off, where was her girl?

It's almost enough to make Koi whisper a grieving word of love, dying on her tongue like it had so many times before. But unfortunately for Koi, this one buds in fruition, finally makes her own feelings known after being pushed down so many times before. Devastation is the first emotion to wrack her body beyond the ice cold anxiety. Koi wants to hurl and its almost as if she were a kit thrown in the river, frozen in the waters, what was she to do? I- she bites her lip hard enough to draw blood. I think I love you, you can't do this to me. But Gloom is gone and the next wave is anger. Claws dig in to the ground. Her best friend is gone.

No longer her best friend, but something more, intangible, touched by Starclan herself.

Shes desperate. Why is everyone just standing here and where is Beesong? "She's just on a walk," denial croaks itself out in a broken hum, eyes mist over, Koi thinks shes overreacting. But she hasn't loved so fiercely in her life, had such a blazing light of glory only for it to be torn away. "She needs to come back. Her walk is taking too long." Koi has had too many things torn away from her lately. Gloom was supposed to be here, she was going to be here for her warrior ceremony and they would celebrate it together. I love you, and it would remain unspoken for the rest of the time. I love you, and Gloom would never hear it. I love you, I love you, I love you.

A choked sob, Koi looks towards her leader, to the others. "Please, we have to go soon, even if Beesong sent her out. She- She could be hurt, she-" she trails off, bitterness in her chest. Again does the river take from her, leaves her empty as soon as she finds happiness. "Please be okay." its quiet, pleading, out loud to anyone, anything that would be willing to hear her cries. Anything that would answer them and bring her girl back to her.

Glooms nest remains empty and cold. She thinks she'll ask Beesong if she could take her nest, the last bastion of hope that she'll ever have again. Stop going to the negatives immediately, but she knows what will happen. Too far, too gone. Forever. She can't help the tears. I love you. "When can we start looking for her?"​

"speech"​