Open Camp do you walk the sky // blessed return

[SABLESTAR]

The pocosin fell into a cold breezy night and gusts intertwined with the pond pines and brush. Sablestar led the pair of warriors at his side back to camp with a brisk speed as wails and mewls echoed from the patrol, the tiny kit from Vanillathorn's maw calling to every corner of the forest what she had been denied for far too long now. Four other kittens, just like her, spread across the other borders to only be seen once again in battle or peace. If they lived the travel back to their Clans, that is.

The sight of camp was eagerly welcomed while he ushered them forward. Sablestar knew they were short on time and could not delay a moment longer the needs of this newborn kit.

"I need Timberfrost." Sablestar announced with urgency into the dark, gesturing for the kitten to be brought into the nursery for one of the caretakers to nurse. "There was a litter found on our way into Fourtrees, the other Clans came across it as well. She is all we returned with." His voice does not give way to any sympathy or feelings of misfortune despite the circumstance. "She will know none of it- ShadowClan is all she needs."

this heart beats cold like the devil his own

• @VANILLATHORN @MIREPURR @Timberfrost @Saffronkit
  "mew"
• 

  SABLESTAR— he/him ･sixty moons ･leader; shadowclan ･penned by gonkpilled

  a black and white tuxedo with dark amber eyes

 

[DREAMPAW]

(𓆩✧𓆪) his father's return calls the steps of his son from outside the apprentices' den. sablestar slips into camp calling for timberfrost, and it harkens back to dreampaw's own arrival in shadowclan, when the man had given him and magpiepaw to the nursery dweller for comfort. magenta eyes widen as vanillathorn steps into the moonlight, an unfamiliar scent wafting from her. sablestar's words meet the boy's ears as he scans the thing swinging from the warrior's jaws - a kit. found with a litter and snatched from that family to be taken to the pocosin, to the darkness. something rolls in his stomach, but he ignores it, padding to his father's side.

"what is her name?" he asks gently, gaze still fixed on the tiny being. had he once been that small? he can't imagine it, but he supposes he must have been. sablestar had never seen him at that age - are fatherly instincts taking root around the child now? or will he pass the girl off to timberfrost, train her to be a loyal warrior, to not know family beyond these borders? "are her siblings... are they okay?" the other clans had found them... did this mean they were each taken in to a different clan? or had this child been the one survivor of some cruel fate.

ACROSS MY FAMILY LINE 𓆩✧𓆪 GOD, I HAVE MY FATHERS EYES

• // " #afaf64"
• 
• 
  DREAMPAW ✧ tags / toyhouse
  
  ✧ cis tom (he / him) / bisexual, padding after NONE
  ✧ 07 moons old, ages realistically
  ✧ apprentice of shadowclan
  ✧ brother to MAGPIEPAW, ASTERPAW, LITTLEKIT, HOLLYKIT
  ✧ son of JUNIPERSTAR x SABLESTAR
  ✧ mentoring NONE / mentored by HALFSHADE
  ✧ penned by LAVS / message lavendes on discord for plots!
  
  a longhaired chocolate spotted tabby with low white and orange eyes. silky chocolate fur cascades in waves across his boxy frame, darker dapples giving him his tabby pelt. creamy white splashes his paws, belly, tail tip, and muzzle, freckling across his face. the hue of a crackling fire, struck through with magenta and violet, sparkles from narrow sockets.

​

 

[Timberfrost]

—————————————————— 'Till I can't run no more ✦

Weary bones were no match for the little things that scampered through the nursery, and yet Timber still had to do his best to keep up. Thankfully at the minute he had much more time to go out without the usual small bodies to keep warm... but of course, all the time spent outside of the nursery was instead wasted away in the mire around them. He was never the best hunter, and to feed a mother with such ravenous children... Well, it certainly didn't help that incessant pounding in his head. Nothing helped that these days, nor did it help the gentle drip from his nose, nor the buzzing just behind his eyes, nor the clogged feeling of his ears. He knew what he needed, but the thought of asking for help, of looking towards the medicine den... On the best days, the words died on his tongue. On the worst, he couldn't even consider the thought without some notion of fear.

At least his body didn't ache while he slept. That was the tom's saving grace... and yet he never seemed to get all that much sleep before somebody—

"I need Timberfrost."

The words were ever familiar, and the tom roused as though it was some grand call to arms. Blinking away an awful layer of gunk that gummed his eyelids shut, he stumbled his way out of the nursery. "Whatever coul' be the matter...?" Timber muttered in greeting, blinking through bleary eyes at the ever-so-nocturnal leader. The assortment of cats before him were... surprising to say the least, with Vanillathorn and Mirepurr standing next to ... Dreampaw? He squinted in tired confusion as the leader spoke, words taking a moment to click together in his mind.... and as soon as they did, the tom straightened.

"Oh—oh, you poor thing." Timber said with a gentle voice, hurrying towards the group, side-stepping the familiar apprentice while doing so. "'Cuse me, Dreampaw." The tabby apologized with a kindly tone, giving him a brief smile of assurance before he spun towards the little raggedy thing within Vanilla's maw. Gently, ever so gently, the tom leaned forward to sniff at the newborn child. She was young, sure, but on first glance she seemed like a perfectly normal kit, if not a bit... strange smelling. After a moment of deliberating, the tom blinked and looked back at Sable, Dreampaw speaking the question that had formed in his mind. 'Why in the world had they not taken the siblings..?'

"A litter...? Of how many?" He echoed, brow furrowed in concern. "...Do you know where she comes from? She doesn't smell like a loner."

It's true, I want to be with you tonight

But I'm a little too late

• 
  Timber
  ✦—Shadowclan Caregiver | 29 Moons
  ✦—He/Him
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A large chocolate tabby with pale gold eyes
  #9A775A

 

[Saffronkit Saffronkit]

❁ . ° ✦

New smells again, the absence of the bodies of her siblings pressed against her. She mewed pathetically from Vanillathorn's jaws, a crowd had gathered around her now. She just wants to rest, to be next to the familiar warmth and smell of her siblings again. She lets out another mew, more urgent this time. A tom pushes his way forward, she feels his breath against her, a short sniff --- taking in her scent all while he smells so strange.

Her eyes slowly open, crisp blue, taking in her surroundings. The tom standing before her is large, chocolate brown and fluffy. She mews again, almost begging for further attention, for warmth beyond the maw that was gripping her tiny body. The pocosin is dark, cold, and she longs for a warmth that left her body when she was pulled away from her siblings. Her eyes move to the gathered cats, the one holding her smelt like the others. All Saffronkit could see was her paws, fluffy, chocolate brown. A small one was looking at her with concern, his strange eye colour piercing into her being. He was brown, spotted. He had the same eyes as the one that called to the chocolate tom, that large tuxedo cat that was looking over everyone with an air of authority. The final cat, looking at her with that same mix of concern that twisted her stomach, was a fluffy chocolate brown and beige cat. Blue eyes looking her over.

She doesn't speak, not yet at least. Her eyes are just beginning to adjust to the darkness of the pocosin, a place that would soon be her home. The only home she will ever know, and soon, these cats will be the only family she remembers. The only family she has.

✧ ° . ✶ . ° ✧

ooc Information

• ooc: "meow"
  @Timberfrost @SABLESTAR @DREAMPAW @MIREPURR
• 

  SAFFRONKIT — SHE/THEY/IT ･ 2 MOONS ･ KIT OF SHADOWCLAN

  a smaller than average primarily auburn calico molly with blue eyes. Has been
  blessed
  by Starclan... but is it really a blessing if your family has been scattered? Each of her siblings have been taken to another clan, Hollykit, Branchkit, Pricklekit, and Skykit. She will know naught of them, only being embraced by her new life and new family in Shadowclan.

 

[WOLFPACK]

AND I AM SORRY MY CONSCIENCE CALLED IN SICK AGAIN

______________________________________________________________________​

"I need Timberfrost."

Well, this was unsurprising. Sablestar feeling bad for some random scrap of fur and bringing them home was practically the standard in Wolfpacks mind, now, to the point where he knew not to turn one away himself when he found them loitering on the border during patrols, lest someone catch sight and report him for it. Mostly, he didn't mind. Could justify it with the mindset of 'another set of claws for Shadowclan',

This time, his indifference wavered.

Wolfpack didn't immediately move to crowd around like the others. Instead, he stood a little off to the side, mismatched eyes fixed on the bundle with something that was more calculating than sympathetic. Another mouth to feed. Another drain on Timberfrost. Another body to keep alive just as leafbare was readying it's teeth. Attention and resources that would be redirected away from the litter of five currently housed in the nursery with Jadethorn.

He cut the rumble off in his chest before it could start, knowing there was no point in saying any of it aloud. The decision was already made, and Sable's word was law whether he liked it or not.

"Are her siblings… are they okay?"

"A litter…? Of how many? Do you know where she comes from? She doesn't smell like a loner."

"None of that really matters, does it? She'll be raised Shadowclan, just like any of our kits. Who she comes from or what happened to her littermates won't change anything going forward. " His voice was even despite whatever else he might be thinking on the matter, stating facts over opinions as he gaze flicked between Dreampaw and Timberfrost, lingering with more patience on the latter.

Knowing those answers wouldn't change anything. Timberfrost couldn't have the other kits. Knowing if they were okay or not wouldn't change the fact that they weren't here. And knowing the names of the parents wouldn't magically make them appear to gather their children. Chasing those answers and dangling them over her head would only make her want to chase after needless things. Why worry about birth parents when Timberfrost would raise her just fine? Why worry about siblings she couldn't see or build bonds with, when there were other kits –his own begrudgingly included– that would serve the purpose just as well?

"Besides. If her kin are still alive, it'll be a kindness not having to feel torn by loyalties to family in other places once she's older."

He wasn't sure if the words would lend any comfort to the caregiver, or if the half-clan apprentice standing beside them felt any which way about the comment, but Wolfpack didn't care to hide his honesty. Sablestar revealing the other clans were there meant that the other kits were either taken by them, or– far less likely– lost in a more sinister way. And no matter which way you spun it for the deputy, he wasn't going to land on the side that encouraged this kid to seek out answer to questions that didn't need asking.

He moved to join them at last, a looming, mottled shadow of broad, rolling shoulders, solid muscle, and massive paws that stepped forward almost lazily to join the others. He didn't coddle or coo at the newest addition, but allowed himself to sniff at the top of their head curiously just to make sure there was nothing wrong-- a hint of sickness that might send her to Cicadabuzz instead, or a whisper of a scent that might reveal her parentage so that he might hide it before the rest could confirm for themselves.

"Can't imagine her parents are coming back for her anyway. They don't usually leave them alone this young, do they?"" he asked, casting a side-glance toward Timberfrost, who knew far more about children than Wolfpack could ever hope to know.

---

​

OOC NOTES . ◭ . CHARACTER INFO

• ooc : —​
• shadowclan deputy - male - a large, black & blue chimera with moderate white splashing, mismatched eyes, and several scars.

 

[SABLESTAR]

A gaze mimicking his own found the kit in Vanillathorn's hold before disappearing into the nursery. Dreampaw, still so sympathetic despite the hauntings beneath the swamp, met them with concern. Her name was something Sablestar had decided on once his paws stepped back into the pocosin. Rushing to his mind like a bird to it's nest, something fitting and clearly his own. The kit was only to know of ShadowClan, that would be his goal anyhow. There would be nothing to remark on her past or what blood trailed across their border.

"She is Saffronkit." Came his simple reply. A name that very possibly could have been one of his children's, had he the chance. "I do not know if the rest of her littermates have made it. We hardly made time getting her to nurse ourselves." Sablestar was not sure how far away any of the Clan's camps were from Fourtrees except for WindClan, who surely could have made it home faster than himself. "It does not matter now, though. It is out of our paws, we can only care for what we can keep." And Saffronkit was hardly his choice to keep at all. How perfectly met for her litter to reach all corners of the forest.

Of course Timberfrost arrived with more questions, Sablestar knows if the tom had it his way, all five of them would be under his careful watch. Feeding each before himself, risking his own starvation if he must. It was a necessity he was not willing to take with the cold drawing near and near each night. As the moon rose, temperatures fell, prey would begin to hide again...

Wolfpack juts in, and Sablestar shot him an appreciative glance. "It is true, her kin abandoned her without a care for her survival. For her sake, the less there is to know, the better." His meow is serious, tail lashing once at Wolfpack's question. "She is hardly a day old. They all could have froze and starved if they weren't so lucky." Though luck was surely odd to call it. A lucky kit would have had more loving kin, surely.

this heart beats cold like the devil his own

• "mew"
• 

  SABLESTAR— he/him ･sixty moons ･leader; shadowclan ･penned by gonkpilled

  a black and white tuxedo with dark amber eyes

[/color][/b]

 

[Magpiepaw]

& I don't know what's got its TEETH in me

Magpiepaw's teetering steps lead him forward to the patrols return. He does not often pay them much mind, the ongoings outside the clan did little to interest him and often the patrols only brought trivial news or the occasional bit of prey caught along their path but today they bring something else. Something new and interesting: a kitten. His father has been especially vocal about the clan not having too many young cats during the coming leaf-bare, small mouths to feed and bodies wasted tending them when they could be better put to work hunting or enforcing dens; it was not secret Sablestar was pragmatic before he was empathetic, so the little tortie scrap of fur before him was a surprise. The black and white medicine cat apprentice approached with his head low, wobbling paws inching him closer to examine the new arrival with a scrutiny born more from curiosity than compassion. He regarded the kit with the intrigue he would to an interesting insect rather than the frail and needy mewling lump she was. A faint whiff of ThunderClan touches his nose, then another of the winding fish seasoned riverside, the crisp thready scent of pine, the floral touch of rolling hills. Immediately the young healer knows why it is their origins were to not be discussed. This kitten was a patchwork of clan scents, each fainter than the other until he could only note the swamp of their marsh.
"...Saffrontkit."
There is a quiet huff of judgement to the acknowledgement of her name, his father had picked one that was a touch delicate. A flower, purple-blue like his own eyes, something that withered in the cold and benefited no one; it was not a herb like any he had learned of, it was just a decoration. Pretty, but meaningless.

Ooc- ooc info here.

I dream in phosphorescence - Bleed through spaces

MAGPIEPAW

— medicine cat apprentice of shadowclan
— He/They
"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
— Solid black w/low white & blue-violet eyes.
— Has 'wobbly cat' syndrome.
#9272ee

 

[Timberfrost]

—————————————————— 'Till I can't run no more ✦

The tom couldn't help but flinch at Wolf's voice--that oh so familiar, scathingly blunt voice. He couldn't help but be reminded of cats he used to know, cats that he much sooner forget... but he nodded towards him all the same. "...Yes, yes of course." He muttered in agreement, gaze flicking from the little scrap of fur to Wolfpack, though he couldn't help but avoid the other's mismatched gaze. "Right as always, Wolfpack." His attention then turned towards the leader once more, vibrant violet eyes meeting his own golden ones. Saffronkit... well, the tom had heard worse. It was a calm, unremarkable name—and perhaps it would be enough to allow her to blend in just as well as his own daughters had. "Kits this young... I'd be surprised if the mother even took a step away for anything more than eating and drinking." The tom responded, though his tone was more musing to himself than anything. Something terrible must've happened to the parents—and he much preferred that over the other likely option, one that meant the culprits were still wandering...

Timberfrost shook his head, clearing away such thoughts. "She won't know a word of other clans." He agreed, once more studying the poor little thing. She was darling to be sure, with fur that stuck up from a long journey, but she seemed to have a healthy set of lungs on her. "She's more than welcome in the nursery with me... I'm sure I can convince Jadethorn to spare some milk." This last part was said with a bit of a grimace, the tom could already envision the angry molly batting at his ears, all but running him out of the den for such a foolish request. "...We'll manage, if not." The brown tom added weakly, taking a gentle step forward to finally grasp the kit's scruff, taking her from the dark cat that had brought her to here. To her home, her permanent home, hopefully.

With words muffled by kitten fluff, the tom turned towards the young tuxedo. "Magpie-" He mumbled around the kit. "D'ya think you coul' check 'er over wi'h me?" On first glance, the kit seemed healthy, if not a bit colder and hungrier than he would've liked... but he'd rather have another set of eyes.

It's true, I want to be with you tonight

But I'm a little too late

• 
  Timber
  ✦—Shadowclan Caregiver | 29 Moons
  ✦—He/Him
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A large chocolate tabby with pale gold eyes
  #9A775A

 

[Tickfrost Tickfrost]

When you're lost in the universe, lost in the universe, don't lose faith
My mother says, "Your whole life's in the paws of the Stars"

.

Orange hues swept over the scene, a faint frown pulling at his muzzle as his ears twitched once. " There's an awful lot of mouths to feed this coming leaf-bare... " he finally murmured, gaze drifting from one face to the next. " Didn't you all split from another group because of starvation? " His tone wasn't accusing, just practical, steady, with that edge of quiet concern he couldn't quite swallow down. Tickfrost wasn't trying to stir trouble, no.... He was thinking ahead, as always. There were a lot of mouths. Fifteen kits in all, fifteen small, hungry things who couldn't hunt, who needed warmth and care.

He drew in a slow breath and settled down, shooting a knowing look toward Wolfpack, the faintest of frowns creasing his brow.

He didn't want to sound cruel. Starvation was a story he'd heard too many times and one he didn't wish to live through. The thought of watching Stoatstream or Fleafire waste away, their ribs pressing sharp beneath their pelts, twisted his stomach. No… he'd find another way if it came to that. Twoleg scraps, carrion, anything. Survival was survival, and he'd make sure his clanmates lived. " Regardless… " he muttered at last, half to himself. " I suppose we'll all have to pull extra weight, make sure no one grows hungry. Or worse. "

Speech, thoughts/emphasis

15 MOONS

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SHADOWCLANNER

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SONG

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