ShadowClan Warriors' Den

[Daragca]

​​​​
Owlthroat
he/him | Shadowclan Warrior | 40 moons
Killer Aptitude T3 - Just A Scratch - Silver Tongue T2
The Dancing Bird

Tuftedtusk was onboard, the usually gruff tom felt his lips begin to curl. His master plan slotting beautifully into place, bit by bit. He’d let them wreak havoc on the Shadowclan nursery in no time, something to continue his pride. His twisted ego.

”A forever queen, if we ask nicely enough.” Owlthroat rumbled with amusement, he couldn’t say he had many true friendships within the clan. But Tuftedtusk a lot warmer than him, had connections. Genuine connections.

[​​ @Aroogi ]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan enforcer | purrks ]

rookfire circled around to the warriors den following mistlewhiskers instructions. slipping inside, the enforcer was welcomed by dim light broken by one or two small gaps in the sides of the hollow trunk, nothing major but worth fixing none the less. it was kind of odd, to be stepping around moss nests, flattened and shaped in placed from continuous use, whilst his own that must be somewhere around as well, remain untouched. he had not slept a single night in this den, at this point, did he even have a nest at all? whatever, he had a task and not that much motivation to remain glued to it for longer than necesarry for the enforcer paced around the den once, checking for any cracks in the wood whilst placing large paws next to and between nests out of respect. without any more notable issues, he made his way out, leaping atop the hollow trunk to gather some of the moss and fern covering it and backtrack with the only difference of approaching it from the outside this time. besides having never ever fixed a den before and being not super talented in weaving or crafting beyond the ease of crushing herbs together or grinding them into a paste, this couldnt be that hard now could it?

it could. oh it definitely could. figuring out how to get the fern and moss to remain in place and stable took rookfire longer than he wouldve liked it to. weaving the harder yet flexible enough fern through the hole and forcing it into one of the small cracks in the trunks bark was tedious and not a task made for someone with a tendency to be a bit rough with things he wasnt actively and desperately trying to keep safe. stuffing the moss into the cracks between the fern was alright though, far less of a pain, and he managed it without shoving a lot of it through. once everything fit snugly he made his way around again to reenforce it from inside.

satisfied with the work, he had checked more than once more from the inside and outside just to be sure, he made his way through the clearing, briefly stopping to confirm his work done with mistlewhisker before speeding up to a loose canter and exiting camp in search of hawkbite.

[ no one correct him, i have no idea what im doing/supposed to be doing here /silly || imma not proof read and just hope it makes sense ]

[wolfie]

Houndkit
3 weeks old
large darker brown & lighter brown tom with thick fluffy fur

#AcontiumFlowers

---

The world was so very large. Many, many wildcats. They didn't share any bond with him, but supposedly they followed Mama. He guessed he understood that. Mama was his home, she was cozy and warm. Houndkit was content to stay at her side forever. However, everything outside of his nest still laid anew. Unexplored, and he needed to understand it. He did not like talking to the wildcats, though. Watching them on the other paw? That was fun!!

On this simple, simple day Houndkit set out of the nursery with a goal. He had watched some of the wildcats bring things from outside. Sometimes it was in a pile, sometimes to a large, strange-smelling den, sometimes who knows where!! Mama had said he couldn't under any circumstances go outside of camp. Actually, he wasn't supposed to go very far. Houndkit thought she was silly. How was he going to bring her back gifts if he couldn't explore??

While large for his age, Houndkit's size led to most of the wildcats ignoring him. He waddled towards the strange-scented den, poking his head in. A couple of cats were sleeping, and goodness!!! It was REALLY strong-smelling in here. Like moss, but not-moss. More,, something? And there was another scent, something that was more off-putting. He wrinkled up his nose, golden eyes scanning the nests briefly. It seemed like there were two other ways to go, but he didn't wanna wake anyone up.

Once his eyes landed on a pretty, pretty blue feather sticking out of a nest he quickly skittered over and grabbed it in his jaws. It was soft, so soft. Mama would like this!! Maybe she would even say something nice. Whenever she did, it made Houndkit feel all fuzzy and cozy. When it was acquired, he swiftly waddled out of the strange den and headed off into another.

There were big wildcats that seemed to be called 'paws and then there were BIGBIG wildcats. Their names varied too much. Most of the BIGBIG wildcats were out this time of day, he,, was pretty sure. Not always, it was kinda hard to tell but he had picked up large groups of wildcats went out of the camp. He didn't know why if it was supposed to be dangerous. Weren't they scared??

Houndkit slowly stepped into the darkness, ears swiveling to the sounds of quiet snoring. Must be very very quiet. Large, soft paws stepped as quiet as he could. The first thing that caught his eye was a very circular rock. It was smooth -- black with golden specks. It was.. so very pretty,, and shiny... Mama would LOVE IT. If not, he would. He carefully picked it up in his jaws, attempting not to harm the rock.

His jaws were full now, but he was a little greedy fuzzball. Far unaware of the consequences of his impeding actions would come soon. His eyes drifted to a spiky, misshaped rock. It looked so weird. He had to bring it back. Expect, it was too big to carry.. ,, Houndkit approached the rock, nudging it with his nose. He let out a surprised squeak at the coldness, before placing both his frontpaws on it. Slowly, very slowly he started to roll the spiky rock out of the moss-pile. It wasn't very fun, but he knew Mama would be soo happy. Maybe he would get to be one of those uhm, paw cats!!! ..He didn't really know how one became one yet, but that's okay. Houndkit was determined to his Mama's favorite out of his siblings. He loved his siblings, but he didn't love when they took away Mama's attention.

[ @SuspiciousMindz ]

[SuspiciousMindz]

[Hawkbite]
Enforcer Commander
Shadow Fiend | Agatha Kitty | Kitty Softpaws T2

Well, this was some unfortunate timing if he ever did see it. Hawkbite had come back from a training session with one of the apprentices to catch an odd dark kitten snooping around the den. Sticking to the shadows and using soft pawsteps to creep into the den, Hawkbite would watch the shenanigans beginning to unravel as they stole a feather followed by a rock. From what he could gather, that was Rookfire's then Mistlewhiskers nests, the elites often staying together towards the middle of the den. Then, he'd watch as the kitten found his nest. Eyes narrowed as he focused on the object the kitten was struggling with. Then, it hit him. There was only one of two objects that he could've found and it appeared he'd found the misshapen rock that once belonged to Silverlark.

Annoyance welled in his chest and a warning growl echoed throughout the dark den before he'd step out of the shadows behind Houndkit. "What do you think you're doing, kid?" Hawkbite's growl rumbled down at Houndkit. A quick bap and Hawkbite knocked the rock away from Houndkit so it rolled awkwardly back into his nest. If Houndkit went tumbling slightly with it, Hawkbite didn't mean to cause that. "Didn't your mom tell you it's wrong to steal?" he warned. The Commander hadn't yet formerly met the hellspawns Dawnstar popped out and wasn't aware that he was addressing one of them.

"That rock means a lot to me, I'd appreciate if you left it alone and returned the other stuff you've decided you want to steal."

@wolfie - Houndkit

[wolfie]

Houndkit
3 weeks old
large darker brown & lighter brown tom with thick fluffy fur

#AcontiumFlowers

---

A warning growl echoed throughout the den and a sharp yelp escaped from Houndkit, golden irises darting around as a chill rolled down his spine. Wut was THAAT? He came to a halt, but was soon to shrug it off and continue attempting to transport the rock. At least until a shadow loomed over him, another growl rumbling and he could FEEL it in his ears!!!! Like he was about to get eaten!! Slowly, and very slowly Houndkit turned around to face the huuuge wildcat. He couldn't see their features very well, but this cat was absolutely SCARY looking. Small ears flattened against his skull, the look of someone who has been caught red-pawed.

Unfortunately for Hawkbite, he barely touched the kit but it was enough for Houndkit to stumble back and trip right onto his back - dropping what he had been holding. He was not good at realizing where his own paws were. There was a slight delay, eyes blinking up at the ceiling before slowly he opened his mouth. "we... wWWe...WEEHH!!!.... WWEEEHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" And oh, the supersonic scream was fully unleashed on the Enforcer. Large paws kicked at the air, tears streaming down his face. Truly, someone would think he had been dropkicked. This cat was SO mean!!! His Mama deserved gifts!!! This cat was tryna to take his gifts!!!

Houndkit sniffled wetly, ears perking up at the mention of Mom. He hadn't quite caught on all words, but he knew that one!! (Also wrong, but he wasn't wrong?) Maybe this wildcat didn't understand. He didn't really want to explain to the wildcat, though, he was scary and mean. Slowly, the screams quieted down as the kit sat himself back up. Eyes still full of tears, he glared up at Hawkbite furiously. "MAMA'S!!!!!!" He barked loudly, nudging at the items. See? Not theirs.

Tiny eyebrows furrowed close together, he had heard "leave it alone" enough to understand this wildcat didn't want him to touch the rock. Maybe he thought the rock was so cool and just wanted to keep it to himself. Houndkit let out a sharp gasp, looking at Hawkbite with wide eyes. "NO!!!! NO!!!! AWAY!!!!!" He howls, shaking his head back and forth so fast it made his own head dizzy.

His short tail started to wag angrily back and forth, quickly he picked back up his items and skittered over to the misshaped rock. He stood over it in a defensive position, a high-pitched growl rumbling up in his throat. "MAMA'S!!!!" He barked at Hawkbite again, this time his voice muffled from what he was holding. Houndkit looked awfully silly with his fur all spiked up. Truly a fuzzball.

[ @SuspiciousMindz + @Mica (hope y'all are ok w/emberkit sliding in to "help" uwu felt like it would be silly) + @alec (if u wanna have rook come in! can also be later if u want) ]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan enforcer | purrks ]

even though rookfire had never spent a singular night in the warriors den, picking a nest to store some of the things he wasnt super keen on dragging in and out of the medicine den had worked rather well in the past, none of the leftover feathers or rocks had disappeared or been squashed and the moss of what he had selected as his nest remained unused.
it wasnt like rookfire went around to look at his things often, the general location of the nest made him uncomfortable, in the middle of the den where the way out would be blocked by cats were he to take his rest here, it made him feel a bit trapped, even just 'visiting', but once in a while, one had to check if another mightve stolen a feather or two, nice and bright blue, he could understand why. maybe he'd eventually chose one as a gift, but there werent a lot of cats he could possibly gift anything without feeling odd so it was mostly misplaced wishful thinking. the bent and rough looking rook feather specifically pulled him to the warriors den more often than not, what was supposed to be a gift to a friend, now broken. there was a message or lesson somewhere in this, but like usual, rookfire wouldnt bother overthink it in this way.

he hadnt been planning on visiting the den today, not yet feeling the bi weekly pull towards the feather, but the scene he observed in passing made him curious enough to poke his head into the den. one of what rookfire assumed to be dawnstars spawn, jaws stuffed full of what appeared to be a rock and a feather, and hawkbite looking very unhappy. "oy whats all this then?" he inserted himself into the altercation, fulling stepping into the den and around hawkbite to get a better look at the source of the wailing. he had seen and heard enough to understand the basics of what was happening, the kit had something hawkbite didnt want them to have and whilst rookfire wasnt personally super bothered by them having his feather he understood the issue at core here.
"hey hey. see, this is hawkbites" the younger enforcer pointed at the rock and then hawkbite, "this feather is mine" was speaking slow and pointing at things even enough to get a child this young to understand? couldnt really find out 'til you tried huh. he moved around the dig for something to trade for the feather and rocks in his nest. one orange-y red cardinal feather, one semi flat rounded pale purple rock with little white and reddish spots, and a large flat brown-red brown marbled rock.
"you can have this. give it to mama, but leave hawkbites rock" he offered, giving the kit a clear view on the feather and rocks but keeping them bracketed by his paws in case a certain little thief wanted to steal all of it instead of trading.

[ @wolfie ; @SuspiciousMindz ; @Mica || since when is rook the voice of reason when it comes to children? who knows. not me certainly ]

[Mica]

Emberkit
ShadowClan Kit
she/they/he | 3 Weeks Old
[Large dark brown tabby with golden eyes]
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Magician ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
[Houndkit - @wolfie ] [Hawkbite - @SuspiciousMindz ] [Rookfire - @alec ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Emberkit had become fine-tuned to the wails of her siblings. It was nigh-impossible not to be, as they wailed a lot. Emberkit had been resting on the edge of Mother's den, watching the camp bustle beneath him with vague disinterest. The only thing that interested him in this world was his siblings and Mother. But, in order to keep his siblings safe and in line, he had to know how the rest of the world worked. For instance--Father was never around, and she had never met him. But Mother seemed to fancy her second in command, and thus the kittens were often foisted onto the dark feline when they misbehaved. Emberkit had never met the dark feline as she always behaved, but she would have to meet her one day. Just so she knew whether the one-eyed molly should be considered Family, or Other.

Dark ears swiveled towards a large den on one side of camp as a piercing wail emerged from its woven branches. Houndkit. One of the wailers of the thirteen, with a very distinct bark-like way of speaking. In a flash, Emberkit was leaping down from Mother's den--it was difficult as a small kit, even though she was large for kits her age (as most of the Dawnstar children were) and she stumbled a little as she landed with a dusty thump on the ground. With surprising speed, Emberkit streaked across camp towards the large den where he had seen many large, scarred cats go in.

Bursting into the den, Emberkit's golden eyes took a heartbeat to adjust to the dimness. That's when they saw two warriors hovering over their brother. Emberkit shoved past them towards her brother, immediately checking him over for injuries. There was no blood, only ruffled fur from where he had likely landed in the nest behind him. Emberkit eyed the two rocks and the feather next to him, quickly putting the pieces together. Annoyance built in Emberkit's chest and she cuffed her brother around the ears. "No steal." She muttered, her tiny voice already sounding much too like Dawnstar's. Then she turned her molten gaze to the warriors, recognizing them as some of Mother's elites. She bared her little fangs at them. "Back. Up." Even though she was a kitten, her voice still held the authority of someone who had been around for moons.

Turning her attention back to Houndkit once they had gotten space, Emberkit looked him over once again. He had been trying to give these to Mother, hadn't he? Emberkit shook her head, understanding the desire but not the method. "Bad gifts. Old. Used." No, Mother deserved only the best, freshest of gifts. Not some dusty, broken feather and some worn rocks. He rasped his tongue over his brother's fluffed up fur. "Find new gifts." He'd help Houndkit search.

[SuspiciousMindz]

[Hawkbite]
Enforcer Commander
Shadow Fiend | Agatha Kitty | Kitty Softpaws T2

Normally one to be cool and collected when it came to kits, Hawkbite found himself losing his temper over this rock. He was a little surprised when Houndkit went tumbling backwards with the rock and almost reached over to scoop the kitten up, but the moment his paw left the ground, it froze. He'd decided that was a bad idea with the way the kitten started to immediately scream. Placing his paw gently on the ground again, he let out a huff and pinned his ears against his head. It muffled some of the ear-piercing screams that Houndkit managed to let out of his tiny body. It was honestly impressive, and Hawkbite might've appreciated it more if he wasn't so annoyed.

That was when Rookfire came in and was suddenly the voice of reason. He seemed to know how to interact with the kitten, whether it worked or not. Then, another kitten came scampering in and the sigh that left Hawkbite's body was very audible to everyone. He didn't have the energy for this. How did queens do it? He hardly had the energy to deal with his not-kid, Fishkit. His gaze would flicker to each of the figures, looking down at the rock to ensure its safety over theirs. Something aboutthe voice of the newest kit triggered his brain to work again. It would slowly click these were Dawnstar's kittens and Hawkbite would start to panic a little.

Oh great. Dawnstar is going to skin me alive when she hears about this.

The Commander would inhale slowly, putting on a small smile and crouching down so he was eye level with both the kittens. Then, he used a softer tone of voice, emphasizing certain words to make the suggestion sound even more tempting. "I have a better idea. How about I take you to a secret part of the camp. Very secret. We can search for the best presents there, okay?" His gaze would flicker between the two kittens, only looking upwards at Rookfire once in hopes the Enforcer understood the task at hand.

@Mica | @alec | @wolfie

[wolfie]

☽ 3 weeks old || he/him ☾
large chocolate brown kit with darker brown markings and thick fluffy fur;
bright golden eyes and a single tooth that overlaps his bottom lip
꒰ #AcontiumFlowers /ᐠ - ˕ -マ ꒱

---

[ ⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚☽˚｡⋆ -・:〃➜ @SuspiciousMindz @Mica @alec ]

Another, darker-furred wildcat suddenly appeared in the doorway of the den of horrors. Houndkit let out a squeak of shock, eyes flickering inbetween the two wildly back and forth. GAH!!! He was CORNERED!!! Ooh, he hadn't planned for this. He hadn't planned at this at all. His confidence started to falter, small legs beginning to tremble. Still, he did not relent.

Golden irises scanned as the taller, but skinner wildcat started pointing at stuff. Uuhm, okay he was pretty sure Hawkbite was the brown-kitty. Two thiiings - who was this fella then? And wuut in the world was this guy tryna to imply? "NO, I FIND!!" He barked back, he found them both FIRST!!! Now these wildcats was trying to claim what he had stumbled upon!!! Pickin' on the little guy.

His confusion was worsened when suddenly the unnamed wildcat was showing him more shiny-ies. The red-tinted items is what caught Houndkit's eyes first, he's captivated immediately. Ears slowly perking up, lightening up at the idea. Still, this was confusing. Why give more things to have these things? And only leave Hawkbite's rock? Must be cool rock. Not so cool, maybe they weren't good at seeing which was better. The kit slowly stepped back from the misshaped rock, giving it a quick nudge towards the brown kitty.

The brown kit did not give up the items he was holding, and instead immediately pounced on what the strange kitty had. He was going to grab these and RUN!!! No more talking, bye kitties!!! Pain suddenly shot through his ears as they got a good bapping, he let out a sharp squeak - whipping around to glare daggers at the offender only to see Emberkit. Sister. Savior!!!! .. Saying words Houndkit did not know!! "Wuut? Hai burr, " he whispered quietly, as if he didn't want the others to hear. .. He was still working on being able to say his sister's name, but that's okay.

He nodded his head in agreement, turning to glare at the other wildcats. It was even now!!! Then Houndkit's face immediately fell at Emberkit's words, as if his whole world had been split open in front of him. His eyes started to quickly water up again, softly repeating, "B - bad?? Badbad??" Noo,.. he didn't wanna give Mama bad gifts!! But he thought, he thought they were good gifts. They were pretty and soft and cool. "okeyy burr..." he whimpered in defeat.

He carefully set down the items he had been carrying, looking at them with a look of true despair. His eyes drifting back to the feather and rock that had been offered. They were supposed to be for Mama.. but if no good, Houndkit would keep. Even bad things needed homes. Carefully, he would try to pluck them from the black and white tom's paws - looking up at them slowly. "Mine now, ok?" Houndkit nodded, his now.

Golden eyes switched to Hawkbite who EEP!! Why was he STARING at them now. Very green. He frowned at the other, skittering behind Emberkit. She could do the staring. Still.. "Seeecret?" He repeated, curiosity swiftly peaked & mood lightened. Hmm. Houndkit could tolerate talking to the wildcats if he could find secrets. He looked to Emberkit, nodding his head up and down. "Like secretss, yes? Yes?" He loved secrets.

---

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan enforcer | purrks ]

the appearance of another not so small kit and them describing his trinkets as "old, used" and "bad gifts" was not what he had expected when offering up his feather and rocks but honestly he couldnt be bothered. these kits were barely old enough to walk and talk and it was nothing if not amusing. happy this hadnt escalated into a crime against these mostly innocent children, by this time, rookfire had decided he liked the kits, houndkit for their silly antics and emberkit for that unfiltered honesty of calling his feather a bad gift. silly wee children. perhaps this was another experience to add to his 'maybe children arent so bad' and alternatively 'maybe lostspark was right for having a hoard of them' lists. if he wasnt mistaken, besides palepaw, cinderpaw, birdpaw and marigoldpaw/kit, these were the first actual shadowclan kits (and pretty young ones at that) to make it on there..
"Mine now, ok?" slowly, almost politely so, the fluffy kit reached out to gather the gifts he offered. "yes, yours now" he nodded, waiting patiently for houndkit to collect the bright red feather and smooth rock before returning his paws to the ground.
angular head canted to the side to look at the commander but luckily, it appeared hawkbite didnt quite feel like eating them anymore either, offering to help with finding new gifts instead of scaring the wee ones with his anger. if anything, his job was done here. instead of sticking around longer than necessarily, having already forgotten if he was here for anything besides this altercation, the enforcer gave hawkbite a nod before leaving him with the kits, ducking out of the den and disappearing into the crowd.

[ @SuspiciousMindz ; @Mica ; @wolfie || super short, sorry 'bout that, but i dont have any more to say ]