A Reluctant Excursion[CLOSED for Mosspelt]

Adderflare sighed, tail flicking in annoyance. When Bloodstrike told her to go on a hunting patrol, she almost smiled. Okay, exaggerating, but she'd been looking forward to it. An hour, two hours out hunting by herself? Without consequences? It sounded like the perfect day to Adderflare. But then her stupid brother had gone and ruined it by assigning someone else to the same patrol. And not just anyone, their mother. Instead of an hour of peace and quiet, she was about to be subjected to an hour of constant doting and 'how are you's. She shuddered at the thought. Looking to her right, she saw Blossomstep approaching her. Usually she'd just glare or ignore her, but she did owe the other cat her existence. Already regretting the decision, she whispered, "Hello." It was barely audible and required a great deal of effort, and honestly she was already wishing she hadn't done it. Tail flicking, she began to slowly leave camp.

Blossomstep had been sick to her stomach since Blazingkit had disappeared. She had refused to eat for several nights, staring at what Wolfcall had brought her before eventually taking it to the elders den for them to enjoy. The pain of her empty belly was nothing compared to the pain in her heart, the loss of her youngest kit had devastated the queen. Today would be a little different though, Bloodstrike had approached her about a hunting patrol. One that she would be joined on with one of her daughters, Adderflare. As she approached the she-cat, she couldn't help the small smile that crossed her expression. Even with the grief that was heavy on her shoulders, she was looking forward to going out with one of her kits, regardless of how old they were. "Hi, Adderflare." She mewed, hesitating for a moment. Her daughter wasn't particularly fond of small talk, and seemed to prefer to be alone from what she had noticed. "I hope you're doing well?" She asked quietly, hoping that the question would be preferred over asking how she was as she followed the she-cat as she led the way out of camp.

Adderflare was almost surprised at her mother's hesitance. In her experience, nobody really cared if she wanted to talk to them or not; they just talked her ear off anyway. So it was a little jarring to see a cat who seemed to actually hold back the conversation for once. It was nice. The way she phrased her question was different too; it was a yes-or-no question. No sentences necessary. She didn't quite smile, but her expression smoothened out a little bit from one of annoyance to one of mild indifference. She nodded. "Yeah," she whispered hoarsely. It wasn't a lie, she was doing fine. Better than when Beechpaw had been physically restraining her to keep her from leaving the medicine den, anyway.

Deciding this was an adequate amount of conversation, she flicked her ears and eyes about in search of prey. Hunting was hard without a sense of smell, but larger prey wasn't too difficult to spot with her other senses. Suddenly, she spotted a tall pair of ears peeking out from behind a bush. A rabbit, most likely; a hare would be much more careful. Dropping low, she crept towards the unwitting creature. Remembering her days hunting leaves all alone while the other kits were off being apprenticed, she bunched up her leg muscles and released. She soared through the air, landing squarely on the small animal's back. It squealed in pain for a long while as she took her time killing it, but eventually it flopped limply to the ground and Adderflare emerged from the bush, rabbit in tow.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Her daughter's one word response confirmed her thinking, and as Adderflare paused to sense her surroundings Blossomstep focused on her senses as well. The scent of rabbit crossed her nose, but as she turned towards it she saw Adderflare already going in that direction. Holding in her purr and resisting the urge to watch her daughter in action, she turned the other way to try to find prey of her own. If there was a rabbit undisturbed by their approach, there would likely be something else. Her ears were straight as they strained, mouth open as she left the scents of the forest roll over her tongue. A small nut fell in front of her, and she paused, looking up slowly. There, on a branch overhead. A large squirrel sat chewing on it's meal, and Blossomstep stepped slowly towards another nearby tree. Using her strong hind limbs, she nimbly leapt to a lower branch, moving stealthily through the branches. She was a little out of practice after having been pregnant with Blazingkit and still nursing him when he disappeared, but she was happy to see that moons of training had ingrained the movements into her memory. Before long, she was on the branch behind the squirrel, placing one paw carefully in front of the other, her tail balancing her weight. Finally she was close enough, the squirrel woefully unaware of the cat that was looming behind it. In an instant, she lunged, catching the squirrel by the neck and swiftly silencing it's cry. Looking down, she spotted Adderflare with her rabbit hanging from her jaws. With a grin and happy swish of her tail, she made her way to the forest floor, landing a couple tail lengths away from her daughter with the squirrel in her jaws, it's long tail brushing against the ground slightly.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Adderflare looked at her mother, noting the smile. She flicked her ear dismissively, uncomfortable with even this limited amount of attention. She was here to hunt, not hang out with her mother. Even so, she lightly brushed shoulders with Blossomstep as she turned to find something else to hunt. Eyes on the treetops above, she searched for the telltale signs of life. Aha, there it was! A shimmer of red feathers peeked out from behind a clump of leaves, most likely a robin. Claws unsheathed, she began to creep up the tree. It took some difficulty, given that her left half was significantly weaker than the right, but eventually she got to the same level as the little bird. Teeth bared for little reason, she stalked towards the robin and pounced. She grabbed the shrieking bird between her jaws and bit down, hard. It was over before she hit the ground, and hit the ground she did. She almost fell over upon landing, her left leg twisting oddly, but she managed to stay upright. She walked back over to the slowly growing prey pile, dropping the limp feathery creature next to her mother's freshly caught squirrel.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

The dismissive flick of her daughter's ear did not go unnoticed, but as Blossomstep placed her catch on the ground, she was surprised by the lightest brush against her shoulder. Her smile returned ten-fold as she looked over her shoulder to where Adderflare was staring intently at the treetops, pride and love evident in her expression as she turned away to find her own catch once again. Pushing her way around a nearby bush, she emerged on the far side and scented the air, searching for what she might find. a bird, perhaps, or maybe another squirrel? The scent that crossed her nose was unexpected though, and she noticed the flash of brown fur among the fallen leaves. Another rabbit? Immediately freezing and judging her position, she altered her stance to stalk the rabbit. When she was merely three tail-lengths away, the rabbit's head rose, and their eyes met. Before it could do anything, her powerful hind legs bunched and released as she sprang forward, closing the distance and cutting off it's cry with a killing bite. Pleased with her catch, she returned to where the rest of the prey was piling up, noting the red bird that was among the prey now. However, her attention was soon pulled from the pile by the way her daughter was moving. She hadn't left the medicine den all that long ago, had she hurt her wounds again? She would never admit to it, and would probably get mad if she pried too much... But she couldn't help the worried glance as she watched her leg for a moment longer than usual before placing her rabbit among the other catches.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3