Sedgewater Valley

[Silvershadow13]

@Wingnettle - Mintpool @Snowyfeathr - Dapplepaw

~Silentripple ~

As the tabby molly stalked along the border, she allowed for Mintpool to lead them along it and placed Dapplepaw in between them, insuring that she would be defended from outside attacks a bit more than the two warriors, as they approached the border Silentripple let out a whisper to Dapplepaw,
"So you said you haven't marked a border yet?" hoping the apprentice would pay attention she pointed out a common spot, but just as she approached it, a scent caught her nose, ew, what is that smell

(what are they smelling?)

[Snowy the Chair]

@Silvershadow13 - Silentripple @Wingnettle - Mintpool

Headshot of Dapplepaw by Octavia!

Dapplepaw

Dappled brown she-cat with one green eye (left) and one amber eye (right)

Dapplepaw nodded. "Yes, I haven't marked a border yet" She sniffed "What's that smell?" She scrunched up her face from the smell.

(idk what they smelling)

[Doom]

[ moving this along since we only have 72hrs to finish it ]

ICEFURY
RiverClan ❄ 20 moons
colossal silver-and-white maine coon mix tomcat with golden eyes

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

Something felt off as the giant warrior guided his patrol toward Sedgewater Valley. The air smelled sweet and spicy, almost like faint smoke, but Icefury couldn't pinpoint the scent exactly. They managed to make it to the sedges that lined the familiar river, but...why did it smell different?? This is where the border was supposed to be, no?

Icefury furrowed his brows at the valley ahead of him, jaw dropped, letting the area seep into his senses before calling a final judgement. Alas, nothing but that smokey tang that clung to the air like humidity. "The hell..." He wrinkled his nose and looked back at his patrolmates. "Is it just me, or is WindClan's scent completely gone?"

[ @Captain @Abyssopelagic @perseus. ]

[Wingnettle]

┌────────── ∘・❄︎・∘ ──────────┐
Mintpool (she/her)
Riverclan ❍ 13 moons
White and gray siamese with blue eyes
└───────── ・∘ ❄︎ ∘・ ─────────┘



Mintpool took the lead without saying anything, allowing the warrior to take the rear behind the apprentice. She heard what the brown she-cat was asking, but she didn't have the energy to reply. The warrior will have to explain, or the apprentice watch them.

The white siamese she-cat marked the trees, the bushes and the rocks alongside the border with Windclan. She stopped once or twice, slowing her walk to peer at the vast moorland that stretched in the distance. A couple of twoleg nests could be seen at the edge of it.
...Could Slatestripe be there?

Her mind was still taunted by the memory of her former mentor being kidnapped, and for a moment she found herself paralyzed in another dimension. Eyes staring into the void and tail rigid, she remained still for a few moments before regaining consciousness of her surroundings.
...Right, the patrol. I'm on patrol.

Her clanmates suddenly brought up something about a weird smell, and at that moment she noticed it too. She wrinkled her nose slightly and silently followed the trail scent, lashing her tail behind her to signal the others to follow.

Not too far from the border, just a few paw steps inside their territory was a rat. It had a terrible aspect and was lying still in a pool of filthy water that emanated a strong stench, the one they'd followed until now. "...Crowfood." She whispered in a matter-of-factly tone, swishing her muzzle slightly as to tell the apprentice to stay back and not come any closer to it.

She took a few moments in silence, for her mind couldn't quite make out the name of the warrior she was on patrol with. Then, she finally found the energy to speak.
"Silentripple. We're gonna throw dirt, sand, and rocks on that to cover it." They certainly didn't need a cat to get sick for such silly matters.

· · ─────── ·✧· ─────── · ·

[ @Silvershadow13 @Snowyfeathr ]

[Silvershadow13]

@Snowyfeathr @Wingnettle

Giving the other she-cat a nod, the tabby molly replied,
“Alright, let’s get it over with quick because, ew, it smells awful” approaching the horrid smell, Silentripple, spotted a rotting dead thing, it was larger than a rabbit, so maybe a stoat or a weasel, hmm, what is it doing so near to our border’s
“Hey, Mintpool, Dapplepaw, what do you think it is?”

[Captain]

SNOWLEAP (he/them)

As the dark-furred oriental tomcat silently followed behind Icefury, it wasn’t long before he too could sense something odd as they neared the border. He had patrolled along the WindClan borderlines more times than he could count through his lifetime, so it should be no surprise that it didn’t take much to tell that it was different today. However, Snowleap chose to stay behind their patrol leader and allowed the silver-and-white warrior to investigate before doing anything further. He parted his jaws and breathed in the scents around them, being met with a smoky roughness that hung in the breeze, but there was no sign of WindClan. It was like they hadn't marked their borders in moons, and Snowleap immediately felt the familiarity of dread creep up his spine.

"No, you're right. There's nothing." The longhaired tomcat remarked quietly, looking back to Icefury with a slight frown upon their muzzle, "Something has happened to WindClan, and it's nothing good." Snowleap couldn't help but silently wish for their neighbors safety, hoping that they were alright. He didn't dare speak such a thing outloud though, fearful that he'd be mocked for worrying for another clan's well-being. As selfish as it sounded, his patrol's best course of action would be to just focus on what they originally came out here to do, then report this oddity back to the higher ups. "Let's just keep on our toes and do our job, then report this back to Beansprout as soon as we can." Snowleap suggested, hoping all his patrolmates had enough sense to not want to further explore onto land that was not their own. From there, the tall RiverClan tomcat fell completely silent, awaiting further orders from Icefury.

[ @Jester @Abyssopelagic @perseus. ]

[Moonraven]

Batglare quietly made his way out of the tunnels and grumbled softly as he was hit in the face by a cool breeze upon reaching the surface. The territory looked more black than green and he could still smell the scent of smoke lingering in the air... maybe that was his nose. He couldn't tell. The tom waited for the rest of the patrol before he set off towards RiverClan's border. Batglare wasn't really certain who was supposed to be leading the patrol, Twilightstar hadn't been all that clear on that, but until someone said something the old cat took control of said patrol because he could.

Even with the scent of smoke, the fresh air felt nice. Although he was thankful they were there, the tunnels were always so stuffy, cramped, and downright uncomfortable. Batglare had gotten so used to the vast open space that was WindClan that being stuck underground was vexing.

Once he was certain that all three clanmates had followed him out of the tunnel without getting lost and made it out of the rabbit hole, Batglare began making his way toward the river and the border. Following the scent of water as the territory was singed enough to be a little confusing at first glance. He didn't turn his head, but his ears jerked in the direction of the voice asking a question and listened as another answered it. Batglare wasn't as optimistic as Dapplebreeze regarding RiverClan and their territory. RiverClan's been petty and very malicious when it came to opposing clans in the past.

Even though WindClan hasn't done anything to earn their ire, he didn't trust them in the slightest. But Batglare was a very cynical warrior and did not trust anyone outside of WindClan no matter how honorable they appeared. Hence the reason he avoided speaking his mind. As drew reached the border, paused, noting how unburnt the land was the closer they moved towards the border. It might be a good idea to see about hunting around here. However, if someone accidentally crosses the border it could cause probably and Batglare did not want to recklessly throw his clanmates into another fight after they just got out of one.

As they finally reached the border, he noticed the two RiverClan warriors that were already there. Although he was near certain that the one was the RiverClan leader, Pikestar. Interesting catch him out here. The other one, Icefury, Batglare wasn't as familiar with. Seeing as the stoic tom had no actual interest in interacting with RiverClan for any reason, he decided to ignore them unless addressed. "Dapplebreeze, take Moorpaw and mark the left side, Floatingleaf, the right, make sure the scent marks are strong and distinguishable above the smoke." Batglare barked, paws making their way toward a nearby bush.
@Abyssopelagic [ Moorpaw ] @Alchemist Kitsune [ Dappledbreeze ] @Silvershadow13 [Floatingleaf] @Captain [ Snowleap ] @Jester [Icefury ]
[Up to ya'll if you want them to interact, I figured it'd make sense to have the two patrols notice each other since Ice and Snow noticed the lack of scent and the smoke and the WC patrol is just arriving to renew their scent marks.]

[Silvershadow13]

@Abyssopelagic @Alchemist Kitsune @Moonraven @Captain @Jester

~ Floatingleaf ~
•|• White short furred she-cat with chestnut brown patches scattered all over her body and green eyes •|•

Upon hearing Batglare's command, the molly gave a nod, guiding herself to the right side of their border, she couldn't help but sigh, the scent marks were faded and old, no wonder the two Riverclan cats across the border seemed particularly interested, from our scent marks we must appear neglectful, determined to fix that Floatingleaf started to mark the areas of the border, hardly glancing at the Riverclanners, but at one point, she did pause to study them, one appeared to be Riverclan's very own leader, while the other appeared foreign to her. Cautious to avoid their eyes, she continued marking, until reaching Batglare again. Turning around, she made her rounds once more, checking to ensure the scents were strong before going back to the original spot where they had arrived.

[Abyssopelagic]

Moorpaw followed after Batglare and Floatingleaf, but stayed closest to her own mentor, feeling much safer near Dapplebreeze. She almost didn't notice Floatingleaf dip to the rear of the patrol, but couldn't stop the way she stared once she did notice, wondering what had been the point in the re-arrangment.
She said nothing, and followed behind Batglare now that he was the only warrior ahead of her.
The dusky apprentice failed to take notice of the RiverClan warriors as she and her mentor were to take one side of the border, instead following where she'd been told to go. At this point, she could mark the border all on her own (thanks to that patrol she'd been abandoned half-way through), but still very much appreciated her Mentors presence.

She finally noticed the other Clan when an unfamiliar scent reached her from beneath all the smoke-smell. The River Cats were much more pleasant smelling than the Shadow Cats, she decided.
She kept marking the border, trying to ignore the other patrol until she came quite uncomfortably close to the other patrol. She wasn't crossing the border, but being so dang close to them made her fur stand on end.
She ended up tripping over her own stupid tail, almost putting her right at the other Clans half of the border, heart racing, she tried to bounce back to their own side of the border as quickly as she could.
" 'M sorry. I didn't mean to," She mumbled to the other patrol, hoping she hadn't just started a scuffle between the groups.
"You smell really nice, though."
She hadn't been able to stop the last sentence from leaving her mouth and absolutely felt heat flood her face Once it was out there. Hhhhhhhhhh.....
She felt like she was going to die.
Once she was done marking, she quickly backed away from border to a safe distance before retreating back to Batglare. Her pace was perhaps more hastened than she liked, but she didn't want to be the one accused of crossing the border.
Once she was at the large warriors side, she let herself openly stare at the other Clan. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the entire situation.

[ @Alchemist Kitsune; @Moonraven ; @Silvershadow13 ]
[ @Captain ; @Jester ]

[Alchemist Kitsune]

| Dapplebreeze |

Taking a deep breath, Dapplebreeze almost relished the scent in the breeze once they had gotten out of the dark tunnels. If not for the stench of smoke and charred matter permeating the air she might have found the smell a welcoming change of pace. As it stood, however, it was a reminder of the horrors their clan had just gone through. Moors and sky... this certainly was a mess. A fire and an attack... all within the same day. A lesser clan would have no doubt stumbled and crumbled under the pressure. Gratefully, there was nothing lesser about WindClan.

Head and tail held high with confident professionalism, the spotted molly carried herself with ease, tan paws following down the familiar paths. While nose and eyes might be having trouble identifying features in the landscape, her muscle memory did not fail her, allowing her to avoid any missteps on their way to the border as she ignored the settling fatigue in her body. She needed some rest. That much she knew. But so did everyone else after today. Besides, she knew herself well enough to know that she would be unable to properly rest until she'd at least verified the surface once more after the Dull Simpleton's savage attack.

Once at the border, the stench of RiverClan hit her nose, curling her whiskers as she scanned the edge of their territory. It seemed WindClan was not alone today. RiverClan warriors were already at the border as well, spreading their reek throughout their own scent markers as the WindClan patrol approached. Her name being mentioned by the senior warrior, Dapplebreeze turned to face him, nodding solemnly before twitching her tail to her lovely Moorpaw, eager to get the job done efficiently and with as little talk to the land fish as possible. Pelts filled with soot and fresh wounds on her apprentice, she preferred to avoid any conversation with the enemy if possible. Best to not let them in on the happenings of the clan until the gathering. No need to let them mistake their misfortune for weakness... unless they wished to bring death to their own ranks.

Unfortunately for the cream and tan warrior, her apprentice lacked her silence. An understandable mistake. After having almost stumbled to the enemy's side, no doubt from nerves after the ruthless rats they had encountered today, she could see the darling needing to apologize. It was the second remark, however, that brought pause to the older molly as she worked on rubbing her pads and head on known scent markers. Gratefully, Moorpaw seemed to opt on not adding more to the conversation, and simply ran off once she was done with her task.

Her own job done, the former queen calmly walked back towards Batglare and the rest, settling down besides her apprentice. She had no urgency in her pace, her proud posture never changing. As far as Dapplebreeze was concerned, there was no need to be hasty. They had done nothing wrong, their task just as essential as RiverClan's. As long as both patrols remained to their sides, there was no need for any fights. Besides... it seemed at a glance like one of the RiverClan cats present was none other than Pikestar himself! Unless the leader of RiverClan was actively looking to start a war, the demure warrior was certain there was nothing else of import for them here.

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@Moonraven [Batglare] | @Silvershadow13 [Floatingleaf] | @Abyssopelagic [Moorpaw] | @Captain [Snowleap] | @Jester [Icefury]