ThunderClan: Life Before 2023's Sinkhole

[versailles]

@Jayvines @poppy. @starry. //

➵ [ cornpaw | he/him ]

oh man, he got to work on the prisoners den? now he felt a little better. how did one go about making an entire den, though?? uh. hm.

padding over to the rest of his group, he looked around the camp for an empty spot. "centipedes??" cornpaw hummed, not fully paying attention until he looked at rainpaw. oh. oh! "yeah! i mean, we could also probably find some spiders around .. i'm not really afraid of them, so i could do that! i think they'd be real scared of centipedes!" maybe he could add some thorns..weehehe.

he tail twitched, raising a paw to point to a spot near the warriors den. "i think we should build it there!! and we could put thorns near the edges." he suggested, or, said, because he made his way right on over to the spot that he wanted to build the den in. "let's make it as small and stuffy as possible s they suffer in greenleaf, too!"

[TheWhiteWolf]

❤︎ Leopardkit (he/him) | ThunderClan Kit ❤︎

❥ Leopardkit chased his tail giggling before falling over.

[Bonsai]

Originally Posted by Rogueheart

Sootkit looked around for something to do...
(open)

{Sunflowerkit}

The ginger kit padded slowly towards Sootkit. She shuffled her paws around nervously. I want to play but I-I don’t know this kit. What if they’re mean! as the thought crossed her mind she hestitated. No! She would be a strong brave kit! She closed the distance resolutely.

“He-hey. I’m Sunflowerkit. I was wonder if you maybe wanted to play with me?” She mumbled her tail tip twitching nervously.

[dino.]

Originally Posted by zenosaurus

Brightpaw [ they/she/he ]

➢ The slender tortie apprentice felt nothing short of broken-hearted, fighting back a pitiful sob from escaping as they laid there on the cold ground. They didn’t expect anyone to come to their rescue or to comfort them at all. Brightpaw was invisible, remember? However, to their ultimate surprise, the Thunderclan feline felt the gentle touch of someone on her shoulder -- the same shoulder that was horribly scarred from the training session with Sleethound. She flinched slightly, not used to such a delicate action, but allowed herself to look up at the familiar brown-and-white face of Buckbranch. His tone was soft and sympathetic as the tomcat agreed with her comment from earlier. What shocked Brightpaw the most was the apology. Nectarflame’s genuine words to the young skinny tortoiseshell moments before had been enough of a surprise, but now there was more? They expected to wake up in their nest at any second now and this all be some twisted dream to mock them.

After Buckbranch finished talking, he touched his nose to her ear and that made her sniffle and then bury her face into his chest, the youth still shaking uncontrollably. “I don’t think I can, B-Buckbranch! I don’t want to make a choice… I don’t want to have to choose between Thunderclan and my mentor… I just want to be enough. I want to be a good cat, I really do. I know I’ve been mean and cross with everybody, but I’m sorry… I just wanted friends and to have a bond with my mentor like other apprentices did. What did I do wrong to have this happen to me? Does Starclan hate me?” She rambled aimlessly into the Thunderclan warrior’s fur, muffled but not impossible to hear. It wasn’t often that they showed this scared side. Foxspring had seen it once, when she had messed up her first tree climbing lesson. Tears dripped from their eyes, but Brightpaw couldn’t help it. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… I’m weak… I’m so pathetic and stupid…” Everything was a blur around them and they couldn't focus on anything anymore. Were they a coward right now?

>Buckbranch<

Oh, how his heart broke for this young cat. He moved to rest his chin on her head as she sobbed into his chest, murming soft reassurances, and curled his tail around her flank.

"You don't," he said softly. "I promise you, you don't. No one will make you, certainly not I. You are enough. You are good. Whoever has made you think these things... they're wrong." Why did ThunderClan's youth have to experience so much anguish, so early into life? Who had made Brightpaw believe this about herself? His heart continued to break as Brightpaw cried into his chest and he pressed against them, shushing gently, quietly.

"...I cannot speak for StarClan. I have not been able to for some time. But if they hate you, they will have to have turned evil to do so. You aren't weak. You aren't pathetic or stupid. You're strong, and brave, and capable, and so, so smart. And you have absolutely nothing to apologize for."

He leaned down to rasp his tongue across the top of their head, once, twice. "Do you want to stay out here, or would you like me to walk you to the apprentices' den?" The tone in which he asked made it clear that these were not the only two options, and that he would he happy to indulge him in whatever he wanted to do.

There was a situation happening not far from where they both sat, but with his attention on Brightpaw, he hardly heard a thing about it.

[Pancake]

Snakepaw sat in the clearing, eyelids low as usual, his 'eyebrows' raised, making his signature relaxing face. He glanced around, surveying the cleaning for his mentor. Not seeing Littlefang ( @icey ), he allowed his eyes to close and let his ears fall back into their relaxed position, low and close to his head. Subconsciously, he toyed with a smooth stone that happened to be under his paw.

[corgigirl]

Birchheart gasped. “Cinderpaw! Oh my stars!” He breathed in faster and faster and his mouth became dry. “Sleethound! What have you done!” He shooed the last of the kits into the den.

[plum]

[ @tulle, @zenosaurus, @Slushie ]
There was not much fight left in the cat at this point. Nectarflame felt… Oddly at peace, following the words she spoke only for the cat who stood in front of her. She was grateful for the notion that her life would be protected, even if she did not argue herself.

In another pawful of moments a vote is called for Firebird by Sparrowflight. Briefly the she-cat considers moving as directed, but something keeps her stationary. Instead of casting a vote, she observes the Clan as they deliberate their decisions. Many shuffled about quietly, or with soft murmurs. Some kits and younger apprentices struggled to figure out what they were meant to do. One young apprentice has much to say, though it does not surprise her- Watching Rainpaw, the Bengal flicks an ear. The little cat seemed sharper than her peers and again, the golden cat wondered if that was because Rainpaw seemed more neutral than opposed towards her. She did not dwell long on that though. Dwelling might have made it true, and she wished to remain as neutral towards others as she could. It did not pay off to have friends.

Many other cats shuffle about and the warrior lets her green eyes graze the crowd noncommittally for a short duration, until Cindersky looks at her again. As though feeling the burn of those clear blue eyes, Nectarflame blinks and looks back. She ignores the youthful warm glow of hope in her chest for a moment but smothers it the next- the expression of the silvery cat said all too much at once. Her heart grows heavier as she watches Cindersky pad away, refusing to meet her gaze anymore. For a heartbeat, the cat feels compelled to say something. And then she thinks about it.

For so long, it was so easy to admire Cindersky for her work ethic, for her heart. It was easy to fool oneself into believing she was this selfless, giving figure in ThunderClan. But the more time spent alone together, the more time spent in observation, the more Nectarflame drew a different conclusion. A new, controversial idea: Cindersky was vain. She cared about others, indeed, but always put her own image first. How she looked to the Clan. What the Clan would think of her if she did or said something, what the Clan would do, what the Clan might need. What it gave to her. Green eyes become shadowed with grief. Perhaps Cindersky had been hurt in the past. Perhaps she had had her heart dissolved into nothing, and been forced to reconstruct it on her own over time. Perhaps she never bothered to build herself a new one- And she continued to refuse the heart Nectarflame offered. It made her cold and conceited, and she hid behind selflessness, behind love for ThunderClan being her driving force. What a lie. What a lie. It was such a shame, that all she ever needed to do was take the heart that was held out to her and run with it, but all that mattered was what others might think of it.

Swallowing thickly, the Bengal tears her eyes away from the other cat and pins them on the ground. Shiningskies had only cared about Aspenstrike, and Cindersky only cared for how the Clan saw her. Claws unsheathe spontaneously and curl into the soil. Something sharp pokes her heart. Only a sharp “NO” snaps her out of a downward spiral, and Nectarflame looks sharply at Brightpaw, the speaker. Lifting her brows she listens to the young she-cat and tilts her head gently to one side. As they pad away to cast their vote upon Firebird, they do not see their mentor staring after them, nor her eyes glazing over. Everything, she would have told Brightpaw with the utmost certainty. You have the world at your behest.

If she had wanted to take a moment to feel emotional over perhaps the only cat who presently gave a genuine damn about her though, she would not have it now. Cinderpaw above speaks again, hurling slimy insult after slimy insult. There truly was no one who could speak to her and receive a civilized response. She was an unruly menace through and through, and while Nectarflame remained silent quite easily, she could not prevent herself from feeling perturbed by how far-gone this apprentice truly seemed.

A few other cats speak, and Bushpaw departs for his den soon after Cindersky begins to collect some stray kits. Nectarflame felt plenty of cats had vote by now- And she was correct. Firebird was to be escorted off of ThunderClan territory.

But it would not end there tonight. Nectarflame was next, and as Sparrowflight announces this a worm of apprehension slithers around inside of her chest. Cats began to cross paths as they moved to get to a part of the clearing, already padding for the front as well. It was a disgusting notion, that some truly believed in Cinderpaw and her suggestion that the golden cat should be executed. Still she remains both silent and still- Head up, eyes surveying their Clanmates attentively.

Somehow though, her former focus on who was where and saying what was gone and replaced with somewhat of a wall. Nectarflame no longer kept an ear open, no longer followed every cat closely. Not for her own vote. It did not matter to her which cats decided on which fate she deserved- so long as she did not see too many padding towards the Thunderwillow.

Brightpaw seemed distraught though, and despite one of the former leaders of ThunderClan stepping in to help her out, Nectarflame wished she could have gotten up and approached the little cat. It was not fair. They were right.

But her gaze slips away from her apprentice when that cat raises her voice again. But the words that spill off of her tongue sink into Nectarflame slowly. And, like a pond slowly freezing solid, her blood runs cold. Her breath halts in her throat, and her lungs, half-empty, shudder as though she had been kicked in the belly. On a shaky breath, the warrior parts her lips to say something but nothing comes out. She had no response to this immediately other than pure shock. Something she would visit Sundust for. But as the seconds slip on, the edges of her vision darken. As the seconds slip on, thick tendrils of thorns grow over her threatening to smother. As the seconds slip on, the shreds of Cindersky which still remained a decent cat are torn beyond repair- Nectarflame turns her head straight forward again and stares blankly now.

ThunderClan and its prosperity had never been hers by birthright. She came to this Clan so very young and learned from step one what it meant to dedicate oneself wholly to the well-being of the Clan. Doing what one thought was best, working as hard as she could, striving to achieve more than her peers so that at the end of each day she could lie in her nest and feel secure. Feel glad, proud, and peaceful. She had been born because of some twoleg somewhere, to parents well-versed in bringing litters into the world. There was something bigger out there for Nectarflame though and she had always known it. She had found something bigger than life itself in ThunderClan. Others noticed that in her. Others respected it. Cindersky knew this. Cindersky knew. Everybody. Knew.

ThunderClan begins to sound loud. It begins to grind away at her ears. They flatten. And her heart, still caught between her chest and her throat, bleeds away into the brambles that began to overgrow inside of her.

[beau]

[lowkey struggling to keep up, so I may have missed something!]

Sundust's eyes flitted around the clearing as he tried to keep track of what every cat was saying and doing. Most cats seemed to move to vote for exile. It wasn't until he heard the shriek of an apprentice that he realized something happened. The tom whipped his head around, trying for figure out where the bloodcurdling noise had come from, and his eyes widened with surprise as he saw Shallowshiver and Cindersky sitting by Cinderpaw's crumpled body. What?! He began seeking out the attacker and found Sleethound sitting with the demotion group, with not an ounce of regret on his face. Cinderpaw was his daughter.

The medicine cat only had time to shoot a disgusted look at the tom before rushing over to assist Cinderpaw. "I cast my vote to the left!" He called over his shoulder as he hurried to the young molly's side. By the time he got there, it seemed Rosepaw had Cinderpaw under control, thankfully. The leg was likely broken, but none of the injuries seemed fatal or inhibiting upon his brief-second assessment.

"We'll make sure she's alright," he murmured to Shallowshiver and Cindersky. He leaned down towards the apprentice "Do you think you can walk? We need to move you to the medicine den." [ @littlelove ]

[Sundust has voted for DEMOTION/IMPRISONMENT]

[Willdoween]

Emberskip came out of the medicine cat's den and looked around nervously for Blueheart. She saw him in her peripheral vision. "Blueheart!" She called and he hurried over to her. "What is it?" He said anxiously "Are you ok?" Emberskip purred at that, "I'm better than ok! I'm having your kits!" Blueheart's eyes widened and lit up. He rushed up to her and nuzzled her cheek. "Come," She said, "I will tell you more".....

[wolfie]

@BILL.
The moment was fleeting, drifting away - Sparrowflight's comforting touch still burned in the deepest parts of their soul. (they briefly remember goldeneyes. she had never came back in the end.) The words she offered reassured them that Firkit was among the great and far from the fires that only sparked more and more, doubling in strength with every biting word - much where Lotuspaw wished they could be.

Perhaps if they closed their eyes, they could be a mewling kit again. Only knowing their siblings' warmth and their mother's touch. Yet they know it is all too far away to be a memory of fond nostalgic and not a cruel reminder they are helpless to the currents of life. Finding their self selfishly yearning the appreciation of another and a question that weighted heavy on their traumatized mind. (Do you like living here?)

A paw gently nudges against their shoulder and Lotuspaw is jerked back into reality. Twisting their neck to gaze at the offender it lands onto Jaystride and they quickly blink away the tears that blur their vision. It's futile because it seems as if increases ten-fold. The apprentice stares in confusion at the warrior, unsure if they missed something while wallowing in their thoughts.

Lotuspaw watches Jaystride begin to head out of camp and is quick to follow after. Whatever it is, it's an escape and they'll take it.

[ Lotuspaw has abstained from voting by leaving the meeting! ]