( ✬ // ❝ the five )

[Greenleaf]

--------❧ ＢＲＡＭＢＬＥＬＥＡＦ - ＴＨＥ ＰＡＴＩＥＮＴ ＯＮＥ
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

age forty moons | rank medicine cat | mood tired | location fresh-kill pile, camp | tagged Sparrowheart, mentioned Cloverstar

The squirrel was somewhat stale, likely caught near sunhigh the day before if its taste and previous position at the bottom of the fresh-kill pile were to judge, but Brambleleaf found that having food in his belly revived him greatly. He settled down more comfortably and let himself enjoy the feeling of sweet prey in his jaws and the sun in his fur. The last vestiges of last night's disturbing dreams, along with the ensuing prickling at the back of his neck and his irrational urge to scan the camp for enemies, were finally fading like so many cobwebs being swept from his mind, and he relaxed as he finished off the rest of his breakfast and settled to grooming himself properly, already feeling somewhat foolish from his severe reaction after awakening in his den. He had to keep a calm mind and impartial outlook to all of this, and despite his heart protesting otherwise, had to view this objectively and not let his emotions cloud his judgement.

Looking over such omens was always a dangerous and unwise practice, as his old mentor used to say. "One must never overlook warnings from StarClan," she had warned him after he received his first vision. "Someday, the fate of the entire Clan could rest in your paws, and it will be your job to properly decipher our ancestors' messages to serve your Clanmates." As a skittish, wide-eyed ten-moon-old apprentice, he had nodded earnestly, feeling half-frightened and half-anticipatory as he learned for the first time the true depths of his duties. Brambleleaf had certainly matured since then, and while he was by no means such a prodigy at interpreting as he was with physical healing and herbs, he had since learnt how to decipher his omens and separate them from typical dreams. Even as he sat and smoothed down the errant strands sticking up on his chest, he took the time to properly muse over his dreams from the night before. Some of them had muddled in the way that dreams usually did after one woke up, but some parts still stuck out quite starkly in his mind. They had seemed to be confused images at first, but as he concentrated he could somewhat make out what they were representing, though they didn't make any more sense than before. Was that a cat on fire? Another one phasing in and out of existence? He shook his head, bewildered. He was about entirely certain that these specific images from last night's dreams had been StarClan-sent, as unlike the rest of his dreams, these had stayed with im even after he had awakened - but such confusing content was definitely something to be taken up with Cloverstar herself. It would help to have two minds on the matter instead of only his own, and if the Clan was in danger, then she obviously needed to know.

Brambleleaf was taken out of his musings by a friendly greeting from behind him. He twisted around and was pleased to discern Sparrowheart making his leisurely way over, fluffy brown tabby face just as friendly as usual. Due to the relatively small gap in their ages of only two moons, the two of them had grown up together and tussled in the nursery, and though Brambleleaf had drifted apart somewhat from his fellow apprentices due to pursuing his own position as medicine cat apprentice, he had remained on relatively good terms with all of them, including Sparrowheart, and liked to consider them both friends. His only regret with the matter was the loss of Owlsong, Sparrowheart's sister, due to kitting - she had been one of the patients Brambleleaf had lost, and he couldn't help but be reminded of her every time he saw Sparrowheart approach. Deaths were to be expected, given the feral way of Clan life especially when leafbare rolled around, but it had been greenleaf upon the time of her death, with no droughts and the prey running quite freely. There should've been no reason for the birthing to go anything other than well, and yet it had all gone south the moment it had started. Untimely demises were always saddening, especially when it accompanied what should've meant new life to the Clan. Brambleleaf could only be grateful that Sparrowheart didn't seem to bear any ill will against him even after all this.

"Good morning," he greeted in turn, shuffling aside to let Sparrowheart pick out his own breakfast from the pile. The other tom settled down quite comfortably with a tropical bird resplendent in bright feathers between his paws. "I slept alright, I believe. I always seem to have a little trouble sleeping after Gatherings, and yesterday's certainly was tenser than usual." There was no need to let the warrior know about his dreams. Brambleleaf trusted Sparrowheart as much as he did the rest of his Clanmates - that was, with his life - but some things were to be discussed with the leader first before being released to the rest of the Clan as necessary. No point in inciting panic among the masses, after all. "I trust you slept better than I did?" he asked, and chuckled at Sparrowheart's unrelated moue of distaste. "It is getting quite hot, isn't it? I don't believe I can remember such a humid day since that heat wave that happened two summers ago." He stretched out his bad leg ruefully as he shifted into a more comfortable position, and gave it a few placating licks before the discomfort drove him upright again. His old injury always made a too efficient barometer, especially when it came to identifying changes in the weather; at least the heat would serve to warm it up later on, despite the sweat it would inevitably also bring.

The rest of the Clan was stirring round the edges, and more cats were beginning to poke their heads out of their dens, yawning and blinking in the growing sunlight. Even Cloverstar herself emerged from her den soon after, looking a bit ruffled but nonetheless as regal as usual. Brambleleaf made mental notes to talk to her soon afterward, and as the rest of the Clan begun to awaken, was reminded also of his dwindling herb supply. He debated asking Sparrowheart if he would help him gather his required stocks, but resolved to wait until the patrols were announced first so that he could ensure he wasn't distracting the warrior from his other duties.

[deftonesly]

( `♔ ＨＯＯＴＳＴＡＲ ! )
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ━━━━━━ ━
( twenty-nine ) -- ( sunclan leader ) -- ( located waterfall ledge ) -- ( tagged gullpaw ) -- ( word count 1,878 )
━ ━━━━━━ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

he knew that he was making gullpaw nervous and annoyed, being so close to him, being so mocking, but hootstar ignored the signals the tom was giving him. annoying other cats was what he did best; he had no reason to stop what he was good at, now, did he? the calico could also sense that, no matter how hard he had tried, he had not succeeded in comforting the white-and-gray. the apprentice still had a light of fear in his eyes . . a smoldering fire, too, that hinted he found hootstar to be a fool for not believing him. the leader narrowed his eyes, letting his paw slide from the cat's bony shoulders, his jutting spine. on the inside, he was a bit defensive, but to the untrained eye he looked as cool and confident as ever. why does he expect me to listen to such nonsense? these visions of blood and tigers and jaguars are anything but real. moonclan, sure━i'll give those nightmares to him, but only because starclan could be putting them in his brain. but gigantic cats leaping from the shadows after so long of us being here? that's preposterous . . right? suddenly, he was not as sure as he had been a few moments ago, because something in the medicine-cat-to-be's blue-green eyes called out to him. the little cat genuinely believed in what he saw━or had believed. though the fire in his eyes was still there, it was clear that hootstar's words, a sprinkle of rain to the flames, had made it sway. especially when he brought up the clan, spoke about how sunclan would react; that really seemed to make the apprentice feel guilt, for he looked down at his paws. his expression of embarrassment sent a wave of pride crashing over hootstar. at least he was certain about one thing: gullpaw would not be running around, blubbering about his nightmares, to any cat. still, he thought, peering down at the cat as he inched away, back toward his heated spot on the ledge. there's something about the passion in his eyes. he doesn't think his nightmares are just figments, concocted by his stressed brain. maybe i shouldn't completely disregard them . . but he cannot know that i am even going to consider thinking about our distant relatives, let alone the threat of their attack! i must keep a removed air about me.

indent once he had backed a comfortable distance away from gullpaw, he collapsed down onto his ledge again. there was a soft plopping noise when is meaty body slapped onto the stone, and then the swish of his leg feathers and long tail as they draped across the smooth, gray surface. at this point in his interaction with the medicine cat apprentice, the gray clouds overhead had swelled, moved closer; it was clear that the jungle clans were in for a deluge today. he looked up at the amassing armies of gray and black, twitching his ears as he saw lightning flash in the distance. its jagged, bright white claws slashed contours across the distant skyline; thunder boomed a snarly, grumpy answer, annoyed by the presence of its old foe. it was just the right combination between cold and humid that the air━laden in moisture and heaviness━made his pelt fluff out against his will. it looked like it was going to rain soon, much to the calico's chagrin; the wind, the temperature . . the oncoming marching of the clouds━they all suggested it. the clouds stretched across the sky like heavily pregnant queens that were soaking up the sun; he had every confidence that they were going to birth upon sunclan and moonclan a rainfall to remember. he was not much of a fan of rain━again, because it messed with his coat, and the humidity that it brought also turned him into a walking hairball. ( well, a hairball that was denser than usual. ) the bold sunclan leader resisted the urge to shy away from the threat of the downpour, flee into his den for the day . . because gullpaw was not finished yet. he still had hootstar's questions to answer, his concerns to meet. the white-and-gray surprised him, managed to tear his bright gaze from the clouds, when he spoke; for some reason, his voice sounded louder than usual in hootstar's tufted ears. maybe it was the fact that it had gone up a few octaves and was rich with nerves. so much nerves.

indent "well . . ." gullpaw began, sounding not unlike a mouse. there was a long pause, as if the tomcat struggled to recall his nightmares━specifically the ones that mattered, the ones about moonclan. or perhaps he does remember? hootstar thought, spinning on his haunches and offering his shoulder to the clouds, the muttering thunder, so he could give the apprentice his full attention. yes, perhaps he does . . and maybe what he saw is too hard to put into words . . too hard to say aloud, it's so bad? oh, i hope that that's a good thing for us and a bad thing for our enemies━maybe he is having visions about the fall of moonclan and the rise of sunclan? before he had enough time to truly get his hopes up, the apprentice seemed to have reigned in his thoughts, formulated words on his tongue. "cloverstar was there. she was fighting with a bunch of the moonclan apprentices and warriors. creekflight, nightstep, shatteredpaw, you name it. all of them." hootstar tried to picture it all in his mind━the black-and-white molly fighting side-by-side with her cats, her mostly-white coat flecked in blood. the booming, caterwualing cries for battle; the shrieks for mercy when the moonclanners fled, only to run into the fangs and unsheathed claws of his clan; the bodies that littered the floor, either too wounded to move or already in starclan's ranks; the tidal waves of blood that splashed across the expanse of wherever they were fighting, lapping toward him in ominous ripples. no matter how hard he tried to envision the scene, he simply could not seem to imagine it the way gullpaw was. the little tomcat looked like he was suppressing shiver after shiver as he sat on hootstar's ledge, tail wrapped tightly around him. the white-and-gray shook his head in an almost . . puzzled manner when he proceeded, "all of the sunclan apprentices and warriors were there, too. but there was one strange thing about some of the cats." hootstar lifted one furry eyebrow, peered down the length of his stubby muzzle at gullpaw; the apprentice's mind seemed to be whirling, the gears of his brain clicking overtime, as he inhaled a shuddering breath. hootstar let him have his time, for once in his life being completely patient. he did not want to rush the smaller tom or add to his confusion, because that could mean the loss of details.

indent gullpaw was almost writhing with uncomfortableness under his leader's chilling, intense yellow stare, but he still accomplished spitting out what had been so hard for him to say. "some of the cats were . . . odd. one cat, an apprentice, by the looks of it, burst into flames in the midst of battle. flame!" hootstar shook his head, stricken━but unable to completely process what he had just heard. he could not, would not, lapse into thought just yet though . . not until gullpaw was finished. it looked like he still had words heaped upon his chest, ready to burst from his maw. and burst they did when the apprentice swept on, voice sounding hoarse and dry as he described these . . . these monster cats. "there was another cat that would disappear every few seconds, only to reappear somewhere nearby. and yet another that would say something i couldn't quite hear, and the cats around them would just drop to the forest floor, almost bowing for them." suddenly the small male's throat seemed to close up on him, because he stopped talking, nervously gazing up at his leader. he looked shaky and triggered, like he would give anything to melt into the stone beneath him rather than face hootstar. and hootstar did not blame him . . because, now, he had digested gullpaw's information about the monster cats and was ready to, once again, reassure the tomcat. stop him from telling anyone else about these dreams . . squash his hopes that the visions of flame cats and disappearing cats and telepathic cats were coming from starclan. starclan would never send these kind of dreams! he thought, getting to his paws with a groan and striding, for the second time, over to gullpaw. he did not put his paw on his shoulders, but drew very near. these visions are dark and deceitful━they could be from the dark forest brutes themselves! i cannot even believe i listened to this poor, star-crazed apprentice before me. all he has done is fill my 'noggin with unnecessary worry and doubt . . and all he will do is spread a clan-wide panic. i may not be a medicine cat or some sort of dream interpreter, but i can sense when something doesn't feel right. i don't think gullpaw is lying, oh no, but i do think that he probably is cracking under the stresses of his duties. he could've eaten a bad rodent, too, come to think of it. like the tigers and jaguars, i refuse to believe that any of this will come to happen. the british shorthair narrowed his eyes. so . . . i'm done with this conversation.

indent hootstar shook his head as he took his seat beside gullpaw, looking upon the white-and-gray like he was a disgruntled, disappointed parent. "gullpaw, gullpaw, gullpaw . . ." he blinked, almost sympathetically━and this time, he did not thank the tom for sharing his dreams, like he had for the tigers and jaguars part of their interaction. it was all too ridiculous to be kind anymore, show false gratitude. "i know that you're an intelligent feline, that you've been blessed with discernment and brains . . so why can't you realize that you're getting worked up over nothing?" the surly male's voice took on an edge. "what you're seeing isn't real," he chortled in his face. "it's not even from starclan's starry paws, from their mouths. these conjugations about our distant relatives and your 'power' cats are probably just the results of a lack of sleep, stress, and perhaps picking something old from the fresh-kill pile, son." he laughed softly again, running his tongue along his lips and getting to his feet; his yellow gaze made its way up to the clouds, which were scudding ever closer. he needed to wrap this up, get inside; it was not like gullpaw could stop him from ending this little chat. as he bunched his muscles at the edge of his ledge's walkway, prepared to slither down it, he swiveled his head one last time to lock eyes with gullpaw. the british shorthair's voice was condescending and amused when he purred, "run along now and get some rest and reprieve. you can come back to me when you've actually dreamed of something sound."

[peaceful]

....❖ ＣＲＥＥＫＦＬＩＧＨＴ ;;

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
xxxxxxx[ ♂/38m ] ● [ moonclan ] ● [ location: moonclan camp ] ● [ words: 771 ] ● [ tagged: brambleleaf, sparrowheart ]

xxxxxxxxThe Gathering had left him feeling immensely unsettled, and while it had taken him far too long to fall asleep upon their return, he had been pleasantly surprised to wake up with the knowledge that he'd been treated to a dreamless slumber (once he had finally slipped away from consciousness and into the depths of sleep, that is). As Creekflight stood from his nest, he gave a hearty, tongue-curling yawn, and proceeded to blink away the blurriness that accompanied initial wakefulness as he carefully slipped past the warm, sleeping bodies of his clanmates. Emphasis on warm. Despite being early in the day, it was already dreadfully hot, and as Creekflight emerged into the camp, he immediately wanted to turn around and go back into the warriors' den. The humidity was awful; he felt as though he'd been doused in hot water. Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but the weather was decidedly unpleasant. Definitely not his favorite time of year...

xxxxxxxxOnce more, he found his thoughts traveling back to the Gathering. While it wasn't as though the two clans had gotten into a fierce battle or anything dramatic like that, the moon had still been concealed by StarClan, which did not bode well in Creekflight's mind. There didn't have to be a single drop of blood lost, or even a single claw unsheathed. The Gathering had, as far as Creekflight was aware, proceeded as normal, save for an admittedly peculiar increase in tension. Even that was not particularly outlandish, however; SunClan and MoonClan were, after all, rival clans, so some variance in tension levels was to be expected. For StarClan to take action, though... That seemed to warrant a bit more concern. What would have happened had they not covered the moon? What would happen now? What was going to happen? Creekflight had so many questions and so few answers. He hated feeling unprepared and uncertain of what the future held; it made him worry for his clan. He wanted them to be kept safe, and a bad omen from StarClan did not fit in with that plan.

xxxxxxxxA quick glance around camp told him that a few cats had already stirred—he spotted Brambleleaf and Sparrowheart talking near the fresh-kill pile. Brambleleaf... Creekflight hoped that the medicine cat would receive more information from StarClan about what was to come, if he hadn't already.

xxxxxxxxCreekflight did not want to go to war with SunClan. They had their differences, sure, and he didn't particularly like them, per se, but he recognized that they were both clans just trying to survive. Some of their choices were questionable, and habits distasteful, but Creekflight felt little open hostility towards them. He didn't want there to be bloodshed over... Over what, really? They had no reason to fight, not really. There was nothing worth the potential loss of life, that he knew of, at least. Creekflight could only hope that StarClan was not alluding to that sort of future when they cut the Gathering short, and whatever their reasoning was, that it was a better alternative than all-out war between the clans.

xxxxxxxxThe mostly white tom decided to make his way over to the fresh-kill pile as well, thinking that after a quick meal, perhaps he'd go hunting—and maybe he'd find Shatteredpaw and take her along with him. An easy smile settled on his face as he neared Brambleleaf and Sparrowheart, and with warmth in his voice he meowed, "Good morning." Creekflight remained quiet after his initial greeting, instead choosing to listen while he assessed his breakfast options, snagging a kingfisher after a moment of consideration. As Brambleleaf spoke, he scrunched his nose up briefly in distaste. It wasn't the bird (it was actually quite satisfying), no; it was the memory of the day Brambleleaf was talking about. Creekflight had only recently been made a warrior at that time, and he distinctly remembered actually getting slight burns on his pads from how hot a rocky patch he stepped on was. He grimaced, shaking his head. "Yeah, that was pretty bad," he agreed. "I'm not sure if it's worse this year or not, but it sure doesn't feel great. I'm about ready for some cooler weather." It wouldn't be quite so bad if it wasn't so humid. The heat alone was manageable, but when it was joined by the overbearing moisture in the air, it became a lot more stifling. Creekflight took another bite of his bird, chewing slowly as he gazed around the camp. Others were starting to stir—he hoped Cloverstar would address what had happened last night, at some point.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

....✸ ＳＡＮＤＳＴＲＩＰＥ ;;

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
xxxxxxx[ ♀/25m ] ● [ sunclan ] ● [ location: sunclan camp ] ● [ words: 686 ] ● [ tagged: x ]

xxxxxxxxTo have her slumber interrupted by the rough yowl of Hootstar was not ideal, and unfortunately nor was it necessarily uncommon. The tabby she-cat's olive green eyes peeked out from behind her eyelids, and she sighed softly in her nest. The exhaustion from the last night's gathering still clung to her fur, weighing her down, trying to coerce her into remaining where she was comfortable, curled up with one of her front legs extended outward. Sandstripe knew, however, that her desire to remain drowsy and unbothered in the warriors' den would have to go unacknowledged, for the clan meeting demanded her attendance. Does it really, though? she wondered. I doubt Hootstar would notice my absence... Especially mine, or any other molly's, for that matter... A jolt of bitterness stabbed through her chest, and Sandstripe scoffed as she pushed herself into a sitting position, shook out her fur, and started to groom lightly. Tongue rasping over her shoulder to dislodge any remaining moss (and, to be honest, to make sure it didn't start bristling), the golden tabby tried not to think about Hootstar—which was a fruitless attempt, really, because she was already fired up. SunClan's misogynist of a leader would never earn her full respect, not with the way he preened and gallivanted about as though the world belonged to him.

xxxxxxxxBut respected or not, he was her leader, and her thoughts never reached a mutinous extent (not in a genuine manner, at least), so Sandstripe was resigned to just dealing with her leader as he was (she did not anticipate a sudden change of heart in the foreseeable future, for Hootstar or herself). She would, however, stick firmly to her belief that if she was not given the respect she deserved, she would not demonstrate respect, either. To Sandstripe, it was simple: they were all warriors, equally deserving of appreciation. At least it was better than being a MoonClan cat, though (not that that set the bar very high). Sandstripe scrunched up her nose at the mere thought, and stood to exit the den. Make no mistake—she was proud to be a warrior of SunClan. Everyone else was great. The head, however... Well, his personality and ideals clashed with her own. That was all. That was bearable... with a bit of complaining and ranting here and there.

xxxxxxxxSandstripe swallowed back a yawn as she slipped out of the warriors' den, skirting the curtain of water that greeted her (but only narrowly, because quite frankly the cool mist felt nice with how hot it was outside) and squinting in the light, eyes having been accustomed to the darkness of the den. She picked her way closer to the waterfall that shielded the leader's den, sitting back down when she was within earshot of Hootstar. She listened quietly as he spoke, and to be quite honest she zoned out for a large majority of the speech. Sandstripe gave brief, proud yowls when those of her clanmates startled her out of her stupor (SunClan was, of course, the superior clan, so she would absolutely recognize that) but for the most part, she gazed blankly at some point off in the distance somewhere near Hootstar.

xxxxxxxxAt some point, she thought she registered the words "everything is just fine," which didn't sound entirely right to her ears, but by the time she got around to thinking about it, the cats around her were already starting to disperse. Fine...? Covering the moon on the night of a Gathering was most certainly not fine; it seemed like a perfectly justifiable reason to be at least somewhat concerned. Sandstripe couldn't do much about it on her own, though, so she supposed she'd just have to wait with the rest of the clan to see how events played out. The yellow molly brought a paw up towards her jaw, gave it a lick, and swept it over her ear in one swift motion. She turned her green gaze towards her clanmates, waiting to see if any of the forming patrols (or anyone else, for that matter) would decide they needed her with them.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

[Birchii]

◕ ＲＡＶＥＮＦＲＯＳＴ ;

{thirty-five moons}▸{tom}▸{moonclan warrior}▸{warrior's den; camp}▸{creek+bramble+sparrow (m)}
▸▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔◂

xXxXxEven at the very first signs of awakening, Ravenfrost could feel the warmth radiating outside. He grumbled slightly and softly; his thicker fur would cause him some discomfort in the humidity today, though it was still much more welcome than the chills of leaf-bare. Slowly blinking his yellow-flecked eyes, the tom let a wide yawn escape his jaw, removing the sleep from his body one slow movement at a time. Mornings had never been his forté, as the tom preferred the company of the glowing moon and whispering stars, but with his growing age, he had, at least, become accustomed to them, although begrudgingly. 'If only I could find myself in sleep sooner than I do,' he wistfully sighed, surrendering to the knowledge that he would need to begin his daily warrior duties at some point. Ravenfrost stretched out his muscular front legs, his toes splaying and stretching to their limit, giving a slight 'pop' as they clicked into place; the sign to now stretch his hind legs. He shook each leg individually, removing any remnants of his warm, cosy nest that may have buried itself in his bushy fur.

xXxXxFinally, the black-and-white tom slowly moved towards the exit of the den, eyes squinted as he approached the bright light of the morning outside. He poked his head out of the den's entrance, a piece of moss hanging low over the opening startling him as he continued adjusting to the waking world. Ducking his head, shaking the moss from it, he padded his way into the open area that was the camp; the heart of MoonClan. A small sense of pride filled him as it did every day, seeing his clan thriving and well. His yellow-green gaze scanned the clearing briefly, picking out Creekflight, Sparrowleaf and Brambleheart gathered together. He chose not to approach them, instead preoccupied with thought of grooming his fur, a task that was required of him daily if he didn't want to carry half the territory with him everywhere he went.

xXxXxRobinfrost sat down near the centre of the camp, and began his daily cleanse, picking out moss that clung to his fur for dear life and removing dust and dirt, especially from the white patches covering his pelt. 'Why in StarClan must it be so warm today?' he wondered, knowing he would be needing plenty of time to rest, due to his fur being prepped for leaf-bare and only the colder of the seasons. During his cleanse and internal complaints of the temperature, he recalled that a Gathering occurred last night, for it had been a full moon. The large tom had not attended, and chose to not remain awake with the intention of learning the information exchanged. Instead, he had been curled up in his nest restlessly, praying for slumber to fall upon him, and was in the state of half-sleep and half-wake when he heard and felt cats clambering into the den during the middle of the night. The cats had quietly whispered to one another in conversation, rustling in their nests as they warmed up and found a comfortable position, though Ravenfrost was too interested in getting his needed rest to listen entirely to the conversations happening. All he had gleaned in his semi-conscious state was that it had not been a smooth and dull meeting, and upon remembering the night's events, was eager to learn what had occurred to cause the unsettled feelings.

• ＢＲＩＡＲＰＡＷ ;

{nine moons}▸{molly}▸{sunclan app}▸{apprentice's den; camp}▸{hootstar+lionpaw+firepaw (m)}
▸▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔◂

xXxXxBriarpaw awoke with a start at the yowl of Hootstar calling for a meeting, raising her head with such speed it caused a twinge of pain. Scowling, she quickly uncurled herself from the tight bundle of fur she had made herself in the night. 'Fox-dung! I was so warm and content in my dream, so ready to catch that rabbit,' she complained internally. 'Wanted a nice sleep-in after the Gathering, but nooo, Hootstar has to yowl about camp for a meeting. I doubt I'll even give a 'hoot' about what he has to say. She smirked, bemused by her joke, and stretched out her legs before raising to her paws, giving a quick glance around the den, seeing Firepaw begin to stir and stretch, whilst her brother, Lionpaw, still fast asleep in the land of slumber. The small tortoiseshell molly quickly departed the den, wanting to know the reason behind the rude interruption of her sleep. The apprentice never slept in for long anyway, enjoying the daylight while it was present, but after an... interesting Gathering, she thought she'd earned at least a bit longer to rest.

xXxXxDashing through the waterfall in front of the apprentice's den, the tortoiseshell narrowed her eyes to adjust to the bright daylight outside, suddenly grateful for the cool water's presence on her fur. It was humid, and Briarpaw enjoyed the cool water under paw, knowing it would soon warm up as the sun climbed in the sky. She leisurely strolled over to where cats had begun to gather, beneath Hootstar, who was looking as superior as he always did, peering down from the height. 'Oh, how amusing it would be if he fell,' the molly thought, a smirk crossing her face at the image of the snobbish tom taking a tumble. She didn't want him to be hurt of course, just curious as to how his prideful ways would be knocked. The young molly didn't particularly care for the stuck-up tom, but still begrudgingly showed the expected respect necessary for the leader. Her thoughts of him splashing into one of the pools below was interrupted by his addressing of the clan. The molly listened with little care, not raising her voice at the expected time for the cheers of agreement, only wishing for the leader to conclude the meeting. Thankfully, he kept it brief, and Briarpaw could divert her attention to more interesting things. She gave her chest fur a few licks, flattening the tuft that often stuck out after her slumber, and peered around the camp.