Platinum Moonlight [Closed - Solo Patrol]

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!”

Larksong came to a dead stop as a voice spoke up behind her, glancing over her shoulder to see Smokestripe racing up to her. It was late night, the sun was just starting to rise and it was about time for her to head to bed but...Well, she was feeling more in a mood to get fresh air than to sleep. “What is it?”

“I want...To come with you,” Smokestripe panted as he came to a stop next to her, flashing her a warm but sheepish look as he shrugged his shoulders. “You look like you are going to be brooding and...Well, I think companion might be good.”

She wanted to snap back at him that she wasn’t going to go brood but...Well, the truth was that it had been her plan to do so. Things had been a bit hectic for her ever since her father had stepped down. She tried not to bring it up, to avoid souring the mood of the Clan but it had been such a sudden thing and then his death afterwards… “It's getting early, shouldn’t you be going to bed?” she questioned softly as she turned, heading for the entrance of the camp.

“Well, I mean…” She could hear Smokestripe’s pawsteps follow after her even after she ducked through the entrance and into the territory proper. With room to move, he quickly darted to her side before he fell step to step with her. “I could say the same to you. But I would rather spend time with you than to sleep,” he said, his voice warm and chipper as he swayed to a beat that was all his own. “To, you know, see how you are doing.”

“...And what do you mean by that?” she questioned as she came to a stop, turning to face him with a flat expression and pinned back ears. Smokestripe stopped quickly, his expression turning dark for a few seconds as his voice grew low with an emotion that Larksong hated to hear from him - pity.

“You aren’t fooling anybody, Larksong. Things haven’t been easy on you and nobody else has had the guts to ask you about it but I can see you are suffering since your father’s death. I just want to know how you are doing and know that I am here to help if you need a shoulder to lean on.”

Larksong straightened up slightly with a swish of her tail, her fur started to fluff up as she debated arguing with him before it settled with a sigh. “...I hate how well you know me, Smokestripe. Honestly it's like we’ve known each other our entire lives instead of just meeting when I returned to the Clan...No, I’m not doing well it's...Its been hard. It's been hard ever since he became leader,” she explained as she turned and headed deeper into the forest.

“My father was a brave soul but...He didn’t do well with the sudden pressure that was put on him when became leader. He was nervous of letting Thrushstripe down and...I don’t blame him. There was many times I would sneak into his den in order to comfort him while we slept. I didn’t blame him when he stepped down either because of how much I knew the weight of leadership was hurting him. I wasn’t disappointed and Littlestar is a great leader but...I just wish we could have been closer, maybe found a way that it all worked out before he…”

“I don’t blame you,” Smokestripe said after a few moments, pressing his shoulder against Larksong’s side as they walked. “There is always going to be moments of regret when it comes to those we lost. StarClan knows I feel the same about Pinepaw and Yewpaw...I never got the chance to see them become warriors and I have to question that if I was a better parent, would they have been taken away from me like they were?” He sighed with a shake of his head before he pressed his cheek into the side of Larksong’s neck. “Regret only weighs you down, look past it. Your father wouldn’t want you to hurt like this.”

Larksong didn’t respond - she wasn’t quite sure what to even say as she turned her attention onto the sky above. Already the sky was fading from the rich, dark purple and blues of the night into the warmer colors of the day. It was beautiful, causing her to come to a stop as she allowed the muddy scents of the marsh to float over her with a soft purr. It was...Nice. “Thanks,” she finally said as she turned her attention onto Smokestripe. “I needed that. I...Uh, thought I would be out here longer thought.”

“Then why don’t we hunt?” he offered as he swished his tail, jerking his head in the direction of the deeper parts of the marsh. “We don’t have to head back to camp right away and it would be nice to see how our hunting is coming along for the both of us.”

“You say that like we were apprentices, not fully trained warriors,” she teased as she stepped up next to her friend, shaking her head with a soft laugh. “But fine, hunting it is. It's been a while anyways since I have done any proper hunting so it should be fun. How about a friendly competition, see who gets the most?”

“Done,” Smokestripe agreed and the two split up.

They didn’t go far from each other, Larksong knew the dangers of the marsh far to well to know that going out of hearing range would be a silly and deadly mistake if trouble showed up. She dropped into a crouch, tasting the air as she silently stalked across the mud. A soft noise caused her ears to twitch as she located a frog sitting by its lonesome. With a grin, she stepped forward on silent paws until she was in range before making the leap.

Smokestripe’s gaze was focused on a lone lizard that was resting on the truck of a fallen tree. The creature’s eyes was closed in bliss, unaware of the danger that was lurking ever closer. Lizards weren’t his most favorite thing to hunt, they were faster and slimmer than frogs and toads which made them a tad harder but they were still good eating as he calculated his length and made his jump.

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 9, 8

While neither was aware of each other's progress, both missed their leaps at the same time. The frog's attention turned in the direction of Larksong just as she made her leap, giving it plenty of time to jump into a local pool of water and disappear from her sight before she could do a thing about it.

As the shadow fell over the lizard, it's whole body jerked as it darted into one of the cracks of the fallen log leaving Smokestripe's paws empty as he barely corrected his landing to make up for the sudden disappearance of his target. With a sigh, he pushed himself off of the log and back onto the muddy ground as he took in a deep breath of air to catch another whiff of prey.

It didn't take long for them both to find something else to hunt, a rat for Larksong and a toad for Smokestripe as they took their positions and leaped.

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 7, 2

The rat's squeal was short lived as Larksong landed on the rodent, her teeth quickly sinking into its neck to stop it from making any sudden attacks. As she stood up, a proud gleam in her eyes with the fresh kill hanging from her jaw, she turned to find a proper place to store the creature. It didn't take long to find a nice little crack in a log to store it safe from gathering up mud before she turned to go stalking off for another piece of prey.


Smokestripe landed on the toad his claws sinking in to keep it from moving. He had to refrain from letting out a laugh, suddenly reminded of one of his grandest adventures of when he had been a kit when a wild frog had gotten into the nursery and he had teamed up with the other kits in an effort to prove themselves ready to be an apprentice. While the memory was warm and fuzzy, it didn't stop him from quickly killing the toad - remembering quite well how slippery they could be. Heading toward the log that the lizard had escaped in, he hide the toad in a safe spot before he headed back into the territory.

It didn't take long for the both of them to stumble across a lizard each and perform another leap.

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 9, 1

They both moved fast but Smokestripe had been a bit faster. He landed on the lizard, easily killing it before he caught wind of something that was...Off. That was when Larksong slammed into him with a startled screech. The two went rolling across the mud, the dead lizard being thrown a few whisker-lengths away in the surprise struggle between the two. It didn't take long for them to pull away from each other, Larksong's eyes wide as she realized the form that had stolen her prey at the last moment had been her friend.

"You little sneaky mouse-heart!" she suddenly squealed as she leaped at him, sending them crashing to the ground again as she playfully batting at his face. "That was my lizard! Surely Littlestar had taught you better than to steal another warrior's prey like that!"

"Ah! No-wait, I-" Smokestripe struggled to contain his laughter as he pushed Larksong off of him, his whiskers twitching as he stared at her with bright eyes. "Its your fault for being so slow! If you had been faster than I wouldn't have stolen it from you!"

Larksong huffed as she gave her pelt a shake, frowning at him. "Whatever...How much prey did you get?" she questioned, her eyes drifting over to where the lizard had landed. It didn't really matter, either they had tied or he had won but...Well, a she-cat could hope.

"Including the lizard I rightfully caught?" he teased as he pushed himself to his paws, standing up straight with a grin. "Two. How about you?"

Or, well, a she-cat could have her hope and dreams crushed. Her ears slicked back as she sighed in a very over-dramatically fashion. "I don't see how that matters anymore, you have clearly shown yourself to be a superior hunter."

Smokestripe's expression lit up at those words, his tail swishing as he almost bounded in place at the fact that he had been victorious. "I'm sure you did your best and that you would have won if you hadn't been such a toad foot," he said, his voice as warm and sweet as ever even with all the teasing he was doing. Really, it was rather confusing how he was always in such a good mood. "I think as victor, you should have to carry my prey for me. I'll go get the toad I caught and meet you back here, alright?"

Larksong rolled her eyes as Smokestripe disappeared into the shadows, turning to go find the rat she had caught herself. it didn't take long and found herself back into the small clearing before Smokestripe, setting down her catch next to the lizard she had just barely missed catching by heartbeats. The sound of a rustling caught her ear as she turned, staring into the undergrowth for a few seconds with a frown. It hadn't sounded like Smokestripe but the silence afterwards conviced her that she was just hearing things as the gray and black warrior stepped into the clearing with a toad hanging from his jaws.

He proudly made his way over, dropping the toad onto the pile of two and proving himself victor of their little game. Larksong shook her head as she leaned down, about ready to pick up the prey when another rustling caught her ear again. "What was that?" Smokestripe asked as both of the warriors straighten up.

"I'm not sure, I heard it when you had left but I figured it was nothing..." she responded as she allowed her gaze to flicker across the clearing. Her ears were flat on her head, her fur starting to stand up when a flicker of grey that didn't belong to Smokestripe caught her attention. Her eyes zeroed in on that spot, a snarl escaping her throat before another flicker of movement caught her attention, and another...In a dreadful moment, she realized they were surrounded and tried to let out a cry of warning when three shapes shot from the undergrowth right at the two warriors before she could even shout out a warning.

Three raccoons shot out of the undergrowth, taking both of the warriors by surprised as they moved as a pack. Two went for Smokestripe while the largest of the raccoons launched itself straight at Larksong. The she-cat couldn’t help but stumble backwards in surprise as the rather large creature rammed into her and sank its teeth into her shoulder. She howled in pain as the bite easily pierced her shoulder but she managed to shake it off.

She stumbled to the side, her fearful gaze falling onto Smokestripe who had scratches running down his shoulder and chest. The two warriors’ eyes met for a terrified second, no words being said but yet easily catching wind of each other were going to do as they both launched themselves at the same raccoon like they had that lizard. With quick, skillful blows they took out the poor creature’s throat as it fell gurgling to the ground.

“Are you okay?” Smokestripe gasped in the quick moment they had, his eyes flickering toward the two remaining raccoons that snarled with hatred as their packmate laid dying between the two cats.

“Now is not the time to ask!” Larksong snapped as her raccoon launched itself at her. With quick paws, she darted out of the way - separating herself from Smokestripe but missing the fowl creature’s teeth once again. The large raccoon was quick however, able to swipe out with a claw that raked down her side - reopening that old scar she had gotten many moons ago from a badger. She stumbled on her paws at the sudden pain that followed, sucking in a painful breath as she spun to face it as it rammed into her again.

She was thrown to the ground as the two rolled across the mud, yowling and hissing escaping from the both as they were locked in mortal combat with one another. Teeth, claws and fur were flying before the two fell apart from one another, both panting for breath. Fresh scratches lined both of their furs as Larksong struggled to her paws. There was a flicker of gray in the corner of her eye, turning to see Smokestripe pulling away from his raccoon which now laid unmoving on the ground.

He turned to face her, a look of victory in his eyes for all but a second before it turned to horror. She could feel her blood turn cold at that expression, turning just in time to see the large raccoon throwing itself at her again, now seeking revenge on its fallen packmates. A cry left her throat as she pulled backwards...Only for a sleek form raced in front of her. Warm blood hit the side of her face as Smokestripe, unable to stop his momemium, went rolling across the clearing past her. The warrior stood in shock for all but a second before she lunched forward toward the last racccoon.

Her teeth met its neck as she used all of her weight to pin it down, finishing it off like Smokestripe had taken out his. Once she was sure it was dead, she pulled herself away and turned to where Smokestripe had fallen. “Smokestripe!” she cried as she took note of his form, stretched out across the mud as blood bubbled dangerously close to his throat. “No, no, no!”

“I-I’m sorry,” he breathed as she reached his side, his gaze loosely locking into her as the blood started to pool beneath his neck and head. “Th-That was rash, I shouldn’t have…”

“Don’t apologize!” she snapped at him, her fur standing on edge as she started to scoop up the mud and sloppily placed it on his neck in a feeble attempt to stop the blood flow. There was so much blood...She couldn’t - she wasn’t sure. “You’ll be fine, just...Don’t move, don’t talk. Save your energy-”

“Larksong.” His voice was hallow, causing her gaze to snap to stare at his eyes as he gave her a soft, painful smile. “Its okay. I just...I...Apologize to...Ravenclaw for me.”

No. No, no. She shook her head, pressing her muddy paws to his throat as she fought to fight of the tears that started to prick at the corner of her eyes. “No! You-You will be able to give you any sappy apology to her once you get back to camp!” She lowered her head, her eyes closing as she struggled to keep her breath even. “You’ll be fine.”

He laughed. It should have been warming to hear, it had all of the normal warmth that she had grown to love but in this moment...She hated it. She hated it so much as he had the nerve to laugh. “I’m going to see them. I’m going to see Pinepaw and Yewpaw. I’ve missed them...I-I’ve missed them so much. But…” his expression dropped for just a second as true regret flickered across his face. “I’m going to miss Ravenclaw so much...She is going to hate me for this…”

Another laugh, this time sounding far more broken before he struggled, throwing one of his paws onto Larksong’s forelimb. “Please, tell her...Tell her that I am sorry. I don’t want to go...I’ll always be with her though,” he gasped as he sunk further into the mud. “I just...Wish I could tell her goodbye. Tell her...That my final thoughts are...of her…”

With that, he grew silent, his breathing became still. And Larksong cried. She cried into his pelt, howling deep into the morning air as the stars slowly started to disappear into the sky. And she could only wonder if the stars heard her mournful yowls.