A Patrolling Spider (open patrol)

Ever since Starclan's return, Spiderfur was as relaxed as she had ever been. Off in the distance, the usually green leaves of the other clan territories were turning shades of red, orange, and yellow, and the grasslands of her own territory were rather shaggy, the long grass waving in the wind. Little puddles were everywhere due to the frequent Leaffall rains. Thunder rumbled far on the horizon, but it was upwind. No risk of lightningstorms. She looked over the pile of apprentices for her own, Silverpaw. "Come hunting!" She whispered softly to the apprentice, quickly moving to sit by the camp entrance. The sun was barely above the horizon, and the heat of day had not yet set in.

Silverpaw's sleek tail hung over her sharp, yet flat head. It ended at her pinkish nose in a way that was acute for hunting. "Yes, Spiderfur," she said grouchily, getting up with a heave. She did enjoy patrols, yet this early she disagreed with. Poised to follow her mentor out of the den, she stood.

Emberpaw perked an ear up as she heard "Come hunting!" from a she-cat, she recognized the voice as Spiderfur's. Emberpaw bounced up "I want to come too!" she mewed with a large smile, she really hoped she wouldn't wake any apprentices up but she probably couldn't promise that.

Silverpaw's ears pricked as the excited calico she-cat came bounding forwards, at the voice of her mentor. "Sure." She sniffed, replying for Spiderfur.

Heatherpaw shifted as she heard her sister bound out of the den, and got up, stifling a yawn. She spotted Emberpaw, Spiderfur and Silverpaw outside, forming a small patrol. "Mind if I come along too, then?"

"Sure," Silverpaw replied repetitively, yawning. Her voice waving and faltering, it ended in an awkward squeak. "Erm... Sorry," She corrected, looking a little confused with herself. She cleared her throat, which was uncomfortable from the aftereffects of the morning. "Yeah, you can come along."

Smokepelt gave a yawn, just waking up from a quick nap that he was able to sneak into the day. Looking around, he wondered how he could help, and spotted Spiderfur. The she-cat was related to him, and he was glad that they could call each other family. Padding over to the group of apprentices that surrounded the warrior, he wore his usual, calm smile. "Looks like you might need some help, can I tag along?" the Deputy asked, looking around the apprentices. It seemed like just yesterday that they were all kits being given their apprentice names, wide-eyed and bouncing around with excitement. They'll all become fine warriors someday.

Gazing at all the apprentices willing to join, the little she-cat was glad to see the deputy offer his help. "D-Definitely," she replied, giving him a thanking half-smile. Spiderfur looked over the patrol. "Any more and we'll start scaring the prey away!" The warrior took an almost unnoticeable glance upwards and was happy to see no eagles in the sky, only the occasional vulture circling lazily above. The clouds too had barely moved, nearly undetectable. They probably had until well after sunhigh until they were even close to the territory. "Let's g-go then."

Silverpaw padded after her long-legged mentor, tilting her head. "Why are you stammering?" She asked nosily, her long silver fur, her namesake, blowing smoothly in the wind. She gave a twitch of her tail-tip to conclude the sentence, yet a vague curiosity sat in those round, green pools that were her eyes.

Emberpaw looked at Silverpaw as she asked why her mentor had stammered, she guessed that Smokepelt was Spiderfur's crush or maybe Spiderfur was happy the deputy was there. It might of also been the fact that she was the only warrior handling three apprentices.

"What're you staring at?" Asked Silverpaw snappily. Her tail thrashed a bit as she fell in beside her mentor. She didn't usually act as bratty as she seemed right now, perhaps the morning had an effect on her.

Emberpaw moved herself a bit farther from Silverpaw and stopped staring, she sighed and listened to the dinging noise that always went off in her head when she was bored.

Heatherpaw padded alongside her sister. The two has always been close - they were the only ones left for each other, and were rarely seen apart. "Anything interesting happen lately?" she asked, tilting her head. It was a lovely day today, she mentally noted.

Spiderfur glanced at her apprentice in surprise. Why did she stutter? She flicked her tail involuntairily and sniffed the air. "I always ha-have." The question had made her uncomfortable. Wide, soft brown eyes flickered between the cats and across the grassy terrian, looking for something out of place in the sea of grass waving in the wind, like looking for an insect in a cat's pelt. Off in the distance, a patch stood nearly still, betraying the prey she suspected sat there. Keeping an eye on it, she turned to Smokepelt, trying to ignore what had just happened. "S-Split up?" She hoped that he got what she meant. She didn't want to speak much after having what she did pointed out.

Smokepelt padded with the patrol, staying a foxlength or two behind them. He listened to their conversations and wondered why Silverpaw cared if Spiderfur stammered or not. Guess she's at that age, he reminded himself. After a little while, the patrol came to a stop. He would've suggested something, but decided to stay quiet, since this was his cousin's patrol.

"Sounds good," he meowed with a smile, looking to the apprentices. "How about Silverpaw comes with me?" the tom knew that the she-cat was Spiderfur's apprentice, but thought it might be a good idea to give the warrior a break from the peppy little cat.