camp your desolation led you into this — return from gathering

The trek back to camp is silent; the only sound being made being tired, frustrated, paw steps. They shouldn't be back this early in the night, and the tom feels disappointed as he steps into camp. ...RiverClan had so many new warriors, and apprentices, to announce to the other clans. He stood in as Lichenstar's deputy— it was an honor to do so as a newly made lead. He had so many eyes on him, and he can only hope he made Lichenstar proud... in the short amount of time the gathering went on for.

The red patched tom steps into camp, the moon still covered in silverpelt. StarClan, please forgive us. He wants to beg, but the damage is already done. Foxtail wishes he could retire to his nest, but his olive green eyes catch the silhouette of a clanmate approaching. "How did it go?" His clanmate asks, and Foxtail lets out a tired sigh. "Horribly..." He mews with a shake of his head, a frown across his maw. "Sunstar victimized their prey-stealing attempt," He reports, his tone sounding tired and defeated. This was supposed to be an important gathering for him— an important gathering for their new warriors. "...H-He made it sound like we were in the wrong by d-defending our territory..."

  • feel free to be the cat who spoke up! I also left out details in case anyone else wants their character to speak!
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    credit to raphaelion (via da) for the artwork <3
  • Foxtail
    lead warrior
    20 moons
    warmhearted
    timid
    experience: trained
    backstory: [HYPERLINK]
    biography: [HYPERLINK]
    credit to meghan for the chibi <3
    cisgender male [he / him]
    eyes: green
    pelt: cinnamon/chocolate
    fur length: long
    parents: dawnflower and redfur (riverclan npcs)


 
જ➶ The clouds had veiled the moon, precariously sitting and darkening the world. They had all seen it from camp and her eyes shifted to the stars that looked even duller after the clouds had passed on by. Something had happened and her eyes narrow upon the thought. She has enough reason to believe just who did it. Obviously its Windclan. Her tail lashes back and forth as she turns and looks away but it takes little time at least from where she is sitting and waiting. Other cats begin to appear across the stepping stone and she is quick to approach and ask her question. Her ears pull forward at the answer and she almost rolls her eyes. "Of course they would defend it. They haven't changed even with Sootstar dead and gone." Her maw curls slightly at the audacity of the other clan before shaking her head. "They would rather break the code than to ask for actual help."

The code is supposed to be upheld. It's supposed to be the key to stopping them from pointless fights. But when they see it fit they break it then cry wolf. Shaking her head she flexes her claws against the ground and hopes that Windclan gets what is coming to them for this. "Is that why Starclan covered the moon like that?"
 
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———————————riverclan | apprentice | she/her——————————
Turtlepaw's head snapped up at the gathering party's arrival. Everyone in camp had been on edge as soon as the moon dipped behind clouds, a clear sign of StarClan's disapproval. Yikes! The party showed that tension as they filed back into camp. She tentatively moved around Midnightpaw to avoid her ire. She bounded up to Foxtail and at his response to the other apprentice's question, she flattened her ears in worry.

"Anything else happen?" She wished she were there. Even if displeasing StarClan was a bad thing, she still wished she had seen it. A story to tell future kits about. A small, secret part of her wished they would displease StarClan again next moon, and that she would be well enough to go then.

[penned by muddly].
 
Splashpaw had intended to sleep - her friends that disappeared to the gathering would return regardless of if she stayed up or not. The news of the gathering would be widespread and she could garner details in the morning... and yet, ever the shadow dweller at birth, she could not sleep. The night was too alluring, the news too god-fearing. As soon as the gathering cats returned, Splashpaw left the safety of the apprentice's den. She seeks out Pebblepaw, first (Dizzypaw is an unfortunate afterthought; one that breezes through her mind's eye after she reaches the blue tabby tom.)

"Hey," she asks, not as sluggish as a cat who's been up for hours would sound. She oversteps, and if Pebblepaw does not back away, she presses her cheek briefly to his. "Everything okay? We could see from here - the moon was gone." It's a passing action, yet a sincere inquiry. Blue eyes vagued over his form, ensuring that he had not been in any impromptu brawl.​
 


() pebblepaw grits his teeth as he pads into camp beside foxtail. the cats who remained behind crowd around camp's entrance, and he sidesteps them, circling around the gathered crowd to set his tired gaze upon a familiar face. splashpaw hurries over and pebblepaw feels his hackles lower, twitching his nose as he relaxes his jaw. camp is safe, his friends are too, and although the sky remains starless, the one who stands before him now seems alight with them. she presses her muzzle to his cheek, and he can feel the skin beneath his fur heating up. the touch lingers, and he misses it when she pulls away, but he blinks the thoughts out of his head.

"hi," he murmurs, sunny gaze dark with tiredness and a longing to curl up and sleep for days. "windclan being windclan," the white frothed tail flicks as foxtail stumbles out an explanation. "they also stole prey from shadowclan. chilledstar wasn't happy," tufted ears flatten slightly as he remembers his friend's heritage, wondering briefly if she'd rather not know what her (possible) former leader did. "they said they stand with riverclan. they also, uh, smacked sunstar. didn't draw blood, but it was a shock. some other shadowclan warrior slapped the windclan medicine cat too." pebblepaw's gaze meets splashpaw's river blues and he shrugs, gnawing at his lip. "the gathering pretty much ended after that. starclan sent clouds after wolfsong was hit."


  • // " #848DAE"
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  • PEBBLEPAW ☼ HE / HIM, APPRENTICE OF RIVERCLAN. MENTORED BY FOXTAIL. 8 MOONS OLD, PENNED BY LAVS
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    a large blue tabby with low white and vitiligo. pale blue fur covers the length of pebblepaw's stocky body, sliced through with darker tabby stripes and spots. baleful orange eyes peer out of heavy set sockets, and his muzzle, paws, and tail tip are dashed with white.
 
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. She'd seen the quick way the clouds covered over the moon soon after the gathering would have begun, mused about how something must have happened as she was curious about which clan started what. It came as little surprise to the medicine cat to hear that it had been WindClan that had started the issue, WindClan that had decided that a clan defending their own territory was wrong. "It's pretty telling of how Sunstar's reign will go for him to get help from our clan while their territory burned only to turn around and break the code multiple times in the same moon while he tries to justify it." Her pelt bristled slightly at this, ears pinning to her head for a moment. She'd been there in the WindClan camp as the moors were set ablaze, helping to gather herbs so that those could be saved in case the camp went ablaze as well. She'd seen Sunstar, the way he was injured and weak, just as Smokestar had seen him and instead of tearing them down in that time they simply continued to help, continued to gather the young, the broken, the old and the nursing so that they could stay within a territory safe from the flames and instead of asking for help they had simply taken.

There was no guarantee they'd have gotten help had they asked, but it would have been more likely in that case and things wouldn't have had to end in death. "Was blood drawn then?" She'd question towards Pebblepaw, head cocked slightly as soon as the words tumbled from alabastor maw. Had Wolfsong simply gotten a slap with claws sheathed she was unsure if StarClan would have intervened - they were close to the medicine cats, but close enough to stop a gathering for a simple slap she wasn't sure - but if blood had been drawn she was sure that would end the gathering, no matter who's blood it could have been. She was curious if this would cause any tension at the next medicine cat meeting, just as the tension at the moonstone once WindClan relinquished their hold on the sacred stones.


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  • --
  • flesh wounds
    ꕥꕥ infections
    aches & pains
    ꕥꕥꕥ illness
    ꕥꕥꕥ breathing
    ꕥꕥꕥꕥ traveling
    ꕥꕥꕥꕥ broken bones
    kitting
    ꕥꕥꕥꕥ poisons
  • SH white masking cinnamon torbie w/orange eyes & small ears
    14 moons old; ages the 17th every month
    homosexual homoromantic ; mated to beefang
    currently mentoring none
    "speech", thoughts, attacking
    easy in combat unless in water, focuses on defensive tactics
 
It has been many moons since Iciclefang had stood beneath Fourtrees, but she is outside with the others who'd stayed behind when the sky darkens and covers the moon. A frown curves into her maw and she comes to stand beside Moonbeam. It isn't long before the patrol enters camp, pelts beaded with droplets of riverwater, eyes round and weary from the excursion. Foxtail is the first to speak, and the tortoiseshell queen's blue gaze flicks to his face. "Well, of course he did," she murmurs. "I'd hardly expect a WindClanner to admit to their follies." She sniffs, turning her gaze to Pebblepaw.

Now, this is interesting. Her gaze shrivels, scrutinizing the apprentice. "Chilledstar said they stand with RiverClan." "Was that an attempt at allyship, I wonder?" She blinks, bemused. "And attacking a leader on the Great Rock... Chilledstar must not be doing so well." She turns to Moonbeam, who asks if the ShadowClan warrior who'd attacked Wolfsong had drawn blood. She leans forward, keen to hear the answer.


  • ooc:
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  • Iciclekit . Iciclepaw . Iciclefang, she/her w/ feminine terms.
    — “speech”, thoughts, attack
    — 24 moons old, ages realistically on the 17th.
    — mentored by Smokestar ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored Cicadaflight
    — riverclan lead warrior & queen. mudpelt x icesparkle, gen 2.
    — former mate to Stormywing ; current mate to no one.
    — penned by Marquette.

    sh tortoiseshell and white she-cat with ice-blue eyes. confident, capable, proud, dry, conceited, condescending, distrustful.


 

shellpaw is shaken. she enters stiffly, on sore, aching legs — the journey to four trees is still rife with effort for her, maw slightly ajar with heaving breath when she files in after pebblepaw. already, they are babbling — coming closer, prying with ears forward inclined when here she comes. a pity apprentice, speckled white, clambering forward on ugly paws to stick her nose where it doesn’t belong, obviously. she hisses, a long and drawn out croak of a thing that has her stomping past her brother where he had stalled to cast his gaze upon her again. it’s pathetic, she thinks, how little any of them care to have returned home to one that should still stink of mud and frogs after watching one of her own strike windclan’s medicine cat. windclan being windclan, pebblepaw says, and she is quickly appalled, whirling her lilac - striped head around to spat, ” it was not wind.. windclan that had their claws out! at a gathering!

her jaw creaks, pearlescent teeth grinding against sharp points as moonbeam arrives to speak of code breaking. she pulled her eyes towards the alabaster molly, imploring, wet at the edges with a low simmering desperation. was this right? ” two, two of their warriors died, and, and their territory is all black and burnt. they looked so.. so.. “ sunken in. skeletal. images of windclan’s leader sitting haggard and dull - eyed, riotous red fur dull and hanging limp at his every gaunting edge. he had accused her mother of murder, twice, but he had not raised a paw in defense. hardly had one to raise, really — she doesn’t understand. she does not understand the bitterness, the growling windclans her clanmates muttered beneath their breath. she couldn’t remember them doing a thing to riverclan, nothing other than stories of times long before her birth. they had helped them, fed them.. her skin still prickles beneath her pelt at the blatancy, the stealing, the shame in ferngill’s eyes when he returned and spoke of accidents, it was an accident.

her chest aches.

her sharp jaw clicks as iciclefang appears, and she lifts her head, voice breaking with an effort that does not fit her small, trembling tufted body, ” windclan stole but — shadowclan made starclan angry when they, they drew a medicine cat’s blood in front of the whole clans. lichenstar would never want shadowclan’s help with anything after that. “ she prays — lest they end up with more strays to feed when divine wrath finally meets the marshland border.

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  • i.

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  • SHELLPAW 𓆉 SHE / HER. SEVEN MOONS OLD, APPRENTICE OF RIVERCLAN, MENTORED BY LICHENTAIL ; SMELLS LIKE SALT & RIVER BLOOMS. HAZECLOUD xx LICHENTAIL, NIECE TO SMOKESTAR. PENNED BY ANTLERS ----------------- ° ❀ ⋆
    frail alabaster molly with lilac striping and watery amber eyes.
    78128298_wohFIHxKbNARetE.png
    she is pallid ; platinum splotched with ribbons of dovey lilac curls, wisped ends like memories of a distant shore and plush enough to conceal the juts of malnutrition beneath. tufted elderdown fur conceals a body worn fragile by tumultuous youth, too thin in some places and round with baby fat in others. her face is short - muzzled, framed half mast by eyes coined rheumy, rosen amber. the anemic cold pink - purple at tender paws and nose tell a lifetime of sickness, further made obvious by the feathering weakness in half - whispered tones.
    CHRONICALLY ILL ; prone to wheezing, nose at a constant drip from longterm illness - induced nasal polyps. not contagious.

 
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Rumor and gossip are the two best parts about a Gathering. It keeps her wide awake, probably long after her usual bedtime, unable to fall asleep when she knows the Fourtrees is busy and teeming with life. After the next Clan meeting, she would be joining them... if Lichenstar allows, of course. Why wouldn't she? Until then, Eveningkit simply takes advantage of the returning cats; their minds are still fresh with the night's events, and she's certain they're all dying to talk about them.

It seems she is right again — more so than usual, judging by the look in everybody's eyes. Something spicy has happened. Eveningkit needs to acquire all the details, stat.

Miraculously, Eveningkit stays quiet. It is essential to know when to keep her maw shut so that she can get some info straight from the source. Her head whips from one direction to another like clockwork each time someone speaks, careful as she mingles with the newly formed crowd to avoid anyone tripping over her.

WindClan again, she thinks with a too-troubled sigh. What is up with them? It's been crazy enough to hear their poorly made decision of trespassing and stealing, so soon after RiverClan gratuitously helped them not burn to a crisp. Now Sunstar seeks to blame anyone but his own warriors. Lichenstar would never be like that; she's a good leader.

"Allyship?" Eveningkit echos Iciclefang, disbelief evident in her voice as she does so. The lead warrior said it right; an attempt, at best... "After they slapped everyone around? No, thanks." she says it with the confidence of someone who's been dealing with Clan politics for way longer than she's been actually alive for. Hearing all about it in passing makes her a professional, of course.

Shellpaw's words catch her off-guard, and Eveningkit cannot help the very obvious way she stares. Is Shellpaw... weirdly protective of WindClan or something? Eveningkit will have to press her about it later, when there's less of a curious crowd.
 
WindClan being WindClan had initially calmed Splashpaw. While not a she-cat of fear and fury, having heard that it was something predictable soothed something within her. Her heart slowed its tremored beating, even as Shellpaw pushes pass with a prolonged and upset hiss. The black furred she-cat grimaces, but the effort need not be made to not snip back. It's been a moon, now, since she's lived with these cats... she's gotten more than used to their sharp tongues. By comparison many of them are duller than that of ShadowClan's -

And as she briefly thinks of her former home, it is brought up. Chilledstar smacked Sunstar, and another warrior went for Wolfsong. WindClan cats, she gathers, though in truth she can only say so by the context clues of the conversation. Guilt festers in her gut - for being a former marshland cat, for being formerly named after the delusional. Snowy, Needledrift wheezed in the dim light whilst she kitted the apprentice's little siblings. After you, Chilledstar. The night chill finally sinks into her bones.

Shellpaw has an outburst. Splashpaw's guilt compounds as she insists that for once, it is not a WindClan issue, but rather a ShadowClan one. The notion feels pointed, even as the lilac-and-white apprentice does not bother to glare at her. Splashpaw makes the conscious effort to take a step away from Pebblepaw, Shellpaw's precious brother, and murmur a near silent, "I'm sorry." It is to no one in particular, and it aims to soothe no wounds or worries. She simply has no more to say.

The apprentice stays where she is, for leaving now to rest would only rest more critical eyes on her back. She waits to be dismissed, by any of those lingering, and keeps her blue gaze to the wayside. Hopefully it was not her mothers who scored their claws and tugged on StarClan's wrath, nor her siblings (a warrior, Pebblepaw had said. Her siblings were apprentices, like her. Unless Chilledstar made them warriors early?) Her mind races, and though it's difficult, she tries to listen as others big and speak on the topic at hand.​