RiverClan Camp Thread

^{birchstorm | he/him | warrior | 50 moons (4.1 years) | riverclan | open for interaction}

    On a typical morning in RiverClan, there was only one place you could expect Birchstorm to be.  Ever alert and guarded,  the tom would be keeping his distance perched on one of the branches above the elder's den.  However, unlike your typical morning, the warrior was looking rather listless.   The pale gray tom stared blankly ahead, the only movements around him his faint breaths and the slight sway of the tree.  The drought had taken its toll on Birchstorm- perhaps not so much as it did on his Clanmates who had grown up with the river their whole lives- but his heavy fur coat and reluctance to get in the water did not help.  

He was grateful for the faint semblance of a breeze he felt being at this elevation.  Something about it was oddly therapeutic to him.  He could have almost fallen back asleep.

   Inevitably, Birchstorm's restless nature would not allow him to stay in inaction for long.   He takes a deep breath and then heaves himself on his feet again.  Then without a second thought, Birchstorm scrambles down clumsily, abandoning all evidence of his usual cautious nature.  The tom looks around the clearing frantically.  Birchstorm doesn't have to say anything, his panting made it obvious what he was looking for.

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    Wigeonpath was never much of a morning lover. She let out a heavy sigh as she rolled over from her resting place, a shaded spot, just barely under the branches of a tree. The last thing she wanted to do right now was wake up, but she had better things to do than lay around all day like a lump of mud.

    Clambering up to her paws, she stretched out in an attempt to rid herself of some stiffness and planted her rear on the ground. She began grooming her messy fur, running the tasks she could do through her head. She was only ever skilled with hunting fish, and with how bad the drought was hunting was out of the question. She looked around at some of her other clanmates and crossed battle practice off the list, not wanting to disturb anyone too early in the morning. Maybe she could help out an elder, or give a warrior a day off by taking their apprentice out into the territory?

    She snapped her head up in surprised as one of her clanmates, Birchstorm, barreled out of one of the trees in the camp. While she didn't know much about the standoffish tom she knew this was very out of character for him.

    "Is everything alright, Birchstorm?" Wigeonpath called out to him, her ears up and alert, facing his direction.

^{birchstorm | he/him | warrior | 50 moons (4.1 years) | riverclan | wigeonpath}

     Birchstorm halted, looking over Widgeonpath uneasily.  That one was second in command.  Any other cat he might have blown off and went about with what he was doing, but from what he knew about living here for the past five moons, she was more important than the other cats.  

     "No," He answers curtly, "But I am fine."

     The tom stops to give his ruffled pelt a few licks, as if to prove it.  He regrets this almost immediately.   Touching his tongue to dry fur only makes him feel even more thirsty. 

     "What are the patrols today?" He asks to change the subject.  "If I'm not on any of them,  I'm going out to hunt on my own."  Birchstorm had a serious, hard expression as he often did, but his paws shuffled in anticipation.  The tom was antsy, which wasn't unusual, but he seemed especially urgent today.  

_{name| pronouns | rank | age | clan | interacting with}

    Wigeonpath rose to her paws and stepped closer to Birchstorm. She squinted her eyes at him a little, looking him up and down.

    "If everything is not alright you are not fine." she mewed. She glanced around camp at her resting clanmates before looking back at the bulky grey tom. He looked as if he were in a rush, but there wasn't anything for him to rush too as far as she knew.

    "If you're just restless, though, I was planning on going on a small patrol myself around the borders and by the streams to make sure everything's in order." She glanced shown at his shifting paws and smiled at him softly. "You're not scheduled for any patrols today, but you're definitely welcomed to come with me. I feel like a bit of land hunting might do me some good, too."

^{birchstorm | he/him | warrior | 50 moons (4.1 years) | riverclan | wigeonpath}

The tom had mostly meant that as an off-handed comment.   Things weren't okay.   Things were terrible right now,  and it didn't matter if he was fine or not because- as long as he was able- he still had to hunt for the Clan or go on patrols.  Birchstorm would have mentioned this, but he didn't have the energy for it right now.  

Birchstorm frowns as she gets closer and almost takes a step back.  The tom stays still, and his pelt prickles slightly.  "Alright then, I'll come."  He says.

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    She nodded at his response. "Good to hear. The more the merrier, as they say."

    Wigeonpath flicked her tail over to the camp's entrance and turned her body towards it. "I'll be waiting over there if you'd like to take a moment to smooth your fur over. It looks a bit messy." She began making her way over before stopping and calling over her shoulder. "Also, let me know if you don't feel too good while we're out there. I'll take you back to camp."

^{birchstorm | he/him | warrior | 50 moons (4.1 years) | riverclan | wigeonpath}

The tom lets out a distasteful scoff.  He already didn't feel good, but he'd be fine.  He had to be.  Birchstorm doesn't bother to groom back his fur and simply stalks after Wigeonpath right away.  He was characteristically impatient to get out of camp.  The gray warrior stops about a cat-length away and tilts his ears back to listen behind him.
 "Is anyone else coming?"  Birchstorm asks, managing to mask his reluctance.  Bigger groups had their advantages but he didn't have to be happy about it.  

_{name| pronouns | rank | age | clan | interacting with}

A huge yawn escaped Smokestream’s mouth, as she woke up in her spot among reeds. She slowly raised her head and scanned the clearing. It seemed like not many cats were awake. Despite that, the molly didn’t feel like trying to fall back asleep. After all, she had to help her Clan! She slowly stretched out her limbs before standing up. At times like these, she wasn’t suffering as much as most of her clanmates, thanks to her short fur.

Smokestream padded to the middle of the camp, making sure she didn’t accidentally step over any of the sleeping cats. She briefly looked around, before turning her gaze towards her deputy and fellow warrior, the only two cats that she noticed were fully awake.

“Morning!” She chirped, as she approached the two. She paused to dip her head at Wigeonpath. “Are you two heading out already?”

    "Good Morning, Smokestream," Wigeonpath responded, nodding a bit in return. She flicked her tail in Birchstorm's direction as she started speaking. "We were planning on patrolling around the territory and checking out the streams, and maybe doing a bit of hunting. You're welcome to tag along if you would like to." She didn't have Smokestream scheduled for a patrol either, but she figured it wouldn't hurt to bring more cats along.

    She looked back over to her other clanmate. "So long as that's alright with you as well, Birchstorm."

^{birchstorm | he/him | warrior | 50 moons (4.1 years) | riverclan | wigeonpath, smokestream}

     Birchstorm recoils slightly as Smokestream comes closer.  The tom backs up enough to let the she-cat walk in front of him where he could keep and eye on her.  Even so, his eyes shift between the two cats suspiciously.

     Birchstorm didn't understand why Wigeonpath bothered asking him.  She was the one in charge here, it should be her decision.  "It's fine." Birchstorm hisses, clearly agitated.

     The gray tom answers as if she were presenting a challenge, baiting him to say 'no' so they could start something.  I'm not falling for that, he thought.

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    Wigeonpath's eyes widened a bit at his tone. She didn't understand why he seemed so ornery, she just wanted to make sure he'd be comfortable with more cats, seeing as he was a bit of a loner and clearly not in the best mood. She was about to touch her tail to his shoulder in a comforting motion but stopped herself before she started; it wouldn't look very good for either of them if they ended up in a fight, especially this early in the day.

    She turned back towards Smokestream and smiled at the young tabby. "Like I said, you're welcomed to tag along, but please hurry if you would like to. The faster we get this patrol going, the more time we have to check on everything."

"Ah, I see." Smokestream looked at the two cats, seeming a bit confused by Brichstorm's snarky behaviour. She wasn't really sure what was going on with him, but she hoped that he would loosen up a bit as they went out. "Oh, I would love to come!" She quickly stepped towards the camp exit, before turning to see if the other cats are coming, her short tail swaying gently to the sides.

^{birchstorm | he/him | warrior | 50 moons (4.1 years) | riverclan | wigeonpath, smokestream}

Birchstorm settles down slightly, but not much.  His fur had flattened back down, but he still watched the other cats carefully.   "Alright then."  He grunts.   The tom's tail twitches impatiently as he waits to follow them out.

_{name| pronouns | rank | age | clan | interacting with}