Sunkissed Creek

[Ian]

╔══════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══════╗
Vixensnarl
╚══════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══════╝

It had been a silent and painstakingly slow trek through ThunderClan's territory in the dead of night. The tabby was covered in mud, as was her mentor, so as not to leave traces of ShadowClan scent behind. She had managed to navigate to the landmark known as Sunkissed Creek successfully, and the quiet murmur of the stream was the only sound. Luckily it didn't seem like ThunderClan cats liked to take nighttime walks, and Vixensnarl slowly crept around a bush, flicking her tail for Orchidmoon to follow.

Now it was time to observe and find the best ambush spots. Of course, the Enforcer had come up with contingency plans if they were spotted, which included fleeing to the Outskirts so as not to lead back to ShadowClan, but for now, her focus was on the territory around them. She would not fail Dawnstar in this mission, and she knew Orchidmoon wouldn't either.

@naiad

[This is open to ThunderClan High Ranks ONLY]

[beau]

Orchidmoon was, naturally, none to pleased with the cold mud smeared over her pelt. Nonetheless, someone had to do the work and she’d rather it be her than someone incompetent. Besides, her former apprentice had never been miserable to work with so perhaps she could actually complete the mission without getting too irritated.

She padded through the territory with a slightly wrinkled nose - off-handedly, the warrior wondered how long it would take for the ThunderClan stench to fade. Her eyes flicked to the trees as she walked, glinting a cold green in the moonlight. They were sparser here by the stream, but she was curiosity if it was a good bird hunting spot with a water source so close - perhaps this was even one of the main water sources for ThunderClan. It would be a shame if they lost it; unfortunately, shame seemed inevitable for the squirrels based off of their track record.

[ @Lillian
again, open to ThunderClan high ranks only ]

[dino.]

bumblebreak === > @Lillian @naiad

Bumblebreak had much to think about.

A new rank. New responsibilities. New abilities to make things better for ThunderClan. Every single one of her nerves was on fire with excitement, and so to organize her thoughts, she had decided to go on a late night run. These weren’t uncommon for her; with nothing but her and the territory drenched in shadow, they were comforting, freeing.

What was uncommon, however, was to stumble across two intruders in the dark.

She broke through the undergrowth near Sunkissed Creek, only to halt when met with the sight of two mud-covered strangers. Her hackles rose immediately as her gaze flickered between each of them. Sneaking in the dark, covered in muck so that their appearances and scents were concealed—they couldn’t be up to any sort of good.

“Don’t know who you think you are,” she snarled, taking a threatening step forward, “but you need to get the hell out of ThunderClan territory before I drag you out by your tails.”

[littlelove]

Midday sun broke through the tree canopies, aiming directly into Cinderpaw's dark fur and warming it. The massive she-cat frowned; the sudden shift this new-leaf from biting cold to humid heat had already been jarring enough, and with her thick, dark fur, she was just about ready to start overheating. Relief washed over her as Sunkissed Creek came into view, and the eldest apprentice wasted no time wading into the shallow waters up to her belly.

Maybe diving in so deep wasn't a great idea -- she could see the shadows of what she was persuing flee farther downstream. She let out a huff, and backed out of the refreshing cold and back to the water's edge. The speckled apprentice felt about 100 times heavier as she exited the water than when she had entered. Was this what drinking moss felt like?

Anyway, she was on a mission today, first aiming at the lightning-quick shadows of little fish with both of her clawed paws... before realizing that strategy would only end with her face-first in the water, again. Cinderpaw searched for a particularly steep bank next, regrouping to find a different approach.

As she crouched, head resting on paws, she thought about how embarrassing this was. She wasn't a guppy by any means - the anger and grief that still rose in her chest when she thought of Riverclan made her want to dive back into the water to cool herself off. But she'd made a kind-of promise, and she was intending to keep it; she would bring back a fish, so the kits could get an idea of what Riverclan smelled like. They were dangerous, after all, so her kids needed to be able to identify them.

Her prior attempts had scared any fish inhabiting the creek far from her, so Cinderpaw found herself having to have the much-dreaded patience. All she could do to kill time around her was just sit, and try and keep her eyes from drifting, and--

Her eyes met a set of surprisingly identifiable stalks on her side of the brook, bulbous explosions of yellow flowers at their ends. She blinked in surprise for a moment, searching for a name to put to the face - marigold.

And so, Cinderpaw found herself continuing her waiting game, flower stalks laid beside her and kept in place with her docked tail. That was her job now, or something, she thought as she kept her paw hooked just above the water's edge. She needed to do more and just sit around without training.

Eventually, little schools of whatever fish were in this creek flickered by her paws. The eldest apprentice smiled wickedly, and lowered her face closer and closer to the water's surface...

She let out a pent-up cry as her claws cut through the water, (hopefully) in the direction of a bigger one of those fish. Water splashed up into her face, and Cinderpaw recoiled backwards, falling on her haunches and flinging something into the air...?

The tabby spun around wildly, and the shimmer of sun against writhing scales caught her eye. She had done it! Ignore the fact that it had been dumb luck her claws had hooked onto anything. Diving towards the meager fish, still trying to flop towards the water, she caught it in her teeth and gave it a final blow.

It... definitely wasn't much. Wasn't much bigger than one of her ears. But, hey, fish were fish and smelt like Riverclan. She wasn't sure how crazy she'd be about doing this again - no way would she be confused for a guppy - but hopefully she could give the kits and new apprentices an idea of who the hell to stay away from. The apprentice carefully gathered up her belongings, marigold stalks she couldn't hold with her teeth draped across her shoulders, and began making her way to camp.

[ + 4 marigold ]

[Ian]

╔══════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══════╗
Vixensnarl
╚══════ ❀•°❀°•❀ ══════╝

Green eyes glanced around the area, taking in the spots that would be good for ambushing unsuspecting ThunderClan cats. The sound of a cat running through the forest alerted the Enforcer before the warrior made themselves known. Still, she had already gotten the information she needed from the scouting trip. ThunderClan wouldn't know what hit them when the time came.

When Bumblebreak made her appearance, Vixensnarl widened her eyes in a display of fear, before whipping around and charging off towards the Outskirts. Hopefully, Orchidmoon would remember the plan and follow, that way, the squirrels would simply think it was a couple of outsiders who had been on their territory.

@dino. @naiad

[JusticeRabbit]

~WhiteCardinal~

"its alright, dear!" she purred, guiding them to the spot. Her eyes scavenged over the ground. you both do know what cobwebs and poppy look like, correct?" she had inquired this not to be rude, but to make sure she could help if needed.

(oml sorry for the short post! Getting ready for a week long trip!)

@xavier. @naiad

[beau]

[ sorry for the wait, xavier is shelving shimmerbeak and said we can move on without them ]

Wolfpaw’s eyes scanned the area, looking for a glimmer that might indicate cobwebs. “What does poppy look like?” he didn’t know the names of any flowers or herbs really, so it’d probably be helpful to know what he was looking for.

[ @~WallyDarling~ ]

[beau]

Wait a second… that’s weird. Wolfpaw wasn’t quite sure where his patrol partner was - near or far, maybe even back at camp. Hmm. The apprentice shrugged, oh well. He turned to make his way back, knowing he’d probably get in trouble if he was found out here alone. Luckily, he spotted some cobwebs on the way back and took a second to collect them so he wouldn’t return empty pawed.

[Jayvines]

~Lioncrest~

Large paws padded swiftly through the forest as the golden tom made his way towards his goal.

Sticks and poppys... Should be easy enough, but he wished his patrolmate had made an appearance so they could carry more back.

Amber eyes surveyed the area as he scented the air. Scents were... Stale here. Odd. Perhaps none of his clanmates had ventured to this particular piece of territory in recent moons. But no matter, he would make sure to mark up the place as he searched the area. He would start with the trickiest part of his hunt

Sniffing around the creek, Lioncrest picked up the faintest scent of florals and decided to simply follow his nose. Lo and behold, behind a small group of ferns two red flowers poked out of the foliage. Perhaps those were poppys?... No matter, he'd grab them anyways.

( +2 poppys)

Now onto the easy part. A fallen branch lay still at the side of the creek, so after carefully depositing the flowers he carried on the ground Lioncrest inspected his options for sticks. There were a few sturdy, straight looking ones... A few solid chomps easily broke away his prizes from the larger branch.

( +3 sticks )

Scooping up the sticks in his jaws and hooking up the two flowers in his paw, the large golden tom began to carefully hop his way back to camp.

[Goopysharkboi]

Snowypelt was exploring the creek and got too near the water. She heard something nearby and flinched, falling into the water. Moments later she got out just fine. "Why am I such a mouse brain..." She murmured under her breath.