Private Territory ShadowClan everything to go, everywhere to do ✦ wolfpack

[Timberfrost]

{$title} timberfrost and wolfpack go hunting together

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

Hunting for the nursery was always a tough chore, but it seemed to be wearing on the poor caretaker more than usual. It's as though the prey hardly existed anymore too, though he knew that couldn't have been true—well, at least judging by the juicy birds and voles that he saw the hunting patrols bringing back. Those weren't for him, of course—why would they be? He had to earn his keep, and so hunting for the nursery was his job... if only he could smell the damn things. It's as though this ... momentary weakness was sapping his senses away. He almost said sickness, but that would imply he needed to be cured, and there was no way in hell he'd let that happen. He'd struggle and pull hunting days that stretched from the sun rising to moonhigh if he had to. He'd work himself to the bone if he had to.

But thankfully, someone had noticed. A simple offer, an easy 'Would you like to go hunting with me?', and suddenly everything seemed just a bit lighter on his shoulders. To tell the truth, Timberfrost didn't know much about the Shadowclan deputy. He knew his name, Wolfpack, which certainly made him feel uneasy. He'd seen the large tom around camp, heard stories of the... well, violence that he could enact upon those poor little frogs in the field... at least that meant that he could hunt.

"—I can't thank you enough, Wolf." The tom had met with the patchwork deputy at the opening of the camp, greeting him with a warm voice and tired eyes. "With all these new kits... well, it'll take a miracle and a half to keep them fed." He chuckled wearily, tilting his head at the other. "You ready to go perform some miracles?"

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

But I'm a little too late

• @WOLFPACK
• 
  Timber
  ✦—Shadowclan Caregiver | 28 Moons
  ✦—He/Him
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A large chocolate tabby with pale gold eyes
  #9A775A

 

[WOLFPACK]

AND I AM SORRY MY CONSCIENCE CALLED IN SICK AGAIN

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The nursery never stayed quiet for long. It was a lesson he'd learned later in life, one a nomadic lifestyle didn't teach because often such a path didn't lend time to things like family or lasting connections. It was only with Shadowclan that he'd realized the importance of a thriving nursery– or perhaps more accurately, had need for it. Without those mewling scraps of fur, there were no apprentices to train. And with no apprentices to train, there were no new warriors to replace the ones lost to the elements, or predators, or illness.

And with no warriors, there was no Shadowclan.

But while he'd learned to understand it's importance, it was still the one part of camp Wolfpack had never had much reason to step into. He wasn't a nurturer, and as good natured as he may be with his clanmates, they all knew he struggled to forge meaningful connections. It was what made them all so wary of him, he was almost certain, red flags pinned to him like medals of honor.

Still, he wasn't blind. In fact, he noticed more than people likely gave him credit for, Deputy or not. And somewhere between Jade landing herself in the nursery and Wolfpack being partly responsible, Timberfrost had found himself on the toms radar. It wasn't difficult to see that the chocolate tabby was worn ragged trying to keep up, and if the caretakers went down, the nursery went with them.

So Wolfpack hadn't thought twice in asking them to go hunting with him. Truth be told, he'd been needing the company anyway. Solitude was often boring and unfulfilling to the mottled tomcat, and given the choice, he was often prone to seeking out others. It was obvious if you looked hard enough– always in a patrol or hunting party, always training with Cloudberrypaw, or trailing after Cicadabuzz like an unwanted shadow. Marbleshines company was most obvious with how close she was with him– often literally standing in his space or touching him.

Hilariously and ironically bolder than any of her clanmates, which said something considering Jadethorn was currently nursing his kits. Well, his and Coalstrikes-- but the two had agreed long before the litter was even born that they would each have full claim regardless of what pelts favored which toms. The most Wolfpack kit belonged to the gioant night Guard, just as the most Coalstrike kit belonged to the roguish Deputy.

"—I can't thank you enough, Wolf. With all these new kits… well, it'll take a miracle and half to keep them fed."

"Yeah, well, suppose I'm partly to blame for it." he replied, tone easy and casual in a way most cats didn't expect when they were so used to seeing him in 'Deputy' mode and not 'Wolfpack' mode. "Besides, I can't expect you to help wrangle my kits without me pulling my weight."

The admission was almost off-hand, but in truth it was only something he'd just then realized. Shadowclans caretakers were a community onto themselves, and every cat in the nursery typically played a role in looking after each others kits. For ones like Timberfrost, who chose to remain even when they had no kits there of their own, it meant they played a more intimate role in the lives of each litter. For generations, there would be kits who grew into warriors remembering this tom as the one who'd lived with them when they were young and helped raised them.

In fact.. Wasn't this Stoatpaws father? He saw her so often with Sablestar, that sometimes he forgot she was just his apprentice, but– that's right. The two of them had already been living in the marsh when Shadowclan arrived.

"I'm ready if you are. I'd say short of Sablestar and Cicadabuzz, we're the two with the best odds of pulling off a miracle." he huffed in amusement, though he was only partly joking.

Few things were more determined than a cat with kits to look after, and while Timberfrost definitely had him beat in that department, there was little that could contend with Wolfpacks own ambitions to see Shadowclan thrive. And if that meant pulling extra shifts, so be it.

---

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OOC NOTES . ◭ . CHARACTER INFO

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