"Better keep an eye out, looks like the birds have it out for Shockhoney." Creepingpaw snickered as he crept around the sunken basin to explore it's remnants. Choosing to ignore his comment, Lavendersong purred in admiration and padded closer to Shockhoney, "I bet you taught those bird-brains a lesson."
The sound of a distant water droplet echoed through the cavernous sinkhole, it's entrance draped with overgrown greenery. Lavendersong's ears perked at Shockhoney's story and paused next to her to stare into it's depths. Being only 16 moons, she had little to no memory of the old ThunderClan camp. "I was raised in the newer camp, so I don't have much memory..." Her gaze wandered to the surrounding area before giggling, "Maybe I'm biased but I like our current camp location!... Less likely to sink into a hole, for starters~" She meowed playfully, her eyes sparkling and lashed fluttering with curiosity, "You said you came here with Wolfhive, was that also a territory tour of sorts?" She inquired, undeniably crushing on Wolfhive.
Shockhoney peered at the warrior at her side as she answered. Huh. Maybe it was just her seeing anyone a few moons older than her as ancient, then. Lavendersong didn't seem all that old anymore, considering her words. Eh. "Less likely to sink into a hole, for sure." The mottled warrior agreed as she echoed her denmate's words, grinning from ear to ear all the while.
"A territory tour... kinda." She shrugged, glancing briefly at Creepingpaw before turning back to the cat who'd somehow become her friend, completely missing the besotted expression on the other molly's face. Shockhoney was oblivious and daft sometimes, clearly. "Come on, I'll tell you on the way."
On the trek to Firefly Cove - the damned place Shockhoney had been lifted by an owl and attacked by her own (former) namesake - Shockhoney didn't stop her relentless chatter. It was habit, by now. "Hawkcatcher gave me most of my territory tour, actually. Wolfhive and I just visited Haggard Ruins since Hawkcatcher hadn't brought me here because of the fishers." Bah, she'd actually started using Wolfhive's name instead of calling him Wolfwhatshisface. It was strange. Not that much anymore, though. She'd gotten used to it, despite Mountaintalon's insistent that there was something wrong with the Head Hornet.
"Fell into the sinkhole, he jumped in after me, got us both soaked to the bone. Haha. He can swim, apparently. Learned from Violetfreckle - Bumblestar's girlfriend? - she used to be a RiverClanner I think. That's what I heard. Eh. Anyway, this is Firefly Cove."
__________________
❝ Leaving them feeling betrayed.
Breaking the bonds that you've made. ❞
He hadn't... he hadn't even tried this method before?! All Hollowpaw can do is stare at Mudhound, tail that had been previously thumping on the ground had stilled behind him. Never again was Hollowpaw going to willingly go on any outings with this specific hornet alone. Never again. Still, this was an opportunity to learn new herbs, he supposes, and that's a big part of his job, so Hollowpaw follows the hornet, tail lashing behind him as he glares at the brown tom's back.
Mudhoud leads him to... comfrey. One of the herbs Hollowpaw actually knows about. He'd never heard of using any on bee stings, though, it's primary function was for broken bones and burns. As Mudhound starts applying the herb to some of his own stings, Hollowpaw mutters under his breath; "I know how to use comfrey," but he still takes the leaves offered to him, going about the motions of chewing them before licking the paste onto his few stings. It hurt to touch them, but Hollowpaw ignored that. He didn't want sympathy from Mudhound.
"Okay, now the honey. How're we collecting it? Would moss work? We use it to soak water, so could it also soak honey?" He asks, gathering a few comfrey plants - making sure to also dig up the roots - and looks around for amy patches of moss while they're at it, in case that was the way to go here.
The young she-cat's plumy black tail swayed playfully behind her as she bounded close to Shockhoney, her gaze remaining on the warrior as she listened with intent. Lavendersong loved a good story, and it seemed like her fellow warrior had more than her fair share of interesting experiences! Her frost colored eyes widened at the mention of the plummet into the sinkhole, but smiled widely at the mention of Wolfhive coming to the rescue. Lucky, she thought to herself. Lavendersong giggled, "Wow, sounds like quite the trip... you're truly brave!" She purred warmly, her voice sincere and gentle, as always, before gazing out into the lustrous meadow that they were steadily approaching ahead.
Wildflowers of different colors, shapes and smells decorated the earth ahead of them as the flowery meadow kissed the shoreline harboring fine sand and rocky cliffs that break the gentle crashing of the mild rolling waves.
Creepingpaw approached the pair off to the side but from behind, not far enough away to where he couldn't overhear Shockhoney's chatter. He chuckled to himself at the image of Shockhoney clumsily falling into the sinkhole, as if he completely forgot that he took a dip not too long ago.
Lavendersong glanced back at her apprentice as he padded closer, her eyes glimmering excitedly, "Isn't it stunning out here?! When I was younger, I would come running out here at night among the fireflies, it felt like I was running on Silverpelt!" She meowed gleefully, almost bouncing on her paws with joy at the recollection of her memories.
And then, with comical timing, Creepingpaw whipped his head towards Shockhoney with a deadpan gaze, "Do you think if you eat enough fireflies, you could see the glow through your belly?" He asked inquisitively as he struggled to hide a smirk.
Mudhound
Thunderclan Hornet | They/them | 40 Moons
Bilingual T3 | Flock Together T3 | Rapid Recovery | Killer Aptitude T3
The tripod looked shocked and then excited that Hollowpaw knew comfrey, beaming undeterred as they chirped a "Oh thats super good you already got that one down! Seemed like one of the most useful to me, you gotta be learning super quickly to get it! Do you know borage or broom then too?" That was super impressive and the tripod wondered if Hollowpaw was especially interested in the plants themself or if this was born of a sense of duty to his new rank. A sort of desperation to catch up on untaught knowledge before a lack of it got cats killed.
Hmmm that was a dark thought so time to move on! Trotting back over to the downed hive with the apprentice Mudhound giggled at the idea, seeing the reasoning for it but shaking their head. "Eh that doesnt work, sadly honey kinda crusts(?) if its soaked into something which makes it hard to wash out of fur if it gets in." Though the stickyness already made that a Task all on its own. "Nah you wanna keep the honey in the comb until it's time to use it, see look its not a liquid in there its all in wax so just kinda tear a piece off and wrap it in a large leaf and wrap it around the honeycomb to keep it together and keep yourself clean and boom! Honey in comb for when you need it!" Simple is as simple does, you just needed to bear some stings to get there.
"Sometimes." She hummed in response, blue eyes following Hollowpaw's gaze to the starry night sky. It was a much more intriguing sight than the bugs to Laurelfrost. Endless stars she wouldn't be able to touch until she was dead and could no longer be in this realm. The view was very pleasant tonight, she was glad she got to appreciate it from this spot. She was momentarily distracted by a slight whistling sound as color burst into the sky, accompanied by a louder sound. A few more followed after that, causing her to pin her ears back.
"That's strange." It was also a pretty sight, but not one she was familiar with. She intently watched with large blue eyes as they exploded into shapes and patterns in the otherwise quiet night sky.
Hollowpaw doesn't comment further on the stars... they're pretty, but that's about all they have going for them in the young apprentice's eyes. Soon, another sound distracts him, and a bright explosion of colors makes him jump, fur puffed out in alarm.
"WHAT?" He nearly shouts before another explosion in the sky happens, and he's turning to face Laurelfrost and Sproutfleck with a fair amount of panic. "The sky is exploding?? Why is it doing that? Should we go home??"
Mudhound
Thunderclan Hornet | They/them | 40 Moons
Bilingual T3 | Flock Together T3 | Rapid Recovery | Killer Aptitude T3
The tripod looked shocked and then excited that Hollowpaw knew comfrey, beaming undeterred as they chirped a "Oh thats super good you already got that one down! Seemed like one of the most useful to me, you gotta be learning super quickly to get it! Do you know borage or broom then too?" That was super impressive and the tripod wondered if Hollowpaw was especially interested in the plants themself or if this was born of a sense of duty to his new rank. A sort of desperation to catch up on untaught knowledge before a lack of it got cats killed.
Hmmm that was a dark thought so time to move on! Trotting back over to the downed hive with the apprentice Mudhound giggled at the idea, seeing the reasoning for it but shaking their head. "Eh that doesnt work, sadly honey kinda crusts(?) if its soaked into something which makes it hard to wash out of fur if it gets in." Though the stickyness already made that a Task all on its own. "Nah you wanna keep the honey in the comb until it's time to use it, see look its not a liquid in there its all in wax so just kinda tear a piece off and wrap it in a large leaf and wrap it around the honeycomb to keep it together and keep yourself clean and boom! Honey in comb for when you need it!" Simple is as simple does, you just needed to bear some stings to get there.
"Borage and broom?" Hollowpaw repeats, head tilted and brows knit together. He's hardly been training for this position a moon and Mudhound expects him to know so much already?? Regardless, Mudhound then goes on to explain how to collect the honey - not, in fact, with moss, but rather to keep it in the comb until use. Hollowpaw doesn't any anything more, and instead follows the instructions to find a big leaf (the one he grabs probably isn't useful for anything) before tearing off a piece of the honeycomb and wrapping it up nicely. When he's done, he looks to the hornet for further instructions.
Re: Firefly Cove
