Open Camp there's no lullaby — apprentice chatter

[JUNCOPAW]

Exhaustion had set in quickly after returning to camp; Juncopaw had allowed herself to be whisked away by her Clanmates, finding safety amidst the middle of the crowd. Her voice had not been heard much then, surprisingly, for all the fun had been stripped from her the moment she saw death. Her mind reels with the events of the past hours now, even when she tries to shut her eyes tight and shove her face into the comfort of her nest. She knows she should sleep it all away so that she can return to normal tomorrow... but sleep doesn't come.

"Psst-"

Silence.

"Hey, psst!"

she hisses louder, looking at the nearest nest beside her. Surely she's not the only one who is struggling? Juncopaw knows she will get over this somehow, but for the time being, she cannot comprehend all these new, terrible things that she had learned.

How easy it is for a cat to die.

"I can't sleep,"

comes the complaint. She simply has to make it everyone else's problem.

"Can you?"

Set after the Gathering, this is for apprentices only!

 

[Shimmerpaw]

For once she is glad to be bothered while trying to sleep, to be whispered at in hushed tones while trying to not wake the warriors or the kits. I can't sleep, can you? It was Juncopaw, who had been at the gathering alongside Shimmerpaw. Though they hadn't been directly next to each other through the whole thing they had seen the same stuff, seen the death and how violent others could be. She had already known of the violence of other clans - they both did with how ShadowClan had been - but to see another clan do worse than that in front of everyone? It had been chilling.

"No." Came the quiet answer as the while feline found herself turning over in her nest, body shuffling itself so that she was facing the other apprentice so that a conversation could be had easier if it were to continue - and knowing the other apprentices it would continue - and for once Shimmerpaw wanted to be involved, wanted to be right there when the conversation happened instead of on the sidelines.

It took a moment, thoughts moving in her head to find the right words before they were spilling from her maw. "You think that the ThunderClan leader came back like Pikestar did?" Surely she would, for she had been picked by StarClan just the same right? They had left before seeing it, but Hawkstar had made such a big deal over the clans not being true clans since they didn't follow whatever that code was that she couldn't help but wonder if Juniperstar did come back, the power of StarClan healing her wounds like they had done with some of Pikestar's own. "Or do you think maybe they were faking like Hawkstar was trying to say?" Was all of ThunderClan not really a real clan, fake in their claim of the territory? She didn't like the thought of one of their closest neighbors being liars like that.

​

SHIMMERPAW she/her, riverclan 10 moons old.
all white cat masking cinnamon tortie
mentored by NPC // mentoring none
littermate to none
NPC x NPC / mother to none / mated to none
"speech" // "thoughts"
penned by tikki ↛ rabbitcake on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[JUNCOPAW]

There's a response, a non-agitated one, and Juncopaw releases a ragged breath. She has considerably thick skin, so it's not like displays of annoyance get to her easily—but then, she is in an entirely average headspace in those moments. Right now, she feels strangely vulnerable. It's an odd feeling to have, considering that so many other cats had witnessed the very same scene as her, and yet not all of them seem so affected... some of them give off the impression that they're already over the murder of RiverClan's leader by his own council member. She's certain that all this is going to make her feel wholly uncertain about the cats appointed by Pikestar himself to better the Clan. That sort of breaching of trust... how can anyone possibly recover from that?

Juncopaw clings to Shimmerpaw's voice like it's an anchor. She stirs herself in order to meet those golden eyes, illuminating the pitch black that has settled over the apprentices' den.

"I'm glad,"

she whispers.

"I mean... not 'cause you can't sleep, that sucks, but you know."

Always a sucker for company.

"I dunno,"

Juncopaw admits despite herself.

"I mean, she must have? Why else would she be called star?"

A pause.

"How does anyone know if Hawkstar is saying the truth, though?"

Suddenly, the hilarious moment that Jackdawpaw had sparked feels a bit silly. She doesn't exactly regret anything... it's just that in hindsight, it may have not been so smart to yowl such things. The lesson will be lost on her soon enough.

"She can't just decide the rules. She's not the only leader!"

 

[rookpaw]

Psst!

Blue eyes slide open in the dim of the den, his ears flattening against his skull. Seriously, these two just couldn't shut up, could they? Rookpaw's lips draw back as he picks his head up from the other side den, staring at the two of them with squinted eyes. No, nobody would be sleeping right after tonight. After Pikestar, after whatever-the-fuck her name was up on the grand stage with the other whoever-the-fuck. After Adder being chased out. Bloodshed never settled on anyone's stomach well, and as much as it was bothering him, he wasn't about to fess up about it.

But, as much as he was annoyed, Juncopaw did have a point. He hated agreeing with someone else in general, but hey, this was a good point. Hawkstar- aka whoever-the-fuck- didn't just get to make the rules on her own. There was five leaders. "There's no point ruminating about Thunderclan being real or not. They're there like us- with a -star on someone's name." He said finally, voice rumbling with the edges of sleep. He's tired, and this conversation was only going to get louder. "And Hawkstar is just one of five leaders. Yeah, she can't make the rules on her own." Rookpaw said, waving a paw before shuffling in his nest, turning his back to them.

"Now shut up or be quieter. I'm trying to sleep." Words tossed at them seconds before he's laying his head back down.

_____________ JUST TO PROVOKE MY COMBAT ❄︎ JUST TO WATCH ME FALL BACK _____________

• "speech"
  

• 

• ROOKPAW he/him, riverclan apprentice, 12 moons.
  ❄︎ a sh black tabby/black smoke chimera with low white, of which strikes across his face. storm blue eyes narrow at you as he scoffs and likely turns away. antagonistic, uncomfortable, upsetty spaghetty, hotel trivago.
  ❄︎ mentored by who / mentoring no one
  ❄︎ brother to mistpaw
  ❄︎ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ❄︎ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[lavenderpaw]

Lavenderpaw lifts her head when her sister begins prodding the next body over. Her tail twitches with the agitation, but like everyone else, she too was struggling to remain asleep. The blue furred molly uses her paws to gather Juncopaw's tail closer to her, using it as a pillow while she listens to her littermate and Shimmerpaw murmur on and on. A piece of her thinks that their conversation will lull her to sleep finally... And then Rookpaw sleeps, and her peace (as if there was any) was dismantled instantly.

She grimaces in the tom's direction and then purposefully pitches her voice just a tad louder than her sister's, just to annoy the older apprentice. "Do you guys think Pikestar will want to listen to them, though? Like - surely, a no killing rule would benefit us all..." She certainly wouldn't want to die under the paws of some muddy ThunderClanner or half-soaked ShadowClanner. All the same, she doesn't think she'd know when to stop if she was on the other side. If a cat keeps thrashing, biting, swiping, kicking... what other options do they have? She wonders if it was this complicated at the shipyard, but she has no memories of the shoreline, only tales.