Hunting Duty [Closed / Hunting Patrol]

Streamsong shook his long pelt as he walked out of the warrior’s den, stretching under the cold leafbare sun, a smile making its way towards his muzzle as he felt some bones pop into place as he did. One of the little pleasures in life, that’s for sure.

After licking his nose a couple times to get rid of the cold feeling on it, he started to walk randomly around camp. No apprentice, no imposed duties today…it was a rather calm day in the middle of this storm the clans had been facing lately.

And so, he was surprised to see a familiar black and white tom sitting at the entrance of camp, grooming the fur on his front leg with a bored expression. He approached the older cat with his usual elegant yet firm steps, causing Bonewatcher’s ears to perk up, his gaze lazily landing on him.

“Of all cats to find here…” Streamsong started in a playful tone, causing the black and white warrior to chuckle.

“Hunting duty, I would take that over border patrols any day…I don’t know who my patrol is, though, so I’m just waiting so see who turns up” Bonewhatcher shrugged as he finished the sentence, his signature smile and half-closed eyes never leaving.

Streamsong nodded, chuckling to himself “Makes sense…its good to see you up and about at last, even if not entirely by choice. I was worried I would keep needing to drag you around like a stubborn kit” His fluffy tail playfully hit the older tom on the shoulder “Would you mind if I join, though? I have nothing to do lately”.

With a soft chuckle and a quick ear flick, Bonewatcher nodded “I don’t see why not”.

Icepaw saw the two and bounded up to them. “May I join your hunting patrol?” She pleaded. “I want to go! Oakstar probably wouldn’t mind!” She pranced around them excitingly.

Robinpaw took the last bite of her squirrel before standing up and giving a stretch. It was a pretty nice day, for leaf-bare at least. Just because it looked nice out didn't mean that she could escape the chill that found it's way beneath her fur. She looked around camp and spotted a group of cats on the other side of the clearing. Presuming that they were going on patrol, she walked their way and heard Icepaw ask if she could join the patrol, verifying what she had thought. Robinpaw was some sort of a friend to Icepaw. She'd had a few conversations here and there, and Icepaw had often talked to her while she was a kit, but nothing too special. Maybe they could become closer friends? The apprentice walked up beside Icepaw. "Would you mind if i were to join as well?" She asked, her paws itching to get out of camp.

Bonewatcher and Streamsong lowered their gazes as Icepaw made their way over to them. Streamsong looked at Bonewatcher silently, after all, this was not his decision to make, he was not the assigned lead of this patrol after all.

“If it doesn’t gets in the way of your other duties, sure thing, I see no problem with it” Bonewatcher smiled widely at the young she-cat, his nose moving just enough to make his whiskers twitch. Apprentices were so full of energy and excitement, both elements he failed to get during his own apprenticeship.

He mostly blamed his bad experiences in the past, that had made him see the world under a completely different light, a light that, hopefully, these new generations wouldn’t need to ever discover themselves. Then again, knowing how the path of the warrior usually was…

His train of thought got interrupted by a second voice, his eyes going from one apprentice to the other. Huh, well, the more the merrier, right? “I don’t mind at all, and I doubt Streamsong and Icepaw would mind as well...”.

A soft nudge given by Streamsong’s nose caused his attention to shift once again, looking at him with questioning eyes “We should get going already, otherwise we risk getting surprised by night” Streamsong’s voice was calm but held truth. Darkness wasn’t a real concern for any warrior, but just as Bonewatcher himself had been forced to experience not long ago, their concern were the creatures that lurked in it. Last thing they wanted was to risk getting ambushed by a hungry predator, and going out at night really raised said risk.

With a deep sigh and a quick nod, the white and black warrior stood up and walked towards the camp entrance, looking behind to the patrol “Lets go, no need to wait any longer”.

Icepaw smiled widely as Bonewatcher said she could go. Her first Hunting patrol! Robinpaw was coming as well so she wouldn’t be the only apprentice! She bounced around behind the two warriors. Waiting for them to tell her what to do, since the only hunting she did was when Oakstar was training her.

Her snowy white pelt kind of stuck out among the cats but she never really noticed it. She paid very close attention to the sky and the ground. She wasn’t very shy but she could have a short temper. So she normally tried to keep things to herself.

“What first?” icepaw said with enthusiasm.

Robinpaw excitedly ran after the warriors, wondering which part of the territory they were going to. She hadn't really taken the time to navigate the whole forest yet, so this patrol was going to be interesting. During the patrol she would also be able to officially meet Bonewatcher and Streamsong. Thinking back, she didn't really have much interaction with the two warriors, as she spent most of her time training or talking with other apprentices. Pushing her thoughts back to the patrol, she heard Icepaw ask what they were going to do first. "Hunting, duh" she playfully mewed, giving Icepaw a soft nudge on the shoulder. She leaned closer to the other apprentice and murmured, "I bet i can catch more fresh-kill than you." Her eyes glinted with competition and excitement.

Bonewatcher chuckles as the two apprentices started to mess around with each other. Such carelessness and innocence. So rare and easy to lose, hopefully the apprentices would know to make the most out of it instead of letting it to go waste in efforts of growing up far too quickly to become warriors, only to realize their terrible mistake after doing so and constantly look back to a past they could never recover, with the impossible wish of going back to the days of old.

He then turned around as they approached an area with thick undergrowth. Even during these chilly months, moving around required skill and knowledge of the terrain that even some warriors of the clan were missing out on, as a byproduct of only being trained to hunt in flatter, easier terrains.

Streamsong also recognized the area as one he used to hunt quite a bit in during his apprenticehood. He had an honest love-hate relationship with the place, given how hard it was to be silent, but also the abundant prey that could be easily found here even during leafbare.

“Show us how well can you two hunt here” Bonewatcher said calmly, allowing the apprentices to have the first attempt.

Streamsong just smiled and sat next to him, deciding to watch for a bit as well “This place will push your abilities and adaptability as real ThunderClan cats. Even some warriors can find it hard to catch anything in here, given how easy it is to make noise between the undergrowth and spook the prey away. We might not be your mentors, but we can surely share some extra knowledge if you struggle”.

Icepaw grinned at the challenge. She got to get more kill then robinpaw and try to be silent! Icepaw was fairly well with silence. She liked hiding in snow drifts quite often. “Alright! This will be a blast!” icepaw stuck her nose into the air and took a deep breath. She tried to see if she could smell a mouse. Mice were easy to catch in an area like this.
 
As she took a deep breath the smell of mouse filled her nose as she slowly crouched and slyly crawled towards where it was. She made sure her scent was downwind so that it wouldn’t smell her. Her snowy pelt close to the ground she went to strike the mouse. Her first kill in a few days would seem a little rusty but who knows! Hopefully she’ll get more kill then robinpaw!

She struck the mouse with a blow to the head. She had killed it quickly so it didn’t suffer. She buried it under the dirt and waited for robinpaw to go. She’d come back for her kill later once they were done hunting. She gleefully padded towards the two warriors to watch robinpaw. She stayed downwind so she wouldn’t ruin any of robinpaws chances. Robinpaw and her might not talk often but they were Friends and she wouldn’t sabotage a friend.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Watching as Icepaw went her own way Robinpaw turned around and nodded at the warriors before going off in her own direction to hunt. She lifted her nose into the air and sniffed, hoping to pick up the smell of prey. Her eyes lit up when the scent of a squirrel hit her nose. Following it, she made sure her pawsteps were light to make sure that if the squirrel was closer than she thought that it wouldn't hear her. She followed the scent until it got strong enough that she could pinpoint where exactly it was. She looked in front of her and could tell that the squirrel was on the other side of a bush. 'C'mon Robinpaw, you got this!" she told herself, getting ready to crouch. She ducked down, her tail low to the ground, and leaped over the bush, managing to pin her paws down on it's body before giving it a swift bite to the neck. Feeling satisfied with herself, she buried her prey.

Robinpaw successfully caught a squirrel, costing 3 SP

Robinpaw
77/80 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1