Willow's Rise

[Spotty]

> Batblood [Hunting post]

The freshkill pile was low again. It annoyed him that even with the warm weather, plentiful life buzzing around them, and better control with the patrols, his clanmates still seemed to bring in too little prey. Batblood hadn't been placed on any hunting patrols, but he had some free time today, so why not use the time he could spend resting or training to fix his clanmates' mistakes?

Any way. He had picked The Weeping Tree as a hunting place, since prey was especially common, and he hadn't taken notice of as much activity there on his clanmates' side, so the prey might have gotten a little bolder around these parts. Like usual he changed his pace from his usual walking to a more slow, measured, and most of all quiet stalking so as not to scare away the prey, and began searching for it. His fine senses reached out over the area, scenting for trails, listening for squeaks of rodents or calls of birds, and his sharp yellow eyes surveying his surroundings for the slightest movement in the undergrowth.

Thrush
It ultimately was his hearing that ended up locating his first prey by hearing a rustle not too far away. It was quick, followed by a slight pause, and then repeating. Quick rustle, short pause, rustle, pause, rustle, pause. He distinctly remembered the rhythm. It was a blackbird or some kind of thrush, searching in the leaves for worms to eat. With his target found, the lean tom began to slowly stalk towards it, his other senses quickly catching on as well. Yup, definitely a thrush. So, same routine as before; He made sure he was downwind, waited until the bird was completely occupied with its worm or whatever, gathered himself, and leaped. One lunge and alarmed movement from the bird and it was dead.

Mouse x2
He had one plump bird but more would be needed, so he buried it to fetch it later, and resumed his hunting. Same stance, same alertness. And just like before it wasn't long before he picked up the scent trail of a mouse. So he followed it, tracked it down, and found it, all like usual. But he was pleased to find it wasn't just one mouse, but a mouse nest. The last time he had found a nest he had returned with four voles, so he made sure to be very quiet when settling next to the nest entrance, and waiting.

And there it was, the quiet little skiddling of mice-feet he had been waiting for, as the little rodent came out. One quick, and precise yet very quiet strike later, and it was dead. But he didn't leave it at that, but carefully picked the body up and moved it out of the way in case more mice would come, and like he had hoped one more soon poked out. It too had to meet it's fate, and he waited a bit longer still, but it sadly seemed there weren't more of them in there.

Squirrel
He could stop here. He already had three decent pieces of prey to bring back, but there was something more driving Batblood to continue. Call it ambition - the want to return with something more impressive - but whatever it was it would be good for the clan either way.

This time he didn't go to look among the roots, but followed the smell of squirrel. Yepp, there it was. The rodent had seemingly come down to the forest floor after a nut it had spotted, and it now picked it up in it's small jaws and hopped back towards its tree. Realizing he'd lose it if it got too close to the trunk, Batblood bolted forward, claw unsheathing and teeth slowing and he reached after it. Bearly, but he caught it.

Ok, that was better. A plump thrush, two mice, and a squirrel. It was something to be more proud of, so he chose to end it there, and fetched his catches before returning back to camp.

[SpiritedWarrior]

[Solo Hunting Post]

Mapleleaf stepped towards the Weeping Tree and swished her tail from left to right. Hunting was her favorite pastime, and she was quite good at it. Perhaps one day she can teach an apprentice her skills, but for now, she'd be keeping her skills to herself.

"Let's see... what prey is here?" Mapleleaf murmured to herself. She opened her jaws and took in a deep breath, taking in all the fresh scents. So many to choose from! What should I go for first? Hm... mice! I can carry a lot back.

The she-cat dropped into a crouch and stalked forward, her tail was only centimeters away from touching the ground. She crept forward and got as close as she could to a small mouse. The wind was in her favor as she slowly lifted her paw and unsheathed her claws.

"Gotcha!" she purred quietly as she stepped on the mouse and grabbed its spine with her jaws, killing it in the process. She quickly buried her prey and continued her hunt, searching for yet another mouse. It took her a moment, but she finally caught up and pinned it down, killing it as she dug her claws into its belly. She buried it next to her first mouse and continued once more, perhaps searching for the last mouse of her hunt.

The calico and tabby she-cat stalked further away from the tree and dropped lower into the grass as the wind continued to blow. Still in my favor she flicked her ear. Perfect...

She leaped and crushed the mouse's spine, making it the third kill. Perhaps I should go for a bird... no. I've got bees in my brain, I wouldn't be able to carry a bird and three mice back to camp!

She grabbed the mice and padded back to camp with her tail held high, full of pride.

[+3 mouse]

[wolfie]

A paw broke through the soft surface, heaving their small body up onto the disturbed soil. Paws scrambled to brush off the dirt from their face, gasping for breath as their lungs clenched for air. Stars, the memories burn bright inside their head like a blazing asteroid. Lotuspaw couldn't recall how long it had been as they laid across the ground, staring at their paws with intent curiosity. Stars no longer sprinkled in their fur and they - they were here. This was..

this was home.

The sentence comforted Lotuspaw to endless means, they were back. They were back and everything was so stupid, but it didn't matter. Not in this moment because they could go home and hug their siblings. That was all that mattered to them. Watching a worm wiggle out from the ground, Lotuspaw rolled onto their stomach to view the night sky.

The moon was beautiful.

They could do this. Lotuspaw had ,, they had made a mistake. They had made so many mistakes. Everything still felt, it still felt awful, but they were fine with that because at least they could still experience it. They had watched what Thunderclan had done for them. Cindersky or ,, argh, it was Cinderstar, wasn't it? (they tried to not think about how much guilt they were riddled with at watching their siblings' reactions or how sagepaw hadn't been there.)

A paw touched their neck, blinking back in surprise at the scar they felt. It was large and - wow. They had really uh, died. "That. Sucks." They weren't really sure how to feel about that. .. They didn't have to decide how to actually feel about that, Lotuspaw decided with a huff. The sky was pretty. They could just take everything one bit at a time.

Baby steps.

Just - just baby steps for now.
...


For the longest time the apprentice laid there in peace. Listening to the life around them brought a sense of sincerity. The flickering light of the fireflies, the grass blowing in the wind, and the warmth of greenleaf's breeze was enough for Lotuspaw. In a bit they would pull themself to their paws and enter into Thunderclan's camp - with tears streaming down their cheeks because it made everything so much real.

Lotuspaw didn't think at all about what was to come. It was a relief.

======
saint bernard sit at the top of my driveway.
you always say how you love dogs.
i don't know if i count - but i'm trying my best.
when i'm howling and barking these songs.

[Neozx]

~Firefur~

Firefur was crouched near the weeping he had been stalking a bird. Firefur waited patiently for the bird to come to the ground, so he could pounce at it.

[Neozx]

~Sunheart and Firefur~

Sunheart walked up to her brother Firefur who was crouched near the weeping tree. Sunheart followed his eyes and realized that he was stalking a bird. Sunheart slowly walked toward her brother she did not want to scare the bird. But as careful as she could be she stepped on a twig and the bird got scared and flew off. Sunheart apologized to her brother for scaring off the bird.

[omen]

GoldenWolf
:AMAB,They/Them:
:A Faded Golden Cat with permanent bags under their amber eyes,They have grey bengal markings:

GoldenWolf was just watching the squirrels climb the tree as something brushed against the Younger Elder. Thank starclan they were just made an elder and they had some kick in their step. They turned slowly to look at grass that had touched them. They went back to watching the squirrels as they ran across the tree and its branches. The willow tree held some value to them. It was the sight of the dead,a graveyard. But it held a place in Thunderclan's history now,it was their graveyard and the marking of the ones caught in the fire and weren’t able to escape. GoldenWolf had been almost consumed by the flames that night,They sighed. The memory was slightly different than they remembered. Had Duskstar been the one that left camp last to help the cats stuck in their dens or had it been Softbriar? It seemed like the deputy would be the one to evacuate first,they had gone missing right after so had they died in the blaze while leading the cats out? It had a good effect,Leading to Buckstars rise to power as deputy,Twice. The Thunderclan leadership had always been confusing to them. Buckbranch had been deputy twice but Duskstar was the one that had picked him as deputy after Softbriar was MIA. They sighed lightly as they stood up and paced the tree for a few minutes then left,being careful to not step on anyones grave as the ground was growing a tad bit of grass over them now.

[dino.]

// closed until further notice

>Bumblebreak<

When Bumblebreak had raced out of camp, she didn't know where she was going. She just needed to get out, get out, because she knew the noise would be too much and she knew her tongue would screw her over and she just couldn't handle the shouting and the scolding and the terrible news all at once. She was sure she'd break into pieces if she had to handle it all.

Bumblebreak didn't run often. She liked to think she was one of the least weak, least vulnerable, least cowardly cat in ThunderClan.

But this was one trial that she could not face.

She knocked one forepaw against the other and stumbled, lost her balance, and practically crash landed at the edge of the Weeping Tree. Fresh pain arced through her wounded leg and for a moment she just laid there, gasping through her tears from lack of breath and on the verge of hyperventilating, unable to bring herself to stand.

Maybe she shouldn't get up. Maybe she could just lay here and close her eyes, and when she opened them again... when she opened them again, Cinderpaw would be there, laughing at the massive prank she'd pulled, and tugging Bumblebreak into a fierce hug; then they'd head back to camp together, and Bumblebreak would sleep at the edge of her nest and make sure no one came to bother her.

.....

What a wonderful reality that would be.

With a choked groan, she did her best to push herself back to her paws. Her left side ached, and was smudged and scuffed with dirt, but she didn't bother to stop and clean herself up. She staggered past old graves, the ones that grass was already beginning to overtake again, until she came across one that was freshly dug.

A fresh lump rose into her throat as she stared down at the overturned dirt.

"You were my best friend."

Her words came slowly, quietly.

"I hated you at first. You so annoying, and I hated listening to your stupid voice, and you just wouldn't shut up about Whitewolf. Stars. I swear she was all you talked about and you hated when I said I didn't like her or her stories..."

The tears started to prick at the edges of her eyes again. That lump in her throat became bigger.

"'N then I got to know you. Was kinda forced to, but I'd be lying to you and myself if I said I wasn't grateful for it. 'Cause we didn't always agree on stuff, but you were the best starsdamned friend I've ever had."

And she should have BEEN THERE.

"I'm sorry for the things I said, I'm sorry for not backing you up when you needed it. I'm sorry that I didn't keep an eye on you during the battle and I'm sorry that I didn't go get you myself! I could've, I should've, I had the ability to and I just-"

A sob broke through her words. All the feeling that she'd lost in camp came back to her in one big rush, and forced her to collapse beside the freshly dug grave. The grave that shouldn't even have been here, that wasn't supposed to be here until seasons later, that would never be here if Bumblebreak had any say in it. She leaned forward to press her forehead against the loose dirt.

She could have prevented this. Skystar was the one who snatched her away and held her without saying a single damn word, but Bumblebreak could have been watching in the first place. And then she could have charged right into that camp after her very first suspicion and taken her best friend back herself. Then this wouldn't have happened. Cinderpaw would be home and Bumblebreak would be apologizing properly and then everything would be okay and NOT numb, not broken, not... gray and lifeless.

The ground beneath her felt distant again as she curled into the tightest ball she could manage while avoiding touching Cinderpaw's grave. She'd only ever cried this hard twice in her life. Twice. She wondered if she'd even have a single tear left when she was done this time.

If anyone else decided to come, they could stand around her. Nothing short of the whole world freaking ending could move her from this spot before she was ready to go.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she choked on her tears, choked on her guilt, choked on what all could have been.

[taillow]

Cinderstar
The trek to Willow's Rise felt much longer - perhaps due to the grief that weighed her paws down like stones. As she reached the spot where a new grave would need to be dug, Cinderstar crouched down and slowly slid Cornfuzz's body onto the ground. Tears clouded her vision as she unsheathed her claws, setting to work on digging out a space big enough to lay the warrior to rest in and trying to dispel the anger she felt at none of his Clanmates outside of Mapleleaf coming to say their farewells.

[ @SpiritedWarrior ]

[SpiritedWarrior]

Originally Posted by marni

Cinderstar
The trek to Willow's Rise felt much longer - perhaps due to the grief that weighed her paws down like stones. As she reached the spot where a new grave would need to be dug, Cinderstar crouched down and slowly slid Cornfuzz's body onto the ground. Tears clouded her vision as she unsheathed her claws, setting to work on digging out a space big enough to lay the warrior to rest in and trying to dispel the anger she felt at none of his Clanmates outside of Mapleleaf coming to say their farewells.

[ @SpiritedWarrior ]

Mapleleaf followed quickly behind Cinderstar, her nose parallel to the silver bengal's tail. It had been a while since the calico/tabby mix had been to Willow's Rise, but all the scents and scenery were the same- maybe with a few more graves. While the pair walked to an available spot for a grave, Mapleleaf sat down and watched as Cinderstar placed Cornfuzz's body on the ground and began digging with unsheathed paws.

Standing up after only a moment, Mapleleaf unsheathed her long claws and padded to stand beside her leader, and helped dig. Casting a short glance at the blue-eyed she-cat, the calico tabby mix saw that she had begun to let tears flow. Deciding not to say anything until it was time to say their goodbyes, Mapleleaf breathed a short sigh of frustration with her Clanmates. She still couldn't believe she was the only other cat who cared for Cornfuzz. He was a loyal Clanmate for StarClan's sake! And a kind one at that!

[Shade.]

TW: spider attack
Rosepaw could feel her pads get covered in dirt as she sweat profusely because the sun was blaring on her. She felt like she was about to have a stroke when finally she reached her destination. It was a smaller log near the big willow. Surely there ought to be some cobwebs in there?

The small cinnamon tabby shoved her paw in the log, wincing in anticipation of whatever misfortune awaited her inside. At first, she didn't feel anything horrific and sighed in relief. She managed to spool the cobwebs on her paw and pulled it out, only to discover her white paw had turned black with spiders. The small creatures crawled all over her and she began to scream in horror, running around and shaking her limbs. From a tree branch above, a raven cawed a cackle. She fell to the ground and rolled around, sighing as the atrocious crawling ceased.

Rosepaw got to her paws and looked at her paw. At least the cobwebs were still here. Shaking her pelt once more, the medicine cat apprentice headed back to camp, glaring back at the raven as she did.