a walk through the forest

Emberheart approached the camp entrance, looking around for a few cats to accompany her on a peaceful walk through ThunderClan's forest territory - or a hunting patrol; as far as she was concerned they were essentially the same thing. It was a beautiful day for early greenleaf: the sunlight filtered through the trees, creating light spots amidst the shadows on the forest floor, and the leaves and blades of grass were a vibrant green. She knew all too well that before too long the leaves would change and fall, and then the snow would come, and it would melt, and the cycle would begin again; so while the green grass and warm sun was here they should embrace it. She was, after all, sure that the birds and squirrels were certainly enjoying the weather - and from that, ThunderClan's fresh-kill pile could only benefit.

Echofrost was laying in the sunshine with his head on his paws. Ever since the gathering, the only cat he had been able to think about was Lilyflower. Had she liked him back? He would never know, and neither would she. He had been planning on telling her that night... Echofrost hadn't been out of camp much, since he couldn't find motivation to do anything. He lifted his head as he herd Emberheart come back into camp. She seemed to be gathering a hunting patrol. Come on, Echofrost. You can't just sit around like an elder forever! He got up and stretched before padding over to the Senior Warrior. "If your going on patrol, may I accompany you?" Echofrost asked her, trying to make his voice not sound as depressed as he felt. Maybe some hunting would lift his spirits.

Galepaw considered himself the kind of cat to learn from his mistakes, and in retrospect, “don’t leave camp alone” was a perfectly logical rule. Convincing his paws of this was a different matter. He knew Graypaw might be willing to sneak out with him—somewhere far from the Fallen Oak, if he had any say in it—but in the meantime, he was getting restless. When he saw his mother padding toward the camp entrance, he was on his feet in an instant. By the time he reached her, another warrior had appeared, asking about a patrol; Galepaw latched onto this as intently as a hawk onto a mouse. ”You’re patrolling?” he meowed, standing tall. “I want to come too.” It would be good practice and an excuse to see the forest again. What could be better than that?

"Alright, then," Emberheart purred as her son approached them. "The three of us should make a fine patrol. Let's go." She began to lead the way out of camp, reasoning that the less cats were present the less likely it was that they would scare off the prey. And the more she could enjoy her walk, preferably while keeping Galepaw out of trouble - Echofrost was a warrior, and he certainly seemed like he could use the outing, but she was fairly certain she didn't need to keep as close of an eye on him.

OOC: Sorry for the late reply! I went to Japan, then had to volunteer at a camp the very next week

Echofrost padded through the thorn barrier behind Emberheart. As they split up to find prey, his thoughts began to wander... Why had all his siblings, all his family, had to die? His mother in kit berth, and his siblings from green cough. His father, well... Echofrost didn't know his father. When he was born and his mother had died, no warrior had stepped forwards. He had always acted strong, saying he was a pure blooded ThunderClan warrior but... Echofrost didn't know. And that scared him. He soon picked up the scent of a nice, plump squirrel. He cast his icy blue eyes around, searching for it. He soon located it. It was sitting beneath an oak tree, digging up an acorn it had buried there. Remembering the training Wildfire had given him, Echofrost quickly got downwind of it, slowly stalking the animal until he was a meer tail length away from it. He pounced on the unsuspecting animal, channeling all of his frustration, fear, and anger into sinking his teeth into its soft, juicy neck. The squirrel died, but Echofrost kept putting pressure on its neck, not thinking. He bit its head off. Echofrost let the unfortunate rodent's head fall out of his mouth as he realized what he had just done. Warrior's weren't supposed to be too maul their prey, and instead just give it a quick death, but... He began to nervously groom himself, getting the squirrels blood out of his fur. Echofrost inspected his catch, and was pleased to find how meaty it was. This would be enough to feed at least two warriors, He noticed, seeing how big it was. Wow. Lilyflower is going to be so impre- His inner monologue trailed off as he remembered what had happened. In the thrill of hunting, he had temporarily forgotten she had died. He dug his claws into the ground. Why would StarClan let something happen like that? Like anything that had happened recently! Did they just hate the Clans that much?! Or... Or did they not exist at all?

Echofrost attempts to catch squirrel, using 3 sp. The catch is successful!

Echofrost
Hp: 40/40
Sp: 117/120

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

For the first few minutes, Galepaw followed his mother and Echofrost in silence, marveling at the forest as if it was the first time he’d seen it. His fight with Sagepaw had taken the thrill out of investigating borders (for now; it would be back in time), but the territory itself was as interesting as it had been before. More interesting than camp or the medicine den, at least. He shook himself out of his daze. Echofrost had gone—probably to catch something.

Apparently, he couldn’t prove himself by defending ThunderClan’s borders yet. He’d just have to do it here. A scent drifted through the trees; after a moment of thinking, Galepaw placed it as some kind of bird. Sparrow, maybe. He slowed his paws, dropping behind Emberheart, and wove his way through the tree trunks in search of the scent’s source. Finally, he came across the sparrow pecking at the dirt in a relatively clear patch of forest. Galepaw grinned. All he had to do was get close enough to pounce, and…

Snap.

If the crack of a branch under his paws hadn't startled his target, the way he leapt straight up definitely had. The sparrow fixed its dark eyes on him for all of a second before fluttering off into the maze of branches. "Fox-dung," Galepaw muttered, flinging the tiny branch away. His pelt was still burning when he returned to Emberheart and Echofrost; as they walked onward, he kept his gaze closer to the ground than before.

Galepaw attempted to catch Bird, using 3 stamina. The attempt was a failure…

Galepaw
20/20 HP
77/80 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Emberheart spotted a flash of brown in the undergrowth, and a moment later the familiar bushy tail of a passing squirrel. She fell into a hunting crouch with all the ease of a trained warrior, slowly stalking her way toward it. It darted up a tree, and she followed suit; but it slipped out of her reach as the telltale screech of an owl reached her.

Oh, no.

It had been too long since she'd encountered one of those awful birds; since she was an apprentice - an apprentice! Her son!

Quickly, quickly - she had to warn the others... "Galepaw! Echofrost! There's an owl!" she shouted, hoping her voice would carry to them.

The owl's talons raked across her back and she fell. Thankfully, she hadn't gotten very far into the tree, but they still had to fight it off.

Emberheart attempted to catch a squirrel, costing 3 stamina. The attempt was a failure and she encountered an Owl!

The Owl used Talon Strike on Emberheart, dealing 10 damage and costing 10 stamina!

Emberheart
70/80 HP
237/240 SP

Owl
50/50 HP
110/120 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

Echofrost was shaken out of his thinking by Emberheart's call, and a lout hoot. An owl! He rushed towards the sound, arriving just in time to see the owl swoop at Emberheart. It scratched its sharp talons on her, but was unaware of Echofrost's presence. He ran up to it, jumped up and tackled it to the ground, sinking his claws into it's wings. The owl escaped with a slight wobble in its flight, but it wasn't finished yet.

Echofrost used Run-and-tackle, doing 8 + 3 damage, and coasting 10 stamina

Echofrost
Hp: 40/40
Sp: 107/120

Emberheart
70/80 HP
237/240 SP

Owl
39/50 HP
110/120 SP

A screech cut through his sulking, followed by a shout from his mentor. Ears standing straight, sour mood discarded entirely, Galepaw spun toward the source. ”Mom!” Chasing SkyClan away from the border hadn’t gone so well. But this...Galepaw could handle this. How much worse than any other bird could an owl be? A real fight—a fight he could win! When put that way, it was almost exciting.

He charged through the bushes to find Emberheart, Echofrost, and the owl already trapped in combat; Emberheart bore marks from the owl’s talons, but the owl was bleeding, too. For a moment, Galepaw just stood there, eyes narrowing as he took in the scene, how much bigger their opponent was in reality. Then, aiming for one of the owl’s wings, he leapt. While he missed his true target, the brush of feathers against his paws told him he’d managed to snag something—its tail, he realized as it flew out of reach once again, even wobblier than before.

Galepaw used Front Paw Strike on Owl, dealing 6 damage and using 10 stamina.

Galepaw
20/20 HP
67/80 SP (-10)

Owl
33/50 HP (-6)
110/120 SP

Emberheart leapt at the owl with claws outstretched, attempting to prevent it from attacking Galepaw. She'd had enough run-ins with these birds before, she knew how to deal with them - he didn't. More than that, though, he was supposed to be safe as long as she was present, and she wasn't about to let an owl change that.

Emberheart used Jumping Strike on the Owl, dealing 14 damage and costing 20 stamina!

Unfortunately, it wasn't Galepaw the owl was after - instead it swooped down on Echofrost, striking the warrior's pelt with its talons.

The Owl used Talon Strike on Echofrost, dealing 10 damage and costing 10 stamina!

Echofrost
30/40 HP (-10)
107/120 SP

Emberheart
70/80 HP
217/240 SP (-20)

Galepaw
20/20 HP
67/80 SP

Owl
19/50 HP (-14)
100/120 SP (-10)