Open Prompt Camp And Icarus' life, it has only just begun || Prompt 25

[Fawnkit]

Fawnkit

It's just begun...

‎

┍

The sun shone into her eyes as Fawnkit trodded out of the nursery, determined to get something done today. The warm breeze ruffled her fur and she was glad for it, remembering that soon, now that it was leaf-fall, the warmth would slowly dissapear. She wasn't sure what that meant, for she had never experienced leaf-bare, but from what she had heard, it did not sound pleasant.

There have already been changes that Fawnkit had noticed - less birds would sing in the morning, the sun would rise later than she'd expect it to and set earlier than she'd wish. Warriors have also stopped bringing in young birds to eat, as if there had not been many left. And, one thing Fawnkit did not understand, was the swallows. They started to gather in flocks, waiting for their number to grow and then they would fly away. She had never seen them fly in such numbers and all leave in the same direction. She had usually only seen multiple swallows before it would rain, the birds hunting insects, and her clanmates, in turn, hunting the swift flyers.

"Where are they going?" she wondered, not realising she asked it out loud, looking at another flock of swallows, ready to take off. The amount of these black and white birds she had seen was so big, she couldn't even begin to comprehend it. Their red heads and sharp wings made them easy to distinguish from other birds, but the more flocks that took off, the less she had seen them. "It's as if they are leaving... but where to? And why?"

Fawnkit barely understood the way the clans worked, thinking about why other animals behaved the way they did was a bit too much for her, but she was curious nonetheless. She wondered what it must feel like, to not have quick paws for running, sharp claws for climbing and fighting, nor keen eyes to see in the dark. On the other paw, the birds above her had one massive advantage - they could fly. Was it easier to catch prey when one had wings? And easier to escape predators? Surely not, Fawnkit thought, glancing at the freshkill-pile. Nearly half the prey in it was birds. But then again, it looked fun. To be able to soar the skies, flying among the clouds, with no care in the world. Maybe she would like it, if given the chance...

‎┙

 

[FLICKERDANCE]

"Who?"

Flickerpaw asks, sounding like an owl as she does. She had scarcely noticed the kitten beside her, but that little voice had grabbed her attention—made her stop in her tracks and look down, assuming that a curious kitten has gravitated towards the closest cat to pester them about Clan life. Flickerpaw's eyes move towards the camp entrance, half-expecting an exiting patrol to be the reason behind Fawnkit's point of interest.

But the entrance is deserted.

Frowning, Flickerpaw regards Fawnkit again. That huge, green gaze is watching the sky instead of anything in camp. When Flickerpaw follows that trail up and towards the clouds, her frown only deepens.

"You're asking about birds?"

She cannot fathom why. The only thing that matters about specific kinds of prey is how one should optimally go about catching them—to increase chances of success, of course. Anything else is just fluff. Unimportant.

Still, Flickerpaw cannot find it in herself to turn tail and leave the kit in wonder. It'd be unnecessarily rude. Plus, she loves any opportunity to sound smart.

"The forest is getting colder. They're moving to avoid the frost."

Or so she's heard. She had been far too young to remember anything about her first ever leaf-bare—her birth month—, but she has learned plenty about the scarcity of prey. While rodents like to disappear underground, birds get the chance to fly elsewhere. It's not often she allows herself to indulge in such trivial details, but... she can't help but think about her own kind's resilience. Instead of running away, Clan cats call one place home—no matter the hardships that may find them there.

 

[Fawnkit]

‎

┍

"Oh...?" Fawnkit gets approached by Flickerpaw, who answers her questions of wonder. "Do you think if we had wings, like birds, we would do the same?" Would she even want that? She likes being able to call this place her home, always getting to sleep in the same mossbed, curled up next to her mom and sisters.

Fawnkit doesn't notice the judgemental tone in Flickerpaw's voice, she is too fascinated by the swallows apparently leaving the forest for moons while the world is cold. "Maybe their feathers aren't warm enough to survive the cold - but our pelts are, right?" she looks at her own pelt, not as fluffy as her sisters' are, but still warm, enough to protect her from the cold - or so she hopes. She has never experienced the cold others speak of approaching, she's too young to know anything else but green-leaf, too small to comprehend what leaf-bare shall bring.

She glances at Flickerpaw, the apprentice nearly old enough to be a warrior now - has she already experienced this great cold that everyone whispers about? She doesn't seem particularly bothered by it, so maybe it will be okay - though Fawnkit has no idea what to expect. She wants to ask about leaf-bare, about the threats of what's coming, but she waits for Flickerpaw to asnwer first, so the apprentice doesn't get bombarded with too many questions at once - Fawnkit knows how confusing that can be. And she doesn't want to confuse Flickerpaw, for she is sure Flickerpaw would bite her ears off if that were to happen!

‎┙

‎

​

 

[GINGERFLAME]

"Not for all of us," he interrupts. He doesn't mean to scare them, but he would be lying to say if he did he wouldn't be pleased. He'd been listening to Fawnkit and Flickerpaw talk for a little bit. Like Flickerpaw he was confused about what exactly Fawnkit was asking about. The cream tabby had even took a quick glance around, but there were no birds present. The only thing present were the flies, but she couldn't be talking about those, right? No. There's no way. She's got to be talking about birds like Flickerpaw said. Fawnki's response only makes him more puzzled. Just what are you talking about? He quickly decides it isn't anything to hurt his head over. At least... That's what he told himself. When Fawnkit inquires about their pelts being enough for the winter, he can't help himself.

Green eyes are focused on him. "You and I have short fur. We'll feel the cold a lot more than our clanmates with longer fur. Our dens and especially our nests keep us warm during Leaf-bare. When Leaf-bare strikes, you'll find yourself wanting to stay inside more. Everyone will, even our clanmates who have longer fur. Being out in the cold for too long isn't a good thing either." That he can remember. His first Leaf-bare, where his paws felt numb from playing in the snow. Back then... He and a friend hurled snow at one another and rolled around in it. The happiness he felt back then left an ache. He wouldn't trade that moment for the world, even if he got a scolding from his mother and everything hurt.

A tail points to a clan mate with long fur. "It's not too bad though. In Green-leaf they get hot easily. I've heard a lot of them complain about it, and wish they had less fur. We can't fly like birds, but we have our own ways of keeping warm besides our pelts. Heck, I make a lot of super warm nests before Leaf-bare strikes." It wouldn't surprise him if the nest Fawnkit slept in was made by him or another forager. Who knows? Maybe in time Fawnkit would become a forager herself and excel in nest making. Although the thought does leave a bitter taste on his tongue.

COAL TO DIAMOND ✩₊˚.⋆☾ 𓃦 ☽⋆⁺₊✧ SOLD TO FOOLS

• GINGERFLAME

  — forager of thunderclan
  🗡 21 moons — he/him — ages realistically on the 14th — mentoring cardinalpaw
  🗡 speech is "#F2935C" — thoughts are italics — attacks are underlined
  🗡 short haired cream tabby with vibrant red eyes
  🗡 peaceful & healing powerplay permitted — underline & tag when attacking
  🗡 penned by velou — kasaven on discord — open to plots & dms

 

[FLICKERDANCE]

Flickerpaw humors Fawnkit for just a moment.

"Maybe."

It's pointless to think about the what-ifs, but then, Flickerpaw supposes it's only natural to wonder what one would do with the ability of flight. Such an effortless skill; one that is given to you by privilege of birth, instead of the effort of hard work.

Gingerflame cuts in before Flickerpaw can answer Fawnkit's next question, and perhaps that's for the best—Flickerpaw is not a professional at keeping kits entertained... nor is she a willing participant, most of the time. Instinctively, she fluffs out her fur a bit, knowing full well that she is not amongst the long-haired Clanmates that Gingerflame mentions. At least she doesn't suffer too much from the sweltering heat of greenleaf. Pros and cons. As if on cue, he mentions just the thing that Flickerpaw has been thinking about herself.

"There's nothing better than settling in a warm nest after a long day of providing for ThunderClan,"

she declares. A few of her denmates occasionally decorate their nests; tufts of prey fur that symbolize achievements, and more along those lines. Flickerpaw has never cared to make her own anything but efficient. She is out of it as soon as dawn breaks after all, and only settles in it at night when there is nothing else to attend to in the last few hours of that particular day.

 

[Thornkit]

The ThunderClan kits were constantly going around, asking after silly things to keep themselves entertained - Thornkit supposed they needed to, since they weren't allowed to do much else until they became apprentices. He'd found himself dragged into more of the kits' silly games and questions more times than he could count since he'd arrived, those juvenile things taking up the time that he didn't spend at Faithkit's side.

He'd noticed, and had heard from the older ThunderClanners, the onset of Leafbare. Having been born only several moons prior, Thornkit had never experienced the colder months, though it wasn't something he found himself looking forward to - from what he'd picked up, Leafbare brought with it not only the cold, but also famine; sickness. The thought loomed over his head, especially on nights when he'd curl up beside Faithkit's form, his sister wheezing in her sleep. Since having come into Serpentberry's care, Faithkit's illness had been getting better, but Thornkit worried that the threat of Leafbare would be a bane on that progress. Thornkit could fight off perceived, physical threats to his sister, but even he knew that he couldn't stop the weather.

When Thornkit had heard Fawnkit commenting on the birds and where they were going, he'd laughed.

"Who cares where they're going? You should be worried about if they'll come back." Thornkit huffed, narrowed eyes staring up at the sky and the fading outlines of the birds. His ears twitched as the ThunderClanners continued to converse, making small-talk over the birds and fur and how it was advantageous in Leafbare to have more, and more of a burden to have come Greenleaf. Thornkit frowned at the thought - he'd come around at the tail-end of Greenleaf, but even as the chill set in, he knew that when the sun beat down on his dark fur, it warmed him regardless. He could certainly imagine it'd be worse when the weather was always warm, or even hot.

"Bet it'd be a lot harder for us to go wherever they're going, anyway. Birds can be pretty fast." He mumbled, growing bored. He thumped his tail against the ground.

THORNKIT—he/him + 02 moons
ThunderClan kit
NPC ♡ NPC | adopted by Serpentberry
Brother to Falsekit, Faithkit
Mate to N/A | Father to N/A
Mentored by N/A | Mentoring N/A

penned by Archivist

 

[Graybird]

I am not your kind and gentle husband

"They'll come back, they always do." Graybird's voice is low, almost inaudible as he pads over slowly to where the kittens sit about staring skyward and his own holly green gaze joins them in looking up, head tilted back. He gives Gingerflame a flick of his tail in acknowledgement to the other and Flickerpaw too, a brief glance over the apprentice who was already so big - surely they would be named soon. Perhaps this coming meeting. The gray tom stares above, the clouds streaking white wisps across a sky that looks almost lifeless now with the coming cold, no more bright blue, no more glow of heat. Everything would be white and dull soon, the world will be draped in a layer of colorless nothingness. He didn't like the snow.
"Birds know where their home is, birds will always return to it when they are able to." His throat tightens, he thinks about Juniperstar again, the name she had given him that he was still uncertain the meaning to. Was he free as a bird, did they know he would always come back time and time again no matter how often he was set loose or had to head north to ward off the cold? The tom clears his throat, "We have other prey during leafbare, mice and other smaller animals burrow deep to hide from the cold, you will learn to scent them out. It doesn't take a lot to disturb them."
In example he rises up to his hindlegs, forelegs tucked to his chest before giving a pounce and slamming his paws down into the ground, the soft earth gives beneath him, bits of dirt flicker upward. "When they come up running, we grab them. It's best to work in teams." This would be their first time experiencing the cold together as a true clan - ThunderClan had formed on the cusp of winter's end, would things be easier now? He hoped so.

Ooc- ooc info here.

& I am not the love you knew before.

GRAYBIRD

— Warrior ThunderClan
— He/They
"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
— SH Gray Tabby with holly green eyes.
#82847e