How Many Times Must You Look Over Your Shoulder? [C]

Iceheart

Iceheart had truly not interacted much with Marshmallow, and she wasn’t sure what to make of her. The black-and-white she-cat did not have the best reputation, as Iceheart had heard whispered rumors every so often about an incident involving the late Loudnose and the Thunderpath. Iceheart wasn’t sure how much she believed it, simply because she had not been around when it happened. She had, however, seen Marshmallow on a couple occasions go out with Fawnpatch when the Dark Forest still reigned. Iceheart didn’t know if she went involuntarily, like Iceheart had with Stagshade and Rainstrike, or if she had had a friendlier relationship with the Dark Forest cat. If it was the latter, then Iceheart would rather never get to know Marshmallow.

But, of course, Nightstalker had assigned Iceheart and Marshmallow together on a patrol—and Honeypaw. Iceheart didn’t know if she would have preferred Honeypaw not come along at all; at least not until she had a better grasp on who Marshmallow was as a cat. Now she had to keep an eye on him as well as Marshmallow. She wished she didn’t even have to keep an eye on her fellow warrior; Marshmallow was her senior, after all.

“Where should we go hunt?” Iceheart mused as the group walked out of camp together. “Nightstalker mentioned that the Pine Grove’s prey is growing scarce, and so we should hunt away from there for a while until the prey grow comfortable living there again. I suppose we can just sniff around for some rats around our territory.”

Honeypaw

Honeypaw, in contrast to his mentor, bounced cheerfully beside her as they walked along. His tail was held high, and he kept sniffing around curiously. He was excited to be out on patrol. He didn’t know Marshmallow all that well, but as far as he was concerned, this was just an opportunity to get to know more of his clanmates!

He could tell, however, that Iceheart was tense. He’d gone out with just her plenty of times before, and she had never seemed so on edge. Maybe something was on her mind? He wasn’t sure. He’d have to ask when they were alone, he was sure Iceheart wouldn’t like him bringing up his concerns now. Still, the worry lingered in the back of his mind every now and then as they walked along. Honeypaw silently decided that until he could talk to her about it properly he'd do his best to cheer her up in the meantime.

“I don’t think I’ve caught many rats yet!” Honeypaw said, smiling brightly. “It’d be fun to practice my skills with them. They’re a lot bigger than mice.” He rambled cheerfully, pausing only to sniff at a interesting looking flower before speeding up to catch up with the warriors.

Iceheart

Iceheart nodded and hummed in thought as they walked. The Pine Grove should be avoided for the time being, but they aren’t in such a bad position as to get rats from the Carrionplace. Given Honeypaw’s nervousness around the deep marshes, Iceheart would prefer to stay away from there when they were in the company of other cats. Honeypaw didn’t need to show weakness to his fellow cats. That left just the general territory for hunting.

“We’ll look around as-is, then,” Iceheart said—just as she caught wind of a tasty piece of prey. Her fur bristled and she lowered on her haunches as she crept towards it. Rabbit, again! Iceheart's luck with hunting seemed neverending. She practically felt like a WindClan cat, with the taste she'd developed for the rare rabbit. Carefully prowling, she got as close as she could before giving chase. She managed to land on the rabbit, rolling with it and sinking in her fangs. Dinner that night would be delicious, if rabbit was on the menu.

Iceheart attempted to catch a rabbit and was successful! -3 SP.

Honeypaw

Honeypaw stilled when something caught his mentor’s attention, lowering himself down to help ensure Iceheart’s success. He brightened when he saw the target, and when Iceheart successfully caught her prey, Honeypaw bounced right back to his feet. “Rabbit!” He said, trying not to raise his voice too much but his excitement was still clear. “Good catch Iceheart.” He purred.

He looked around to try to spot another bit of prey. He wanted to show that Iceheart was teaching him well since they were with a senior warrior, so he was even more determined to do well with his catch. He opened his mouth and breathed in, catching the scent of the very rats they had been discussing earlier.

He sniffed and followed the scent, stepping away from the warriors until he spotted a juicy looking rat scuttling out from some underbrush. He dropped into a crouch and took a few steps forward before pouncing. He felt a rush of satisfaction when he made contact, and he made swift work of the rat with a killing bite. He scooped it up and turned back to the warriors, trotting back to them with a pleased grin over his catch.

Honeypaw successfully caught a rat! He is now at 57/60 SP.