She grabbed another stiff form and chucked it at the pile with a wince. Her ears swerved towards Rookfire as the tom joined her in clean-up. Her tail twitched curiously, however, she left him be while finishing with the last of the bodies. She took a seat in one of the less bloody patches of grass and began working on cleaning off the blood crusting near her eye while Rookfire spoke about Pondpaw.
Demotion? In truth, though bleeding out, Dawnstar hadn't warranted Bristlethorn's wounds particularly deadly due to how coherent the warrior had been. A stern word to Pondpaw had seemed to be enough to her. However, Dawnstar wasn't a medicine cat so she had been judging the situation more superficially. If Rookfire thought Pondpaw's actions deserved a demotion for a few moons, she didn't see the need to fight him about it. Pondpaw had been in the wrong regardless. Perhaps some moons in demotion will teach her to listen and respect her clanmates and medicine cat.
"If you want to demote her, then demote her. I see no reason to waste my time dwelling on the matter when I have more important things to concern myself." Dawnstar grunted to Rookfire. She still had another fight to fight and would rather focus on using her time figuring out battle plans over deciding on a foolish apprentice's demotion.
Her ears prickled as she heard Willowpaw's sniffles, Starlingcall's response, and Turtlepaw's rant. Dawnstar sighed loudly. Willowpaw was almost ready for her warrior ceremony but from the sounds of it. Dawnstar was not certain she was fit for the rank of warrior. She's had a variety of warriors, anxious ones included, but she was seriously troubled by how stupid Willowpaw was. Did that mousebrain truly think Starlingcall was friends with a rat? She could understand why Starlingcall had brought up demotion.
Dawnstar's had some stupid warriors, but Willowpaw's level of stupidity was dangerous. She wasn't certain if she trusted that one among her warriors. Dawnstar would have to talk to Owlthroat before she settled on promoting the fluff-for-brains.
"Turtlepaw, you better mind your tongue with how you talk to my warriors." Dawnstar hissed warningly. "I've no problems tossing your ass back into the outskirts if you can't learn a bite your tongue and be respectful to those above you." If Dawnstar felt Starlingcall had been wrong she might have let Turtlepaw's sassy go unchecked. Yet, all they had said was demotion and from the sounds of it more out of concern than spite, and an apprentice thought she could get away with snapping at the warrior.
Hawkbite's arrival ended Turtlepaw's scolding early. She glanced at the tom and patrol mates as he walked over with the announcement of owls in Mourning Ruins. That saved her time from checking if those birds were still there.
"Interesting, I hadn't noticed one had come so close." They were lucky the owls hadn't gotten involved. Dawnstar's confidence in ShadowClan's ability to take on the large birds was low. She was tempted to question the tom further, but it was time to head back to camp and get everyone patched up.
"If you and Sleepysunrise aren't too injured, I need you to stay back and dispose of the bodies." Dawnstar waved her tail toward the rat and snake pile of bodies. "Get rid of the rats you can take what you can carry of the snakes back to camp, dispose of the rest." ShadowClan was doing pretty good on prey, but it never hurt to have some more.
⟡ starlingcall ⟡
• shadowclan - XX moons •
⟡ dilute tortoiseshell, white chest and face spot, green eyes ⟡
• they/them - it/its •
⟡ #StarlingcallSHC2024 ⟡
• ⟡ •
Starlingcall's ears stand up straight and its eyes narrow. It looks down at Turtlepaw. Its green eyes glimmer beneath the shadows of the trees above them, making them look dead and lightless. They continue to stay silent, until Dawnstar speaks up to chastise the apprentice for them. It nods to the leader, and begins to walk after her as she leaves. As it passes Turtlepaw, it whispers under their breath, "Don't speak to me like that again."
With that, Starlingcall stalks away, meaning to listen to Hawkbite's report to Dawnstar concerning the owls. It shakes its head, wondering where Turtlepaw learned to speak to warriors like that. She's not going to survive in this clan if she doesn't learn when to shut her trap.
• ⟡ •
(oohhhh turltepaws in trooouuubleeee lol)
Quote:
Originally Posted by A very spooky Myling
〚~Willow'Paw~〛
| 10 Moons | ShadowClan Apprentice | Female, She/Her | Purrks:
Kitty Soft Paws, Heightened Perception [smell]
[a small, fluffy tortoiseshell she-cat with pale green eyes and an atrociously fluffy tail, a small tick in her right ear, and a scar on her cheek]
Willowpaw braced for the scolding. "I KNOW! How could you?!??! Gerald was- was so, so young.... and you- you.... YOU KILLED HIM. YOU MONSTER".
But this wasn't the scolding she expected. Uhm.............. what? "P-Pardon? You-You weren't fr-friends with G-Gerald?" Willowpaw covered her mouth with one paw. [[ EMBARRASMENT SHUTDOWN ]] [[ ALL BUT EMERGENCY SERVICES WILL BE PUT OFF LIMITS ]] Willowpaw felt like screaming was a pretty good option here. "sorrysorrysorrrysorrrysorrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyysorr ysorrysosososososorry" Willowpaw pleaded. Her reputation would never recover. "Willowpaw. The one who sided with the rats." "Willowpaw. The most delusional cat in the forest." "Willowpaw. Lets all point and laugh at the idiot". Ooooooooooooorghh. She could feel everyones eye's in her back (or maybe she hallucinating it.....? If she was delusional enough to think Starlingcall was friends with a rat then it was certainly a possibility). She was very, very surprised (and nearly cried.) when Turtlepaw defended her for being stupid. Huh?? Couldn't she see how dumb Willowpaw was being? The apprentice spent what felt like a small eternity wondering if Turtlepaw was actually mocking her or something. No was the only answer she could think of. Wait. Did this mean she could be an anime with the power of friendship? Gassspppp. It was a fact of life that no mortal, nor immortal, being can defeat an anime character with the power of friendship (in most cases; most of the time one of them wasnt the worlds biggest failure, and "A failure" was the exact opposite of how she'd describe Turtlepaw). Oh right. This wasn't an anime. They were silly battle cats duking it out in the forest..... oh right..... Also, Willowpaw's ego just went
"Uhm, uh. Th-Thank you, T-Turtlepaw." Willowpaw mustered a rueful smile. Her emotions told her that the world was great as long as Turto was around and that Starlingcall could stick a bird up her snout and wow sunshines and rainbows!!, but her brain said "The bar was so low it was practically a tripping hazard in Hell, yet here you are, limbo dancing with the devil."
[ episode 400 of myling replys obnoxiously late ]
Turtlepaw
A fluffy tortoise shell molly with yellow eyes - scarring on her back right ankle
| Lyrebird’s Lullaby | Primal Instincts |
HP (123/100) LV [12/?]
Tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes
Turtlepaw's stomach dropped as she heard the one feline, the one cat who she admired... Was scolding her. Her fur bristled and her tail flicking with anxiety, but her head remained high. She didn't want to go out there again... not knowing when or where she'll get her next meal, let alone who she'll have to deal with for it. Maybe to Dawnstar the feline was being 'helpful' but they weren't, Turtlepaw knew they weren't, yeah sure her friend was being a little fluff-brained, but she sure as hell didn't have to be mocked and degraded.
Her scolding got cut short though, and thank the stars too, the young molly was about to have a panic attack. Well this was her first time being scolded and threatened, she's supposed to be the perfect soldier, the future enforcer. Her brain scattered around on what she could do to remedy the situation and fix the problem before Dawnstar thinks she's unfit to even be in the clan let alone be a warrior. She dipped her head in respect to Dawnstar and then she heard the vermin befriender utter a warning to her. Don't speak like that to you again ay? We'll see about that you cocky, overgrown, sad.... (maybe the rest of this should be kept in her fluffy little noggin. )
But then she heard Willowpaw speak, thanking her, why? It's not like she completely detoured Starlingcall's threat to demote her. Turtlepaw probably just added them both to that looney feline's demotion list, but for Willowpaw's sake. She'll take it, "C'mon, get some rodents and a snake or two. Let's head back so I can get myself patched up already." Turtlepaw meowed with a smile as she limped off to get some of the rodents that were lying on the ground. She'll head to Rookfire after this but, stars does her bleeding ankle hurt, and it's her good luck right kicking leg!
[MENTIONS- NONE] ( I totally forgot about this and I am so sorry T^T )
__________________
|Turtlepaw|Honeyoak|
Art Cave!! Come and fill out the form for some awesome drawings of your own characters!!! [/CENTER]
Last edited by FruitBatz; November 3rd, 2024 at 10:21 AM.
Sleepysunrise
[ 13 moons | She / Her | Shc Enforcer | Shadow Fiend ]
She hated that they were right. Sleepysunrise didn’t want to make this an additional burden upon her grandmother’s back and, casting the valuable experience aside, wanted this issue dealt with swiftly. But she couldn’t protest against one she knew to be reasonable and… A seasoned warrior. Her grandmother’s Enforcer Commander. The younger blinked, resigning herself to this fate. Cloaked in shadows, she returned to whence they came alongside the two toms.
They returned to a bloody massacre. Her eyes trailed across the red-stained path, exciting the darkness, the putrid scent of the deceased rats and wiry snakes assaulting her nose like claws ripping through her pelt. She grimaced by bunching up the skin above her nose, silently approaching behind Hawkbite to listen in on the report, eyes turning to examine her grandmother and her instruction. Rookfire seemed to have the wounded handled after all, he didn’t need her budding in right now.
Ah. It was good she lent an ear it seemed, the tufts of her drums twitching lightly as they were requested to clean up the mess. She hadn’t considered herself a garbagewoman by job, but if Miss Grandmama requested as such then she wouldn’t oppose her decision. How hard could it be, besides? Rats and snakes were much easier to carry than a badger, and perhaps she might practice her gutting while she was at it, if Hawkbite didn’t scrutinise her every movement.
Dipping her head and waving Dawnstar off with a light sway of her momentarily lifted tail, the turned to her commander; she couldn’t quite tell what his take was on this cleaning duty, but he appeared diligent as always in performing his task. Following along, Sleepysunrise found herself with dirties and bloodied paws by the they finished making the three piles, her eyes scanning each of their contents. Just from cleaning up this mess she had been able to guess rats had to resemble badgers in their core components, in the sense that their insides seemed to filled to the brim with different things that spilled out when you cut open their stomachs.
On occasion she would use a deft claw to open up a snake or rat just a little more so she could take a better peek inside through the dried and cake-y blood, mindlessly covering her actions with the shadows of the trees that embraced her. It was a quick act; take a rat of snake that was already practically gutted, cut open its stomach just a little more and watch the remaining blood ooze out into a small grave she had dug for the prey before minutely poking and assessing the meaty flesh and organs that lay exposed to the naked eye, but made itself harder to see in it’s small size. It was interesting to find, for instance, that snakes seemed to have similar bone-y white substance trek through its entire body, unlike the badger, which explained their easily snapped back. Unfortunately she hadn’t much time to ponder and explore her exposed findings as much as she’d like, knowing Hawkbite was working just a few paces away, and she was already slower in her actions.
Eventually, however she too had helped bury a considerable amount of the fallen foes until none of the good ones were left, ear flicking back to the commander. She gave no sign of understanding other than a brief moment to stare at his retreating back before fetching five snakes and breaking into a trot to catch up with the ancient (in comparison) feline.
Only once they returned to deal with what was left over did the youngest enforcer truly turn to look at Hawkbite with what some may call and childlike expression of her eyes, despite the dull features that graced the rest of her face. His offer was ever so tantalising, if only it weren’t for her wondering if skinning within the clan’s territory was allowed. But as the commander proposed it, Sleepysunrise decided she could bring the ire of Dawnstar upon him as well in all factual manners of ‘he said we could, and he is my senior’. A childish thought perhaps, but on all accounts Sleepysunrise was no more than an angst-y teen at best, and a lost child at worst. So she agreed with a single slow nod, her rarely blinking gaze dragging from the brown, taller cat to the file at their paws where she pondered which snake had the best scales and would prove to be her best first victim. And, perhaps without needing to ask, he might to show her how to properly skin a snake. A sloppy skinned badger was one thing, a snake’s skin was much different.
ⵌ ➜ #GUTSPAW ˗ˏˋ ✮ it . teeth . bite . // seventeen moons ˎˊ˗
small spiky-furred black tabby with striking icy blue eyes. has a huge fluffy tail & a few scars in the shapes of bite-marks - notch in left ear.
❝HIGH ACHIEVER, DON'T YOU SEE? BABY, NOTHING COMES FOR FREE !!❞
『 彡 ➜ @Mica 』
To the shock of no one, Mistlewhisker declined bite's offer. "Oookey dokey, probably for the better. Can't say I ever tried it before, but I mean I can weave cobwebs so I feeel like it can't be that hard. Maybe, " It rambled on slightly, eyes flickering across the bloodied scenery. Huh. Diid they do all that? Wowzers. Lots of rats. When Gutspaw looked back, the deputy was gone. Vanished, even.
A yawn came from the apprentice, feeling awfully weary. And hungry. Dawnstar's call to go home echoed throughout its ears. Freedomm. Still woozy, bite staggered to stand up. It took a tumble, a wave of dizziness washing over it. Okay, c'mon man. The bleeding was not THAT bad. Nothing around it seemed real, though. Blurry and unfocused. Gutspaw dragged its paws to follow its clanmates, licking its lips hungrily. First food, then nap.
whereas dawnstars words made it appear as if she had little belief herself in demoting the apprentice, rook got the impression that she genuinely did not mind him doing so. in truth, he could understand why the leader would want rookfire, who way more involved with the situation and new to this to deal with it, though he wished for a bit more support secretly. this was new and scary considering his past and the ever lingering fear of a misstep costing him his rank and life. "will do ma'am" with another nod to dawnstar rookfire cleared his throat and started making his way over to pondpaw. quietly, he had considered barking a order at the younger cat and pull attention to her once again, make her embarrassed et cetera. but to be frank, he was for one too tired to care right now, and also didnt fancy being stared at while trying to explain this to her.
he had just arrived at his destination, it wasnt much of a walk anyway and he was quick on his paws, when he faintly heard dawnstar herself getting to scolding another apprentice, the one that had he had chosen as help because he sort of didnt expect them to be able to handle the battle and apperantly ultimately did something worth being pointed out as well. he didnt listen really, just fixed pondpaw with his eyes, and shifted his attention back to her. "pondpaw" he began lowly before internally stumbling over his words, unsure how in stars name a demotion after the fact was supposed to happen and nausea poking at him distractingly. "i need ta' talk to ye" kind of? sort of? that worked, probably. with dawnstars call to return to camp, he quickly gathered his remaining herbs and set off to discuss things with pondpaw on the way back.
"im not gonna demote ye but youre not becomin' a warrior for another moon or two" he finally spoke, voice muffled slightly through the herbs he was carrying before he twisted around (without stumbling at that) to tuck the herbs away safely and allow the medicine cat apprentice to speak freely. controlling anger had never been his strong suit, engrained in his very being that emotions were bad and subconciously choosing that anger was the easiest one to show. the least vulnerable. perhaps he would change, eventually, but for now, rookfires bark was just as viscious as his bite. but for now, he would at least try. "i know ye were trying ta' help n im tryna be civil here right, but 's not somethin' ya can do. im here for a reason n dawnstar told ye ta' fix up yer more minor wounds not go 'round playin' medicine cat"
[ wow im late sorry for that. @anika @Undertaker - very minor dawn interaction ]
Sleepysunrise
[ 13 moons | She / Her | Shc Enforcer | Shadow Fiend ]
She hated that they were right. Sleepysunrise didn’t want to make this an additional burden upon her grandmother’s back and, casting the valuable experience aside, wanted this issue dealt with swiftly. But she couldn’t protest against one she knew to be reasonable and… A seasoned warrior. Her grandmother’s Enforcer Commander. The younger blinked, resigning herself to this fate. Cloaked in shadows, she returned to whence they came alongside the two toms.
They returned to a bloody massacre. Her eyes trailed across the red-stained path, exciting the darkness, the putrid scent of the deceased rats and wiry snakes assaulting her nose like claws ripping through her pelt. She grimaced by bunching up the skin above her nose, silently approaching behind Hawkbite to listen in on the report, eyes turning to examine her grandmother and her instruction. Rookfire seemed to have the wounded handled after all, he didn’t need her budding in right now.
Ah. It was good she lent an ear it seemed, the tufts of her drums twitching lightly as they were requested to clean up the mess. She hadn’t considered herself a garbagewoman by job, but if Miss Grandmama requested as such then she wouldn’t oppose her decision. How hard could it be, besides? Rats and snakes were much easier to carry than a badger, and perhaps she might practice her gutting while she was at it, if Hawkbite didn’t scrutinise her every movement.
Dipping her head and waving Dawnstar off with a light sway of her momentarily lifted tail, the turned to her commander; she couldn’t quite tell what his take was on this cleaning duty, but he appeared diligent as always in performing his task. Following along, Sleepysunrise found herself with dirties and bloodied paws by the they finished making the three piles, her eyes scanning each of their contents. Just from cleaning up this mess she had been able to guess rats had to resemble badgers in their core components, in the sense that their insides seemed to filled to the brim with different things that spilled out when you cut open their stomachs.
On occasion she would use a deft claw to open up a snake or rat just a little more so she could take a better peek inside through the dried and cake-y blood, mindlessly covering her actions with the shadows of the trees that embraced her. It was a quick act; take a rat of snake that was already practically gutted, cut open its stomach just a little more and watch the remaining blood ooze out into a small grave she had dug for the prey before minutely poking and assessing the meaty flesh and organs that lay exposed to the naked eye, but made itself harder to see in it’s small size. It was interesting to find, for instance, that snakes seemed to have similar bone-y white substance trek through its entire body, unlike the badger, which explained their easily snapped back. Unfortunately she hadn’t much time to ponder and explore her exposed findings as much as she’d like, knowing Hawkbite was working just a few paces away, and she was already slower in her actions.
Eventually, however she too had helped bury a considerable amount of the fallen foes until none of the good ones were left, ear flicking back to the commander. She gave no sign of understanding other than a brief moment to stare at his retreating back before fetching five snakes and breaking into a trot to catch up with the ancient (in comparison) feline.
Only once they returned to deal with what was left over did the youngest enforcer truly turn to look at Hawkbite with what some may call and childlike expression of her eyes, despite the dull features that graced the rest of her face. His offer was ever so tantalising, if only it weren’t for her wondering if skinning within the clan’s territory was allowed. But as the commander proposed it, Sleepysunrise decided she could bring the ire of Dawnstar upon him as well in all factual manners of ‘he said we could, and he is my senior’. A childish thought perhaps, but on all accounts Sleepysunrise was no more than an angst-y teen at best, and a lost child at worst. So she agreed with a single slow nod, her rarely blinking gaze dragging from the brown, taller cat to the file at their paws where she pondered which snake had the best scales and would prove to be her best first victim. And, perhaps without needing to ask, he might to show her how to properly skin a snake. A sloppy skinned badger was one thing, a snake’s skin was much different.
The Commander appreciated all the work the younger Enforcer was willing to do. It wasn't everyday a warrior would do a task without a complaint. At one point that was a standard, but the apprentices these days always complained. Younger warriors often, too. He wasn't sure why or when it became a thing, but Sleepysunrise was one of the few times he'd agree to such a young Enforcer. Silverlark was in that boat, too, but outside of that, he wasn't impressed by anyone else. Dawnstar picked them better than he did.
As the younger Enforcer gathered close to him, he sat down with the snake between his paws. "Snakeskin is rough. They have scales, they act like armor from our teeth and claws. They're still easy to tear, but it's more dulling on our claws for sure," Hawkbite began to explain, flipping the snake over and examining the few puncture wounds on the back of the skull. That was okay. He could work around that.
"So we're going to start are the base of the skull, here," Hawkbite spoke, pointing to the head of the snake before carefully prying a claw beneath its scales. He'd lift it slightly to show Sleepysunrise what he was doing. "Beneath those scales is skin. Very soft, easily cut. We'll take our claws and go all the way around it," Hawkbite spoke, making an incision as straight as he could all the way around the neck of the snake. Hawkbite would repeat the process to the very tip of the tail, freeing the scales from the skin.
Then, Hawkbite bit down on the head of the snake, placing one paw on the severed tail tip before he'd crane his neck and pull. A few sickening noises occurred as the body of the snake slid free from the skin of the snake. It left both the skin and the meat in-tact. He'd drop the meat to the ground, examining his work breifly before pushing the skin towards the younger warrior for her to look at. "You have to do that quickly and with no hesitation. The body comes apart from the skin very easily if done right. You're welcome to give it a try and I can help if you need," Hawkbite spoke, gesturing to the slew of the snakes still needing hauled back or buried.[
"You can't flay them like a normal animal. Their scales are hard to get through and it looks sloppy if you try. I think it looks nicer to keep it whole like this. Maybe if you went through very slowly and go between every scale, you could, but there's no time for that currently," the dark tabby finished, pushing the flayed snake into the pile of snakes he was planning on taking back.
"Let me know when you're ready to head back. We'll take some more prey with us," he confirmed, watching Sleepysunrise either attempt flaying a snake or gather up her prey.
The warrior padded in with a level gaze and a constant pace. Her patrol members had slinked in a bit slower than she would've liked (who was she kidding? They were far too slow for her liking, had her tail about ready to snap off waiting for them), but she didn't complain externally and kept her own words of possible poison to herself.
The overcast clouds allowed for a blanket of shade, but of course, some sunlight peaked through. It was Dawning Woods after all, much to her own dismay. She slowed to an even stop, blue eyes tracing the trees before looking back to her apprentice, Mosquitopaw. "Come." She whispered to him, her marbled and fluffy ears giving a flick. She then looked up to the rest of her patrol. Assuming that Cinderpaw knew how to hunt, she would just send her off with Daintycurl. "Go." She said simply, her tone light and wispy.
She held her apprentices gaze for a few heartbeats longer before flicking the tip of her tail. Keep up, kid. she thought, giving her paws a shake every once in awhile to rid them from frost as she padded. She opened her mouth and sniffed the numbing air. Something... Unfamiliar hit her soft pallet. It was definitely a bird though. Icy eyes narrowed as she looked for the source of the scent.
Oh, enough of that. She had a cat to teach. The warrior suddenly flicked her tail to Mosquitopaw's nose, giving him a look. Smell. The key to hunting is smell, unless you want to live off dirt. there was a flash of humor in her eyes, but it left as soon as it came.
(Are we all good with following the prompt? I'd love to chase some turkeys! Or, get chased by one.)
Tags:
@nyme // Mosquitopaw
@Neptune. // Cinderpaw
@flowsie // Daintycurl
__________________
❝And the cats kill one by one!❞
- Hartebeest by Yalokre
Re: Dawning Woods
]
Re: Dawning Woods
