( I hope it's okay that I've selected Muskrat Mire! Oriole needs to visit this place for his training, so I figured it would be nice to kill two birds with one stone. )
Oriolepaw gazed around the dark, dreary swampland. This place was certainly the worst of ThunderClan's landmarks, in his opinion. It was so... boring looking and sad. He wondered if this land had once belonged to ShadowClan; it would certainly explain some things.
Turning to Buzzflight and Hailhawk, he confidently proclaimed, "I'd like to try to catch a mink. I've heard stories about them, but I've never seen one face-to-face. If the kit stories are true, then it should be a great prey item to bring back to the Clan."
__________________
Fadingstar is currently RiverClan's leader. He has an open den policy; his den can be found here. If you have any questions or concerns about RiverClan, or any plots to propose, feel free to leave me a VM or DM! Please do not take my characters' IC opinions as reflective of my own.
[ @Cherry~ @poseidon ] BUZZFLIGHT
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The tiny calico followed after the apprentice, leaving Hailhawk to bring up the rear. Soon enough, it became apparent that they were headed towards Muskrat Mire. Buzzflight didn’t go there often, but she visited enough that she was familiar with the terrain. It was good hunting grounds, that was sure.
The apprentice stopped abruptly, and a distracted Buzzflight barely skidded to a stop in time to avoid running into Oriolepaw. Recovering quickly, she tilted her head, intrigued by the brazenness of this younger cat. “A mink, eh?” she said, a grin across her maw. It wasn’t amusement that made her smile, but admiration. It reminded her of something she would do as an apprentice.
“A mink would definitely be an impressive catch,” she agreed, musing over this goal. Of course, Buzzflight was probably the same size as a full grown mink, even with all her fluffy fur. But both Hailhawk and Oriolepaw were likely large enough to have a good shot at taking one on. And based on the apprentice’s confidence, Buzzflight assumed he was a well-trained hunter, despite not yet being a warrior.
“All right then,” she approved, excited for this adventure. “Go crazy, kid!” she encouraged. “Just, uh, don’t get yourself injured, yeah?” she cautioned, furrowing her brow in mild concern. She didn’t want Thrushfur upset with her for endangering an apprentice, and she had heard some pretty extreme stories about cats being attacked by minks. Ferocious little beasts, they were.
Mood switching back to excitement promptly, she perked up once more. “Good luck!” she said cheerily. “I’ll follow a little ways behind in case you need any help. Not that you will though, you got it!” Yes, that was encouraging, right?
Feathernose sniffed the cool, new-leaf air. A sweet breeze wove through the trees, delivering to her the scent of prey. Following it, crouching and stalking, then pouncing and killing. Repeat.
__________________
Ain't much that I know what to put 'ere...
"And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies." - Haymitch
( I hope it's okay that I've selected Muskrat Mire! Oriole needs to visit this place for his training, so I figured it would be nice to kill two birds with one stone. )
Oriolepaw gazed around the dark, dreary swampland. This place was certainly the worst of ThunderClan's landmarks, in his opinion. It was so... boring looking and sad. He wondered if this land had once belonged to ShadowClan; it would certainly explain some things.
Turning to Buzzflight and Hailhawk, he confidently proclaimed, "I'd like to try to catch a mink. I've heard stories about them, but I've never seen one face-to-face. If the kit stories are true, then it should be a great prey item to bring back to the Clan."
Quote:
Originally Posted by ophelia
[ @Cherry~ @poseidon ] BUZZFLIGHT
■□■□■□■□■□■□■
The tiny calico followed after the apprentice, leaving Hailhawk to bring up the rear. Soon enough, it became apparent that they were headed towards Muskrat Mire. Buzzflight didn’t go there often, but she visited enough that she was familiar with the terrain. It was good hunting grounds, that was sure.
The apprentice stopped abruptly, and a distracted Buzzflight barely skidded to a stop in time to avoid running into Oriolepaw. Recovering quickly, she tilted her head, intrigued by the brazenness of this younger cat. “A mink, eh?” she said, a grin across her maw. It wasn’t amusement that made her smile, but admiration. It reminded her of something she would do as an apprentice.
“A mink would definitely be an impressive catch,” she agreed, musing over this goal. Of course, Buzzflight was probably the same size as a full brown mink, even with all her fluffy fur. But both Hailhawk and Oriolepaw were likely large enough to have a good shot at taking one on. And based on the apprentice’s confidence, Buzzflight assumed he was a well-trained hunter, despite not yet being a warrior.
“All right then,” she approved, excited for this adventure. “Go crazy, kid!” she encouraged. “Just, uh, don’t get yourself injured, yeah?” she cautioned, furrowing her brow in mild concern. She didn’t want Thrushfur upset with her for endangering an apprentice, and she had heard some pretty extreme stories about cats being attacked by minks. Ferocious little beasts, they were.
Mood switching back to excitement promptly, she perked up once more. “Good luck!” she said cheerily. “I’ll follow a little ways behind in case you need any help. Not that you will though, you got it!” Yes, that was encouraging, right?
The large white tom was following along behind the others two, just a short ways back though.
When the apprentice stated his idea, Hailhawk nodded encouragingly. "I assume you already know this, but I'd suggest checking by water. They like to hang there." He told the apprentice.
(i feel stupid with my short post length in comparison to you two's but this is all I can really do)
__________________
He/Him, trans guy and bi/pan
Most active between 3-11pm EST mondays and fridays
In school from 7:45am-2:45pm EST mon-fri. weekends vary with my schedule
Not online afterschool wednesdays or thursdays (at karate the whole night)
Very active on discord (shaae_26)
I'm a 10th grader in highschool and I try to be a helpful person on site so feel free to ask me any WCO questions!
~~~~~ Pronouns are He/Him | EST Time Zone | My Birthday is March 1st. | Favorite color is purple. | About Me
~~~~~
{Jackdawkit} - {Falconkit}
~~~~~
Oriolepaw was pleased that neither of his patrolmates protested at his idea to catch a mink, but was equally surprised at their willingness to let him try to catch one on his own.
Hearing Hailhawk's advice, he turned his gaze toward the differently sized pools of water that dotted this part of the territory. The land around these different waterholes was muddy and very slippery looking; he shuddered internally as he thought about falling into the water.
Nothing that looked like a mink stood out to him, so he set off to look a little further. He crept slowly, with light and airy pawsteps that would be much less likely to alert prey to his presence. He had no idea if Buzzflight was indeed following behind, but he hoped so. The very real possibility of actually fighting a mink had him suddenly longing for the help of another.
Eventually, his bright green gaze fell upon a long, sturdy, brown creature drinking from one of the smaller pools of water. Oriolepaw froze, searching his memory for the stories he'd heard as a kit of mink.
Yes. Surely, this must be it. It wasn't quite as formidable looking as he'd imagined, but it still looked like quite the challenge. He swallowed hard; this would be his hardest hunting challenge yet, even more so than the owl. He knew mink could kill cats, but that only happened with younger apprentices... right?
He resisted the urge to glance back at Buzzflight and Hailhawk, not wanting to appear too nervous. Catching this mink could be the act that proved to his Clan that he was ready for his assessment. He had to do this alone. He could do this alone.
Dropping into the hunter's crouch he now knew so well, the apprentice crept forward toward the creature. Once he was about a tail-length away, he tensed his hind leg muscles in preparation to strike.
Taking a deep breath, he leapt.
Outstretched front paws met the mink first, his claws digging into its shoulders. The slender animal shrieked as it was grabbed. Its long, slender body twisted and wiggled like a snake, causing Oriolepaw's grip on it to falter.
Before he could gain a stronger grip on it, the mink slipped from his grasp. Any other prey Oriolepaw had encountered would flee once it achieved freedom. This one was different. It turned bloodthirsty, angry fangs on Oriolepaw, snapping its jaws at his paws.
He hadn't been expecting it to fight rather than flee, so he failed to draw his paws back in time to avoid the blow. The mink's sharp teeth sank into his toe, causing fiery pain to shoot up his leg.
It was definitely instinct over experience that caused him to swing his right paw up, slamming it into the mink's head. The blow caused it to release his toe, much to his relief.
His relief was short-lived as the animal swiped at him with its own paws. He was ready this time, making several successive hops backward to avoid its blows.
I don't want to try to get close to its throat; those teeth are too sharp. I should try to break its neck, instead.
Doing that would require him to get behind the creature. He initially tried to dart around it, but it was too smart for that. A small, albeit well-armed, paw shot out and struck him on the leg, above his injured paw.
He hissed, the first time such a reaction had been summoned from him by anyone or anything. Ignoring the shooting pain it caused him, he opted to leap over the mink as opposed to running around it again.
Once he landed, the mink attempted to twist its body around to face him. Oriolepaw was faster, striking out with a hefty blow. The blow connected with the mink's face, snapping its head back around.
Seeing his chance, the orange-and-black apprentice darted forward and seized the mink in his jaws. He felt its claws rip into his chest before he bit down with all his might. After a moment, he heard a crack! and the mink stilled.
He stood there for a good couple of moments, the creature dangling from his jaws. It took his brain about that long to properly register that he'd won against this unexpected adversary. Once it had, he allowed the dead creature to fall at his paws. Drops of his own blood dribbled down from his chest, spotting the ground around it.
I did it.
__________________
Fadingstar is currently RiverClan's leader. He has an open den policy; his den can be found here. If you have any questions or concerns about RiverClan, or any plots to propose, feel free to leave me a VM or DM! Please do not take my characters' IC opinions as reflective of my own.
Last edited by occultation; March 28th, 2023 at 08:12 PM.
"Downstream there is a rundown two-leg bridge that we can use to cross over the stream. We can cross if you want." Hailhawk said. "There are also those big rocks jutting out of the water, but jumping on them/climbing on them is not advised as they are wet and slippery."
The Siamese glanced downriver as Hailhawk explained how cats got across and could just make out the shape of the old twoleg bridge in the distance. Huh, she'd have to take her fellow kreachers out here and dare them to cross it!
"Cool! I bet I could climb to the top, but since there's more territory to discover, I won't show you just how awesome I am," Hazelpaw said, puffing out her chest briefly before turning and scampering off.
The bog she encountered was quite different than Wisteria Falls, and Hazelpaw jumped as some big, weird, rodent-looking thing disappeared into a hole. "What was that?! Are we still on ThunderClan territory?"
The Siamese glanced downriver as Hailhawk explained how cats got across and could just make out the shape of the old twoleg bridge in the distance. Huh, she'd have to take her fellow kreachers out here and dare them to cross it!
"Cool! I bet I could climb to the top, but since there's more territory to discover, I won't show you just how awesome I am," Hazelpaw said, puffing out her chest briefly before turning and scampering off.
The bog she encountered was quite different than Wisteria Falls, and Hazelpaw jumped as some big, weird, rodent-looking thing disappeared into a hole. "What was that?! Are we still on ThunderClan territory?"
Hailhawk chuckled, smiled, and sighed at her comment.
Then they moved onto Muskrat Mire. He put his tail out to stop her from going down. "Don't go down there, or too close to anything, Muskrats, big rodents, live there. They could take down a full grown warrior. Steer clear of here if you're alone." He warned. "And yes it is our territory still."
__________________
He/Him, trans guy and bi/pan
Most active between 3-11pm EST mondays and fridays
In school from 7:45am-2:45pm EST mon-fri. weekends vary with my schedule
Not online afterschool wednesdays or thursdays (at karate the whole night)
Very active on discord (shaae_26)
I'm a 10th grader in highschool and I try to be a helpful person on site so feel free to ask me any WCO questions!
~~~~~ Pronouns are He/Him | EST Time Zone | My Birthday is March 1st. | Favorite color is purple. | About Me
~~~~~
{Jackdawkit} - {Falconkit}
~~~~~
Soon, Oriolepaw felt the pressure on his body release as Sootfur got off of him. He wasn't sure if his squirming and kicking was the reason, or if Sootfur had just gotten bored. Either way, he was grateful for the ability to breathe again.
The orange-and-black tom clambered to his paws, breathing rather heavily given that his chest was compressed for a good couple moments. He turned his gaze on Sootfur just in time for the slightly older warrior's question. He had given Oriolepaw a great deal to think about. Although he always wanted to learn more, he felt he had enough to try to remember and comprehend for today.
Thus, he shook his head. "Nope, I think I'm good for today. You've given me a lot to think about, so I don't want to overwhelm myself! Thank you, Sootfur."
( We can end this lesson here! )
__________________
Fadingstar is currently RiverClan's leader. He has an open den policy; his den can be found here. If you have any questions or concerns about RiverClan, or any plots to propose, feel free to leave me a VM or DM! Please do not take my characters' IC opinions as reflective of my own.
Did she really have enough training experience? Really? Was he joking? Sure, it took her time and a half to become a warrior, but that didn't mean she had missed all her training. She just hadn't done official stuff. Okay, just cause she leaned into the fact that she was surrounded by children did not mean she was a complete idiot. Partial idiot? Yeah, but total lack of knowledge? After that stuff with Corn and Bean and Flameheart and her own little practice sessions? Ha! "Okay then, I guess you just don't want to learn." But they had already left camp, and he was walking beside her, so she assumed it was a yes.
Who was Harefire? Was she supposed this guy? Regardless, here they were. Staring up at a massive oaks that made Giant's Rest, a sly grin splayed across her face. "Well, let's see you try it." Under the guise of examining skills, she found that seeing someone trying to get up Giant's Rest without proper training was always a good way to lift her mood.
Re: Muskrat Mire
