If Cracklepaw knew that she was feeling immense pity for him in this moment, he'd probably bristle with indignation or stick out his tongue or something. So she'd keep quiet about the feelings burning in her heart and instead sit up to fix him with stern jade hues, ignoring the ruffled and dusty state of her once-white pelt.
"I would've thought I've raised you better than that, Crackles." The queen admonished softly, reaching forward in an attempt to pat his shoulder with a slender paw, as if reassuring him that she was still on his side. "Even if you have your arguments against Bumblestar, no one deserves such name-calling. You'd better remember that, mister."
Sweeping her gaze over the ruined warriors' den, Mapleface shook her head and sighed. "We'd better fix up this mess before everyone gets back from the Gathering. They're gonna have to sleep in here, yknow?"
Raising an eyebrow at her brother, the red queen risked a small smile, if only to make him feel better. "And you don't hate everyone who sleeps in here. I used to sleep in here. Soon, you'll be sleeping in here. And who knows.." Lifting a paw to hide her grin, Mapleface waggled her eyebrows conspiratorially at her younger brother. "One day you're gonna have a girlfriend and she's gonna sleep in here. Then let's see who you're hating."
Unable to contain her snickering, Mapleface pushed herself to her paws and set about fixing up the shredded nests with whatever good pieces of moss she could conjure up from the devastation. "Come now, Crackles, I'm not letting you do this all on your own, but that doesn't mean I'll be doing it all on my own." Sure, she could have done it all for him and not told a soul that she'd done so, but it was his punishment and Bumblestar probably wouldn't take too well if she found that Mapleface had done the work instead of Cracklepaw.
Still, the queen couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at the stocky white apprentice behind her. "I love you, little brother." She said simply, and then went back to mending the nests laid out before her.
Tansywing was exhausted. She was so done with the day and was ready to retire to her nest. But, even though her every limb aches with weariness, her eyes refuses to drift shut. The molly snorted in annoyance, trying again to curl up and fall into the sweet release of sleep. But no, it seemed her brain had different plans. Oh for starclan’s sake, what does it take for a cat to get a little sleep around here?
Grumbling to herself, Tansywing sat up in her nest, gazing around the warriors den. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well find someone to talk to.
Roseraven repressed a small snort of amusement as the other warrior hadn't even realised the thorn was out at first. The small tabby was surprised by the head bump but didn't back up or anything. She hadn't felt someone's physical affection in a bit. Asterdance was always busy, and so was she. It would be nice, having more people who didn't run from her like greencough.
"It's no problem. It...really wasn't that deep, you could have probably pulled it out by yourself. Although I'd suggest keeping away from the camp barriers. I've fallen in them and gotten riddled with thorns more times than I can remember." she said with an embarrassed chuckle.
Roseraven was humble too! What a nice cat.
With a rocking motion and a thud Mudhound finally moved back into a more normal sitting position, still keeping the recently injured paw slightly elevated. After all Granny was very loud about them keeping their stump clean when they first lost their leg and that was a wound too so wounds should be clean even if Mudhound had no clue why. Which was kinda very typical for the warrior, do what youre told even if you have no earthly clue why.
"Nah prolly couldnt if Im honest. Im not built to twist at all and without my other leg to plant down I cant really do it. If it was just me it'd probably still be in there, see?"
With that the bulky warrior twisted and turned, trying to reach the pad of their own foot and failing every time. It was rather like looking at a seizing worm or some sort of concussed snake but true to word Mudhound could just not reach. Eventually they stopped panting as they re orientated themselves, fur now covered in dirt and ruffled out of place from the squirming. "And it wasnt even from the barriers is the worst thing! There was a trap bush that didnt look spiky until I landed in it! Dumb prey got away too so Im still craving squirrel..... Ill take that advice though that sounds super painful wouldnt that mean kits get thorns often too? Kinda dangerous that....."
Shying away from his siters scolding, Crackle'paw ducked his head in acknowledgment. He didn't like it when Maple'face got mad -it was really scary- so to avoid this, he nodded his head, " I understand Maple'face... I'm s-s-s.." He paused, struggling to get the proper words out. Was he actually going to say sorry? He's never ever, EVER said sorry before, so why should he now? Well, one good reason was that he was saying sorry to Maples. If he needed to apologize to anyone it was her. For the 11 moons he had been alive, his sister had always been there for him. She put up with all of his crap, and never once tried to kill him because of it. So, she obviously cared for him... at least a little bit.
And with that in mind, he finally managed to spit out his condolences, " I'm.... sorry.... THERE I SAID IT!" he whined, body hunching over in defeat. " I didn't mean to make a mess... I just got carried away..." Gagging, the apprentice felt a bit of disgust as he willingly accepted his wrongs. Maple'face had just heard something that he would never repeat to anyone else. And wanting to make that clear he turned to her defiantly "Don't expect me to say that EVER AGAIN. Also, don't tell anyone I said sorry... All the other apprentices will think I'm weak." Sniffing loudly, he turned away to view his future task.
Deciding enough was enough, he set to work. This den wasn't going to clean itself. Grumbling one last time, he stomped over to the nearest pile of rubble and began to pick through it. Any crusty looking pieces of moss were tossed aside, while any fresher pieces were arranged back into a lump that faintly resembled a nest. He continued this until the first pile of remains was back into useable lump. It wasn't perfect, that was for sure, but it was the best he could do. After all, his own nest nothing more than a heap of worn moss and a couple of chewed on branches, so in his mind, maybe everyone liked having their nest like that! Beaming proudly down at his hard work, Crackle'paw patted it with a paw and looked to Maple'face " Look! I did it, Maples!" Loftily grinning at the accomplishment, Crackles eagerly moved to the next nest; repeating the process from before. It garnered the same results, so of course he carried on with his brilliant work.
While he did so, Maple'faces words met his ears and he slightly cringed. Ew... Him have a GIRLFRIEND? Now way! He didn't have time for mushy feelings! If he was going to be the best fighter in all the clans, then he wouldn't have time for girls! While these stoic thoughts were shown on the exterior, he had a mental conflict deep down. Crackle'paw wanted to be seen as fierce, but then again, he wanted to have someone who liked to talk about him! He didn't want to die alone... And truthfully, he thought girls were kinda pretty- but no one needed to know that bit. So, instead of gushing his true feelings he scoffed, " I don't have time for girls! They're all dumb..." He started, but then quickly added sweetly " Except for you, I think your pretty cool!" reverting back to the topic, Crackle'paw shuffled forward and set back to work on another nest. " And honestly, love seems pointless.... I mean look at you! You have your kits, but where is your mate? I bet they said they loved you, but now they're now where to be found." These thoughts had slipped to his mind a couple of times. They weren't meant to mock his favorite sister; they were just pure curiosity. He couldn't fathom why anybody would want to leave Maple'face. She was really kind and pretty, so why did someone drop her like hot garbage the second they had a chance? If that's what love was, then he didn't want it at all... it sounded painful.
But if it was always like that, then why were so many cats chasing it? Perhaps they were just delusional, or maybe there was more to it. It was probably the later of the two, but he didn't want to think of it anymore. Crackles had other things on his mind, like finishing this mess and taking a nice long nap. Now that was something he could truly love! No one would ever be better than a nice long nap!
Moss. It was nice and green, it was cushiony, it was lush, it was kinda damp, it was- well, it was currently snagged under Alderstep's claws, receiving a looks-could-kill glare. Everything was extremely annoying right now, and so Alderstep hated everything. He was mad. Didn't know why (maybe it was him missing that robin), didn't care why (maybe it was the fog that suffocated him), didn't need to know why (maybe it was the fact it took him forever to find this moss). But he was mad. So he was going to make his nest the most comfortable thing to ever exist. Even the useless kittypets would be jealous.
Ants in his fur. Ants. Ants, ants ants. Everything reminded him of Rabbit. That made him angrier. He wanted to shred this annoying moss into annoying little pieces and litter the whole den with annoying pieces of moss (maybe it was because he missed his not-friends). But he'd look really weird if he shredded up this admittedly nice moss, so Alderstep stayed civil with it. He just had to keep kneading it into a lovely nest, and everything would be fine.
So that's how Alderstep ended up making biscuits in the warrior's den (maybe purring a bit).
Last edited by alkaline; June 26th, 2023 at 10:59 PM.
Firestream was curled up in her nest, resting as she usally did as she "needed her beauty sleep" her quiet breathing was synchronised with the soft rise and fall of her stomach as she slept peacefully unaware of anything that was happening around her.
OPEN
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Please tap on the eggs and small dragons!^^
Last edited by Morrigan; July 15th, 2023 at 09:57 AM.
Drizzlecloud hadn’t stepped foot in the warrior’s den since she had been appointed as the clan’s new Medicine Cat. It was weird–very weird. She had been sleeping in here for moons, and then all of a sudden, she just.. Wasn’t. It was weird to get used to, and she honestly wasn’t totally comfortable in her new den yet, but.. Stepping into the warriors’ den also felt quite weird now, too.
Anyway–she was here for one reason and one reason only. One cat had never returned so that she could check on his wounds.. None other than Aldie-step himself.
Drizzlecloud popped her head into the warriors’ den, eyes squinted as she glanced over the moss beds until she found a big ol’ lump of fur–
“Alderstep.” Her voice, unnaturally sharp, cut through the comfortable silence of the den. She stared at the tom with her head hung a bit lower than usual, her green eyes piercing through the den’s fairly dim lighting due to the later time of day.
[ @.squid THE MOMENT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!! ]
aaa! @Omari enjoy the weird formatting, i felt like playing around with it
Being tired was alright, y'know, it was manageable. Especially since Alderstep was pretty used to being tired, every so often (rather occasionally). Being tired usually meant getting up and being grumpy, probably snapping at someone if they so dared to approach him in his unpleasant state. Except he hadn't really calculated the potentiality of being tired and in pain, so now what was he supposed to do? He supposed he could still get up if he really put his heart into it...or he could just sleep. Just for a moment, and then he'd wake up and either his tiredness or pain would be gone and his problem'd be solved.
Besides,
who's...
..gonna...
...know.....
zzz
zzzzz
zzzzzzzz
this was a nightmare, obviously,
drizzlecloud was on his tail, five times bigger like a giant lynx
her forcing him to eat her nasty herbs...he thinks?
stars she's so scary
gonna squish him with her giant paws
" A l d e r s t e p . "
A shiver flitted down the tabby's spine as he jolted awake, still in loaf form. Yeah, that had been way scarier when he was dreaming. Angry Drizzlecloud wasn't real, she couldn't hurt him. Alderstep frowned, finding himself much more tired than before. The sharp flares of pain emanating from his healing scars also alerted him to the fact that nothing had changed from prior to his nap.
What a disappointment. A purely cross expression devoured Alderstep's features as he...wait. WAIT. It still smelled like Drizzlecloud, and the warrior's den no longer had her scent so WHY could he still smell her she shouldn't be here and oh stars. Oh stars. Great cats it can't be!
But it was. The russet cat slowly turned his head around (thank whatever for cats' creepily flexible necks), green eyes wide as they met with more green eyes. "...yeah?" he squeaked, suddenly questioning if he'd heard the medicine cat in his dream, or if that'd been her voice squeezing through the confines of his dreamland. Whatever it was, the greeting worked either way.
He'd just play oblivious. Maybe Drizzlecloud just wanted to say hi. While looking very angry.
he was in trouble wasn't he oh great cats this was bad he's totally in trouble what'd he even do
Just a few moments and then he could regain his consciousness from the grasp of sleep and be a grumpy angry cat and save himself.
One...two...three...
There. "Go away," Alderstep snapped, twisting his face into a half-hearted snarl, meant to convey disinterestedness. To be honest, it hadn't even been difficult to muster up his annoyance, his current condition supplied him with irritation enough on its own. It also gave him that tense stance that would've been discouraging, though it really was just the pain, which was serving useful right now; it helped him out with the theatrics and such. If this worked, well, Alderstep would be rather proud of himself for evading Drizzlecloud. (it'd never work. he's not that scary. he was just grasping at straws and hoping it'd be enough.)
Roseraven twisted in her nest. She appeared to be having a nightmare and her paws were swearing. The nest was kind I'd a mess now and there was moss stuck in her fur.
Drizzlecloud wasn’t sure what kind of response she was expecting, but–was that a voice crack? His voice was never usually so high and squeaky. Usually, she would have audibly laughed and said something along the lines of, ‘how cute, aldie!’ but this was not one of those times.
Instead, she furrowed her brows and gave him a rather harsh glare. His grumpy follow-up remark didn’t make her glare simmer, either. In fact, she was staring him down with the intent to burn his fur-follicles by glare-power alone.
“You,” She began, suddenly moving towards him. No, it wasn’t a slow stalk, it was quicker than that. Her body was still low to the ground and yet she managed to dart towards him as if she had been standing up straight. “You never came back!”
“And I feel like you’ve been actively avoiding me, too! That’s very hurtful, Alderstep. First you disregard my orders and then you don’t even bother to speak to me? Ouch!” Drizzlecloud hissed out, sounding frustrated and even a tad bit hurt by his actions. She had hoped that Alderstep would heed her advice, but alas, he had not.. And now, Drizzlecloud was upset and disappointed.
Re: ThunderClan Warriors' Den
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