Open Territory SWINGIN' GARDEN ❥ BISON HERD

[WHISPERPAW]

The smell stung at his nose before he'd even saw them. Whisperpaw's pale head popped up from a hole of a tunnel, him and his mentor were in. The strong stench from the large dark brown... things made his muzzle scrunch up in distaste. The windswept moorland barely hid anything, unless there were a few shrubbery sprinkled here and there.

He hasn't been on the moors long, it's been mainly in the tunnels. He watches as his mentor slips from the tunnel. The wind slips across the tunnel he was in, making the apprentice let out a surprised noise from his throat. He follows afterwards.

It's bird - boned frame wiggled it's way from the tunnel it was in, to side up next to it's mentor, Maplepath with forward ears. It hasn't seen a herd like this before, only the horses from the barn. Awe and wonder spreads across his face, rosy hued eyes shimmer with curiosity at the strange hoofed creatures. The albino feline speaks aloud,

"Whisperpaw is confused. It doesn't know... What those things are. Are they... friendly?"

it's tail curls across the dusty ground behind him. Head titled to the side as it observed the hooved beasts graze. It is curious about the new creatures, all spread out and grazing among the grass the moors provided. It plopped onto it's haunches as it watches them.

ooc.

think fast! scare the herd 🗣

︶꒦꒷ (ㅅ´ ˘ `) ⊹ . ݁˖ .

(

THERE ARE FASCINATING THINGS TO EXPLORE.

) ‧₊˚⤾⊹ .ᐟ

WHISPERPAW

╱ WINDCLAN APPRENTICE.​

a smaller-than-avarage petite albino feline, with flowing - like plush ivory fur upon it's bird - boned frame. paired with dusty, hues of pink sparkling with curiosity about the world around it. his tongue speaks upon riddles dripping from his maw, as the dust coat his paws.

➢

NONBINARY ; HE / IT ; CURRENTLY 9 MOONS OLD & AGES EVERY 3RD.

✿

questioning / single, not actively looking — mentoring none.

✿

thoughts ; "Speech, E7CCCC" ; attacks only

✿

may powerplay minor harm ╱ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted

✿

smells like water lilies & an undertone of wild strawberries

✿

— all opinions are ic

speaks in third-person. refers to himself as his name and the pronouns he uses.

— biography / @ on discord for plots
— penned by calzone

 

[Finchkit Finchkit]

————————— There might be something outside your window. ✦

The kitten was unsteady on her feet, scrambling through the tunnel behind Whisper and.... his mentor. Finchkit wasn't all too good with names, but she had all the time in the world to learn and remember. Goosekit had gone on so many adventures, so it was her turn! So, of course, she went headfirst into the tunnels. she had heard they were kinda sorta maybe safe, so she didn't mind clambering in. Though compared to her they were huge, the only thing making traversing hard was controlling her unruly paws on the uneven ground.

But soon, Whisperpaw emerged, she hopped out not far behind, though a foul scent caught her nose, an audible sound of disgust left her throat as she looked around. "Eugh... That smells nasty!!! What is... it..." Her voice trailed off, looking to where the other cats were staring, her expression knit with confusion and curiosity. "Woah... Are those the smelly things?" The kitten squeaked, looking up to the apprentice with confusion.

She squinted as they were all so far away, they had hard feet, hooves? Finchkit tried to recall stories her mama had told her and her siblings, what had hard feet.... "Oh! I think those are horses!" She announced, with that confidence only kittens have when they're utterly wrong but certain of their own accuracy. She nodded, as if she had given some great wisdom, though proceeding to not heed the tales she had been warned of, she tried to take a step towards the beasts.

———————— But you'll just....

Never know. —————————

• ooc - ooh yeah woo yeah finchy time, feel free to grab the baby whoever posts next she is so wrong and is trying to approach the fucking bison .
• 
  Finchkit
  ✦—Windclan kit | 2 moons
  ✦—She/Her
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A small creme tabby with a long bushy tail and wide owly eyes.
  #F5A837
  
  ⤷ Written by Phoenix ​

 

[HoneyflowerHoneyflower's icon]

Slow Down, Just Breathe

She'd had no idea how big they actually were. Honeyflower had seen them once from a distance, while sitting on the roof of the barn. They'd looked like tiny ants marching along the horizon then. Now, standing several fox lengths away, the smelly things were even bigger than the farm's biggest bull.

"...Don't get too close now, Cometpaw." The Gale Guard warns her apprentice, the faintest hint of worry peeking from the calico's otherwise even tone. "One wrong move and we could startle them into stampeding, if they run this way we'll be nothing but flattened pelts in the grass before we can even think to run out of the way." Silently she thanked the stars Cricketkit had not come across the bison in her wanderings, and hoped her own eventual kits whenever they were born would not have such wanderlust.

Her gaze drifted from the beasts to movement to her left, spying Maplepath and Whisperpaw and... What was Finchkit doing with them!? Her upright ear swivels to catch the conversation; Whisperpaw asking what the bison were, Finchkit's overconfidence in saying they were horses. Close, but not quite horses, Honeyflower finds herself musing before her heart shoots up into her throat at the kit toddling towards the massive beasts.

"FINCHKIT NO-!" Too loud. Too shrill. Far too close to the herd. The warning signs pass by too quickly to give her any real chance to react. There's a bellowing echoing in her ears and vibrating her very chest that it takes her a moment to register the sound is the herd of bison startling and causing the very ground beneath her paws to quake.

Honeyflower shoves her apprentice forward, running alongside him once he's moving. "Towards Maplepath and the others, into the tunnels! I'm with you!"

xxx

All We Have Is All We Need

Tags

Honey

✿—Moor Runner Of WindClan
✿—She/Her
✿—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
✿—Dilute Calico Shecat With Green Eyes And A Floppy Ear
#a4e1ba

 

[Comettail]

Before continuing, please be aware that this post contains a distressing emotional reaction from Comet as he fights self doubt and thinks back to the destruction of the Horseplace Barn after seeing other clanmates, (Finchkit in particular) are in danger.

---

Well I'm still here...
They can't tell me who to be... Cuz I'm not what they see—​

---

COMET(TAIL), He/Him / 9 moons / Barn Cat (Future Windclan Apprentice)
Short fur black self tom with low white and fluffy tail + ginger somatic mutation in tail, bright yellow eyes
Son of ASTRO and NEBULA, Sibling to TWINKLE(TUFT), & ECLIPSE(SHADE)
Doesn't typically sit still, Quick on his paws and with his wits, Mischievous and a bit of a prankster but not unkind
Tagging [@]

---

It was kind of eye opening to know that such hulking (and stinky) creatures lived... Not all that far from Cometpaw's old home before the barn. They were near monster sized— that's what the other cats around might say, Cometpaw knew those by another name but monster certainly sounded more apt.

Anyway, the bison on the other hand, while large, looked to be relatively peaceful, and there was no sense in disturbing that peace. Cometpaw nodded and took Honeyflower's warning seriously. "Yeah, I don't wanna mess with something that big. Besides, it's not like they're doing anything bad, they're just eating." Cometpaw raised a brow curiously. "Dunno why they're eating grass though. Don't they know what it does?" He asked, not knowing what a herbivore is.

For now, Cometpaw was content to observe— which in itself is pretty rare. Perhaps it was fortunate that he had so many thoughts to think about when it came to this novel experience. "If they grow up to be that big, how big are their kits?" He wondered aloud, also not knowing that a baby bison is called a calf.

Cometpaw was soon drawn away from his silly thoughts when he heard some other members of his clan nearby shortly after Honeyflower did. Maplepath and their apprentice Whisperpaw as well as... Finchkit!? Cometpaw's fur bristled in alarm, it was precarious already for any cat to be even this close to such massive beasts but a kitten?! His muscles tensed, he almost leaped straight into action, but a lingering thought stopped him, bringing him down into the emotional bog that he had recently clawed his way out of.

'I'm not fast enough.'​

A thought caked in guilt and self doubt, it held him back from being his best.

'But... I have.. to run...'​

However, he had to fight against such a thing. Even if he didn't truly believe it, he had it in him to fight.

'I'm not fast enough.'​

'But... I have to run!'

'I'm not fast enough...'​

'I have to run!'​

'I'm... not.. fast enough...'​

'I will run!'​

'I'm... not... fast.. enough...'

'No, I AM fast enough!!!'​

He had it in him to run.

Honeyflower's nudge was the final piece of the puzzle, her encouragement made his fear wash away. Unburdened he rocketed off towards the others. His body moved without thinking, pushed faster than he had ever made it go before. "Right! we can do this, we can do this!!" Now, the long lost flame within him had been given a vital spark, he had a mission, he would do just as Hoot had said. Keep running. Light the way for others. Go with the wind in his fur, find the gleam in his eyes, chase the endless sunsets.

Looking to his side for Honeyflower, he had concern for her too, she was due to have her kittens soon, so he had to make sure she was safe. Cometpaw hoped... No, was certain that Sweetnose was nearby, if he heard the commotion he would come running, maybe he was already on his way. Until then, Comet had to take this on with all that he had— he ran, he ran for his clanmates, not just himself. He went with the wind, he went with Windclan.

Putting everything he had into his stride, Cometpaw reached where the others were. "Back into the tunnels, go, go!" His warning was given, yet he did not stop moving, "Finch, c'mere!" He urged, scooping up Finchkit by the scruff of her neck so that she was accounted for, his speed was now her speed too. Glancing around quickly, Cometpaw hoped that his clanmates were with him as he pressed on!

---

Yeah the world is still sleepin' when I keep on dreamin' for me,
And their words are just whispers and lies that I'll never believe!​

​

 

[Finchkit Finchkit]

————————— There might be something outside your window. ✦

Finchkit was only young, not understanding the idea fully of danger or mortality. She feared things, yes, but that was storms and wasps and when she woke up and her Mama wasn't in the nest. But alleged horses weren't something she feared, but by the shriek of Honeyflower, one which made Finch stop in her tracks and turn to look at the molly, it dawned on her that maybe she should have been? She had never heard a cat so scared, but especially since it was the so kind, so gentle Honey, that's when the panic set in.

The big, smelly beasts bellowed a roar like thunder, the sound of hooves crashing against the ground like lightning. And it was as if Finchkit's paws had fused to the ground as her eyes trained on the beasts ahead of her, no longer grazing calmly but now in a state of unrest, of fury. Once a distant visage began to draw closer, and yet Finchkit couldn't move. The bellowing of the beasts and the talking of the cats melded into one chorus in her mind as she tried desperately to look away, or run, or-

In a blink, her paws were off the ground, the kitten let out a yelp of panic only to look up and see- "Cometpaw?" She sniffled, her eyes shiny as she was pulled from the stampede to safety. The kitten hung limply, curled as she always did when her Mama or Papa or anyone else scooped her up. She held her paws close to her chest as Cometpaw darted back towards the tunnels she had snuck out from.

Finchkit let out a tiny hiccup as her stomach tied up in knots. She wasn't scared until everyone else was, so she must have done something wrong. But the apprentice had saved her, she managed to squeak out a "Thank you..." Before her voice fell quiet, too scared to say much else or else the big smelly beasts might get more upset.

———————— But you'll just....

Never know. —————————

• 
  Finchkit
  ✦—Windclan kit | 2 moons
  ✦—She/Her
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A small creme tabby with a long bushy tail and wide owly eyes.
  #F5A837
  
  ⤷ Written by Phoenix ​

 

[HoneyflowerHoneyflower's icon]

Slow Down, Just Breathe

It's all she hears, feels the bellowing in her chest, the very ground beneath her shaking more and more violently as the herd draws ever closer and Honeyflower is running as fast as she can after her apprentice. Self preservation had temporarily been forgotten in the face of giving Cometpaw a headstart with the nudge to his flank. But now as she lagged behind, weighed down with her kits, a small selfish part of her wondered why she'd done that. The thought was shaken away as soon as it had come. She was not that kind of cat.

There's a jolt as one of the kits inside kicks as if spurring her to run faster and she obliges, chest heaving for precious air so strongly it hurt. Just ahead Cometpaw reaches the other three, relieved to see he had grabbed Finchkit and dove into the tunnels.

"Maple, Whisper, get inside..! I'm-" Her own call is cut off with a yelp as the Gale Guard suddenly finds herself falling forward, front paw twisting awkwardly as Honeyflower tries and fails to keep herself from falling into the hole that just moments before she hadn't even seen. Pain sharply lances up the limb but there's no time to even look much less assess how bad the sprain is. She barely has a moment to tuck her tail into her sudden hiding spot before the bison begin to pass overhead, shaking her to her very core.

Honeyflower is not sure how long it takes until they all pass by, listening to her heart pounding violently in time with the hooves that feel almost endless. Finally eventually, there is silence. She stays for a moment more, ear pricked for any straggling bison before finally limping out and back into the sun.

"Back..." The tremor in her voice is nearly as bad as the tremor in her body, one paw raised slightly off the ground with a grimace. "Let's go back to camp, everyone. Cometpaw, could you carry Finchkit, for me..?"

She was going to throw herself at Sweet or Sass the moment she saw one or the other and start wailing, she was sure.

xxx

All We Have Is All We Need

Tags

Honey

✿—Moor Runner Of WindClan
✿—She/Her
✿—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
✿—Dilute Calico Shecat With Green Eyes And A Floppy Ear
#a4e1ba

 

[sassafraschill]

SASSAFRASCHILL, 31 moons / windclan moor-runner
a pale blue tabby with scraggly fur and a large shoulder scar
sister to honey, mate and parent to none
a scrappy cowboy who feels he has something to prove. stupidly stubborn with hotheaded tendencies.
Tagging person here

---

Sassafraschill can hear the thud of hooves stamping against the dust over anything else. A rhythmic hum beneath his paw pads as they roamed, the pale tom made sure to keep a distance from the sensation. His mind wondered briefly how it might be for the Tunnelers to go beneath a heard of this number, hulking beasts and sure to be a few tail-lengths too tall for him to question if he should flee if he were chased.

In the distance he can see a set of pale ears through the grass belonging to something cat-like. Whisperpaw, with his sister and her apprentice close by. They're far closer than he would suggest when he spotted them, and all too quickly it's spiked into chaos. Finchkit, air than brains at this age, thought to toddle right up to one. She is lucky for Honeyflower's speed with her apprentice close behind. She is not agile in this state, and Sassafraschill felt the distance never ending as he began to head their way. Something catches her, the beating drum of hooves grows stronger, and in a blink they've stampeded across his sight.

The tom held his breath as he waited for them to pass and for the view of mismatched ears to appear. His pace turned slow as he neared, his tail lashing rapidly until he heard her voice. "That was far too close!" Some of them are teary-eyed, practically jumping out of their fur and he looked no different. He tried to cool his panic with a long pause, meeting everyone's faces with a scowl that quickly faltered as he glanced down at Honeyflower's paw. "Are you alright? I can help you t'camp."