ThunderClan Elders' Den

[dino.]

The elders' den is tucked at an angle against the old, scorched tree that lies to one side of camp. Gnarled branches and a badly burned trunk make up the back wall—the rest is woven together of brambles and thick vines, shielding its inhabitants from the weather.

[Ian]

Hazelpaw poked her head into what had been designated the elders’ den to make sure no one needed help. Upon seeing it empty for now, she backed out to go train on her own.

[BEAR.]

Wolfpaw was hoping for a story, but upon poking his head into the den he realized it was empty. Muzzle drooping into a frown, he shuffled away to find something else to do.

[Zei]

The Elders Den... Empty as Usual... Perfect place to rest and think. Shypaw shuffled to the back of the den quietly and hide in a shadowy corner to think

[gs29513]

Tansyjaw led the way back to the elder's den, mouth set in what could only be described as a thin, terse frown. Hopefully Shockkit would be smart enough to keep her mouth shut, Sparkkit seemed to have shocked her into silence somehow(she might have to ask, for future reference). The elders den wasn't too much of a mess, just a bit....dusty. It was a bit too big for the two cats that inhabited it, allowing for bits of moss and dust and fur to build up in the corners. Her nest was pretty near immaculate(as always), but it never hurt to have fresh moss, and she had some little paws here to cart it away. They probably shouldn't steal Goatcrunch's nest, but they could bring him back some new moss, in case he did want a refresh.

Surveying the scene, she meowed firmly Right. We're going to leave Goatcrunch's nest alone, but you can start rolling all of the moss in my nest she indicated which one that was with a lazy paw, in case their little sniffers weren't developed enough to figure it out and the stuff that's generally spread around up so we can carry it away. This instruction given she began to follow it herself. She was pretty darn good at moss-rolling(she'd been the type to volunteer for this task as an apprentice, if only to look better, not from any actually desire to serve the elders and queens) and soon had a majority of her nest packed densely enough to tuck under her chin. She kept herself clean, but that didn't mean she wanted to taste where she'd been.

She decided to leave the bracken base for now, it was still pretty fresh and so didn't need to be refreshed. She'd do that at some point, but not with two kits trailing her. Being out of camp to dump the moss and then get some fresh stuff was more than enough for them, seeing as they'd been out to climb already. Heck, this was practically a reward, letting them get a taste of apprenticeship early and another, albeit equally short, trip out of camp!(No it wasn't, they were stuck with her for longer. That thought could make the best warrior quiver down to their paws). After allowing them a bit more time for their rather inferior skillsets to get the rest of the bits cleared up, she proclaimed Right, let's go. before turning to march right out of the den and into the territory. @Sleek

[Sleek]

Disgusted, Shockkit approached Tansyjaw's den. "Are you sure this is allowed?" she said as she prodded the heap with a paw. "Oh, and, no offense, but it stinks. P.U," she said, scrunching up her nose in disgust. Then Shockkit got an idea of how to lighten things up. She waited until Tansyjaw wasn't looking, and, the second she looked away, she shoved Sparkkit into the dirty moss, jumping in herself. "HEY!" she yowled, loud enough to drown out any sound coming from Sparkkit. "Tansyjaw! Did you see what Sparkkit just did?" she shouted, so convincingly.

Sparkkit, sighing, took a step forward to clean up the moss. He didn't want to, but he'd suck it up like he always did. After all, he was the perfect, perfect, brother, son, kit, friend, blah blah blah. He was so sick of it! It was so tiring, acting nice and great and smart and kind and accepting and he just couldn't take it anymore. So imagine how absolutely pissed he was when he was shoved into a pile of dirty moss and framed for it. Slowly he got out of the moss pile. Slowly he turned his head towards Shockkit. And slowly he looked at her, eyes furious enough to kill. "Why...Would...You...Do...That," he growled, deep and throaty and drawn out. He narrowed his eyes. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't dissect you like a piece of fresh-kill." He looked at her expectantly.

Now, obviously Shockkit expected Sparkkit to be mad, but not this mad. It's as if she had been bugging him for the last moon, the way he was acti-oh. She had been bugging him for the last moon. "S-Sorry?" she quivered, voice trembling as she brought her shoulders up in an apologetic shrug, furrowing her brows. She took a step backwards, stepping on a nest in a way that she sent moss and feathers flying. She gulped.

"I thought I warned you not to anger me any more..." Sparkkit snarled. He took a step forward, unsheathing his claws, and kept walking forward as she was stepping back until he cornered her against the wall. "Nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide." He brought back his lips and a sneer. "And what makes you think I should let you go now?" He stepped forward once more until he was nose to nose with his sister. He raised an unsheathed paw, bringing it back in the perfect position to strike. Then he swung it towards her, stopping it and inch from her face, claw barely grazing her cheek. "Haha! Pranked! You shoulda seen the look on your face!" he burst into a fit of laughter, rolling around on the floor. Finally he stopped. "What? Not in the mood for jokes?" he asked, mocking sympathy. He narrowed his eyes. "Next time, be more careful with your actions, or there won't be a next time." With those words, he swung around, rolling the moss into a ball as he tucked it under his chin, just as Tansyjaw had showed him. "Here you are," he said, dropping his load.

Shockkit was scared, then relieved, then mad, then scared again. This turn of events was giving her a headache. Sparkkit wasn't usually like this. Something must have pissed him off. Shrugging, she also rolled her moss ball. She followed Tansyjaw's instructions exactly, until her ball was rolled tight. She brought it over to Tansyjaw and placed it beside Sparkkit's ball. "Anything else?" she asked.

@gs29513

[gs29513]

The kits were surely up to something behind her, Shockkit screeching for her(Tansyjaw took vindictive pleasure in ignoring the little rat) and then suddenly decreasing substantially in volume. That was....actually quite pleasant. Unless Shockkit was dead. Tansyjaw cast a quick glance over her shoulder, saw the kits nose to nose and both still moving, and decided it wasn't worth her time. As long as they got all the moss out into the territory and dumped, their antics and idiocy in the interim was insignificant.

Sparkkit was the first to drop his mossball alongside hers, once they were out of camp, and Tansyjaw dipped her head in a small, nonverbal gesture of thanks. Both for bringing the moss, and for shutting Sparkkit up. The latter was more important to her, actually, the first was just his punishment. Shockkit made her way up soon after, remarkably polite as she deposited her own load. Tansyjaw was pleased to see that it looked as if all of the bedding had been removed, or at least the vast majority of it. There was quite a bit here, and that was the main thing.

No, that is sufficient. she meowed, adding You two should go back to camp and learn some manners another glare in the direction of Shockkit if you want to avoid doing this again for the entirety of your apprenticeships. With that threat(she was an expert on them) issued, she turned to head back into camp, her moss left behind. The presumed that the infants would follow. If they didn't, well, it wasn't her fault. They could get eaten by the foxes for all she cared. Tansyjaw didn't even stop to check for them as she reentered camp, instead making her was directly to the elders den to asses what she would need to gather to recreate her bed. @Sleek

[Sleek]

Sparkkit nodded curtly and followed her. He was silent the entire way. Words were unnecessary, a waste of time. And time was crucial. He thought about ways that he could get back at Shockkit for pushing him in the whole way to the nursery.

Shockkit hesitated to follow them. She looked behind her, out into the forest. There it was. What she wanted all her life. It was in her grasp. She looked back ahead. Tansyjaw and Sparkkit were far ahead. She could barely see them. She took one more longing look before following them. She sighed. "You think you're funny, universe, setting me up like this. Well screw you. You'll get what's coming to you, mark my words."

@gs29513

[iliri]

• Springpaw •
long-furred, oriental-shaped, gray-and-orange calico molly with blue eyes; torn right ear
Purrks: Herbal Knowledge - Tier 2 | The Collector [active] | Mind Reader [active]
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Entering the elders' den was a little bit weird for her liking, but it wasn’t like she could really say anything about it. The distinctive shape of the gnarly branches and the old, ascended tree where it connected was a pretty astonishing sight in itself, and it almost piqued her curiosity in wonder for how exactly it ended up like this. Was it burnt out? Obviously, as she could easily smell the very faint, burnt markings that eliminated off the tree itself. It would be cool if it didn’t leave a rather itching sensation in her throat. Blegh. Nonetheless, that wasn’t what she was here for. Tucked in her jaws was a bundle of daisy leaves assorted with some poppyseeds to help ease any potential elder pain that any of the elders could be experiencing. “Hello? Anyone in here? I have some daisy leaves and poppyseeds for any potential aching joints that you guys could have.” She called, her voice muffled by the leaf bundle that she held delicately in her jaws, entering herself fully into the den as her bushy fur allowed itself to relax against the comforting warmth that the den brought to itself. Hopefully she wasn’t disturbing any of the elders' sleep schedules. She would feel terrible if that was going to be the case for itself.

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open to any elders!

[elaif]

v-Cracklekit-v
(??/100)
|Beefed Up Tier 1: Inactive | Just A Scratch |
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Time for a clean up.
Brushing into the den, Cracklekit shuffled forward and looked the den up and down. This place was disgusting... It smelled bad, it looked bad, and it was just bleghh- but there was a hidden blessing within this smelly den, and it was that there was hardly any elders. Why? Well, simply because they probably died. It wasn't that hard to figure it out, they were called elders for a reason. Speaking of which he hated the idea of getting old.. The thought of having deteriorating joints and a crusty old pelt was absolutely DISGUSTING. NO, NUH UH.
He would rather die than let that happen! Anyway, back to business.

Letting the thoughts fall from mind, he pushed his pile of fresh moss into the den and set to work. First scraping up the old smelly nests, he put those off to the side and started picking up unneeded debris. Once the little twigs and leaves were gone, he added those to the pile of filthy bedding and moved to the walls. Tucking any stray brambles that stuck out from the wall back into place, Cracklekit continued to prod and pat anything out of order. Falling back, he gave a satisfied nod at his work and began to set up the nest. Using the fresh moss he had found growing around camp, he laid it out and tried his very best to make a suitable sleeping lump. This was the hardest part of cleaning a den. He could never properly make a nest no matter how hard he tried. Which was frustrating, but who cared in the end? Groaning slightly, he stepped back and glimpsed the questionable looking beds. They weren't pretty... But they were comfy enough, and that's what mattered.

Finally done, he hauled all the garbage out of the den and took his leave.
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