Saltmeadow Marsh

[Apollo.]

- .Fennelcall. -
( @Birdspirit @Oasis - After this post I’m going to submit the report. :] )

Fennelcall gave her a smile, attempting not to laugh slightly, “Here, I’ll help you get down.” he padded over to Dewpaw and studied her paws for a moment, trying to figure out how best to get her claws out of the bark of the pine, before reaching for her paw with his paw and pressing down on it gently to flex the claws flat and remove them from the tree, he did the same with the other paw before reassuring Dewpaw “Don’t worry, some cats overestimate the toughness of pine wood, so it can be easy to get caught.” he flicked his tail towards the remaining parts of the border that Pumpkinfire was yet to mark “I’ll finish up marking these ones, you can have another go at marking that tree if you’d like, but I shouldn’t be very long, and it looks like Pumpkinfire is almost done himself, so we’ll be heading back soon.” he padded away from the apprentice and began to mark the remaining border, once happy with the scent line he gave Pumpkinfire a flick of his tail to indicate that they were leaving before making his way back to camp, checking from time to time the his patrol mates were following him.

[occultation]

( POSTING ORDER:

Shadowfur - @Cherry~
Ratpaw - @Angelique
Woollyfeather - @Rainquail
Darkpaw - @Darkclaws

Anyone who doesn’t respond within three days when it’s their turn will likely be skipped over. /lh )

Shadowfur was silent the entire way to the border- not because he was in any sort of bad mood or because he was mad, but simply because he didn’t feel like chatting. The weather had been unusually warm lately, melting all of the snow and leaving mushy ground behind. While he appreciated the warmth, he didn’t appreciate wet paws.

The ground only got stickier and muddier as they entered the marsh. He was careful to avoid areas of melted water, not wanting to take a swim. Once he reached the border, he scanned quickly for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing that he could see. RiverClan’s scent markers were present but starting to fade, suggesting that a patrol had last visited a few days ago.

Turning to his patrol, he issued out orders in a very no-nonsense tone. “Woollyfeather, take Darkpaw and go that way.” He flicked his tail toward his right. “Be careful, as lately we’ve experienced a lot of trouble from RiverClan. Don’t start anything unnecessary, but don’t back down from defending our territory, either. I’ll be taking Ratpaw in the other direction.”

With that, the Enforcer padded off to his left, expecting Ratpaw to follow.

[Madelaine]

Ratpaw followed behind everyone, excites to be on his third patrol. Soon he'd be an expert at it and that made him excited. He listened in on the enforcer as he said the other two went one way and they would go one way. Cool! He got to go with an enforcer. That was cool. His mentor was the enforcer commander. No he knew he wasn't special. It was just exciting for the young deformed cat. He followed right behind Shadowfur.

[ @Cherry~; @Rainquail; @Darkclaws; ]

[Abyssopelagic]

Woollyfeather followed the group, in no particular hurry, but also not as careful to avoid puddles of mud as most of the others might have been. When Shadowfur stopped the group to issue orders, she briefly wiggled her toes to get some of the mud from between them.
She also took a moment to get a small whiff of the area for an idea of what might be ahead.
With her orders given, she faced Shadowfur and dipped her head in a knowledgement.

"Understood."
She turned to Darkpaw and blinked at him, nodding her head to the apprentice before she started in the direction the enforcer had instructed their group patrol.

[ @Cherry~ , @Angelique , @Darkclaws
Sorry it's late, irl stuff happened but I should be able to keep up]

[Dark]

Darkpaw
___________
[100/100]

Darkpaw said nothing as he was told to go with Woollyfeather to scope out part of the border. He had offered a little nod to acknowledge that he heard the enforcer’s instructions though. The black tabby had kinda hoped to go along with Shadowfur as he was more familiar with the tom and his way of doing things, but he would just have to suck it up this time.

Darkpaw padded after his companion, icy blue eyes scanning their surroundings. By the stars, he hated this border. Mud constantly got stuck between his toes and he had to constantly flick it out. He remembered coming by here with Cinderblaze on his first time out of the camp, the gross fishy smell was a definite reminder of that. After a moment of sitting in silence, he spoke. ”Do you think RiverClan will give us any trouble?”

[ @Cherry~ @Angelique @Rainquail ]

[occultation]

Shadowfur began marking the border rather quickly. He aimed to keep his markers strong and frequent, wanting to send a strong message to any RiverClan cat who even thought about setting a toe across the border. ShadowClan may be more peaceful than they were in previous seasons, but that didn’t mean they would tolerate enemies coming into their territory.

Once he had set four markers, he turned his head down to look at Ratpaw. The poor apprentice was badly scarred and was missing an eye; quite a lot for someone his age to bear. Shadowfur had to wonder what sort of incident gave him such horrific wounds. Perhaps a border skirmish gone wrong or a dog attack?

He motioned toward the next set of markers. “You can go ahead and set the next four markers, and then I’ll set the last few.” The border seemed quiet, although the tangy scent of RiverClan was intensely strong.

( @Angelique @Rainquail @Darkclaws We have an extension for this patrol until the 12th! )

[Madelaine]

(Sorry daughter got sick and I was inactive for the past couple days)

Ratpaw - Male[he/him]

The deformed apprentice looked around with his one eye. He didn't see or sense any Riverclan nearby which was good. If he saw one he'd probably try and run for the hills. Any cat from another clan or no clan at all kind of freaked him out. Not after the whole incident with almost being eaten alive by his own mother. Following the older cats orders he marked the part of the border he was asked to mark. Once he was done he waited for the enforcer to finish to meet up with the other two.

[ @Cherry~; @Abyssopelagic; @Darkclaws; ]

[Abyssopelagic]

Woollyfeather headed in the direction of the part of the border Shadowfur assigned to her and Darkpaw, pausing briefly to let the apprentice catch up, glancing his way as he spoke to her.
She mulled over his question.
"I suspect not on this day, but it never hurts to keep your wits about you and a strong sense of caution in your mind."
She gave what she hoped was a reassuring nudge to the apprentice before moving along, tail slowly swishing at her ankles with each step.

She carefully scented around and scanned the area for recent signs of RiverClan activity and when none was found, she trotted just a few tail lengths ahead, stopping to mark their side of the border before moving on to the next spot.
She looked back to Darkpaw, suddenly remembering he was there despite just speaking to him mere moments ago.
"Would you prefer to mark the borders together or on your own? I won't be offended if you go your own path."
Nor would she judge him if he decided to stay close rather than stray on his own.
@Darkclaws [My next one should be the last one for the patrol and then the group can wrap up ]

[Dark]

Darkpaw
___________
[106/100]

Darkpaw frowned a bit when Woollyfeather mentioned they likely wouldn’t encounter trouble. Well, that was boring. He was itching for a fight to blow off some steam and it seemed RiverClan would only disappoint. With a small sigh, he nodded and continued to follow the warrior.

The tom’s frown only deepened when Woollyfeather seemed to suggest that he would need her to hold his paw while they were marking the border. He could handle this much at least, being quite familiar with the area. ”I can handle it,” was all he said as he walked further up ahead and began marking some spots as well. ’This stinks,’ he thought. In a literal and metaphorical sense. The fishy smell of the clan across the border assaulted his nose and the cold sticky mud in between his toes only worsened his mood ’Might as well just get this over with’.

[ @Cherry~ @Angelique @Abyssopelagic ]

[occultation]

Once Ratpaw finished setting his assigned markers, Shadowfur finished up the rest. He often found the repetition of setting border markers rather boring, but he knew it had to be done. Perhaps he could find a way to make it more exciting on the next patrol he lead.

Once he finished with his final marker, he padded back over to Ratpaw. “All set. Let’s meet back up with the rest of the patrol, and then head back.”

With that, the black tom headed back to where the patrol was to meet up. Ratpaw is certainly a quiet fellow. Unusual for a ShadowClan apprentice these days. Maybe I should offer to take him out on a training session sometime?

( @Angelique @Abyssopelagic @Darkclaws Shadowfur will be reporting this patrol tomorrow evening! )