Petalrot
~<>~
31 moons || bug/him || ShadowClan Warrior slim tortoiseshell tom w/ white tuxedo markings; green eyes
It had been... a while since Petalrot had last been called out on a patrol. Much of that was bug's own fault, to be perfectly honest, bug had hardly volunteered, but when an enforcer tells you to do something... well, Petalrot would be remise if bug didn't follow orders. Not much of a leader or a go-getter, this one. He doesn't know much about either cat on this patrol, not their strong suits, their preferences in hunting... nothing but their names. This isn't a social outing, though, and Petalrot will simply br doing bug's job unless called otherwise.
"Yes, Rookfire," bug says with a dip of bug's head before moving along. The plan is to do some hunting. ShadowClan should never be low on food, and the prey scent here was strong anyway, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Setting off into the underbrush, Petalrot quickly picks up the scent of mouse and follows it, making the catch easily. Bug still needs two more things, though, so time to set off and continue the search.
~ BRIARSPLASH ~
very large & fluffy dilute gray tortie she-cat with goldish-green eyes; just a scratch
[ shadowclan enforcer | she-cat | 27 moons | abrasive, standoffish, loyal ]
~
Briarsplash came bounding in, careening to a halt and making sure that Palepaw was right behind her. She'd wanted to challenge the young tom to keep up, but she certainly wasn't gonna let him accidentally be left by her and get lost. She paused for a moment, letting her breathing settle as she took a look around the evergreen forest; it was less shadowy than her Clan was used to, but it was perhaps the most prey-rich part of their territory. Besides, with the sun sinking slowly towards the lower half of the sky, long shadows could be found. It would be interesting to see how Palepaw would do with it.
She glanced down at the apprentice and waited for him to recover as well, trying to see how the run here affected him. It wasn't exactly a short distance from camp, and especially for a new apprentice, it might've been hard to scramble over all those pinecones and the uneven terrain. But good exercise nonetheless — some he'd have to get used to as he shaped up into a warrior.
After a few moments of allowing their breathing to settle, she tasted the air, getting notes of all sorts of prey about. This was late greenleaf, so the early chills of the distant leaf-bare weren't scaring away any prey yet. Without directly looking at Palepaw, she finally meowed simply, "Alright, kid... this is Dawning Woods, a newer part of our territory. Tell me what you see 'n smell."
Upon arrival at this section of territory, littered with evergreen trees, she turned to look to her patrolmates. “We’re here–now, you two youngsters, how much hunting experience do you have?”
Before they all toddled off to go hunting, she wanted to make sure that the both of them each knew what they were doing, and on top of that, she’d like for them to hunt in pairs with the apprentices, so as to make sure nothing bad happened to either of them. That was a rule that she’d lay out after finding out their experience levels, though.
Pondpaw - ShadowClan Apprentice
Silver Tongue Tier 2 [ Perm. Active ]
Kitty Softpaws Tier 2 [ Perm. Active ]
Mind Reader [ Perm. Active ] 60 / 100
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Pondpaw turned to Midnightpath and blinked. ´´I´ve hunted some with Tuftedtusk. And once with Dawnstar, whenever she took me out for my flaying lesson,´´ She mewed.
~ BRIARSPLASH ~
very large & fluffy dilute gray tortie she-cat with goldish-green eyes; just a scratch
[ shadowclan enforcer | she-cat | 27 moons | abrasive, standoffish, loyal ]
~
Briarsplash came bounding in, careening to a halt and making sure that Palepaw was right behind her. She'd wanted to challenge the young tom to keep up, but she certainly wasn't gonna let him accidentally be left by her and get lost. She paused for a moment, letting her breathing settle as she took a look around the evergreen forest; it was less shadowy than her Clan was used to, but it was perhaps the most prey-rich part of their territory. Besides, with the sun sinking slowly towards the lower half of the sky, long shadows could be found. It would be interesting to see how Palepaw would do with it.
She glanced down at the apprentice and waited for him to recover as well, trying to see how the run here affected him. It wasn't exactly a short distance from camp, and especially for a new apprentice, it might've been hard to scramble over all those pinecones and the uneven terrain. But good exercise nonetheless — some he'd have to get used to as he shaped up into a warrior.
After a few moments of allowing their breathing to settle, she tasted the air, getting notes of all sorts of prey about. This was late greenleaf, so the early chills of the distant leaf-bare weren't scaring away any prey yet. Without directly looking at Palepaw, she finally meowed simply, "Alright, kid... this is Dawning Woods, a newer part of our territory. Tell me what you see 'n smell."
'Awh yes! She'll take me out to hunt!' Palepaw quivered in excitement. To Dawning Woods they go! In an instant, Briarsplash picked up speed and ran out of camp. The little dilute calico slowly caught on and ran straight after. He made leaps and bounds with his little legs, trying to catch up to the larger warrior.
The ground was weird and bumpy. Nothing like running around in the clearing where its been smooth over by constant pawsteps and walking. Every stride Briarsplash took, he had to take two. One, two, three. This was a little harder than Palepaw would've thought. It was like an unknown variable every step of the way. No way of telling what's next. He could see Briarsplash pulling ahead and her tail was slipping from his sight.
One, two, three, four. It took a little longer than normal apprentices, but he was slowly getting the hang of it.
Four, five, six. He was getting the hang of this. No longer being left behind, he raced behind the warrior and burst out in a laugh of contentment. He's doing it! He was learning. Though it's not a huge accomplishment, but Palepaw felt a small sense of pride.
[ dawning woods ]
It was easier after being able to catch up to Briarsplash, but Palepaw soon learn a great deal of where he went wrong. The sudden burst of energy had drained him a little, causing him to gasp heavily upon arriving at the woods. Luckily, Briarsplash had given him the time to recover. While he gasped for air, he took this time to look around him. The woods, it was different from the heart of ShadowClan. It felt leafier, brighter...and oddly closer to the sun. He didn't realize it before but these trees...they were....MASSIVE!? Absolutely insanely tall. Palepaw thought they could almost touch the clouds.
His awe broken by a question that Briarsplash had proposed. What did he smell? Palepaw stopped and took a sniff in the area.
What was there...
"...Mouse! Um...lizards..." Pale began before inhaling another breath while turning around for a better sense. Feeling the wind rush against his fur, he murmured, "and birds! There are also birds here!"
Ok so Bleedingpaw and all his wobbly wonder was finding it a liiiiiiittle hard to keep up with the patrol full of adults and normal cats who could walk right but no way in hell was he asking them to slow down! He had to learn to get on their level eventually after all, clan life didnt slow down for anyone just because they struggled.
Eventually they got there though and though the golden bengal was a little clumsy he wasnt tapped out yet and was raring to do some hunting. "Miss Brairsplash taught me how to hunt not long ago but Im not super experienced. Im super sneaky though so Im sure I can get something!"
Hillstrider
ShadowClan Warrior
he/him | 23 moons
[Big fluffy orange tabby with yellow eyes] Purrks: Heightened Perception (Hearing)
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Sun ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
[Midnightpath - @Omari ] [Bleedingpaw - @Rani ] [Pondpaw - @paedyn ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Hillstrider padded along after Midnightpath and the kiddos, his sunshine pelt catching the watery sunlight through the clouds. He glanced between Pondpaw and Bleedingpaw, glad to hear they had some training. "No better place to learn than on the job, y'know?" He thought of Quietpaw and her insistence at ignoring everything he said, but that didn't bother him. As long as they were proficient, they could count it towards their warrior requirements! "One of you can stick with me while we hunt, so no apprentices are off on their own."
´´I can go with you, Hillstrider,´´ Pondpaw volunteered, her tail swaying behind her. It might be good for Bleedingpaw to stay with Midnightpath, a gentler warrior that wouldn´t lose her patience with him.
'Awh yes! She'll take me out to hunt!' Palepaw quivered in excitement. To Dawning Woods they go! In an instant, Briarsplash picked up speed and ran out of camp. The little dilute calico slowly caught on and ran straight after. He made leaps and bounds with his little legs, trying to catch up to the larger warrior.
The ground was weird and bumpy. Nothing like running around in the clearing where its been smooth over by constant pawsteps and walking. Every stride Briarsplash took, he had to take two. One, two, three. This was a little harder than Palepaw would've thought. It was like an unknown variable every step of the way. No way of telling what's next. He could see Briarsplash pulling ahead and her tail was slipping from his sight.
One, two, three, four. It took a little longer than normal apprentices, but he was slowly getting the hang of it.
Four, five, six. He was getting the hang of this. No longer being left behind, he raced behind the warrior and burst out in a laugh of contentment. He's doing it! He was learning. Though it's not a huge accomplishment, but Palepaw felt a small sense of pride.
[ dawning woods ]
It was easier after being able to catch up to Briarsplash, but Palepaw soon learn a great deal of where he went wrong. The sudden burst of energy had drained him a little, causing him to gasp heavily upon arriving at the woods. Luckily, Briarsplash had given him the time to recover. While he gasped for air, he took this time to look around him. The woods, it was different from the heart of ShadowClan. It felt leafier, brighter...and oddly closer to the sun. He didn't realize it before but these trees...they were....MASSIVE!? Absolutely insanely tall. Palepaw thought they could almost touch the clouds.
His awe broken by a question that Briarsplash had proposed. What did he smell? Palepaw stopped and took a sniff in the area.
What was there...
"...Mouse! Um...lizards..." Pale began before inhaling another breath while turning around for a better sense. Feeling the wind rush against his fur, he murmured, "and birds! There are also birds here!"
~ BRIARSPLASH ~
very large & fluffy dilute gray tortie she-cat with goldish-green eyes; just a scratch
[ shadowclan enforcer | she-cat | 27 moons | abrasive, standoffish, loyal ]
~
Briarsplash fluffed out her pelt a bit as she watched the young apprentice take in the new section of the territory, obviously brighter than the other shadowy parts he'd already seen, and staring in awe at the trees. Her whiskers almost twitched in amusement at the sight... almost.
She let out a 'hmph' and a nod of acknowledgement as Palepaw stated the prey he smelled; good. He at least had a decent nose on him. Briarsplash flicked her tail towards the nearest scent, where she could see a sparrow not too far away pecking at a bush, perhaps looking for berries. To the side of them was a lizard scuttling among some stones, and the rustle in some undergrowth indicated the direction of where the mouse was.
"You're exactly right. Good nose... that's the first part of hunting. Now, the next part is deciding which prey, and how you're going to do it..." She narrowed her eyes, assessing the prey he'd listed.
The bird was perhaps the closest, but those creatures were flittery; one step too hard and they'd be in the sky in a moment. And trying to get close enough to the bush without rustling it would be a challenge. Lizards were fun to catch, and this one was in the open and exposed on the stones, but they were very quick on their feet and hard to get a good grip on. And mice... their senses were very sharp and attuned, besides being a little hard to spot and grab with how small and quick they were. Any way, it'd be a challenge... she decided to give him the choice. Her gaze flicked back to Palepaw, looking both challenging and yet intrigued to see what he'd do.
"Hmmm... your choice," she mewed in her raspier tone, eyes glinting in the afternoon light. "Let's see how good your instincts are. But I will give you this first: mice will often sense and hear you before anything else. Lizards, more so feeling and smelling you. And birds... it can vary, but mostly seeing you. Although with any of them, one misstep can cost you the catch — which isn't as bad in early leaf-fall here, but in leaf-bare... each catch counts. You'd do well to put that into practice from the start."
She sat back on her haunches, curling her plumed tail over her paws, waiting to see what he'd do by instinct... then she could correct later.
[ @goodacacia - tag bc idk if the quote worked and ahhh SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY </3 had a busy weekend aha ]
__________________
*despite everything, it's still you.
Berryshine is RiverClan's medicine cat!
she and Cobwebfern have a semi-closed den policy.
The dark-furred warrior gave a nod to Pondpaw, and then to Bleedingpaw as he spoke. She had noted that he had lagged behind a tad during their trek out here, but she made sure to keep an eye on him so as to see nothing bad happened to the kid.
“Right, no better place to gain more experience than right here and now.” Midnightpath agreed with Hillstrider, giving him a brief nod of appreciation for his words. With a flick of her tail towards Pondpaw and Hillstrider, she gave them a quiet acknowledgement of them being paired together for this patrol before she turned to Bleedingpaw.
“You’re with me, then. I want you to stay in my sight on this patrol, don’t wander too far, alright?” A pause before she continued, offering the young one a smile. She did not want him thinking that she didn’t believe in him, she wanted to ensure that he knew she wanted him to be safe. “You go on ahead and try to catch something, I’ll be just behind you to keep an eye on you.”
Re: Dawning Woods
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Berryshine is RiverClan's medicine cat! 
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