WindClan: Life Before 2023's Fire

[mochi]

Originally Posted by BILL.

Instead of waiting for his patrol to gather around, Foxpudge decided the best course of action would be to head into the moor immediately. "Breezefeather [ @Arie]! Goatpaw [ @mochi]! Lynxsight [ @Early]! Let's go! If you don't meet me in the Training Moor in a few moments, we'll start without you."

Once he arrived, he waited patiently-- eyes narrowed toward the direction of camp. He wasn't a plan of doing a battle training patrol, but he understood why: WindClan was incredibly out of shape for battling purposes, and this was a good start to regaining some of their physical strength.

@Arie @Early

Goatpaw
The fluffy white tom had bounded toward the large warrior when he heard his name called, excitement shivering through his pelt. Another battle practice? Awesome! Though he skidded to a stop at the camp entrance when he realized his mentor wasn't there yet, and he scoured the camp with his mismatched eyes as he searched for her. When he came up with nothing after a minute or so he figured she was out somewhere and missed the announcement. With a shrug, he turned and sprinted after Foxpudge towards the training grounds. He didn't want to miss any kind of battle moves after all!

"What are we gonna do today, Foxpudge?" He asked earnestly, eyes wide as he bounced on his toes, eager to learn. He was kinda sad Lynxstep hadn't shown up yet but he supposed he could always learn more things from her later.

[mochi]

@CheetahPelt @Shimm

Creekrunner
"Well, well, well," the long-legged tom mumbled through the rabbit in his maw as he padded into the nursery, "lookie what I just walked into." His icy-green eyes glinted in amusement and faint surprise. He had no idea Songbird and Whitesong were a thing. He suspected she had found someone else since he hadn't seen her around in awhile. Not that it bothered him. Love was a sort of elastic thing to the warrior. He had no quarrel with Songbird finding another tom. Stars, he had two litters of his own currently, and he wasn't the settle down type.

He set the dead rabbit near enough to Songbird so that she didn't have to strain too much to reach it. "I see you two are pretty close." He purred, glancing between the two with a sort of impish, yet open expression. "Glad to see Songbird getting out there and finding new love~"

The older tom sent Whitesong a glinting smile as he crouched near the kits, lifting a paw to bop Reedkit on the head. "Aren't our kits just the cutest?" He was messing with the other tom. He meant no real harm, but he had a bad habit of playing around with the emotions of other cats. Songbird probably knew this, since they'd been friends for awhile. Whitesong, on the other paw, might think Creekrunner was straight out taunting him. Which...in a way...he kind of was.

[mochi]

@Shimm

[ a few days ago... ]

Creekrunner
"That's...that's great!" He exclaimed suddenly, bouncing on his paws and circling around the queen with bubbly excitement. "I can't believe it, I'm having more kits!" He laughed out loud again, stopping in front of Songbird with his tail straight in the air. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that." He dismissed her next words with a flick of his tail, the smile never wavering on his face. "I'll help you with the kits just as much as I'll be helping Lynxsight."

The excitement softened in his gaze as he watched her, replaced by an earnest sincerity. "I know full well that you can raise these kits by yourself. But I want to be a part of all their lives. Yours too." He noticed the hot anger flashing in her eyes and his brows lowered slightly in confusion, his ears flattening against his head. "I don't mean becoming your mate; you've said before that being friends was the best thing for us, but please, let me help."

[Sweetie]

Then as if she never was opening up the queen closed her walls and kept her guard up. Fox-dung! Silently cursing herself for not being more aware of the timing with r=the two toms. She never quite told Creekrunner the reason why they stopped flirting or that some other tom caught her eye. It slightly bothered the queen that both of the toms she had feelings for are now in the same den.

Giving a small dip with her head as a thank you the molly moved her paw and dragged the prey closer to her. To hide her fluster and embarrassment Songbird quietly tucked into her fresh kill with ladylike grace. Until she heard Creek's comments about her love life, giving a gulp she scoffed at his remark and narrowed her dijon eyes at the father of the litter bomping Reedkit on the head. "They are brand new kits and can not handle roughing housing. I don't want them to grow up and be bee-brained like their father because he decided that he wanted to play with their small heads." Her voice stern as she drew her youngest son closer to her to make sure that he wasn't disturbed. Once satisfied she turned her attention back to Creekrunner with her eyes clearly showing disapproval. Stop acting like a kit for Starclan's sake! The mottled queen thought while he commented on how adorable their kits were.
@CheetahPelt @Jane @mochi

[chaton]

[ @Shimm @mochi ]

Reedkit whimpered softly at the sudden contact from someone he hadn't recognised. He had been awoken from his sleep, but seemed to calm down once his mother had embraced him more closely. He was still a bit scared of receiving another sudden bopping, but his mother's warmth made him feel safer. Not too long after, he stopped squirming around and drifted back into his sleep.

[GrapeGalaxy]

[ @Kitty Mama @vermin]

Owlpelt smiled with a twitch. "Oh well m-maybe we should take him along for practice..." His voice tried to make itself seem louder than it is before fading slowly. "Maybe he can help with looking out for hawks or catch one?" Nervousness built inside Owlpelt, slowly but heavily.

[Kitty Mama]

. @vermin @GrapeGalaxy
Leopardflare just stared at Owlpelt, then kicked at Gingerrain's corpse's side. He wouldn't feel it. "Are you talking about this guy..? This is Gingerrain, he just died..." In the clearing, no less. Hence why Mistyfern told him to get rid of the body, right after the patrol was assigned. He was combining the two tasks into one. "I thought his dead body would attract birds...that we'll attack when they begin picking at his fleshy bits."

[Arie]

-- @BILL. @Early

Breezefeather trudged slowly out towards the opening that lead out to the training moor. He didn't know what to feel about the training session, he wasn't the best warrior when it came to battle moves, and the silver tom preferred to run fast after rabbits than engage into conflicts although he'd started quite some word fights with his friends lately. Sighing he continued his walk until he reached the spot, looking curiously at the little apprentice, "Hi Goatpaw," he said as he sat down and looked up at Foxpudge, "We're still waiting for Lynxsight I assume?" His voice was steady, surprising himself. Maybe he truly was getting better, but no thinking of that. He had to focus on this, and hopefully practice his own skills so he wouldn't feel like hunting was the only thing he was good at.

[CheetahPelt]

Originally Posted by mochi

@CheetahPelt @Shimm

Creekrunner
"Well, well, well," the long-legged tom mumbled through the rabbit in his maw as he padded into the nursery, "lookie what I just walked into." His icy-green eyes glinted in amusement and faint surprise. He had no idea Songbird and Whitesong were a thing. He suspected she had found someone else since he hadn't seen her around in awhile. Not that it bothered him. Love was a sort of elastic thing to the warrior. He had no quarrel with Songbird finding another tom. Stars, he had two litters of his own currently, and he wasn't the settle down type.

He set the dead rabbit near enough to Songbird so that she didn't have to strain too much to reach it. "I see you two are pretty close." He purred, glancing between the two with a sort of impish, yet open expression. "Glad to see Songbird getting out there and finding new love~"

The older tom sent Whitesong a glinting smile as he crouched near the kits, lifting a paw to bop Reedkit on the head. "Aren't our kits just the cutest?" He was messing with the other tom. He meant no real harm, but he had a bad habit of playing around with the emotions of other cats. Songbird probably knew this, since they'd been friends for awhile. Whitesong, on the other paw, might think Creekrunner was straight out taunting him. Which...in a way...he kind of was.

@Shimm
@Jane

His eyes softened as Songbird told him she was fond of him. He opened his mouth to speak before he heard pawsteps.

"Well, well, well."

Creekrunner. He knew he recognized the name of the tom. He had never spoke to him before but he had seen him earlier with the queen, Lynxstep.

That lying, cheating...

Whitesong had to grit his teeth, putting energy into keeping his hackles laid flat.

"Glad to see Songbird getting out there and finding new love~"

A low growl surfaced in Whitesong's throat. He didn't know if he should read into it as a taunt or...

But the injured tom stood there. He didn't make a move towards the other tom, but his soft voice was dangerously low, very different from his normal melodious tone. "I think you should leave, Creekrunner."

"Aren't our kits just the cutest?"

The big tom pulled himself up to his full height, hackles bristling slightly, head hung low and stalked forwards. "Creekrunner, I swear by the might of Starclan. I'm not a tom to be messed with."

[Undertaker]

Originally Posted by implimm

Elderpaw's attention is captivated by Fawnsqueak, who seemingly appeared out of thin air! Did she really not notice the RiverClanner all this time? She was quite involved with her chat with Sootflare... Realizing that the summons meant that the tom would also be leaving, she glances at him. "Oh yes! You get to go home!" Says the tabby, smiling for him. Her excitement for the tom's returning trek back to his own Clan seemed genuine.
But then, it clicks in her head that her leader's loud and rambunctious mother had said... "Quince?" The apprentice suddenly jumps to her paws, abandoning her newfound friend to approach Midnightstalker. "Did you say Quince? Did you mean Quincetail? My father?" As she spoke, her heart began to race, and a happy light fills her eyes. She hadn't caught anything but his name, but surely he was nearby if her Clanmate was bringing him up! "Is he coming?" Without waiting, she looks towards the camp's entrance, her paws kneading the frozen ground. The rest of these cats melted away when her mind filled with her father. He's come home! He'll see WindClan is doing better thanks to RiverClan!

@Undertaker @shortstack @Dipper @Dirtfur

Midnightstalker twitched her tail at the commotion this one cat has caused. One of her ears went flat knowing this was going to cause her kid some headaches. Great, next time she'd either kill him or chase him off. A fresh wave of guilt hit her hard as she glanced at the leader. This stress was going to be the end of her daughter one of these days and scared the life out the mother. Her attention was caught by the young she-cat as she darted over to asking bout another vexation. "Yup, the one and the only." She answered Elderpaw's sudden question. She was the only one who appeared to have caught the tidbit about the outsider. The looks she passed at the entrance made her heart weep and fur bristle at the same time. She couldn't say that she didn't understand Elderpaw's endless anticipation and faith that her father would be coming home one day. Midnightstalker would be the same with her kit.

"I'm sorry, honey, he's not coming." Her voice rather tender as she broke the news to the young cat. "He still got all that spit and fire and looked rather healthy though thin, but the stubborn tom seems set on finding you a new home." For the life of her she didn't understand why the fool didn't just let come and help try and make WindClan better. Her clan was no gem and the former leaders had practically ran it to the ground, but it was still a clan with had some good cats that could be relied on. That stupid tom jumped ship and abandoned everyone at the first sign of a few holes! It was infuriating and disappointing. She couldn't imagine how it felt to Elderpaw.