Mudslide padded in with thyme dangling from her jaws. She trotted up to the herbalist and twitch the edge of her muzzle in greeting. "Done." She rasped, flicking her blue gaze to her clanmates (who hopefully stayed close behind). "Five." She looked down at her own muzzle for a moment, her eyes gesturing to the herbs in her maw. She then gave Mossfreckle a respectful nod before dropping the herbs at his paws and quickly scattering off.
Magpiepaw
She, Her\Apprentice\11 moons\Shadowclan
"Why pick them when I can do it so much better?"
Welp, she'd certainly gotten more leaves in her pelt that she had originally expected (or liked) but that didn't matter at the moment! Plus, Magpiepaw was good at anything so if she had to give her pelt a quick groom then she would, she just didn't want to at the moment. She gave Foxfury a wide and uneven smile before dropping her berries at the paws of Mossfreckle. "All four jumpier berries. I would've gotten more but nature was being... Difficult. See ya around!"
leading his group back to camp, rookfire silently hoped they would actually all arrive, activity had appeared to be a bit spotty and whilst he wasnt one to turn down a good show -that being punishment- he didnt really feel like disappointing mossfreckle because he couldnt keep an eye on his clanmates. stars, they had hopefully gathered some herbs, if they hadnt, rookfire thought he might have to commit a murder. like, quite honestly, if they had not done what they were told, they might as well stay away and just not come back to camp with the rest of them. no work? no earning your keep? too bad.
about halfway to camp, the enforcer slowed down a bit, letting pale paws move through grass and over pine needles and soil smoothly whilst giving thought to the fact that he would have to make this track a few more times after delivering his patrol mates and their finds to camp.
soon enough, the shadowy figures of rookfire and his patrol mates appeared at the mouth of camp, making their way around undergrowth and through thickets before their leader split from the group, briefly speeding up before coming to a halt by the command post and placing his first few herbs on the ground. seeking mossy hues with his own silver ones, rookfire suppressed a shudder at the odd warmth that bloomed in his chest and spread into every last bit of him, “i have some more stuff outside..i’ll be right back” he muttered, giving mossfreckle another unsure glance and proceeding to curse every bone in his body on the way back into the territory. he was a enforcer for stars sake! what was THAT when had he started mumbling to mossfreckle of all cats, mossfreckle who stood at a good half tail length smaller than him!
[ 6x lovage delivered ]
mindlessly shaking his head from side to side in disappointment of himself, rookfire eventually reached the stashed herbs, picking up another mouthful, that being 8 pieces of rosemary. the track back was filled with more thoughts about his own weird behaviour and even less attention payed to his surroundings. when rookfire reached camp, he quickly dropped the herbs in front of mossfreckle before turning and bounding out of camp once again.
[ 8x rosemary delivered ]
at the pile again, rookfire shifted the pretty rock, thoughts returning to mossfreckle before shaking the thought from his head, selecting the next eight plants and placing the rock back in its original place in the middle of the little stone and stick structure he had built. seven marigolds and one mushroom were held carefully, between sharp teeth, on the way back before being placed upon the ground once more, yet in camp this time and abandoned in order to leave camp again.
[ 7x marigold; 1x mushroom delivered ]
the next trip -stars had he really collected that much?- involved five mushrooms and three of the celandine he had secured to the soil via stone. he was pretty glad he had done so, trotting up to the stone structure, he only barely caught a stray leaf that had slipped out beneath its flat surface and been blown into the air by the wind. however, purely by comfort standards, rookfire enjoyed the wind, it was cool and made him feel a bit less like he was burning up, the combination of odd…embarrassment? with the mossfreckle situation and the sun burning down on his dark pelt had been quite distracting additionally to the brisk pace he had set to traverse back and forth between the territory and patrol place. like the other times before, rookfire left camp as fast as he had entered.
[ 5x mushroom; 3x celandine delivered ]
the rest of the celandine he picked up on his next trip, alongside five ladys mantle to start clearing out a few more at once. he wondered if there were any, or if there should be any, rules in place for collecting herbs together. perhaps you shouldnt gather a certain combination of herbs at once, or not store them close, carry them separately, he didnt know, and he probably would never know, unless he decided to actively keep an eye out for the next moons, searching for possibly nothing in the behaviour or dead plants. but that was truly rather silly, and the enforcer was too busy to keep an eye out for something so miniscule, on such a small scale (since he didnt really look at every single herb that went into the storage because why should he) either way. with the thought still lingering at the back of his mind, rookfire delivered his next batch of herbs before turning his back on camp once more.
[ 3x celandine; 5x ladys matle delivered ]
stars he was getting real bored slowly but surely, the remaining ladys matle and five of his six pieces of thyme travelled back to camp with him this time without anything special happening on the way. he did his best to keep his thoughts neutral and observe his surroundings instead of repeatedly thinking about the same thing and never getting to a conclusion. actually, if he should think about anything it ought to be the lack of cannibalism as of recent.
[ 3x ladys matle; 5x thyme delivered ]
rookfire was in and out of camp as quickly as the times before, avoiding the creeping discomfort of eyes on him, watching his every move as he exited and reentered camp in a more or less even rhythm as best he could. this was probably the last thing that should trigger this fear of being watched, he had done a lot more different, more embarrassing things than helping his clan for stars sake! second to last trip, if he had counted right, the last piece of thyme and all of the juniper berries he had gathered.
[ 1x thyme; 7x juniper berries delivered ]
last time he left camp, his steps were faltering once in a while, shoulder whispering quiet discontent with this amount of movement in the form of aches and seemingly random loss of tension in his muscles. only seven cobwebs, that was it. only seven cobwebs, seven cobwebs and..well, the rock. the smooth light grey rock, and its thin blue-grey line. he should leave it here, it had done its job, held the herbs in place for him and blessed his eyes for the time he had been shifting herbs between trips. now it was done. or was it.. with a sigh, rookfire resorted the cobwebs, fitting the stone in as well and carrying it back to camp without a specific plan for it. it did remind him of the butterfly he had given mossfreckle, he couldnt not think about the other tom, but he wouldnt admit that, not even to himself.
[ 7x cobwebs delivered ]
”’s all” rookfire stated, nodding down vaguely. with all the herbs delivered and now piled up by mossfreckles small paws, rookfires gaze fell on the stone again, he had picked it up without really thinking about it at first, and it was now sitting besides the cobwebs, rook paused to think for a moment before lifting his gaze to meet mossfreckles eyes again again, white tipped paw losely resting on the stones smooth grey surface. “‘s err.. ‘didnt wanna leave it behind ya know? you can have it if you want-” the enforcer mumbled, nudging the special rock towards mossfreckle with one paw whilst pushing almost close enough to hide his face in the others neck, striped tail jerking from side to side, tension evident in his stance.
It was hard not to ogle Rookfire's collection. How he had such skills in acquiring herbs, she'd never know. Such were the makings of an enforcer, she supposed. He was definitely a promising warrior.
With the looks of it, his stash would surely take at least 3 trips. She wondered whether she should offer her help, but thought better of it. Rookfire seemed the type to ask, he certainly wasn't shy.
Anyway, looks like her patrol mates had gathered enough marigold to cover her, thankfully. Still, the sum of all their work didn't look like much at all in comparison to Rookfire's. Darkleaf was ready to go almost instantly, herbs bundled into their mouth as they trotted towards the camp. This patrol had certainly been quiet, but at least it was efficient. They'd always prefer chatty and efficient, but hey, they'd rather solely efficient than solely chatty.
They were quick behind Rookfire, watching him drop his first bundle and mutter uncharacteristically. What was it with him and herbs? She suppressed a head tilt, as she watched from a distance and tried to get some kind of analysis on the goings-on, but ultimately failed. Once Rookfire had struck off after his stash, they moved closer, placing their herbs at the Medicine Cat's paws. "Hey Mossfreckle," the smiled politely, "4 mushrooms, and 1 cobweb." They paused, "fell a bit short on marigolds sorry - but I saw the other's carrying a few!" She'd like to thank Rookfire for the patrol, but she wasn't too sure he'd be back anytime soon, hopefully he woudn't think them impolite. Well, as long as the other two were following along, she could give them a small thanks.
Truthfully, Yellowtwist didn't care about the punishment. It was his first time missing a patrol in his entire life. But also truthfully, Yellowtwist wasn't in the mood to get bonked. truth 3.0, the clan still needed to eat things. So he came to the conclusion DAMN IT EARS HOW THE HELL DID YOU NOT HEAR THAT. how dare shoomy completely forget about a patrol the day after yellowtwist was called!
For the first time in forever, Yellowtwist felt shame. for .00000000000000002 seconds before realizing he could just go out now and grab some prey, and lots of it. He didn't know if that would cut it, but he'd add more prey if Mistlewhisker wanted him to get more. How about two trips where he grabbed as much prey as he could? Sure why not, he was sort of out of practice of hunting anyway. "I don't have a good excuse, i just didn't hear. I'll catch some prey to make up for it." Though he was fairly certain she would've said "do that now" or something if that was an offer, but he would do it no matter what because hunting was fun. @Mica
Mistlewhisker
ShadowClan Deputy
she/her | 43 moons
[Large black cat with a half white muzzle and a pale green eye] Purrks: Killer Aptitude T3, Shadow Fiend, Mind Reader
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Chariot ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
· · ────────────── · ·
Mistlewhisker closed her eye briefly once she decided they waited long enough for the two apprentices. If they were seen on the territory, they were liable to be run off or executed. Then Mistlewhisker focused on Yellowtwist, treating this situation with a more laidback attitude than she apprenticed. "You are consistently lacking in your performance, Yellowtwist. Figure yourself out before you become a liability." Her words were icier than the coldest leafbare mornings. "You have half a moon to go on one patrol for each failed member. Yourself, Tickpaw, and Duskpaw. Catch three pieces of prey for each patrol." Mistlewhisker leapt down from the Grimpeak. "I am sure I do not need to remind you that your position as an Enforcer is at stake. Report to me when you're done." Mistlewhisker's tail lashed once before stalking away.
[Yellowtwist has until 9/4 to complete three patrols (can be one post patrols) where he catches three pieces of prey. Have Yellowtwist report back here with links to each patrol]
yellowtwist dropped off his frog and bird he caught at evergreen grotto and left to go on his remaining patrols.
__________________
"Tomatoes are in the same family as some of the world's deadliest poisons. That just goes to show how rebellious tomatoes are." "What about how the apple can fall far from the tree?" "No, sometimes the tomato falls from the plant."
PATROLS ARE DUE SEPTEMBER 25th
BY 11:59pm EASTERN TIME
If you need to be replaced let me know NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 14th.
If you need an extension let me know NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 22ND.
VM me with any questions!! : )
· · ────────────── · ·
Mistlewhisker
ShadowClan Deputy
she/her | 44 moons
[Large black cat with a half white muzzle and a pale green eye] Purrks: Killer Aptitude T3, Shadow Fiend, Mind Reader
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Chariot ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
· · ────────────── · ·
· · ────────────── · · "ShadowClan!" Mistlewhisker's voice rang out over the clearing, the early leaf-fall morning chilled due to the influx of rain the territory was getting as of late. "Gather at my paws for patrols." "Briarsplash [ @squidz ], take Raspberryswirl [ @ophelia ], Flashpaw [ @Blaaze ], and Nightpaw [ @Concorde ] to Darkwater Mire and hunt what you can. Be careful of the waters--they're a little higher than usual." A series of rainfalls one right after another had raised the water level of the marsh. Not flood worthy, but enough to make usually dry spots unstable. "Keep a close eye on the apprentices; I do not want anyone getting left behind." After the last patrol Flashpaw went on ended in such a disaster, Mistlewhisker didn't want to take any chances. [OPTIONAL PROMPT FOR EVERYONE: Yuck! The waters have risen due to rain, and everything is much muddier! Oops! And slippery-er! Watch your step!]
"Tuftedtusk [ @Aroogi ]! Take Owlthroat [ @Daragca ], Firepaw [ @Lil'Ember ], and Gutspaw [ @wolfie ] to ShadowClan Territory." Did Mistlewhisker put Tuftedtusk and Owlthroat on the same patrol because she thought their relationship was cute? No, it was entirely a coincidence. Her writer, on the other hand... [MANDATORY PROMPT: A familiar pelt catches your eye... along with the telltale stain of blood. Yellowtwist's body, shredded by many small cuts and bites. And is that... rat fur?]
"Midnightpath [ @Omari ]," Mistlewhisker hadn't seen much of her, but this would determine whether or not Midnightpath was still fit to be a ShadowClan warrior. "Take Hillstrider [ @Mica ], Pondpaw [ @paedyn ], and Bleedingpaw [ @Rani ] to Dawning Woods." [OPTIONAL PROMPT: Woah! Was that a lizard? Nope! That's a snake! Oh, and another! Another?? Damn, this is a lot of snakes!]
"Lostspark [ @Rose ]! Take Cinderpaw [ @Neptune. ], Birdpaw [ @Mica ], and Wispypaw [ @Kix ] to Evergreen Grotto. The rains might mean more herbs, so watch where you step." Oh, she hadn't noticed when she put them together in her head, but Cinderpaw, Birdpaw and Wispypaw were all Lostspark's daughters. Mistlewhisker hesitated, unsure if she should retract it, but her answer came in the form of a shrill squeal of delight from near the apprentice's den. Ah, it appeared Birdpaw had heard her. Well, it was too late to change it now. [OPTIONAL PROMPT: Man, what chewed on all these herbs? Luckily ShadowClan isn't lacking on them, but that's odd nonetheless!]
Finally, "Squirrelrise [ @furrensic ]! Take Bloomingblaze [ @Idiotic.Bean101 ], Turtlepaw [ @Dolomedes ], and Adderpaw [ @Luminous ] to the Mourning Ruins." She wanted to add another patrol to this round because she had noticed that the prey had gone low earlier than usual. She wanted to have their stockpile last longer, if she could. [OPTIONAL PROMPT: What's that up there, in the rafters? Is that... a nest? A large one, too. And... owl feathers?] "Sleepysunrise [ @Estelle ], take Quietpaw [ @Morrigan ] and Moonpaw [ @Poprock ] to Herondive Hollow. Make sure the border is thoroughly marked." The Gathering had left Mistlewhisker with the sense that cats might be getting the Itch To Cause Problems, like they tended to do. She didn't expect that anyone crossed the border, but security required vigilance.
"Darkfall [ @Dark ]," Mistlewhisker sought out the familiar pelt of her friend. "Take Mudslide [ @Marigoldwhisper ] and Silentpaw [ @Starphobia ] to Saltmeadow Marsh. Keep an eye out for RiverClan, I do not wish to let our guard down around them yet." [OPTIONAL PROMPT: Yuck! The waters have risen due to rain, and everything is much muddier! Oops! And slippery-er! Watch your step!]
And last but not least, "Rookfire [ @alec ], take Shrewstep [ @gs29513 ] and Leapingpaw [ @Fish ] to Whispering Wetlands." She didn't expect anything from WindClan. Twilightstar was no fool. But just like her philosophy for the other clans, security demanded vigilance. "Same as the others; ensure everything is in order."
She scanned the crowd once again before nodding. "Dismissed!" And leapt down from her perch.
PATROLS BLEEDINGPAW WAS SO EXCITED!!!!! Aaaaaaand all his siblings and his Mama were in another patrol and he was on his own.... Less excited.
Bleedingpaw tried to keep the droop off his face as Cinderpaw, Wispypaw, and Birdpaw got to do an outing and wasnt entirely sure he did but not a single complaint emerged from his maw as he padded over to wait for Midnightpath. It was still an outing and he could hunt for the clan, that should be enough. Would be. Maybe Midnightpath, Hillstrider and Pondpaw were cool too and he could find a friend as well? The pretty golden bengal would like that.
A patrol? Nightpaw made his way over at the call, he'd never been on one before, so it was kind of exciting! He wasn’t exactly sure where to go from here, none of his patrolmates had made any sort of call yet, so what to do? Nightpaw sat down where he was, curling his tail around his paws. For now he'd just wait to see.
"You'll take the high road and I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland before ye
Where me and my true love shall never meet again
On the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond!"
rookfire had been halfway across camp from where he had emerged from the medicine den when mistlewhisker called for patrol. despite his original plan to find a sunny place and eye the camp through half lidded eyes from there, the enforcer made a beeline to gather by his deputies paws instantaniously. metaphorically chewing on the tired veil draped over hind mind and senses, he sat still (apart from the rhythmical tap tap tap of two coloured tail), taking in what mistlewhisker listed and attempting to keep most of the group constellations in mind in case somecat had unsurprisingly already forgotten which group they belonged to.
rook took note of yellowtwists absense, that coated his mouth in slightly sour taste, he had been missing last time as well, forcing rookfire to step up and take it into his own paws instead of resting or whatever for once. worry wasnt really something rookfire let linger for long especially not about a cat he barely knew and cared about knowing even less so, but as a fellow enforcer, rookfire sure as hell could feel disappointment. a lack of presence was one thing, missing patrols and not taking enforcer duties serious something else entirely.
thoughts drifting from yellowtwists slacking, he focussed back on the hunting patrols. hillstrider and lostspark were the next two group leaders up, and rook felt like he might've almost jumped out of his pelt when birdpaws shrill shriek sounded from the direction of the apprentices den. after hillstrider and lostspark came squirrelrise as the last hunting patrol, before sleepysunrise and darkfall were selected for border patrols to herondive hollow and saltmeadow marsh.
leaving him with whispering wetlands. it wasnt like he was ungrateful, he much preferred border patrols to hunting ones, but saltmeadow marsh had grown to be one of his favourites for potential riverclan mockery openings. though, now that he thought about it, it was probably better he wasnt sent there, but on the other paw, he knew when to call it quits. even convinced and with the knowledge that shadowclan would win over riverclan in a border conflict, he doubted that any of his superiors would really fancy him causing any big fights.
he got back up, striped tail unwrapping from his large form whilst white tipped paws stepped forward in one fluid motion. lazily, a walk equally confident and lacking any obvious pressure to speed up, rookfire sauntered towards the center of the clearing to await him patrol mates appearance, eyeing the other cats in the meantime.
Re: ShadowClan Patrol Place
