[Charmer]

Originally Posted by Duskflight

@Charmer @Aura @Okapi

Settling down at the entrance to the Skyclan camp, Grousestar patiently awaited for the arrival of the two warriors he and Shinefang had both approved of for this little excursion into possibly hostile territory. His head tilted upwards slightly, to look through the now bare limbs of the trees above, taking note of the heavy cloud cover that blocked most of the sunshine. The tom hated it when the clouds were like this and quickly curled his lips in distaste before returning his gaze back to the clan.
His tail was curled tightly over his paws and he almost appeared to be hunkered down. The air had a sharp nip to it and his short fur didn't exactly protect him from it's bite. He wholeheartedly wished it would be greenleaf again, when prey was plentiful, the canopy was thick and the birds still sang. Now, as it neared the harshest season, the entirety of the territory seemed quiet and almost barren. Of course there were still the occasional prey, and the occasional bird singing, but not as much as the leader liked.

Taking his thoughts momentarily away from the thought of the coming leafbare, he began to instead think about their objective today. What he had told the warriors was simply enough, they were simply escorting Shinefang into the Former DS territory in order to search for herbs that might not be found in Skyclan territory, so that they could be fully stocked by the time leafbare really did hit. Of course, that was not his only intention in heading into the now unoccupied territory. He had bigger plans. But he hadn't even told Auroraflame about it, not yet. He hasn't told anyone.
Today, when he was with this patrol, he would get a good look for himself, to see what it had to offer. If it seemed like a good piece of land, that held a good amount of prey, and could be a good asset for Skyclan. Then well. He would begin his approach on it. Skyclan could use the extra territory that's for sure. And he was hoping that he could snag it without too many caring, in regards to the other clans. After all, he didn't see the big deal, Skyclan was the closest to the territory anyways, the other clans would have to travel quite a bit just to try and get some prey in it. He didn't see them wanting to do that. Perhaps they haven't even thought of taking the territory. So he knew he must act fast.
He would get a good look today before making a decision.

Shinefang's joints may have been as stiff as ever, but he was excited enough to pad briskly out of the Skyclan entrance. He gave his pelt a vigorous shake as the chilly leaffall breeze hit him. He spotted the leader there first, awake and ready to get moving. The old tom wouldn't have expected anything else from the Skyclan leader. "Mornin' Grousestar," the old tom said. His voice was as gruff as ever, but there was an airiness to his speech. He hadn't been out and about with a group of cats for a mission like this since he became the clan medicine cat. He felt like a young warrior again, ready and eager for the dawn patrol, checking scent markers and alert for signs of trespassing by cats from outside the clan. But it wouldn't be like it was before. He wasn't going along to guard his clan and protect his clanmates. He was the cat to be guarded. He couldn't risk going into former Dusk Syndicate territory on his own while Skyclan depended on him to act as medicine cat, not with leafbare so near. Still, it was a day to have a taste of his former glory as a warrior. Was he so wrong for enjoying it. "It's a good day for a mission," the old tom said, curling his tail over his feet as he sat down. "Hope those other two get their tails movin' soon. We're burning daylight."