A Strange Kind of Mushroom [open hunting/battle topic]

"Any suggestions?" Minkstar let his gaze idly wander the ravine, lit by specks of morning sunlight beginning to glimmer through the trees, the warmth of Green-leaf already starting to touch the air. A little later than the crack-of-dawn wake-up he'd usually give the apprentices, but he figured that with the training they'd done already they deserved a little break from that. Besides, it's good to learn to deal with the heat. A sentiment that he needed to pay some attention to, himself.

Beside him, he saw Sablepaw glance up at him out of the corner of his eye, a slight shrug rippling her fur. "Aren't we just hunting?"

"I was thinking we could switch it up a bit, maybe track down that badger that's been poking around the edge of the territory."

He could hear the note of doubt in her voice, her ears twisting back slightly. "With apprentices?"

Glancing down at her, he let the tip of his tail twitch. "They've been taught the battle moves - so have you. But I did drop a hint that we'd poke around on the trip to a couple of others." He cocked his head slightly, her blue eyes still looking up at him with a hint of unease, and pointed out casually, "You know, if you took your moonstone journey then that would be one more warrior I could add to this sort of thing...."

She sniffed and stuck her nose into the air, the action drawing a brief cough that still sounded a little rattling. "It's not my fault I caught whitecough just when all the rain stopped." Her eyes lowered, ears twitching self-consciously. "I want to, and I've been trying, but something always comes up. Maybe... StarClan just doesn't want me to go yet...."

He nudged her gently, bringing her eyes up again, a slight pang hitting him. She's been an apprentice too long. Just like I was. But for different reasons. "Hey, you'll get to join the others in the warrior den soon. Even if I have to carry you myself." He smiled, flicking her ear. "Though I might forget and dump you in the river halfway there instead."

She scrunched her nose up at him, ducking away. "Aren't you just forgetful? Not... you know, evil or something?"

He blinked at her. "Hm? What were we talking about?" Purring, he dodged the jab of her paw, letting his expression soften. "If you're not feeling up to it, you can stay behind - I won't force you to try and fight a badger with a cough. Believe me, it doesn't work that well."

She shook her head, twisting to look back at the apprentice's den as movement came from the entrance. "Nope, I'll come. But maybe instead of hunting you could show them how to fish? It'd be funny to watch."

He rolled his eyes, gathering his paws underneath him and standing. "You mean it'd be funny to watch me fail. I don't fish regularly, you know that. Besides, the currents make it harder on this side, and I don't think Ivystar would approve of us invading Sunningrocks just to teach a couple of apprentices."

A vaguely disappointed sound came from her direction as he stretched, taking note of the pawsteps approaching and eyeing the rest of the clearing for any other takers as the dawn patrol filed in and headed for the prey pile, chattering quietly among themselves. Would be nice to have a couple of warriors, just in case, He admitted to himself. If they did encounter it, he'd probably end up with a whole new set of wounds for Dovefrost to tend to, and a look from Bat. A quiet sigh drifted from his maw, making Lirista glance at him, and he forced a smile, straightening up again. Well, let's go do something useful, I guess.

Kestrelswoop, a well-known early riser, hurried over to the two waiting figures, eager to be on a patrol alongside Minkstar and Sablepaw. His father had hinted at it in passing and Kestrel had been more than ready to help. He wasn't completely sure who else would be in the group but they were the only two he was aware of. It was almost like a small family outing... almost.

"Dad! Sable! I'm here for the patrol." the warrior greeted with a warm smile, sharp green gaze softening at the sight of his family members. "Do you know who else will be joining? It'd be best if we wait for some more members in case we run into that badger that's been snooping around." The brown and white tom sat down and wrapped his tail around his paws as he joined them in waiting, eyes scanning the clearing for anymore cats joining.

Harrier wasn't one to turn down a chance to sharpen his skills, especially if it came from the leader himself. He'd been made aware of a patrol that was going to hunt around and perhaps search for the stinky badger that's been treading real close to their territory to defeat it once and for all. He sure hoped they found it so they can beat it up and so he can show off some of his sweet moves.

The young tom stretched out of his nest beside his twin, a big yawn stretching his maw wide. He blinked open his dazed, golden gaze and nimbly padded out of the apprentice's den. He was sure he stepped on a few tails but he just wasn't in the mood to care...actually, was he ever in the mood to care? The answer was a solid 'no'.

The fluffy apprentice grumbled as he glared at the sky, as if that would scare the sun away. He turned his attention on three silhouettes that he could barely make out through the haze in his vision. Those were probably his groupmates. Why does the patrol have to be so early? The clan was insane...

As he approached them, the tom shook the last bit of tiredness away. "Hey. Mornin'. M'here." he greeted with a stiff nod and a grunt as he plopped himself down next to Kestrelswoop. So far, the patrol consisted of Mink's family and Harrier was kinda feeling a bit awkward. He wasn't particularly close to any of them but he held some grudging respect for them, especially Minkstar, something he'd never utter out loud though.

Wolfblaze, slightly groggy, began to make her way out of her nest. Why anyone would want to wake up this early was unknown to her, but just before she exited the den, she noted that Kestrelswoop's nest was empty! Is he on the patrol? Only one way to find out! With a grin that spread ear to ear, the fluffy warrior, as sneakily as she could, made her way behind Kestrelswoop. As soon as she was in range, she tackled him gently, not knocking him over but just whacking her paws on him a bit. "Hey there Kestrelswoop! Guess you're patrolling this morning too!" She was glad to patrol with Kestrelswoop again. Wolfblaze always enjoyed spending time with him, he was just... great! With a yawn, she looked at the rest of the patrol, noting the others on it. Minkstar, Harrierpaw, and Sablepaw. She didn't know them too well, but that wouldn't stop her from enjoying the patrol.

Patchpaw's tail was one of the ones that Harrierpaw stepped on on his way out, and although a protest immediately rose to her lips, she was glad he had once she realized what time it was. The patrol! She had wanted to join after hearing about the badger, unable to resist the chance to tell her siblings she had helped drive it off.

She followed quickly, flopping onto her rump once over by the gathering group, and grooming some moss from her pelt.

Wasp paw took his sweet time joining his mentor, siblings and a few others in their patrol. It's not that he wasn't excited for training, in fact he was practically buzzing, but he couldn't ruin his image by letting on how positively ecstatic he was at the prospect. So he spent several extra minutes in the apprentices' den, tidying the fur between his toes and his signature mane. When he finally decided he was in the 'fashionably late' stage of tardiness, he came striding out of the den as if he wasn't aware of his lateness.

"I'm here for the patrol! Hey Harrier, Patch. Ready to see who's the best sibling at hunting?" 'Me,' He thought confidently. Remembering who he was in the presence of, he hastily gave Minkstar a 'respectful' nod. It was as much respect as he could muster, but it still came off as honeyed and condescending.

One of the first to appear happened to be another kit of his, and Minkstar purred in greeting, opening his mouth to reply. Sablepaw beat him to it. "That's what I said," She piped up with a lofty flick of her tail. "But the only cats he's forcing are Wasppaw and me, except I was also given a choice."

"It almost sounds like you two don't trust me." He rolled his eyes, a smile twitching at his maw. "I was going to bring both Wasp and Admiral, but Admiral isn't feeling up to it right now. Wasppaw doesn't have a choice."

Another pelt approaching caught his eye, and he spotted another apprentice wander up. One of the twins? The names, as usual, slipped his mind - not that he'd probably get it right even if he could pull one of them. "Hey," He replied easily, noting the slight discomfort. There wasn't much of an opportunity to say anything more, though, when a sudden playful attack hit his son.

Wolfblaze. A genuine grin edged up the corners of his mouth, a quick glint of something in his eye as he watched the interaction. They'd been spending an awful lot of time together, lately. "Morning, Wolfblaze," He purred, doing his best to hide the smile as it threatened to become a smirk, his eyes twinkling. "We were just discussing how he'd take the badger down all by himself."

Lirista frowned at him. "We weren-"

He covertly nudged her, and she cut off, complete and utter confusion in her eyes as they met his. Another pair of pawsteps came up, and he threw a quick glance over to see Wasp finally approaching behind his sister, noting the less-than-respectful attitude and choosing to ignore it this time around as he twitched the end of his tail. "I should tell you about the time he saved me from a fox someday. Looks like we've got enough cats here to take down an army of badgers - let's get out and see if it's willing to play."

He lead the way out of the ravine, glancing over his shoulder to make sure they were all following. "If you see any prey, feel free to hunt it down." With an airy wave of his tail, he added, "Since this isn't exactly a hunting patrol, and most of you haven't taken anything from the fresh-kill pile yet, you have my permission to catch something and eat it before we move on. The badger was spotted around the edge of SkyClan's territory near the river - it'll take us a little to get there."

He hadn't really expected that many clanmates would be joining the patrol but hopefully, they'd get more soon. Badgers were tough and usually never back down from a fight. The more claws on their side that were ready to fight, the faster and easier it will be to beat the 'beast'. The tom rolled his eyes playfully as he watched his father and sister interact. "We do trust you dad. You're just kinda easy to tease." he meowed with a wrinkle of his nose, a clear nonchalance to his voice. He couldn't keep up the act for too long and his face relaxed to a smile that bordered on a jokey smirk. Minkstar was definitely something else...

The warrior's attention was garnered elsewhere when he spotted his appren-no... this one was Starling's brother, his twin. He didn't know the tom very well but he seemed to be the calmer of the two. Kestrel offered his a light nod as a greeting but before he could speak, he was tackled by the familiar dark pelt of his best friend. A grin arose from his relaxed face as he returned her playful whacks with some of his own, gentle ones of course. "I am! Glad you're joining us Wolf. It would've been so drab without you." he moaned dramatically, green gaze peeking over to the others to see if they'd heard his teasing jab at them. His smirk dropped as he listened to his father address Wolfblaze. "Wo-ah! Now wait just a moment there dad... We were what now?" he sputtered out. Him take on the badger by himself? Was Mink going nuts? He could see his father's eyes twinkle with mischief and that clued him in that there was more to this than he realized. He was certainly up to something and Kestrel was afraid of finding out. At least Sable seemed just as confused as he. He took great solace in that.

The tom narrowed his eyes as he searched Mink's face for the validity of the statement but his attention was garnered elsewhere as two new figures approached the group. He greeted them one after the other as they arrived. Patchpaw had arrived first followed by Wasppaw, the apprentice Mink had stated was forced to come. He ignored the slightly sour attitude in the tom's greeting and focused back on his father as he heard him speak again. "W-Well there was more teamwork at play than just me versus the fox ya know..." he grumbled with an embarrassed huff at the praise, face heating up as his eyes looked anywhere but at Wolfblaze, paws bashfully shuffling. He seemed to be a target for teasing today -for some reason unknown to him- and he wasn't sure why exactly. Minkstar was oddly directing his attention more toward Wolfblaze as he said these things though. He'd better keep his eyes and ears open for anything else Mink might tell her during their patrol. Those two were most likely a recipe for disaster if left to their own devices. The warrior pushed those thoughts aside as he recomposed himself as he followed behind the leader as he began to lead them out of the camp.

After some time of walking, he could feel his hunger rise and that was something he needed to get under control as soon as possible. Guess it was time to stop for a bit and try and hunt a nice morning meal. "I'm a bit hungry now. I'll go and find something to eat. Wolfblaze, want to come with?" Kestrel eyed his father warily as he awaited a response from the she-cat. He didn't trust her with him right now. He had enough embarrassment and blushing for one day and if he left her behind with him... Kestrel's fur would probably scorch off from feeling so awkward once he returned and he rather not lose his fur.

By the time the rest of the patrol had assembled, Harrierpaw had finally awakened enough to actually start comprehending the conversations and familiar faces from the cats around him. He grunted a few muddled greetings to the newcomers and it wasn't until he really took a look at them, he noticed that he was no longer going to be the awkward party member. Two of his siblings had joined as well as a she-cat he didn't really know too well yet knew that she wasn't part of Mink's brood. Thank the stars.

The tom turned to face Wasppaw as the most flamboyant of the siblings addressed them. "I'm down." he said simply with a shrug, trying to appear as inconspicuous as he can. He obviously wouldn't say it out loud but he was rather eager to see his skills in action. "Just don't let yourself get too carried away. Starclan forbid that bird's nest around your neck gets scruffy." he snorted, a light teasing tone clear in his voice. At least he was wide awake now.

It didn't take too much longer for the patrol to start their march towards the end goal. He was kind of glad Minkstar gave them the opportunity to hunt their meal. He was a bit starved right then and was sure the others were feeling something similar. As soon as Kestrelswoop stopped them to divulge in a little hunting, Harrier beckoned his siblings over, brows raised expectantly. "Shall we start that little challenge of yours?" he asked Wasp with a tilt of his head and a faint smirk. "How do you want this to play out? You're the one who proposed it so you better have something in mind. We can't take forever to hunt since our biggest priority is to get rid of the badger."

Wolfblaze laughed, of course, when she heard Kestrelswoop say how drab the patrol would've been without her. "Oh, I'm sure. You aren't too drab yourself at least, you could've filled in for me!" She could've said more, had she not heard Minkstar say what they had been discussing prior to her arrival, and the sudden spluttering of her friend. Her amber eyes grew to the size of moons, and though she had enough common sense to note Minkstar's tone, and the confusion of her clanmates, Wolfblaze loved fun, and decided to play along. "Woah! Really? Kestrelswoop, I didn't know you had it in you! Can't believe you were gonna try to take it down without me though, get all the glory for yourself." Her tone was a feeble attempt at seriousness, though anyone could easily tell she was on the verge of laughter once more.

Calming herself, because laughter is infectious and Wolfblaze was more than capable of infecting herself with it, she swept her gaze across the patrol group. Apprentices had arrived, and were competitive, as most apprentices were. Glancing toward them momentarily, she commented, "Use the patrol as a learning experience 'paws, just because you win at hunting one day, doesn't mean you'll win the next." Her tone was merely informational, only happy to remind apprentices that not everything was set in stone. Practice was the only sure way to keep winning.

Huh, Wolfblaze had discovered that at least she enjoyed being a mentor, even if the apprentices weren't hers.

Seems Minkstar wasn't done telling her about Kestrelswoop, he seemed to have saved him from a fox? Wolfblaze's gaze once more was set upon the brown tom, softer now. His modesty was endearing, and she bumped him with her shoulder gently. "You'll have to tell me that story sometime, teamwork or not." Moments after she spoke, Wolfblaze followed Minkstar out of camp, sticking close to her friend.

There was silence for a little while, so she observed the territory. It always had been beautiful, she had thought that the first time she had left camp, and it never ceased to amaze her. Thankfully it wasn't hot yet, the sun still hidden slightly behind the horizon. Only the soft paw steps of the patrol were truly making noise, and even then, they were Thunderclan, they weren't making much. It was almost startling to hear Minkstar speak, but only almost. The prospect of food made her stomach grumble, she had begin to think that they'd be fighting the badger on empty stomachs. The warrior was glad to hear Kestrelswoop speak, and ask her to hunt with him no less! "Course! Always." Her smile returned immediately, Kestrelswoop could always make her smile.

((Bump!))

Patchpaw's ears twitched at her brother's challenge, a little gleam entering her green eyes. A challenge was a great way to test her skills, especially when her competitors were her siblings. Still, the main goal of the patrol wasn't to hunt, and she definitely wanted to be at her best when they got to the badger. That probably meant she should catch something to eat at the very least.

She fell into step with the rest of the patrol, enjoying the feeling of belonging that she was growing used to when around her Clanmates out in their own territory. Her ears swiveled, listening for any sounds that might mean prey was nearby. Her position in the patrol was towards the edge of the group, and so she managed to hear the sound of claws on wood as a squirrel made its way foolishly down to try to find a buried nut. It thought the patrol was far enough past not to notice him, but Patchpaw dropped into a hunting crouch and set her sights on the fluffy tailed creature.

A moment later she pounced, dispatching her prey with a quick bite to the neck. Patchpaw trotted back over to the patrol with her kill, pride in her eyes at getting the first catch of the morning.

60 - 3 = 57 SP remaining

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Minkstar couldn't help smirking at the glimpse of Kestrelswoop's overwhelmed and somewhat wary expression, hiding his snort of laughter behind a light cough as he let his tail wave airily, perfect innocence replacing the smile on his face as he turned fully to look at the two. Returning the wary look on his son's face with an angelic blink, he put in, "Can I join too? Or... ah, you'll probably want to find something to eat by yourselves."

I haven't had this much fun since... I can't even remember.

Lirista was giving him the same sort of look as he turned with a casually disappointed shrug, her ears back as if she wasn't sure whether he was going crazy or had some sort of diabolical plan in mind. He gave her a smile, tipping his head in the direction of the other apprentices. "Not going to join in?"

She glanced over at them, the white tip of her russet-splashed tail twitching. "It looks like a family thing. I think I might sit it out - they're always trying to make each other look bad."

Giving her a smile, he gestured at the forest around them. "Well, how about doing some hunting with your ol' dad?" Without waiting for an answer, he started wandering off, opening his maw for a scent and letting an ear covertly flick back to listen to the chatter of the others.

She followed him as they split away, a dubious tone in her voice. "If you're not going to be weird about Kerath, yeah... I was thinking about helping them, but...."

"Oh no no, you've gotta let them do it by themselves. They should have some privacy." His tone danced with mischief, and he glanced down at her to give her a wink, a sly smile curling the corner of his maw up.

She looked at him like he had bees in his brain. "...What."

"What what?" His sharp eyes caught a flicker of movement, the gentle stirring of a breeze on the still Greenleaf air bringing the scent of a bird, and he hushed her before she could say anything, pointing ahead with his chin. "Go ahead, I'll back you up," He whispered.

With a final befuddled look at him, she nodded and slipped off into the undergrowth, even more silent than he was as he ghosted into a backup position in sight of the plump body of a thrush, its feathers lit up in a patch of sunlight as it grabbed hold of a snail and whacked it against a root. He tensed, readying his haunches and sliding out his claws just in case Sablepaw missed.

He didn't need to worry. A soft snap and an abrupt rustle caught his ear, eyes flicking in its direction to barely see a blur that caught the bird completely unaware, the scent of blood adding a sharp edge to the soft scents in the air. He rose with a wry smile to himself, padding out as she stood up with the bird hanging from her jaws, eyes shining. "Good catch, Liri. You want to eat it or leave it for later?"

"'hing I'll 'eabe id," She mumbled around the feathers, and he nodded.

"I don't need anything - we'll meet back up with the others and see if everyone's good to keep going."

Sablepaw attempted to catch a bird. It was successful!

Sablepaw:
HP: 20/20
SP: 57/60 (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1