WindClan: Life Before 2023's Fire

[Dust]

Aspenbreeze's voice dripped with nothing but admiration as she tilted her chin upwards in thought,

"And that is exactly why she is our leader. Wise words..." She trailed off, raising a brow to Smoulderpaw, "And a wise decision on your part. There's a lot more to hunting and battle than you may expect, though. The power... The endurance behind your moves. Trust me, it doesn't matter how old you are, or whether or not you're behind the others... There is always some warrior skimping on their duties. It is my job, and my job alone, to make sure you are able to fulfill all your duties to the clan with ease, precision and swiftness." Aspenbreeze turned away from him, her tail lashing behind her as she led the pair further away from camp and closer to the RiverClan border. It was obvious she was on high alert, ears forward and eyes attentively scanning ahead of them. The last thing she wanted was to be surprise attacked by any smelly mutts still hanging around. To her satisfaction, the were safe for now.

"The borders aren't just a menial task to keep us busy either... Think of it this way. As an outsider... when a threat enters your territory, you respond with whatever necessary force... It's unpredictable, any cat can just wander up on you and take what's yours, but our borders? We can predict the enemy that way. Any slight changes... any movement or scent over it and we know exactly what the enemy is doing. That is predictable and, in my opinion, one of the most important tasks we can have... What is prey, if it is not ours? If someone else takes it?" It was certainly a mouthful, but Aspenbreeze was sincere in her explanation. Her aura was confident, radiating with pride. As the pair would pass the dead tree, she would stop them with a flick of her tail,

"This here is dead tree. Doesn't grow for some reason, but the rabbits love burrowing here.. we'll be here often, so remember the path we took... Come on then, let's keep moving."

[I'll post my next reply in Sedgewater Valley unless you would like to! @Beau]

-------------------------------------------------------------


@Fae

"I wilf allow you to ufe it, buth I get tha' credit!" She mumbled, spitting rabbit fur from her mouth. It was always a pain trying to talk through prey. Following after Coldsong, Aspenbreeze actually let herself relax! this had been a productive and fun trip! Coldsong wasn't too bad. As they neared camp, she turned to look at the other,

"I'll go aheaf and bring thif to the nurfery.." And when he replied, Aspenbreeze snorted with laughter,

"Yeah, you're alright," Winking playfully at Coldsong, she flicked her tail in departure and shuffled the rest of the way to camp.

[Silverclover]

Cloudkit felt tiny and weakhearted as she stared out at all f the larger cats and groups of kits so she just looked up at Twilightstar listening before puffing up her fur slightly as she saw all the other kits wanting to play but knew it was probably a bad time so she just sat there her oaws twitching

[Dust]

[Open for anyone who wants a meal! You don't have to mention/quote me unless you want to talk with Aspen - just a little post to stir up some activity ]

With a snort, Aspenbreeze entered the nursery, careful not to step on any scraps of fur that were still remaining after what seemed like waves upon waves of apprentice ceremonies. Sure enough, the rabbit she had caught with Coldsong was still clasped between her jaws, though the scent was beginning to make her own mouth water and stomach rumble. She'd only take a small bite, but it was more important for the queens and kits to eat than her,

With a "Plfft" of fur flying from her mouth, Aspenbreeze placed the rabbit down when she found a small clearing,

"Alright! Fresh, juicy rabbit straight from the catch! Come get it while you can, ya' snooze ya' lose!" Her powerful call rattled around nursery as she backed away from the prey, anticipating a swarm of little tiny buzzards. If no one had grabbed her attention, Aspenbreeze would begin to make her way back towards the entrance.

[dionysus]

@Dust
Smolderpaw nodded wholeheartedly in response to Aspenbreeze’s words on Twilightstar. The young tom had formed a deep admiration for the leader already for letting him join Windclan. He listened attentively to all of Aspenbreeze’s words. Of course he was interested in hunting and fighting- who wouldn’t be- but he really wanted to truly belong in this clan. “I will put in the effort.” he offered solemnly with a nod. There was no way that Smolderpaw would slack in any of his duties. His paws were itching to run and expel some of his energy, but he jogged beside Aspenbreeze rather than using all of his energy. Likely, if they were to run, Aspenbreeze would easily outstrip him. His larger size made for long pawsteps but didn’t do much for him in all out sprinting. He nodded along with her description of the borders, soaking in all of her words in an effort to commit them to memory. When they paused beside the dead tree, he took a moment to sniff around the bottom, intending also to commit the smell of the tree and of rabbits to memory.
( okie! )

[lucidense]

Wisp looked at Twilightstar then at her tiny kits, suckling milk. "I- I'll stay- I need to care for my kits, and being in a clan wouldn't be too bad.." She lowered her head in thought. "Yeah, I'm staying." @Moonraven @Rainquail

[Banneret]

@Moonraven

Clover nodded. She searched around in the grass for a clover. When she found one she carefully picked it up in her mouth and walked back over to the other cat. She dropped the clover and patted it with her paw. ‘This strange cat seems nice enough. I think I can trust her...’ She smiled, then patted the clover, pointed her paw at the other cat, and then tilted her head as if she was curious. ‘I wonder what her name is. Maybe she can figure out that's what I’m trying to ask?’ Clover was very surprised that this cat had helped her. Maybe she had helped other cats, though, because she smelled like she was often around a lot of cats. ‘Maybe she’s one of those clan cats. But Father and Mother told me they were super scary and ate other cats...Then again, Mother and Father lies a lot. I know that for sure’

[ChurroRabbit]

Originally Posted by Moonraven

Twilightstar didn't seem troubled to hear that the cat got lost. Everyone seemed to get lost here and there, Twilightstar couldn't be too judgmental since she had also gotten turned around in the territory once or twice. "I won't punish you this time, but don't stray from the clan again or there will be consequences next time." Twilightstar gave the molly a soft nod. "Welcome back home."
@Ivyfeather8783 - sorry that took so long, we're done. I'll make sure to add Ripplemouse back on the allegiances.

Ripplemouse nodded.

(Ok thanks!)

[rhi]

Whisperheart

She looked ahead as Aspenbreeze made polite conversation with her. Whisperheart became paranoid, anxious.
What if this warrior thinks I'm a disgrace? Could I be doing better?
The she-cat lowered her head; She no longer wanted to be seen.

"I would love to mentor an apprentice..."Whisperheart trailed off only to sit upright and give her paw a couple of licks. "Twenty-four moons and still no apprentice. Maybe it's because I'm not... warm enough?" She let her sentence change to a question. How am I supposed to be likeable? What do they want? Her thoughts were solemn.

@Dust

[Alexcentri]

Blackwing laughed with Paleheart. "That sounds amazing! If I ever have kits I would be just as excited as they were for them to become apprentices, that'd be so cool!" Having someone to talk to was sooo much more fun while waiting for the new apprentices to step forward.

@Mayflower

[Moonraven]

Originally Posted by Mumble

Pebblekit waddled over to Twilightstar, H-hi Twilightstar! she shyly mewed, What are you doing here? Are you going to have kits too? She asked, sitting in front of the leader, staring up at her with innocent eyes.

The leader looked down at the tiny cat as she was greeting. She had no problems with kits she just had no interest in having them. Twilightstar felt that it might be fun to adopt a few once she got the clan situated, but that was somewhere far away in the future and nothing but a distant dream right now. "I'm here to meet the new kits and Queen." She answered Pebblekit patiently. "No, I can't have kits." Twilightstar felt that was a better answer then I don't want to have kits since can't was a little easier to explain then don't.
Her eyes shifted back over to Wisp when she answered her question. "You'll need a new name if you're going to stay with us. I think Brightflame will fit, you'll need a mentor in the near future, but you, for now, you'll stay in the nursery with your kits." Normally new cats got paw, but having an apprentice in the nursery just didn't sound good.
@SparrowSoar