RiverClan Territory

[dionysus]

[ @spade ]

“Who? Mom?”

Eelsting had to wrack his brain to think of who he might miss and the only answer was their mother. The problem was that the smoky furred warrior had absolutely no idea what she had to do with the current topic. Yet, the question was pretty simple to answer so Eel figured he might as well do so.

“Of course I miss her! I don’t know what she has to do with the idea that I and the clan don’t want to spend time with you, but for the sake of the question- yes, I miss her very much. I’m sure she’s happy, though. That’s why cats believe in Starclan, you know.”

Kestrelwing certainly was an enigma. There were times when Eelsting felt like they were in totally separate forests but he rarely let himself dwell on it. While the tom knew he tended to miss the cues that told other cats what their friends and kin were feeling, it was never too difficult to see the moodiness in Kes. Then again, it was only at certain moments that it became clear to Eel that there was something deeper going on.

The warrior flicked an ear and dipped his paw into the water, scooping out a small fish that would barely feed a kit. It seemed they might be out there longer than he had hoped. Now that his paw was wet, Eelsting’s body temperature felt like it dropped by ten degrees and he had little hope of catching much. The things he did for family.

[Madelaine]

Heronflight headed out of camp to do some hunting by herself. She needed to get used to the territory again as it has been a while. The black and white molly focused her good eye on her surroundings and kept her ears alert as she didn't have a sense of smell. Her nose was far too small. The warrior spotted a vole that had bee eating seeds they found on the ground. It was skinny, but it would do.

The molly got into her best hunters crouch and stalked towards it. She hid herself in the grass and as she got closer she pounced, landing on top of it. Heronflight killed it with a quick bite to the neck. She said her thanks to starclan in her head before moving on. She was wanting to be out all day and hunt. They needed the prey in the cold weather.

Heronflight moved along, keeping as quiet as she can as she padded through Riverclan territory. Soon she caught sight of a blue jay up ahead on a tree trunk. She stepped closer with light paws, her good eye was right on it as he lower one just starred at the ground. The warrior stepped got into another hunters crouch and stalked forward. She used the wind to trick the bird as it probably catch her scent.

Once closer she pounced, landing on top of the tree trunk. She grabbed it in her jaws and chomped down on it's neck, killing it instantly. Heronflight placed it right with the vole. Heronflight grabbed the two of them and went on her way. Soon she came face to face with a mouse. She buried her last two prey and stalked towards it in her hunters crouch. Sadly she stepped on a leaf and it darted. She scratched the ground, but kept quite. She knew she couldn't catch every prey she saw.

Heronflight then saw a rabbit just a few fox lengths away. The mouse hadn't been able to alert it that she was there. Using her swift Windclan legs she put her paw out to see which way the wind was blowing. It was going north, so she would have to head south. She padded towards the north as she got into another hunters crouch. The black and white molly darted and before it had time to run she pounced on top of it. She killed it with a couple of bites to the neck.

[ just having her solo hunt. cats are welcome to talk to her or join her ]

[TawnyNeedsACoffee]

Originally Posted by Estelle

[ Apologies for the delay! ]

With the lack of active mentors there occasionally seemed to be, Gingerfrost wasn't to surprised by the answer. Well, at least Emberpaw did something for her training, still. The tom simply gave a faint nod with a small "hm"- something he'd gotten used to doing during his own apprenticeship- before finally speaking up "As much as observing another's tactics and moves may help you, they are useless if not put to practice. Show me your hunting crouch" A simple start, part of the bare basics, though almost essential to know in hunting. In the cold, he lazily watched the apprentice - and with no intention of giving a demonstration of course. He wanted to see what she would make of it first, a manner that may be repeated several times in his way teaching.

"I suppose it has come to your attention that our fur stands out against the snow, despite there not being much of it" his tail gave a faint flick as Gingerfrost spoke once again after a few heartbeats "that means prey can spot us more easily and possibly from a larger distance, although I doubt they'd react before we get close still. In other words, we'll have to be extra careful" there was no need mentioning the lack of prey there was during leaf-bare - any mousebrain would know such a thing "as for the hunting crouch, you will have to keep low, to a point where your belly practically touches the ground. Beware, however, that your fur doesn't brush against the ground when moving, and make sure you keep your tail levelled at all time - if not, it'll alert the prey of your presence." he paused, letting the molly take in some of the pointers before continuing "as systematic as those are though, no hunting crouch will be the exact same. Some will be able to crouch more than others, and it is important that you can swiftly switch from the crouch to a steady run or jump" the ginger furred tom got up and walked a small circle around Emberpaw before reaching out to give her a push with his paw somewhat from behind - not to hard, of course "I recommend to aim at being stable in the crouch, and be able to remain in it for an extended period of time. You will have to remember to keep your weight even as well"

[sorry it’s so late!]

EmberPaw nodded slightly, her slight embarrassment of being inexperienced with hands on training melted away quickly instead the glint in her eyes seeming one of interest and determination. Listening to the ginger tom, she crouched, thinking over her observations she tried to adjust herself a bit. Her stance seemed alright but she could tell it was unbalanced and she could easily trip over something. As some silence passed between the two, EmberPaw’s blue eyes glanced at GingerFrost, seeing him lazily observe her from a spot , not looking overly interested, in response to the sight she gave a small huff. ’I feel like a mousebrained idiot, just how long is he going to sit there and stare at me-‘ . As if on cue with her thoughts she heard the warrior speak up about their fur colours and the harsh terrain of leafbare, she blinked slightly before her brows furrowed the tiniest bit on her naturally blank face, trying her best to listen carefully.

Once again hearing the change in topic, the young shecat nodded slightly as he explained what the hunters crouch should look like. EmberPaw found it weird that GingerFrost hadn’t given her a demonstration himself, all the other times she had watched other apprentices with their mentors there was usually a demonstration. On the other hand, the shecat was at this point quickly adjusting to the fact GingerFrost wasn’t exactly like other warriors she had conversed with...most were a lot more overly optimistic. ‘ Well I’d prefer someone who’s more logical then unbearably optimistic either way’. She thought momentarily to herself, before she jumped slightly at the paw that prodded her from behind, stumbling slightly which showed how unbalanced her crouch really was, her eyes quickly looking over her shoulder to see GingerFrost had somehow while she was somewhat distracted, made his way behind her. EmberPaw nodded quickly as she readjusted herself into the crouch, focusing on her balance, she
attempted to do as he said, adjusting her paws to even out the weight in her hindquarters. “Does this seem like an improvement?”. The apprentice asked, once she had readjusted to her more balanced crouch.

[gs29513]

Splashleap had been out in the territory, padding back from Cattail pond with a hard won, freezing cold fish in her jaws when she scented a clanmate. But not exactly. They smelled a bit of Windclan, and as she moved quietly towards them, she could see they had a rabbit. And then she realized who it was. Heronflight. The warrior she had helped with the nest! In the just awakening of the moment, she hadn't noticed the scent, but it was fairly clear now. Not that she was going to judge. She seemed perfectly nice in fact. Once they had made their kill, she walked towards them, making a few small noises so she didn't scare the new warrior. Hi! she mewed, her tail waving happily. I'm Splashleap. You know, from last night! And then, noticing the rabbit as if for the first time, she mewed Wow! How do you catch those? We generally leave them for Windclan. Not in a bad way, just in a "Do I really want to run that far when I can fish" way. @Funtime Foxy

[thelabradorr]

Featherpaw - @Willowfern

Featherpaw padded slightly away from Fishspeckle, looking out once again into the forest. The young apprentice then turned back to the tom, a light smile appeared across her face as she made her way back to him. Featherpaw sat confidently infront of him, wrapping her tail around her paws before looking up to meet his gaze,"I really enjoyed spending time with you Fishspeckle, if you ever need someone to adventure with I will always be up for it!"

(sorry for the late reply!)

[spade]

// @Beau

He was disappointed in his kin's response, but it wasn't like Kestrelwing had expected any different. Of course he'd bring up StarClan, the magical dead cats in the sky that stole his mother away from him. They had allowed the rogues into RiverClan territory to slaughter the one cat in the Clan the tom cared about most. Maybe Eelsting could forgive them and find solace in the starry night time sky, but Kestrelwing had a hard time believing in his ancestors anymore. His mother hadn't even tried to visit him once in his dreams - so why should he have any faith that she was even among the stars to begin with?

"No one in the Clan even speaks her name. It's frustrating. And no one understood my grief. No one. Not even my own kin. Well, half-kin. You didn't rely on her as much as I did, Eelsting. You're a full blooded RiverClan. His tone was sharp like the ice beneath their paws, cutting like a knife through the tension that seemed to have circled around them. In that brief moment, Kestrelwing felt hatred towards his brother, more so than before. He never opened up like he just did, but his kin had pushed a button. How could she be happy? Alone in StarClan with no family? While her sons - one who had a good like and the other a miserable sack of fur - were left to carry on without her? Sure Eelsting had taken her death in stride perhaps, but it was a different story for him.

His mother was the only real family he considered himself to have in this retched Clan anymore. And she had been stolen from him.

Focusing his attention back to the water, Kestrelwing slapped a paw in angrily, managing to hook his claws into a fish similar in size to Eelsting's recent catch. A snort came from him, as this backed his theory of the river being dead. There wouldn't be much left to catch, as the fish that had potentially been making their way into the open had presumably now dived back into the safety of their hiding places. "This is useless. We're never going to catch anything substantial.

[dionysus]

[ @spade ]

Eelsting could take many things with grace and a good attitude- this conversation with his brother had done little to ruffle his feathers. Kestrelwing’s angry words this time, however, struck a chord in his elder half-brother and the happy-go-lucky demeanor shifted.

The smoky tom’s expression melted sharply into a snarl and his pale eyes took flame. Passive aggressive insults flew over Eelsting’s head and direct ones only made him chuckle but his own brother claiming that he didn’t feel their mother’s death?

“Watch your tongue, Kestrelwing,” Eelsting growled with uncharacteristic harshness, “because it sounds dangerously like you are trying to imply that I don’t mourn the same mother you do. Yes your scumbag father wasn’t around to raise you but in case you didn’t notice, mine wasn’t either. Now I have done everything I can to support you and have fought many an obnoxious apprentice on your behalf with their half clan slurs but I will not hear you say anything about my grief again. My grief is my own and it’s time for you to grow and realize that the world doesn’t revolve around you Kestrelwing. You’re not the only one who is hurting.”

Anyone who heard the interaction would not recognize the speaker. Eelsting had gone through a shift that very few cats ever saw and Kestrelwing was now one of them. Perhaps tough love was what would get through to him.

[Madelaine]

Heronflight looked over at Splashleap with her good eye as she padded over to her. She gave the other molly a dip of her head in a respectful manner. She was all about respect. The molly buried the rabbit with the other two prey to keep it from other predators. The clan needed it more than they did and she would fight for it.

The warrior heard what she said. Hey if any prey came into their territory they might as well catch it. It was their prey now, plus it wasn't that hard to find rabbits. They were everywhere. "I guess being a rogue has taught me a think or two.", she meowed. Heronflight knew she wasn't a former rogue, but she had to say something. Plus as far as the clan knows she was a former rogue who joined not a cat that was resurrected.

"Rabbits were the most frequent things I caught before joining a clan. They seemed easier to find for me.", she added.

[ @gs29513; ]

[spade]

// @Beau

Wow. Eelsting had actually turned the tables, his mood shifting just as drastically as Kestrelwing's had this morning.

The gray tabby was definitely taken aback by his brothers words, momentarily silent as he whipped his head up to look at him. It was uncharacteristic of Eelsting to raise his voice with anyone, let alone have an edge to it. He was considered the do-gooder around camp, the cat that everyone could turn to for advice, or a joke, or just about anything. The last trait he was thought to have was a sneer in his tone. All Kestrelwing could do was stare at him, for once in their conversation speechless and lost as to what to say next.

Swallowing a lump that had seemingly appeared in his throat - weird, as he never got choked up anymore - Kestrelwing had to avert his gaze back down to the river, hiding the guilt that initially flooded his sight. "Well, it didn't seem like you mourned her. We haven't talked or even hung out in ages. Yeah, I pushed you away, but you could've fought harder to talk to me." It was the first time since his apprenticeship that the tom had become vulnerable with his brother. That he had actually spoken how he felt instead of burying it under solo patrols or hunting or any other duty that would distract himself from the torrential downpour of thoughts constantly swirling about in his head.

[dionysus]

[ @spade ]

The trick with Eelsting was his ability to let go. Emotions came and went and some were stronger than others but he always seemed to be able to let them pass him by before they festered. His hardened face relaxed and the good old Eelsting was back- albeit he wasn’t smiling. Gently, the Tom laid his tail on his little brother’s shoulders and nodded.

“You’re right. I should have fought harder to make you talk to me. I should have spent more time trying to relate to you on your level and I am sorry that I didn’t do that. I can promise you that it wasn’t a lack of grief for her or care for you that kept me away, though. I missed mom like crazy- still do- and all of a sudden it seemed to me like I had to go from the fun big brother to the parent! And I didn’t know how to do that... I was just a kid too, man... I messed up a lot, I know. I didn’t want to be overbearing and act like your dad or like I was replacing mom but instead I just didn’t do anything at all! I should’ve been there for you more, Kes... I never meant for you to feel like you were alone.”