Better Days are Coming [Closed]

The ice was melting and the snowstorms were becoming less frequent. Prey was starting to come out their hiding spots in search of food just like the Riverclan patrol was doing. Three warriors and an apprentice. It was a larger hunting party than usual but the young warrior didn't mind it. Actually, he didn't care much about anything but his wounded brother and to compensate for the death of the senior warrior that died for him. When they reached the shore of the river, he turned his sight to the rest of the group, looking less cheerful and charismatic than his usual self. After all, he had gone through... after Eaglebrook left him to die, the tom didn't want to get too close to anyone. "We can start hunting over here, I guess. I can keep an eye over Hawkpaw if you want." He mewed to the older and more experienced warriors that were with him.

The sleek white warrior was grateful for the slow but sure approach of new-leaf. Each day the world thawed just a little bit more, although some days it seemed to undo all its progress with a fresh storm. Fortunately this day was a bit clearer and could maybe even be considered warm in comparison to previous days of leaf-bare. Lightstep knew there was much to be grateful for, but admittedly he felt overwhelmed with everything happening in the forest. He noticed Berrycloud's mood had been a bit off too, but the young tom thought little of it. After all, Berrycloud and his brother Sparkfrost had been attacked by dogs; Silverfang, who'd been with them, had died of her injuries. The younger tom had a right to be a bit detached.

After they reached prime hunting grounds, the group began to go their separate ways to find things to catch for fresh-kill. Lightstep struck off into some foliage and after several pawsteps he slowed, hearing soft sounds in the dead leaves beneath a bush. The white tom parted his lips and, though muffled by snow, the scent of vole caught his attention. He tried to remember how to hunt a vole - oh, mouse dung, what makes the position different from a shrew or mouse? he wondered - and, with a sudden sharp intake of breath, he lunged through the surrounding plants, his claws finding purchase in a small furry body. The vole had no time to shriek in surprise as his paws crushed it easily. Satisfied, though not letting his joy show on his face too much, he made his way towards where he'd separated from the rest of the patrol and found a good place to bury his catch for the time being.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Hawkpaw wandered toward the center of the patrol. It was bigger than he expected, but the more the merrier. Most patrols only had about two or three cats. The apprentice flicked his ear as a small drop of snow fell on him. And that's another good thing. Newleaf was on its way, promising more prey an no snow. Hawkpaw felt happy at the thought. He didn't mind leaf-bare, but boy was it tough. He pushed his focus back toward hunting. His ears pricked at the sound of his name. Even though Berryclouds words weren't directed toward him, he nodded and followed the warrior.

He sniffed the air, letting the many scents bathe his tongue. He separated the smell of a finch, and followed it into a small clearing. Hawkpaw scanned the area of grass until his eyes caught the colored feathers of the bird. He stalked it, keeping his tail low to the forest floor. He got close enough to jump, but right before he did he stepped on a twig, alerting the bird. It flew off, sending a warning call with it. "Mouse-dung! Now all the prey in the clearing will have run away!" He hissed under his breath.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

Distracted by the dark cloud within her own thoughts, Flurryshine didn't pay much attention to any of the three toms on the patrol, taking up the rear rather sluggishly. It was incredibly rare for her to find joy in anything anymore. She had lost so much in her life. What had she done to deserve all of this, she would constantly wonder? Was it because she fell in love with a cat who eventually turned out to be a traitor and a threat to not just RiverClan, but the entire Clan way of life? Was it because she had failed to train her first apprentice properly, or save her own mother from drowning? Perhaps it was just StarClan bias: they just didn't like her or her family line, so her warrior ancestors decided to punish her and her alone for some reason.

The sound of a sharp cry from a finch and the rapid fluttering of wings caught her attention, and she spotted her third and current apprentice, Hawkpaw, looking very disappointed. What was the point of trying to encourage him so he would have better luck next time, or even needlessly and harshly scold him for making such a beginner's mistake? He was probably going to die anyway, just like everyone else in her life. ...No, just because he was subject to die before warriorhood, that didn't mean he deserved to die as the apprentice of a cruel mentor. It would hurt her more to be nice to him, to bond closer to him, once he finally did die, but she had to think about Hawkpaw's feelings.

Forcing a smile that quite obviously looked half-hearted despite her best efforts to make it look convincing, she approached her apprentice and softly rasped, "Don't fret, Hawkpaw. There will be plenty of prey in the territory. Perhaps you could fish by the river. The bird's cry wouldn't have disturbed them."

Leaving Hawkpaw to do as he wished with the encouragement she had tried to give him, the only molly in the patrol padded off several tail-lengths in search for prey that hadn't been scared away by the finch's call of alarm. Sure enough, she spotted a frog sitting on a rock rather close to a nearby stream, and she wrinkled her nose. She didn't enjoy amphibian or reptile, but at least it was still food for the Clan. Crouching, she stalked towards it slowly, and once she was close enough, she pounced. Unfortunately, she miscalculated her leap and ended up landing just short in front of the rock, startling the frog into rapidly fleeing with short, speedy hops. Flurryshine scrambled after it, but it reached the stream before she could make it; even when she tried fishing it out, she instead stirred up a cloud of murky underwater mud and sand, allowing the frog to successfully escape.

With a miserable moan, Flurryshine collapsed on her side and sighed heavily. She just wanted to give up on life.

The member 'Yoshachu Scorchachu' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Each of them went on their own path as the hunting started. Berrycloud barely took a glimpse of Hawkpaw who soon failed his first attempt of catch. Though the young warrior didn't see what he missed, he did listen to his frustated voice. In better time, he would have gone to cheer him up but he wasn't feeling quite like himself today and Flurryshine anyway went to comfort him. The golden tabby merely lifted his shoulder and went closer to the river.

The ice that once covered its shurphace was now melted. Of course, the water was still cold and if you fell in it, you would surely caught a greencough. Berrycloud leapt on a rock nearby the water and waited, his belly resting in the gray surface. With his green eyes focused on the shadows that time to time passed by, the tom waited until he saw his shot. With one big paw, the warrior tossed the slippery pike out the river, landing soon after in the shore. Berrycloud quickly went to it and killed it. The tom didn't want to lose time in harsher prey now that the river was back to normal. His clan needed prey and fish was the easiest way to get it.

The member 'Jay Bord' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

With his first catch buried, Lightstep listened around for signs of his other patrol members. Once he had gotten a pretty good idea of where they were and what they were doing, he headed off again in search of something else. Berrycloud had headed towards the river, it seemed, while most of the others had opted for the forest. Lightstep shrugged, deciding to use this time to hone his forest hunting skills. After all, his momentary hesitation with the vole as he tried to remember how to hunt it - even though he had been successful - could have cost his Clan valuable prey. The white warrior headed into the more dense foliage, grateful for the occasional clumps of snow which helped his white coat not stick out quite so much.

The first thing that Lightstep spotted was a bird pecking around the foliage. His tail-tip twitched as he dropped into what he hoped would be an adequate crouch that wouldn't alert the prey. Unfortunately, within the first few paw-steps his feet toppled a stalk of grass which had held a precarious clump of snow atop it. The snow sloughed to the ground, the grasses shot upright, and the bird let out a call of alarm before fluttering into the sky and across the river. Lightstep chuckled lightly and thought, Well, I suppose this is why I'm practicing, then.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

Hawkpaw looked up and saw his mentor approaching. Was she going to scold him? He had saw that Flurryshine hadn't been herself recently. He relaxed when he heard her suggest going to the river. Hawkpaw was better at fishing than anything actually. He nodded to her and headed down toward the riverbank. He walked over and leaned over the water, sweeping his eyes across the ever-changing surface until he saw a fish. He waited until it edged closer, then swiped his paw through the water, dragging the fish out onto the sandy bank. Before it could flop back to the water, Hawkpaw batted it with his paw once and watched it fall still.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Flurryshine just wanted to lay there for the rest of the patrol. She didn't want to do anything. She didn't want to try again. But... she knew she had to. Even if she herself had given up on life, life itself still continued to move forward. She had no real choice but to follow after it no matter how badly she wanted to just stop and let life continue on without her.

Huffing softly, she rose back up onto her paws and padded slowly towards the river, a few tail-lengths away from Hawkpaw. She couldn't seem to catch land prey, so perhaps fishing for river prey would give her better luck in actually catching something. Nestling down by the riverbank, she watched the silver, shimmering bodies swimming around underneath the rippling water's surface. Only once did one of them venture too close to her did she act. She slipped a paw underneath its slippery belly and swiped it out, watching at it flew overhead, flailing around in the air.

At that moment, nostalgia unexpectedly washed over her.

She remembered the events very clearly. She had been a warrior for a short time, still considered a newly-appointed warrior by the Clan. It was her very first hunting patrol as a warrior, and she had spent it in the company of her first love Hillfire. She would always love to scoop fish out of the river, throw it up as high as she could, and then leap up to catch it midair, landing gracefully with the fresh-kill dangling from her jaw. It had always impressed Hillfire, and she had a lot of fun performing the trick as well.

Did she still have what it took to pull that move off again, after all this time?

Feeling like she didn't have much else to lose -- she was practically seen by the entire Clan as the once beautiful, confident, and independent molly who had completely broken by life's woes at this point, so it's not like she had anymore dignity to lose if she failed -- Flurryshine crouched, then leaped up to fasten her teeth in the fish's throat. With a quick half-twist in midair, she landed on her four paws without missing a beat.

It seemed she still had it in her. She couldn't help a small burst of happiness and pride. At least some things will never change, I suppose.

The member 'Yoshachu Scorchachu' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 9