Twilight Falls - Page 38

**Rose** · #**371** May 12th, 2025, 02:12 PM

Post Count: 47/100 | Purrk(s): Lyrebird’s Lullaby & Don’t Mind If I Do!

[ Minor TW: Blood ]

Strawberrypaw knew she was supposed to let go, that she wasn't supposed to eat it. But following through was proving quite hard somehow. She does release it in the end, though she'd seemed to have ripped into the poor creature as it had died and there's streaks of blood trickling down her jaw as she lifts her head to grin at the warrior. "Did. It."

**sylvia26** · #**372** May 12th, 2025, 02:27 PM

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ BrightFire˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗
Tom|36 moons old|WindClan Warrior|Ultimate Predator - active
"I'd burn the whole world to protect what I love"
╚⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤╝

..••°°°°••..
he nods "alright, lets go get some more prey" he lifts his head and takes in his surroundings, pinpointing a rabbit near by, seems they were everywhere. he waved his tail for strawberrypaw to follow as he dropped into a crouch and began to stalk the animal, his claws out as he circled around and signaled for the apprentice to stay where she was at. he then rushed forward scaring the rabbit towards the apprentice "Get it!" he yowled, this would be the apprentice chance to learn group hunting.
°°••....••°°

@Rose

***Alchemist Kitsune*** · #**373** May 13th, 2025, 03:45 PM

Lightningstorm snorted at Whiterabbit's ramblings, openly dismissing her obvious, cat-that-woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-badger-sett look in favor of an innocent blink as she replied, "To be fair on Crowtooth, it was probably an honest mistake he didn't notice I hadn't even had time for a morning grooming session. Cat can't tell his head from his arse on a good day with all the dirt and mud he trails from both ends on a daily basis. He only grooms during the full moon under threat from me an' Hawkfur to drown him in the falls to make 'im decent again... erm... not that we've actually drowned him. Yet. Just... made him look presentable or whatnot."

Her explanation, while starting with as complacent a voice as she could muster ended with a positively smug smirk. The fact that she had been sent on the falls did give her cause to ponder if this had been the reason why she had been sent there, but it was probably a coincidence. The deputy probably had his mind as troubled and busy with all the current mishaps as she did. After all, for every patient she gained, he was down a warrior. She had said it once and she'd say it again. A happy clan was a clan with an out of work medicine cat. Probably the reason why WindClan was always in such a tiff, honestly... Stars forbid she have a bloody day off.

Still, a day of hunting was as good of a day off as Lightningstorm tended to get, so it was best to look at the silver lining than wallow in misery. As such, she twitched her tail, signaling to Whiterabbit that she was heading off. Her pace was brisk, and with the falls so close to camp, it wasn't a long walk. The most probable reason why no traps had been seen around the falls as of yet was because the twolegs hadn't found the place yet. If the twolegs had spent any time searching around the falls, they would have no doubt found the camp already, and all would have been lost. Perhaps the twolegs hated the water as much as most cats did? A possibility, but little more than baseless conjecture without proof for it. After all, even cats had their own individual tastes to take into account. No doubt the twolegs weren't so different in that regard.

"Well, this is us. Think we can bring a water vole or three back for the medicine den? No one ever brings those around, and they are such a tasty treat," she mewed, licking her lips in anticipation. Not noticing the clumsy falcon flying overhead with a fish far too big for it to comfortably carry as it perched above the falls.

@nyme [Whiterabbit]
| Biggest of apologies for the wait. Got a power outage late on Saturday and only got it back yesterday afternoon at a flickering, unpredictable rate at that. Will be asking for an extension for this. Again, so sorry for the tardy response.

|

**nyme** · #**374** May 13th, 2025, 10:15 PM

SOMETIMES MY MIND DON'T SHAKE AND SHIFT
BUT MOST OF THE TIME IT DOES

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ❖ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

WHITERABBIT . 25 MOONS . SHE/HER . WINDCLAN

Whiterabbit's more than happy to skitter off after Lightningstorm—yeeeeesss, movemovemove—, impeded only by some breathless snickering. She would make no such comments but it's cool that someone would. Less cool to be so busy getting her giggle on that she can't keep a straight line through the grass but Whiterabbit's more of a weave-about-aimlessly kind of cat anyway. It's fine. It's very intentional looking. No mistakes here, trust.

She gets there in one piece and that's what matters. Oh—but so does the nice weather. And, oh—so does the evident lack of The Obstacles. A shame, really; Whiterabbit's been so, so, sososo intrigued by all the recent fuss. She wants to play with An Obstacle. Or maybe just look, since the danger they present is well-known at this point. Whiterabbit wouldn't mind getting snapped by one of the strange new toys (for the attention and the drama of it all, you see) if it weren't the sort of thing she'd feel stupid about getting caught up in, at her big age with her big warrior training and all the big warnings about the twolegs and their nasty Obstacles to watch out for.

Guh. If only she'd gone out and found trouble any sooner, it might still feel cool and dramatic to get got. As it stands, she'll have to come up with some other way to get wrecked and cause a scene if she's to keep her pride intact. Some other way...

Whiterabbit tilts her head, a looooong look drifting toward Lightningstorm. If ever there were a cat to help scheme interesting and niche ways to get mangled (but it can't ruin me—but I'd like to cause a scene—but not because it's stupid—it has to look cool—but I want to be on my paws before I get bored—) then it'd definitely be the cat who has to Fix That Stuff. Who I'm sure would absolutely love to help me figure out cool ways to make her life harder for no reason. Her stare flicks up and away. Whiterabbit has just enough sense left to be mildly ashamed of herself. It doesn't last long.

Ah? Lightningstorm has a vole craving. Whiterabbit listens and nods and decides to hold on tightly to this information. Possibly for bribery purposes. Definitely because she simply hadn't known it before. Hadn't cared to pay any attention to the medicine cat's preferences, frankly. That shame from a moment ago almost wriggles back in but her mouth moves faster than her thoughts ever could.

"We'll see if there's anything that can be done about that! Let's aim for four, even." A bright, happy chirp. A big, happy smile. A very good and friendly clanmate who is only thinking warm, productive thoughts. "Did you wa—aa," Whiterabbit breaks off with a flinch, tawny eyes and narrow face turned toward—trouble? No, just some odd ripples skating out across the pond where something had just dropped. She hadn't seen the struggling fish finally break free but she had heard the nearby ploink just over the dull roar of the falls and now she's got her back arched and her tail bushed up about it.

"...Oh. Pond ghost." Whiterabbit deflates before skipping to the water's edge to try and see the ghost, or whatever it is that had ploinked, but she's not so intrigued that she looks hard. It couldn't have really been a ghost, after all. The fish scales don't catch her eye before she spins back with a shrug. "What do you think? Good omen about those water voles?"

@Alchemist Kitsune ; LIGHTNINGSTORM you're a-okay! kittyland writing can only happen at the rate The Real World allows o7

***Alchemist Kitsune*** · #**375** May 16th, 2025, 10:50 PM

The yelp and sudden splash breaking her from her daydreams of fresh water voles, the medicine cat's hackles raised momentarily, only to shake herself after realizing nothing had happened. Well, nothing save some ripples in the water, but she hardly had a thought for them before Whiterabbit remarked on the possibility of a ghost, a snort of amusement escaping her before it turned into a grimace of contempt. The idea of StarClan giving omens for a mere hunt on a good day was... impossible for her. The knowledge that StarClan was currently a right mess made that idea all the more unlikely to her. Not information she had to fully share with her companion, of course - in all earnest, StarClan helped so little their inability to communicate of late was barely felt at all - but Lightningstorm had never been the type to remain fully quiet when facing a question, even in the days when she had seen the rest of WindClan as the enemy.

"An omen of any sort would require StarClan getting their heads out of their arses for long enough that they can think of someone other than themselves, so I'll vote in favor of a coincidence. If it gets us more voles, though, I'll gladly promote how ripples in the water are a powerful portent of delicious meals to come," the herbalist responded gleefully, amusement glinting in her eyes as she approached the pool, only to see a... wait... was that a fish looking back up at her?!

Lapis hues blinked with surprise, her ruffled fur raising once more at the shock. Unlike most WindClan cats, Lightningstorm had never been fully against the idea of a swim in the falls, especially to gather the extra soft and absorbent moss that grew underwater. And yet in her time swimming she had never really seen a fish quite like this one? It seemed to be hurt, a scratch mark on its scales visible before it swam for dear life, clearly not interested in seeing if this new face was friend or foe. Decidedly foe, to be fair, as the medicine cat had every intention of trying to catch it before it swam away.

An angry, feathery sound coaxing her gaze skyward, she purred in amusement. The calico had always been of the mind that birds had one emotion and that was it. The sight of a legitimately crestfallen looking bird of prey was quite the sight, and she motioned with her head towards the falcon at Whiterabbit, a teasing tone in her voice as she mewed, "Seems to be an omen of less than stellar falcons in the area for certain. Now... about those five voles?"

Lightningstorm batted her eyes innocently as she turned her attention back on her companion, fully aware she had just added an extra vole to the target and being completely unapologetic about her. She never did get to eat much. And Crowtooth had completely wrecked her plans for a decent rest. As far as she was concerned, that was more than enough reason to be selfish and go for the type of prey she wanted. Fair was fair, and rabbit and hare were overrated anyway. Once Whiterabbit gave the sign, she'd be off to hunt. Dividing and conquering seemed like the smart play here, especially with that stupid falcon calling attention to predators in the area by virtue of existing and making an arse of itself.

@nyme [Whiterabbit]
| Got us an extension because I trusted my power zero percent, so we are still good on time, no worries! I'll roll for Lightningstorm to hunt in her next post so feel free to hunt now or just have Whiterabbit talk back or whatever you want! Again, very sorry about this one. Patrols are usually my highest priority, my week has just been... wonky.

|

**nyme** · #**376** May 19th, 2025, 01:54 AM

SOMETIMES MY MIND DON'T SHAKE AND SHIFT
BUT MOST OF THE TIME IT DOES

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ❖ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

WHITERABBIT . 25 MOONS . SHE/HER . WINDCLAN
LUCKY DUCK T2

"Hrmnn." A low, pensive noise. She's twisting her head back a bit, going to a three-legged stance awkwardly forward with one hind paw so she can itch at her ear. "If they're too lazy to speak for themselves then they won't stop anyone from speaking for them. A splash like that means full bellies tonight, for sure. Vole-full." Speaking of...she takes a moment, nose to the wind, jaws parted. Whiterabbit'll shrivel into a wee white husk and blow away with the wind out of sheer mortification if all this hoping and joking about today's impending Vole Catch Count backfires. There's something on the breeze besides the both of them that's promising, but she'll need to track it properly to be sure.

Four voles, actually. That's what that scent means. Might as well test the tensile strength on the power of positive thinking while they're out here. If anybody could use a prey-miracle, it's Windclan. If anybody in Windclan could use a prey-miracle, it's a cat who looks like she's been sitting down in her stinky little herb hole having a starving competition with herself. Not that that's my business. Her ear's had the living daylights itched out of it and she's got all four paws back on the ground. Lightningstorm has moved to the water's edge, spying something that Whiterabbit hadn't. The pale warrior shuffles around for a second peek, but she isn't any more focused than she had been the first time. Whiterabbit does not like the water. Like any drypaw, it scares her—which sometimes means she wants desperately to splash right in, but usually means she's happy to avoid it and not think about the things that live in it because those things are creepy!!

Lightningstorm appears to see one of those creepy things. Or maybe she's looking in earnest for that Pond Ghost but Whiterabbit doubts it. She only puts it all together when the medicine cat points out the young falcon overhead.

"Did—! Ohhhh. Poor guy! Point and laugh." She sticks her tongue out at the poor bird. "...Gosh, here's hoping we do better than it did. Fiiiive? Ough...." Whiterabbit pulls a dramatic wince, not bothering to keep her entertained grin at bay. Five voles simply is not happening. Four's probably not, either, but the challenge is a fun one regardless. "Welp! If ever there were a good time to hunt something to total annihilation, I guess now works. Please holler if you need me. I'm not scared of returning to Crowtooth without prey if that's how the day turns out but I'm not going back without you in...sort-of working order. Meet you back here in a bit." Ultimately, they are two grown cats and Twilight Falls has been deemed reasonably safe due to a lack of twoleg interference, so Whiterabbit has no qualms zipping off on her own. Racing off solo is, after all, the nicest part of any trip out of camp.

[ 2 ]

The first scent she finds yields nothing in the end. Whiterabbit spends a little too long trying to follow it to glory only to realize with a rush of outrage that she'd gone around in at least one circle, probably two. Sucking her teeth and mumbling a low curse, she's reminded of the other reason why getting to wander off on her lonesome is so nice: no witnesses. This never happened. She, a strong and capable warrior, would never make such an amateur mistake.

So, there.

[ 11 , 12 ]

Frustration sits with her, makes her sloppy. That's why her first kill of the day leaves her winded in the end. The rabbit she spies munching on foliage—no doubt sheltering in the wood by Twilight Falls to evade the ruckus elsewhere in the territory—could have been dispatched cleanly and easily had she not stomped up onto it. So, she sees it. Sittin' there all fat and beautiful. But that first shot at it? Fumbled on account of her own inability to take her time.

Whiterabbit'll justify the ensuing run-around to herself later on by insisting that she wanted an excuse to really stretch her legs, that rabbit-chasing is always an exciting and worthwhile exercise...but she does almost lose it to a burrow. Almost. And the catch is all that matters! And she'll die on that hill.

Those five voles are taking their sweet, sweet time falling right at her paws. If Whiterabbit wasn't already warm with exertion, she might have it in her to flush bashfully; looks like the pond omen isn't pulling through. Not for her, anyway. Hazel eyes roll hard in her head as she takes the long way back. Eeeuck, she's not giving up now, is she? There's still light in the sky and time in the day and hope and wishes and positive thinking and the power of friendship and—

And Whiterabbit returns with still only her rabbit, having not picked up even the slightest whiff of another catch on the way. Wellll. If trying to be chipper about this wasn't working then spite would have to. Small paws scoop out a safe hole to stash her catch for now, and then she's gone from the meeting point once more. Between the usual drone of the falls and the falcon and the two cats and all her own aimless meandering and rabbit-chasing through the brush (to say nothing of how Lightningstorm's own efforts are going—hopefully smoother than Whiterabbit's) it's more likely anything with a brain and a dash of prey instinct has vacated the lush area but where her dedication to having a good time fails her, she will rely on stubborn delusion. There's gotta be one vole around here somewhere and it's going to prance right out and die nicely in her teeth like a good little morsel and that is that.

[ 18 ]

She has to move out past the stretch of territory that she'd terrorized before to get any luck at all. Luck she does not deserve in the least, but luck she is given regardless. Something, somewhere, must get a real kick out of enabling her—probably for the best; something's got to counteract those piss poor hunting habits. The vole is small, a soft young thing and maybe an unimpressive meal overall, but she'll take what she can get. One is better than none and now that she's got what she needs to pass off as a responsible warrior (the rabbit) then she feels no shame in tromping around in pursuit of what she needs to avoid embarrassment (five one vole). The kill is quick, lacking the usual cruelty or time-wasting of a lot of Whiterabbit's hunting. She does her utmost not to squeal with delight all the way back. Take that! Take that take that take that!!

[ 1 rabbit, 1 vole ]

@Alchemist Kitsune ; LIGHTNINGSTORM

***Alchemist Kitsune*** · #**377** May 19th, 2025, 10:41 PM

An earnest laugh escapes Lightningstorm at the she-cat's response concerning StarClan's silence. It should probably not have been funny. In fact, as a medicine cat, she should no doubt be downright offended. She can almost see Cowtuft's soft, reprimanding head shake at her laugh. Can almost feel his paw bopping her nose in gentle disapproval. A sad thought, when one considered how StarClan failed their most loyal little WindClan follower to the very end. It's almost enough to make her good mood die off, and the light flickers from her eyes momentarily, the sorrow that has been trying to cling to her pelt for a few moons now making another desperate attempt to engulf her in its paralyzing trap. Gratefully, she had always been stubborn to a fault, and she shook herself, refusing to give in while there was work to be done.

As she waves a silent goodbye to Whiterabbit, she grins, knowing full well they would be lucky to find any voles at all. Still, she hadn't had a silly, playful challenge like this in a long time, and the herbalist desperately craved the distraction. To do anything that wasn't tending to the injured or dealing with herbs all day. It wasn't that she hated her job, but unlike warriors, there was never a break to her routine. It made life dreadfully boring. Even emergencies were sometimes met with little more than apathy as she realized it wasn't really an emergency and everything would turn out fine... or it was an emergency, but there was little she could do to help because there was only so much a cat could do against the twoleg traps.

Her thoughts consuming her momentarily, she found eyes staring big and devoid of emotion up at her as she blinked away the fog in her mind, realizing the fish from before had come back. Whiskers pursed with interest, Lightningstorm wondered just how tasty fish was. RiverClan made a point of feasting almost exclusively on them, didn't they? Of course, WindClan had an unhealthy obsession with rabbits and hares, and those were overrated. Still, who was she to say no to prey that was so clearly begging to be eaten?

The wiry she-cat did not know the first thing about fishing. Swimming was no problem, but hunting underwater seemed like a whole other skillset that was out of her reach. For now. Surely Crowtooth would commend her when she brought back a juicy fish for him to eat. Okay, that was a lie. He would scream bloody murder and potentially shove the damned thing down her throat. And yet being able to toss a fish at the tom seemed like such a delightful way to end the day. He'd told her to get some exercise. He hadn't specified how.

A mrowr of amusement escaping her, Lightningstorm crouched, ready to pounce in the water the moment the fish stopped staring at her. A long lasting endeavor, as evidently the creature was wary after its entanglement with Fish Dropper the Falcon Wonder. Muscles tense, she thought about giving up on her quest for fish or to simply toss herself into the pool and hope for the best when it finally happened. The fish turned. Far quicker than she expected. She took a leap of faith, hoping to have her claws meet scales once she splashed in only to hear a confused bird of prey's cry as she felt a smack on her stomach, feathers getting tangled in her claws instead.

It took the herbalist a second to realize what had happened. Her mind had always been quick in moments of action, thank the stars, but even she had not expected Fish Dropper to have come swooping down on the fish at the same instance she had pounced on it. For stars' sake, this bird was a right bloody moron! Even she could tell as the two of them thrashed in the water, the falcon's dive so thoroughly interrupted it had begun drowning while flapping its wings uselessly, looking more like a wet rat with wings than a magnificent predator of the sky. That hit should have killed her. The medicine cat was sure of it. Yet somehow it seemed this bird had either been very confident in his ability to catch this fish with a half arsed dive or... very incompetent. Considering how they got to this position, she was going with the latter option.

Eyes focused on their target, her swimming far more agile than his, she spotted her chance and took it. The falcon's flailing exposing its neck, she bit down hard, fangs sinking into the life pumping artery in an instant. That was the bright side of being a healer when it came to hunting, she supposed. She could always tell were the most lethal damage could be dealt. A case further proved by how still the falcon had grown as she pulled it out of the water, its weight much heavier than it should be no doubt because of waterlogged feathers. Or so she had thought.

One look at her prey as she got fully outside of the water made her realize her mistake. The falcon's feathers seemed to be water proofed in some way, the water sliding off it with ease. Unlike the now dead fish it held to dearly even in death, its talons locked with a grip far stronger than she would have expected such a clumsy bird to have been capable of. Well... it wasn't a vole... but a falcon and a fish alongside a much needed bath didn't seem like a bad hunt at all. Now all she needed to do was meet up with Whiterabbit and they could head back. Because there was no way Lightningstorm would be ale to carry more than these two pieces of prey back to camp. She was petite, not a mountain of a cat like some overgrown dust mites she could name right about now.

[ +1 Fish | +1 Falcon ]
@nyme [Whiterabbit]