Whispering Wetlands

[ChaosBringer.]

Stagskull



Stagskull nodded to Pigeonpaw in greeting and followed Squirrelrise out into the territory, her tail lashing slowly behind her. Her left back paw got caught on one of the roots and she quickly got it unstuck, keeping an eye on Pigeonpaw as they continued their journey. Stagskull let her gaze waver to the land around and the trees above them, inhaling deeply to let the scents of the moorland and marsh into her nose.


So far, Squirrelrise was doing a decent job of leading thr patrol. Stagskull's gaze went back to Pigeonpaw then to the trees again. She didn't smell that much, maybe her nose was stuffed.


@furrensic @Luminous

[Luminous]

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

She trotted beside Squirrelrise, toeing the line between being behind and ahead of the warrior, wanting to rush ahead while also knowing she wasn't allowed to go before the patrol leader. Despite the brisk (not really, but for her short legs yes) pace it felt like an eternity before the mix marshland and pine forest gave way to the open area, and her eyes widened into a pair of amber disks at the sight of the open moorland on the other side of the border. "That's where Windclan lives?" The exclamation slipped out before she really thought it through. "It's so.... baren." No big bushy areas and hardly any trees to hide behind; there was nothing casting shadows except the clouds in the sky.

Alright, anyway, patrol stuff! She was told to stay close to either of the warriors, and Pigeonpaw picked Squirrels considering she didn't know the other one. Well, technically she knew neither, but she had talked with Squirrels before.

She had been briefly shown how to mark borders during her last patrol and just went into autopilot with that while occasionally tossing a glance over to the other side. "I..." She unsheathed the claws on one of her paws to scratch the ground a little. "Im supposed to not want some sort of confrontation, right?" She had been too young to participate in the big battle against Riverclan despite having had battle training, and as she walked along the border of a clan who actually was present, it struck her just how much she wanted to find out whether she could hold her own in a fight yet.
@ChaosBringer. @furrensic

[furrensic]

SQUIRRELRISE
she/her. 13 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death ]

it seems pigeonpaw decided to stay near squirrelrise, who glances at the apprentice. barren, she repeats internally, eyes sliding over to windclans side of the border. windclans territory is impossibly empty and doesn't provide any cover like shadowclans. she brushes off the thought as she begins refreshing the scent markers along the border. so far, everything's peaceful and quiet. still, she keeps her eyes peeled and ears perked just in case.

hearing pigeonpaw speak up, squirrelrise turns her head to look at the molly curiously. her eyes widen, brows furrowing at the gray apprentice's words. her chest threatens to tighten, but she manages to calm her nerves slightly by shuffling her paws. "..confrontation is..n-never..good." she replies, maw pulled into a frown. she's not sure..how old pigeonpaw is, but surely she's too young to fight. "it is..more merciless..than it s-seems." she murmurs. she's always been terrified of battle (perhaps even more so, now), and she learned that it's even worse when thrown into it.

refreshing the last few markers silently, her yellow eyes momentarily land on pigeonpaw before resting on stagskull. "r-ready to..head back...?"

[ @ChaosBringer. @Luminous ]

[ChaosBringer.]

Stagskull




Stagskull listened quietly to the conversation. Why would anyone want confrontation? Battle was horrible, cats died, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends. The molly was slightly pissed at Pigeonpaw, but quickly pushed it away, letting her fur lie flat.


Stagskull refreshed some of the markers as well, her eyes scanning the area across the border for any cats. None were seen. "I am." She responsed to Squirrelrise, padding over to Pigeopaw as the patrol got ready to turn back. "Pigeonpaw," The warrior started, keeping her voice calm and steady. "You might want to hope for confrontation to prove yourself to protect our territory, but terrible things come with battles, even short ones." Stagskull continued, even if the apprentice wasn't listening. "Cats can die, be kidnapped, or horribly injured. We may be Shadowclan, the strongest clan, but we don't want loss." The older molly finished, her tail lashing slowly behind her.


@Luminous @furrensic

[Luminous]

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

Amber eyes were still fixed on something on the other side of the border, an ear turning to listen to Squirrels but not turning her head. The warrior didn't seem as ready to fight however. But don't you kinda have to in order to become a warrior? At least that was what Pigeonpaw had always thought, that some kind of proof of her abilities would be required before she got her full name.

She gave a nod in response to Squirrel's question, and vaguely noted Stagskull's return, gaze still dancing over Windclan's territory. "I wasn't wishing for a war," she chuckled. She had felt the crackling fire of her clanmates. The eagerness to test the boundaries of the other clans, the sly cleverness of bending the rules in Shadowclan's favour, and keeping their clan soaring above the rest. Always desiring for complete peace wasn't an option, judging by that hunger.

Finally Pigeonpaw tore her eyes away from the open moor and turned back to Squirrel's. "Yep, I'm ready to go back!"


@ChaosBringer. @furrensic

[furrensic]

SQUIRRELRISE
she/her. 13 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]

squirrelrise's ears swivel in the direction of stagskull's voice. well, the older molly said what she was originally thinking but too reluctant to actually say. "..yes.." she mumbles in agreement, aiming an appreciative nod towards the warrior. her frown deepens at the apprentice's response, simply shaking her head. "battle..is battle." even if it isn't a war and just a simple scuffle with a cat from another clan – it's all the same.

she probably feels like she needs to prove her skills to receive her warrior name, she thinks with a small sigh. pushing away the somberness that threatened to linger, she replaces the frown with an attempt of a smile, which looks more just like a straight line. "alright..l-let's go." she meows with a swish of her tail, turning and padding away back to camp.

[ @ChaosBringer. @Luminous ueue I'll have squirrel report right after this ]

[Crown_Sage]

Duskfur padded forward, checking for any particular ShadowClan scents. No, there was no fresh blood smell, so the murderer must have moved on. I don't smell anything. She told the apprentice that was with her, breaking the akward silence.
@Snivellus {Mintpaw}

[Rani]

Crowtooth
Windclan Tunneler/Fury | He/him | 50 Moons

Power Card: Cold Gust

The tunneler took the apprentices to the shadowclan border first, a keen eye on the four as he tried to keep calm and not be too mad given most of them werent at fault.


"Right, mark the border an' then yer lookin' for juniper berries. Theyre little blue purple berries on bushes wit' pine needles an' have a sharp woodsy pine like scent. Remember, blue/purple not red not any other colour an' limit the amount, we're gonna be gettin' burnet at Sedgewater an' honey at the thunderglade after this an' ya can only take so much."
Spotting a bush the tom gestured to it as an example and decided to snack on one as he was there. It'd be a nice break to have smooth calm and smooth breathing, brought by the berries, for once anyways.


"Alright so some o' ya'll obviously dont know the play when yer patrol mates let ya down. Ya aint helpless, if they dont show ya can tell me an' be off the hook entirely. It just has ta be before patrols are due. If yer gettin' nervous because time is close? If they ditched ya an' disappeared mid way? Say somethin'. Yer not gonna get in trouble for that, only if ya dont show, disappear mid patrol yerself, or stay silent only then ta later get upset yer in the doghouse wit' the trouble cats."


The tom waited until it seemed they'd all marked the border and collected the juniper berries, wondering if any of them noticed his raspy breathing and speech was now smooth and so sussed out the use, and moved on. He wasnt going to wait to see if they had things to say when they had a job to do and next up was sedgewater.



@Phoenix @Aroogi @forest @ollie