Cattail Pond

[Dawneye]

@Fuzzy @Beau @Slushie @Zero
(Sorry for late reply, was traveling yesterday)
Nightpaw just sat there exhausted with the young kit next to her. Her pelt reeked of smoke and she just felt too exhausted to start cleaning it. "Thank you for the rabbit," She said, not even being able to make eye contact with the kind warrior. Suddenly Nightpaw perked up slightly as she thought. Back when she was very young she had snuck out of the camp and had met another kit who was doing the same. They seemed the same age so she wondered if they would meet once again as apprentices. She would get in trouble for making friends with the clan they were temporarily stuck in. She put her head down and coughed a bit, hating the stench of her pelt but too weary from the stress and shock and the running to do anything about it.

[kieryn]

Originally Posted by Moonraven

Maybe Lionstar sat on a hedgehog this morning? He seemed to be in a terrible mood today, not that she could be upset with him. Duskstar was horribly disoriented from the looks, one of the reasons Twilightstar so strongly dislikes being a leader was because they don't get cut slack for anything. It was rough, but one sort of learns to deal with it.
Buckbranch's silly little dream was charming to her, Twilightstar, as much of a hassle as it was, did like the idea of family. Something to tether others together when everything was falling apart. She had her own plans to acquire a family of her own, outside her mother and a certain Parasite, but only after she got used to this leader role she despised so much.
"That's a nice dream, now with Icekit you can start to make it a reality." Twilighstar mewed gently, eyes back to the curious-looking kit. The leader doubted she'd be a warrior anytime soon and if she did she'd have to really work for it. The lilac feline could see hardships and struggles for the deaf, but with some like Buckbranch around, Icekit future was already looking up.
Twilightstar gaze bleeds with concern as the tom started a coughing fit, he sounded terrible by the end of it.
"Try some water once you get your breath back." She suggested, she was assuming he inhaled a lot of smoke, Twilightstar didn't have the knowledge to know how to fix a problem like that, but if he took care of himself she hoped his lungs would clear.
She looked to Duskstar as the molly came over and thanked her. Even though she hadn't been all that delighted to come here to start with, Twilightstar was glad Coyotesnarl had suggested checking on them.
"Your welcome," she nodded back, the same concern she held for Buckbranch shined just as brightly for Duskstar in her green gaze.
"WindClan is more than happy to help." Twilightstar didn't need any repayment, but if made Duskstar more at ease with helping them somehow in the future, Twilightstar wasn't going to say no to it. Her whiskers twitch just a little hearing the small apology from Duskstar to her warrior. Was he looked down on in his clan? She decided not to muse on that it wasn't any of her business.
"You can rest and give orders at the same time," Twilightstar suggested, noticing how off-balance the she-cat appeared, "Did you visit a medicine cat?" If she fainted or collapsed from stress or excursion, that wouldn't be troublesome... for Twilightstar. Yelling at cats to do stuff didn't usually require too much movement. Plus some of Duskstar clanmates had brains right? They should know how to set up a camp? Twilightstar would need to get back her clan before dark, but she guessed she could leave some of her cats here if they needed the extra paws. She didn't see any RiverClan cats around to help... then again all the scents kind of mingled together so she couldn't rely on her nose to tell her who was in who's clan.
"If need the extra paws I'd don't mind leaving some of my cats with you at least to help you set up a camp." She offered Duskstar after the other leader sat down. She had no gauge on how far Duskstar's pride ran, it was often tricky offering help when it came to that. She heard one of the cats saying something about the Soft cat everyone was wondering about. If they had burned as the apprentice said, Duskstar probably did really needed the extra paws.
@Slushie @hxneysuckle @kieryn

@Slushie
Icekit wandered over to twilightstar and started sniffing her curiously. she couched a little and went back to buck yawning tiredly. "whats going on dad?" she figured maybe he could somehow tell her by signing in a way. She knew they were talking about her based off how they kept looking at her.

[lio]

-- THE SEARCH FOR A NEW HOME --
[ This is set a few days after the fire! ]
[ Sorry to anyone who had a roleplay with me before this-- the plot needs to move on! ]

After a few days of recovery, Duskstar felt as though it were time to begin thinking of the future. The burnt side of her face still held an ache, but she did not allow it to stop her as she padded to the center of her gathered Clan, raising her voice so they could all hear.

"ThunderClan! With the burning of our camp, we will be unable to return to the place we once called home. RiverClan has treated us well but we cannot remain on their land forever. Therefore," she paused a moment, thinking over her words, "I will be taking three cats with me to find a new area for a camp. Recently, I had gone on a journey to search for a way to expand our territory, and I remember there to be a place that may be sufficient in providing a home. However, I cannot make the journey alone."

Her tail flicked as she allowed those listening to think of what she had said. With Dogpaw's report to her, it was clear that their former home was no more. The territory seemed to be fine, but the camp... it was inhabitable. She herself had not seen it, but she trusted Dogpaw's judgement. It wasn't too difficult to see when a place was too dangerous to live in.

"It will not be a long journey, but I will be calling forward those who are not too injured and may work efficiently for this duty. She looked at the crowd, hazel eye narrowed. After a few heartbeats, she gave her choices. "Buckbranch [ @Slushie ], you will be coming, as well as Dogpaw [ @Romulus ]. And..." she trailed off, looking for another cat, "Buzztuft [ @chaton ], you will come along as well. All of you, please make sure you have eaten and are hydrated-- we will be leaving immediately."

With that said, Duskstar smiled as best she could and padded off to the side of the clearing, waiting for her patrol to gather so they could head out.

[teddy.]

Dogpaw perked when she was called up, she trotted up to the feline who her mother had gushed over for nearly a moon. Excitement made her paws itch, to finally have some time with Buzztuft... The aunty she never got to know. Now was her chance!

@hxneysuckle @chaton @Slushie

[chaton]

Buzztuft got to her paws quickly at the call of her name. Finding a new camp? She could do that. Even better was that not only would Buckbranch be coming along too, but Dogpaw. She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to the apprentice since that clan meeting... and despite the morbid situation, this seemed like a good chance to get to know her. "Ready whenever you two are." She meowed softly, padding up to where Dogpaw had been waiting, greeting her with a warm smile and a head tilt.

@hxneysuckle @Romulus @Slushie

[Banneret]

Cedarkit flopped down at the edge of the pond, tiredly watching his clanmates check up on each other and talk amongst themselves. He sighed and curled up, ready to sleep.

[dino.]

[ @kieryn @Moonraven @Beau @Zesty Mango]

----[pre-home searching] Buckbranch----

He could swear his heart melted a little bit, and he gently pulled Icekit closer to him with his tail. Absolute joy brimmed in his eyes, at both Twilightstar's well wishes and the fact that this tiny little gift of a child had just called him dad. A smile spread its way across his muzzle, and he allowed a soft laugh to escape his throat. "Maybe I can," he rasped.
He glanced over at the pond beside them, contemplating leaning over to take a quick drink, but before he could, Duskstar startled him with the sudden appearance and the unexpected apology. He blinked rapidly, jaws opening slightly in shock, and even though a mixture of pride and delight bubble up in his chest, he glanced away with a self-conscious shrug. "What's past is past. There's no need for apologies. I'm just happy to help." His gaze flickered down to her paw as it patted him on the shoulder, and he opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could Rushingmoor padded up.
"Of course I could," he said with a flick of an ear, happy to have an excuse to get off of his paws. " Take some time to rest, Duskstar, I'll take care of things. Uh, let's see. Ivorypaw [ @Zesty Mango ]! Come here a second, I need your help! What about you, Icekit?" He turned to the small she-cat and motioned with his paws as if he was pushing a nest together, then tried his best to mime sleeping. "Nest building? Help?"


[ @hxneysuckle @chaton @Romulus ]

----Buckbranch----

At Duskstar's call, Buckbranch hauled himself to his paws, shook leaves and grass out of his short fur, and made his way over to the others with a barely-concealed yawn and a short cough. He was utterly exhausted, having slept on nothing but bare ground and being constantly plagued by sudden rounds of coughing for the past couple of nights, and was ready to find a new place to set up camp. He gave Buzztuft a warm smile, glad to have someone close to him with him on this little expedition, and a polite nod to Duskstar and Dogpaw. "I'm ready to go."

[MEAT ANGELS]

Originally Posted by bmkmb

Sorry? What for stars' sake was Frostpaw sorry about? She was hurt and he was concerned - well, they were both hurt and both concerned about each other rather than themselves. And their emotions were apparently all over the place, too. So were Lionpaw's thoughts, as they whirled around. What would happen next? Were they staying in RiverClan for now? For how long? Would ShadowClan be coming to help because RiverClan and WindClan were? Probably not, they could probably care less about ThunderClan's disaster. Was everyone alright? Did they find all the kits? What would happen next?

Dismissing all those stray thoughts, Lionpaw allowed his easy-going mask to slip back onto his face. First, he needed to get him and Frostpaw to a medicine cat. He could worry about everything else later. This was a time to stay strong, not to break under pressure. Besides, he really shouldn't have to keep reminding himself that he'd faced worse. If the golden tom hadn't collapsed as a loner, then he would run through the Dark Forest before he failed now.

"Sorry? About what?" Lionpaw asked as he caught up with Frostpaw's words. "We're both hurt and sorta lost; that's nothing to apologize for." He took a step forward, testing the gingerness of his back paws. Withstandable. His tail actually felt worse, strange as that was. "Let's go," the golden tom meowed determinedly as he looked back at Frostpaw. "Have you seen any of the medicine cats nearby?" Then, glancing at the molly's battered paws, "Does it hurt to walk on that?"

Why shouldn’t she be sorry? All the trouble her dumb clumsiness had gotten Lionpaw into! Frostpaw nodded and stood up shakily, eyes dictated on the ground. Not very interesting, dull, muddy ground. Her paw pads were on fire, the very inside scorching her like magma. She could walk though, right? “.....” If Lionpaw said she wasn’t supposed to be sorry, then she wouldn’t be. At least, that was Frostpaw’s interpretation. “I mean, you seem to know where you’re going....” ignoring the question that actually made her heart go all wobbly and melty (the tone of that voice! All concerned and stuff!) she scanned the crowd for an answer to the first.
Everyone was so.... hurt. The smell of rotting flesh and other clans was suffocating, but she could stand it. Frostpaw couldn’t see any medicine cats from where she was standing, but it seemed that her sense of direction was probably off.... after all, she was kinda the dumb one in this duo. She spotted the large frame of Lionstar. Woah... he was kinda magnificent, she’d say that. And there was Twlightstar! Pretty young for a leader, although she managed well....
“Huh? No, I don’t see any medicine cats...”

[Madelaine]

[ @Beau; @Rainquail; ]

Deerpetal was going to say her name when Bloomkit did it for her. Oh good she could save her breath. She had taken in just a little bit of the smoke. "What Bloomkit said I'm Deerpetal.", she meowed. The she-cat looked at Bloomkit with a friendly smile. "I could use the protection from a Thunderclan warrior.", she meowed, talking about the kit.

[Confuzzled.Lynx]

@gs29513
Leopardpaw glanced around, trying to spot Fishfin.