"M sure you're not." Beachkit didn't look sick, but that could always be deceiving... Regardless, going into a den seemed like a good idea. They could warm up, maybe take a nappy, and do something once they thawed a bit.
Wolfpaw kept Beachkit close as he shuffled toward the nuesery. "We'll go together, gotta keep cozy somehow!"
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Beachkit -
Beachkit quietly celebrated that they'd made it into the nursery without having to break away from the Wolf-supplied coziness. Ha! Take that, leafbare! Retreating to the spot designated as theirs, they made enough room in case Wolfpaw wished to join in -- and added the crow feather meticulously to the den weaving pressed against the nest. Comfortable and stylish.
Luckily, the den was insulated and much warmer, but their legs were starting to feel like fire adjusting to the rise in temperature. Licking the fur every few seconds (frantic, annoyed, confused) didn't help with the awful sensation, but it did realign their fur after the snow mussed it.
As they commandeered the den, Wolfpaw's fur bristled a little. He hadn't been in here since Tawnykit died and the thought of a snake being around put him on edge. As a result, he beat Beachkit to the nest - quickly and subtly making sure it was safe before he'd pet him put the feather in and get cozy.
He didn't want a repeat of what happened.
Wolfpaw stayed close to Beachkit, offering his warmth as he remained acutely aware of every little movement in the den. It was only after several moments did he realize how much his paws ached, how his pads had dried and cracked from the cold. He licked at them to try to remedy the pain, to little success.
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Beachkit -
"Oh. Yours too?" Beachkit nosed Wolfpaw's pad to investigate the damage.
They were kind of relieved it wasn't just them that leafbare was targeting. "My legs are all... hot now." Beachkit wasn't sure how to capture the feeling beyond that, but sympathized with Wolfpaw's struggle as well since they were no stranger to dealing with sore pads. Cracked from the dry air.
Hesitantly admiring, they mused, "You're really tough, going out there everyday! Even beyond the camp. I'm going to be an apprentice soon--I think, I ... hope?" It squeaked out a bit, faltering, when they remembered their one direct interaction with Bumblestar hadn't exactly screamed 'about to be promoted to apprentice'. "But I don't know if I want to do all that stuff in the snow."
They could just, get all their training done during the fair weather seasons. Maybe.
She called and she called, eyes scanning the crowd of grown cats for so long that she began wondering if this even was the nursery. All those big cats... (Erm.. w-a-r-r-i-o-r-s.. were they called, right?) were concentrated around a specific area and Poppykit didn't understand why. She'd never seen so many of them in one place, let alone here! It was quite strange honestly, unable to properly hear or process what they were saying.
However, any of those questions were promptly swept away when, finally, she heard a familiar voice call her name. Hazel eyes positively lit up with joy when she saw Plumkit break away from the crowd, the wobbly kitten standing up just before she got tackled to the ground by her brother. "Plumy!!"
Poppykit exclaimed, a giggling mess of laughs as she tried to wrap her paws tightly around her littermate in a hug. The fall didn't hurt one bit, and even if it had, she didn't care right now - she got to see her brother again for the first time in over two moons, she couldn't be happier!! "Poppy missed Plumy!"
She purred loudly, letting him get back up.
Plumy spoke of a big long monster thingy that bit a kit and, utterly confused, the patched classic tabby tilted her head curiously. "m, m, Poppy did not see no. Did Plumy see?"
She asked, sitting down as she leaned forward on her two front paws, peering into his eyes. "Is monster still here?"
Oh, that would be an issue. Monsters are scary and Poppykit wasn't so sure if she'd be so fond of them.
Oh, but, oh!! "Plumy, Plumy!! Has Plumy seen Mumzie? Or Pap? Or Acorn, or Eel or FleckFleck?"
"Yeah, but it's gone now," He frowned. Dang, he didn't even get to touch it before some warrior chucked it out of the den. Though he still might have time to later, after everyone settled down. They seemed pretty distracted with Tawnykit right now though, so maybe...
"And uh- no I haven't seen ma or pa anywhere. Or our brothers and sissies," He guessed he'd been too busy playing his new friends to notice their absence. Oh well, it wasn't like they were missing or anything. The camp was big, but not big enough to lose two warriors and three kits.
Plumkit couldn't get his mind off of that monster; snake they'd called it. He glanced back to Tawnykit, who seemed to be sleeping now... strange. Snake bites must make you sleepy, he guessed. "Hey Poppsie, do you wanna see it? The monster, I mean..." The monster, snake, was dead now so he felt it couldn't hurt to get a closer look at it. Not as much as it had hurt Tawnykit while alive, at least...
(Sorry this is late! Got caught up in the bingo event ) --- Image credits go to SableSteel; Author of Clangen ---
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"If I had more time, I would have written a shorter post~"
Last edited by Tecumori; January 13th, 2024 at 09:38 PM.
"Yeah, it's real mean." Wolfpaw drew his attention from his own pads to check on Beachkit's. Thankfully, the damage seemed minimal. "Would just try to stay inside for a bit, let 'em heal up. You'll be okay." He didn't trust any of that medicine cat nonsense, having never personally seen a patient who'd come out better from their efforts.
Wolfpaw's body also felt like it was burning, as if frost was biting him. He didn’t know the reason behind that, only speculating. "You'll feel right as rain soon, it's just the blood warmin' up. It gets cold too, yknow."
Apprentice, huh? Wolfpaw hadn't considered Beachkit Leveling Up so this was news to him. "It ain't so bad, like I said.. when you're moving about, focused on something you don't notice it." The cold didn't bother him usually, it just seemed a little bit icier than usually today. "You got anyone in mind, you hoping mentors you?"
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Beachkit -
Normally, Beachkit might protest staying inside since they'd done enough of that during the early moons of their life when sleeping in the nursery was all they knew... but with the cold on constant blast outside, they were open to the idea. It burned their nose (made it runny too), their lungs, their legs until they couldn't tell if they were attached anymore. "How long until it goes back to normal?" To a kit born in the later greenleaf moons, that was the default state of the forest. Not this barren wasteland.
"I..." They trailed off, the question never occurring to them. They didn't know the warriors well enough. "You, I guess?"
They tried to envision training, how it might preoccupy the mind from bodily discomfort. "Are any of the apprentice duties FUN? They make warriors do them as punishment!" Beachkit paused and a sense of wonder swept over them, their eyes widening with intrigue. "Have you fought anyone yet? For practice or for real?" If they had to venture a guess, they'd bet Wolfpaw crushed the opponent. He was fearless! He took down a SNAKE.
Hmm. Wolfpaw had been born in the colder seasons, but his memory of it was fuzzy at best. Bumba was warm, that's what mattered to him. So cracked paws weren't his forte of knowledge. "Probably a couple days, just take it easy." He wished there was like.. an ointment they could use to soothe them, but didn't trust the medicine cats enough to ask. They'd probably just make him sit in the den for a moon again.
He wasn't sure he'd be a warrior if Beachkit's ceremony was soon. Sure, by all means he could be, but he just..
When he thought of cats like Tawnykit, and Acornkit, and the various others who'd died and perhaps could've been saved, he just doesn't feel good enough. He didn't understood how cats blasted through the basics and thought they'd be good warriors, the thought alone made his fur itch. No, Wolfpaw had to hone his skill until there was no doubt he'd make ThunderClan proud.
".. Regardless, I'll help you with it, if you want." He knew warriors were.. unreliable, and didn't want Beachkit to worry about the same struggles he faced.
Admittedly, apprentice duties weren't something he went out of his way to do - he liked to focus on the training elements. "I think some apprentices do enjoy it, but it's not.. something I personally enjoy. I like training a lot more." Nothing beat the crunch of bone, the taste of blood as teeth sank into the enemy. ".. I've only fought other cats, a couple times."
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Beachkit -
As much as Beachkit looked forward to not being a kit anymore, what came next sounded painfully boring and tedious. Like real hard work that included being bossed around by a strange warrior. What if it was a MEAN one? Or worse, a bland old stick in the mud. Before Wolfpaw brought it up, they hadn't considered the mentorship aspect but now happened to be very concerned about the possibilities.
"I just want to be a warrior. I want to skip apprentice." It sounded like all work and no play, and doing the annoying duties without any of the fancy name or respect. "I want my mentor to be anyone who will not tell me what to do and we can be friends instead, then let me be a warrior."
They peered at Wolfpaw, debating, then broke into a sly little grin. "Who do you think the worst mentors are? I hope they were at least one of the cats you got to beat up."
Yeah, he didn't think it quite worked like that. ..Wolfpaw did not want to imagine a world where it did, 'cause to him the training meant everything. He would be strong.. he had to be, to keep the cats he cared about safe.
But he supposed Beachkit didn't see it that way. Stuck in the confines of camp, he had no real understandings of the danger that lay beyond the walls. Wolfpaw hadn't either, 'til RiverClan came as an invisible enemy tainting their very food. "Might not seem like it, but bein' an apprentice is important. There's a lot of things you need to learn before you're ready to be a warrior." Even if they didn't want to fight, hunting was important.. Wolfpaw wanted to try his paw at herbs, just hadn't gotten around to it yet. He'd never really been hurt beyond poison, so experimentation hadn't been a perceived possibility.
".. It's the cats who don't care, who won't give you the time of day. You're told to look at them like role models but they do everything but be one." His paws flexed against the den floor. "It's why I don't really rely on one cat. Bumba's my mentor, 'n she's great, but she's also really busy at times. So I let the Clan show me how to do things, so I ain't so behind 'n I can make her proud. The cats I fought weren't ThunderClan, so I dunno how they were."
Re: ThunderClan Nursery
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