Into Abandoned Territory [Closed]

[vellichor]

@Okapi @Duskflight @Charmer

Smogcloud simply nodded at their leader’s response. They glanced up at the pale sky thoughtfully. Perhaps they could use the territory for more than herbs. The prey could be running better there, now that there weren’t cats to decline their numbers. Of course, there were foxes and badgers, but that wouldn’t be as drastic as the vast amount of cats the Dusk Syndicate had recruited.

The warrior was spared from having to respond to Grousestar when Shinefang announced the prescience of catmint. Now that the medicine cat had mentioned it, Smogcloud could scent a sweet tang in the air that made their mouth water. They restrained themself, knowing how important the catmint was - even that minimal amount was worth extraordinary value to those sick with Greencough.

Smogcloud had never been sick with the fatal disease themself, but they had bad experience with it. Their mother had fallen ill with it when they were an apprentice, and still identified as female. They had been devastated when their mother had finally succumbed to the illness. That was part of the reason they had chosen to identify as non-binary the rest of their apprenticehood and warriorhood. Smogcloud shook the memory. They had to focus on the present. They couldn’t change the past. But they could shape the future. This was important, and it was their job to guard their leader and medicine cat.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by Aura

@Okapi @Duskflight @Charmer

Smogcloud simply nodded at their leader’s response. They glanced up at the pale sky thoughtfully. Perhaps they could use the territory for more than herbs. The prey could be running better there, now that there weren’t cats to decline their numbers. Of course, there were foxes and badgers, but that wouldn’t be as drastic as the vast amount of cats the Dusk Syndicate had recruited.

The warrior was spared from having to respond to Grousestar when Shinefang announced the prescience of catmint. Now that the medicine cat had mentioned it, Smogcloud could scent a sweet tang in the air that made their mouth water. They restrained themself, knowing how important the catmint was - even that minimal amount was worth extraordinary value to those sick with Greencough.

Smogcloud had never been sick with the fatal disease themself, but they had bad experience with it. Their mother had fallen ill with it when they were an apprentice, and still identified as female. They had been devastated when their mother had finally succumbed to the illness. That was part of the reason they had chosen to identify as non-binary the rest of their apprenticehood and warriorhood. Smogcloud shook the memory. They had to focus on the present. They couldn’t change the past. But they could shape the future. This was important, and it was their job to guard their leader and medicine cat.

@Duskflight @Charmer
Kestrelshade meowed carefully,” Grousestar, might we be able to find more prey if we start hunting in this territory? It hasn’t been hunted in for a while so they prey had a chance to breed and strengthen.” She meowed,” It isn’t another clans territory, and if we don’t mark the border it won’t start any clan feuds for hunting their if another clan decides to hunt here aswell.” She meowed

[The Cannibal]

@Charmer @Aura @Okapi

If any member of the patrol had trouble keeping up with his pace, he'd be more than happy and more than willing to slow down for their sake. He knew he could get ahead of himself sometimes and generally seemed to hold too much energy for his own good, it took a lot of effort to walk at a decent pace and enjoy life rather than run around like some rambunctious kit all of the time. The fallen oak came into sight, but Shinefang was already angling towards it, Grousestar fully slowing down to let the medicine cat go ahead of him. It took his nose a moment to find the sweet smell of the herb, but he didn't eventually narrow it down. Was that really what cat mint smelled like? His tail flicked slowly as he took in the state of the plant, half wondering if that's always what they looked like before he remembered Shinefang telling him that the one at the border had been particularly puny looking when he first found it. Nodding his head as he heard what the older tom said, he cleared his throat a bit. "Well hopefully that's not the only one we come across in this little excursion." His head turned slightly, to look into the now abandoned territory they were about to head into.
His thoughts were disrupted at the sound of Kestrelshade's question, his gaze now turning to focus on the she-cat. It seemed she was already thinking what he was.
"The idea isn't out of my mind. But before we make any moves, I want to get a look at it myself. It could possibly be dangerous and I'd rather myself hurt as opposed to sending a hunting patrol out first and having any one of them hurt." His words were measured and true. But his thoughts were now focusing more on what they were here to do. Turning his head to the medicine cat again, he would smile and say, "Lead the way, my friend."

[Charmer]

@Aura @Okapi @Duskflight

Shinefang picked up the leaves in his mouth, trying to keep his jaws as slack as possible to avoid damaging the tender leaves. With Grousestar's blessing, he nodded. "Onward we go!" he yowled through gently-gritted teeth. He padded around the fallen oak, the stone that held it in place, and on through a patch of tall grass, sure it was getting to cold for him to pick up any ticks. From there the ground began to slope very gently. The medicine cat sniffed the air as he went, but the catmint in his moth made it difficult to smell much of anything and he stopped shortly. "The catmint in my mouth is covering the scent of other herbs," he explained, putting the leaves on the ground, gently. "I'd appreciate it if one of you could carry it. The catch is you can't eat it, no matter how delicious it smells," he meowed, his one eye darting between Smogcloud and Kestrelshade in the hopes that one of them would volunteer.

[vellichor]

@Okapi @Duskflight @Charmer

[ Sorry for the belatedness ]

Smogcloud followed the pair, eyes glazed over. They were caught up in that horrid scene in the medicine cat den, before Shinefang was the medicine cat. Themself hunched of their dying mother. Their mother laughing one last sweet laugh, because she didn’t want to die any way else. Smogcloud laughing sadly with her. If they’d had tear ducts, they’d be crying during the patrol. They were shaken out of their grief by a voice, Shinefang’s.

“I’ve got it,” they immediately volunteered, stepping forward. They dipped their smoky gray head and gently picked them up, barely gritting their teeth so it wouldn’t fall out of their mouth. Already the scent tantalized Smogcloud; just one crunch and the delicious juices would flow down their throat. They restrained themself, though. Barely.

Instead of dwelling on their past, Smogcloud looked ahead into the future. The land, overpopulated by a band of rogues, open now. What once was hostile territory could now be their territory. The prey must have repopulated by now. This could get the Clan through Leaf-Bare!

[Mango]

Originally Posted by Aura

@Okapi @Duskflight @Charmer

[ Sorry for the belatedness ]

Smogcloud followed the pair, eyes glazed over. They were caught up in that horrid scene in the medicine cat den, before Shinefang was the medicine cat. Themself hunched of their dying mother. Their mother laughing one last sweet laugh, because she didn’t want to die any way else. Smogcloud laughing sadly with her. If they’d had tear ducts, they’d be crying during the patrol. They were shaken out of their grief by a voice, Shinefang’s.

“I’ve got it,” they immediately volunteered, stepping forward. They dipped their smoky gray head and gently picked them up, barely gritting their teeth so it wouldn’t fall out of their mouth. Already the scent tantalized Smogcloud; just one crunch and the delicious juices would flow down their throat. They restrained themself, though. Barely.

Instead of dwelling on their past, Smogcloud looked ahead into the future. The land, overpopulated by a band of rogues, open now. What once was hostile territory could now be their territory. The prey must have repopulated by now. This could get the Clan through Leaf-Bare!

@Duskflight @Charmer @Aura
Kestrelshade was glad to know that she wouldn’t have to carry the delicious herbs. She followed close behind watching prey scampering around. It made her rather happy to see that. She wanted to hunt, but resisted the instinct.

[The Cannibal]

@Charmer @Aura @Okapi @Deranged Llama @Roledolf


Grousestar made sure to be the one closest to the medicine cat, just in case anything happened and he needed to jump in immediately; it wasn't that he didn't trust the two warriors he had assigned to this patrol, it was more so he wanted to put himself in harms way before they could get hurt. Besides, he was a capable tom, he's only lost one of his lives so far and the clan has had plenty of hardships and battles they've gone through. And so he followed the older tom as they padded around the fallen oak and began to pad up the gentle slope, his ears angled and slowly swiveling like radars, ready to pick up any little sound that needed to be paid attention to, his head slightly raised and jaws slightly parted, pulling in scents as often as he could, sifting through them quickly and effectively.
However his concentration was broken as Shinefang stopped and explained that he'd rather have another cat hold the catmint, as it was preventing him from smelling anything else of importance. He would have volunteered but he needed his nose to pay attention to scents. Luckily enough he was spared the guilt as Smogcloud quickly volunteered to carry the sweet smelling plant.
Dipping his head with a smile, he commended the young warrior for their help, happy that they were taking the responsibility of carrying the herb. He believed they had enough self-restraint to not chow down on the plant.
"Now if we do happen upon prey, feel free to grab it but just don't stray too far, stay within sight because this is not a hunting patrol. We are a group and we move as a group. Where Shinefang goes, we go." He gently reminded the group as they prepared to further travel into the territory as soon as the medicine cat gave the 'okay'.

[Charmer]

@Duskflight @Aura @Okapi @Deranged Llama @Roledolf

Shinefang nodded his thanks the young warrior. Something about the severity in Smogcloud's eyes told him the leaves were safe with them and that they took the duty of handling those precious leaves seriously. He appreciated that about the young warrior. Too many of the younger ones were too kit witted to know we to take anything seriously. There was no nonsense about this cat.

Him scent glands clear now, he nodded to Grousestar and tilted up his head, giving the air a long and deep taste as he searched for herbs. Even still, he could detect no herb scent from where they were. A huff of frustration began to build in his throat until the old tom happened to glance to his side, and through a copse of what looked like elm trees. Between the trunks of the trees, he swore he had glanced a length of green waving in the wind that looked so familiar. With an audible, "Eh?" the medicine cat began to pad toward where he had seen it. He weaved among the trunks of the denser woods where the sunlight seemed fainter, and emerge in a small clearing. And in the center of the clearing, was unmistakably a willow tree. Shinefang stood for a moment in surprise as he looked it over, shaking his head slightly as he gave a small mrrow of laughter. Only last night, Thunderhowl, a deceased Shadowclan medicine cat, had visited him in his dream and told him to use the bark from this very tree to sooth his joints. They were aching more every day as the cold grew worse. "We've just found something to help with pain and swelling," he said out loud to the members of the patrol. "Kestralshade, help me out here, won't you?" he said, padding on toward the tree. His joints felt more relaxed just looking at it. The old medicine cat approached the base of the tree and stood on his hind paws, bracing his forepaws against the trunk. He unsheathed his claws and wedged them under a large chunk of loose bark and pulled it free. It fell to the earth with a gentle thud, and he turned to Kestralshade as he pointed at the piece he had just harvested. "Three or four more of those should hold us over nicely," he said, busily searching for another piece of bark to pull off.

[vellichor]

@Okapi @Deranged Llama @Roledolf @Duskflight @Charmer

Smogcloud eventually learned to see past the tantalizing herbs in their mouth, and spotted a creature moving in the wood a few fox-lengths away. With a nod to the other patrol members to acknowledge that they were going to investigate. They carefully set the herb bundle down in between the roots of a tree and crept to the source of the scurrying. Smogcloud quickly discovered the creature was a rabbit - a rare find, especially in the dead of leaf-bare.

Taking advantage of the rabbit’s obliviousness, the warrior pounced, landing square on the creature’s back. They crushed its spine immediately, killing it. Smogcloud then grabbed the rabbit by the neck and dragged it back to the patrol with a smile - not that anyone could see it. But their eyes sparkled with excitement.

After dropping the rabbit at Grousestar’s paws, they turned around and dipped their head. The warrior delicately gripped the bundle of precious herbs and went back to the group, still brimming with pure joy.

[Mango]

Originally Posted by Aura

@Okapi @Deranged Llama @Roledolf @Duskflight @Charmer

Smogcloud eventually learned to see past the tantalizing herbs in their mouth, and spotted a creature moving in the wood a few fox-lengths away. With a nod to the other patrol members to acknowledge that they were going to investigate. They carefully set the herb bundle down in between the roots of a tree and crept to the source of the scurrying. Smogcloud quickly discovered the creature was a rabbit - a rare find, especially in the dead of leaf-bare.

Taking advantage of the rabbit’s obliviousness, the warrior pounced, landing square on the creature’s back. They crushed its spine immediately, killing it. Smogcloud then grabbed the rabbit by the neck and dragged it back to the patrol with a smile - not that anyone could see it. But their eyes sparkled with excitement.

After dropping the rabbit at Grousestar’s paws, they turned around and dipped their head. The warrior delicately gripped the bundle of precious herbs and went back to the group, still brimming with pure joy.

@Deranged Llama @Roledolf @Duskflight @Charmer
Kestrelshade for a half-second was concerned about the herbs being set down, but once she saw the rabbit she realized that was important too. She spotted a squirrel in a tree and sprung up the tree, she dug her claws in and she reached the tree, carefully and quietly she approached it before pouncing and biting it's neck, she turned to jump down when two strange cats approached.