ThunderClan: Life Before 2020's Fire

[dino.]

[ @hxneysuckle ]

Buckbranch jolted, then glanced down at his paws. He'd only touched it briefly, but would that be enough to transfer whatever had been on it to the rest of ThunderClan? "Duskpaw and Foxbound didn't come into contact with it, I made sure of it." He smiled back at her, glad she was treating him like a functioning member of the Clan instead of an untrustworthy traitor, like everyone else seemed to be acting. He started to turn around, then glanced back, a question sparking in his eyes. "I almost forgot - do you think you could put me on most patrols? I... I need to feel like I'm contributing."

[lio]

[ @Slushie ]

She thought over it for a moment before nodding. "I will do my best to." Duskfeather gave him a nod of farewell, her hazel eyes shining. She supposed he wasn't as bad as she originally thought- at least he actually finished his patrol!

[dino.]

[ @hxneysuckle ]

"Thank you." He sounded unnaturally relieved, almost borderline excited. He blinked at her, then down at his paws, as if suddenly remembering he needed to wash them off. He broke away from Duskfeather, heading for the exit once more to find a secluded water source somewhere deep in the territory.

[RedHead]

The she-cat dropped her bird in the fresh-kill pile, flicking her tail as she caught sight of Buckbranch speaking with Duskfeather. She was glad that the tom seemed happy at being able to do something, and she only hoped that positive behavior would continue. She turned to Duskpaw, flicking her tail at the pile. "Go ahead and drop those mice there, and then I want you to get some rest. You can come find me tomorrow, and we'll start with some battle training, okay?"
Once she'd gotten the clearance from her apprentice, she padded towards Buckbranch, hoping to maybe speak with him once he was done talking to Duskfeather. She kept a respectful distance away, not wanting to look like she was interupting of course. Also because well... Personally.... Duskfeather made Foxbound uncomfortable. She didn't know why, but there was something Foxbound found.... off about her.
@Spiritjumps @Slushie

--

Jaggedhawk jumped straight to his paws at the prospect of battle training. Of course he would go do battle training, that was his favorite thing about these changes that Flintstar had been making happen. "You got it miss! Battle training will commence, and I'll make sure of it!" Sure, his tone was a little too enthusiastic, but Jaggedhawk had found things turning out to be better than before. He was finding himself again, and he enjoyed it. Over-enthusiasm was his specialty, of course. "Icy darling, we're doing some battle training!" He snickered, calling for his friend. "You too Hollowedaster, don't worry, I won't leave you out!"
@Fuzzy @Silhouettes

[RedHead]

@Delta

Flintstar wasn't surprised to see Tallmarsh entering his den, honestly he shouldn't be surprised to see anyone entering his den when he was in it. He always made himself a constant figure in the clearing, so many cats might try to look for him if he was not found there. "Buckbranch needed some.... discipline to learn his place." Flintstar meowed after a moment, in response to Tallmarsh. "And Duskfeather is currently what this clan needs. Do you not agree? Look at all what she's done for us so far." Flintstar turned to face his medicine cat, leveling her with a stern look. She could learn a thing or two from Duskfeather. Honestly, they all could.

----

@hxneysuckle

Flintstar had just been curling up for the night when he heard Duskfeather's voice outside his den. An idea? That sounded intriguing. Of course, Flintstar was always open to hearing his deputy's ideas. Even with Buckbranch, he'd wanted to hear anything the tom had wanted to suggest. Even if he was not always the best about handling those suggestions. "Yes, come on in Duskfeather, tell me what's on your mind."

[Gone]

@hxneysuckle

Spottedheart finally stepped into camp and didn't waste a second before heading towards the deputy, a smile on her maw. "Duskfeather, I came back to report!" She said enthusiastically before she continued. "The Thunderglade was marked... At first we found a scent, but it happened to be fox-dung, which looked quite old, so nothing to worry about, though, maybe we should patrol the Thunderglade more often, WindClan's scents aren't that strong, which is quite surprising." She said and waited to hear what the deputy had to say.

[lio]

[ @.:Raven:. @rascalcats @RuinsNight ]

Duskfeather had to stifle a giggle as the warrior spoke on her lips. "Are you still able to breathe?" she commented, "That was quite the long sentence you had there. But thank you for reporting. I will be sending more patrols to the Thunderglade from now on. You may rest now, as well as your patrol members." The Torbie offered a smile, then looked over the camp. All of the patrols had been reported, but there were two cats she needed to scold for their laziness. Standing, she nodded farewell to Spottedheart before bounding into the center of the camp. She was honestly proud of the recent group of patrols, they had all finished and reported!
Except for two warriors...
"Swifthare! Tigerbranch! Get your lazy butts out here! I was told that your two didn't help your patrol- Bluegorse and Darkpaw had to do it alone. This laziness will not be tolerated under my watch. You two will remain confined to the camp until you have both cleaned the warrior's den, apprentice's den, and the nursery! Neither of you are to step a paw out of this camp until you report back to me and I have checked that your jobs have been done. Do I make myself clear?" Her tail lashed as she spoke, eyes narrowed and grazing over the camp to look for each warrior. ThunderClan could not afford to have lazy asses who couldn't even partake in patrols!

[lio]

[ @RedHead ]

The Torbie stepped into the den, holding her head high as she greeted Flintstar with a nod. Her tail was waving back and forth, her thoughts layed out in her mind. She was ready to explain her idea in detail. Sitting down, Duskfeather opened her mouth to speak, keeping her voice leveled so it didn't echo around the den. "There hasn't been much fun within the Clan," she began, "We do the same things every day, and not much of the Clan seems to be enjoying their duties. They're growing to be lazier and lazier. So, after watching kits play outside the nursery, I had a thought." Duskfeather paused for a moment, allowing the tension to rise. "What if ThunderClan had a series of games to play, one for each age level? It would allow everycat to have some fun, as well as prove to be some training- or even final assessments- for apprentices. It would also include both warriors and kits, so they wouldn't be left out of the fun, and it'd liven up the Clan quite a bit!" She smiled as she explained her idea, inwardly hoping Flintstar went along with it despite her vagueness. Duskfeather didn't know what they could do for each game, and knew Flintstar could possibly think of something.

[dino.]

[ @RedHead ]

Out of the corner of his eye, Buckbranch saw Foxbound approaching him, and raised his head to stare at her. A bitter thought flashed through his mind - Oh, NOW she wants to talk. - but he shoved it quickly away, knowing he was only being unfair. Foxbound must have been busy, and that was why they hand't really sat down and discussed things lately.
Discussed... He cringed as he remembered their conversation in the warrior's den that one evening. Why had he felt comfortable enough to open up like that? He only felt awkward now, whenever he saw her around camp. He gave her a doubtful nod and began to make his way towards her, though he was unsure of what to say.

[Wings]

[ @RedHead @Ever ]

Duskpaw dropped the mice in the prey pile and noticed another apprentice. She noticed how shiny the apprentice was and how her mackrel stripes gleamed in the sun. She approached the she with a bit of hope she would say yes to her question. "Hey I'm Duskpaw." She thought if she was gonna ask she might as well get to the point. "I noticed you were out here and I was gonna get something to eat so do you wanna come with me?"