Early Morning Hunt

The Greenleaf days were getting hotter and hotter-- and out on the moors, with little to no cover to speak of, regular Clan duties were becoming a bit of a nuisance.
Flashpaw woke before dawn with a grumbling yawn, carefully picking his way out of his nest and into the center of camp to give himself a quick wash. The sun was low overhead, but the heat of the day could already be felt in his fur. He let out a heavy sigh-- he'd much rather be sleeping, but he had learned quickly that hunting in the scorching sunshine of midday was unbearable for both prey and cat.
He'd have much better luck heading out onto the moor now before it got too hot to even think. As he swiped behind his ears with one paw, he sleepily looked around the camp for the others that were to join in on the hunting patrol that morning.

Unpleasant as last leaf-bare had been, Ravenstar longed for its weather. The heat was getting to everyone, himself included, and being confined to WindClan’s camp made it worse. He needed the wind in his fur like a rabbit needed the tunnels. Without it, he got tense and prickly like the air before a storm, pacing in the emptiest parts of camp and biting his tongue over things that wouldn’t have bothered him two moons ago. But this morning would be different. A chance to leave, to hunt, to run again, had finally fallen into his paws.

When he cracked one eye open to see a purplish sky, his heart rose. Good. They’d have some time before the worst of the heat settled in. He set about extracting himself from his nest (and extracting several bits of nest from his fur), then raised his head to see a brown-and-white tom waiting in the center of camp, looking more asleep than awake. Ravenstar hurried forward. ”Flashpaw!” That was the tom’s name—just about the only thing Ravenstar knew about him. Maybe this hunt would change that. He stopped at Flashpaw’s side. His paws continued to shuffle through the sand. ”You know, this might be the best time of day for rabbits, but I’m not sure it’s so good for cats.”

Nothing could have forewarned the presence of a energized apprentice tagging along proudly with her father. Her mentor had allowed her to be on the morning hunt now that battle practice had been their priority for quite some time now. She had to be ready when the time was right but the rabbits were becoming more plentiful. Now with the very hot weather prey had been more likely to be less occupied in their silly little dens, leaving Windclan with full bellies. Having everyone be fed made her feel a little better and at the very least there was no more maladies being spread through the camp.

Fogpaw blinked recognizing the tom Ravenstar approached reminding herself that they did share the apprentice's den. Whether or not they spoke often was another matter that could be shoved under the rug for now. "Hey Flashpaw!" She was quick to acknowledge the tom's presence even if he wasn't in the greatest mood. Still, clanmates were clanmates through thick and thin, even if they scared off all the rabbits from yawning.

Flashpaw looked up with a start as his name was called not once, but twice, by two different cats. The first was Ravenstar, followed by his denmate, Fogpaw. He quickly stood at attention as his leader approached him. All his sleepiness was forgotten in the face of addressing one of the most important cats in his Clan.
"Good morning," he squawked out to the both of them, inwardly cringing at his cracking voice. Of course it had to happen in front of Ravenstar. He cleared his throat and gave his chest a few bashful licks before he tried speaking again. "I guess that's true-- I don't think I'm all that awake yet..." He gave himself a shake and nodded towards the camp entrance. Dawn was beginning to break and there was no doubt in the tom's mind that the morning would be beautiful. "A good run on the moor'll help, though."