Haven Springs

[occultation]

Slatestripe nodded. He headed off to the left, opening his jaws to scent for prey. He wasn’t a huge fan of land hunting and wasn’t particularly good at it, but he supposed there weren’t many other options in leaf-bare. If only Gingerfrost had sent them to the river.

Suddenly, a strong and rancid scent washed over his scent glands. It had been a long time since he had smelled this particular creature.

Creeping forward, Slatestripe silently gagged as the scent grew stronger and stronger. Eventually, he found the source: a rat’s nest of twigs and grass, nestled next to a tree. Beady eyes stared back at him from within.

The tom froze, not wanting to spook it out of his nest. He’d been taught as a young warrior to tread carefully with rats, for they had large and sharp teeth. They also carried lots of disease, and fleas.

Deciding backup might be useful, he slowly padded away and returned to where he’d come from. “Whitesnake!” he called. “I’ve found a rat’s nest. I think we should take it out. A rat would be a good piece of prey for the Clan.”

( @WinterMara )

[WinterMara]

| Whitesnake - Haven Springs - Hunting/Rat Removal Patrol | @Cherry~ |

Whitesnake caught scent of something, and crouched low, sneaking around the perimeter to see if she could find it, and she did. It was just a small mouse, but the molly knew in leafbare, it was important to get at least something, but before she could pounce on it. . . Slatestripe called for her. So, she quickly went over to him as he talked about finding a rats nest

Well, while rats were absolutely disgusting and foul creatures, first of all, killing them could prevent someone from getting sick, and two, big prey was great in leafbare, so her stomach had to deal with pure necessity. "Alright, that seems like the best course of actions, I will let you take the lead on the plan though." No matter how cocky she was involving her skill, she knew that she hadn't really had experience with rats, and that wasn't how she wanted to go.

[occultation]

Slatestripe nodded. He figured Whitesnake was letting him take charge because he had the most experience; while that might technically be the case, he wasn’t any kind of rat fighting expert. It occurred to him that perhaps rat training should be something more of the younger warriors were given. They weren’t too common, but they were a nuisance whenever they did show up and had to be eradicated.

“Okay,” he said, his thinking face on. “Rats carry disease, so we should try our best to stay away from their teeth. A bite from them can be nasty.” His eyes drifted in the direction of the rat’s nest. “I think there’s only one in there. You should jump on the nest from behind to scare it out, and then I’ll kill it.”

It sounded simple. Slatestripe hoped it would be.

( @WinterMara )

[WinterMara]

| Whitesnake - Riverclan - Hunting/Rat Removely Patrol | @Cherry~ |

Hmmm, it was probably a smart idea to have the. . .technechlly less experienced one scare the rat itself, less likely to be the one bitten. That was her view of it anyway, and she was sticking to it. "Sounds like a plan." Whitesnake said, immediatly heading to do her role in the process.

As she approached the nest, she began walking slower, eventually forming into a crouch as she went behind it. Even a newer warrior could catch onto the fact that going to quickly would scare the pest, hunters logic. Once she was fully behind it, she slowly went towards the nest, jumping on top of it to, hopefully, as she and Slatestripe planned, scare it out.

[occultation]

Slatestripe stood perfectly still as Whitesnake crept around to the back of the rat’s nest. He slid his dull claws out, ready to fight this nasty creature.

As Whitesnake hit the back of the nest, the rat shot out. Instead of running for its life, however, it darted forward and then stopped. It started to turn back towards Whitesnake, showing its fierce fangs.

Not wanting to waste a second, Slatestripe leapt forward and landed squarely on the rat. Darting his muzzle forward, he sank his teeth into the rat’s neck. Jerking his head to the side, he heard a loud crack! The rat went limp, its neck broken.

Sighing in relief, he let go of the vile creature. “It seems healthy to me, so I think we can take it back as prey. We should destroy the nest, though. We don’t want another rat moving in.”

( @WinterMara )

[WinterMara]

| Whitesnake - Riverclan - Hunting patrol - | @Cherry~ |

As it hissed at her, she scrunched back a bit. Oh for starclans sake, why did it have to turn around? Well, it wasn't any worry, considering Slatestripe killed it, which was great for both of them. "Alright, then." Good, there was prey for the clan, and they got rid of a pest, hm, maybe this Slatestripe fellow wasn't as. . .useless, as the rest of her clanmates were. [Or maybe her judgement had bias to herself and only herself, but why would she admit that when she is just so amazing?]

[occultation]

Slatestripe kicked some dirt over the rat and padded off to find more prey. While the rat would keep a warrior full for a good couple of days, he needed to bring back something else.

After a bit of searching, he spotted a blue jay near one of the springs. The jay had its back turned, possibly trying to warm up. Slatestripe dropped into a somewhat sloppy hunter’s crouch, creeping forward.

When he was close enough, the small tom sprang forward. He killed the jay with a swift bite-and-twist, snapping its neck as he’d done to the rat. Satisfied, he carried the jay back to where his rat was and waited for Whitesnake.

( @WinterMara After your next post, I’ll be reporting this patrol to Gingerfrost! )

[WinterMara]

| Whitesnake - Riverclan Warrior - Patrol | @Cherry~ | I apologize for the delay, I had a lot to do today! |

Whitesnake also went off to find something, considering it was leafbare. . .she knew that the clan needed her perfect hunting expertise anywya. [I;e, mediocore hunting that she exaggerates.] As she let her nose scan the area, she caught scent of, either another mouse or the same one was earlier, could be either with how dumb mice can be.

The white molly went into the same crouch has she had done the previous two times, and slowly began stalking the small rodent. She kept her gaze on it carefully, and- OH GOSH IT SEEMED TO HAVE NOTICED HER. Quickly, Whitesnake pounced and bit it on the neck, oh thank Starclan, that would've been an embaressment if she let it run away. Guess that's her perfect instinct [Totally perfect. . .she swears]

Quickly, she headed back to Slatestripe. "I caught a mouse, it's not ideal, but it's something." Besides, he seemed to have caught a jay and they did catch the rat, so it was. . .actually pretty good for this season.

| Alright, you can go report it and I'll have Whitesnake drop off her mouse, and the rat if you want. |

[Rose]

Flintfang
He/Him

Haven Springs. It had been quite a while since Flintfang had visited this area. In fact, judging from the scents, it had been quite a while since anyone had been here. The last time Flintfang had stepped foot into this area, it had been when he'd led Fawnlight's search patrol, with his sister Silverpaw, his nephew Goldenleaf, his Clanmate Lilycreek, and... Hollowstorm. Hollowstorm, who had constantly vyed for deputy position when Slatewhisker's untimely departure from this world had been announced. In the end there though, Flintfang had really thought Hollowstorm was going to change for a better cat. But instead, he'd gone missing. Flintfang's disappointment was impossible to ignore.

The quiet scuttling of a mouse nearby had the silvery-furred warrior drop into a hunter's crouch, and a nearly absentminded pounce had the tom's fangs sinking over the wriggling piece of prey. Rising to his feet once more, the fish-dwelling warrior turned and slunk back to RiverClan, mouse hanging from his jaws.

[Captain]

✧ PIKESTAR ✧
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
On quiet softened pawsteps, the tall dark-furred tomcat swiftly made his way towards the familiar hot springs. Golden rays of sunlight broke through the forest trees, shining down onto his back as he walked, warming his sensitive body from the chilly air of leafbare. Pikestar could see the waves of steam rolling over the grass and stone in the near distance, motivating the oriental clan leader to quicken his pace. Once his large paws hit the smooth rock surface, his agitated form slowly relaxed as Pikestar allowed himself to finally take a breath. They gazed into the hot bubbling pool of water closest to them with their one working eye. It had been quite awhile since the dark-furred feline had been in this part of RiverClan territory, but today, it felt like something he needed in order to calm his anxieties. Carefully, Pikestar dipped his front paws into the water, easing his entire body into the hot spring until only his head was above it’s surface. From there, he turned himself so that his back faced the floor. He floated like that for a long second or two before closing his eye and sinking into the spring, until just his muzzle stuck out—so he could breathe. Pikestar relaxed his muscles, allowing the water to calm him and send him into a trance of momentary peace.