Riverclan Camp

Riverclan Camp

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The furthermost camp away from the gathering place, the RiverClan camp is on a tree-covered island in the middle of a small shallow lake. Littered with rocks, most of the dens have been dug out of the earth and are situated beneath trees as the roots keep the dens together better. The leader's den is situated in an old hollow tree; when speaking to the Clan, the leader stands on an old round rock. During new-leaf the island is prone to flooding; when this happens the rocks littered around become safe zones for those who cannot yet swim.

The water lapped at his belly as the male waded through the lakes shallow waters toward the camp on the island and he could feel the soft lake bed mud attempting to cling to his paws and keep him there as his bulk pressed down into it. Likewise that bulk gave him the strength to easily keep going as he climbed the bank with his fresh kill hanging from his locked jaws. A pair of medium size fish, a hare and a squirrel hit the ground with a soft thud as he let his catch fall onto the fresh kill pile before walking away from it. Moving to the edge of the camp he carefully washed each paw clean before settling on a large flat topped rock before starting to groom his fur with one ear pricked towards the rest of his clan.

White paws listlessly hit the camps clearing as Moonbreeze padded out of the water. Her normally pristine fur still matted with dirt and stick from where she had buried Stormblade earlier that day and where she had laid griving between his grave and that of her darling mates. Her voice was hoarse from talking through her tears as she spoke to her father, mate and son who she had lost in such a short time shattering her heart. She wouldnt lie the thought of finding a way to join them had crossed her mind until she remembered the remaining pups of hers both blood and fostered. They needed her still and she had to be strong for them but not yet as she needed to grieve a little longer for she could do that. Her legs trembled as she sunk down to the ground near the warrior den and her head met the ground softly as she sprawled out almost lifeless bar the raise and fall of her chest.

Perfectly groomed as always, Glitterpaw had been on her way to meet up with her mentor as he padded out of camp, however the state her foster mother was in completely distracted her. She'd never seen Moonbreeze looking so crushed and filthy before, telling herself that she'd make her mentor understand afterwards, Glitterpaw trotted over to the fresh kill pile and picked up a nice fat trout. Carrying it over to her mother, the silver hued female set it down and looked up with concerned purple eyes "Moonbreeze? I brought you something to eat, i didn't catch it but next time i will bring you one i've caught all by myself!" Moonbreeze was a useful ally to her and had proved very useful in the past so she'd gone out of her way to continue to encourage their relationship despite her brothers disgust at her behavior. Inspecting the snow white fur that was dirty and somewhat stinky Glitterpaw flicked Moonbreeze a gentle look before beginning to groom her, if Moonbreeze was to be her mother she needed to look her best or she might make Glitterpaw look bad. "Silentpaw and I still need you" murmuring softly the youngster spoke between licks working on getting the snow white fur snow white once again.

Leaving the quiet medicine wolf den with nervous butterflies the young appreantice cast her eyes around the camp slowly. She had barely even started her training or more accurately she hadnt started training at all really. Now her mentor was gone leaving her on her own with no guidance and she still had to meet Starclan but maybe her uncle Spearstar could take her for that or maybe not it didnt feel right in her heart. Twistedfoot should be the one presenting her to Starclan she would have to find her own way, somehow she would. 'Maybe Silentpaw knows the way hes travelled from the camp before and Im sure he would help if I asked nicely.
I hope.' she thought with a slight frown before her eyes hit Moonbreeze and Glitterpaw. Gasping at the state of her mother the young fae bounded over and joined her adoptived sister in grooming their mothers matted pelt. "Momma I love you." she mummered nuzzling her fur between long licks.

Her normally vibrant jade green eyes were dull as she lifted her head to look at her two pups but they were soft with love. "I love you both." she rasped softly not yet attempting to smile but giving what little comfort she could to them. She could see the trout by her nose and smell its scent but she didnt do more than give it a glance before dropping her head back down. The rasping tounges that soothed over her pelt, cleaning it back to its pristine state,
was a comfort that she accepted quietly as she dozed lightly feeling exhusted.

Sharing a glance with her sister, Glitterpaw sighed a little doubtful of what to do, Noticing Eaglepaw sitting off by himself looking towards where the shore was the silver and blue female got a little grumpy. Marching over to him she nipped his ear "our mother needs some loving, march over and help us!" surely even her free spirited companion could shake a leg and help her. Her blood brother Silentpaw was out of camp, he never seemed to pay much stock in becoming popular like she did which was disappointing, but when it came down to it the pair of them would stick up for each other. Leading Eaglepaw back to their mother she set him to help Oceanpaw groom Moonbreeze while Glitterpaw talked, it was one of the things she was best at after all apart from looking beautiful all the time. Shallow and vain but with a good heart, the apprentice nudged the trout closer looking up at the white warrior "It's going to be okay, Forsakensoul isn't gone, he's alive in Eaglepaw and Oceanpaw, he watches every night from the stars" leaning forward to clean the tear stained fur beneath Moonbreeze's eyes, gentle purple eyes bespoke of for once more than thoughts about her self. While she hadn't had much interest in the deaf blind young wolf who'd been forced to become an elder whilst so young, Glitterpaw understood loosing someone, she missed her true parents every day and even though he didn't show it she knew Silentpaw still suffered the same, having become so much more reclusive and quiet than he had been before.

Eaglepaw had been thinking about blue, it was all his world was after all, staring out at the tree's watching how all the different shades blended into each other. The nip to his ear made him jump and scramble up onto his paws, "Owe!" about to chew Glitterpaw out who he didn't really like that much her words made him look over at his mother, guilt lowered his tail from up in the air to tucked between his legs. Following the smaller wolf, Eaglepaw obediently moved to start help grooming his mothers pelt noticing with some sourness that Silentpaw was absent, it rubbed him the wrong way that he wasn't allowed out of camp without a warrior present but that idiot could go wherever he wanted. It didn't occur to him it was because Eaglepaw wasn't exactly quiet or subtle whereas Silentpaw could just appear to vanish into the shadows, dragging his mind away from selfish thoughts he dedicated himself to cleaning the filthy fur.

The feeling of a third tongue rasping over her fur roused Moonbreeze a little and her eye slowly focused in on her blood son where he had joined his sister at her side. "Eaglepaw." she breathed out greeting her free spirited pup before turning an ear to Glitterpaw as the trout was moved closer to her. At the apprentices words her eyes rolled up towards the sky and she wished that she could see Starclan so she could wonder which ones were her family. Were they together, were they happy, were they really watching and waiting for them? She did not have the answers to the questions but she hoped with all her heart they were all good answers. Lifting her head up a little she reached out a nibbled at the trout slowly hoping to ease the worry of her little family that was still with her.

It was hard to keep his snort to himself, he didn't particularly believe in starclan believing it to be a way the leaders kept order and clan members behaving. However Glitterpaws words seemed to soothe Moonbreeze so he stayed silent carefully grooming her beside Oceanpaw, he was quite proud that she wanted to become a medicine wolf although he had no idea how she was able to follow all those rules. Rules were made to be broken in his expert opinion after all, washing his tongue over his mothers soft white fur the youngster who took after his father in more ways than one settled down next to his mother after he and oceanpaw had finished cleaning hoping his company would help ease the heart ache he could barely understand. Nuzzling into her familiar smelling fur, yellow eyes watched glitterpaw wondering what the shallow but highly manipulative apprentice would do next.

Spearstar ran his eyes over the camp slowly as he put weight on his almost fully heal twisted paw easily finding his sister being pampered by her pups. Padding over he drop her nose to the top of her head and gently lapped at her fur in comfort before gently nosing each of the apprentices silently in greeting. Leaving Moonbreeze in the caring paws of Eaglepaw, Oceanpaw and Glitterpaw while she slowly ate he made his way over to Copperwave. "All quiet today?" he asked the other male standing by the rock he was on.

He'd been roaming around for a few months causing trouble here and there but had been quite unable to get his hooks into anyone enough to persuade them to go up against the clan's vastly out dated views. However after the death of Twistedfoot due to a certain white wolf permanently splattered in blood the young medicine wolf apprentice of this clan was the perfect candidate for his purpose. After all the two wolves he'd been closest with had been hurt so much by these clans, sticking to his mist form he slipped through the shadows to the den where the broken queen lay surrounded by her pups. Recognizing the one called Oceanpaw he murmured gently into her ear "Starclan has heard your worries about being mentorless, I have been sent to be your special Mentor, meet me at the secret meadow and we will begin your training, my young apprentice" with that the mist vanished heading to the secret meadow and fully expecting the female to go there too, after all he knew better than anyone that the clans put much faith in their star studded ancestors

Giving a huge sigh of relief when Moonbreeze showed some more signs of life and began to eat, some of her worry leaving left more worry when she realized she'd taken longer than she'd meant to and Copperwave was already back in camp. Torn between going and sucking up to her mentor and looking after Moonbreeze she looked back and forth between the two of them a few times before she opted to keep looking after Moonbreeze. Her loyalty to her mother a little stronger than that of her mentor, Moonbreeze so obviously needed her pups to care for her after loosing so much, "Thats right you won't get better if you don't eat" licking her mothers muzzle Glitterpaw stubbornly stayed with her until the white she wolf seemed to perk up a bit. Satisfied she'd be okay, the apprentice turned and darted off to where her mentor was sitting, stopping infront of him she lowered her ears and tail in a show of respect before speaking "I'm so sorry I missed out on the patrol Copperwave! Moonbreeze wasn't in a good way so I had to stay and look after her until she felt better" it was well known that Moonbreeze was her foster mother so she didn't feel the need to add that to her sentence lowering her purple eyes to the ground Glitterpaw added "What will my punishment be?" she knew it was better to be like this after missing something important, respect and submission instead of arrogance got you further.

Moonbreeze rolled her eyes up as her older brother came over and left after silently offering them all a little comfort as she continued to nibble on the trout with her pups around her. As the food settle into her she felt a little more life come back into her and she sped up her eating even though she wasn’t able to finish it all. Her green eyes followed Glitterpaw as she left her side to go over to Copperwave and she quickly realised that her adopted daughter must have skipped out on a lesson to care for her. Love and guilt rolled through her as she swung her gaze to her blood pups and she swiped her tongue over their ears breathing in their scents as she did.

Copperwave lifted his head as Spearstar approached and he nodded his head to the newest leader in greeting. His ear flickered as the grey male asked if it had been quiet on the borders just like he had every day since he had become laided up a few weeks back with a badly twisted paw. He responded with a grunt, for he didn’t speak unless he had to so he knew Spearstar would know it had been quiet, as he finished cleaning his paws. His attention was drawn down then before he could continue his grooming when his apprentice stopped before him and he narrowed his amber eyes at her. He had ended up leaving her behind when she hadn’t turned up on time for her lesson as instructed though they softened slightly when she said she had been caring for Moonbreeze. The white female had been given a bad paw in life and he couldn’t remain to mad at Glitterpaw for wanting to look after the queen who had raised her. ”Clean out my nest.” he ordered after a few moments. It was a punishment but not an overly difficult one most would assume until they took into account his bulk which meant he had the largest nest of the clan currently. ”Dawn.” he also told her tapping the rock he was on indicating this was were she was to be waiting for her lesson the next day. Dismissing her silently he turned his head around and started cleaning the rest of his body with care.

Turning her eyes down towards the gravelly earth beneath her paws at his look, Glitterpaw nodded and obediently turned to go clean out his nest. She hated chores and cleaning others bedding but if she was going to get along with her mentor she needed to do as he said, going the extra mile of prettying up his nest for him, glitterpaw fetched a small fish to eat afterwards and groomed the dirt and dust out of her pelt that had gotten there from cleaning and remaking the nest. Trotting over to sit next to Copperwave, hoping they might get to go out on their very first patrol together, her unusual eyes flicked from the entrance to camp and back to him thinking things over "I had to help her, loyalty is what binds the clan together after all, she's been so kind to me and my brother too" not having had much to do with him she'd figured him out even so, and she could guess at what to say to get her hooks into him. He'd make a good protector and now Hollowpaw was gone, he was the best shot she had "Don't you think so? I can't believe some wolves leave their birthclans" shaking her head at the very idea of being so disloyal that one would abandon the pack that had raised them and trained them. She couldn't trust someone like that, the male was so much bigger than she was yet she didn't feel afraid of Copperwave in the slightest.

Leaning into her mother it took all of Oceanpaws ability to not flinch as a voice sounded in her ear but the words spoken sent hope down her spine. Starclan had noticed her and wanted to train her themselves, it almost felt to good to be true. Nuzzling Moonbreeze once more she rose to her paws and stretched her body out. "Im going to go see where herbs grow. Ill be careful." she said so a warrior knew where she was going. Bounding out of camp the mix coloured apprentice raced off to meet her Starclan mentor.

~To the Secret Meadow~

He kept one eye on the young female as she worked while he kept on grooming his fur with care because even though he had told her to do it, he was a possessive bastard and that was his nest. Once she was done he returned to ignoring her as he finished, resting his head over his paws he took a rare moment to relax a little in his semi shaded spot. He heard the click of claws beside his large frame and turned one large ear towards the sound for he was facing away from it and grunted when Glitterpaw spoke. Loyalty kept the clan together he agreed but he didn’t speak as he waited for her to get to her point. None came over to him for no reason, not anymore that is anyway.

So very desperate to go out and see the big wide world, Glitterpaw just sighed and lay down next to him grooming her fur to go underneath the pretty trinket she wore. Hollowpaw had given it to her, and although he had been an idiot he'd been her idiot, resting her head between her paws thinking about him she after a while looked up at him quietly. "Copperwave, I know this is probably personal and too soon but, did you ever loose someone you thought was going to be your mate one day? How does one cope with something like that?" she spoke seriously and quietly wanting to know what he thought, she and Hollowpaw had belonged together, they were perfect and perfect together born to be together forever dancing through life. How could she be fabulous without him? violet eyes glittered and she looked down, he was her mentor mentors were supposed to help with things like this right? She didn't want to bother moonbreeze with it with the way her mother was right now, fidgeting with the pearls that nestled into her silver fur Glitterpaw added "If you don't want to answer thats fine I just, you're my mentor i can't think of anyone else to ask" she missed him so much, fidgeting more with the pearls as she tried not to cry Glitterpaw couldn't bare to look up at her mentor.

Her question was innocent and she was way to young to know what had happened or to have even heard what happened but it was to late. The large copper hued males eyes glazed over as the memory slammed forward unbidden from where it was buried deep in the depth of his mind.

Copperwave was finally 2 and he had been seeing Whitewash for almost a year now. She was a beautiful sandy coloured female with a ripples of white ripples through her long fur and stunning pink eyes coupled with a soft sweet voice. He was in love with her and today he was going to ask her to be his mate. Freshly groomed the large male walked out into the clearing of the camp sweeping his excited amber eyes around the camp where he spotted the love of his young life with his ebony coated older litter brother Midnightslash. He liked that they got on for he didnt want to be torn between his mate and his blood for he was to loyal for that to be a comfort to him. Picking his paws up he confidently approached the pair as they looked out over the water that surround their home, watching as Whitewash agreed to something that made them both happy. Reaching their sides he opened his muzzle to speak only to recieve a heart crushing blow. "Oh Copperwave, Whitewash just agreed to be my mate." Midnightslash told him excitedly, smug and with a glint in his green eyes, "Looks like she finally wised up and saw how useless you were little brother." The last part was whispered into Coppers ear and he clenched his jaw closing his emotions of as betrayal and rage exploded within his chest. "Congrats you deserve each other." he spat before whirling around and stalking out of camp where he remained missing from for nearly a full moon cycle. He throw himself into patroling the borders and hunting for his clan often leaving his kills to be taken back to camp by the warriors he still saw but it was the end of his open kindness and cheerful ways as he built steel walls around his heart and mind to protect himself. By the time he returned his brother and his mate had left the clan having been shunned by many of the clan.

Snarling he shoved the memory back into the depths of his mind as his large bulk launched off the rock and into the lake with suprising agility and ease as he fled. Old rage boiled up in his chest as he stormed through the lake in the direction of Greys beach.

~Greys Beach~

She'd been genuinely waiting for an answer, instead when her mentor had stiffened up and his eyes had grown distant, when he suddenly sprang back to life growling Glitterpaw was up and backing up out of the way watching with confusion and fright as he stormed off. Not exactly understanding what had gone on, the fury and aggression displayed was something she was completely unused to, her heart pounded in her chest as what had happened sunk in. Growing more upset, She turned about and turned away from the direction her mentor had gone splashing into the shallows of the lake that their camp was based on, missing Hollowpaw and whatever dimwitted suggestion he'd say that'd make her laugh. She was safe to be thoughtless with him, unlike her mentor it seemed, the pain was enough to make violet eyes water with unshed tears. She needed to get away from here and find someowhere to sit and clear her head, stepping into the water and starting to swim for perches flow
~Perches Flow~