RiverClan Patrols

[dino.]

// @zenosaurus

>Bluebellcrackle<

"Someone was watching us."

She spoke quickly and with purpose as she shouldered through the camp's entrance and strode over to Snowleap. "Everything was quiet at the ThunderClan border, but there was someone there just watching us. I think we all felt eyes on the backs of our necks. It definitely didn't feel secure."

[Clock Dragonshifter]

Originally Posted by SpiritedWarrior

Littlepaw padded back into camp with her waterfowl. Her head and tail were both held high as she looked at Snowleap.

"I caught a waterfowl!" she purred with pride. "Vinewatcher got a couple of fish, and she is probably going to come with the fish I caught too!"

The small she-cat dropped the waterfowl at Snowleap's feet and walked away to be with the Clan, not waiting for Vinewatcher to report.

@Clock Dragonshifter
@zenosaurus

VineWatcher {She/Her}
The sleek blue tabby padded into camp fish hanging from her maw laying it down she nodded to the apprentice, before greeting Snowleap respectfully before speaking. "2 perch and cherub. There was also a snake... Quite large and one i'd never seen before so I didn't bother it as I didn't have enough information to engage. The snake was orange with white rings along it." she spoke blandly

@zenosaurus

[TheWhiteWolf]

➵ [ Lynxfall | he/they ]


➤ Standing up to start following Wormbite, he turned back to Fawnpaw. "I've been fine. How about you, Fawnpaw?" they inquired as the group began to head to the border of WindClan. As they moved on, Lynxfall grew curious on Wormbite. He's heard of him before, but he never really knew much about him. "Hopefully we won't run into any trouble during our patrol." they softly mewled, hoping to create some light talk between him and the other Warrior.

// { @marni // @x ghostie }

[taillow]

Fawnpaw
Smiling up at Lynxfall, she was delighted to hear that he had been doing alright. "I've been good! I'm excited to be going on patrol with you and Mr. Wormbite!" It was true. They were perhaps the two warriors she felt closest with outside of Snowleap.

Eyes turned to see Wormbite approaching, Fawnpaw offered a smile and a dip of her head in return. "Hello Mr. Wormbite!" she greeted in the same honey-sweet way she had with her mentor. Though, the oriental seemed to not wish to engage in much conversation as he spoke of talking on the way there. Almost instantly Fawnpaw shut her jaw, guilt glittering in her gaze. "S-" she began, but then stopped. She knew some cats got upset with her apologizing so much - her thoughts floated back to Skystar - so instead she just got to her paws quietly and started to pad alongside Lynxfall to follow Wormbite out.

[ @Memento Mori @x ghostie ]

[*longfire*]

tigerfire walked into camp and among hi were the prey he caught his eyes sharply gazed around for snowleap hoping to ind him to report back to,
@Zenosuarus

[duckie]

FRECKLECRY
__________

Frecklecry strode back into camp, red splotches - quickly turning dark - marring their pelt. A quick stop at the prey pile to drop off their seagull before they set off in search of Snowleap. Upon finding the deputy, they piped up,"Our patrol went... well, I've brought back a gull and Flickerpaw caught her own fish." It wasn't a lie, per say. Flickerpaw had caught a fish, it just didn't happen to be the one Frecklecry was giving her credit for.

"We would have returned with more but the seagulls decided that our prey was theirs and they weren't taking no for an answer." they explained, gesturing at the wounds each of them bore as proof.

[ @xath @zenosaurus ]

[Orion]

|| Flickerpaw | @duckie @zenosaurus ||

The tone of Frecklecry's voice was... difficult to interpret, for Flickerpaw. She hadn't missed the panicked, choked-off shout that the warrior uttered as they sprang to the petite apprentice's side, as though Flickerpaw had been hurt much worse than she'd actually been hurt... as though Frecklecry cared. That, more than anything, kept any further words from forming in the girl's throat as they struggled back to their sandy paws. Her brain struggled to fit context clues together, not because the pieces didn't fit, but more because Flicker wasn't used to those shapes in the first place: concern and dread on her behalf, and not on behalf of her disastrous actions. It felt... backward. It felt wrong. Why should Frecklecry be upset that Flickerpaw had been dumped like a rotten fish by some evil seagull? They weren't even a mentor-apprentice pair, for StarClan's sake! Mintleaf probably would've rolled his eyes and told Flickerpaw to walk it off--HE certainly knew the vast trove of strength that Flicker possessed!

Indignity stung like wasp venom in Flickerpaw's guts, bubbling to a boil with the heat of shame and... and guilt. And wasn't that an unpleasant emotion: guilt. Remorse for making Frecklecry worry--about Flickerpaw--and wasting all that misplaced anxiety on a tough young cat who definitely, definitely didn't deserve--um, didn't need it.

The urge to apologize, to beg for forgiveness, to plead for another chance, churned hot and sickening in the pit of Flicker's belly as they tried, and failed, to meet Frecklecry's blue eyes... except Flicker couldn't find the correct words, couldn't make them form on her clumsy tongue, and the brave warrior's distressed gaze had already seemed to close off like a gate. Something closed in Flickerpaw's heart as well--more like a slam that she felt in her entire chest. At the sight of the mature fighter nosing through their ruined pile of fish, the apprentice swallowed hard and imagined crushing all the gross negative emotions battling for dominance between her back teeth.

This wasn't her fault... it was those damn seagulls. If they hadn't stolen her fish and tried to peck her and Frecklecry to death, there wouldn't be an issue. Frecklecry would have a beautiful haul to add to the communal pile, and Flickerpaw would have placed her beauteous two tide-pool silvers there as well. Dumb birds. Demonic creatures. Stupid, stupid gulls.

The tiny cat jolted on her paws when their patrol partner hefted a shimmering trout at them without warning. Flikcer glanced tiredly up at her partner, taking the slimy tail in her maw and preparing to help Frecklecry drag it back... when the warrior's words gave her pause. "M... Mine?" the apprentice mewed blankly. Another emotion that the ink-dark punk couldn't properly name. Not quite gratitude, not quite guilt, but a messy mixture of the two that painted the walls of their ribs thick and sticky. She couldn't force a thank you out of their full maw, regardless; instead, the rust-kissed kid meekly dipped her head and did her very best not to slide the dead trout through too much sand, lifting her head almost all the way backward so that the fish's head only bounced on the damp ground with every other step.

Back at camp, Flickerpaw deposited the trout along with Freckle's dead gull and trotted quickly after their partner to report. Nervousness had them swallowing, shuffling on their paws, gaze dropping to their toes as if Snowleap could see the truth of her failure written plain across her sorry face. What if she'd misinterpreted what Frecklecry had said at the beach? What if the blue-eyed warrior was about to sell Flickerpaw out in front of the deputy? Flickerpaw prepared to explain herself: I haven't really learned to hunt yet, I just need more practice, I promise I'll do better--

"R-Right, the seagulls!" Fierce relief nearly made Flicker collapse into a puddle. Despite the pain striping their midnight-and-flame pelt with scarlet, she bounced beside Frecklecry's (similarly bloody) side and bared their teeth at Snowleap in frustration. "You should've seen them! A swarm of ugly birds! Frecklecry had this HUGE pile but those awful birds just snapped it up like it was nothing! We really should've had another buddy or two to help drive them off... normally I could handle it, but I was taken by surprise. Truly annoying."

She peered at Frecklecry from the corner of their pale green gaze, tail lashing side to side. "Anyway... Frecklecry was really cool. Definitely knows how to handle thieving scavengers."

[TheWhiteWolf]

➵ [ Lynxfall | he/they ]

As the group made their way back to the RiverClan camp, Lynxfall went to seek out his mate to turn in his report. "Snowleap!" they padded over and bumped their nose affectionately to his forehead for a few seconds before pulling away. "We marked the border as you requested. We didn't run into any trouble either, though we did find something wonderful! It was a bear! but not a real bear, of course, and it was built like a friend! Very soft and squishy, perfect to bounce on!" he felt a purr rumbling in his chest. "Part of me wanted to take it home, but we decided to leave it in case if someone or something came back looking for it."

Looking around the site, he took in a breath of fresh air and let out a calm sigh. 'I'll have to take Fawnpaw out there again. She really loved that bear.' they thought to themself. Feeling proud of the Patrol going swimmingly, they were ready to curl up by a nice bush to relax for a bit.

{ @marni @x ghostie @zenosaurus // I hope it's okay that I had Lynxfall report already, otherwise I would've forgotten about it. }

[taillow]

Fawnpaw
Bounding into camp with excitement aiding her paws and joy alight in her gaze was Fawnpaw - and clutched in her mouth was a rather odd looking... arm of a bear?? She quickly located Lynxfall who was standing in front of Snowleap and hurried over, dropping the squishy arm with weird white stuff coming out of one end and let out a trill of happiness. "Mr. Lynxfall is right! It was super soft, and squishy, and definitely friend-shaped!" She liked that descriptor, and moved her head to nuzzle the side of her mentor's leg. Copper eyes flickered up to him, full of admiration and appreciation that they had taken the same pleasure as she had in the sight.

Looking back now to the deputy, Fawnpaw gave another warm smile. "I brought this back though! It seemed to already be falling off - but look!" Gesturing towards the stuffed bear arm with a paw, Fawnpaw let out another 'mrrp' of joy at her prized collection. "Touch it Mr. Snowleap! It's super soft and squishy!" Eyes glittering with happiness, she had a thought cross her mind. Nodding to mostly herself, she added, "I am going to see if Mr. Skystar wants it for his den. I bet it would make his nest a lot more comfortable!"

[ @Memento Mori @zenosaurus ]

[Captain]

SNOWLEAP
⸻⸻⸻⸻

➣ Stretching open his jaws, the RiverClan deputy released as exhausted yawn and made his way slowly over to the base of the Streamstone. For some reason, he felt so tired and ready to just collapse in his nest, but unfortunately for him, there were reports to be heard and it seemed the patrols he sent out were just starting to come back. Great. Maybe, if they were lucky, this would go by fast and all of them would be able to continue on with their day in peace. He didn’t really feel too good right now, physically-speaking. Dear StarClan, they hoped they weren’t getting sick. They could not get sick with all that was going on.

⸻⸻

Quietly, Snowleap sat down, just in time to see Flamesong and Softecho, one of his hunting patrols, approaching swiftly. He watched both cats closely as they dropped their prey in the freshkill pile and looked at him. “Excellent work! I’m very pleased to see that your patrol was a success,” The dark-furred tomcat exclaimed, blinking gratefully at Flamesong and dipping his head to Softecho, “The clan will be quite happy with what you’ve both caught. Thank you. You are both dismissed.” He hadn’t really expected much from Haven Springs, knowing prey was better in other areas in their territory, but this was a good thing and he was happy with the outcome of the first patrol back. Snowleap hoped the rest would be the same.

[ @Morning! @Raven~ ]

⸻⸻

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the familiar sight of Littlepaw, looking mighty proud of herself as she came over. The oriental tomcat listened to the RiverClan apprentice as she recalled her hunt with Vinewatcher in Cattail Pond. Littlepaw made Snowleap hope that she would make it to her warrior ceremony. It was an unfortunate reality of RiverClan that not many apprentices seemed to make it that far. Pebblecreek, of course, was one of the lucky ones. He shook his head and focused on the present. “Good job, Littlepaw.” Snowleap praised the molly, “I’m very proud of you and I’m sure your mentor feels the same way.” With that, Littlepaw soon left, being replaced by Vinewatcher. The clan deputy listened to the she-cat about the fish they had caught ⸺ and then something about a snake? Orange with white rings, hm… “It could have possibly been a milk snake. They’re, thankfully, harmless, but I’m glad you and your apprentice didn’t mess with it. You are dismissed.” He nodded to the RiverClan warrior and thought back to a time before he was a deputy for a moment.

[ @SpiritedWarrior @Clock Dragonshifter ]

⸻⸻

The abrupt voice of Bluebellcrackle swiftly drew the long-furred tomcat from his thoughts and he looked to his friend with a look of concern. Someone was watching the ThunderClan border patrol. Oh StarClan, that couldn’t be good. “I’ll talk with Skystar about it as soon as possible.” Snowleap remarked, blinking at the RiverClan molly, “ThunderClan might be planning something. I don’t know, but I will make sure your report doesn’t go unheard. Thank you, Bluebellcrackle. You’re dismissed.” That report in particular bothered the deputy, wondering if they were closer to a second battle than expected.

[ @Slushie ]

⸻⸻

For a few moments, Snowleap fought the urge to sleep and thought more of the possible movements of ThunderClan. It wasn’t long, however, until he caught the familiar form of Tirefire as he walked into camp, seeming to look a tad lost. “Tigerfire.” They meowed gruffly, trying to signal to the tomcat that he was over here under the Streamstone, “How was your patrol? Anything notable to report?” The RiverClan deputy stared at him with his one good eye, awaiting any kind of answer from the warrior.

[ @silentstalk ]

⸻⸻

Once that was all taken care of, the oriental longhair partial gaze soon caught Frecklecry and Flickerpaw, who both looked like they had one hell of a time at Lionsbeach. He listened to the tortoiseshell warrior as she explained that the patrol had gone well and they had brought back some prey, would’ve even brought back more… if it weren’t for seagulls. Ah, so that was why they both looked like that. His eye slid over to the RiverClan apprentice as she started to speak soon after Frecklecry. Hm. “Well, I’m glad that you two are… mostly… okay. Those seagulls can be quite relentless.” Snowleap said, shaking his head lightly, “I am happy with your report regardless though. You’ve worked hard and deserve plenty of rest. Go bother Snakeheart if you feel like those wounds need a look at, but other than that, you are dismissed. Thank you both again.” Before, he had been a tad worried about pairing these two together, but Flickerpaw’s last words seemed to make that worry disappear.

[ @duckie @xath ]

⸻⸻

Hearing the soothing voice of his mate, Snowleap’s ears perked up and he turned his head to see Lynxfall walking over. “Hello, my starshine,” The RiverClan deputy purred in greeting as they let the orange-and-cream tomcat touch their forehead with his nose for a few blissful seconds. When his beloved pulled away, the dark-furred oriental listened with a small smile as the lean warrior reported in the patrol. He wondered, for a moment, where Wormbite was, but that tom was a strange one, so Snowleap chose to trust in Fawnpaw and Lynxfall to tell him if anything bad had happened to him. A bear? Built like a friend? Soft and squishy? Snowleap had to do his best not to laugh, finding it oddly adorable how his mate described it. Before he could even manage to say anything, Fawnpaw scampered over with… wait, what was that? Ah, that must be the arm of the squishy bear.

Snowleap kept on smiling as he watched Fawnpaw nuzzle Lynxfall, which made him happy to witness. The two of them were getting along quite well and he was glad that he poked Skystar to make them mentor-and-apprentice. The RiverClan molly soon looked to the dark-furred oriental tomcat and showed off the plush bear’s arm, urging him to touch it. Snowleap lifted his right paw and touched the object, feeling its soft and fluffy texture. Hm. He stared at it for a moment, appearing lost in thought over something regarding the stuffed animal part. However, the clan deputy soon came back to the present and chuckled. “It seems you two had quite the adventure.” Snowleap meowed, whiskers twitching, “Your new friend is very soft indeed. I’m sure Skystar would love to have a comfy new buddy to cuddle in his nest.” Maybe it would warm his heart up and give the golden leader some compassion while they were at it. He looked up at the sky, seeing that it was getting very late. “Okay, I think it’s time we all start heading off to bed.” He said, standing up and looking at his mate before turning to smile at Fawnpaw, “Don’t stay up too late, okay? Give that friend-shaped critter of yours to Skystar and then straight to your nest, young one.” It was meant in a light-hearted manner, but stars above, he was talking like a dad! That made him feel older than he actually was.

[ @Memento Mori @marni ]

⸻⸻

Before heading off to the warrior’s den for the night, Snowleap took one last look towards the camp’s entrance. There was one patrol that had not shown up in time. Pebblecreek. Hm. The RiverClan deputy gave a sigh and decided to leave it be. But just this once. Maybe it was a fault of his own, letting the young RiverClan she-cat lead a patrol right after her ceremony. Oh well, Snowleap would let it slide for those reasons alone… but next time, he would not be as merciful. With that decided, the oriental tomcat turned and started off in the direction of his nest, his body feeling heavy and aching for rest after a long, tiring day.

( Thank you to all who reported in for getting your patrols done on time! ♥ )