Out With the Old, In With the New [SHC Nursery Cleanout]

[Rowan]

LionPaw didn’t know the first thing about weaving…but he wanted to see Ma. So, he went over to where NightShiver was and nudged her shoulder in greeting. “I dunno how t’ Weave…” he simply stated to her.
@Estelle [no obligation to respond to him- he’s just here]

[jay]

THISTLEBLAZE
Currently Fronting: Light Alter
53 moons (aging him up) | SHC Warrior | Purrks: Shadow Fiend, Kitty Softpaws T1, Lyrebird's Lullaby | He/Him

Padding up, he listened to Emberkit. The kid had to be pretty smart, since he was Dawnstar's kit. The tom went over to Nightshiver. He didn't really know anything about weaving, but he could probably gather materials. Thistleblaze nodded politely to Owlthroat, before waiting for Nightshiver to give instructions.

[ @Daragca - Owlthroat mention | @Estelle ]

[Star]

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Silentpaw
Patched tortoiseshell tabby tom with deep blue eyes that look purplish in certain light sources and a short fluffy tail.
He/Him | 9 Moons| + every 1st | ShadowClan Apprentice | Silent
[N/A/100]

Purrks:
Ultimate Predator [Permanently Active] • Agatha Kitty [Permanently Active] • Katty Krueger [INACTIVE]
. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.
Interesting.
Silentpaw walked over to Nightshiver, giving the forever queen a light dip of his head. He didn't want to waste time making new nests, so he might as well just help work on insulating the den. It seemed like much less time hanging around kits, anyway.
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Icepaw
White she-kit with very pale, barely visible rosette spots and mint eyes.
She/Her | 7 Moons| + every 6th | ShadowClan Apprentice | Selectively Mute
[6/100]

Purrks:
Well Insulated [Permanently Active] • Mind Reader [Permanently Active]
. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.
Icepaw inched herself closer to the other cats that were already with Nightshiver and gave the queen a slow blink. No making nests for her.
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Canopykit
Pale ginger tabby with darker orange markings and dusty brown eyes
He/Him | 4 Moons| + every 6th | ShadowClan Kit | The epitome of calm
{ #OP81 }

Purrks:
Flock Together T1 [INACTIVE] • Agatha Kitty [Permanently Active]
. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.

. 。・゜✭・.・✫゜・。.
Canopykit padded towards Emberkit with a warm yet timid smile. He noticed the amount of cats that were already there. It was... There were more than he'd expected, and it was quite overwhelming, at least for him, but he had to push through for this.

"Hey, mate." The pale ginger tabby smiled at the larger kit, sitting down and neatly curling his tail around his paws.
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[Cloverspring]

The brown tom sat in the elders den as he silently listened to the clan chatter, though Emberkit's voice easily broke above it all. Mudburr waited until she was finished explaining, to the best of her ability, before getting up and stalking into the clearing.

Out of habit, he made sure he was obscured by the bushes along the clearing's edge while he quietly trotted towards the nursery.

There was no announcement of his arrival, but the big tom was always hard to miss once he did choose to reveal himself. He slunk out from the darkness and stepped over to a spot in front of the small kit, casting a large, dark shadow over them and the nursery. To an outsider, it would have seemed that he were a fierce warrior in his younger days, a battle-experienced cat which most would have left unchallenged. But in Shadowclan it was well-known that, in spite of his imposing stature, Mudburr's skills and experience instead lay in stealth.

The elder sat down in front of Emberkit, and carefully leaned down until his chest hovered above the ground. Once his head was even with the kits', he dipped it down even lower to respectfully acknowledge her request, before bringing it back up to level again.

"What shall we do first, Emberkit?" Mudburr asked. His face was apathetic, but his ears were firmly faced forward and his eyes were concentrated, as if he had been given a task by the leader, once again.

[Mica]

Emberkit
ShadowClan Kit
she/they/he | 4 moons
[Large dark brown tabby with golden eyes]
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Magician ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
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Immediately after making his way to the nursery, Emberkit was approached by several kits, apprentices and even a warrior. Well, that'd work just fine. Nightshiver had seemed to catch the attention of most of the warriors, which Emberkit supposed made sense. Not many wanted to be bossed around by a kit. But Emberkit was Dawnstar's daughter--these cats would do well to know how to take orders from her. Emberkit fully planned on following in Mother's pawsteps, and this was just one small step towards her goal.

Two of her siblings appeared to help as well, and each of them earned a nuzzle and lick from Emberkit in gratitude. While nothing short of treason would make Emberkit love his siblings any less, he did appreciate when they acted invested in the clan.

"Take out old nests," Emberkit instructed, noting Wormpaw already starting. "Leave in pile. Maybe used later." There was no sense in wasting good moss if it could be cleaned and reused as a building material. "Make nests big--must fit Queen and kits." A normal warrior-sized nest wasn't going to cut it. But that did mean some of the smaller cats would need help... "Snakekit, Foxkit, Cougarkit, Canopykit, with me. Please. Wormpaw and Shadowpaw together, please. Mudburr okay alone?" He was a warrior, so he'd have no problem making the nests. Emberkit began tugging nests out, her form still small despite being large for a kit. Perhaps having all five kits work together might have been too many, but Emberkit knew the importance of friends, and knew his siblings were in desperate need of them. As was he. If they could garner the support of their clanmates beyond their birthright, then that would only further cement them in the clan. At least, Emberkit thought so. That was the conclusion they arrived at by observing the clan the last four moons.

After a good portion of the nursery was cleared out, Emberkit began working with her group to pound out moss in the shape of large nests. "Jump," he mewed, leaping up and landing hard on some moss, flattening it down. "Easy. Fun." Emberkit's golden eyes twinkled with mirth--even Dawnstar's little Enforcer could have some fun.

Feel free to have your characters start taking out nests/building new ones! Post whenever - Next event post will be 11/24 where we wrap it up! Thanks everyone for your participation! : )

 

[Snakekit - @finley ] [Shadowpaw - @Fish ] [Foxkit - @Fits ] [Wormpaw - @seeingstars ] [Cougarkit - @anika ] [Canopykit - @Star ] [Mudburr - @Cloverspring ]

[Estelle]

Nightshiver
[ 60 moons | She / Her | Shc Forever Queen | Kitty Softpaws T1 ]

It wasn't often kits concerned themselves with matters of the nursery beyond how warm it was and how comfortable their nests were; quiet or loud, most were occupied by games or matters beyond the queen's reach, so the forever queen for quite pleasantly surprised when the young Emberkit with her idea. But she supposed it wasn't much of a surprise, if the kitten took anything after Dawnstar, she would want a well-working clan and knew how to take the lead. The nursery could use some maintenance anyway, and she always appreciated the help.

White fur reflected bright light as she hovered near the small leader, only concerned about the risk of her falling off the apprentice's den (thus at ready to catch her should that occur) but didn't want to rain on her parade so soon if no active risk was present. Perhaps she should be more strict with these kits, really. Dappledleaf always had been better at scolding the young for unsafe or unruly behaviour, Nightshiver was a piece of cotton in comparison.

All throughout the queen kept a pleasant look, vigilant no true accident should occur, uncomfortable with being out; she had locked herself inside, the sun stung her eyes, but she hadn't much of a choice when so many kittens were out at once. She exhaled a breath, eyes watching as different groups began to form at the little kitten's orders.

She recognised a few of the faces; some apprentices she had seen about camp, and Owlthroat whom she greeted with a gentle smile.
"Thank you;"
She had been around the tom and his mate a lot these days, while their kits were still actively nursing. Then Lionpaw approached as well, and a fondness widened her smile. She bent down to give an affectionate lick between his ears.
"That is... okay, my love."
She had assumed most of those who joined hadn't done much experience patching up dens; she herself hadn't done it a while, let alone build dens, but a lot of it was muscle memory and fairly straight forward.

"If,, you could all,,, gather close."
She smiled, looking over the crowd and her tail wrapping around Lionpaw should he let her.
"Before we... start, I will give... you a- a brief... demonstration,, and explanation."
Pulling close some sturdy but flexible material, Nightshiver began with her explanation.
"The,,, nursery,, is largely a,,, burrow. But, the walls,,, still get-get cold, and need,,, to remain,,, sturdy. Most,,, often we,,, we will use,, flexible branches, from,, bushes, so they don't,, snap while,,, you're working. Aft,,afterwards,,, you can,,, line the walls,,, with some,,, moss, on the,, inside,, of the den."

It allowed to fill up any colder gaps that might be left behind, and Nightshiver also liked to think it helped retain heat inside the den. Gesturing down to her example bush branches, she deftly began weaving them to together into the sturdy pattern engraved within her memory with exaggerated movements for the sake of clarity.
"You have,, to make sure,,, your weavings are,, are tight enough,, so no,, draft passes,, through. Though, dry moss,,, helps with,,, that too."
Dry to avoid any nasty smells.

After her demonstration was completed, the queen gestured a paw towards a pile of materials she had asked to be fetched earlier. Most commonly she would use brambles for den walls, out of familiarity, but seen as the queen would rather not have the kittens pocking around thorns she opted for a different kind of bush, and have the non descript warrior remove the thorns from the brambles branches that were gathered (they had seemed surprisingly unbothered with the task).

"If you have,,, any questions,,, you can come to me."
She smiled.
"Owlthroat,, Thistleblaze. If you,, you could help,,, move the materials towards,, the nursery? We'll divide,, the work into,, sections. Wisppaw, Willowpaw, Owlthroat,,, once,, the materials are,, moved,, you three can begin,,, on the,, left. Coyotepaw, Icepaw,,, Thistleblaze -- could,,, you two,, take care of,, the middle? Lionpaw, Silentpaw,, we'll go,, to the right."

"You can,, weave,, the branches,, into the,, existing walls, and,, line the insides,, with some moss. I'll come,, check in on,,, all of you, if there,, are no,, questions. And,, if you,, taller. You can perhaps,, take care of,, the higher parts."
Would Lionpaw be upset she wanted to work with him? Her eyes shifted to her son, trying to see his expression. She had wanted to take this chance to spend some time with him; she could only hope he wouldn't mind.

Well, it was the only way to find out. After moving the materials closer, assuming the two warriors helped out, Nightshiver opted to see everyone devided into their groups and slowly begin working on her own section; it was rather nostalgic, to be honest, she appreciated this kind of work. Hopefully those who volunteered wouldn't find much difficulty in the art weaving closed any gaps, it was essential skill to the clan, however little it was used.

 

[ @Fish - Wisppaw | @Myling - Willowpaw | @seeingstars - Coyotepaw | @Daragca - Owlthroat | @Rowan - Lionpaw | @jay - Thistleblaze | @Star - Silentpaw - Icepaw ]

[Cloverspring]

The elder listened calmly, intently absorbing each request as if it were an order. After they were finished, he responded to the kit with certainty "Mudburr okay alone."

His brown head left Emberkit's height as his body raised up to a tall crouch. Though he stayed in position until Wormpaw finished pulling out some bedding, before he himself stepped over the kit to roll and pull out some as well. Mudburr only helped pull out with the bedding intermittently between the other cats, because he knew he would basically block the whole entrance until he was out again.

Once the nursery was nearly empty, Emberkit took her group out to immediately start working on the new nests. She had done a good enough job, especially for size and age, but didn't quite finish the task at hand. And that was something expected for a kit. Mudburr had seen enough cats when they were kits to know that she would learn the full extent of her duties in time. For now though, the elder simply took the opportunity of a clear den to lean himself in and pull out the remaining moss clumps. He then placed it down in Wormpaw's pile and bundled it together with his big paws, to make the pile neat and separate from the new bedding.

"Good work Wormpaw." The tom mewed, twitching his whiskers in acknowledgement.

The elder admired the paw's practicality, he was always efficient at finishing tasks around the camp. Although because of that skill, he could see him getting bored and unoccupied faster than most, which made him seem lazy and uncaring. At least that is what Mudburr had observed. Perhaps he just needed some encouragement to realise his greatest skills, as the elder had also needed, to realise his own, many moons ago.


( @seeingstars )

[seeingstars]

Wormpaw ♦ He / it ♦ Shadowclan apprentice ♦ 10+ moons

Wormpaw listened to Emberkit's instruction as he continued clearing out nests, before nodding in response to her words. He glanced around, trying to locate Shadowpaw as he picked up another nest, disposing of it on his pile.

His ear perked up at Mudburr's praise, a purr rising in his throat as he puffed out his chest. As boring as being stuck in camp for his demotion was, he didn't mind spending time helping out with nests in all of the dens. His tail swayed behind him "Thank you, Mudburr" It said, bowing it's head respectively before his gaze returned to the elder, a wide smile crossing his maw.

He did grow bored sometimes, though apprentice duties kept him pretty busy for the meantime, especially with his warrior ceremony coming up soon. He feared what would happen once he was a warrior and granted true freedom though. He couldn't wait to be allowed to leave camp without the presence of a warrior.

Once the nests were cleared out he placed large masses of moss for the kits to squish down. it couldn't help but chuckle as he watched them flattening them out. He would have definitely loved doing that as a kit but would feel silly doing it now as an almost warrior-aged apprentice. He let out a soft sigh, glancing down at his paws for a moment.

He padded towards Mudburr, sitting near the elder. He wasn't sure what to say, but felt like he could learn something from this tom at least "It's kind of fun to clear out nests- especially if you make a little game out of it" He said, motioning with his tail towards the large group of kits flattening the large nests out by jumping on them.

It once more scanned the clearing for Shadowpaw, he'd heard the name but never actually interacted with this cat before so he couldn't pick out her pelt among the gathered cats. He had his guesses as to who she was but hesitated to approach her. His confidence hadn't returned to what it used to be before his demotion, but it was slowly growing the more he succeeded within Shadowclan.


{ @Fish ♦ @Cloverspring }

[seeingstars]

Coyotepaw ♠ He / They ♠ Shadowclan apprentice ♠ 11+ Moons

The large apprentice gave a nod to Nightshiver before heading off to his group's section of the den. He'd seen Worm around Thistleblaze, but never interacted with him personally, Icepaw... She'd just been made an apprentice at the last meeting if he recalled correctly. He'd catch up with them while they were weaving though.

Coyotepaw hummed softly as he picked up materials and brought them back towards the section of the den he was to be working on, then got to work. He picked up branches and began to weave them among the walls, using branches to help support the burrowed parts of the den. He noted a gap too small to have anything weaved into it, but still big enough for a draft to blow in.

He grabbed some dry moss, using a large paw to push it into the gap, successfully filling it. He nodded proudly to himself, before continuing. The large Shadowclan apprentice decided it'd be helpful if they also grabbed more material. He returned to the pile, grabbing as much as they could carry, before bringing it back to where they'd be told to go. The rosette tabby repeated this a few more times until he decided they probably had enough, at least for himself for now. Anyone could grab from his pile if they wanted or needed to though.

He went back to weaving the branches together, filling in any gaps that were small enough to be filled with the moss.

{ @Star ♠ @jay }

[Cloverspring]

The elder stayed back near the pile of old moss as Wormpaw organised the new moss to be shaped into beds. The kits wasted no time jumping onto it and flattening it with their tiny paws. Mudburr initially expected Wormpaw to join in, but it seemed the apprentice had grown out of that stage. He was no young apprentice, after all, and he had started his apprenticeship later than most. The elder was keenly aware of that unusual punishment, as most were.

Upon Wormpaw's return, Mudburr flicked his ear in acknowledgement and judged its observation. It had been a very long time since Mudburr had done anything fun. The closest thing to fun which he had done recently, was probably completing a special task from the leader while he was a senior warrior. Though that wasn't 'fun', more satisfying and rewarding. But that fact alone was enough to make the tom reconsider his own thoughts and possible actions...

"Yes..." the tom hesitated. Getting tasks done fast was proud and satisfying, but Mudburr's best memories came from when he wasn't efficient. From when he was younger and taking too long on a simple task by messing around. Perhaps his next words should come from advice he never followed, especially after becoming a warrior.

"... though their paws might not spread the moss evenly for a good nest. And they may not have a good idea of what a large nest is, being small themselves. We must assist them at once." The tom meowed with a slight smile. He was talking as if it was an important task, as he had been trained to do his whole life, but he intended for it to be an excuse. An excuse to mess around once more, especially for Wormpaw while he was still very young. Camp duties will never be done, but Wormpaw will only be an apprentice once.

The paw was left to follow as Mudburr padded over to the bouncing kits. "Looks like you have done a good job so far," he meowed, noting the shape of the bedding, "mind if I test it?"

The elder's bedding always had to be made much bigger due to his size, so he knew that by simply lying on it he would be able to tell if it was fit for a queen and her kits. Although he could already tell by looking at it, whether it was going to be big enough or not, Mudburr had something different in mind depending on what would happen next.



( @Mica and @seeingstars , that bold text for talking is a good idea, hope you don't mind if I use it as well from now on!)