Rugged Range

[ameko]

Cloverdust | @Wingnettle @WhiteDawn @ophelia

Cloverdust listened to Nightspark's response, nodding thoughtfully. So then, StarClan gives strength to those who pray for it? And they can see all, even if we don't pray... if she wasn't beginning to get so tired, she'd be able to think more deeply about it—but alas, a heaviness was starting to settle in her joints and her pawpads were really aching now.

The rumblings of her stomach went ignored as focused most of her remaining attention on trying to find any viable shelter. Her eyes nervously darted around the barren land. The Dark Forest sounded much more frightening than she'd originally been led to believe. "I see," she murmured, her worry about any unwanted visitors keeping her from speaking louder.

As she padded on an incline that was becoming steeper with every step, Cloverdust spotted a rock a little ways ahead. It looked like there was a hollow space under it—perhaps it'd be suitable to rest in for the night? All attention directed at watching her step was gone, now wholly focused on that potential place to sleep.

"That boulder, it looks like there's a space underneath it we could—" Without warning, she stepped on a particularly fragile set of rocks and it crumbled beneath her. Cloverdust let out a frightened squawk as she slid down the little hill, a sheet of pebbles and dirt following in her wake. Before her vision was obscured by the land quickly coming up to meet her, she noticed that she had dislodged more of the ground than expected. Not enough to be dangerous, but the noise probably scared off some of the prey close to the pair.

[ hope this is okay as like a little obstacle! let me know if i should change it ]

[Wingnettle]

┌────────── ∘・❄︎・∘ ──────────┐
Mintpaw (she/her)
Riverclan
White and gray siamese with blue eyes
└───────── ・∘ ❄︎ ∘・ ─────────┘



Mintpaw kept one eye on the vole and the other one on Beastflame, who was now circling the prey from the other side. She sensed that he was up to something and waited patiently, silently for any signal.
In a brief fraction of time, many things happened: the warrior had deliberately shaken the foliage and now the vole was running in terror toward her.

Blue eyes widened and her heart started thumping harder, harder, quicker, quicker. But she kept her tense muscles completely still, and as soon as the squeaking creature stepped beside her hideout she stretched out her forelegs before it had the time to catch her scent and turn direction.

Sharp claws trapped the tiny rodent and pinned it down, and a quick bite was all she needed to bring it down. She left the grasp and stared down at the small prey, unsure of how to feel about it. ..This won't feed two cats. We need more.
While she thought about that, she could hear Beastflame approaching her from behind.

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[ @ameko @/Wingnettle @WhiteDawn @ophelia ]

[Red Dawn]

He ndded when Cloversdust saw the boulder "Yeah, it could be a gr-", Cloverdust seemed to be taken by the floor, the ground crumbled under her, he approached the edge and took a quick look, he saw Cloverdust safe and healthy, he said "Starclan preserve us... you are safe... are you fine?" he decided to rejoin her, and slid down the steep slope, a kind of a fox nest was revealed by the falling rocks, he went carefully inside, just an old fox scent, this hole was abandonned since weeks or months... perfect, plus, it had enough space to avoid them beeing stick to each other, he said calmly "I think we have found our place to sleep tonight..."
@ophelia @ameko @Wingnettle

[ophelia]

[ @ameko @Wingnettle @WhiteDawn ]
beastflame
--------
Mintpaw caught the vole easily, and he nodded his approval. He didn't react to her expression, but he noticed the doubt on her face. That vole would barely feed her, let alone he who was twice her size. It was the apprentice's catch, of course, and it was for her to eat. He would find something else later. He tried not to worry, instead focusing on their next task: shelter.

Beastflame nodded up at the cave above their heads, a little ways away. "That's our spot," he said, and turned to lead the way. Large paws tested the crumbling rocks that were stacked up to the next landing, ensuring they could support his weight. The tabby worked his way up steadily, glancing over occasionally to make sure Mintpaw could keep up. The climb itself was no trouble for him; it was just the worry that his weight would unbalance the rocks beneath him. He imagined Mintpaw would be having the opposite issue: her lighter mass would have no problem on the small rocks, but the large jumps and strides might be tiring.

Once he reached the top, he poked his head into the cavern, sniffing. It smelled like dust and mildew, but he couldn't sense any threats. He nodded reassuringly to the apprentice. "Go ahead and find a spot to settle down, I'll be right there." Beastflame needed to eat something, but he didn't want to keep her waiting. Instead, he padded around silently, looking for a source of food.

A little ways away was a rather sad, scraggy looking tree, bare of any leaves. Perched on a low branch, however, was a crow. Beastflame was no ThunderClan cat, but he'd caught his fair share of birds before, and went about this hunt with familiarity. Keeping himself downwind and out of sight, he crept up, long fur brushing against the rocky terrain gently. Once in position, he sprang up, right below the branch. The sudden movement scared the crow, which sprang up and leapt off it's perch, but Beastflame's claws hooked into one of the wings. He dragged it down swiftly, hitting it hard against the ground with his momentum.

Soon enough, he had returned to the cave, mouth full of black feathers. "Here," he said, dropping it down between Mintpaw and himself. "This is more than enough for me, take some in addition to your catch." The large tom settled down nearby, curling up tightly on the slightly uncomfortable floor of the cavern.

[ameko]

Cloverdust | @Wingnettle @WhiteDawn @ophelia

Stars, what a scare! Cloverdust stayed frozen as she mentally took stock of all her body parts. Legs, check; tail, check; the rest of her body; check! Phew, nothing was hurt or missing. Finally, she allowed herself to exhale. "I'm quite alright! Your prayers seem to be beneficial," she said, slightly out of breath.

Though she hadn't been hurt, per se, sliding down that rocky slope definitely wasn't fun. If her paws were aching before, they felt like they were on fire now! Not to mention the stinging along her legs and shoulders from those pebbles. She shook her head to dislodge the few stray pieces of dirt and rocks. As Nightspark joined her, she blinked and looked around the little hole with wonder. "Indeed!" she mrred.

Cloverdust brought herself to her paws and padded forward to gaze out of the hollow they had accidentally carved out of the hill. "We may have to wait until the morning to hunt. I can't imagine any prey would stick around after hearing that." As if in response, her stomach grumbled once more. She looked out across the craggy expanse, at the sunlight fading from the sparse greenery and rocks. Hopefully Beastflame and Mintpaw were faring well on their side of the territory.

[Wingnettle]

┌────────── ∘・❄︎・∘ ──────────┐
Mintpaw (she/her)
Riverclan
White and gray siamese with blue eyes
└───────── ・∘ ❄︎ ∘・ ─────────┘



Mintpaw followed Beastflame’s gaze toward a black pitch cave high above her heads. They would need to climb a rock wall to reach it, and they couldn’t even be sure it was empty inside. But the white siamese apprentice guessed that the warrior would warn her immediately if some odd scents came from inside; so she followed him slowly, her previous catch clenched tightly in her jaws.

She’d never climbed a tree, let alone a stony wall. She felt her toes being scratched by their roughness, but her claws gave her the stability she needed to push herself up, blue eyes fixed on his clanmate’s whirling tail as he found his balance on the unstable terrain.

As soon as Beastflame arrived first, she stopped and waited for his signal to come in. A prick of doubt caught her breath, but luckily she soon received the positive answer she was waiting for. No danger then. I should come in as soon as possible, before slipping down. She was starting to get tired and really needed some rest.

She sat down in a corner where the rocky floor made a slight ditch where she could curl herself up, and finally dropped the mouse she’d been carrying for too long in her mouth. She nodded silently at Beastflame’s order and waited patiently for him to return, surprised that he’d managed to catch so quickly such a huge bird while she had only found a scrawny vole.

At his generous suggestion, Mintpaw dipped her head in thankfulness and bit off a morsel for herself, leaving most of the bird intact for the warrior to fill himself up. She was sure that she would be okay with food tonight, and certainly didn’t want his clanmate to starve for her.
Finally, the couple settled down to eat and replenish themselves, enjoying the quietness of the cave and the taste of prey after so many efforts.


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[ @ameko @/Wingnettle @WhiteDawn @ophelia ]

[Red Dawn]

Cloverdust was definitely alright "The stars protect us!" he said, he turned the head and said "I will take the first guard tour, go sleep and don't worry for me..." he looked in the hole, even if his paws needed to rest, he wouldn't, or maybe a bit, he just wanted to be sure nothing was coming, like a badger, a dog and other dark creatures of the night, nothing could stop him, he was sure, as his eyes started to survey the territory around, his spirit was empty, he was calm and silent, Cloverdust would have a great night, him, maybe not, he just doesn't cared about his sleep, 15 minutes and he maybe could be good enough...
@ophelia @ameko @Wingnettle

[ophelia]

[ @ameko @Wingnettle @WhiteDawn ] - realized we are overdue on our report, so this is my final post, then i’m going to report back to wormbite. feel free to post one more round to wrap it up!
beastflame
————
The grey tabby watched silently as the apprentice ate her meal, then finished off the rest of the crow. Once he was finished, he picked up the remains gently with his teeth and stepped outside to quickly bury them in the nearby soil. Then, he returned to the cave and settled back into his spot, shifting several times to get comfortable on the hard ground. “Try and get some sleep,” he said gruffly, “We head out at first light.” With that, he closed his eyes and did his best to drift off.

[ time skip to morning ]

Beastflame was awoken by the first day of cold morning light hitting the entrance to the cave and bouncing off the multi-faceted rock faces. He had slept better than he’d expected, although he was certainly sore from the less-than-ideal nesting locale. Grumbling, he pulled to his feet and stretched luxuriously, trying to get the ache out of his shoulders. The tom held out a paw, reaching to prod Mintpaw awake as well. They needed to get a move on.

“Let’s head out. Not too much to report, it seems.” He began the climb down from their cave on the cliffside, careful not to slip. As they put distance between themselves and the hiding spot, a flurry of wings overhead caught Beastflame’s attention. He looked up in surprise to see a cloud of black swarm a little ways above them. “Huh. Bats.” The winged mammals dove one by one into the cave they’d just exited, returning home to rest for the day. “Glad we missed those guys,” Beastflame commented, shaking his head. They didn’t seem like much of a threat, but it would have been quite the fright to be awoken by a swarm of them. Focusing back on the task at hand, Beastflame began scenting the surroundings, tracking his way back to Cloverdust and Nightspark so they could return home.

[ameko]

Cloverdust | @Wingnettle @WhiteDawn @ophelia

Cloverdust nodded gratefully to Nightspark. Much as she valued her sleep, she didn't want to rest the whole night without helping out, so she replied, "Wake me when you need a break, I'll keep watch." It didn't look as though there could be anything that'd disrupt their sleep, but it was better to be safe than sorry. With the promise of rest awaiting her, the heaviness in her bones increased tenfold. She settled down in the hollow and curled up, wrapping her tail around her. It didn't take long for unconsciousness to claim her.

[ timeskip, assuming Clover kept watch after ]

Cloverdust's maw stretched into a yawn as she gazed blearily out of the hollow. From her place on the hillside, she could see the sun peeking out over the horizon, bringing with it chilly sunlight that scattered across the sparse landscape. Her stomach, while it had rumbled loudly last night, was now reduced to a constant hollow feeling. She blinked away the remnants of sleep that still lingered and padded over to her companion. "It's morning, Nightspark. We should start heading back," she meowed.

Yawning once more, she began to head down the rocky slope, taking extra care to watch her step.

[Wingnettle]

┌────────── ∘・❄︎・∘ ──────────┐
Mintpaw (she/her)
Riverclan
White and gray siamese with blue eyes
└───────── ・∘ ❄︎ ∘・ ─────────┘



Mintpaw observed silently as Beastflame took out the remains and returned back a few moments later. He looks grumpy at first, but he's actually kind. He cares about his clanmates.
At his suggestion, she nodded and let her chin rest on her paws. As soon as she closed her eyes, she fell asleep in a dreamless sleep.

Mintpaw opened her eyes again at Bestflame's gentle paw on her shoulder. She stretched her whole body while he gave out the plan for today. It seemed like they would be heading back home already. Time flew so fast. And we didn't find anything out here.
She was starting to wonder genuinely why Pikestar hadn't kept this territory for Riverclan. They were becoming so big that a little more space wouldn't certainly be bad.

She rose her gaze at the sound of fluttering, dark wings above her head. Something really weird, beating their wings in a butterfly-manner, entered their cave. Then others followed.
"...Bats?" She didn't know such a weird animal existed. Was it even a bird? Or a huge insect? She would have to ask Slatestripe as soon as she got back to Riverclan.

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[ @ameko @/Wingnettle @WhiteDawn @ophelia ]