Open Prompt Territory TC I've been listening to the frogs joke and the fires' smoke || Nature's Symphony

[Boarthorn Boarthorn]

{$title} Prompt 113: Sit in a clearing and enjoy the sounds of nature

————————————— The melody sings what the words can't say. ✦

Boarpaw had far too much on his mind. And honestly? He felt guilty for it. Wallowing when it was others' suffering, it felt silly. But even so, it rested heavily on his mind, and it wasn't hard to miss.

His sleeping had grown fitful, nightmares of Juniperstar's death kickstarting cruel nightmare spirals, witnessing every last cat Boar loved dying. Dewshine and Copperstorm, Heartpaw and Hopepaw. Saltpaw... Just thinking about it made his stomach turn.

The apprentice had awoken before the sun had risen, the sky dappled in flecks of pinks and yellows. Dawn on the horizon. He certainly wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, so instead, with a stretch and a yawn, parting tusked lips, he would take a walk into the territory.

Juniperstar was in a strange place; she, of course, was apprehensive of Boarpaw being out alone after being killed, and had no idea if Skyclan would strike again. But nearing 10 moons and already larger than her and having no sign of stopping, she trusted him to stay out of trouble if he just needed some air.

And needed air he did, he padded out into the territory, a pleasant little clearing and plopped down on his haunches with a huff. Boarpaw was tired, literally and emotionally. His body yawned in a dull ache, he had been growing and not stopping for moons and he never told anyone how much that it hurt. In his joints and bones, it made it difficult to sleep in a too small nest and frankly, just how much he needed to eat.

But he wouldn't mull on it now; instead, he raised his head and looked to the sky, his maw parting in a smile as stars slowly fizzled out in the wake of the rising sun. The air was still cool from the night, and the bird song curled all about the territory like a symphony.

He'd snuck out to be here in the dawn before, but to savour the beauty of the morning. It was their favourite time of day, when the hubbub of the day had yet to begin, when the heat of the beating sun had yet to overwhelm the cats below, and the birds sang their tunes.

While it was not a solution to what plagued his mind, for just a little while, the little cat in a too-big body could simply marvel in the small joys of life. Let his worries melt away, carried off in the beat of a songbird's wings.

——— You keep on grinnin'

and this world keeps nagging. ———

• 
  Boarpaw
  ✦—Thunderclan apprentice | 9 moons
  ✦—He/They
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A long-haired, dark grey tom with a prominent underbite and blue eyes.
  #a4bac1

 

[brindlefeather's icon brindlefeather brindlefeather]

BRINDLEFEATHER
​ may your love never end... ​

Waking up at dawn isn't exactly most cats' idea of fun, but for Brindlefeather, it's a top five pastime. He loves strolling through the territory as it slowly comes back to life. All the little critters waking up from within their dens, the morning dew on plants glistening with the first rays of sunlight that peep just above the horizon as the sky changes to a wonderful hue.
As he walks amongst the foliage, he picks out a few flowers and leaves that he thinks will look pretty as camp decorations, making a mental note of where he found them so he can grab more later. Hopefully he'll find some feathers as well, as he's wanting to prepare a collection of them to make some warmer nests for the elders and kits come leaf-bare… he knows it's still greenleaf, but leaf-fall is right around the corner!

Coming up on a clearing, Brindlefeather's ears perk up upon seeing a fellow clanmate, a warrior-sized apprentice staring up at the stars. He flicks his tail in greeting, trotting up to sit near him before setting his mouthful of plants on the ground.
"Hey there!" he says with a smile. "It's not often I see anycat out this early, aside from the dawn patrol!" Following his gaze to the stars, he takes a deep breath of crisp morning air. "It's so beautiful outside this morning…"

and if you need a friend

♥

there's a seat here alongside me

• OOC:
• KEY:
  

  "speech" | thoughts

  
  
• 
  

  BRINDLEFEATHER is an orange-and-white tom mottled with brown stripes. His fur is medium-length and his eyes are dark brown.
  
  Brindlefeather is known mostly for his outgoing and compassionate personality. He tries to see the good in everything and everyone, and he does his best to be on good terms with every cat he speaks to.
  
  Although he's a forager, Brindlefeather will sometimes try to catch some fresh-kill for the Clan if he sees it's running low - even though he's not super great at it. He will also often offer to share his fresh-kill with anycat who looks like they want or need it.
  
  Believing that violence is never the answer, he has sworn off of any kind of fighting unless absolutely necessary - and even then, he'll do what he can to de-escalate the situation. He hates seeing anyone get hurt, especially when it could have been prevented by talking things out.
  

 

[RUFOUSPAW]

RUFOUSPAW
​ Welcome to the celebration, baby! ​

Vulturepaw was, at last, thoroughly spent. While he wouldn't be able to compensate for the lost sleep with dawn on the horizon—'of course it took this long,' the molly thought bitterly—he figured he'd earnt some rest, still. It hadn't been easy, trying to figure out what to do with himself in the dead of night... he'd woken up with excess energy thrumming in his paws inside a den suddenly far too small to contain him. Or contain his potential, rather. Who wouldn't have darted out and off into the wilds? Who wouldn't have left right away, instead of dealing with all the whining about the noise he was making? It was only natural for him to have run as far as his paws would take him, then, and answer the call of temptation...

What he didn't expect was to come across other cats so soon. Their scents were familiar to a certain extent (he could tell they were his... "clanmates" as soon as he noticed them) but he couldn't say he recognized them, at least not by sight. Let alone know their reasons for staying awake. Curiosity piqued, Vulturepaw approached the pair in near-perfect silence, then lingered at the edge of the hollow for a couple heartbeats.

Only when the air grew quiet did he speak: "What are you doing?" His question came off as a demand much more than he intended it to. The small she-cat had to tilt his head upwards to meet either tom's gaze; he paused for a moment to look at their faces, then glanced at their surroundings. Was it only the three of them here? "Aren't you on patrol or something?" The tortoiseshell warrior certainly looked like he was—or at the very least, like he'd been busy with something productive. That, he could respect. The other one, though... for one, that had to be a warrior, judging by size alone. Secondly, he didn't seem to be doing anything at all! He couldn't judge him for not following orders (neither he or his friends could, really), but he could say he wasn't doing anything that mattered with the time gained. And so he did. Inwardly, for now.

THE JUDGES ARE JAILED

✦

AND THE FUTURE IS OURS

• OOC: mobile post, will pretty up later! also SO sorry for the ghost notif
• KEY:
  

  "speech"

  
  

  'thoughts'

  'owlpaw'

  'eaglepaw'

  'vulturepaw'

  
  attempted action
  

  "other character's speech"

  
  
• 
  

  Click on the image to see my full
  reference sheet!​

  Rufouspaw is a small ginger bicolor tabby with tortie point patches and odd blue-green eyes. A former loner, she faces the world with her head held high and her claws at the ready—for she believes danger is lurking at every corner. It remains to be seen whether her foolhardy yet distrusting disposition is justified...
  9 moons, ages every 6th.
  Genderqueer (she/he/it); any gendered terms OK!
  Gyrfalcon x Unknown — Generation 1
  Host of a plural system of 4: Owlpaw, Eaglepaw, Vulturepaw and herself.
  Mentored by Owlbark
  

 

[Midnightfrost]

MIDNIGHTFROST
SHE/THEY
13 MOONS
THUNDERCLAN WARRIOR

PENNED BY NIGHTFOX

The young warrior is awake early again. Sometimes she wakes up early and can't fall asleep again. She doesn't want to wake her twin this early, so they just quietly leave the warrior's den. If they're not with their twin, they enjoy being alone. Either way, she tends to avoid the company of her clanmates. She simply doesn't trust any of them. She isn't as distrustful of them as she is of cats outside their clan, but as far as she's concerned no one can be trusted, not even her own family. The only exception to this is Morningdew, their twin. He is the only truly trustworthy cat she knows.

She isn't quite sure what they want to do outside the camp. Perhaps, she'll go hunting on their way back, but for now she simply enjoys the quiet and being alone. The only good thing about being awake this early is that bare anyone else is awake too. She doesn't like how busy it can get in camp later in the day. Too many cats they don't trust for their liking. They definitely prefer the company of their twin or being alone over this. Eventually they come across a clearing. It could be a nice spot to sit down for a bit and listen to the birds sing, if it weren't for the three cats already there. She had come out here to be alone for a bit and hadn't expected anyone else to be here too. The only one whose company she wouldn't mind right now is her twin. Still, her expression is kept carefully neutral like usually. They recognise recognise their clanmates, the warrior Brindlefeather and the apprentices Boarpaw and Rufouspaw. She doesn't know yet whether she likes or dislikes them. In fact she doesn't really know anything about them, only that she can't trust them. She doesn't say anything as she pads onto the clearing as well, not even a word of greeting. This shouldn't come as a surprise for those who already know her for a while. They have always been a quiet cat and usually only speaks with Morningdew, if at all.

​

OOC:

 

[Magnoliapeak]

Magnoliapeak can never find a moment of solitude. Not even in the crisp dawn when most of ThunderClan is sharing tongues and setting out on the morning patrols. The walk to the clearing had been quiet and promising, but as she reaches it she is dismayed to find four of her clanmates had the same idea. Irritated, she thinks to turn tail and return to camp in her defeat, not wanting to engage in smalltalk when she could just do that back at camp. But the rising (if not accusatory) voice of Rufouspaw reaches her, and has her driven through the underbrush and into the clearing.

"I could ask you the same thing," Magnoliapeak spits sharply in Rufouspaw's direction "Won't Owlbark be looking for you right about now? I'd be more concerned about what your mentor is going to think about his apprentice shirking morning duties." She scoffs and glances around at the rest of them. She could give them all the same tongue-lashing, but opts not to. ThunderClan is living in tumultuous times, and she isn't sure that pressuring her clanmates to become more war-minded will do much to help them in the way of the peace Juniperstar seeks.

There is a long, nature-filled silence between all of them. Magnoliapeak finds her own eyes drawn overhead as birds flutter and dart back and forth between branches. "Just make sure that you return to camp in a timely manner, before sunhigh is probably best," she looks back to her clanmates, and then returns her gaze to Rufouspaw before adding sharply like a thorn in their side: "You should probably go sooner than the rest of them." A threat that is vague, but a threat nonetheless.

SPILL IT OPEN ❀ LET IT RUSH TO MY HEAD

• "speech"
  

• 

• MAGNOLIAPEAK she/her, thunderclan, twenty-three moons.
  ❀ shorthaired dilute tortoiseshell with amber eyes.
  ❀ mentored by her parents (informal), mentoring sandpiperpaw
  ❀ sister of hyacinthrain and honeysucklecry; daughter of hazelheart x bracken (rip)
  ❀ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / underline and tag when attacking pls!
  ❀ penned by carat / ccaarraatt on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[Boarthorn Boarthorn]

————————————— The melody sings what the words can't say. ✦

As the unsettled feeling finally began to melt away in the beauty of the world, Boarpaw was forever grateful to behold, his ear flickered as he realised he wasn't alone. A smile knit across his tusked face to see the always kind Brindllefeather had wandered out of camp, too. "Good morning!" The apprentice purred warmly.

He held every cat of his clan in a high manner, always treating them with warmth and kindness. "I don't usthually come out stho early, but I couldn't sthleep." He admitted, sheepishly. Boarpaw wasn't so young anymore, so he felt silly telling cats about his nightmares, but still seeing kind faces about made it a little easier to bear.

Though their more gentle conversation was stirred up by Rufouspaw, he hadn't really spent much time with the other tom, though she seemed nice enough, if not rather eccentric at times. Then again, it was nice to see apprentices be just as passionate about training, albeit she seemed much more the type to cause a fight.

Boarpaw tilted his head curiously at her inquiry about a patrol. "Oh, no, I justht like to sthep out of camp if I can sthleep, I don't wanna wake anyone up on accident." His ears flickered, staring back up to the sky as birds flittered past on the brightening sky, widening his smile. "Justht enjoying the dawn, I was gonna go hunting once the sthun rosthe enough." Boarpaw's tail thumped against the ground. He hoped that would make Juniperstar proud. He'd been hunting alone on occasion, but maybe if these folks wanted to join, it'd be a nice way to spend time with clanmates!

But just as he went to offer, another cat entered the clearing. Magnoliapeak seemed a little more dismayed seeing them all out here, but Boarpaw still greeted her kindly. "Good morning, Magnoliapeak!" He purred, warmly. She wasn't exactly the most welcoming of cats, but it didn't mean she was exempt from kindness.

He was a little surprised at her snapping at Rufouspaw; clearly, there had been something he had missed that she had gotten up to. Regardless, the oversized apprentice nodded curly. "Of course, ma'am, I wasth gonna go hunting, but I didn't plan sthaying out all morning." He wasn't so sure about the others, but regardless, he found it rather amusing that happenstance drove them all to the clearing that early morning; regardless of reason, it was nice to have a quiet moment with his clanmates.

——— You keep on grinnin'

and this world keeps nagging. ———

• 
  Boarpaw
  ✦—Thunderclan apprentice | 9 moons
  ✦—He/They
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A long-haired, dark grey tom with a prominent underbite and blue eyes.
  #a4bac1

 

[brindlefeather's icon brindlefeather brindlefeather]

BRINDLEFEATHER
​ may your love never end... ​

Caught by surprise, Brindlefeather turns his head quickly towards the sound of Rufouspaw's voice. "Oh no, this isn't the dawn patrol," he responds, shaking his head; he nods along as Boarpaw confirms this further. "Nothing like some crisp dawn air to calm the nerves on a sleepless night. You can join us, if you like!" he offers to the apprentice.
He's just about to lift his head back up to stare at the sky when his ears are met with another voice - What a busy morning! Seems that everyone had the same idea. His ears flatten slightly just hearing the way that Magnoliapeak scolds Rufouspaw, though he maintains his smile.
"No need to have a sharp tongue, Magnoliapeak - leave it to Owlbark, as her mentor." His gaze returns to Rufouspaw. "I do agree with her sentiment, however - if you've got responsibilities to your Clan, you'd best get back to camp in time to carry them out. I'm sure you don't want to get stuck with tick duty for skipping out!"
It's now that he chooses to glance around the clearing and sees who he almost thought was just a shadow near the tree line, but was in fact Midnightfrost, another warrior. Brindlefeather isn't entirely sure he's ever heard her speak, though he doesn't mind that. He's more surprised that she's ventured out without her twin, when they're often attached at the hip. He gives her a small grin and a gentle flick of his tail, not wanting to intimidate her but to be welcoming, should she choose to join the conversation.

and if you need a friend

♥

there's a seat here alongside me

• OOC:
• KEY:
  

  "speech" | thoughts

  
  
• 
  

  BRINDLEFEATHER is an orange-and-white tom mottled with brown stripes. His fur is medium-length and his eyes are dark brown.
  
  Brindlefeather is known mostly for his outgoing and compassionate personality. He tries to see the good in everything and everyone, and he does his best to be on good terms with every cat he speaks to.
  
  Although he's a forager, Brindlefeather will sometimes try to catch some fresh-kill for the Clan if he sees it's running low - even though he's not super great at it. He will also often offer to share his fresh-kill with anycat who looks like they want or need it.
  
  Believing that violence is never the answer, he has sworn off of any kind of fighting unless absolutely necessary - and even then, he'll do what he can to de-escalate the situation. He hates seeing anyone get hurt, especially when it could have been prevented by talking things out.
  

 

[FLICKERDANCE]

Flickerpaw takes her time. Her paws are feather-light whenever she puts the next one on the ground, and her tail is raised high enough to avoid brushing against something. Deep blue eyes are narrowed in full concentration—nothing to distract her.

She's caught entirely off-guard when her target, Magnoliapeak, stumbles upon a dawn meeting of sorts. Still hidden in the undergrowth, Flickerpaw takes a moment to glance across the little crowd that has seemed to form in this specific clearing. What's going on? They all speak about the peace and the quiet that comes with secluded spots at the beginning of the day. What a coincidence then, that they all ended up choosing the same exact spot. Not so nice and quiet now, huh...

"Morning."

Flickerpaw's greeting is almost apprehensive as she slips out of her cover and reveals herself. The company seems pleasant enough, if not for Rufouspaw's pointed question. She had wondered the same thing, but had not given it a voice; despite what a few of her Clanmates may think of her, Flickerpaw doesn't seek to be the villain of any given scenario, and certainly wouldn't have accused the gathered of inaction when the day hasn't even properly begun yet.

Magnoliapeak appears frustrated, so Flickerpaw is quick to give her the truth when her mentor turns towards her.

"I practiced my stalking... on you. I hope that's alright."

It had seemed to be the appear alternative when she had seen Magnoliapeak sneak out of camp. Something to gain instead of simply interfering.