The Trio's Last Patrol

The cold leaf-fall wind battered against the sleek, thick gray pelt of a middle-aged warrior waiting for his two old-time friends at the entrance to camp. Nerves raced up and down his spine, anxious that the recently rekindled friendship between the trio would fall apart again. What if he said something bad and got cast aside like he did in the apprentice days? The old memory of Laurelsong's claws slashing down on empty air where he had been standing seconds ago shimmed to the surface, fogged over with time and confusion. He had lost his friendship with Nectarleap and Laurelsong because of his quick judgement for her being evil. How could he do that to someone? Stoneheart could hardly remember the threat Laurelsong had given him for being close to Nectarleap, the impact dimmed by time and careful, careful convincing.

Once upon a time, he would've sticked to the rules and righteousness with all his being. Now, he was afraid of losing his new-found friends, the disappearance of his apprentice and almost all his kits shadowing each pawstep.

With the solid-stone foundation of his beliefs withered away by the raging storms of life, Stoneheart waited for his friends with hope that he wouldn't lose his two friends again.

Laurelsong grumbled as she fluffed out her short pelt the best she could to reflect the chilled breeze, her greenish-yellow eyes narrowed to annoyed slits as she crossed the camp to join Stoneheart by the camp entrance.  If one did not somehow notice the blasting wind, the young warrior would have looked quite aggressive indeed; fur puffed out, her steps stiff and body slightly crouched, pupils contracted down to tiny slivers of black.  Once she was close enough though she began to relax a bit, though still looking a bit aggravated.  "Uhg, I hate the cold!  How is this only just the beginning of leaf-fall?  Pfft, at this rate if it gets any chillier I'll probably freeze to death!"  She was probably exaggerating...probably.  At any rate, Laurelsong definitely wasn't in the best possible mood.  She even sounded annoyed as she spoke of her best friend; "Where the heck is Nectarleap?  The sooner we get going, the better!"  With her mind on other petty things, she almost forgot that she was supposed to hate Stoneheart with a passion; not that she showed it anymore anyway.

Nectarleap reluctantly stepped out of the bit of warmth the tall grass of the warrior's den provided and into the harsh wind. He had agreed to go on a patrol with his two best friends that day, and though that seemed exciting, right now the cold of the air made him wish he was curled up warm in his nest. With a sigh, he trotted over to near where his friends were waiting. His fur soon was ruffled in the most unneat fashion, but he ignored it and kept padding over to the two cats waiting for him. He remembered how they used ro hate each other, each accusing the other one of being some sort of evil. It had been stressful, not wanting to hurt either one of their feelings but still wanting to sort the whole misunderstanding out. Now, he saw it as something completely in the past, nothing any of them had to worry about anymore and maybe even a little bit bonding in the long run. As he arrived to where the two of them were standing, he winced slightly at Laurelsong's bitter mood. Though she was his best friend, he realized that her bad moods were a time best to be avoided. Not that he could do that now. Nodding a greeting to Stoneheart, he spoke up.
"I'm here now! Hopefully some rabbit chasing will warm us up quickly. Let's get going!" the tricolored warrior exclaimed, trying to lighten the mood while sneaking in some personal prefernce. Right then, hunting seemed like the best thing to do for many reasons, and he hoped that the other two warriors would agree. Casually, he started padding out of camp, making sure that he was being followed.

When his friends arrived, Stoneheart had at first tensed up with initial awkwardness. What did he say now that they were all supposedly good again? Are they really okay with him now? But he was pleasantly surprised by the non-hostile tone in Laurelsong's voice as she complained about the cold. Did she...did she truly not hate him anymore? Her words made him feel a tinge in his chest, replacing the troubles of his adulthood with an easiness he hadn't felt since he was an apprentice. The feeling grew when Nectarleap urged them to get going, eager to start the patrol just like the old days.

"Yeah!" Stoneheart agreed with Nectarleap, eyes crinkling with happiness. Without another moment to stall, the gentle giant followed after his friend out of camp into the Windclan moors.

Her chin lifted smugly, Laurelsong only let out an annoyed snort as Nectarleap finally made his presence known; her mood didn't last too long though.  A few moments after she shot him a faint smile before shaking out her short pelt one last time, and falling into step a little ways behind her tri-color friend.  "Yea, hopefully there's something running around for us to catch."  As they left the camp, she couldn't help but glance back at Stoneheart, the familiar hateful twinge still present in her chest at the sight of his happy face.  Grrr....I don't know how long I can put up with this whole being-nice-to-him act...StarClan show me mercy if I slip up.  On the outside though, she cracked a smile and purred, looking between the two toms as she spoke.  "Where should we start?  Preferably a place that's a little bit out of the wind."

"If we can find anywhere out of the wind today, StarClan will truly be blessing us," Nectarleap joked in response to Laurelsong as they padded deeper into the territory. As the cold breeze continued to ruffle up his fur, the warrior's mind raced to think of somewhere somewhat protected from the elements. Behind Outlook Rock provided a good shield from the wind, but the lack of prey there made it a less than ideal place to go hunting. The only other place he could think of was the dip in the ground near Lone Stump, which had a pretty fair amount of prey this time of the year. "How about near Lone Stump? The hill it's on will provide at least a little protection from the cold, and there is a lot of prey over there." He couldn't wait to get out of the cold and be able to talk to his friends like old times, just chatting like nothing else mattered, hunting with a determination to feed their clan.

Stoneheart's pelt was thick enough that the cold wasn't too bad for him. But if his friends weren't liking the cold much, then of course he'd follow them somewhere warmer. Plus, he hadn't been to Lone Stump in a while. It sounded fun. "Yeah let's go there," Stoneheart agreed with Nectarleap. "I bet there's prey there for us to catch that's hiding from the cold too." He still wasn't the best hunter, but he was determined to catch the largest haul he could with the help of his friends.

At Nectarleap's stellar suggestion, Laurelsong nodded vigorously and purred; "Perfect idea, let's go!"  Her paws itched to run, not just to help her warm up but because the moors called to her like they always did; no matter the weather, the sight of her beautiful territory always lifted her spirits, and lit a fire under her paws.  She longed to run, brush against the tall grass, smell the rapidly wilting heather and gorse flowers...she truly loved her home more than anything, and she would always be here to defend it.  With a mischievous smirk, the gray-backed molly flicked her tail and trotted ahead a few paces, walking backwards as she spoke; "Last one there has to...jump in the river!"  A bit childish yes...but did she really care?  Nope!  Laurelsong took off running towards the Lone Stump, the wind whipping her fur and flattening her ears back against her head.  Yet, she wasn't cold; her muscles finally moving, her body coursed with warmth and strength once again, as the adrenaline spurned by competition pumped through her veins.  This was what she lived for!

Nectarleap nodded and started padding towards Lone Stump, until Laurelsong spoke her challenge. For a moment he stopped, then realized what she was saying. With a smile, he bounded forward. In a few strides, he was almost to his friend, but the initial speed had given way to his usual fast pace, which was still fairly quick. Then he remembered Stoneheart's trouble with sprinting, and his pace slowed due to his conflicted mind. He wanted both his friends to be happy, but how could he do that? He decided to run between them, enough forward to look like he was trying but enough back so the other tom didn't get discouraged. As he did that, he wondered why he had to come up with master plans just to make his friends happy. Did everyone do that?

Stoneheart lumbered after them, heart jolting at Laurelsong's bet. Jump in the river?! He would never be able to beat those two! Unsurprisingly, he was last to reach Lone Stump, breath coming out in wheezes as he hunched over to catch his breath. Hopefully Laurelsong wouldn't remember that he's technically supposed to jump into the river now. 'She's not going to make you do something like that' his brain reminded him. 'Laurelsong's your friend now, remember?'

Slightly reassured, Stoneheart sniffed the air for the scent of rabbit. He would bring something else up instead of the bet. "Hey guys I think I smell rabbit," the nervous warrior meowed with hope they'd be distracted with that.

Laurelsong hadn't glanced behind her on the swift run to Lone Stump; she had expected Nectarleap to be right behind her, so when she skidded to a halt and looked to see where her friends were she was surprised to see he was quite a few paces behind.  Stoneheart was last as usual but she didn't show any sign of disapproval.  Instead, she forced herself to shoot him a comforting smile, non-verbally saying that he wouldn't be getting wet today.  At the gray tom's remark, she lifted her muzzle into the air and sniffed, quickly picking up the scent of rabbit as well, coming from the opposite direction as Stoneheart.  With a flick of her tail, she set off to catch the creature.  Soon enough, she found it; a medium-sized specimen, only a couple hops away from it's burrow.  She noticed though, that the burrow entrance was set against the base of a small hill.  Creeping carefully up the slope, the pale-pelted warrior positioned herself so that she was standing behind the rabbit, her paws digging into the peaty soil as she hung onto the side of the hill.  In a flash, she leaped forward and tackled the unknowing creature to the ground from her high position, digging her fangs into it's throat.  Once the life had drained from it's body, she picked up the carcass and dropped it in a patch of tall grass, a proud smirk on her maw.

The member 'RainyHeart' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Nectarleap's breath was only slightly labored when they stopped, as he had not ran his hardest. He caught a flash of something like a smile between his two friends, and he sighed with relief that there were no hard feelings. At Stoneheart's words, his head snapped up in alert, and in a moment he found the same scent his friend had. However, Laurelsong had already found it and was chasing the thing. He followed her to where she had sprinted, and got there in time to see her kill the creature. She had great technique, finishing with a clean and quick kill. He smiled back at her and purred in congratulations.
"Nice catch! Maybe I can catch something too now!" the tricolored warrior praised, searching the hill for something to eat. In a few moments, he located a grouse. Not as easy as chasing a rabbit, but a bit more impressive. Grinning, he padded downhill towards it, making sure he was downwind. As soon as he was sure that he was close enough to his target, he crouched down into the tall grass and crawled towards it, low enough to be hidden, but high enough to be silent. Soon he was close enough to leap, but he hesitated. Should he use his usual low jump, or jump slightly higher, since it was a bird. He decided to do a mix of both. With a sudden, silent leap, he lunged for it. Automatically, it flew a little ways upwards, right into his claws. Once he had swiped it out of the air, he luged for its neck and sunk in his fangs, killing it in a matter of seconds. He whispered thanks to StarClan, then carried it over to his friends. "Guys! I caught a grouse!"

The member 'Squirrelnose' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Stoneheart felt a wave of disappointment when Laurelsong chased after the rabbit that had an aroma that caught his attention earlier. He felt further bad about it when she flashed a smirk at making her catch, not saying anything to prevent his insecurity from being too obvious to notice. The Windclan warrior wanted to be better and make his friends proud of him. Determined to not fall behind, Stoneheart scented the air again for any signs of prey. His nose only smelled long grass. 'Darn,' Stoneheart thought to himself with dejection. It was hard to find anything during leaf-bare.

Then Nectarleap announced he caught an animal that should be nearly impossible to catch during leaf-bare. Stoneheart's turned to his best friend with wide eyes. "Whoa Nectarleap, you caught a grouse? That's really impressive!" He acclaimed with awe.