FireClan | Camp

"Get up and make sure everyone is safe. Keep them away from anything that could fall." Lionstream said, before his head turned to the volcano. "If the volcano erupts we are so dead."

"Don't say that around the kits!" Littledawn snapped at Lionstream, then ushered her kits closer to her body, crouching over them. "Have some tact, Lionstream."

"R-right," Fernpaw responded, unsure of himself. The uncertainty of the situation scrambled his thoughts and made his paws feel anchored to the shaking ground. Despite this, a sense of urgency overtook him and Fernpaw ran over to help the queens round up their kits.

Fawnpaw's ears flattened to his head as the earth began to move so strangely on its own. The young apprentice dug his claws into the dirt and crouched instinctively to the ground, to keep his balance. He looked up at his mentor, Darkpetal with fear glinting in his eyes. "W-what's going on?" Fawnpaw mewed, his voice trembling. 

Shadowrunner's tail lashed from side to side, her eyes narrowing in confusion to the situation as she braced herself against the warrior's den. The sleek-furred she-cat glanced around the camp, looking for answers from any of the senior-warriors. 

Milknose stumbled from the sudden earthquake, the old tom huffing as he tried to steady himself.

Cloudscorch padded out of the warriors den, her fur flattened slightly. "What in SoulClan's name are you lot doing?!" she mewed, still half asleep.

"Worrying over why the ground was shaking." Stormcrest replied evenly, tail twitching. He glanced around, flattening his ears while looking at the kits gathered around Littledawn.

Cindercatcher jumped to his paws, for a moment thinking that he had just come up with this in his imagination. He curled himself around his mate to protect her, leading them both out of the den. "I've never felt anything like this..."

Willowperch let out a sigh "Hopefully the others are okay". She left her den and began to walk towards Milknose "Are you alright?" 

Scarletwing slowly padded out of the nursery, stretching her legs "Is everything ok? The volcano isn't erupting, right?"

Mintflurry exited the warrior’s den, quickly looking around at the others gathered in the clearing. Her gaze found the ground and she stared at it intently as if it was to open up below her feet at any moment. “There’s no way it could be the volcano, right?” She whispered to herself.

Finchstar was the first to pad into the camp, rather tired from their fast trek home but glad to see everyone was safe. "We're back," he called.

Flintpaw followed Finchstar into camp, ears flattened as he looked around camp.

Littlelily looked around the camp, looking for her brother, before seeing him rush over to her. “Snowfall! Are you ok?”

Snowfall rushed over to Littlelily and Blackpaw, touching each of their heads with his nose and turning to Flintpaw to do the same. “Thank SoulClan you are alright. I thought something would’ve happened to you.”

Blackpaw allowed Snowfall to touch husband head, before looking at his brother, worriedly.

Lionstream perked yo when he saw his leader, trying to find Ivyfire, sudden worry filling his body.

Tanglepath followed close to Finchstar's heels, waiting for the opportunity to talk with him about the quake.

Nettlepaw looked at Blackpaw and his family, trying to push down his envy. Why couldn't his family be more like them?

Blackpaw smiled at his brother, before his eyes turn towards Nettlepaw. He looked at him curiously, not knowing what’s wrong. He couldn’t make himself move towards him, as he felt like his family needed him more, however he was worried.

Littledawn looked around at the gathered cats and wandered over to Nettlepaw, offering a small purr to the apprentice. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, right?" She mewed, examining the younger tom with a clear worry.

"Huh?" Nettlepaw muttered, "I'm fine. I'm great, actually. Never been better. Feel like a newborn kit snug in a nest of rabbit down."

Littledawn twitched her ears backwards. "Are you sure?" She meowed softly, flicking her tail over his ear.

"Yup," Nettlepaw shrugged, "Everything alright back here in camp? I mean, we're on the side of a mountain."

Flintpaw looked up at his brother, seemingly unfazed from the earthquake. "I guess that happened..." He wiggled his way into Littlelily's embrace, sighing. "That was odd..."

Littlelily licked Flintpaw’s head, happy to have her kits here and ok. She looked at Snowfall, who had perked his ears up, looking at Flintpaw.

Fernpaw walked back to the apprentices' den and plopped down onto the bedding. The recent panic and confusion made him feel exhausted, so he figured a long sleep is what he needed the most.

Milknose nodded, licking his chest fur in embarrassment. "I'm fine! My bones aren't as old as they seem," He lied, looking around camp, "I guess it was a little scare, but I wonder if the other clans are doing fine..." 

Fawnpaw couldn't help but feel a twinge of empathy for the other clans as he overheard Milknose's statement. However, he shook off his nervousness and went on his way into the apprentice's den; sleepiness causing him to drag his paws along the way. Tomorrow will be a new day to train, no need to worry more. He thought to himself, settling into his moss-bed and curling his tail around his body.

Martenstrike led his patrol into camp, fur spiked at the ominous stench surrounding them.

Melodykit stumbled out of the nursery, moss clinging to her claws, and rushed to her mother, Littledawn. "What was that?" she mewed, gaze darting around camp as cats returned from the Gathering. She had longed to go with, wanting to help the Clans settle their disputes. She shook her head, ignoring the envious thoughts and focusing on the present, which must have been the volcano, she thought. "Are we going to die?" she couldn't help herself from asking as she blinked up at her mother. 

Hawkstep wrapped his tail around his mate, Brindlestripe, purring reassuringly as he watched two patrols return to camp, instinctively perking his ears to listen to any important news.

(willow gave me permission to rp my deputy before finishing the audition- the audition will be finished as soon as i have time/motivation)

Feathercrest, who had escaped her confinement to the medicine den during the quake, was trotting around camp frantically. She was mostly healed, but the amount she ran about couldn't be any good. 

"Finchstar!" She called in a strained voice, pushing her way through to the leader. "Finchstar, are you alright??"

Shadowrunner watched as the gathering patrol entered the camp, her eyes gleaming in the dark. She cocked her head, waiting for Finchstar to answer Feathercrest's bombarding questions, wanting to know what had happened at the gathering.

Brindlestripe leaned into Hawkstep's warmth. She wrinkled her nose at a thick stench. "What's that smell?" she muttered, though it didn't seem to come from the cats.

Doespring, when she entered the camp, scampered immediately to the fringes of the cats. The panic from before lingered in her mind, a haze of doubt and fear.

Darkpetal couldn't help the worry she felt for her apprentice, so she darted into the fringe of cats to search for Fawnpaw. "Fawnpaw!" She called, dark fur standing on end. When she found him, she relaxed upon seeing him in his nest, her fur flattening.

Ivyfire went immediately to Lionstream, and she nuzzled into the fur on his neck. "I'm alright," she mewed quietly, tail curling tightly around her paws. She was shaken, but definitely alright.

Timberblaze's chest was heaving, trying to breathe in air that wasn't tainted with the horrid stench that had emerged from the ground. When he spotted Mintflurry, he slumped with relief, knowing his other kits probably weren't far away.

Stormcrest went to Agatepaw, ears twitching backward. "Agatepaw! Are you alright? You didn't get hurt, did you?" He mewed, tail curling between his hind legs.

Littledawn glanced down at Melodykit and her eyes widened. "No, of course not! We'll be fine, Melodykit," she mewed and leaned down to rasp her tongue between her daughter's ears. Havenkit lightly batted at his sister. "We'll be great! I'll fight the ground so it stops shaking!" The tom puffed out his chest to try and make himself look bigger. His mother purred in her amusement.

Bushberry went to her apprentice, Blackpaw, nodding in greeting to Littlelily. "Blackpaw, are you okay?" She mewed softly, ears twitching forwards.

“Oh, thank SoulClan.” Lionstream mumbled, resting his head on top of hers. “I thought something terrible had happened! Once the ground started shaking I was so worried.”

Blackpaw looked up at his mentor, smiling at her. “I’m fine, Bushberry. Are you ok? Is everyone ok?”

Hawkstep unsheathed his claws, pressing closer to Brindlestripe at the horrid stench seeming to come from the ground. He looked up at Martenstrike, seeing the rest of the patrol emerge from behind him, and sighed with relief that they didn't lose any Clanmates.

Melodykit nodded, prodding Havenkit back. "I can try too!" she sniffled, hopping and putting all her force into landing back on the ground.

Hollypaw coughed a little, still panting rather heavily.

Finchstar looked around, then sniffed. "What....what in SoulClan is that smell?"

Martenstrike approached Finchstar, still gasping for air. "Something happened," he wheezed, "We were hunting and the ground opened up..."

Finchstar's head tilted. "The ground opened? There wasn't lava, was there?"

He shook his head. "Not that I could see," he mewed, "No light, but there was heat."

Finchstar frowned. "Strange. It doesn't seem like anything's too dangerous right now, though, so nobody leaves the camp until sun-up tomorrow," he nodded, feeling like he was in control of the situation for once. But what if it is dangerous? He squashed the thought, a twitch of his whiskers the only betraying factor.

Tanglepath gave an approving nod to Finchstar.
Martenstrike sighed and trotted towards the den. We weren't even able to bring our prey back...

Shadowrunner narrowed her eyes, watching Finchstar closely as he gave out orders. The mostly black she-cat shrugged and flicked her tail, finally deciding to head in for the night due to the fact there was no leaving camp until the next day. 

Fawnpaw tensed, raising his head in alarm and looking around wildly in the den. "Huh? Did something else happen?" He mewed groggily, blinking sleep out of his eyes until he noticed his mentor standing at the entrance to the den and relaxed a bit more. He wrinkled his nose as he noticed the horrible stench lingering in the camp. 

Milknose yawned, and slipped into the elder's den wanting to get some rest for once.

"Nothing happened, get some more sleep, Fawnpaw." Darkpetal purred and then padded off to the warrior's den, immediately curling up in her nest once she was in there. She draped her tail over her nose, and drifted off, trying to ignore the horrible stench of the returning warriors. Her thoughts drifted to the kits she had lost, and her chest ached because of it.

Littledawn purred softly at the antics of her kits. "Let's get some sleep," she mewed, nudging Havenkit, Melodykit, and Seedkit back toward the nursery. She dipped her head to Scarletwing as she passed, curling up in her nest and looking expectantly at her kits. Havenkit simply huffed and rolled his eyes, but reluctantly obeyed, trotting inside and curling up with his mother and sisters.

Timberblaze wrinkled his nose and licked his fur, gagging slightly because of it. Rather than continue, he padded into the warrior's den and took one of the farthest nests so he wouldn't disturb the other warriors. He sighed, curled up tighter, and drifted off. 

"I'm fine, Lionstream. You can't get rid of me that easily," Ivyfire purred and rasped her tongue over his cheek, then lead him to the warrior's den. She dipped her head to Flintpaw as she passed her apprentice. "Get some sleep, Flintpaw," she meowed, then curled up in her nest once inside the den.

Nettlepaw snorted at Fawnpaw as he trotted into the apprentice den. "You slept through the earth collapsing, burrs for brains," he mewed, settling into his nest.

Tanglepath padded to Finchstar. "You did a good job tonight," he mewed, "I'm going to head to my nest, check in with me tomorrow alright?"

Hollypaw mewed a quiet goodnight to her mentor, padding into the apprentices den just in time to catch Nettlepaw’s words. “At least you didn’t see the ground split in front of you,” she huffed as she sat down, grooming her shoulder and grimacing at the lingering taste. 

Finchstar nodded to the medicine cat, moving to his deputies. “Can we chat in my den, please?”

Fawnpaw's eyes widened, ignoring the insult. "What? The ground really split?" He questioned, only thinking it was a little shake. The orange dappled tom took a while, but the thought suddenly hit him. "Do you think it has anything to do with the volcano?" He gasped, looking to the two older apprentices for answers.

Hollypaw shook her head, finally settling down. "Everyone would be far more worried."

Brindlestripe looked at her mate. "I hope the other clans are safe..." she murmured. Her fur finally began to go flat on her back again, the initial fear easing. "And I hope our hunting grounds stay good."

"They might just not know," Nettlepaw suggested, "I mean, you said the earth split in front of you? Maybe that's an early warning of a volcanic eruption."

Willowstorm wrote:Finchstar nodded to the medicine cat, moving to his deputies. “Can we chat in my den, please?”

ooc: pokes @Jack and @Aquastar lol


ic: Hollypaw shook her head. "It just...smelt bad. It wasn't that warm..." she trailed off. "And it really stunk."

ooc; oh srry

Floralight smiled at his brother, following him closely. Her fur still stood on end, paws still feeling the shadows of rumbling beneath her. "Quite the scare..."

Flintpaw stared at his older brother unintentionally while lost in his thought process.

Leopardpaw's hair was standing on end as she kept close to her mentor, tail between her legs and paws still trembling from earlier.

Cindercatcher sighed slightly, resting his head on his paws. "I'm too old for this."

Crimsonfang looked at Littledawn from a distance longingly.

Nettlepaw's eyes fluttered open as the sun rose over camp. He grumbled, rolling back over and pretending he was still asleep.

Tanglepath looked out into the camp, blinking in exhaustion. He had been restless the whole night, unable to sleep with the stench that filled the camp.

Martenstrike padded out of the warrior's den, letting out a tremendous yawn then scanning the clearing for anyone else who had woken.

Finchstar woke with a start, feeling a tightness in his chest that he hadn't been able to shake all night, relaxing and breathing for a moment before he stood. He shook a bit of moss off his pelt, mulling over the events of the night again.

Tanglepath padded lightly across camp towards Finchstar's den, nose wrinkled. He poked his head through the entrance.