quick paws collected a wide array of sticks and stones, formatting them in a circular shape to both mark his herbs and ensure none would be blown away by the wind whilst he collected more. the repetitive yet irregular sound of paws folding blades of grass was calming as he tracked back and forth between his herb pile and the surrounding two fox lengths, taking great care in collecting mostly evenly shaped rocks. to top it off, his eyes fell on a flat light grey stone, decorated by a thin blueish grey line of stone cutting through its centre artistically, it was light in his mouth yet remained smooth even after teeth scraped its surface. carefully, he placed it atop the herbs, taking another moment to take in its unique colour and even shape. it reminded him a bit of the butterfly he had caught a few days ago, coloured in soft blues and whites, far more intense than the blueish grey of this rock and the dull blue line in its middle, yet similar in ways he didn't bother to observe for long enough to point out.
with the marigold safely stashed, protected from wind and prying eyes for the moment, rookfire turned back, this time taking the shortest path towards the shade. cool, moist soil and moss covered roots seemed like the best place to start his search for mushrooms, specifically keeping his eyes open for the slowly rotting wood of old trees and splintered off pieces of bark. after few pawsteps across moist soil, taking longer strides to not step onto any moss every once in a while, and enjoying the cool the shade provided, rookfires senses filled with the heavy scent of rotting wood. sweet in a weird way he couldnt specify and causing him to open his maw, let more of the scent enter his system and satisfy the urge to fully learn to know it. quite the weird thing bodies did sometimes, try to inhale all of the air laced with woody sweet rot. rook slipped through a bush, not without cringing at the way his fur dragged over the ground momentarily, and found himself facing the herb he suspected mossfreckle had described. honestly, he had an advantage, even regarding herbs he didnt really know personally, one could only stay in the medicine den for so long, especially after moving from where the patients remained closer to the opposite side, without taking a curious glance or two into the cracks that held shadowclans herbs. it was..odd, sometimes. to know he was welcome within the den and trusted even in sleep three or so moons after being threatened with death..
refocusing his thoughts on the task, he eyed the smooth brown dome shaped caps, towering atop lighter greyish brown stalks. they looked soft, fragile, little nicks and bruising clearly visible as darker colourations, and rookfire made a point of carefully breaking off two of the mushrooms crowded on the moss coated, mildly slimy tree stump. bending down to place the two mushrooms atop deep green moss, he observed the edges of the step discolouring right in front of his eyes, light greyish brown turning a more clear, deep brown. odd. the first thought that made its way through his head was the one of blood pooling at the edges of a wound, tinting skin and fur dark red. the mushroom however, very clearly had no blood, causing rookfire to jerk his eyes away and shake the thought from his head.
instead of gathering everything in a pile and taking it back to his ‘storage’ together, rookfire chose to walk back to it with only his two mushrooms and collect more on his way back before repeating the action. after a while he felt like dizziness was slowly setting in, having repeated the same path of movement way too many times, but finding himself presented with 6 proper looking mushrooms.
after returning to the shade he had just left to carry the last two mushrooms back to his little collection, rookfire peered up the trees before taking a calculated route around them in order to scout out possible spots to find cobwebs. old trees bearing many gapes and hollows presented a prime opportunity for cobweb collection but one particular cavity stood out to him as it glistened silvery in the low light. upon closer inspected a dark spider moved along the web. thin, lengthy limbs sprouting from a dark brown, narrow body, sitting elegantly atop thin silken strands, sewn together into a unique web and doted with only tiny specks of dust. rookfire didnt know much about spiders or their spinning of cobwebs, but this web looked so clean it couldnt have hung in this crack for more than a few hours. momentarily, he felt something akin to pity, the knowledge that the spider had spent time and energy on this web.. well it was a shame to destroy it and leave the insect homeless wasnt it. with a quick, yet controlled movement, rookfire swiped the spider off the web, holding it closer to his face to commit its appearance to memory, before letting his tongue dart out and crushing the spider between his premolars. it had a kind of dusty taste, he expected from the animal that created equally dusty webs, and twitched longer than he enjoyed, but didnt really make for lingering thoughts as he collected the web.
the next cobweb the enforcer turned to was spider-free and spanning between the low hanging branches of a pine tree, rocking softly in the warm summer breeze. whilst it took a few tries to wrap its entirety around the stick whilst standing on his hind paws to reach, it payed off with a relatively large amount of web in the end. following this ‘too high’ web was one in the very corner of a hollow, making him reach and struggle to get close enough. the next few cobwebs were unspectacular, most of them positioned in easy to reach hollows or the entrance of old rabbit dens. the last attempt he made ended in sticky threads spanning across his face and the itchy feeling of spider legs moving over fur that made him decide to finally track back across the clearing to drive sticks into soft soil and leave the spiders webs with his small collection of marigolds and mushrooms.
now for celandine, the new herb on his list and tragically also the one he had not the biggest expectations for finding. not knowing what exactly it looked like was one thing, that in combination with not knowing where it liked to grow had him wandered aimlessly. eyes, or rather eye, blindness and all, fixed on the thick dark grass beneath and in front of his paws, rookfire moved in lopsided half circles, methodically scanning the grass and surrounding areas for the herb in question. soon enough, he had stepped over coltsfoot on the way, ignoring it in order of keeping his carry capacity clear for when he would find celandine. even if it turned out to not grow around here, unlike prey, the coltsfoot wouldnt run away. luckily enough, celandine didnt appear to be very picky with its location and he came across a nice little group of it in the half shade beneath a large dark tree.
at least he was pretty sure that was celandine.. standing straight at a relative large height, four petaled yellow flowers crowed atop thin green stems, decorated with pinnate, waxy, blue-green leaves. thin, acicular capsule-ish shaped, green somethings surrounded some of the smaller flowers as well, curling in a sort of stiff fashion that made rook curious about the inner workings of the plant.
upon tearing off the first flower, rookfire watched as translucent yellow liquid escape the remaining stem, still a good few centimeters off the ground and decorated by a ragged tear where sharp incisors had cut through flesh, resisting the urge to give it a taste and instead tearing off another two flowers. he had been lucky, spotted a group of celandine plants large enough to just collect them all then and there without having to search once again. by the time the dark enforcer turned his back to the shaded space, a good few of the flowers were missing its heads and approximately half its stems.
he couldnt remember ever collecting ladys mantle, not in shadowclan, not ever, he wasnt sure if there had even been a chance for him to make use of that knowledge..rook was almost sure he had been taught about this just a moon or so before mistyshard took what was so rightfully his but what he would now burn if he could. whatever, the enforcer swallowed the lingering distain for riverclan and their failure of a medicine cat to think about ladys mantle again. or rather the starry replica he had seen in mossfreckles starry mind, placed upon dark moist rock and translucent, fading in and out of existance. the version of the herb he would gather today would hopefully not be anywhere near as starry and translucent and maybe a nice green instead. the first thing he spotted were the yellow-green flowers held high above the body of the plant, clusters of it reaching out for the sun. ground covering as it was, rookfire questioned which part he needed but decided it would hardly make sense to send them to collect the small clusters of flowers so far into greenleaf, when most of the flowers had already dried and died, perhaps returned to rest inside the plant until the next season cycle. in the shade the grass still had some moisture to it, transferring to his paws and any fur that managed to catch on the undergrowth, this particular one however appeared to have gathered quite a bit of dew over the night. water droplets clinging to the fine hairs covering the plant, rookfire tipped it over to let the water roll off, before collecting what he had come here for.
next on this seemingly never ending list, thyme. for this one, he had actually had a bit of experience collecting it, and it definitely helped that he was aware of its preference for more sunny spots. no longer walking the shadows, rookfire didnt have to walk far between the place he had stashed all the herbs and a sunlit patch of meadow. next on this seemingly never ending list, thyme. for this one, he had actually had a bit of experience collecting it, and it definitely helped that he was aware of its preference for more sunny spots. no longer walking the shadows, rookfire didnt have to walk far between the place he had stashed all the herbs and a sunlit patch of meadow.
whilst thyme wasnt as eye catching as a lot of the other plants he had collected, this particular plant still had some of the unique white flowers blooming high atop the stalks and making the otherwise greyish green plant stand out against dark background. the strong smell thyme let off, welcoming him even two foxlenghts away from the plant, had always somewhat reminded him of lavender, though he wasnt sure if it was because of the shared used in covering up the scent of death, or because they actually smelled similarly.
leaning down to collect the thyme, he watched a grasshopper do what he was made to do, hop. a striking green that looked pretty unfortunate in relation to blending into its territory, but actually turned out to make the grasshopper disappear into the grass before he could even finish the thought. thyme collected easily, the way back was mostly uneventful like every other one before, only interrupted by one white tipped paw sinking into sandy soil and yanking it back only to realise he had stepped in an ant hill and had hundred of little bugs crawling over him. sped up to something that could almost be described as a trot and simply hopping away from the ants, he shook them off his leg best he could, before returning his find to the pile.
another herb used to cover up the scent of death, if he was a different cat he would perhaps take joy in placing a rumour that mossfreckle was planning on committing a large amount of murders. but he wasnt, and was also aware that rosemary and thyme dried pretty well and were probably one of the herbs that could be kept around for longer. it was honestly not his place to wonder either. rookfire mightve offered his position in the medicine den as a guard (even if his reasonings mightve been a bit selfish under all his talk about duty), acting on his enforcer duty even in injury, but what went on wasnt his business as long as it wasnt harming the clan. in addition to having a strong scent and similar use, rosemary also happened to prefer drier, sunnier places, drawing him out into the sun once again. by now, it had crept quite high into the sky, almost reaching its peak, and burning down with familiar greenleaf intensity.
the rosemary bush he came across first had some rather dry parts but most of the needle like leaves were still a strong green colour, some even topped by small flowers blooming a blueish purple.
widening his stance, the enforcer adjusted his position for easier access to the plant, bent down and quite pitifully gnawing at the hard stalks, he got quite a bit of taste from the plant. not the best thing he had tasted, a bit sour, regular plant type taste and just its smell but worse, but also not the worst, and it was worth the attempt.
finally yanking the first bit off the plant, he cringed, realising that he would smell like rosemary for the foreseeable future dawning on his after having already spread the smell over dark fur.
second to last, finally, was juniper berries. for this one, rookfire had to leave the area a bit, seek out drier soil and sunnier places, drier, lighter grass and a multitude of flowers spread out over the dapples of light where the large pine trees gave way to the light breaking through thin greenleaf clouds. the typical dry, hardy stem and needle like leaves were easy to spot, greyish blue, cloudy looking berries mounted on thin brown or deep green shoots. amongst the blueish green of the needle shaped leaves, the light blue tone of berry clusters was hard to miss and rookfire took the time to select the ones that looked best. the ones with least blemishes, a lack of insect originated holes digging into light flesh, and least sun damage. the only thing standing between the enforcer and the berries was the height of the plant now, as standing on his hind legs had failed, rookfire pushed through the leaves and branches, to scale the structure from the inside out. berries and leaves made their way to the ground, white tipped paws were placed on a thick branch, pushing outwards until he was close enough to the berries he had selected from outside. with his stomach pressed to the wood, instead of just selectively gathering the berries, rookfire chose the, in his mind, safer option by yanking at the smaller shoot off of branches until they ripped off, ensuring the berries wouldnt be harmed on the way back to camp. he repeated the same motion a few more times, periodically shaking small insects, bark and leaves from his dark pelt, before creeping backwards, spinning awkwardly and then finally lowering himself down again. luckily, he hadnt been that high up, climbing still far from his favourite activity and possible the cause for his death one day. stars if he felt like his soul was passing to starclan simply slipping whilst on the way down from a small tree-bush-thing, he wasnt sure he would survive another incident like recently with sleepysunrise.
after dropping of the last couple of herbs, this time skipping out on shifting the stone on top of the other herbs, since the juniper berries werent really something he expected to be carried away by the wind, he turned back to face the territory, but remaining stationary to stretch his back briefly. lastly, the herb he had only gotten a description for, lovage. he should probably ask mossfreckle for more information soon..but for now, with a small pile of herbs waiting for his return, the enforcer would have to be alright with just the short description of its appearance. tall bushy, three pointed leaves, thick to slim stems with a red base and green top, he could do that yeah, something about the smell wouldve been nice but rookfire wasnt one to turn down a bit of personal research.
it took a while, but rookfire found something that resembled mossfreckles description of lovage in a sunny patch in the middle of the meadow, bathing in the warmth of midday sunshine.
the first thing rookfire noticed upon stepping closer was both the presence of the very much red bottom of stems, sprouting out of the ground a deep red and thick, to then getting thinner and bleeding red into green, and the unique smell. relatively intense, spicy but carrying the same bitter smell a lot of plants did, mixed with a early sweetness rookfire wasnt sure how to place. the stems grew in a similar pattern to large flowers, up and tilted slightly towards the side in what would appear to be a cirle from above, weight of the leaves weighing down the not very flexible looking stems. the leaves itself were thin an smooth, something between dull and shiny that gave rook the impression of a waxy feeling, and had a shape similar to that of a maple leaf, grouped together as trios. carefully, as he did not know how much force it took to rip and destroy lovage, the enforcer picked some before finally making his way back to his stash to await his patrol mates.
"we are heading back, i'll go back and fetch the rest of my stuff once you are all in camp." rookfire announced to his patrolmates, hoping they would actually understand that they were not welcome to return to his stash after re-entering camp. finally, he picked the lovage back up, gave a flick of his dark grey-white striped tail, and set a brisk speed back to camp.
Pondpaw
Silver Tongue Tier Two [ Inactive ]
Kitty Softpaws Tier Two [ Inactive ]
Mind Reader [ Inactive ]
Pondpaw followed Tuftedtusk out of the camp and into the territory, her tail swaying behind her.
´´I caught a blackbird whenever I took that flaying lesson with Dawnstar and Cloverpaw,´´ The former RiverClanner meowed after a moment, breaking the silence. ´´It was my first catch. Dawnstar had me demonstrate it to her and explain to Cloverpaw what hunting was like.´´
°•○◇ TUFTEDTUSK ◇○•° He/Him • Enforcer • 30M • ShC A large marbled tabby tom with large tusk-like teeth
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Pride warmed his fur and he let out a rumbling purr. "Well done! Blackbirds aren't easy." He mewed, continuing to walk. "I'm just sad I couldn't see your first catch."
Stopping and dropping into a crouch, he motioned to Pondpaw to do the same. "Rabbit." He hissed quietly to her, angling his ears a ways away where the rabbit grazed on long stalks of grass and flowers in a clearing surrounded by pines. Now to test her skills. "I'm going to go around it. Once I give you the signal I'm in position, I'm going to chase it towards you."
Pondpaw
Silver Tongue Tier 2 [ Inactive ]
Kitty Softpaws Tier 2 [ Active ]
Mind Reader [ Active ]
48 / 100
Pondpaw's eyes brightened at the praise, a soft purr rumbling in her throat. She nodded eagerly at Tuftedtusk's instructions, dropping into a crouch beside him. Her blue-gray fur blended well with the shadows, and she focused intently on the rabbit in the distance, her heart beginning to race with excitement.
"Got it," she whispered back, her voice steady despite the anticipation building inside her. She glanced at Tuftedtusk, her eyes gleaming with determination. "I'll be ready."
She adjusted her stance, making sure she was positioned perfectly to spring into action the moment Tuftedtusk gave the signal. This was her chance to prove herself, and she wasn't going to let it slip away.
°•○◇ TUFTEDTUSK ◇○•° He/Him • Enforcer • 30M • ShC A large marbled tabby tom with large tusk-like teeth
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Nodding to her, he crept around the Rabbit, being sure the wind was moving toward him. Once he was on the other side, he gazed at his apprentice.
Seeing Pondpaw was in position, he let out a wild screech and charged at the rabbit. The prey's eyes widened and it thundered towards his apprentices hiding spot.
Continuing his pace, his eyes locked on his prey, he only had one thought: get it Pondpaw!
Pondpaw's heart raced as she watched her mentor position himself on the other side of the rabbit. She crouched low, her blue-gray fur blending with the shadows, every muscle in her body tensed in anticipation. As the rabbit bolted toward her, spurred on by her mentor's screech, she knew this was her moment.
With a burst of energy, Pondpaw sprang from her hiding spot, her blue eyes focused intently on the rabbit. She moved with swift precision, aiming to intercept the prey before it could escape. As she neared it, she extended her claws, ready to make the catch.
"Got it!" she hissed to herself, determination fueling her movements. She hoped her training and instincts would guide her paws to success.
Claws met flesh as they sank into the rabbit. Before her quarry could squeal, Pondpaw´s strong jaws snapped its neck with a swift, clean bite.
@snowflake.
Ahhhhhh. Shrewstep breathed in a great breath as he stepped out of camp with Shadepaw presumably behind him, embracing the greater freshness and air movement the change in location afforded him. It was beautiful. He wanted to stand there for a moment later, but that was probably NOT what the very serious Shadepaw wanted to do. So, attempting to force himself into a slightly authoritative tone rather than his normal bubbly chirp (He had been like her once, he had been like that, but that was when he was scared. When he feared for his life and the lives of his family. He didn't want to be that ever again, even if it meant he was alone.), he began to natter on about their agenda.
Welcome to our territory! The best in all the clans, some might say! Yeah, screw being all serious. BORING. He was alive, he might as well enjoy it. Lots of pine trees, lots of wet bits, plenty of delightful places to hunt. We'll hit a few landmarks, visit the borders, and then see a few other fun places on the way back. They had accrued a lot of landmarks recently, but he didn't want anyone to accuse him of preparing his apprentice poorly. No, he ought to show her all there was to see. After waiting a moment to allow Shadepaw to get a good look around, he set off at a trot towards Darkwater Mire.
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Re: ShadowClan Territory
Quote:
Originally Posted by gs29513
@snowflake.
Ahhhhhh. Shrewstep breathed in a great breath as he stepped out of camp with Shadepaw presumably behind him, embracing the greater freshness and air movement the change in location afforded him. It was beautiful. He wanted to stand there for a moment later, but that was probably NOT what the very serious Shadepaw wanted to do. So, attempting to force himself into a slightly authoritative tone rather than his normal bubbly chirp (He had been like her once, he had been like that, but that was when he was scared. When he feared for his life and the lives of his family. He didn't want to be that ever again, even if it meant he was alone.), he began to natter on about their agenda.
Welcome to our territory! The best in all the clans, some might say! Yeah, screw being all serious. BORING. He was alive, he might as well enjoy it. Lots of pine trees, lots of wet bits, plenty of delightful places to hunt. We'll hit a few landmarks, visit the borders, and then see a few other fun places on the way back. They had accrued a lot of landmarks recently, but he didn't want anyone to accuse him of preparing his apprentice poorly. No, he ought to show her all there was to see. After waiting a moment to allow Shadepaw to get a good look around, he set off at a trot towards Darkwater Mire.
Shadepaw Pure black pelt; dark mackerel markings; amber eyes
She/her || 6 moons || ShadowClan Kit Agatha Kitty - Silver Tongue - Shadow Fiend
Post Count: 3/100 • Profile • Bio
Shadepaw followed her mentor out of the camp. Finally. She could see her territory, and learn about it. Looking around, she could see tall pine trees and patches of shadow where they block out the light. It was a bit damp everywhere, but fortunately her fur was short enough so as not to get too wet. She flicked her paw, droplets spiraling off it, annoyed. Not that she was complaining. It was just... Different than what she was used to. She could adjust.
Shadepaw looked at Shrewstep, who had begun talking. The best in all the clans? If so, the other territories must be more dreary than this one. Unlikely. Though she could believe it about Riverclan. Their whole territory probably stank like fish. "Okay," Shadepaw muttered. She was not looking forward to tromping through wetlands. Though, she gets to see the borders. A glimpse into the other clans. That made it worth it. And after all, this was her territory. It wasn't about to change. This was her chance to become acquainted with it. Hopefully, very acquainted.
Shadepaw followed Shrewstep, trotting off deeper into the territory.
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Last edited by snowflake.; August 28th, 2024 at 07:58 PM.
Right, a plan. She should've thought about that sooner. She looked away, a heartbeat going by as she thought of a course of action. "Well, I could climb up there and claw the thing down." She studied the height of the branch with a twitching tail, how quickly could she climb up there and get down before she was swarmed with angry bees? She extended her claws into the leaf litter with a slow exhale. "Unless you have an idea yourself?"
HOLLYFALL he/him. 18 moons. black and grey tom with cream speckling; orange eyes.
[ shadow fiend ]
hollyfall was, for once in his life, ecstatic when he heard the restriction had been lifted. no more being trapped in camp with his clanmates! he could search for all the bugs he wanted to by himself now! um, not that he like, hates his clanmates or anything. they're okay, good, even. just..a whole pawful of them are scary – correction, all of them are scary. and when there was a restriction, he he couldn't leave camp without taking someone with him! just remembering it makes him feel like a big ol' rain cloud.
luckily, he doesn't have to fret about that anymore. he's able to leave camp by himself, and the tom took full advantage of that. he left camp early in the morning, scurrying into the territory after snagging a piece of prey from the prey pile. he's mostly just been wandering around, truth be told. a true adventurer, he is.
though his exploring comes to a stop when he spots a piece of bark on the ground. lotsa bugs must be under there, he thinks, abruptly stopping in his tracks. long tail flicking, he pads closer to the piece of bark, pushing it up and off the ground with a paw. orange eyes widen, gleaming with excitement at the multiple insects that had been living underneath the piece of wood.
the one that really catches his eye, though, is a millipede. "hey there, lil' guy.." he murmurs gently, small grin on his maw as he crouches down to inspect the bug closely. if only he could spend all day doing this..talk about a dream!
Re: ShadowClan Territory
Re: ShadowClan Territory
