ThunderClan: Life Before 2023's Sinkhole

[bailu]

Ivypaw was a little upset about the takeover. She'd thought ThunderClan had been fixing itself! By itself too, without any outside help..!!! But then a cat had the audacity to invite ShadowClan over. She didn't hate the idea, sure ShadowClan could help them, but the two lives lost in the takeover battle hadn't been worth it. Lionpaw... And other nameless cats that swam in her foggy mind. She sat moping in the war-torn clearing, tail draped over her nose, ears flattened and eyes staring as her mentor decided to do patrols. Perhaps ThunderClan could form a leadership council, instead of the traditional leader and deputy roles. Now that Ivypaw thought about it, it did not sound too bad.

She lifted her head, surprise steadily kindling in her eyes as her name reached her ears. Getting to her paws a little unsteadily, she trotted over slowly. Eggpaw... Who even was that? Ivypaw thought that that had been Aspenstar's apprentice when she was a kit. When ThunderClan had been better than what it was now.. a lump rose in her throat and she swallowed painfully.

"I'm here," she said quietly, and without stuttering, too, which was a shock, of course. Ivypaw couldn't remember any sentence that she spoke when she didn't stutter in her apprenticeship. She was too young for all of this, just send her to StarClan already! Oh, and it seemed they were hunting at Starlit Meadow... Again. Disappointment shadowed Ivypaw's face as she realised Softpaw wasn't on her patrol. She guessed she could consider the brown she-cat a friend.

@NinjaBloss @Zesty Mango

[corgigirl]

Birchheart looked up excitedly. He had wanted to lead a patrol for a while. He was very excited. He found he group mates and voiced his orders, “Okay, Jaggedpeak and Softpaw, we should get going right away. Our clan needs some prey so we are gonna get it for them.”


@PlayWithFire
@WinterMara

[dino.]

// @tulle, @Jayvines

>Buckbranch<

Fatigue was clear as day in the brown and white tom's expression as he rose from his seat and made his way over to Sparrowflight and Cindersky. It was evident in the way his ears and tail drooped, the slowness of his steps, even how his usually bright green eyes were hooded and dim, and his fur left for the most part unkempt. He paused in front of the two she-cats, scanning the others that gathered around them, seeming genuinely surprised anyone at all had stepped up at Shiningskies call. Perhaps a few moons ago this would have sparked even the smallest bit of hope within him. Now, however, he felt nothing of the sort.

With a flick of his tail, Buckbranch moved in the direction of the camp's entrance. "Let's go." A simple statement, clipped and slightly rasping in the back of his throat. He was clearly in no mood to stand around and chat.

[Clock Dragonshifter]

~Heartkit~ (Closed just an Activity post!)
The large kit ran through the nursery head held high as she chased after a feather pouncing on it with no remorse.

[Zesha]

★ Thistlerose ★
@Sweetie

Thistlerose nodded promptly to Shingskies to show she understood her assignment. Then she began glancing around for Wisteriapaw, wanting to go on and get ready to head out to Sunkissed Creek. This was her first patrol since being allowed back into ThunderClan and she didn’t intend on messing it up. She suddenly caught sight of the apprentice and padded up to them, smiling. "Ready to go?" she meowed.

[taillow]

Cindersky
It was not long before Cindersky was joined by Sparrowflight, who offered a respectful bob of her head and the usual greeting. The senior warrior returned the gesture, a laugh following the tail end of her Clanmates words. "There are many things I would like to show Dawnstar, but yes that is one of them." Violence was not something Cindersky ever liked resorting to, but whatever help that leader had to offer was overshadowed, in her mind, of how brutally she gave it. Still absent was a single lick of trust; thankfully at least the ShadowClan leader saw fit to not force her cats onto ThunderClan patrols.

Ear twitching as the sound of another voice came up to them, Cindersky shifted her blue gaze to see Buckbranch... or, a cat who resembled Buckbranch. Shock was evident in her clear gaze as she took in his unkept fur, the way his eyes seemed glazed over. Under any other circumstances, the senior warrior would have felt concern. But the tom leading them both out was no apprentice or kit. He needed no coddling, and definitely not someone to hold his paw. In fact, the state of the leader sent a stab of anger through her. No wonder Dawnstar thought they were all pitiful, their former leader looked as though he had just dragged himself free of a bramble bush.

For now, Cindersky kept her maw shut and followed Buckbranch, but not before casting a sideways look to Sparrowflight to see if she was thinking the same. Regardless the senior warrior knew that once they left camp, she would have a few choice words to say to the tom.

[ @Papaya @Jayvines i figure the next post can be at the shadowclan border! ]

[starry]

Rainpaw
For @tulle

Rainpaw padded through the forest, the cold winds rattling her skeleton. The collar at her neck chimed every time she took a step, metal banging against... more metal. She grit her teeth. Every step took a lot of effort. She was bruised, both on the inside and outside. The beatings the twolegs had given her were still fresh in her mind - it was something she would never forget. Her back was swollen and aching, blood occasionally bursting through her delicate skin.

[taillow]

Originally Posted by Lightningpelt

Lightningpelt raised his head humbly and honorably to cindersky,"I take all responsibility. My mother in kittypet place had problems and I left. I take any punishment, but please, let me return to our clan." He closed his emerald green eyes calmly accepting any punishment,"I have brought with me fresh kill." He had behind him a thrush, a vole, and two mice, albeit they were skinny and so was he. He had not been eating any better and his once silky clean fur stuck up in places and had blood clots and bite wounds. Rat bites. He was known for being a ferociously fast hunter and warrior and a good mentor tp the one kitten he did mentor. His eyes, however, were clear as ever

// Thanks for telling me! I will fix that!

Cindersky
Confusion danced in her blue gaze as Lightningpelt gave his reasoning for being away. Cindersky certainly understood familial ties, but was not the Clan also family? A warriors vow swore to protect and defend the Clan - leaving the said Clan was the exact opposite of doing that. She took note of the prey he had caught. His fur was unkept and seemed to be sporting several wounds. Concern flashed though her as she brought her gaze back up to her former Clanmates. Would these problems he spoke of follow him back to ThunderClan? The thought made her wary.

"That is all fine and well, Lightningpelt. I understand familial connections. But you made a vow when you became a warrior to protect and defend your Clan," Cindersky reminded him, voicing her thoughts a moment ago. "How do we know you will not turn and flee again? If your loyalty to your Clan could not withstand your connection to Twolegplace, how will it withstand the current state of our Clan?" Her jaw hardened as she finished speaking. Pressure was being exerted onto ThunderClan by Dawnstar and her followers; if Lightningpelt left because his mother was having issues, certainly being forced to live under the rule of ShadowClan would be enough to break him again - at least in her mind.

Originally Posted by luminous

Rainpaw
For @tulle

Rainpaw padded through the forest, the cold winds rattling her skeleton. The collar at her neck chimed every time she took a step, metal banging against... more metal. She grit her teeth. Every step took a lot of effort. She was bruised, both on the inside and outside. The beatings the twolegs had given her were still fresh in her mind - it was something she would never forget. Her back was swollen and aching, blood occasionally bursting through her delicate skin.

Cindersky
Days were starting to blend together, intertwining themselves with picking up extra patrols, hunting when she could, and making sure none of the ShadowClan toads let their extended stay within the camp get to their heads. Cindersky found herself once again padding swiftly through the forested lands that ThunderClan called home. Her nose twitched to track the scents around her, separating prey from... huh. Familiar, yet the scent of ThunderClan had worn off quite a bit.

Coming to a pause near a large trunked oak tree Cindersky parted her jaws to draw more of it in. It was close, and then - a tiny bell. Kitty-pet. Picking up the pace now Cindersky hurried past the snow-covered tops of and rounded yet another tree until she came to the source; a shaken and sullen looking Rainpaw whom she recalled not having seen since last leaf-fall when Aspenstar had called the Clan together for their giving thanks event. But concern, not suspicion, was the first thought that filled her mind. "Rainpaw, what happened to you?" The silver bengal rushed forward to meet the young apprentice half way. She had been, what - six moons since she had last been in ThunderClan? "Where did you go?"

[starry]

Rainpaw
For @tulle

Rainpaw was immediately noticed. It was probably because of the weird metal thing, but she was grateful for it. She dipped her head to Cindersky as the warrior asked her a question. Just the small movement with her head made Rainpaw flinch and she immediately drew it back up. "I got kidnapped by twolegs. I have no idea what happened. I was in the territory. I know this was foolish of me, but I hope you understand that I needed some time to myself."

The memory was laughable to her at this point. It was a small act against the clan code, and what had it got her into? "Cloudykit, my sister, disappeared when I was a kit but I couldn't process it then. When I became and apprentice, I finally was able to take some time to myself." That was the simple part. The intro. Now came the actual explanation. Rainpaw sighed, her tail waving back and forth nervously.

"It was peaceful. At least... Until twolegs kidnapped me. I nearly passed out, but was able to see the path, though through blurry eyes. That was my luck, because otherwise I would still be out in the outskirts, searching for ThunderClan. The twolegs managed to keep me in for quite a bit. Every time I did something wrong, they rewarded me with a beating." She let her gaze sweep over to her wounds.

"I finally managed to escape, after multiple attempts. I don't know what happened, but there was something against my back, and I bled, but I managed to find back to ThunderClan... And now I'm back." Rainpaw finished her explanation, hoping it would be enough for Cindersky. "I swear I will be fully loyal to ThunderClan again. Are Bushpaw and Mistpaw alright? Is Cloudykit... Back?"

[IcarusUntamed]

Sorry for the late response >~<).

@ClockDragonshifter
@WinterBug

~Lost’Flower~
Lost’Flower nodded quietly “yes, but it’s quite like a rule we have today. There’s a reason you can’t have a mate outside your own clan-” she paused when she heard another kit enter the nursery, she seeemd to be getting a lot of visitors today. She giggled softly before greeting with a soft “hello”