Old ShadowClan Camp

First topic message reminder :

A camp is a site where a Clan makes its permanent home. It is where the wolves sleep, meet, bring fresh-kill,get treated for injuries or illness, receive orders, and make reports to the Clan leader or deputy. Some wolves, such as queens, kits and elders stay in the camp, while the warriors, deputy and leader patrol the territory and hunt. Each Clan has one camp.

ShadowClan camp is surrounded by prickly brambles and bushes and hidden in a well-concealed hollow. There are constant patrols sent out and the camp and borders are fiercely guarded. There is a small, always guarded path leading to and into the camp. The leader's den is located underneath a large oak tree. You must gain entrance and not enter the den without permission. Near the edge of the clearing of camp there is a large, smooth boulder used for meetings and announcements. Right next to that boulder, there is a smaller rock. Underneath this rock is a cave where the Medicine Wolf resides. Sick and injured Clan members visit and get aid there. The warrior's den is located underneath bramble bushes and is lined with moss and pine needles. There is also another thorn bush. This is the nursery where new born pups and their mothers live until the pups have grown.

Despite the fact that RiverClan and ShadowClan had combined, both camps are still used frequently by each Clan.

Lightningpaw yawned, she was waiting outside the camp, looking for something to do. The storm was coming but she didn't care. She was purely bored. The young black wolf growled to the tree but stopped when Shadestar howled for everyone to get in the Elders den. Lightningpaw looked up at the sky and saw the reason for the command. The sky was dark and fierce, a bad storm coming right then and there. She bolted up and raced through the camp enterance then slowed a bit as she crept toward the elders den. She paused to greet Shadestar, lowering her head slightly, then crawled into the den where she saw Skypup, Apachepup and a couple others. She nodded to them, calmly curling up to one side of the den, and waited to see who else would make it. Her bright blue eyes shifted from wolf to wolf, evaluating their reactions to the storm. She herself knew the storm would be bad, yet she was surprisingly calm. She even yawned. Her eyes swept to the den enterance, wondering who would make it to the den next.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed, a flash stronger than that of when she herself was born, thus earning her name. She shivered and looked again at the pups, laying her head on her paws.

The young pup nodded at his leader once more, remaining silent as the shock and fear began to lower to a more tolerable level. He was never one to allow such emotions to get the better of him for long, looking on the bright side Apachepup gazed around the elder's den taking in his pack mates. Many had made it to the den safely, thanking Starclan for such a small victory Apachepup did not have time to do anything else when Darkfeather limped into the den, concern mixed with relief as the pup followed the she-wolf to the back of the den. Once she had stored her herbs Apache flung himself to her, careful to avoid the injured legs the pup snuggled close to the medicine wolf, whining as he pushed his nose deeper into her shoulder fur. "I was so worried!" he said, "When you didn't come into the den after me I thought that you had gotten lost, or had been injured and unable to return to the camp..." Taking in the injured foot the pup looked up at Darkfeather, "Are you okay?"

Apachepup smiled, his eyes closing when the she-wolf gave him a reassuring lick. "I'm happy you're relatively okay." he said, returning the lick. "Is there anything I can do to help make you more comfortable?" The sound of thunder boomed, seeming to shake the earth to its very core as it too quacked in fear of the fierce storm. Earing pinned against his head in an attempt to block out the painfully loud sound the pup huddled closer to Darkfeather seeking comfort from her presence.

Darkfeather could hardly hear the pup as thunder cut through the air. "No" she replied not wanting to wear the pup out. She felt him snuggle closer to her and sighed, "lets just lay down and try to pass the time some how." She slowly shrunk down steadily, flinching as she flexed her strained muscle. Once laying on the ground she tugged at the pups tail gently smiling, trying to lighten the mood and perhaps distract the pup from the storm.

Apache laid next to Darkfeather, frowning when she flinched he didn't want to rest but help her. It was not in his nature to leave a lady in such a state, but she had asked him to lay next to her as they waited out the storm and so he complied. He laughed when she tugged on his tail playfully nipping her shoulder, the slight distraction was welcomed. Even though he was not going to let the worry take over him, it was still present inside his heart while he had been waiting for Darkfeather all kinds of scenarios had played inside the pup's head. Floods, mud slides, a shortage of prey, and drought after the storm, so many possibilities of disaster that Apache had to force the thoughts out of his mind or risk a total panic attack.

Once again the pup found himself picturing a flood sweeping through camp, sweeping everything away everyone helpless to stop it. It took a great amount of effort to push the thought aside, and to help do it he commented, "I bet the territory will smell better after this, I was beginning to catch the stench of the carrion place everywhere I went. "

Hearing the pup's comment Darkfeather chuckled, "yea but hopefully our territory wont stink of fish." She gave an over exaggerated shudder at the thought of smelling like the Riverclan cats all the time. The dark pelted canid sighed, she hated what they would see once the storm had passed, the land would be destroyed as well as there camp. It was take moons to rebuild everything.

Darkfeather shook her head, trying to distract herself from the after math of the storm and said "I wonder how Riverclan cats deal with it." She almost gagged thinking of the horrid scent of fish that clung to the Riverclan cats pelts, she absolutely didn't understand why the other clans smelled so foul.

Apache laughed," I don't think its that bad," he replied, giving his paw a lick, "its the smell of the rotting fish I hate, living near that big river they must have to deal with that smell all the time. I'd not be bale to keep down my meal if I had to live there, I can hardly stand the smell of the carrionplace!"

By now the pup's fur had mostly dried, sticking out at awkward angles Apache's pelt looked like an over enthusiastic porcupine.

A soft laugh escaped her muzzle before the ebony she-wolf laid her head on her paws and curled up closer to the pup. Although her eyes closed she couldn't sleep, not with the constant thundering outside. She almost drifted to sleep but a loud pop woke her, bringing her back to the nightmarish storm. She sighed but kept her eyes closed, at least hoping for a bit of rest during the storm.

The pup settled closer to the she-wolf as she curled around him, like her he closed his eyes but was unable to sleep on account of the thundering crashes that accosted his ears every few seconds. he found the patter of the rain on the den quite soothing, but that other blasted noise associated with storms seemed to have it out for him.

Lightning watched as the medicine wolf and the pup conversed, completely content to just lie by herself to the side of the den. She sniffed the air. The smell of the storm hung around and the thunder reigned supreme over all the sounds. She sighed at being cooped up in the elders den. She didn't want to have to wait out some storm with the entire clan. She flicked her ears when she caught the conversation of the two other wolves and glanced at them, noticing how the pup and medicine wolf curled together. For a brief moment it reminded her of her mother and brother. She loved to just curl up in the warm embrace of her mom with her brother at her side. But no longer would she have that comfort. A brief flicker of sadness flashed in her eyes but the sound of the storm brought her out of it and she sighed, laying her head on her paws.

(I'm going on vacation from this Thursday to the 8th or 9th of next month and won't be able to get on... Sorry...)

Apachepup finally gave up all hope of sleeping after thunder boomed for the hundredth time since he had closed his eyes, his an exasperated sigh the pup stood. if he couldn't sleep he might as well walk around the den and converse with the members. Someone had to be willing to chat with him, after all what else could you do stuck in the elder's den?

A rumble of thunder caused the pup to flinch as his ears were once again brutally assaulted by the loud noise, if this keeps up any longer I'm going to go deaf!. He thought unhappily, giving Darkfeather a gentle lick the pup walked away. Not like he had anywhere to go in the small confines of the den but he was still filled with the boundless energy of youth, and so he wandered around the small space weaving around members when necessary as he tried to relieve the built up tension in his legs.

For once the pup was happy he was smaller, if he were an adult his long legs would have made him considerably taller making the space much more cramped. Although he was still considered tall for his age Apache did not have the feelings of being cramped or hemmed in like the adults would be experiencing as they waited out the storm. The storm, a frown bent the male's limps, how long would it last? What damage would it do to the territory? How long would it take them to rebuild everything? Would there be anything left afterwards? So many questions swirled around inside the pups head like the howling winds he heard outside, until finally he had to stop and sit as he concentrated on ridding his mind of such thoughts once more.

What he need was a she-wolf to talk to, talking to such a lovely creature would definitely distract him from the terrible storm raging outside the walls of the den.


(OOC: Bye Lightning, I hope that you have a fun time on your vacation.)

Nightfeather shifted, getting more and more uncomfortable in the cramped den as time went on. It was better than being out in the storm, of course, but she still wished the den was larger. She sighed, hoping that the clan's territory wouldn't be damaged too much even though she knew that that probably wouldn't be the case. If it had just been rain, it wouldn't be as bad. Lightning, however, was a bigger threat, and there was no shortage of it in this storm. No, I need to think more positively, thought the female. We'll be fine. Once it passes, we can recover from the damage.. right?

As she watched Apachepup wander around the den, Nightfeather had to admire his bravery. He didn't seem to be affected too badly by the storm, at least not as much as most pups would be. He'll make a great warrior, she thought as she laid down and rested her head on her paws. Not really looking or watching for anything, she looked back toward the entrance of the den. It was holding up against the storm better than she had expected it to. Maybe the storm isn't really that bad, she thought. There wasn't much for her to do other than think and watch the other wolves, but so far it wasn't as bad as she thought it'd be.

The pup felts eyes burn into his pelt, someone was watching him. Moving his eyes more then his head the pup spotted Nightfeather catching the movement of her looking away as she began to stare at nothing in particular. Ears perked forward the pup made his way over to her, his large paws stirring up dried moss as he went, coming to stand next to her the little male sat. Tilting his head to allow himself to look into the female's face without having to move always in front of her the male fixed his golden eyed gaze with her's.

"Good evening, ma'am" he said, slipping into the voice he used when addressing females. The voice was respectful and proper, like a gentleman addressing a noble women. "I couldn't help notice you looking my way, might I be of some assistance?"

Shadestar watched Apachepup carefully as he made his way around the den, looking for any sort of conversation, apparently. He decided that once the storm was over it would be time for him to be given a mentor and become an apprentice. Shadestar's eyes flickered over to Nightfeather, deciding she would be a good match. Looking at Lightningpaw, he saw she didn't have a mentor either. They were at a shortage of warriors, but he recalled Moonlightmelody. He could have that arranged as well. As the storm raged outside, his thoughts turned to the female warrior. Where was she? All the Clan was here except for her. Bracing himself, he decided he must go look for her. It was way too long to wait. Running out into the storm, he started running towards the entrance of the camp. He could barely see two steps in front of him, but as he got closer he saw another figure. Moonlightmelody? The leader squinted his eyes and confirmed that yes, it was her. She was barely making it into the camp and probably couldn't suffer through much more. "We're in the Elders den!" he shouted over the rain and thunder. He pushed her towards the den so she could lean on him for support. Meanwhile the rain was downpouring and he was completely and utterly soaked.

"Well if there is anything you need all you have to do is call." He said with a smile, he found her reaction amusing. It was rather entertaining to get an adult tongue tied, wolves in Shadowclan were never sure how to react to the oddly mature stream of words that flowed from the pup's mouth. The young male cocked his head when Night praised how he was handling the storm. "There is nothing I can do to change the course of events," he said, flicking his tail absentmindedly, " Why should I worry about something I cannot change, I'd rather save my energy and put it towards something useful. Like cleaning up our territory and camp, or aiding the injured and elderly, I may be a pup but I can still be of some use to the clan. Although I have to admit, I don't like being cooped up inside this den."

He looked up at the roof of the den, his ever observant eyes picking out each thorn and making shapes and images out of them, "it can't be any fun you, I am still a pup you're a fully grown, beautiful, lady. Such small confines was not intended for such an extended use, or for so many."

Apachepup grinned, "I would rather be you size!" he exclaimed, thrusting a paw forward to show her is over sized paws he went on, " My legs are too long, my paws to big, I can hardly make it across the camp without tripping over myself, I would like to grow at least a little more into them. Wishing away my youth is unwise, but I do wish my body would hurry up and grow some more." The male stopped studying his paw when Shadestar left the den, the young male's ears twitched as he wondered what his leader was doing.

Probably going to find someone. he thought, noticing that Moonlightmelody hadn't returned yet, he didn't have long to worry about her though as Shadestar returned with Moon following behind. "It'll be nice to be able to stretch our legs," he agreed, laying down the male began to clean the dry mud from his pelt; unable to stand it any longer.

The pup cocked his head to listen to the she-wolf, he smiled when she mentioned her past and nodded his agreement when said he should cherish the time as a pup. "being young does have its perks. "he agreed, he knew that the warriors bore the burden of the pack as a pup he had been given a free ride. He was not asked to do anything, he would be fed first even when the rest of the pack was starving, it was a pampered life because he was so young.

But he did not want that, he wished to do what he could to earn the right to eat, even if all he did was carry things from one place to another he would still be of some use. At the moment he felt like a burden to the pack, and he hated it.

"So, "He started, giving her a mischievous look "What did you do when you were an apprentice?"