ThunderClan Territory

[doghouse]

@Skye @Tundra
( sorry it is so late ;; )

Maplecreek's tail twitched as she padded across the snow, trying without success to walk in places where there was none. Her paws were feel the slightest bit numb by now, though that was not really too concerning here. And after some time of wandering about in search of more prey with nothing to show for it, the molly made her way back to where she had buried her sparrow. Quick to dig it up, the feline had then set off to the rendezvous point. Really, it didn't even take her very long to get there.

Sitting down, she dropped the limp piece of fresh-kill at her paws and glanced around to wait for the others. She would've been happy to leave without them, but that would only have resulted in trouble. And that, she did not want. So for now, she settled and started grooming herself to pass the time. They wouldn't take too much longer, she was sure. Still, she felt bad having caught nothing more than a sparrow. Prey was scarce, though.

[cmdR_Paige]

@Skye @Tundra

Silversky shivered and breathed a heavy sigh. She hadn't found anything more than a mouse after the incident with the squirrel. This would have to do. Pathetic, she chided herself. Utterly pathetic.

[dino.]

[ @Starfall @Vessel ]

The squirrel wasn't hard to track through the snow. Its prints matched its scent trail perfectly, and Buckbranch kept himself flattened to the ground as he crept along. The snow smelled crisp, clean, sharp. For a brief moment he felt the urge to dive into a drift, to roll around in it and act like a kit again. Foxbound throwing snow over him flashed through his mind, and he blinked, pausing with one paw hanging in the air. The falling flakes had framed her beautiful face perfectly, and she had managed to cheer him up with that little trick.
Focus, Buckbranch. He started forward again, only to be halted once more by the thought of Sunsnow of all cats. There was a twinge in his chest. He should have let the orange tom down easier, there MUST have been a better way. Now things were just awkward and strange-
The squirrel burst past in an explosion of snow, and he jumped after it with a startled gasp, trying to hook it with his claws. He managed to get it eventually, but it was a messy kill, not one to be proud of. "Ugh, DAMMIT Buckbranch, FOCUS for StarClan's sake!" he snarled, smacking a paw into the snow. At least he got it - that was what counted. With an annoyed sigh he picked it up and began the trek back to Sunsnow and Mosspaw. He'd walked further than he'd realized.

[Vessel]

@Starfall @Slushie

At Mosspaw's comment, Sunsnow gave a start.

"Butterc- Buckbranch is a strong warrior. He can take care of himself on a hunting patrol!"

Besides, he thought miserably, he probably doesn't want to see me. His tail drooped for a fraction of a second before he could catch himself, and he turned around to observe Mosspaw's hunting crouch.

~

The orange tom let out a mrrow of laughter at the awkward apprentice. "Great, but you've got just one little problem! You brush your paws straight through the undergrowth, which makes a lot of noise. Try again, but this time, pull you paw up and then put it down each time."

Then, Sunsnow's ears pricked as he picked up the rustle of a bush. Not long after, a familiar scent drifted over him. Buckbranch! All at once, his belly was filled with live mice running around. He wanted to be sick and jump up and down at the same time.

Starclan, I wish I'd never told him! Things are so strange now...

He suppressed his feelings and instead turned to his apprentice with a mischievous smile.

"I have an idea.", Sunsnow murmured. "What if you tried to use the hunting crouch to sneak up on Buckbranch?"

[Tundra]

@doghouse @Skye

Tigerdawn slipped around a snow covered bush, her heads rising a bit when she saw that Maplecreek was already there. Good, that was good! Now all they had to do was wait for Silversky to arrive then they could start heading back to camp.

[Solstice_X]

[open, kinda yeeting Morningsun out into the territory to do a bit of hunting because activity.]

What a failed patrol. She grumbled internally to herself as her swift pawsteps carried her over the thinly layered snow and ground. You get trusted to run with a patrol one time and because they fail to assemble it fails to follow through - of course, not that the other cats not being there was my fault. On the bright side, at least they let me redeem myself with a hunt.

The snow felt cold against her pawpads, and the chilling trickle as it melted from the heat of her touch didn't help her mood. All around her she could smell the comings and goings of several cats going every which way into the thickets of the forest. With this many scents, surely prey would be hiding where the activity is minimal, right? She inhaled as she turned her nose in a few different directions to find the one with the faintest scent. That way. Her gaze locked in on a clearing off to her left. From where she stood, she could see new green growths barely poking through the snow, determined to grow against odds of this non-ideal environment.

With fresh growths should come prey, right?

[lio]

[ @vermin @Shimm ]

After Quillpaw finished his business, Duskfeather stood and nodded to the two toms. "Let's head back and see if anyone else has decided to do their duty," she mewed, giving a smile to her patrol. "Once we return, you two are free to get a piece of prey and rest- Quillpaw, remain alert. I may want to train you later." With that, she turned and led the patrol back to camp.

[Dust]

Originally Posted by Brightspot

Pelt torrid beneath the kit's petrifying glare, Brightpaw recognized her lithe form shrinking into herself, if only slightly. Stupid, to get so anxious around some smart-mouthed kitten. Even so, her coat bristles in response, sleek fur on-end amid foreboding unease.

She wanted to smack him and turn-tail and run all at the same time. Wan features contorting into a lour, the ivory molly lowers her haunches to the earth, resting there in an endeavor to conceal her discernible trepidation. StarClan, he's feisty. Someone ought to knock some sense into him.

"Where are your manners?" The apprentice probes, yellowish gaze narrowing once more. Another strident, shrill caterwaul splits her muzzle as she yowls, "I rank above you, y'know!"

Glancing the juvenile tom over once, twice, Brightpaw huffs, vehement heart belaboring amid her chest. Why are you scared, you mousebrain?! "I bet you don't even know how to hunt."

"I rank above you, blah blah blah!" Condorkit chimed with a snide, yet singsongy voice. Almost like he was singing? An equivalent to it at least, given that it just sounded like caterwauls. Still, Condorkit entire body seized - hair standing on end as he glared daggers at Brightpaw.

"Of course I know how to hunt!" No, he didn't. "I'm the best hunter in this clan!" No, he wasn't. "Watch and learn!" Condorkit snorted, raising his maw to drink in the scents around him. ThunderClan.. ThunderClan... ThunderClan.... Oh squirrel! He recognized it from the prey he had eaten the other day! Excellent! With a confident wiggle of his rump, the kitten pressed further into the undergrowth. Whether Brightpaw wanted to follow him or not, he didn't care! He was going to be useful! No longer sitting around playing stupid moss games or being a stinky baby whining all the time. Still... he wanted someone to see his accomplishments. With a hesitant glance behind him, if Brightpaw was in tow a grin would cross his features and if not, well...

As he approached the scent he only assumed was squirrel, the kit became more bouncy with his actions. NO! Wait! He had to be quiet, otherwise it would run away, right? Dropping into the WORST hunting crouch ever in existence, Condorkit paced forwards to poke his head through a charred clump of ferns to find - well... what the stars was that? It didn't look like a squirrel... and why was it all pointy.. spikey? Watching the strange brown creature lumber around, stuffing small bits of.. whatever it was into it's small mouth. If Brightpaw had wandered up beside him, he would turn a curious gaze her direction,

"Uhm... what is that? That doesn't look like a squirrel."

[cmdR_Paige]

@Tundra @doghouse

Silversky made her way into the clearing, rejoining the other two cats in her patrol. She picked up both the squirrel and the mouse the best she could and nodded in the direction of the camp. "Let's go," she mumbled through the mouthfuls of fresh-kill.

[Brightspot]

Originally Posted by Dust

"I rank above you, blah blah blah!" Condorkit chimed with a snide, yet singsongy voice. Almost like he was singing? An equivalent to it at least, given that it just sounded like caterwauls. Still, Condorkit entire body seized - hair standing on end as he glared daggers at Brightpaw.

"Of course I know how to hunt!" No, he didn't. "I'm the best hunter in this clan!" No, he wasn't. "Watch and learn!" Condorkit snorted, raising his maw to drink in the scents around him. ThunderClan.. ThunderClan... ThunderClan.... Oh squirrel! He recognized it from the prey he had eaten the other day! Excellent! With a confident wiggle of his rump, the kitten pressed further into the undergrowth. Whether Brightpaw wanted to follow him or not, he didn't care! He was going to be useful! No longer sitting around playing stupid moss games or being a stinky baby whining all the time. Still... he wanted someone to see his accomplishments. With a hesitant glance behind him, if Brightpaw was in tow a grin would cross his features and if not, well...

As he approached the scent he only assumed was squirrel, the kit became more bouncy with his actions. NO! Wait! He had to be quiet, otherwise it would run away, right? Dropping into the WORST hunting crouch ever in existence, Condorkit paced forwards to poke his head through a charred clump of ferns to find - well... what the stars was that? It didn't look like a squirrel... and why was it all pointy.. spikey? Watching the strange brown creature lumber around, stuffing small bits of.. whatever it was into it's small mouth. If Brightpaw had wandered up beside him, he would turn a curious gaze her direction,

"Uhm... what is that? That doesn't look like a squirrel."

Scowling against the affront to her status, the besmirched molly fathoms her ebony-patched pelt prickling, lithe figure laden with irritation. Maw snapping shut, her gaze merely narrows in offense towards the kit, sable-smattered tail whsking this way and that amid muted choler. Was she not imposing enough as an apprentice? Why didn't he respect her? This is so...so...aggravating!

Nevertheless, her flaxen gaze remains trained upon Condorkit's juvenile form as he alleges his adeptness in the skill, concluding that it would be a rather stupid notion to leave the kit without supervision, regardless of how much she might like to. Features twisting, a glower pervades the apprentice's muzzle, a low, rumbling, disbelieving chortle emitting her in an endeavor to sheath her apprehensive unease.

"Pfft! Yeah, right!" She yowls, suddenly worried about being shown up by this weird, mean kitten. "Go on, then! Hunt something! Bet you can't!"

Scrutinizing the prey before them, however, Brightpaw had allowed an irked chuckle to abscond her maw, intently observing the kitten before her. There's no way! She ponders, subconsciously attempting to soothe her own frayed, diffident nerves. There's no way he knows how to hunt! The inquiry on Condorkit's lips does very little to inhibit the dangerous pride that is suddenly incensing her.

"Best hunter in the Clan my flank!" Brightpaw titters, derision & mockery billowing from her tone. "If you're so good, you ought to know the types of prey, shouldn't you?"