Croaking Swamp

[nykyrian]

Lynxblossom

She/Him | @Kay~

"Good job." She chirped, voice muffled by the herbs. He nodded at his statement, trotting eagerly after Wolfpeak.

#47

[Swiftheart <3]

"the croaking swamp." dawnheart said. Shadowheart heard the croaking of frogs and saw the muddy swamp. Shadowheart's face was straight as she looked forward.

[Abyssopelagic]

 

[ @Estelle ]

Honeybite was more than pleased to have a chance to go hunting with Applechatter alone. It felt like it had been far too long since the two had last had a chance to just spend time together.
The Croaking Swamp. I'm sure we can catch some interesting things there."
Interesting was code for prey she'd rather not eat if she could help it. It was a texture thing more than an issue of taste.

.
.

[ @furrenic ]

She'd just started to leave camp with her little shadow when Gladerunner's voice drifted to her ears.
She turned to face her, carefully schooling herself to be devoid of any emotion.
Whether it was because Applechatter was right beside her, or the fact they could bring more in with a larger patrol, she decided to be merciful this day.
"You're late, Gladerunner." She stated.
"I had thought you weren't coming, so I'd asked Applechatter to come with me. But since you're here, we'll have more paws to bring home prey."
She beckoned for the others with her tail.
"Let's be quick. I'd hate to get on Mirehound's bad side for being late."

Honeybite led what was now a group through the territory to the Croaking Swamp. She knew she needn't check if Applechatter was keeping pace, but she occasionally made glances behind her to check instead for Gladerunner. Not that she'd stop to look for her if she went missing, at this point they really didn't have time to look for a clanmate that had wandered until the way back home.
Once they'd made it to the swamp, she slowed her rather brisk pace to a crawl as she surveyed the area for where she personally would like to start her hunt.
Originally, she'd wanted to put her efforts in with the calcio she'd asked for assistance from, but with 3 of them now, she didn't feel as inclined for group efforts.
"I will be hunting by myself, you may hunt together or on your own. Either way, we should make our way back to this spot once once we're done."

[Estelle]

So the other patrol member showed up after all. Not that it was a bad thing, on the contrary, that only meant more prey for ShadowClan. Simply, the feline had been looking forward to a hunting fun hunting trip with their sibling. But so be it; it was better not to mix personal life and work anyway. Politely, Applechatter gave a small smile in greeting to the other feline before heading off after Honeybite without further word. The silence, to them, was comfortable, if a little happy -- true to their name, Applechatter did, in fact, enjoy chatting.

Now onto hunting. True to her personality (although a tad sad for the feline), Honeybite was going alone. This meant that Applechatter was going alone too. Giving a nod to Gladerunner, they went in the direction opposite of Honeybite. These swaps were rather.. Interesting, but had its charms. Lurking low to the ground, a frog in sight, Applechatter neatly pounced onto the slimy creature and bit down, their nose crinkling at the nasty taste, though at least it went limp. Yuck.


[ @Abyssopelagic @furrensic ]

[Abyssopelagic]

Honeybite's jaws snapped into the soft flesh of a rather large toad, crushing the blobuous creature's head, ending its life rather swiftly. She was more than glad to deposite her catch into a stash, moving onto more hunting and hopefully prey than wouldn't make her skin crawl to have in her mouth.
She crept through the shadows, ignoring the tiny salamanders that crawled all around.
The sounds of bird wings made her look longing at the trees, and the missed opportunity to hunt with Applechatter. It had been so long since they'd gone tree hunting. Truthfully, she would have much rather hunted with their little sibling, but then she would have had to involve Gladerunner.....
On day, she told herself.
The two were long overdue time together after Clan life had made them both so busy.

A rather large rustle caught her attention and she looked back to the tall grass, sure to keep low to the ground and avoid being seen.
She scented muskrat. Yes.
This was definitely better than some stupid frog.
She stalked the rodent, waiting for a good time to strike, and when she did, it's life ended with a squeak. Nice.

[ @Estelle; @furrensic ]

[Estelle]

They were quick to hide the nasty frog below some of the undergrowth of the swamp, so they could move on to a different piece of prey. It wasn't that they outright disliked frog -- there were worse tastes, but Applechatter still avoided it for the texture. That's what they couldn't stand. The slimy, icky texture that came with a frog. Otherwise, it tasted sort of like fish, or chicken. But moving on, time was wearing thin. They didn't know exactly where Honeybite or Gladerunner were; it made them uncomfortable, but it was fine. They were a grown warrior for star's sake. Huffing at their silly feelings, Applechatter lurked low to the ground once more, scarily pale eyes focused on their next victim: a bird. It wasn't big, nor was it small. Perfectly sized, some would say. Bunching their legs, the warrior purposefully stepped on a branch to spook the bird. They jumped after it with a mighty leap, claws clasping around the bird's wings, swiftly biting down on its neck. And of course, they had landed perfectly on all fours. Applechatter was, if anything, quite the jumper. Proud of their two catches, they went to retrieve the previously caught frog and returned to the intended meeting place, subtly noting they were the first to arrive.


[ @Abyssopelagic ]

[Abyssopelagic]

Honeybite stuck her tongue out as she looked around for more prey to catch, and when she found none, she spat in anger, picking up her catches and padding over to meet up with Gladerunner and Applechatter.
Except..... where was Gladerunner?
She saw Applechatter, but not their other patrolmate.
She glared and her tail lashed as the pale warrior continued to scan the area for the 3rd warrior.....


[ @Estelle ; @furrensic ]
//I asked for an extension, but Tallulah hasn't gotten back to me on if it was accepted\\

[Estelle]

Applechatter let a happy 'mrrp' seeing their sibling return with a successful catch, waiting rather patienty for Gladerunner to come back as well. Only that they were getting antsy waiting, with no sight of the warrior, and after a few minutest turned towards the pale feline.
"Perhaps we should head back? Gladerunner can always catch up."
They weren't one to leave someone behind, not usually no -- they simply preferred to avoid the ire of whomever sent out patrols. It felt a little like throwing Gladerunner under the bus, which... Wasn't good. But Dawnstar's anger was worse in that regard.


[ @Abyssopelagic ]

[furrensic]

GLADERUNNER; she/her | @Abyssopelagic @Estelle

arriving at the swamp, gladerunner decides to break off in her own direction, ears twitching in acknowledgement of honeybite doing the same. her nose scrunches at the feeling of mud between her toes, noting that the mud is a lot.. muddier than usual. yuck. parting her jaws, the warrior catches the scent of a toad nearby and stalks it. a large, chunky toad sits at the base of a log. dropping into a crouch and creeping towards it, she leaps and kills it swiftly. moving onto the next piece of prey, gladerunner feels glad when she catches the scent of a bird - shouldn't be too hard to catch. following it, she finds herself creeping up behind a plump finch. watching the bird hop around, she quietly approaches it and leaps, killing it with a swift bite to the neck. she picks it up and retrieves the toad she'd caught earlier. though, just as she begins her way back, her paw gets stuck in the mud! luckily with a harsh tug, it comes free and she skedaddles to honeybite and applechatter. "mmf- sorry, paw got stuck in some mud!" she says, words muffled from. the prey.

[Abyssopelagic]

Honeybite cranes her head to look at the new cat that has approached her, and recognizes Blackhawk. With Cougarbite nowhere to be seen and a different warrior having approached her, she assumed this was her new hunting partner.
"Most certainly. I'd like to make this hunt quick, as I doubt we'll find much more than toads in the Swamps and I'm not very fond of the texture."
She stifled a yawn and with a flick of her tail, she started towards the territory, expecting Blackhawk to follow.

Now in the Croaking Swamp, she slowed her pace from a light jog to a much slower walk. Tail swishing behind her, she traveled deeper into the muck and mire.
The singing of distant amphibians she dreaded to have to bring home made her skin crawl. Perhaps if she was lucky, she'd find a lizard instead..... or maybe a fish.
Bird hunting was too tiring for her to even entertain today.

[ @WhiteDawn ]