Dawning Woods

[alec]

ROOKFIRE

combining a nice stroll with a bit of patrolling and herb hunting was never the wrong choice, so when rookfire lead roachflare, his favourite non friend patrol companion as he was quiet and mostly did what he was told, and the early morning sun warmed their dark pelts, he felt a bit more clear. when the warm memories, almost matching the gentle morning rays of sun in its soft heat, of visiting this place for the first time, in company of lostspark and another tom whos name had slipped his mind, he couldnt help but feel like today was going to be a good day. all was good in camp, on the base of 'no one got murdered last night' and 'there isnt a illness or other catastrophy striking down cats', mossfreckle still hadnt switched back to glaring at his with cold green eyes, and now that he was out to gather herbs once again, he could ensure that there was enough herb supply for shadowclan to master any challenges starclan might throw in their way. "you can see if you can find some moss and cobwebs today" he instructed the other warrior, restraining himself from urging roachflare to stay by his side, he was old enough to look out for himself..even if rook had heard about the predators lurking around here and the murderer was still on the loose.
for now, he decided to keep an eye out for roachflares unique tri coloured pelt, and look for some poppies amongst the sunlight drenched meadow. the bright red flowered, in full bloom with their heads turned towards the rising sun were easy to spot amongst lush green grass and the doting of other colourful flowers, and rookfire carefully picked two large ones. perhaps he had the time to let the flowers dry out a bit while he looked for some more to collect.. with the red flowerheads placed on a warm rock, illuminated by the sun yet shielded from the wind, the enforcer turned to look for some of the others things he had come here for.

ROACHFLARE

roachflare had quickly come accustomed to the newly appointed enforcer seeking him out for patrols, though he wasnt entirely sure why he insisted on dragging someone along when roach was almost sure that enforcers were allowed to leave alone..he had seen some do so at least. he did, however, not really mind the company or activity. rookfire was quiet for most of the time, and seemed to be goal oriented, a tom after his own heart truly. the fact that he insisted on collecting plants was a bit annoying, (he truly did not get the hype around healing and herbs and whatever else medicine cats and those who clearly try to be ones like to obsess over) but easy enough in the long run. mostly moss and cobwebs, just like today. with a lot less enthusiasm than rookfire seemed to radiate, the tortie tom got to work. first searching around the more shaded, damp spots for moss and then around the trees for cobwebs. while he did find 2 good bits of moss (or what he thought to be good at least), he could only properly collect one bit of cobweb (the other bit was really sticky and ended up stuck to his pelt).


[ rolls | 2x for poppy: 10, 12 ; 3x for moss: 12, 15, 2 ; 2x for cobwebs: 13, 2 ]

[Undertaker]

@redshiftreign - Grousepaw | @Morrigan - Darkcloud

Wonderful, she didn't have to test her patience and wait longer for either cat to arrive. She twitched her ear when she saw Darkcloud, aloof and quiet as ever, and Grousepaw almost right behind her. He offered a greeting lazy and easy-going, yet seemed rather tense to her. In turn, she stared at him for a lengthy period before deeming something acceptable.

The mountainous feline gave a commanding swish of her tail and led the way out of camp on silent paws. The tree branches rustled and creaked as they whispered among themselves, discussing their new guests. They followed her with the black sunken sockets of their hollows.

Dawnstar ignored how insignificant she appeared next to them and focused on scenting the air for prey. Scents flooded through her nose of fresh prey and old wood. Her sun-hued orbs trailed the bushy tail of a squirrel that raced along the branches of one giant.

The plump leader surveyed their surroundings for a moment longer and then looked to her patrolmates. "Grousepaw, I'm assuming you weren't placed on a hunting patrol without knowing how to hunt." Considering he was still expected to complete his warrior training along with the medicine cat training, she didn't think he'd be sent out here clueless.

"ShadowClan's prey is running low." Dawnstar looked at Darkcloud. "I want at least two pieces of prey or more caught." Darkcloud could do as she pleased so long as she didn't stray too far from the patrol.

[alec]

ROOKFIRE

rookfires good mood remained even past roachflare diappeared out of his immediate field of vision and instead of focussing on all the horrible things that couldve possibly happened to roachflare and that could continue to happen while he wasnt looking, the dark pelted tom returned his focus to the 2 poppies he had carefully placed on the smooth light grey rock, before turning back to search. marigold..he had wanted to gather marigold..stars he missed marigold. what would she say if he told her about everything that had happened. what would she say knowing he had fought fadingstar and won (thats how rook wanted to remember the fight at least) and had been promoted to enforcer. suddenly, no longer caught between enforcer duties and trying to sort out his own feelings, he realised just how much he had probably missed of marigolds life. her apprenticeship ceremony, how she had taken to riverclans escape, her mentor (it shouldve been him), her new friends? and in equal returns, marigold had missed his warrior ceremony, had not been there when he had dragged himself to sit in front of dawnstar and receive a name and promotion in one, had not had to witness his limp body balanced on lostsparks back. perhaps it was for the better. perhaps she didnt need him anymore. perhaps rookfire should let the past finally go. leave it behind in its entirety.
he shook his head, the slightest sign of an oncoming headache spinning around the back of his mind, and he forcefully redirected his thoughts to marigold. the plant. with his experience (he didnt want to brag but it was expansive) it wasnt hard to find the unique flowers, another one of his favourites, by bright colour and shape alone. the curled petals taking on colours between a saturated red to a soft yellow, accompanied by a thick dark green, almost greyish stalk and sparse lanceolate, serrated leaves.
[ rolled 3x for marigold: 17, 13, 19 ]
luckily, this particular group of marigolds looked pretty healthy, bathed in golden sunlight, and easy to gather, no surprise breakage or issues when sorting the herbs to fit into a nice carriable bouquet. he didnt let the imagination of gifting any cat (of course he had thought of mossfreckle, he was the medicine cat!) a bouquet of this kind.

[total finds now| rook: 3x marigold, 2x poppy | roach: 1x cobweb, 2x moss | remaining rolls: 2x for rook ]

[Morrigan]

Darkcloud
Shadowclan warrrior
Purrks: Just a scratch and Shadow fiend(both active)

Nice to see all members of the patrol came. Despite Grousepaw's rather informal greeting, it seemed there'd be no troubles on this outing. Rising to her paws, Darkcloud obediently followed at Dawnstar's command. Vigilant gaze scanning the area as usual. This territory was still mildly new to her, so she had to be even more alert this patrol. Never could be too cautious.

The warrior gave a nod of response to Dawnstar's orders. Two pieces of prey, preferably more. Reasonable enough. Wasting no time, Darkcloud disappeared into the shadows of the undergrowth, solely set on catching as much as she could. Scenting the air, she identified the warm smell of a rodent. Presumably a mouse. Tracking her now prey, she followed it deeper into the territory.

There it was. The plump bundle of brown fur scuffling about the bushes. Dropping into a hunting crouch, she stalked closer, treading with great care. The spotted tabby waited just a few seconds before she pounced. Claws pinned the previously unaware mouse and ended it's short lived terror with a quick killing bite to the neck. That was one catch, one more to go until she reached what was minimal satisfaction.

After burying her first catch so she could retrieve it after she hunted, Darkcloud had been made aware of the scent of starlings a little while away. A flock it seemed like. The perfect oppurtunity. Swiflty travelling through the shadows, she crouched down once the birds noisy chattering was in earshot. Prowling around to get a better view, she rounded up the numbers(ew maths.) A smaller group than usual but still, there was prey to be caught.

Creeping closer, she locked onto her target: one of the starling that had strayed a little farther the rest. Flexing her claws, the spotted tabby striked as fast as a snake. Only allowing the tiniest chirp to escape from the bird before her fangs sunk into it's throat. This miniscule noise, unfortunately, alerted the rest of the flock and the exploded from the ground in fright, but not before Darkcloud stole the life of another kne of their own. Gather her haunches, she made a huge leap and barely brought down one of the feathered creatures by the it's tail. Capturing it in her talons before it could fly off. Once again, she killed it in the same fashionas she did all her prey.

Darkcloud did attempt to catch another starling but it had fluttered out of her reach before she could pull it from the sky. An annoyed flick of her ear was all the anger she showed. Grabbing the two starling in her jaw, she made her way back to the patrol, picking up her mouse on the way back. Re-emerging from the darkness, she simply gave a nod of greeting to any patrolmate that might have arrived and just stayed silent, either because she was just being herself of because all the prey she was clutching made her unable to talk even if she wanted to.

(+ 1 mouse, + 2 starlings)

@Undertaker @redshiftreign

[Luminous]

She/her - 8 moons
Short grey molly with a darker stripe and amber eyes
The collector - Heightened perception (smell) - Hulk SMASH

"Thanks for agreeing to accompany me!" the grey apprentice chirped over her shoulder. She had woken up today planning to go fetching a warrior to teach her some more hunting, or maybe a more advanced fighting technique... be she kinda didn't need to. Like, she had been very active all throughout her apprenticeship, bugging warriors to train her and show her around the territory, and she didn't really need much more training like it was rarely now that she went out to train and was shown something she didn't know, or properly failed.

So today she would just frolic around the territory, even if she still needed a chaperone for it.

@peachy!

[alec]

rookfire&roachflare

sadly (though what else had he expected?) the good mood left as fast as it came, replaced by stomach turning anxiety. a bitter sweet familiar feeling as of late, yet nothing rookfire would pay attention to for more than the time it remained. two more things, rookfire urged himself on, just two more, then he could stroll go back to camp and soothe the mild anxiety that sometimes got to him when out of camp for too long. the nagging feeling of dread, the lingering thought that something bad mightve happened whilst he was out enjoying himself. something easy last, cobwebs, a simple trip towards the trees, silent scouting of low hanging branches and the hollows within the stems, easy gathering, he was experienced after all, followed by quick steps towards the place he had parted with roachflare at. "lets head back" and so they did.

[total finds: 3x marigold, 2x poppy, 3x cobwebs, 2x moss]