Getting Back in Shape [Hunting Patrol / Open]

“Come on, you lazy tail!”

Streamsong was basically dragging Bonewatcher out of the warriors’ den by the ear, the older cat, grunting and purposefully making things harder for the bigger, younger tom, didn’t even had opened his eyes yet…but his signature smile present on his muzzle.

“You slept long enough during the past couple moons! Just look at you, you surely gained some weight! At this rate, we might need to rename you to Lazybelly!” Words came somewhat muffled as Streamsong dragged the white and black tom towards the camp entrance.

Bonewatcher opened his eyes halfway, looking up at him “You are eager to return to warrior life, I see that…but don’t you think you might be overdoing it a bit? The sun is only starting to raise” His voice sounded way more awake than the tom looked, making it reasonable to question if he really was that tired, or if he was simply trying to avoid warrior duty altogether. Those that knew Bonewatcher and his overall opinion and relationship with the warrior path, probably would have an easy answer.

“No, no I’m not!” Streamsong didn’t let go until they were at the camp entrance, only to look around and try to find those early birds among the clan that didn’t have a plan already “Anyone wants to go out in a hunting patrol?!” Perfect…if more cats joined in, then Bonewatcher wouldn’t be able to slack off during hunting…or at least that’s what Streamsong hoped.

Dacedream hadn't meant to awaken at dawn, but truthfully, she was having a hard time adjusting to being back in the warrior's den - without her kits, but with Duskrain again at last. Oh, her heart had ached with how much she missed sharing her nest with the dusky gray-brown she-cat. The other warrior wasn't the same as four bundles of fur that squirmed, wriggled, and mewled softly in their sleep, though.  Duskrain always slept so peacefully, it seemed. Cherrypaw, Puddlepaw, Jaypaw, and Vixenpaw had been restless sleepers! Her little ones had grown up now, though, and they had gained their apprentice names and new mentors to care for them and oversee their training and well-being, and they had received their own new nests to stay in. She awakened often in a half-panic at their absence before remembering they were safe and comfortable in the apprentices' den. Normally she could get back to sleep, but sometimes her thoughts became too busy.

Whenever Dacedream missed their warmth beside her, she tried to think of how exciting their training must be and how they were getting along with their mentors and Clanmates. Dacedream had already heard talk about Vixenpaw's behavior, but the tortoiseshell queen was unconcerned and mostly amused: what a little spitfire, just like her father! She'd be tempered by Oakstar in no time, Dacedream was certain. She had all the confidence in her kits - strong, capable apprentices as they were. She was still delighted by the honor of being able to train her only son, Jaypaw. Her thoughts were often busy replaying memories of their training sessions. Often times the warm memories helped lure her back into sleep, but this morning her mind had sprung awake like morning glories in the sunrise.

When she heard commotion near the camp entrance, the half-drowsing queen peered up from where she crouched in the early sunlight. Her green-hazel eyes landed on Bonewatcher and Streamsong and her sleepiness evaporated almost immediately. She could tell that wherever they were going, Bonewatcher wasn't too particularly enthused about it. Her ears perked up as Streamsong gazed around to call out; briefly his eyes met hers, and a grin spread over her face. "Oh! Oh, yes, me please!" Dacedream called, her tail rising to curl over her back as she began to rise to her paws to go and greet the older toms. After about three eager steps towards them, however, she stopped short with a short exclamation of ”Oh - Jaypaw!”

Dacedream was too eager to fetch her son, and apprentice, to explain to the waiting warriors where she was going - they would just have to assume based on how she scampered across the clearing towards the apprentices’ den and promptly stuck her head inside. Her eyes shone as they immediately spotted Jaypaw’s pale pelt in the darkness. Delicately as she could manage with her broad RiverClan paws, she crept into the cluster of dozing apprentices, nudging her son with a motherly purr and slow, stroking licks over his neck and cheeks - just like she did when he was a kit, after she had escaped the darkness around her mind. ”Jaypaw, love, we’re going on a dawn hunting patrol,” she murmured into his ear with likely undue eagerness. ”I know it’s early, but it’s such a good opportunity!”


With that the queen lifted her head again, looking to see that Jaypaw was stirring, before she carefully turned around and picked her way out once again. Dacedream checked that Bonewatcher and Streamsong were still there - they were, to her relief - and flung her tail high, trotting over. ”Okay! Sorry, I thought it would be good for Jaypaw to come, too!” she explained at last if they hadn’t pieced it together. Her face was vibrant with delight at the prospect of hunting with such lovely cats.

He was so warm and comfortable, curled among his siblings in the apprentice den, that Dacedream's attempts at first did little to rouse him - in fact, her rhythmic grooming had served only to deepen his slumber, a contented purr rumbling in his little chest. When Dacedream spoke, though, his eyes cracked open, a confused and slightly indignant mew breaking the silence following his mother's departure. The sun was barely up! What sort of degeneracy was this? Waking him at the crack of dawn? Jaypaw draped a paw over his face, snuggling into his sisters and attempting to resume the dream he'd been having. He was very nearly asleep again when one of his littermates stretched, and he got a rear paw right to the neck.

That woke him up right, and Jaypaw sat up grumpily, ears flat as he stared at the offending sibling, cuffing her with one paw before stalking out after his mother. Sleepily, and with a little more attitude than usual, the mottled apprentice plodded out of the den, making out three shapes in the distance he assumed was the patrol. "Alright. I'm here," he said with a dramatic sigh.

Voices smudged at the edges of Strom's consciousness, his ear twitching at the agitated tones as his dreams gave way  to reality. Wha...? He raised his head, the groggy, half-formed thought floating somewhere to the surface of his mind, his eyes blinking open and squinting slightly as light hit them, before the shapes of two cats coalesced in the gloom, one dragging the other.

What in StarClan is going on?

Curious, and a bit more awake than before, he got to his paws, heading after the strange pair for the entrance to the camp with a brief glance back at Batbite. I'll just see what's going on.

Another voice rang out in answer to the tom's yowled question as he padded out of the den, and his ears pricked, his eyes landing on Dacepa- dream - as she enthusiastically called out a reply. Sometimes it was hard for him to remember she was grown, and even had her own kits. Mentally shaking his head, he rolled his eyes at himself. One of these days I'll remember I'm older than half of the cats here.... Except for the two who'd called the patrol, at least.

As Dacedream ran off to the apprentice den, he turned his attention to the two by the entrance. A hunting patrol would be interesting, and he hadn't done one since he was back in RiverClan; plus it gave him an opportunity to get used to the territory, learn more about his new Clanmates, and catch their names, too.

He was sold before the last thought fully completed itself. "I do." With a glance at the half-asleep tom the younger, somewhat exasperated-looking tom had dragged out, he added, "I'm not sure your companion does, though."

Perfect! With these many cats joining there was no way Bonewatcher could simply stay behind and nap all day again “He just got too used to our time in the twolegplace. I don’t know what they put in those rabbit-dropping-looking food, but it makes you slow and lethargic…no wonder kittypets are so fat and lazy!”.

Bonewatcher huffed a bit before finally getting on his paws. Now, Streamsong wasn’t lying, but he was neither telling the full truth…most likely to keep the clan from thinking he had grown to like the kittypet life. If they only knew he was already a not-so-enthusiastic warrior even before his capture, maybe this wouldn’t be an issue….maybe.

“We just need to get back in shape and actually eat prey for once…you have no idea how much you grow to miss the taste after some time” Streamsong’s paws started to guide him towards the camp entrance as he talked. Bonewatcher was finally back on his paws out of his own free will, and he wasn’t about to risk giving him enough time to change his mind.

When Dacedream had returned, sweeping enthusiastically back to the group, she was delighted to find it one cat larger with the company of a delightful tom. "Hi, Strom!" she had greeted with a chirp, and she realized he had returned in the middle of conversation. Streamsong was chattering about how kittypets were fat and lazy while Bonewatched huffed, not seeming amused. Dacedream giggled, her whiskers quivering with amusement, and gave Duskrain's uncle a reassuring smile. "It's alright if you're a little out of practice; we've got lots of cats, which should mean lots of pey," the queen meowed brightly, glancing around the group. Paws scuffing on the ground behind her alerted her of Jaypaw's arrival, and she turned to greet him with squinted eyes before looking to Streamsong again.

The tom was happy to take the lead, speaking more words of encouragement to Bonewatcher. Though he still didn't seem too enthused, Dacedream watched with a smile as he rose to his paws to follow. The group swept out into the forest, and the queen herself was much relieved to be out of camp and doing hard warrior's work like she was meant to do. After a short while, the tortoiseshell she-cat spotted a flecked bird pecking among the grasses. She nudged to Jaypaw at her side and meowed to him, "Look, a perfect setup; we were just practicing bird catching last time we were out. Go on, catch the first prey of the day!" Dacedream had waved her tail to alert the rest of the patrol to let Jaypaw give it a try, as it would be good practice to solidify their previous lessons.

Jaypaw plodded, still half asleep, after the hunting patrol, following the familiar dappled form of his mother through bleary, sleep-filled eyes. His ears twisted forward, listening to the conversation of the others, and when Dacedream paused, he nearly ran right into her backside. He swerved to the left, shaking his head and glancing up at his mother. It was too early for this! He wanted to whine and complain and stomp his little feet until he could retreat back to his bed, but no. That was undignified, and that just wouldn't do, especially in front of Dacedream.

When she pointed his attentions at the bird, Jaypaw blinked at it, pecking about the roots of a tree. He pinned his ears and dropped into a crouch, slinking forward, and when he was close enough, leaped for the bird! He caught it neatly between his paws and dispatched it quickly, turning with it in his mouth to narrow his eyes in a successful brag at the other cats. Yeah, he was good. Hold your applause.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Strom cocked his head curiously at the tom's explanation. They were in Twolegplace? Nevertheless, he nodded as the tom continued. Oh yes, he did have an idea of how much he could grow to miss the taste of prey. Even a few mouthfuls of the stuff kittypets ate had been enough to turn him off for life. But before he could reply, Dacedream's voice chirped, and he turned, giving her a smile and a nod in return as she joined the conversation.

"You can't be worse than me," He added to Dacedream's reassurance, smile turning to a grin. This forest was definitely not what he was used to hunting in, unless they decided to go along the river, that is.

His attention turned to the small, patch-pelted and slightly grouchy-looking apprentice trailing after Dacedream. Giving the young tom a friendly smile, he greeted him with a dip of his head as they started to move out. "Hey, Jaypaw."

Moments later, they wandered through the still-strange forest, a few bird calls ringing through the early-morning, frosted air. Not that the trees, with their tall trunks and mossy roots digging into half-frozen leaf-litter, were bad. It was just.... Strom grimaced as one gave way under his paw with a soft, faintly heard crunch. He wasn't used to the sheer amount of loose leaves and twigs this forest tended to put down, yet. I'm glad it's not leaf-fall.

A noise caught his ear, and he panned his eyes in its direction to spot a bird with flecked feathers poking about nearby. Pausing along with the rest of the patrol, he glanced at the others, noting Dacedream's wave of her tail and keeping himself still to watch her apprentice creep up on the oblivious bird. A little bit of watching his technique to hopefully glean a few ways of hunting in this forest wouldn't hurt.

He couldn't help letting a smile creep up the side of his maw as the apprentice cleanly caught it and turned to them, an obvious look of smugness on his maw. The scene reminded him of another hunt, a long time ago, where a certain cocky apprentice had thought his scrawny fish were the biggest things anyone could ever have caught.

"Great catch," he murmured, opening his own maw and scenting the air for any traces of anything else nearby. Not that he'd actually try to catch anything until he'd seen a few of the others do so. From the looks of it, it was pretty much the same way he'd try to catch a bird on RiverClan or scrub territory, as far as pouncing and stalking went, but they knew the territory, and he didn't. Better give the more experienced cats some room before I crash through the whole forest and scare everything away.

Streamsong chuckled and twitched his whiskers happily at the idea of returning camp with prey, he had no idea why, but hunting had always been one of the things he found to enjoy to most between the many apprentice and warrior duties.

He shook his long fluffy pelt a bit as he looked forwards “I’m just hoping we get to catch something ourselves. It would be an amazing feeling to know that we aren’t that out of shape, especially in this season” Streamsong’s expression became slightly grim all out of sudden, ears lowering a bit.

As much as he loved the idea of hunting, the idea of not only becoming nothing but a burden, another mouth to feed, but also being the reason the prey flee before they manage to catch them due to being out of shape really didn’t sit well with him. He would need to give this hunting trip his absolute best and then a lot more as a way to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

He looked at the apprentice first, looking at him carefully as he went to hunt something of his own and waiting patiently while watching his attempt. The smile half-returned to his muzzle with Jaypaw’s catch. He was a skilled tom, he could tell that easily. Whether it was because of natural talent or training, he couldn’t tell, but it was amazing to say the least. He would make a fine warrior someday for sure.

He opened his mouth as he smelled the air as soon as Jaypaw returned with his catch, as focused as possible to try and gather all the smells around him.

His attention fell on a scent he didn't smell often around the territory, at least not in leafbare, and quickly went after it. Not so much out of the rarity of it, but because she knew this specific kind of prey could fill more than one belly, and that was just perfect in this current season.

He dropped to a crouch as he approached with his full focus on the fluffy creature that had dared the odds by trying and look for food in this specific area. His muscles tensed as he got within critical range...and then he pounced. Sharp claws hit their target way before fangs did, hooking into the skin and flesh of the rabbit to prevent its escape, a possibility he wasn't about to risk happening, and pull it closer for the kill. His fangs found the vulnerable neck of the creature and snapped it as he bit down as fast and hard as he could. A clean kill.




Bonewatcher was mostly silent during the trip, just listening…watching…

His eyes went from Dacedream to Jaypaw as he was given the chance of making the first kill, his smile never fading while his eyes followed his every move. A skilled apprentice in the art of hunting, yes, used to his surroundings, using them on his favor. Great potential indeed, and he couldn’t help but wonder if said potential would be put on the good path his mother so clearly desired or if its paws would be dragged down a darker, less than desirable path, guided by his smugness.

His eyes then fell on Storm, a polar opposite. Not used to the territory, insecure, one could say that even a bit intimidated. Most likely not a ThunderClan born, given his rather unique mannerisms. He would need a good deal of experience and time to become a true ThunderClan warrior, and he hoped the clan would be able to grant him what he so desperately needed.

His eyes finally fell on Streamsong. He had been around him to understand most of his body language, his expressions, his mannerisms. He could tell without words what was going on in his mind, and this wasn’t the exception. He had to learn to relax a bit from time to time…

With a deep sigh, he started to smell the air as well. The sooner he caught something, the sooner Streamsong would stop pushing him around like if he was some kind of misbehaving kit, after all.

He settled for something smaller and simpler than his comrade, a vole, and expertly started to approach it.

He was calm and collected, he wasn't under self-imposed stress unlike the larger fluffy tom, and it showed in his movements and approach. His paws barely did any noise, if any at all, his white fur blending with the snow and his black spots braking his figure under the shadows, allowing him to need little to no coverage to keep himself concealed as he approached the little rodent from behind. His pounce was as silent as his approach, the vole most likely didn't even realized it was being attacked before everything was over and it laid limp between the closed jaws of the older warrior, who turned to face the group.

The member 'Smiling Advocate Ink' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 4, 2

The queen watched as her son and apprentice took his position, his eyes losing their bleariness to lock in on the bird that she had pointed out to him. Dacedream felt her whiskers trying to quiver with excitement as he pinned his ears back and lowered himself slightly. Jaypaw began prowling, stalking forward, and then with an explosion of pale-patched fur he was flying, grasping it flawlessly in his paws and smooshing it to the earth. Dacedream immediately rose up to her full height, tail curling high above her back as she watched with anticipation. Jaypaw turned, the bird hanging proudly from his mouth.

"That was wonderful, Jaypaw!" she burst out with praise, her thick monster-purr cutting into the sounds of the forest. She looked to Strom, who had also complimented her son's success, and beamed at him before looking at her son again. "You remembered everything from our last lesson. I'm so proud of you,." Dacedream resisted the strong urge to step forward and stroke her tongue up his forehead in praise; he would likely be embarrassed in front of the other toms. Instead, Dacedream turned her head to look at Bonewatcher and Streamsong, wondering if they were as impressed by him as she was. The older tom was smiling as he watched Jaypaw with interest, whereas Streamsong had given her son a supportive smile before turning his own attention to other prey.

Dacedream's tail lowered, and she gathered her excitement more tidily into herself. She wanted to catch something as well - it wouldn't do at all for her son to be the only one of the two of them who caught anything. Streamsong and Bonewatcher went their own ways, and Dacedream meandered along the path that they'd been going, her tail low and twitching distractedly as she focused. She heard the sounds of rustling within some leaves by a clump of snow, and her eyes honed in on it with interest. She saw a flash of mouse-gray and an instant later the tortoiseshell she-cat darted forward to try to slam a broad RiverClan paw into it. The moment her paw hit the leaves, though, she realized it had disappeared, and a small mouse hole carved into the snowy patch showed her why. Dacedream let out a small breath of disappointment and turned back to the rest of the patrol empty-pawed but not looking too crestfallen.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9