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kieryn @
QueenCocaHead @
ShadowWing65
(Don't forget, these patrol reports are due on May 2nd! Also, sorry for the long post, I was just hurrying things along a bit so we'd report in on time.)
Rosebriar let out a huffing sound as she trotted over to Sedgewater Valley, the place where Dawnfeather had told the patrol to go. They really didn't have much time left, did they? Glancing around, she noticed that she had gotten slightly ahead of them in her haste to hurry up: Dawnfeather's dark-striped tabby pelt flickered beside Mudpaw's calico-marked one, and she could see the large gray-and-white shape of Onewhisker in the back. Rosebriar flicked her ears. Her legs ached slightly from all this walking, but it wasn't like she wasn't in the mood for hunting. She'd catch as much prey as she could!
Glancing around at the territory, her cute pink nose wrinkled. Seriously, was there a more disgusting place?
The ShadowClan border. Rosebriar pushed that thought away. Why did two of WindClan's three borders have to be wet, disgusting places? As in, wet places? WindClan cats surely didn't like wetness. ThunderClan didn't, either, from what she knew. However, RiverClan and ShadowClan were fine with it.
Ick. What sort of prey would want to come here? Frogs and toads? Rosebriar shuddered at the very thought of eating those awful slimy creatures. Bending down, she scented the air, trying not to inhale all the weird wetness around her.
I hope that I don't get my precious fur all wet! I'll really need to do a thorough grooming if I do. She hated wet paws.
"I'll check a bit further down the border, if that's alright with you," she directed at Dawnfeather with a flick of her head. They really needed to get a move-on. Like, seriously! Why was her patrol so slow? Rosebriar didn't like patrols, mainly because they were just a bunch of walking, and two of their borders were terrible. Hunting patrols were a step up, at least, since she liked hunting. But she'd like a competent patrol, not a big, overeager apprentice, a patrol leader who... well, alright, Dawnfeather was fine. And so was Onewhisker, she supposed. Rosebriar knew that she should probably spend less time complaining, but she didn't want to be late, or seen as incompetent! Especially since certain members of the Clan were disliking her more and more. The poor she-cat was just confused! Why did her Clanmates have zero sympathy?
A flash of gray in the corner of her vision made her turn.
"A mouse!" she meowed to her patrol.
"Here - I'll just get it real quick." Skunkblaze's mentoring flooded back into her mind. How long had it been since she'd hunted? Rosebriar wanted to get it right, especially in front of this patrol.
Yes, Skunkblaze's mentoring, not Crescentmoon's. She had forgotten that Crescentmoon existed, actually. She had been her mentor for such a short period of time. Rosebriar got a little closer to the mouse before crouching down, her elegantly bushy tail lowering to the ground but not quite touching it. Carefully, she crept forward, trying to keep her pawsteps as quiet as possible. Wetness seeped between her toes and she grimaced with the disgusting feeling, her tail puffing out slightly, but relaxed.
The mouse didn't seem to notice her, so Rosebriar got a little closer before leaping. She was on the smaller side, as well as light, so she landed on the mouse pretty accurately. It let out a squeal of terror, its beady eyes looking up at her, and Rosebriar lunged toward its neck with a thrill of delight.
I hope you all are watching me! she thought proudly. She wasn't as rusty as she'd thought after all! As soon as she snapped the mouse's neck, though, a dark shadow fell over her. She lifted her head, blinking. Had a cloud covered the sun? No; she saw a huge bird with feathered wings blotting out the sun.
It's some sort of large bird, she thought, her formerly sleek pelt now bristling. Quickly, looking around, she hid the mouse behind a clump of grass. No time to feel proud about getting the crouch and stalking technique right, even though WindClan prided itself in speed. Skunkblaze had emphasized the crouch a bit too much.
As the bird got closer, she could tell that it was a hawk.
Wait - closer?! The bird was circling above them now, and Rosebriar glanced at the others.
"Maybe we should move to a different spot-" she began, but then the bird suddenly dive-bombed toward them. Her claws instantly unsheathed, and Rosebriar let out a yelp as she just barely dove out of the way. The hawk turned toward them, its beady eyes glowing, pointed beak deadly, and huge wings flapping.