Roleplay

Pinglist: @TimeOblivion, @Dunno, @NickelDragons
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Sleekfoot blearily opened her eyes at the clamor from outside, realizing the warrior den was empty. A mounting and unusual sense of dread in her stomach, she dashed outside to see the gathering of cats. She couldn't have slept in through something like this. Had she overestimated her capability to resist fatigue?

Looking slightly ruffled, she quite literally sprang into the group, still blinking rapidly to get the sleep out of her eyes. To her dismay, the meeting seemed to be halfway over at this point, and Shrubscatter was looking at her with an irritated expression.

"My apologies." , she managed, bowing her head to the hairless she-cat. "I will try to be more punctual in the future." The dark brown she-cat had to fight to keep eye contact with her leader. It was a foolish mistake, and she prided herself on being accurate and getting her work done. Hopefully she hadn't caused too much delay.



Cactuspaw frowned, amber eyes darting back and forth. "I dunno... I hope he's okay! We don't want more kits- not making it to apprentices..." His voice trailed off as he thought of the two kits lost earlier. Fawnpad's youngest, Beekit, not being allowed to serve the clan because she was the runt, and Pricklykit, overheating. He still remembered the distressed wails from the nursery. Heck, he hadn't been an apprentice yet!

(And Lionkit. At least Beekit's mother had been around to name her before-)

The spike-furred tom shook his head, not wanting to go further into dark thoughts.

"Anyways- he'll turn up soon, I know it! I'd better go eat something- sure Shrubscatter is gonna have a tough training session, since she doesn't seem that happy..." To be honest, Cactuspaw was quite scared of his mentor. Yeah, it was an honor and stuff to be mentored by the leader but she was... really, really threatening. Especially when she was mad at him, which was way too common. It made the usually extroverted apprentice want to disappear in the ground for about a thousand moons.

"So.. see you guys later?" With that, he "stealthily" dashed away and hooked the lizard out of the fresh-kill pile. They weren't his favorite food, but he wanted to finish before his mentor saw him.




It was annoying having the only adult guard in the nursery. You ended up with confusing situations like this where defenders had to take evening patrols. Nevertheless, Sootmask nodded lazily at the deputy, eyes still half-lidded.

"Yeah, sure. I'll take Rainpaw and whichever one of the hunters is avaliable, okay? But make sure Vulturedive's there while I'm gone so we at least have one defender on duty to make sure nobody gets killed, alright? She should be done with Kawapaw by then. If she survives training him, that is. Or- maybe it's the opposite way around?" He said, with a small mrowl of amusement at his, admittedly, not very funny joke.

---

She was slightly miffed by Sootmask's offhand comment about their leader, but he changed the subject quickly and she was too tired to complain anyways. Nodding in response before he left her and the sound of Shrubscatter's voice resonated in her ears. "Of course, that would only be right," Vulturedive stated cooly her amber eyes meeting the leader's green gaze.

"Thank you for excusing me this time, it won't happen again," The molly finished turning to the gathering cats in the clearing.

@TimeOblivion, @AndromedaGalaxy @NickelDragons


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Sleekfoot visibly flinched at the scoldings of Shrubscatter, teeth gritted as she bowed her head in the traditional gesture of respect. Yes, she had overestimated herself. Such foolish actions were dangerous.

"Yes, leader." She responded cooly, more irritated with herself than anything else. Now the clan would be short on paws for hunting patrols. Being able to only bring in two rabbits wouldn't help anyone, even during the comparatively prey-rich cooler season, And she'd have to deal with Acornstem, of all cats. She didn't exactly hate the medicine cat- on good days he was enjoyable company, even if he was too cynical- but she was full aware he'd be insufferable about teasing her for the punishment. Well, she'd better suck it up and get things over with. The Hunter wasn't about to remain out of Shrubscatter's good graces for any longer than necessary. If she handled the infraction with grace, things would be back to normal quickly.

She spotted the red-brown coat of Acornstem heading into the Nursery cave, and nimbly leaped up to wait by the entrance. Surely, he'd get bored teasing her if she didn't react.



Mothkit sleepily blinked his eyes open at the sound of conversation, gazing wide-eyed at the older cats in the den. Not wanting to get in the way of anything, he pressed closer to Fawnpad, looking almost owlike as he watched Acornstem talk to Bellaheart. It confused him- the golden she-cat didn't seem to have any problems, so why was he suggesting all these things? He couldn't have brought them over for Palethroat, because he didn't smell like fennel or yucca, and looking over at Palethroat, all of the herbs he could see were just the normal ones for pain. Maybe there were other herbs that he could have brought, but he didn't remember them.

"Has Bellaheart been feeling sick?" he whispered to his still-irritated mother, genuinely curious at this point. He liked the Keeper, as he would have liked anyone that raised him almost as much as his mother, and didn't want her to be feeling bad. Could Acornstem tell? He'd know more than Mothkit would.



Palethroat nodded wearily at the Medicine Cat. still looking worn-out and tired from her recent kitting. "Thanks," she meowed, licking up the herbs. "I'm glad this will be over with soon. I think all the muscles in my legs will dissolve if I sit around any longer. " Though a touch of her usual dry tone was present in her voice, it was overcome by the exhaustion.

She glanced down at the two tiny kits curled up by her impassively. They hadn't even opened their eyes yet, and were at the moment just thrashing balls own fluff. Funnily enough, the smaller one- named Addaxkit by the keepers, if she could recall correctly, though she couldn't see the resemblance to an addax- seemed much more energetic, frantically pawing at her chest. Annoying, but a good sign.

The thought wasn't motivated by any sort of maternal instinct- rather, simple reasoning. The clan needed good warriors (especially after Fawnpad's two dead kits) and while she wasn't thrilled to be providing them, she understood the logic behind it.



Pebblespine nodded politely in the general direction of Acornstem, despite the fact that he couldn't see whatever gesture the bengal had presumably made. "Thank you." He angled his head slightly, listening for the sound of dripping water, and headed over to the left. He couldn't smell cacti- that was unfortunate- but some of the scraggly moss that managed to grow here, and water. He gingerly dipped the rough plant in the puddle before nearly sprinting back to the nursery, not wanting too much of the precious liquid to drip.

"Back.", the pale tom said quietly, not wanting to be intrusive. Judging from the warm sleep-scent filling the den and the lack of mewling, the kits weren't awake yet, and he didn't want to disturb them or the other Keepers- or- Acornstem, who was apparently in the den talking to Bellaheart.

He set the ball somewhere between the two nursing queens before padding to his own nest, rearranging the twigs and feathers just so. A pointless act it may have been, but he had perfected the art of building nests without managing to see them.

(sorry, I'll post later today I promise)

@malignantt @NickelDragons ♦open for interaction!♦

→ Gingertail ←

Gingertail perked her ears up, wondering what the commotion was as she approached the entrance to the camp, a rabbit swinging from her jaws. She preferred hunting at night, as her eyesight was good and she believed there was more prey to be found. Not to mention the cooler temperature, which was always a relief. Poking her head through the entrance, she tilted her head to the side in confusion as she saw the group of cats surrounding/inside the nursery. She'd been hoping to have a peak inside at Palethroat's new kits, but it seemed that would have to wait. She padded into camp, dropping the freshkill on the pile, hoping she hadn't missed anything and that the prey she'd brought would make up for it if she had. Avoiding the gaze of her leader, she lowered her head and scurried over to where she saw Sleekfoot waiting, wondering why the other cat looked so miserable.

"Hey, have you seen Robinheart?" She asked, taking a seat next to the other cat, "I didn't spot her when I walked into camp..."

→ Frecklewish ←

Frecklewish's blue eyes glimmered in the dim light of the den. He'd been passively watching the ceremony, ears twitching and claws unsheathed as the chaos erupted. As much as he'd like to, he would get into trouble if he fought with his clanmates, which was why he'd chosen to stay hidden. With Palethroat in the nursery, he was the only guard, and he knew he needed to be on his best behavior for the time being. He'd only just become a guard, and excitement tingled under his skin at the idea of something attacking camp while he was the only one available. Imagine, finally getting to fight independently! With no one criticizing him for being too rash or violent, he would be the hero of the camp! No coyote or hawk could mess with him.

Hearing his name called for a patrol, Frecklewish perked his ears up, now interested as he poked his nose outside the den. His heart sank as he saw Sootmask would be joining them, he'd been hoping to get to lead a patrol for once! Riverpaw was a young apprentice, but she had so much enthusiasm that matched Frecklewish's own, and he'd been hoping to spend some quality time with her, not deal with stuffy old Sootmask. Wrinkling his nose in displeasure, Frecklewish padded out of the den, sitting next to the small grey apprentice and looking down at her.

"Are you excited to go on a patrol tonight?" He asked, not bothering to acknowledge the much older defender standing by them

@NickelDragons ♦open for interaction!♦

→ Gingertail ←

Gingertail turned to look at the other she-cat, giving a light hearted purr. "Hello Robinheart! What is all the commotion around her?" She asked, flicking her tail side to side to illustrate her annoyance at being unable to visit the kits.

"I've never seen this many cats in the nursery at once! Did something happen?" The orange she cat tilted her ears forward, hearing the small cries of Fallowkit and purring happily

@NickelDragons @Malignantt

Kawapaw smiled faintly at Cactuspaw's 'ooh i'm totally the stealthiest catshadow ever' antics. Cactuspaw wasn't nearly as graceful as he proclaimed to be. Kawapaw, with a tinge of annoyance, remembered times when Cactuspaw would scare of huge rabbits, or once in a while land on Kawapaw's spine while trying to do a spin-jump from a rock up above.

Kawapaw and Cactuspaw (occasionally Riverpaw too) were common visitors to the medicine cat. Cactuspaw seemed to take that in with pride; Kawapaw and Riverpaw did not.

"Um... Okay." Kawapaw said, glancing back and forth between Cactuspaw and his mentor. "If Cactuspaw thinks he won't be noticed, he'll be in for something fo a surprise." Kawapaw remarked.

Pinglist: @TimeOblivion, @NickelDragons, @cerkowah119
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Mothkit fidgeted at the question. "Umm- I dunno." He said lamely, curling his tail around his paws. As much as he found healing interesting, he was a little scared of Acornstem. Fawnpad seemed to be forever on the edge of fighting with the Medicine Cat, and it was nerve- wracking for the timid gray kit. Plus, he was equally interested in hunting and exploring around the territory, as intimidating as the thought could be.

He twitched an ear as his sister's fluffy tail hit him in the muzzle, distracting him from his musings. "Besides, I wanna become apprentices with Fallowkit." He added, gently pawing her tail away.



Sleekfoot nodded her head briskly to her fellow hunter and turned to look for Robinheart, but the brown she-cat had already arrived. She stepped back to continue eating, fast getting annoyed with how she seemed to be locked into doing nothing. This was not a good morning for her nerves. She should not be getting so easily angered. The warrior let out a slow breath, regaining what little of her composure she lost- and they were still chatting idly.

"Just the Keepers and Acornstem are in there. Palethroat kitted yesterday, I believe, so he's probably checking up on them and the other two kits." She said quickly. Sleekfoot made a point of keeping up on important clan affairs (and had also been listening to what was happening, but that wasn't important). "I believe there are two new kits, but I didn't go in to check."



Sootmask's whiskers twitched faintly at Frecklewish's obvious annoyance. Patience came with time, he guessed. Sure, he might be as close to as fight-happy as the young guard, but at least he didn't look like he was going to explode with anger. Though honestly, he felt close to exploding with annoyance at his rabbit-brained clanmates sometimes. In particular, the triad of cats who had missed the meeting and soured Shrubscatter's mood. Now she'd be more of a hassle.

Patience came with time- geez, that sounded pretentious. He wasn't that old yet!

After Rainpaw had finished responding to the white and brown cat- he didn't want to annoy her, she was fine in her own way- he turned to Frecklewish. "Since it's the evening patrol, did you want to help me with Rainpaw's training session? I've been helping cover it with the free hunters, since her mentor's trapped in the kit cave. You're the only other guard here, after all." His voice was a shade too sincere, but he doubted the warrior would refuse, on account of his ego. It'd be funny to see him riled up once they got training.

Bellaheart sat in the nursery, watching the queen's. Her green eyes flitted over to the queen's who were nursing. Her gaze wandered over Fallowkit and Mothkit. She really liked Mothkit, though he was silent and didn't really talk to her much, he was polite. Her tail flicked as she watched Acornstem walk over to her. He wasn't her favourite car, but she respected him none the less. She dipped her head to him. Anything I can do for you? I have all sorts of herbs for cracked pads, aching joints, stomachaches..."
Bellaheart shook her head. "I'm fine, thanks for asking Acornstem."