Dearly Departed Patrol (Closed for Error, Pikachu, Ink and Tawny)

Halfmoon, although she was nearly blind and still recovering from the Gathering, she still had duties to her Clan. She wouldn't be weak just because of her ugliness. She still had her mate and her Clanmates, and that was all she needed. She waited by the fresh-kill pile for her apprentice Sootpaw and the other warriors Ivyfall had sent on the patrol- her mate Reedfang, Tawnystorm, and Ivyfall herself.

Sootpaw padded out of the apprentice’s den, silent as a shadow. The odd eyed tom padded towards his mentor, he never had cared about her looks or her near blindness. Most apprentices probably would’ve felt a bit disappointed if they had received the white she-cat as their mentor, but not him, he actually felt sincerely intrigued, wondering what kind of techniques Halfmoon had to teach him. After all, thanks to his time with Thistlekit before his ceremony he had learned that sometimes crippled cats had a lot more tricks than a regular cat would ever had.

He was fully aware that she wasn’t completely blind, but he didn’t want to startle her by accident in case she was thinking on something else, starting to make noise with each step on purpose as he got closer “Greetings, Halfmoon” His voice was as low as always, though he was careful to raise his tone just a bit to be clearly heard before sitting at her side to wait for the other cats that would come with them on the patrol. He never had been the kind of cat that showed his emotions, his face rarely holding anything else but a neutral expression, though he always tried to be respectful and polite, especially with those whose rank was higher than his.

Tawnystorm padded over to the fresh-kill pile, where she spotted Halfmoon, one of the warriors she'd been instructed to go on a patrol with. She watched as Sootpaw approached, Halfmoon's apprentice. She nodded in greeting to both cats and sat down, waiting for the others to arrive so they could get going.

(mobile)

Halfmoon nodded at her apprentice, grateful for his added help in making his presence known. She was glad that Sootpaw had respect for her despite her deformity. "We'll do this patrol, and then some battle training- okay, Sootpaw?" The white she-cat dipped her head to Tawnystorm as the warrior walked up.

"Are you sure that you're ready, Halfmoon?" The deputy asked merely out of caution, she trusted the warrior to know her own body, however she was concerned that the warrior would injury herself worse if she pushed herself too soon. Halfmoon was a beloved warrior who had shown herself to be loyal to StarClan to the bone. RiverClan couldn't risk losing a cat like that.

Reedfang walked up joining his sister, and his mate. He also noticed Twanystorm and Sootpaw where on the patrol as well. It was nice being together with his family. Especially his sister, she had come a long way from when she was an apprentice. He remembered helping her with her fishing when he just received his warrior name. It was a nice time and now she was deputy of Riverclan. He looked to his mate, still beautiful as ever in his mind. "I guess I was running late since I'm the last one to show up." He said cheerfully. "I guess we can get going now."

Halfmoon gave a firm nod to Ivyfall. "I'm grateful for your concern, but I know my own limits." She smiled at her mate- fashionably late, as always. "Yes, I suppose we should go. How about we patrol the WindClan border? Haven't gone there for a while." Giving her still-intact tail a wave, the experienced warrior started out past the camp entrance.

"Excellent, then." Tawnystorm nodded, and began to follow Halfmoon out of camp. It had been a while since she'd been near the WindClan border, too. She hoped the wouldn't run into too much trouble, though she admitted that of their neighbors, WindClan was probably the least hostile - at least, from her own experiences.

Reedfang looked to Ivyfall for a moment giving her a reassuring nod that Halfmoon would be fine, and then followed his mate and the younger warrior out of the camp and into the territory. It was nice being out of camp again, and everything being normal. The brown tabby followed along looking around at the territory as they passed.

Sootpaw twitched his whiskers and perked his ears with Halfmoon’s words, liking the idea of battle training “Of course” His attention soon was taken away by the voice of Ivyfall, giving a respectful nod as a greeting. She may be his mother, but she also was the deputy and he was just showing the respect she deserved. He greeted the other two warriors in the same silent respectful way, he once more felt that too many cats had joined the group he was supposed to head out of camp with, but he tried to not look bothered by this to avoid spoiling this patrol for the older cats before it even started.

He reacted to his mentor’s actions almost immediately, his paws being as silent as always as he followed close behind. He was looking around from time to time, but most of his attention landed on Halfmoon as his eyes held a subtle curious glint in them, wanting to learn how she reacted to the territory around her and what kind of tricks she had to overcome her near blindness. He didn’t share the incapacity, but maybe those tricks could come in handy someday.

Ivyfall greeted her brother and her son, Sootpaw with a low trill before taking her up position in the rear guard of the patrol. She didn't mind giving Halfmoon the reigns for this patrol, the deputy had enough responsibility around the clan that times when she got to just be another warrior were small blessings. And after the recent ousting of the Dark Forest, there hadn't been that much inter-clan tensions. Most patrols were peaceful, giving her time to appreciate the territory and spend time with family. Not that she wasn't alert as she followed behind them, but she was more relaxed than she'd usually be.

Halfmoon was careful as she walked along the grassy ground. Her whiskers brushed the trees around her, and her claws were half unsheathed, moving rocks out of the way when she encountered them. Her good ear twitched around in any given direction where she heard a sound, whether it was a leaf blowing across the ground, the rushing of the nearby river, or the skittering of a squirrel. They had only gone halfway to the border when her ear caught a heavy crashing sound. Halfmoon tensed. "What was that?" she hissed, hair standing straight up along her spine.

As soon as Halfmoon froze so did Reedfang. The brown tabby tom straightened up, his ears perked at the noise trying to listen for what ever caused it. He opened his mouth trying to see if he could smell any danger but nothing came to him. Standing at the back of the patrol the warrior turned his head looking for the source of the noise but found nothing until he looked behind them. He froze in place as a badger came charging straight for him ready to attack him.

ooc: I'm controlling the badger~

Halfmoon's good eye widened as she saw the badger. "Reedfang, no!" she yowled, running to him and knocking him out of the way. There was no way she was going to lose him again. Fully unsheathing her claws, she turned to the badger. "Don't touch my mate," the deformed she-cat hissed.

Sootpaw was trying to imitate his mentor, ears twitching with every single thing he heard, reason why he almost jumped with surprise when the sudden loud crashing sound reached his ears, claws unsheathed and fur standing on end. He looked around, heart beating fast against his chest. His neutral expression got replaced by terror as soon as he spotted the badger charging straight towards them, digging his claws on the dirt, mind blank and unable to move. It wasn’t until Halfmoon spoke that he snapped out of his fear induced state.

He was sincerely unsure of what he was supposed to do, but he couldn’t just run away and leave the warriors to fight on their own. His battling skills still needed some work and he was aware of it, but he had to at least try…and be careful to not get himself killed in the process.