Never Too Old [Open-Hunting Patrol]

Flamestrike waited patiently near the entrance. He was to be leading a hunting patrol. There was a time in which he would have never thought it possible that he could be a trusted warrior of Shadowclan. But, here he was, moons upon moons later, doing it for what was just another of countless times. So much had changed since he was a young cat. The warrior now had two kits who had finished up their apprenticeships. He felt old. He felt tired. Despite not being one of the eldest cats in the clan, he had fought quite a few battles and dealt with things no cat should go through. It all weighed heavily on the tom, even if it was never at the forefront of his mind.

Right now, he simply enjoyed the coolness of the night. The weather had just began to change to that of leaffall. He was in no way ready for the cold seasons. They had to enjoy all that they had now. Greenleaf fatness would give way to the thin-framed Leafbare moons. A shiver ran down his spine at the thought. He pushed it away. For now, all they had to worry about was bringing prey back to the camp today.

Larksong pulled herself from the warrior's den with a shake of her pelt, her mouth opening in a silent yawn as she padded across the clearing. She already knew her task for today - a hunting patrol. She couldn't deny the excitement in it as it had been far too long since she had properly been out of the camp for a patrol it felt like. Her eyes glimmered as she spotted the soft orange pelt of Flamestrike as the tom waited near the entrance, picking up her pace as she dipped her head to him. "Greetings Flamestrike," she purred with a swish of her tail as she reached him. She settled down next to him, giving her limbs a small stretch as she waited for the rest of their patrol to gather.


Smokestripe was already awake, resting near the fresh-kill pile as he finished up a small mouse. Movement caught his attention, his gaze flickering up to see Flamestrike sitting at the entrance of the camp with Larksong moving to sit next to him. Licking his lips, the warrior pulled himself to his paws before he made his way across the clearing and dipped his head in greeting to the two. "Flamestrike, Larksong," he greeted as he came to a stop next to them, a kit-like excitement flickering in his eyes. He shifted back and forth on his paws, excited to be hunting with Larksong once again. And perhaps he would be able to catch a large piece of prey to give to Ravenclaw once they returned.

Lilacpaw looked around the camp for something to do as she exited the elder's den, done with her duties there, before spotting Flamestrike, Smokestripe and Larksong near the entrance. "Hello, Flamestrike, Larksong, Smokestripe," she greeted politely, dipping her head to each in turn. "If you're going on a patrol, may I join you?" The apprentice was getting older, nearly the age of a warrior, and realized it had been a while since she had been on a patrol with any of her Clanmates. She was also, after past experiences, loathe to leave the camp without a patrol, and hoped that her asssumption of their going on one was correct.

Willowpaw padded after her friend, attempting to appear casual under the eye of such senior warriors.
"We're going on a patrol, right?" She mewed, giving one of her white paws a delicate lick. Magpiewing had assigned her to an early patrol yesterday, so she could only assume this was it.
Flamestrike, Larksong, Smokestripe... They were almost as good as Silentstorm.

She grinned awkwardly and nudged Lilacpaw, unsure of what to do. Although she was nearly a warrior she felt like a bumbling kit again, clumsy and bashful.
Ugh... they're just cats. Calm down.

Boulderfoot padded closer looking at big group, which was happening to be at the exit of the camp. Obviously dawn patrol. He recognized some apprentices and some older warriors; with ignoring apprentices Boulderfoot headed for warriors. He mewed with low growl: "Greetings, Larksong, Flamestrike and Smokestripe." He nodded to each warrior and mewed: "May I join."

"Well, I suppose we can scare off any intruders with a patrol of this size." The tom joked lightly for a second before turning back into a serious, older warrior, "But it will most likely bring in more prey. You all may come. Now, let's head out before the sun comes up." Flamestrike turned to leave through the camp entrance. The air of the night comforted him as he walked. He could not imagine how the other clans lived in the hot scorch of the daylight hours. Squinting all day while you hunted seemed like a less than appealing option. He lifted his nose up into the air to scent everything around them. There was hints of frog and toad per usual, but an underlining fox scent. He made sure to make note of it, even if it was fairly stale. Even as he had gotten older, the warrior had never lost his good sense of smell. It was the only thing that had impressed Thrushstripe when he'd been leader.

"We'll need to split into groups to avoid scaring everything off. Larksong, you and I will hunt together. Boulderfoot and Smokestripe, take an apprentice each and go off a little ways. Stay close. The fox scent is old, but you can never be too careful." Flamestrike dismissed them with a flick of his tail. It felt strange to act as a patrol leader to such a big group. Although, he supposed that he was older than half of them. With the success of his kits and his murder of Wolffang, Leopardstar had began to trust him more. While they had had their difference, there was no doubt that Flamestrike was a loyal Shadowclan cat. That came with the responsibility of training more warriors and heading up more patrols. It had been exhausting, but ever rewarding to see the clan thrive. He considered all this as he opened his mouth slightly to breath in the scents around him.

Glancing at Larksong, the warrior crept slowly towards the first toad scent he had locked onto. Even though his sense of smell was fantastic, his hunting skill always lacked a little. By no means was it bad, but being a fairly tall and lanky cat, any place with undergrowth only served to slow him down. After a moment, the target came into view. His paws moved silently across the ground as came closer and closer to it. When finally close enough, Flamestrike leaped into the air, claws extended. But, as he sprang, his paw brushed up against a fallen leaf. The toad was bounding far away within seconds. He simply landed on empty earth. Instantly, he was cursing himself for failing, "Mousedung. I thought I had it too." With leafbare on the way, he could help but feel that every missed piece of prey was another step closer to letting a clanmate starve. He would not forget this quickly.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Larksong dipped her head to the two apprentices and Boulderfoot as the three approached, flickering her gaze toward Flamestrike as the warrior spoke up. She didn't mind taking orders from the younger tom, knowing that all her Clanmates deserved respect no matter their age and followed behind him as he turned to lead them into the territory. When they came to a stop, she allowed her gaze to flicker around the clearing as she listened to Flamestrike, nodding her head in silent agreement as he decided to split up the group. There was a little sadness in her that she wasn't hunting with Smokestripe as it had been far to long since the two friends had properly hung out together but she simply accepted it. She flickered her tail at Smokestripe as she turned and followed Flamestrike as the two spit off from the other four.

She silently followed him, her mouth open as she kept a note on the air for any traces of prey. She caught the scent of a toad, zeroing in on it only to see Flamestrike making a leap for it. She blinked in surprise that Flamestrike had caught wind of it before her but she had heard that he was an excellent tracker. She however let out a small laugh when he missed, watching the frog bounce away as she swished her tail at the orange warrior. "Good try," she called over softly to not alert any more prey as she gave the air another taste, locating the scent of a mouse. Her ears perked as she scanned the landscape, spotting it as it dug at the ground for whatever source of food it could gain the marshy landscape. It certainly wasn't her favorite type of prey - she much preferred lizards - but she wasn't going to turn down prey when the cold seasons were upon them. She dropped into a crouch, carefully pulling herself forward as she shifted downwind of the mouse before judging the distance. With a satisfied nod of her head, she made the leap toward the mouse with claws outstretched. The mouse didn't even get to squeak before it hung limply in her jaws, straightening up as she turned to locate a safe place to hide it before resuming the hunt.



Smokestripe dipped his head in greeting as Lilacpaw, Willowpaw and Boulderfoot came padding up. As  Lilacpaw and Boulderfoot requested to join - Willowpaw having already been assigned to join, he turned his head to Flamestrike with a curious look as he wondered what the warrior would say. It wasn't common to have a patrol this big and let out a soft amused chuckle at the orange warrior joked slightly before agreeing to let them all join. Smokestripe blinked in pleasant surprise, dipping his head in acknowledgement as the group was led into the marsh. He trusted Flamestrike's choice, certain that the tom knew what he was doing. He didn't say anything as the group moved forward, only pausing when Flamestrike halted and started to speak. He dipped his head at the order, turning his attention to Willowpaw and Lilacpaw as he tried to decide what apprentice to take with him.

"I'll take Willowpaw," he said after a few moments as he turned to Boulderfoot, pausing as he spotted Larksong wave her tail at him as she headed off with Flamestrike, returning the gesture before he fully turned his gaze fully onto the three younger cats before him. He figured that it would be wise to put Boulderfoot in charge of the older apprentice while he - being more experienced - handled the younger Willowpaw. He turned, flickering his tail at Willowpaw in a simple motion to follow before he led her a bit further into the marsh as he tasted the air. It didn't take long to locate a fresh prey scent, dropping into a crouch as he located the lizard. On careful and silent paws, he drew himself forward as close as he dared without giving himself away before he made the leap. The lizard noticed him at the last second but it was far too late as his paws landed on it, holding it down as he believed a swift blow to slay it. Picking it up carefully in his jaws, he located a safe place to hide it before he turned his attention onto Willowpaw, interested to see how she was doing.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4, 5

Lilacpaw followed Boulderfoot as she was instructed, until she scented something. It was harder for her to focus when she wasn't alone, but she managed to build up the courage to attempt to pounce on the frog regardless. She would never be a warrior if she failed to act, after all, and she wanted to prove that she was a good and loyal warrior to her Clan. Thus far, she was fairly certain all she had proven was her fear of nearly every rustling bush.

Luck, it seemed, was on the apprentice's side today. It was a clean pounce, and a quick bite killed her prey. "I... I did it!" she cheered, well aware that she probably looked and sounded ridiculous, bouncing on her feet in front of the newly deceased amphibian. She wanted to turn to Willowpaw and ask if she'd seen, but she remembered suddenly that they had been split up into groups. In her excited daze, she had forgotten. Oh well, it was a story to tell her friend for later, she supposed.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Willowpaw flicked her ears as Flamestrike took the lead. She simply nodded as Somkestripe gestured for her to follow, her eyes on her paws as she carefully avoided the marshier areas of the territory. As he crouched to stalk a nearby lizard she turned her attention to a wood mouse- a rare find -and lowered herself to the muddy ground, her belly fur quickly stained brown.

She crept closer to her quarry, her ears flat and her tail low. Leopardstar had taught her well, and she caught the mouse with ease. The apprentice purred and stepped forward with the mouse hanging from her jaws, eager for the tom's approval.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

"Great job," mewed Boulderfoot, sadly thinking about his own apprentice, Owlpaw. He was not in this patrol today, because ShadowClan warrior ordered him to clean elders den. Then Boulderfoot padded some rabbit-lengths away from Lilacpaw, with one eye constantly on apprentice. If something would happen to her then he would lose all the honour and life of one future warrior. Sniffing and trying to hear a moving Boulderfoot concentrated on hunting and suddenly scented first prey. It was a creature with fur and possibly rodent; ShadowClan tom figured out this because of swift moving and traditional squeaks. He crouched into hunting position and slowly began putting each paw forward without making any sound. Before leaping he looked at Lilacpaw again and saw her in good mood. He leaped from the ground and landed mice length from the rodent; but his paw landed right on creature´s head and claws smashed the little creature. He was not totally satisfied with catch; because losing to much blood would not so good.
He padded back to Lilacpaw with prey in his mouth and mewed: "Let´s dig our prey into soil and repeat hunting."

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5