Don't Look Up [Closed]

Ooc- There isn't a particular posting order, however, you must wait until three others have posted before you post again.
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Spiderfur padded among the dawn hunting patrol, her mouth agape for scents of rabbit or hare. The late Greenleaf sun hadn't yet baked the dewy grass and the air was somewhat cool. It was the perfect time to set out. Although, at some point the older warrior knew that they would have to split up at some point, lest they scare the prey away. Her gaze flickered between the others: Brindlewhisker, Newtslip, Nectarleap, and Laurelpaw, as well as her son, Swiftpaw. To the east she could barely see the sun peeking over the horizon, turning the wispy clouds above into pale purples and pinks.

Nectarleap was still tired, having woken up early to go on this patrol. Though he should have been used to dawn patrols by now, he still was groggy nearly everytime. Unless he was excited about something, then he would be so full of energy that he could outrun the fastest rabbit. BUt right now, despite the beutiful day that it was, he was still a little asleep on his feet. It felt weird to be on a patrol with these paticular cats. He hardly even knew who Newtslip or Spiderfur were, and he didn't know much about Swiftpaw. He was best friends with Laurelpaw, and then there was Brindlewhisker. She was the deputy, so he greatly respected her, but he felt like it would be weird to be friends with her. So for right then, he just scented the air and kept quiet, trying to hunt the best that he could.

Brindlewhisker had decided to allow herself the freedom of joining the rather large dawn patrol, urgently feeling the need to stretch her legs, and now she was following behind Spiderfur at some distance back. It had been a while since she had been on such an early patrol so she didn't mind the silence that followed the small group- it was nice to just be out before the heat of the day. Although she wasn't too concerned with trying her hardest to catch any prey, she found herself tasting the air dutifully out of habit. "Perhaps we can check out by the Lone Stump? There's usually something there." Brindlewhisker suggested, making sure to keep her voice rather hushed so she didn't scare any unseen prey away.

Swiftpaw was oddly quiet that day. He was always an outgoing tom but he did need at least a day of not talking too much. He wanted to join his mother on a patrol that day but was suprised to find out that other cats he knew and one he didn't really know, were going too.

Spiderfur, of course, was his mother. Newtslip was his former denmate and a good friend. He knew the deputy, Brindlewhisker. As for Nectarleap, he knew the tom as Emberpaw's father. He really didn't know Laurelpaw but it doesn't hurt to get to know her.

Swiftpaw looked back at the deputy and nodded. "Yeah. Let's go and see." he agreed quietly. He looked over at his mother before going to Laurelpaw's side. As he reached the she-cat he decided to start a quiet conversation. "Hey, how's your training going?" He didn't really know what to say but at least it was something.

Newtslip wasn't pleased with going on this patrol, of course. She loved patrolling and all connected things, but in the short time of being the warrior she got used on ordering and leading small patrols of apprentices; which she was organizing all by herself. She was following somehwere in the middle of the group and when Brindlewhisker spoke she just dipped her head a little as agreement.

Spiderfur's soft gaze switched to Brindlewhisker, acknowledging her suggestion with a nod before turning in the direction of the Lone Stump. A long-lost memory resurfaced as she thought of the place, not of where she and much of her family were attacked by dogs not too long ago, but at a time that seemed an eternity ago. She was still an apprentice, a young one at that, and she'd come across an apprentice from RiverClan. This had been just before WindClan had invaded the other Clan's territory, and there was little animosity to be found. The dogs were still in their camp. She'd even shown the young tom where a dog was on a far away hill, before both of their fathers had appeared. The she-cat could still remember the apprentice's name: Fallenpaw. She supposed showing him where the dogs were could've revealed where their camp was located, but she never saw him again after chasing him back across the border. With her thoughts running free, it seemed only a few heartbeats before they reached their destination.

Her jaws opened to taste the fresh morning air, but oddly enough, she couldn't detect anything fresher than a mouse that had passed by during the night. "C-Can you smell anything?" She murmured to no-one in particular.



Unbeknownst to the patrol, something had taken flight in search for its own fresh-kill.

At Brindlewhisker's remark, Nectarleap scented the air for prey once again. He scented a rabbit, probably out this early for first dips on fresh grass, and then turned to the rest of the patrol. The scent was coming from the direction of Lone Stump, which was the direction that they were already going. It wouldn't hurt to go chase a rabbit or two in that direction, and he would be getting a head-start on prey catching. As soon as they were close enough to see it, he stopped walking, not wanting to scare it away.
"I'm going to go chase a rabbit over there. It is in the direction of Lone Stump, so you can keep walking and I will meet you there if I take to long," he told them in a low voice. Then he trotted forward a little ways and crouched down low, paw steps silent as he approached the small creature. It's burrow was quite a ways away, and he wondered what it was doing so far away from it. But that would make this a much easier catch. Once he was within leaping distance of the rabbit, he took a silent deep breath, praying to StarClan that he could catch this. Then, silent as a shadow, he leaped for his soon-to-be fresh kill.

Laurelpaw followed the patrol with her gaze turned towards the ground, not wanting to admit that she too was feeling a bit groggy and half-asleep.  You idiot, you have the chance to go on patrol with the deputy, and this is the one day that you didn't get enough sleep!  With a slight edge of a growl in her throat, the young she-cat sighed and continued to pad onward, comforting herself with the thought that, soon enough, she would be leading patrols herself, and not being bossed around anymore.  Her warrior ceremony couldn't get here soon enough...

Her imagining was interrupted by the sound of an unfamiliar young voice, and Laurelpaw turned to look at it's owner with a slightly startled expression.  Oh, it's just Swiftpaw.  She was familar with the tom, whom she had seen around camp many times before, but she had never actually spoken to him.  They both had different friends and hung out with different crowds, so it wasn't really a surprise to her that they had never spoken.  Now though, they were the only two apprentices on this patrol; she obviously knew her best friend Necterleap, and she was familiar with the deputy Brindlewhisker, but the rest of the cats there were strangers to her, and to him also she supposed.

Her mouth twisting upwards in a somewhat-friendly smile, she couldn't help but feel the fur along her spine prickle a little bit as he asked her about training.  Pfft...I'm as good at hunting and fighting as any warrior, yet I still have my apprentice name!  It's not fair...I don't need anymore training!  Still though, her face remained calm as she meowed casually "Oh, it's going pretty well. How about you?"

Swiftpaw smiled softly. "Mine's going pretty well too. You must be very experienced!" He kept walking, dreaming of the day he'll become a warrior. He had trained hard and long, caught many prey and fought in a battle. He was agile, strong, and a quick-thinker. He turned back to Laurelpaw. "I hope to someday be one of the best in Windclan. I don't think i'll be the best but one of the best." he paused and then continued, "How about you? What do you think of yourself?" the tom asked.

Newtslip went away from the group with quick announcment. "I will check there," she flickered her tail towards bigger grass. Without waiting for response she leapead from the ground and sniffed. A rabbit and hares! Altough it was leaf fall prey was still running in WindClan. With swift hit and jump she killed big hare and grabed it by mouth. Then she headed back to group.

A hawk circled high above the patrolling cats, watching them, choosing which to attack. They could not see it for the darkness in the west, and the sun was still too weak to illuminate its wingtips. But it was not hindered by this lack of light, in fact, it could see perfectly well that one cat in particular was smaller than the rest, and well-muscled to boot. If it had such mobility, its tongue would have swept across its beak in anticipation. Then, it leaned into a steep nosedive.


Spiderfur could feel something a bit off, there was suddenly a high-pitched sound in the air just above their heads, and she looked up warily. She let out a terrified screech as the bird of prey slammed into her back, hooking its sharp talons into her ribs. The warrior twisted her body to lash out at it, but the movement only tore her flesh more. She reached to grasp the hard earth below to stay on the ground, hoping to at least get away, yet this allowed the hawk to get a better grip on her before it started to take to the air again. "Hel-!" With her captor flying so low to the ground, she was also in danger of whatever was below, and indeed she had been hit across the head by a jutting stone, leaving her dazed.

Laurelpaw cocked her head slightly at the tom's questions, pleased to answer them now that they were about her, but a sudden startled cry from Spiderfur caught her attention, and the young she-cat's head whipped around just in time to see a hawk taking flight, with the small warrior caught in it's vicious talons.  Laurelpaw gasped, and unsheathed her claws instantly; turning to Swiftpaw, she hissed urgently; "Come on, we need to help her!"

In a flash, Laurelpaw broke into a run and began to chase the giant bird, who thankfully was still flying low enough to the ground to reach.  Her yellowish-green eyes narrowing, she caught sight of a boulder up ahead, and sped up to reach it before the predator.  Crouching down, the lithe apprentice hopped upward, and kicked off of the stone to propel herself up higher, where she grabbed hold of the hawk's giant wing.  Hissing furiously, she got in a few good back-claws at the bird's belly, and she pulled out a few short wing feathers before she lost her grip and came tumbling to the ground.  Unhurt, she quickly jumped back to her paws and continued to race after the captured warrior, hoping the rest of the patrol was behind them.

Newtslip was amazed when she heard sudden cries and raced back to the path where the most of the patrol was. She saw Laurelpaw and Swiftpaw running; without knowing what had just happened she followed with claws prepared. Suddenly she realized that there was no sign of Spiderfur. Did something happened to her?

Swiftpaw was horrified when a hawk snatched up his mother. "Mother!" Swiftpaw cried out. Laurelpaw had gone ahead of him and used a boulder to jump up and managed to bite its wing and scratch its belly.

The agile tom hissed and used the same boulder but with more speed and momentum, not too far after the other apprentice. He flew up the boulder just in time to bite a good section of its tail feathers and hold on.

His body was almost dragging on the floor. He held on and tried to slow the bird of prey down but his jaw ached and he was forced to let go. He landed a little dizzy but quickly got on his paws and continued his chase with claws prepared.

Brindlewhisker had broken away from the little group shortly after her suggestion of checking the Lone Stump, following a somewhat fresh scent of a hare that pulled her away from the patrol. Hopefully she could manage to catch something quickly so she didn't have to return to the group empty pawed. She was just setting her sights on the unsuspecting hare when the panicked and alarmed cries of her clanmates  quickly pulled her away from her potential catch. Whipping around with bristling fur, Brindlewhisker found herself nervously checking for whatever foes were apparently confronting them- what if it was the dogs again? Or StarClan forbid RiverClan. However, instead of being greeted with the sight of invading cats or vicious dogs, she was able to catch a glimpse of Spiderfur being pulled into the air by a...hawk?

For several long heartbeats, Brindlewhisker was simply too astounded to follow in the steps of the rest of the patrol. When was the last time she had even seen a hawk, let alone see one so hungry this early in the season that it was taking such desperate measures? The blood roared in her ears as she helplessly watched Newtslip, Laurelpaw, and Swiftpaw give chase and for a brief moment she could taste the foul blood of a hawk in her mouth. She remembered when a similar hawk had once preyed upon Mottleheart all those moons ago and with a tremble of horror the Deputy wondered if this was the same bird she had fended off- after all, how many birds could there be that were bold enough to prey on adult cats? Swallowing away her terrified inner thoughts, Brindlewhisker took off after the rest of her patrol with haste.

She was heavier than the apprentices and Newtslip so she could hold the bird a bit better than the others. Perhaps if they all went after the bird at once, they could weigh it down long enough for the bird to give up. Letting out a low grunt of effort and picking up the pace until her muscles were positively screaming at how she was straining them, wincing slightly as she did forced herself to hurry even more. Thrusting her hind legs out in an explosive manner, Brindlewhisker narrowly managed to avoid crashing into Swiftpaw before she leaped into the air and snagging her claws into the hawk the best she could. Her claws instantly wrenched painfully as she desperately tried to weigh the bird down the best she could- which wasn't very well at all. "Everyone," she strained through tightly gritted teeth, "Try and pull the bird down!"