ShadowClan Territory

[popsicle dream]

Larkpaw was still struggling. It was irritating. Almost infuriating. But he wasn’t prepared for Talonstone to come straight up behind him. And he’d done it so quietly that he wasn’t aware that the warrior was there until he spoke. The voice surprised him, and he jumped, all but one paw leaving the tree. The last one slid down after him, down to his new position: the ground. He stood back up and shook his fur before getting ready to climb again using Talonstone’s tip. He began by putting both of his front paws up again. @bmkmb

[Darkbloom]

Originally Posted by MooingPanda

"Not bad, actually." Embershadow was impressed. "Move your hindlegs in a little more. That's better. Now, can you scent any prey?" He sat back.

(Sorry for my late reply)

“Hm...” Dapplepaw hummed thoughtfully.
His legs were a little bit shaky since he had been holding the pose for a while, but he refused to fail on his first day. The dilute tortie apprentice blinked a few times, then the scent of frog drifted to his nose.
”Yummy..” he breathed it in, an enchanted look on his face.
Then focusing, he shook his head.
“Frog. There’s frog.” Dapplepaw blurted out.

[MooingPanda]

Originally Posted by Darkbloom

(Sorry for my late reply)

“Hm...” Dapplepaw hummed thoughtfully.
His legs were a little bit shaky since he had been holding the pose for a while, but he refused to fail on his first day. The dilute tortie apprentice blinked a few times, then the scent of frog drifted to his nose.
”Yummy..” he breathed it in, an enchanted look on his face.
Then focusing, he shook his head.
“Frog. There’s frog.” Dapplepaw blurted out.

"Yep, the frog is now gone because you gave him a heads up." Embershadow tried not to be too hard on him. "That's alright, try again. This time, don't tell the whole of ShadowClan what you smell." He gave the flustered apprentice a nod of encouragement and flicked his ears to where the frog was still hopping around.

[vampy]

~ Finchpelt ~ @Cobra ~

(Almost forgot our patrol-)

Finchpelt led the way into ShadowClan territory, trotting at an even pace. She was getting a bit old, and it was nice to be picked for patrols once in a while.
”I do recall seeing borage.” she commented suddenly. “I saw it when I gave birth to Gingerfrost. She’s an angel..”
Finchpelt’s voice trailed off, eventually fading into silence. She remembered the small, red kit laying beside her. Her eyes were frosty blue, and bright as the sun. She was very protective of her kit since she was the only one she had. She gave a shake to her head, forcing herself to stop daydreaming and focus.
“Like Ebonyfang said, blue star-shaped flowers. They’ll also have hairy pink or purple stems.” her brown eyes shifted themselves to look back at Berrysky.

[Cobra]

Berrysky followed slowly behind Finchpelt, assuming the she-cat had a more elevated status then they did. Or either she didn't care, and was one of those "all cats have equality" girl. Either way, Berry already decided she mildly annoyed them. Finch was just.. so annoying. They kinda wanted to stuff their head in a badger hole - or maybe a fox burrow! That would be so much better. And so much quieter! "Oh," they meowed, "okay. So? Ah, our mission. I suppose we should focus on that, hmm?" An angel. Berrysky could feel pain coursing through them, the whispers of praise towards him.. but that words of hate launched towards them.

They looked at her, the slowly trailing-off words no longer spewing from her mouth. Berrysky was glad, but a little.. what was that word? Ah, yes. Feeling a bit.. empathetic. "Um," they meowed awkwardly. "It's a nice name?" They relaxed visibly when Finchpelt spoke again, relieved to have a distraction. They weren't an evil cat, but still - all the kindness. "Okay. Here, I think I spot some!" Berry raced over to the patch of borage and picked some up gently in their mouth. "Yesh. Dish ish it."

// @Minty

[vampy]

Originally Posted by Cobra

Berrysky followed slowly behind Finchpelt, assuming the she-cat had a more elevated status then they did. Or either she didn't care, and was one of those "all cats have equality" girl. Either way, Berry already decided she mildly annoyed them. Finch was just.. so annoying. They kinda wanted to stuff their head in a badger hole - or maybe a fox burrow! That would be so much better. And so much quieter! "Oh," they meowed, "okay. So? Ah, our mission. I suppose we should focus on that, hmm?" An angel. Berrysky could feel pain coursing through them, the whispers of praise towards him.. but that words of hate launched towards them.

They looked at her, the slowly trailing-off words no longer spewing from her mouth. Berrysky was glad, but a little.. what was that word? Ah, yes. Feeling a bit.. empathetic. "Um," they meowed awkwardly. "It's a nice name?" They relaxed visibly when Finchpelt spoke again, relieved to have a distraction. They weren't an evil cat, but still - all the kindness. "Okay. Here, I think I spot some!" Berry raced over to the patch of borage and picked some up gently in their mouth. "Yesh. Dish ish it."

// @Minty

(Lol, Finchpelt is quite the chatterbox. And small translation, “Should we go back or collect more?”)

They seemed to be right. Finchpelt could spot a small blue blur in the distance. The light brown she-cat followed after Berrysky, paws moving quickly. She halted suddenly when they did, and her eyes moved down, aimed at the herb. She sniffed it, then moved her head away.
”That’s borage all right,” she sent a brief nod her patrol buddy’s way. “Nice job.”
Finchpelt collected the remaining borage that Berrysky hadn’t gotten, then turned to them at a slow pace, her mouth halfway full.
“Soud we go back or coect moe?” she asked them with a twitch of her ear, her mouth muffled from the borage.
Berrysky definitely seemed more upbeat now that they completed their assigned task. Finchpelt was aware when cats disliked her, and they were one of them. She didn’t mind, but tried to bring them out of their shell. She couldn’t be that bad, and if they truly were, they could go ahead and shut her up whenever they’d like. Another quirk, she knows how to talk back to cats. The light brown she-cat could admit, she was a talkative one, but she was just like that. She was aware she had quirks that some cats disliked, but she didn’t care all that much. Chatty and extroverted, maybe too positive. That was her. Finchpelt. And oh well, they would have to deal with that. Finchpelt had a faint smile, brown eyes glistening as she waited for Berrysky to answer her question.

[nocturnal]

// @Phoenix Fall

The tomcat paused as Larkpaw slid back down to the earth. He made a mental note that although silence helped to prevail in hunting, it was probably best not to startle apprentices who were in precarious positions learning to climb. "If you wish," Talonstone offered, "-you may stay down and observe while I demonstrate for some time. Perhaps you might notice something that I have not." However, if Larkpaw wanted to keep climbing on his own first, the warrior had nothing against that.

// @Paradise

The large shadowdweller paused as the scent of moving pine came closer, and he was about to turn when something sharp and heavy trapped his tail against the earth. He mentally reversed his thoughts to prevent any undignified bristling of the fur, then faced his assailant as she released his balance checker.

"So I've been told," Talonstone replied wryly to her remark. "Though, this is the first time I've been mistaken as prey by a clanmate."

He discreetly scrutinized Gingerfrost, wondering if anything other than lack of attention brought on the mistake; however, when he found nothing, he redirected his thoughts elsewhere and inquired, "You've been a warrior for many moons. Does it not bore you, the repetition? Hunting, practicing, patrols, training apprentices. The hunting especially; while mentoring is varied by day, hunting sessions tend to blend together."

[ophelia]

Gingerfrost blinked up at him with a curious look. "Odd question," she observed. Although she got the feeling that he was a rather odd cat. So was she, so she didn't mind. The small molly shrugged casually, turning to groom her shoulder. "Many moons?" she wrinkled her nose, "Way to make me feel old."

The tabby thought about his question. She often found herself tired of going out and doing the same old thing, but figured it was just the way things were for clan cats. And she'd much rather be a clan cat than any other type of cat.

"It does sometimes," she conceded. "But every day is different for hunting too, never know what ya might find out here," she said in an upbeat tone, waving her tail around. She was making sure not to be too open around this cat. In ShadowClan especially, she knew if was never a good idea to complain around cats you didn't know well. It was bad for the security of the clan. Although, she couldn't complain about hearing said complaints, since that was always interesting.

"I don't currently have an apprentice, but they do seem to make daily activities more...interesting to say the least," she continued, a twinkle in her eye. She had a soft spot for younger cats, although she easily got impatient with them.

@bmkmb

[popsicle dream]

Observing sounded great. Larkpaw put his paws back down, hoping that it made his intention clear. He stepped back as well. It wasn’t that he was shy, he just didn’t feel like forming words in that moment. Because they’d come out snappy and possibly yelled, based on the annoyance still coursing through him. And he didn’t need that, and especially wouldn’t need a negative reaction to it. So he kept his mouth shut. It was simple, actually. He was sure that so much conflict could’ve been avoided if cats simply didn’t speak in anger. And that may have been the wisest thing he’d ever thought or said. @bmkmb

[Darkbloom]

Originally Posted by MooingPanda

"Yep, the frog is now gone because you gave him a heads up." Embershadow tried not to be too hard on him. "That's alright, try again. This time, don't tell the whole of ShadowClan what you smell." He gave the flustered apprentice a nod of encouragement and flicked his ears to where the frog was still hopping around.

Dapplepaw nodded.
”Err.. sorry, Embershadow.” he apologized, ears flattened and head ducked in embarrassment.
The dilute tortie apprentice kept the crouch position, and crawled forwards quickly until he was pretty close to the frog. Then he pounced, missing it. Dapplepaw raced after the frog who was bouncing as fast as it could, then caught it in his mouth and crunched down slightly, killing it.
“I dif if!” he meowed, eyes sparkling.
He had caught his first piece of prey. This was going to be fun!