That... Worked?! It worked! Gravehound was planning on just doing that to relax the little one a bit before darting off to bring him some food, a piece of prey to feed the poor skinny thing but the flop thing had worked! Alright the baby could be fed later when he got them back to camp, for now getting him somewhere warm and safe was the priority.
Giving the kit a soft grin at his playing and an encouraging nod he continued to wiggle his tail around dipping it in and out of the kits reach ever so slowly edging it close to his side, trying to get the kit right up next to him without them even noticing. He mimed shivering and pointed (softly oh so softly) at the kit head cocked 'You cold?' patting his extremely fluffy side in an open offer for the kit to nestle in. He wouldnt be picking up the kit and bringing him to the camp straight away no, that seemed like a good way to panic the little thing, so he'd ease the bleeding scrap of fur into it. The kit needed to be cleaned at some point anyway so the medicine cats would be able to tell what was an injury that needs treating and what was just old blood (and didnt that just break the warriors heart). So as soon as the kit was calm enough to not bolt he slowly but steadily leaned his head over to an uninjured spot and gently started to groom the kit granted he didnt bolt away from the touch.
Gravehound worried slightly though, what would he do when the kit let him carry them around? Buckstar had to let the little thing in, he'd starve without help! Yes it was getting into winter and prey was getting sparse but, but it was a KIT! No the thunderclan leader wasnt cruel it'd be fine, Frostbreeze was the concern. Medical attention was needed but the warrior would not let the molly anywhere near his kit (wait his kit that was a first). Wait but she'd been demoted, maybe the new medicine cat, Rainywhisker was it?, would be able to help instead and the apprentice could be kept out of it. Well Gravehound would stand guard and refuse to leave anyway, just to make sure.
@Mumble(sorry for the delay after my first reply disappeared I lost motivation for a bit cuz the new one does not shape up to the old one )
// im so so so so sorry for making you wait this long! im making this a (kind of) shorter response because they arent as exhausting to write, and i dont want to keep you waiting any longer ;-;
The scrawny, bloodied kit gazed up at the huge tom with a wide eyed gaze. He...he was...whats the word...? Nife? Mice? wait, no, that wasn't it... Oh! Nice! This cat was nice! The grey kits eyes brightened as he came to the realization, his chest slightly puffing out in pride. Olive eyes slowly followed the movement of Gravehounds tail, his eyes round with wonder. The smooth gentle movement was...almost mesmerizing, in a way. Slowly, oh so slowly, the Somali tom reached out a shaking paw, gently touching his raw and beaten paw pads to the tip of the warriors fluffy tail, this time lingering for the slightest moment before immediately being snatched back to his chest. His head slowly tilting to the side, he continued to gaze at the tail before deciding to be a bit more... risky. Risky as in: ´Im going to maybe use both paws this time, and maybe touch it for a little longer´. Still, progress was progress.
As he reached out his two front paws, he struggled to balance on his wobbly hind legs. But he didn't mind - at least, not really. As he gently took hold of the end of Gravehounds tail with his sheathed paws, which looked so tiny compared to the other toms huge ones, he held on for a little over 5 seconds before he lost his balance and toppled to the ground, a small yelp threatening to escape him. But even though he was hurting again, he got back up again - even if it was at an unbearably slow pace. The tail continued waving, and he unknowingly shuffled closer and closer to the thunderclan cats fluffy belly. by the time he realized, he was already gently pressed against the warm fur of Gravehound.
Before he had any time to process what exactly had happened, he felt something rough and scratchy start to rub against his fur. Fear started coursing through him, his eyes wide with fear and he ducked his head down with his paws covering his eyes. Oh, why did he trust this cat? Why did he think this bad, bad cat was nice? Now he was gonna hurt more, and it was all his faul- Wait. What? What was that...that feeling? It felt almost...soothing, in a way. Slowly and cautiously peeking out from underneath his paw and up at gravehound, he was relieved to find that he was just being... being... - oh, another hard word... Gribed? Groobed? Once again, he found himself struggling to remember the proper word for what was happening. Well, whatever was happening didnt seemed to hurt him, even though sometimes his more hidden scratches and scrapes were slightly agitated by the strokes of Gravehounds tongue.
Camp was in sight as Hareflood dashed through the woods, his paws aching by the time he approached the entrance. "Hey!" He called out hoarsely, slowing his pace as a familiar scent reached his nose. He didn't see any guard yet, but it appeared they were around with how fresh the smell was. "We-- there's coyotes in the cove!"
His legs were shaking from adrenaline as he finally came to a stop outside camp, collapsing in a panting heap. "Lilacsnow-- is dead."
The tuxedo heard a faint, gentle thrumming of paws against the frozen ground. They were rather fast, but that was nothing new. Many apprentices loved to race back home, see who would get in camp first. He leaned forwards, the branch beneath him crackling. To his surprise...it was a single Warrior, ears twitching as he called out. Oh. Something is wrong.
Moonprance hopped of where he was perched, landing gracefully on the ground. 'Oh. It's him, Hareflood...Sunchaser talked about him.' he noted mentally. "Are you-" he was cut off by the next sentence. It sent a chill down his spine. 'They're....they're getting closer.' He stood there for a few seconds before crouching down next to the tom. 'One more dead...'"Are you okay? Anything hurt?" he asked. From what he could see...he seemed okay. Nothing immediately noticible. "They didn't follow you...I take it they were busy with Lilacsnow?" he asked.
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Spiderthroat is the Deputy of ThunderClan
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The waves that crashed upon
The rocks that you were trying to walk along
And in my head I heard them play a song
For you and me
Let's get lost at sea
Where they will never find us
Got stars at night to guide us
Hareflood was right about the guard, but he concealed his disappointment at it being Chaser's sister. Great, another lady to ruin his day. "I'm fine," between his pants for air he snapped. He wasn't injured beyond his paws - and that was because he tore up that stupid memorial. Not that anyone needed to know that. "Lilacsnow distracted them - he was trying to get up the tree behind me and they grabbed him. There.. he stood no chance." And now nothing was left of him.
Maybe later Hareflood would have to check that out, see if there was a lick of his body in sight. The coyotes seemed to think he was tasty. "I don't think I was followed.. but if I was, we should tell Buckstar immediately."
Sunpoppy cocked a prying gaze beyond the clearing when he heard Hareflood's voice outside its entrance. When he'd woke, his friend had been gone, probably off somewhere or put on a dumb hunting mission by the idiot duo. The tone of his explanation (which Sunpoppy could only partially hear) prevented him from being so quick to write it off as nothing.
Attempting to be subtle, he slid closer but didn't intrude on the interaction in spite of his desire to do so. It was lame that Hareflood was telling this to Moonprancer. Whatever. He'd just get the full story later.
From what he'd gathered, there was... danger, or something, and Hareflood had been involved in that. The notion of a friend in danger had him bristling, and he drew in a breath to check for another Clan's scent on him: nothing. It hadn't been a border skirmish, but. If it had, he'd be on the warpath to make them regret it.
He waited, claws clenching at frozen ground while various scenarios passed through his mind.
Kestrelflame’s ears swerved back as Lionpaw spoke to her. Did not sound regretful? Sure, but she actually did want to have more mastered. However, the tom did have a point. Hunting, much like life, was a trial-and-error situation. So, really the older cat was just pointing out logic. “Fair point.” The calico agreed. Part of her disliked that he had pointed that out, the other found it comforting that he was smart enough to do so. “One can not expect each idea to work, or be mastered too soon.” Kestrelflame meowed.
It was not like hunting was her strong suit, it was just one of the things she had worked hard on during her apprenticeship. During the days when she had not cared about advancing through her apprenticeship Kestrel’s hunting skills where highly lacking. Back than she lost at every challenge in every aspect in life. Luckily enough this only last a short period of time. Rookstep had gotten her in line. However, she knew most of it was her own decision to become the best in every field she could that had really put her training on track. That and having a harsh mentor both in the living and unliving world had kept her on her toes. Sense then she had been determined not to lose, at anything.
Glancing back at Lionpaw the calico would note that he had gone to searching for prey as well. Good. She mentally noted, before carrying on her own look. This part of the territory was typically full of rodents and fowl, however with the cold of leaf-fall most of the prey was hiding. So, it would either be tracking or setting up a trap… Kestrelflame honestly wanted to set up a trap, if she remembered correctly there were some holly trees or shrubs this way. Birds always seemed to enjoy the bright red berries that grew in the spiky trees and bushes. Cardinals was one that enjoyed them that she knew for sure. “There,” She quietly mused aloud. A holly tree, full of bright red berries stood in the mist of the forest. However, she could already hear a few birds fluttering around in the branches of the spiky tree. Kestrelflame scanned the area again to get a better scope of it, it was not the thickest part of the forest, but there was quiet a few shrubs and bushes around the trees. Deciding to drop into a hunters’ crouch she moved to a better hidden spot. “Up to picking some berries with me?” She asked before inwardly scowling at how childish that sounded. It was to late now, so she just ignored the fact that it wasn’t as sophisticated as she would have liked.
He wondered what their target would be. Little avians or little rodents? A lost little reptile, perhaps? Of the three, Lionpaw would much rather deal with rodents. Unoriginal as trapping mice by the tail might be, it was strangely fun; the pathetic, frantic squeaking made chasing around the small creatures worth it. On another other paw, snakes and lizards were more exotic catches. The shadowdwellers preferred their sneaky prey over commoner, small, furred mammals. Lizards hid in logs and between the underbrush, while one could spot snakes tucked into small openings in the earth.
Flapping, chirping, and the rustling of leaves directed his attention to a holly tree. They were up there for the berries it seemed, and Lionpaw felt the need to race up the tree's twisted branches, hopefully knocking out a cardinal or two while he was at it. He wasn't a kitten, however; they were here to hunt, and he had more self-control than that. At Kestrelflame's inquiry, he looked at her oddly. "I guess?" the still-apprentice responded. The birds flocked around for the berries, so if they had said berries, the feathered creatures would come straight to them, presuming that they didn't scare the birds off.
"If we're going for the berries, why are you in a hunter's crouch?" Lionpaw inquired. "They're gonna see us either way; wouldn't it be best for us to act natural? The birds won't flee if they don't think we're threats." At least, he didn't think so. Raven had a way with birds; she could stand still for only a few moments and one would alight right in front of her. She'd always scented of oak, pine, and berry juice, though, so it might've just been that.
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The molly nodded. "Yes, of course." She said before she gave the apprentice a warm smile.
"Alright, so first off, over here is Firefly Cove." The molly said as she pointed her tail at the landscape. It sure was a pretty sight; she often liked to come there and just chill. "It's usually very peaceful there."
‧₊˚┊ @D a s h ┊ Hi, sorry for the late post! Was going to reply way sooner, but then forgot. Again, really sorry! );
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