Striking Shadows

Several sunrises had come and gone since the flood. The marshes had maintained most of their shape, although Sunstrike had discovered a pawful of spots that had become deeper than they had previously been. She took care to note these deep spots with a stick, and kept an eye on them as the days passed, watching and waiting to see if they would return to their normal depths. As the sun set on the horizon, Silverpelt appearing in the sky, the she-cat woke, preparing herself for another day. A brief chat with Wildstrike later, she was waiting by the entrance to camp,  preparing to go out on a hunting patrol.

Her eyes peered around the camp as she waited quietly to see if anyone might join her, her gaze flitting across any clanmates who came into view with a calm and stoic demeanor.

Cinderface was up early, grooming and having a little personal time before her duties. Wildstrike approached her in just a few moments and asked her to patrol with Sunstrike. She quite liked Sunstrike, even if she was a little on the strong-and-silent side. She cursed Wildstrike in her head for making her hunt when there were border patrols to be done. Besides, it was so much less work. Enemy cats were at least more fun, and it wouldn't be so dreadfully hot. The tortoiseshell-and-white cat smiled as she trotted up to her hunting partner.

"Good morning, dearie!" she chirped, "It's a lovely night, isn't it? The stars are out!"

Another patrol. One of the monotonous tasks of the clans. He couldn't deny that the duty was necessary for the survival of all cats. Shadowclan needed to eat, of course. But there had to be more efficient way to run the territory, one he was determined to find. There was also the fact that if the territories were not split, prey could be more easily shared between all cats and less would face hunger as one clan failed and another thrived. Burntstag wore a neutral mask as padded towards the patrol but as he recognized his patrol mates, a half-smile crept across his maw. Sunstrike and Cinderface, while clanmates, were not cats he knew well. But he hoped to know them. Each was unique in their own way, and he hope that their ideals would make them valuable assets in bringing about the world to come. He greeted the pair with a nod of his head and a low meow, "I believe this is everyone. Shall we leave?" Naturally, he slipped into the role of patrol leader and slid through the rebuilt entrance. The stars were bright tonight, bathing his coat in a faint glow comprised of both moonlight and starlight.

He wanted to banish them, make it so they couldn't see his every action. And yet, his life was a defiance to their way and their codes. There was a certain appeal to the though. Burntstag's head lifted slightly higher as his maw parted to accommodate for the task at paw. Let them watch. As if flicking his ear to disregard Starclan above, the tom pinpointed the scent that had passed through his glands. There was a lizard darting through the foliage ahead in search of something to eat itself. Flicking his feathery tail to signal to the rest of the patrol, he crept forward. Before he could leap, something snagged his long fur, just a strand of dried grass. His target was alerted and darted off. Never one to want to dwell on his mistake, the calico warrior let out a soft exhalation of breath in disappointment. The tom turned with another flick of his ear, "Let's hope the rest of the prey is deafer than that one, and that my claws may be swifter in pursuit."

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

The she-cat turned her head to look towards the approaching pawsteps, and recognized the smile of Cinderface. A low, barely audible purr came from her chest, Cinderface was a wonderful hunter, even if she did prefer her border patrols. "Yes, it is a beautiful night for hunting. I hope it stays clear, coming back with full loads of prey and a dry pelt will be a welcome change of pace." She glanced up towards Silverpelt, eyes narrowing as she searched the sky for clouds.

Another voice cut through the night, and she turned her attention to the calico that approached. Nodding her head in greeting and acknowledgement, she followed the handsome tom out of camp, Cinderface right next to her. She looked at Burntstag's face with a cool, indifferent air, but her mind swirled with the thoughts of the state of the marshes, and her current company. The tom always carried himself well, and she admired that about him. Although she didn't know him well, she had noticed that he didn't waste his time or resources on trivial things, and respected him for it. She spotted the lizard and stopped in her tracks, watching the tom as he pinpointed it and crept forward, when suddenly his long fur caught on a dry piece of grass and the creature darted off. Padding forward to stand next to him, she quietly mewed. "That's alright. Without the rain, there will be more."

A movement in the marshes caught her eye, and she dropped into a crouch, slowly approaching the twitching grass. Just as she prepared to pounce, a lost rabbit hopped out of the marsh grass, surprising her. What was a rabbit doing all the way out here? Her moment of thought was the only moment the rabbit needed to spot her and dash away, back towards the WindClan border and it's moors. She spat, cursing herself for her hesitation, and dashed after it, silently racing across the marsh before giving up the chase as the rabbit reached it's full speed. She stared after it in dismay, that would have been a fine addition to the fresh-kill pile. She scolded herself silently for being caught off-guard as she made her way back to the other two, hoping that they might have had more luck.

Sunstrike attempted to catch a rabbit, it was a failure. -3 SP.

Sunstrike
45/45 HP
157/160 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

"Welcome to our little outing, Burntstag," she mused as the tom joined in. She quite liked the large calico, though he wasn't the most talkative. Sort of the strong, silent type. Cinderface liked how he took charge of the situation, and she silently wondered who else fell so easily under his spell. She was very much interested in what made that little head tick, and from that moment it became her duty to figure out what exactly that was.

With a small leap and bound, her delicate paws landed squarely on a fat toad. She proudly took it in her mouth and snapped its bones, killing it. She set it aside with a smile. "Jeez, it feels like it never ends about this time," she said with a sigh, "Always more prey, you think you're all finished, but then there's more mouths to feed, round and round and round... so tiring." She licked her paws before trotting onward.

Cinderface successfully caught a toad, costing 3 SP.

Cinderface:
45/45 HP
157/160 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3