Ice Cold Newleaf (c)

Sitting near the edge of camp and giving her pelt a thorough cleaning, Sweetheart continued to mind her own business. The slightly warmer weather brought the molly a bit of joy seeing as though the amount of prey would be improving, but the mud due to the melting snow and rain brought her a great deal of disgust. It was impossible to keep her paws clean these days, she just hated it!

Letting out an angry huff as she licked off a clump of muddy leaves from between her front paw pad, the brown and while she-cat raised her gaze as the sound of approaching paws caught her attention.

"Don't you just seem like a ball of sunshine today?" Auburnflare teased the molly as he approached. He couldn't disagree with her that the muddied earth was less than pleasant to have squelching underpad. They certainly weren't Riverclan cats who enjoyed such a thing. However, it wasn't anything to be scowling over. There was still plenty of day ahead. Making their way on denser patches of foliage and remaining dead leaves would help to stave off the worst of it. The slender tom's tail beckoned her forward, "We're on a hunting patrol, you and me. Ready?"

Looking up from where she was resting, Sweetheart let out a sigh as the brown and white warrior approached her. She was far from being done with grooming her muddy fur and hunting was going to get her all dirty again. But... if she wanted to stay on the higher-up's good graces, she knew that she had no choice. She was usually up for a good hunt, but great StarClan was this weather dreary and messy.

Sticking out her tongue at his first comment, Sweetheart pushed herself up and gave her long pelt a shake. "Guess so," she huffed. Not waiting for him, the brown and white molly trotted past her clanmates with her head held high. The quicker they went hunting, the quicker they got back to camp.

Auburnflare's whiskers twitched at the way she stuck her tongue out. Why did it seem half the molly's in Thunderclan walked around with burrs in their fur? He rolled his eyes as she pompously trotted ahead, an air of self-importance evident. Quickly catching up, the tom tried to match her pace, eventually trying to make conversation with the clanmate he hardly knew, "So, Sweetheart, did they get you mixed up with some other cat at your warrior ceremont? Or did Mottlestar just really love irony?" A smirk worked itself into the edges of his maw. This wasn't the best way to break the ice between them, but it was the most enjoyable. Hopefully she could also have a sense of humor and prod him back. Anything to make the day more pleasant.

As the tom caught up to her, Sweetheart's ears immediately fell back at his comment about her name. There was a part of her that continued to mourn over the now deceased leader, but she couldn't help but still be peeved about her name and would most likely never get over it, even if Mottlestar was dead. And why did every cat have to bring up her name? It just made her feel more humiliated by it. Could none of her clanmates mind their own business, for StarClan's sake?

"She was just old and confused, that's all," the fluffy, dark pelted molly mewed with a huff as she continued to keep her nose high. Casting a cold glance over at Aurburnflare, she let out a snarky sort of scoff. "At least I wasn't named after the color of leaves. How basic!" Sweetheart laughed, her tail quickly flicking back and forth. That would surely get him good.

"Old and confused, huh?" He echoed with an amused twitch of his whiskers, "I hardly got a chance to know her. Had no idea." It was funny to think of a cat who was younger than his father being seen as long in the tooth. Thinking about it now, Auburnflare felt  a strange pang of emotion in his chest. Stoatfur and Appledapple didn't know about the passing of their friend, a cat whose name he'd grown up hearing. Mottlestar had been dear to them and oddly enough a part of his own kithood in a strange way. The realization caused a neutral look to briefly flicker across his features.

After a beat, the tom glanced back to his patrolmate with a good natured snort, "You got something across leaves? Clearly you haven't seen how beautiful trees can be in leaf-bare. Just like me." Auburnflare shot her a grin and darted forward a few paces with his maw parted. There was the scent of a squirrel, just downwind. He signaled with a flick of his tail in the direction of the creature. With little pause, the slender warrior swiftly slid into a hunting crouch. He was little more than a flash of brown and white dappled fur as he launched forward and dispatched his target without a sound. Sleepycloud and Stormsong had truly helped to sharpen his skills, not that he'd ever admit that.

Dropping the squirrel next to Sweetheart, he stretched out with a lazy yawn, "Nothing to it. Either prey keeps running slower, or I'm getting faster. You're up next, Sweetheart. Let's see what those honeyed claws can do."

The member 'Ripped' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

"They most certainly are not. The only trees I know of are the ones that birds and squirrels poop in... which if I look close enough... is sorta' what your pelt looks like," Sweetheart hummed in a matter-of-fact sort of way, squinting her eyes towards the tom and then quickly snapping her head back up with a smug grin on her maw. There was no way this tom's pelt was any more pretty than her's, but he could think so if he wanted, she supposed. And there was no way in StarClan that trees were pretty. Well, she enjoyed their vibrant colors in Greenleaf but crusty Leaf-fall leaves were anything but attractive. Besides, when they fell on the ground they made too much noise. Perhaps this tom and leaves did have something in common.

Watching as he swiftly hunted a squirrel, she let out a unimpressed huff as he dropped the prey at her side. She wasn't very keen on dirtying her claws if she had a choice, but she had something to prove here and couldn't back down. Not yet anyway.

Trotting past the splotched tom with her head held high, the dark pelted warrior flicked her long fluffy tail in his face. Sniffing out a scent, there was one nearby that reminded her of a rodent of some sort and she decided to follow it. Crouching down and shuffling through the brush as quietly as possible, she soon caught glance of a mouse nibbling on a nut, most likely one a squirrel had buried haphazardly. Keeping herself low to the ground, she stalked forward on the unsuspecting prey. Wiggling her haunches, she pounced and landed squarely on the rodent's back. Killing it with a swift bite, she brought her kill back to Aburnflare and dropped it at his paws. "Easy as that," Sweetheart mewed proudly.

The member 'Ice' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 2