The Rotten clan (warriors zombie au) OPEN

[continue]

Dapplepaw skittered away to the fresk kill pile, nearly tripping on her paws. Normally she would have felt a prick of warmth at Fernstar's words or a bristle of anxiety at Loonstone's tone, but she processed none of it, her mind in a daze.

The atmosphere in the tunnel after the vision had been tense, the senior medicine cats conferring in a tight circle, their conversation punctuated with urgent mutters followed by heavy silence. The apprentices had stood to the side and stared at one another, unsure. Dapplepaw and Loonstone hadn't exchanged a word since they left. She hadn't been his apprentice for very long, but Loonstone was the epitome of confidence; she had never seen him shaken, let alone scared until now, which struck a strange, vague sense of terror in her.

He picked up a squirrel and walked mindlessly toward the medicine cat den when he accidentally bumped into Birchflame, mrowing in shock. "Oh! I'm sorry," he stuttered, "I didn't mean to..."

[Keesa]

Loonstone - Medicine Cat - Location: Camp - Tags: Fernstar - mentions: Boulderheart

Loonstone’s pace slowed as he considered his leader’s question, it made sense to involve the deputy but all the same he hesitated. The vision was like nothing he had ever experienced and it left him feeling robbed of his usual certainty. He trusted Boulderheart, he was a loyal and steadfast deputy but it wasn’t the same as the trust he felt towards Fernstar. Fernstar was his leader and probably the only other cat in the clan that knew what it was like to carry the weight of starclan’s will on their shoulders, there was something more there that was hard to define. But, he knew he couldn’t let his own feelings of discomfort get in the way of his judgment. He stopped at the entrance to the leader’s den and turned to look around. Some of the early risers were up and about eyeing them curiously but none looked to be within earshot. “If he is nearby, get him.” He meowed, “Word will get out eventually, I want the both of you prepared.”

Birchflame - Warrior - Location: Camp - tags: Dapplepaw

Birchflame let out a loud chirp as another cat walked right into her. She stumbled backwards but managed to right her footing, her large eyes blinking with surprise. “Oh!” She meowed, a grin spreading across her muzzle when she realized she recognized the young cat, “Woah there Dapplepaw! No need for apologies, serves me right for walking around with my head in the clouds.” She purred, though her expression grew concerned the more she looked at him. “No wonder we collided, you look ready to pass out on your paws! Did Loonstone keep you up training last night?”

[Cryptweasel]

Loonstone's clear distrubance was enough to cause Fernstar's fur to pick along his spine. Whatever it was that Starclan had shared with him, it was serious, and wasnt good. Pausing for a moment to glance around the camp, he spotted Boulderheart's easily recognizable bulky shape moving around in the shade of one of the small caverns that made up one if the warrior's dens. It looked like he was grooming, so it would be best to go and fetch him now before he started to send out the day's patrols. Turning back to Loonstone, he mewed, "Go and wait in my den. I'll fetch Boulderheart." He dipped his head slightly before heading twords the dens, tail in the air. On the way he paused beside Stagseeker, who was washing his face. "Can you organize today's patrols? I need Boulderheart for a bit." The brown tabby tom looked at him with surprise, but nodded, and Fernstar gave him a purr of thanks before hurrying past to where his deputy was making his way out into the sun. "Boulderheart, good morning. I need you in my den, please. Dont worry about the days patrols, I asked Stagseeker to handle it."


MInkheart was on her way to the fresh-kill pile, pulling a fat field mouse free. Whiskers twitching with quiet amusement at the small blunder between Dapplepaw and Birchflame, she put in, "It was the half moon last night. I'm sure shes just tired from the journey," She reminded, dropping the mouse and gently batting it twords the apprentice. "Here, you have this. I'm craving bird today anyway."

[rabbit_with_a_fedora]

BOULDERHEART [deputy] [location: camp] [tags: fernstar]
The hulking deputy saw his leader approaching and padded briskly towards Fernstar to meet him. With a respectful nod and a murmured 'good morning', Boulderheart fell in step behind his leader. Fernstar usually did a good job of keeping his composure and outward calmness, if not also his own internal peace, for the sake of the clan. Seeing him evidently disturbed, especially after the medicine cats returned from their meeting, it couldn't be a good sign. Boulderheart found it, as usual, to be the most useful to stay quiet, only casting a quizzical glance towards Stagseeker before heaving his massive shoulders and plodding along without pausing. The younger warrior was pleasant and had the tact that Boulderheart found himself lacking patience for, but the deputy found him a bit ditzy at times. Maybe the smooth-talking tabby would forget who was whose mentor.. Boulderheart flicked his ear, casting the thought aside. He could have faith in his fellow clanmates, of course.

"What's the matter?" He mewed lowly, bending down to murmur into Fernstar's ear. At such a time, he could manage the hard, hard task of keeping his voice quiet. "You've got something twisting your tail, eh?" Asking him to speak seriously was a bit of a stretch, though.

[Cryptweasel]

Fernstar flicked his ear with a meaningful glance at his deputy, wishing the bulkier tom would wait until they were alone to ask questions. However, he couldn't just leave him in the dark. As they got out of earshot of the cats who were beginning to creep into the sunshine for their morning meals and washes, he sighed gently. "I'm not sure yet, but Starclan seems to have shared something directly with Loonstone. I wanted your input. Just...don't interrupt him while he's telling us." The last mew was slightly teasing, a friendly reminder that interpreting signs from their ancestors wasn't always straightforward. Fernstar weaved through the tall, thin spikes of crystal that jutted from the entrance to his den and pushed through the creeping roots that grew down through the roof, settling himself in front of his nest near Loonstone. When Boulderheart was inside and settled as well, he turned his sharp green eyes on the medicine cat, ears pricked and keen. "what did they show you?"


Stagseeker yawned and stretched as he finished his washing, his fluffy paws working the ground in front of him as he watched his clanmates start their day. The dawn patrol was on its way back, and hunting patrols would need sent out. Sunhigh patrol... He sighed. There was a reason he had no desire to be deputy. But orders were orders. He trotted over to the trio at the fresh kill pile with a friendly purr. "Hey there! Birchflame, can you lead a hunting patrol? Take Cloudypaw with you, I'm sure he'd appreciate the practice. Minkheart, you go with her."

Minkheart looked up from where she was plucking the feathers from a dove and nodded, tucking into her meal without a verbal reply. A hunting patrol would be nice, and taking Fleetpaw a long would hopefully tire the young apprentice out a little before training later that day.

[Keesa]

Loonstone - Medicine Cat - Location: Camp - Tags: Fernstar, Boulderheart

He nodded as Fernstar left and he retreated gratefully into the darkness of the den, out from under the prying eyes of clan. His spine prickled with shame that he had let himself be seen in such a state, though he took some comfort in the fact that the other medicine cat’s had been equally disarrayed. None of them had been able to keep their practiced composure and he suspected that had been part of starclans intent, they WANTED to scare them. But why? He halted when he heard paw steps then scowled, he’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t even realized he had been pacing. As the two cats entered he took a moment to smooth out the fur of his fluffed tail. “Starclan sent the clans a prophecy… a warning.” He began, his voice slow and deliberate as he thought about the best way to state what he had been told plainly, without muddling the message. “It was given only to the senior medicine cat of each clan and we all experience the same thing. The vision started with the scent of decay filling our noses, then our lungs, as though crow food lined our throats. From every direction we could hear wordless screams and as we looked to the sky all we could see were the mountain tops stained red with blood. Then we were given the prophecy; beware the rotten root, and the teeth that chew it. When the moon goes dark, bone will rise again.”

Birchflame - Warrior - Location: Camp - tags: Dapplepaw, Minkheart, Stagseeker - mentions: Cloudpaw

(OOC: Will respond after Dapplepaw :3)

[continue]

"Oh, I'm fine! Thank you, I-" Dapplepaw cut herself off, her voice sounding a little too high to her own ears. Now that Minkheart mentioned it, she was pretty tired, and her paws ached from the long trek to and from the tunnel. He paused, glancing at Minkheart and Birchflame. A sense of dread pricked up her spine; they didn't know that something was horribly wrong. And it certainly wasn't his place as an apprentice to speak about last night to any cat. What was he to do?

Stagseeker's voice cut through his thoughts and brought him back to reality. He dipped his head bashfully and picked up Minkheart's abandoned mouse. "Thank you, Minkheart... and you're right, I am pretty tired," he mewed, trying to keep his tone level, "maybe I should rest." He dipped his head in respect to Birchflame and Minkheart and turned away quickly, suppressing a twitch as he scurried toward the medicine cats den.

[Queen of flames]

Crescentfrost - female - warrior - crush/mate: open - apprentice: open - tags: open

The black she-cat stood up at her warm nest before taking her leave of the warrior's den. The den was mostly empty at the time she left, which didn't really surprise her at all all of the others were so early risers that sometimes it made her wonder if was she even in the right place to be called a warrior, she was more like an apprentice who liked to sleep late. She took a quick cleaning around her short pelt, flicking her ears over to the figures of the medicine cat calling to the deputy, something about needing to speak with him at the leader's den it seemed. She yawned as she looked around the camp, seeing most of the cats here and there, including her own son Eelpaw.

Eelpaw - male -apprentice - crush: Dapplepaw - mentor: open - tags: open

He was up late like he was almost every morning, it didn't matter as long his mentor or someone else didn't come to pick him out, which didn't happen too often. Usually, it was he who could go to ask for something to do, or join some of the patrols. He sometimes wondered if the clans seemed him unworthly, because of his unloyal father. He left the apprentice's den and walked closer to the center of the camp, he saw the deputy disappearing to the leader's den alongside the medicine cat, but he didn't see anything weird about that. He looked around a little bit more, then walked to the fresh-kill pile to take something small to eat, even if he had not really earned it yet, but he could try some hunting today to get his eaten prey back to the clan.

[rabbit_with_a_fedora]

BOULDERHEART [deputy] [location: leader's den] [tags: fernstar, loonstone]
In the ominous silence that followed, even Boulderheart had to take a few moments to compose himself. His fur standing on end all over his body which made him seem even larger, though- there was no fixing that, not even as the deputy let out a quiet chuckle and flicked his tail casually. Someone had to speak, and Boulderheart was well-accustomed to being the lighthearted bringer of optimism, so he blinked past his unease and trepidation to mew ruefully, "now, which one of us ate kittypet food?" It was his euphemistic way of wondering what exactly Starclan thought the clans did that deserved such a punishment. "From what I hear, that stuff tastes just as bad as this 'rotten root' you mentioned." His whiskers twitched at the shaken looks on the leader and medicine cat's faces. Boulderheart felt the same way - even more, perhaps, than the other two cats, as he never quite liked the idea of Starclan being able to do whatever they wanted over the living clans, and the warriors having no true way of fighting back, no matter how much they trained - but showing it was the worst thing he could do. Calm, pensive Fernstar could be deep in thought and aloof; Loonstone could always be, well, loony; strong, fierce Boulderheart was the last cat who could be afraid.

FLEETPAW [apprentice] [location: camp] [tags: stagseeker, minkheart, brightflame, cloudypaw]
The little lithe apprentice had blinked awake just at the crack of dawn, while the rest of his denmates were sleeping calmly. Minkheart had made some snappish remark in yesterday's training, when he'd complained about doing so much hunting training when he really wanted to learn that cool battle move one of the warriors had shown him earlier. Fleetpaw wasn't about to let his mentor define him as some mischevious, battle-hungry apprentice who couldn't provide for his clan! He hadn't managed to sneak out of camp, as he'd always been wishing he could (with glorious ideas of bringing down a whole deer and dragging it back to the clan, before anyone had woken up!), but he settled for practicing his hunting crouch in one of the emptier corners of the camp. Pinemask, who hadn't even been leading the dawn patrol so who was he to say anything??, had dismissed him when he'd asked to join. Something about not wanting to deal with loudmouthed kittens so early in the morning. Well, I'll be-!

Hearing his mentor being mentioned, Fleetpaw perked up and bounded over to where.. Stagseeker ?? was assigning patrols. He studied the cat, who was definitely not the deputy - unless something happened to Boulderheart!? - but didn't challenge the warrior, instead bouncing up next to Minkheart. Fleetpaw shifted on his paws impatiently. "Hunting patrol? Oh, good! Let's go! Where should we go? Can we go higher up the mountain? I'm sure there's prey up there that we could hunt if we'd just climb higher.. are you gonna finish that?" He prodded Minkheart's dove with a black and white paw.

PINEMASK [warrior] [location: shardclan territory] [tags: open]
OOC: anyone want to be part of the dawn patrol? they'd be on their way back to camp at this moment.

[C a s]

⌠☁︎⌡→ Honeycloud → 82 mns | ♀ | Apprentice: | Mate: cloverstone | Tags: crescentfrost

"𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗',

As the morning sun filtered into the nursery, Honeycloud awoke with a start. Her unborn kits stirred in her belly, and with a groan, she rose into a sitting position. Since Cloverheart's death, the queen hadn't been sleeping easy - or perhaps her age, along with the physical burden of carrying kits, was just taking a toll on her. After all, age came for every cat in the end, should they make it that far; for it was her own mate that had lost quite a bit of his strength to the inevitable when he met his tragic end. Her heart ached for a moment, as she found herself allowing it to do more and more these days - but then just like that, Honeycloud told herself, that's enough, you've got kits relying on you for StarClan's sake. Pick yourself up, Honeycloud.
Rising to her paws, the she-cat left the lonely den and padded out into the cavern, the smooth stone cool beneath her calloused paws. A chill ran down her spine - it seemed the stone wasn't all that was cooling the camp this morning, for a somber aura hung in the air. The cream-and-white cat gave her long fur a shake, as if she were attempting to brush away the very essence of the morning. She had been heading towards her brother, Boulderheart, when Fernstar came to swiftly whisk him off to the leader's den. Honeycloud stopped in her tracks, an intense frown setting in on her muzzle, and her gaze flicked around camp. Last night had been the half-moon; her own kit - as proud of him as she was - had made the journey with Loonstone, and now she worried her kit had somehow fallen on misfortunate. A sigh of relief escaped her when she saw Dapplepaw's pelt, and she silently thanked StarClan for watching over her.
It was then that she spotted Crescentfrost, only a tail-length away, having departed from the warriors' den. She noticed the she-cat's gaze was resting on her son, Eelpaw, and Honeycloud padded over to greet her with a soft purr. "Good morning, Crescentfrost!" she mewed cheerfully, determined to keep her clanmates' spirits high. She settled down beside the warrior, wrapping her fluffy tail around her paws. "They really do grow up too fast, don't they?" she noted, nodding towards Eelpaw. "I'm glad our children have such bright, competent mentors to keep them safe and guide their paws. And thank StarClan for watching over them."

𝙸 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝙸 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎."

⌠🗡⌡→ Blackthorn → 74 mns | ♂ | Apprentice: | Mate: sweetnettle | Tags:

"𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚎

Sunlight stretched across ShardClan's territory as Blackthorn trekked back towards camp. The tom found himself often living by the rule of early to bed, early to rise, and thus usually found himself out of camp before dawn. This morning was no exception: he carried a plump rabbit and the wing of a finch clamped in his jaws. For Blackthorn, this was a light hunt, as he would usually have to be making another journey back out for prey he'd buried, but it seemed the forest was quiet of even prey sounds today. Nonetheless, he still found something to return with, even if he considered it meager. After all, caring for the Clan was his number one priority. He was pleased to have run into the dawn patrol, as well, headed by his son, Pinemask, with Ottertuft on his heels (as was usual for his youngest son). He'd given his kits words of encouragement and praise for volunteering for a duty most Clan cats found tedious at such an early hour, and then headed on his way.
The tom slipped into camp and headed towards the fresh-kill pile, noting that it was already surrounded with hungry warriors picking over last night's prey. He silently dropped his two catches down beside it, and padded off, not having much desire for early morning conversation. Blackthorn settled himself near the warriors' den and began picking the rabbit fur from between his front claws.

𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎."

⌠☘︎⌡→ Ottertuft → 14 mns | ♂ | Apprentice: | Crush: | Tags: pinemask

"wip

Ottertuft's tail swished from side to side as he padded alongside Pinemask. The lithe cat's stomach had been rumbling for at least half of the patrol; he was just glad it had tamed itself in the presence of their father. The dawn patrol had been a quiet one, no scents of danger, enemy Clan or otherwise. Now, all the tom could think about was getting prey into his belly after the long walk, and the warm nest he'd left behind.
"I'm glad to have that over with!" he meowed to Pinemask; although his stomach punctuated the sentence with a growl, his tone was chipper. "The territory is always so peaceful in the morning...I appreciate the quiet, but StarClan, I can't wait to eat!" His tongue swept over his muzzle as if he had been imagining the prey he would soon be sinking his teeth into. "I hope Blackthorn caught something good...and something big! I could eat a whole fox!"

wip."

⌠⚡︎⌡→ Stormpaw → 12 mns | ♂ | Mentor: tbd | Crush: | Tags: birchflame, dapplepaw, minkheart

"𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚕;

Stormpaw rolled onto her pack and gave a leisurely stretch. The apprentice had been sleeping so well, and her nest was so cozy, she was certain she could sleep for a moon straight if she wanted to. The night before, when she'd finally dragged herself to bed, she had felt as if her paws could fall right off. Training for her assessment was no easy task, but eagerness to succeed had driven her own, and she'd been hitting the point of exhaustion everyday now. It was all she could do in the evening to drag herself to the fresh-kill pile to find something for she and Dapplepaw to share. Now, that exhaustion had been taking its toll - for as she opened her eyes, they widened in shock over the fact that she was the last apprentice in the den - certainly not a good look for a cat that would hopefully be made a warrior any day now. The tabby scrambled to her paws, giving her cream pelt a quick few licks, and hurried out of the den.
Once out in the cavern, she peered around for her mentor, hoping they hadn't noticed her transgression. Instead, she spotted Dapplepaw - surrounded by warriors at the fresh-kill pile while he tried to enjoy his meal. Oh, yeah - last night was the half-moon! Tail high, Stormpaw scurried towards the throng of cats. "All right, make way, make way!" She mewed loudly, shouldering her way in between the various warriors and her sibling. "Dapplepaw's had a long night, don't'cha know?" After her unnecessary rant, she scurried after her sibling until she was keeping pace beside her.
"Welcome back, and good morning!" she murmured to her littermate. Dapplepaw's tension was obvious, though Stormpaw wasn't one to pry - after all, with how close the siblings were, she knew Dapplepaw would come to her eventually - if he were allowed to, anyway, since she followed such a strict set of rules being a medicine cat apprentice. Stormpaw's brows wanted to knit with worry, but she forced herself to keep her usual cool demeanor. "You look exhausted. I hope the journey treated you well. Did you have enough to eat?"

𝙸𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍, 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚛𝚎𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝?"