Bleeding for Berries [Semi-Open]

[Dizerel]

⚡Lightning⚡

[ He/Him | 14 Moons | Character Profile | Purrks: Active Power Card]

[This Thread is Semi-Open. Contact me OOC before joining.]
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Lightning had received his assignment, specifically, finding Huckleberries. Already his paws were moving, carrying himself away from the den and the camp. He hadn't paid attention to who he was supposed to be on herb patrol with, this was his own opportunity to prove himself. He had to be useful, no matter what it took! He was going to bring back the amount of herbs that an entire patrol of cats would normally manage together! Muttering the description of the herb in a low breath so that he would remember.

"Huckleberries. Big shrub. Tiny Leaves. Black berries." Repeating it to himself a few times so that it stuck.

Not caring how long it took, his only rule he kept for himself was that he wouldn't use his powers for it. Not like his powers would even help him much with something like this, if anything the drawbacks of using them would be more of a detriment here.

Setting off into Atari territory, he begins his tireless search. He had the whole day ahead of himself to search, and he well intended to use it. Already sectioning off the whole day in his mind, he would return at night with a veritable mountain of berries!

Searching through every bush. Combing across each leaf. Big shrub, tiny leaves, black berries. He found several plants that looked similar to the description, but lacked the berries. Confused at first, getting himself turned around, he was wondering if he had misremembered what to look for. He wasn't the smartest, either, but then an idea came to his mind. It was still early Newleaf. Many plants were still growing, and the only spot that would have fully grown plants was the ones with the most resources, such as rainfall, sunlight, and the like.

Pivoting, he completely changed his search path. Heading towards the area of the territory that had the most moisture and sunlight, a low point in the mountainous area where the water would drain and funnel down the rocky landscape towards. Dipping down into the various crevices and valleys, that is where plantlife thrived the most!

And to his luck, he was right! The individual spots were scattered, so it would take a long time to search, but the funneled resources into these areas made them vibrant and overgrown! Immediately, he found a bush that matched the description for Huckleberries! Big shrub, small leaves, black berries. These were clearly freshly grown, as the insects didn't have time to get to them yet. Lucky find! He immediately set to work, using teeth to try to pull free any stems that had clusters of the berries. It took a solid 10 minutes just to pick one shrub clean, spilling a few berries in the process. But, also gaining a few stems full of berries!

This wouldn't be enough, though. He needed more. He had to outperform himself. Or else everyone would see him for the failure he really was.

Redoubling his efforts, he carried the clusters, being as careful as he could to not bite down on them and accidentally eat any of the berries. Searching for the next shrub, and the next.

Hours he spent, combing the landscape for each small oasis that could hold these precious herbs. Combing each plant, spending his time carefully picking berries. He eventually needed to stockpile his findings in one area, protecting the berries with a covering of leaves so that other scavengers wouldn't find it. His paws ached, but thankfully they had grown resilient from his initial trek up to this territory. His claws and teeth weren't faring nearly as well, however.

Several of his claws were torn, bleeding around the edges from such frequent use of tugging at plantmatter. Similarly, his jaw ached from carrying things so long, his gums bled from every single attempt to rip a bundle of berries free. He was visibly in a terrible state, but that did not stop him. Even the dehydration setting in was not enough, as his own self-doubt was far more powerful a motivation to keep going, than any sort of pain or self-preservation begging him to stop and rest.

It wasn't until he had an actual pile of the berries, enough that he would have to take back in multiple trips, that he finally stopped. It was late at night, he looks like he could collapse at any moment, but he persisted. He WOULD see this through. He couldn't be a failure.

Picking up as much as he could carry, he began to walk back towards the camp in the first trip of many.