Open Camp first comes lightning 🗲 camp intro

[juniperstar]

juniper

there's something like victory dancing on the swirls of fog-chilled breaths... success and maybe a twinge of excitement. what they'd witnessed could not be denied or ignored... bolstered their cause and reaffirmed their moral compass. it swung wildly, like it had lost sight of north in the face of such magnetic chaos... until ultimately stilling in the direction of bramble-strewn ravine.

pawsteps remain tentative, as they skirt around the edges of what is not so far removed from being a cliffside... and eventually it slopes away into something more generous, welcoming... the flat expanse a canvas. how would they organize themselves? who would go tucked away against the quarry walls? what group would be sent back out into the chill to gather reed and fallen branches to build extra dens?

there are questions here, many... and they weigh heavily on the sore muscles and tattered bodies of those that shamble into line to claim their new home. would this be better, like that mysterious spirit had promised? could they truly take solace in this inexplicable yet needed change? sea glass stare turns towards the parade of thundering paws, picking out each and every familiar face and wincing where others remained missing. there were cats that had died... and worse yet perhaps, were the ones that had not died but willingly turned their backs on those that had trusted them.

sable. this was his fault. every loss, every torment, every petty squabble now belonged to him. what a waste...

"It's warmer in here... the rock walls around us keep the wind at bay... This'll be perfect." they'd have to make it perfect... would have to devote more intention and energy than ever to see it done right this time. no more uncertainty and waiting... hawthorne had found his footing- if only it hadn't been urged by the sticky sensation of blood between their toes.

 

[maplefrost]

Maple's fur is still covered in flecks of blood, his head still foggy. When he closes his eyes, he can see the outline of the grey tom he killed, and he does not think he'll ever forget the light leaving his eyes. He'd not stuck around long enough to see the cat come down from the stars, and he did not see if the tom left with them. He's not sure he wants to know.

Rowan hasn't looked at him since they left, her head hanging low, although she still allowed Maple to support her as they walked. He can still hear her screaming, and the fear in her eyes when she looked at him after he'd killed the tom. He hadn't seen her that scared since the fox attack. But now that fear was directed towards him, towards Maple. He'd only wanted to protect her...

"It's warmer in here... the rock walls around us keep the wind at bay... This'll be perfect."

Maple shakes his large head, padding up to Juniper. He could at least be useful.

"I can go out and try to find something to make dens," he says to her. "Reeds, branches... Maybe bramble, if we can find any. We'll need moss too, for nests, and cobwebs for the injured," he adds, remembering how Cicada and Serpent had stopped Rowan's bleeding. A chill goes through him as he remembers Cicada had gone with Sable, but he shakes it off stubbornly. "I can go alone, if needed."

 

[serpentberry]

The trudge here had been filled with echoes of sadness and loss, distant but close cries of pain both inside and out. Serpent even in her unbinding condition could not ignore the fact that everyone around her was hurting. Selfishly she clung to Hawthorne's side, as if she could drive her fangs into his scruff and keep him close - but as Juniper speaks ahead of them, as Maple offers to part ways... she knows her mate. Knows that he will work his paws to bloody callouses through the night to ensure everyone is comfortable. Her brother, too, and her friend maybe. She looks to the split gaze of Hawthorne, almost pleadingly.

She's not told him yet - her suspicions have grown into natural born knowledge, yet her tongue can only flick against a locked gate of teeth. StarClan (whatever beast it was,) has deigned him the continued leader of this group of stragglers. No longer the colony head, he's found himself the leader of... ThunderClan. The taste of power does not excite her like it used to. Dread clings to her heaving sides, instead, and she presses on. Her muzzle lifts to his cheek, pressing a kiss to the blood speckled fur there, before she takes the first aching step from him.

"Maple -" she directs the tom, hiding her pain beneath a layer of frustration - it flickers plainly nonetheless, "- pass Rowan to me. I'll sort her a nest by my side until more are made..." It's only then that she notices Cicada missing and grinds her teeth. She remembers their lesson - their last lesson - and holds to a new tangible fear before turning. She waits for the young russet molly to hobble at her heels.

 

[rowanpaw]

rowan still feels strange, like she's only halfway there. she cannot forget the face of the cat maple had killed. they didn't even know his name. and maple had killed him, because of her, because of rowan- a cat was dead because of her, because of her stupid stupid choices and the mess she'd caused. she wishes they'd stayed, so she could've at least seen the cat off, if he'd been one of those who joined starclan. she wishes she'd seen the star speckled cat too, that came down from the sky and told them about the forest and thunderclan.

she thinks of the dream she had after she fell, seeing her mother and her siblings- maybe they were there too? in starclan? maybe that's what she'd seen. and the reason she couldn't get to them was because she wasn't ready to die yet.

a pain shoots up through her back leg, and unkind reminder of her injury and how she'd failed to look after it. serpent had told her to be careful but she hadn't been- would she be mad?

maple leaves her side without looking at her. but she hasn't looked at him either. she doesn't know what to say. he'd killed someone. that wasn't… it wasn't right. cats shouldn't kill other cats. back when they were on their own, he'd just scared the fox kit away. why couldn't he have just scared the other cat away? why…

"pass rowan to me-"

rowan looks up, eyes widening at the mention of her name. serpent is looking at her, the pain she must feel in her own heart thinly veiled. rowan touches lovebug's shoulder with the tip of her tail, a quiet thank you, and hobbles over to serpent.

"i'm sorry," rowan says to her, head bowed. "i'm so sorry, i wasn't careful, i- i think it has to be rebound."

 

[Copperstorm]

COPPER OF THUNDERCLAN

Copper padded alongside Pandora in silence, his steps heavy with a numbness that had settled deep into his bones. He moved because he had to—because staying behind wasn't an option. Not in that place. Not after everything. But the weight of loss pressed down on him like a physical force, dragging his tail and slowing his pace.

His brother was dead. His sister was nowhere to be found. And his father... Charcoal had made it clear with claws and venomous words that Copper was no longer a son to him. The sting of the wound across his side was a bitter reminder of the rejection, but it was nothing compared to the image burned into his mind... his brother's lifeless body, the fading glimmer of stars signaling the final goodbye.

Gone. Flint was gone.

Copper blinked, his golden eyes glazed as if staring into a void. Another blink, and the sound of distant voices cut through the fog clouding his mind. He lifted his head slightly, his ears twitching toward the murmur of the group. Shelter. They would need places to sleep. Somewhere safe.

A crimson droplet fell from his side, splattering onto the ground, unnoticed for a moment. Copper followed its descent absently before turning his gaze to Pandora. The sight of her brought a flicker of life to his dulled expression, a spark of concern for someone other than himself. She looked as exhausted as he felt, and worry tugged at his heart.

" Pan... " His voice cracked, soft and unsure. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to focus. His golden eyes darted around, finally taking in their surroundings. It wasn't much, but it was... something. A place to start.

" I could... I could help. " he offered, his voice faint, lacking the strength it once held. " With bedding. Dens. Whatever we need. " He trailed off, his tone faltering as exhaustion threatened to pull him under again.

But rest could wait. It had to. There was work to be done.

you walk along the edge of danger ——･ﾟ✦​

･ﾟ✦ —— AND IT WILL CHANGE YOU

mentioning @Dewshine and offering help to @maplefrost

 

[Dewshine's iconDewshine]

⋆˚✧˖° Come On, Come On, We Can Go Away

⋆˚✧˖°

Pandora pressed against Copper's side, both using his larger frame as support to limp alongside him as well as to reassure herself that he was in fact still there. The fight with Charcoal had been close- far too close for comfort. If Copper hadn't intervened when he had, his father would have absolutely gone through with his intention to kill her. But... But they were both alive. That was enough. It would have to be. The molly's mind was too muddled to really process much of anything else beyond basic acknowledgement. Most of her focus was spent on trying to keep her hind leg off the ground as much as she could while they walked. At the very least the bleeding had slowed to a near stop, a cold comfort knowing that others had not been so lucky.

She blinked, not having realized Copper had said her name before looking at him with a forced smile. "I'll be ok, I'm here... I'm right here." It was an exhausted murmur. trying to be reassuring but the events of the night were beginning taking its toll. Pandora shook her head to try and wake herself up. This was not at all what she had expected to be met with when she left her twolegs behind.

Slowly she padded forward, grimace on her face with every brief moment she put weight on her leg. "Is there anything I can do to help..?" She wouldn't get very far if she tried to go out to get cobwebs or bedding and the like, but there still had to be something she could do here, she hoped.

✦──

── We Don't Need Them ✦

• 
  Dewshine
  ✦—Future ThunderClan Warrior
  ✦—She/Her
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—Silver She Cat W/ Orange Eyes And Dark Stripe Along Her Tail
  #8f85c2

 

[Thornstar]

They are all exhausted and bleary eyed by the time they arrive but he feels deep in his heart this was the right choice now. This place is guarded well with bramble thickets and sheltered cliffsides, this is a well protected hollow they can more easily defend and he remembers how easily Sable and his followers were able to pounce and leap upon them at their old nests back in that shrouded thicket known as Fourtrees. There is much work to be done still, but eager voices rise up and he moves to Serpent's side to lightly brush his nose against her cheek, the blood from his enemy smearing tortie fur and he lowers his head to gently nudge Rowan as well, "Go, find a good spot, get comfortable and rest." His mate needed and it so did the young molly, his mismatched eyes find her brother and he nods, "Copper, take Pandora and get moss and nesting material if you would?" He glances briefly at the former kittypet, faint worry gnawing in his chest; what an introduction to life in the wild that was, what poor timing. "Maple, come with me? We'll give the parameter a quick look around to ensure its safe."
Paranoia weights like a cloak over his shoulders, every shadow is Sable back to finish the job; he knows he should have killed him when he had the chance, a stubborn tom like that did not simply give up what he felt he was rightfully owed. The lynx point regards Juniper with a wary smile, head tilted slightly, "When I get back we will...head out then."
To highstones, to his right, to where the stars were closest to touching the earth, he knew vaguely of the area where it lay past the sweeping moorlands near the edge of the river that cut through the territories; it was not a place he wandered often but the towering pile of sharply angled stone and its gaping maw were hard to miss even in passing.
"Make sure everyone is settled before we go...."

 

[maplefrost]

Maple looks up at the mention of his name, meeting Hawthorne's mismatched eyes for a brief moment before the older tom looks away again, saying something to Juniper that Maple doesn't quite catch. He pads over to Hawthorne, ignoring the feeling of blood still trapped between his toes. He could wash later, when he went out to help find materials. For now he'd follow his leader.

"Hawthorne," Maple says, flexing his paws against the dirt. "I'm ready whenever you are. Do…" he hesitates for a moment, unsure if this was the right time to ask Hawthorne questions. The older looks weary, many moons older than he really is. Maple has never been responsible for more than one other cat– he cannot imagine bearing the weight of so many cats' lives on his shoulders. He doesn't know how Hawthorne is still standing despite the weight. "No, never mind. We should go."

 

[scalejaw]

☆ Weary paws carry her into camp- Scale carries wounds of battle, but she hasn't strayed from what she wanted. Glowering eyes blinked at the bloodstained path they had traveled on, noting who's scents mingled and who's didn't. Yet, even as she steps in, she seems... silently impressed, the way her eyes flit across the new-found camp much like the rest of their ragtag bunch. Much of Hawthorne's thoughts mirror her own, nodding in approval at the choice. They didn't need even more undefended positions, like that of the clumping of the colony at the old forest.

Her shoulders heave a breath, then drop- despite her injuries, she felt relatively alright. Eyes turn, searching for a specific pelt, looking for those gentle eyes. "I'll clear some of the old stuff out from those alcoves." She volunteered, even though her eyes were still searching for someone in specific.

‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I FEEL THE NIGHT LIKE ☆ A DRINK GOING DOWN

• "speech"
  

• 

• SCALE she/her, colony cat, 30 moons.
  ☆ A SH/LH chimera cat who appears almost 'scaled', akin to a dragon. She is large and imposing with a dark pelt and glowering yellow/orange eyes.
  ☆ mentored by tba / mentoring no one
  ☆ siblings to tba
  ☆ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[Ravensmoke]

RAVEN OF THUNDERCLAN

Raven trailed behind the group, his paws heavy and his tail dragging in the dirt, his head bowed so low he couldn't bring himself to meet anyone's eyes. He'd done what was necessary for Silverfrost, what he thought was right... but the act weighed on him, coiling in his chest like a sickness. It all felt so wrong.

The memory of the aftermath was still fresh in his mind. When the enemy had vanished and the battlefield lay eerily silent, he'd been unable to hold himself together. He'd emptied his stomach there and then, the sight of lifeless bodies and the echoes of snarls too much to bear.

Now, he stood in an unfamiliar camp, his ears flat against his head as he listened to the murmur of voices. Everyone had lost something—or someone. Everyone had their scars. His gaze lingered on Maplefrost for a moment, searching the tom's guarded expression, before flicking away to Hawthorne, who was addressing the group.

This place was to be their new home?

Raven's voice broke through the quiet, hoarse and weighted with exhaustion. " What about the bodies we left behind? " he asked, his golden eyes briefly glinting with grief before falling back to the ground. " What will happen to them? Will we… will we go back to give them a proper burial? " His words hung in the air, trembling under the weight of what they'd all endured.

"IN THE DARK, I HEARD MY NAME." ——･ﾟ✦​

･ﾟ✦ —— "Lift your broken crown, and let's be warriors."

 

[GENTLEFLAME]

༄.𖥔 ݁ ˖ — His paws feel heavier than ever as he follows along with the rest of the group and his dark eyes focus on the ground that lays before them, the blood from his own wounds had dried as well as the one from his opponent. The thought of his limp form and glazed over eyes causes another wave of nausea to wash over him that he had forgotten to search for his littermates which had been his intial plan. A cloud of ivory slips from his maw as Juniper announces that the spot she found is warmer and there's potential shelter from the cold. His whiskers twitch and his gaze sweeps over those present seeing some of them are injured or just as lost as him, had they taken a life too? He doesn't want to know but the sight of crimson freckles on their coats only causes his stomach to roll uncomfortably once more and he lifts his gaze once more to search for Grace or Dove but instead, his eyes find the charcoal toned pelt of Scale.

Her honey kissed eyes meet his own though he doesn't move from where he stands to join her side but stays where he is and all the voices around him fall on deaf ears. Gentle wishes to seek her but instead his ear flicks and he parts his jaws to speak "I'll go hunting to see if there's anything around for us..." A part of him wants to linger to see who else would join him but the mention of the bodies left behind after the fight cause him to flinch in the slightest and his paws are already leading him away without another word. If he keeps himself busy then he surely won't think about the tom he had killed, right? He isn't certain but he needed to get away since everything felt too suffocating right now.

I KNOW IM MADE OF CLAY THATS WORN 𓆩✦𓆪 BLINDED BY THE IMPERFECT FORM

• ooc
  — out o7

• 

  WARRIOR SKILLS;
  
  — ✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧
  HUNTING
  
  — ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧
  TRACKING
  
  — ✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✧✧
  COMBAT
  
  — ✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧
  STEALTH
  
  — ✦✦✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧
  STRATEGY
• ✦ ( I WILL TRUST THE ARTIST MOLDING ME ) gentlestorm ; warrior of thunderclan
  
  
  ✦ cismale ; he/him ; 28 moons old ; ages the 27th every month
  
  
  ✦ a large, longhaired blue sepia tom w/low white markings and brown eyes
  
  
  ✦ gentlestorm's a very warm and friendly individual to those he meets. he's very social and willing to lend a paw if anyone needs it. he's someone that puts others before himself and a self-sacrificing individual that will shield others from harm's way if he can help it. it's very rare to earn his ire.
  
  
  ✦ demiromantic bisexual ; currently interested in no one
  
  
  ✦ older littermate to grace and crying dove ; currently mentoring... N/A
  
  
  ✦ "speech", thoughts, attacking ; difficult in combat/specializes in heavier attacks, his size, and strategy
  
  
  ✦ easy to befriend/interact with ; hard to anger/upset ; peaceful powerplay allowed

​

 

[Haunt]

𓆝 . ° ✦

Behind the weary group of cats, Haunt lurks. She trudges slowly, feigning a limp, keeping a sizable distance between herself and the cat in front of her. While her ears pin back against her head, she swears she feels accusatory eyes burn into her pelt, and winces. Then, a bark of a meow, demanding where she's been, why she's here; it sounds eerily like her sibling, You've got some nerve showing up here!

But nobody is speaking. Not to her. They chatter amongst each other, delegating tasks and discussing bedding and the injured and what-not. Haunt's shoulders sag, and she stifles a ragged breath. They don't know. They don't care.

The group pauses at the edge of a quarry, and Haunt freezes in her footsteps. Awkwardly standing, glancing away, waiting for an order that does not come. Happily, she is a ghost among them, unnoticed for as long as she remains quiet. Until they settle in, get too cozy, and notice their food go missing one by one..

✧ ° . ✶ . ° ✧

ooc Information

• ooc: — feel free to give her some kind of order! she's just hanging around at the back of the group atm :)
• 

  HAUNT — SHE/HER ･ 18 MOONS ･ WARRIOR ; THE COLONY ･ PENNED BY IXORA

  a ghastly loner - blink, and you might miss her.

 

[scalejaw]

☆ He enters camp in a flurry not long after she does, and she finds him first- coated in blood of his own, of blood that wasn't his, white fur dirtied and sure to feel rough against his skin. Her ears tilt backwards, and Scale's eyes do finally catch Gentle's- her ears push forward once more and a breath leaves her. Relief is what finds her now, knowing that he's alive and well enough to see her, but concern only grows when he mumbles something out and disappears.

Nobody else had said much since she spoke last, so her throat clears. "I'll do that once I finish hunting." Referring to the cleaning-the-dens-out first, this is said only moments after Gentle has disappeared back through the gorse, her own feathered paws swift to follow him out.

‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ I FEEL THE NIGHT LIKE ☆ A DRINK GOING DOWN

• "speech"
  // out as well!
  

• 

• SCALE she/her, colony cat, 30 moons.
  ☆ A SH/LH chimera cat who appears almost 'scaled', akin to a dragon. She is large and imposing with a dark pelt and glowering yellow/orange eyes.
  ☆ mentored by tba / mentoring no one
  ☆ siblings to tba
  ☆ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ☆ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[serpentberry]

Rowan is passed to her rounded side, and Serpent looks over the shaking molly with a narrowed gaze. Her voice trembles with new fears not yet revealed to the older she-cat, though she knows in her own conquest to avoid the inevitable, she will delve deep and learn. Her nose touches to Rowan's ear, trying to settle the youth as best she can. "And it will be. A binding is nothing compared to your life, Ro," she murmurs. Deep down, she feels relief - in the chaos, she hadn't thought too deeply about who was lost or who ran off. Maple is here, and his sister dutifully by his side. It's... comforting, all over again.

"Stay with me," she makes a quiet demand, looking back to her lover as he suggests rest for the two mollies - all whilst others dive into work of one kind or another. Some embrace, some cry. Some sidle and wait for instruction. Raven asks of the bodies and Serpent shivers, thinking of Flint again, his body strewn on the floor yet his spirit lifting, lifting, lifting... She looks to Hawthorne, head of the colony, leader of ThunderClan. Your call, she doesn't say. Surely, surely, he knows. Instead, she nudges him briefly, leaving him to his new intensive work and guiding her first patient away.