Batglare's lifted his head as soon as he heard he was called for patrols. About damn time! It felt like the tom disappeared for several days at a time at random intervals and the patrols went out later and later. Why Twilightstar tolerated this, he hadn't a clue. At this rate, Fallownose wasn't going to last long as the next WindClan leader if he couldn't even handle being a deputy.
The brooding senior snorted and shook his head, this is why he never had any desire to be anything more than a warrior. The extra responsibility would drive the older tom mad. He could do it, didn't mean that he wanted to. He had enough to deal with having Twistedpaw and Whisperingpaw.
Bypassing the deputy, Batglare took a seat on the grass and waited for the rest of his patrol. He had Twistedpaw and Thundersnow... if it was a simple hunting patrol Batglare didn't see why he couldn't bring his second apprentice.
"Whisperingpaw, come join this hunting patrol." Normally, Batglare didn't bother adding cats to patrols that were already set up, but Whisperingpaw could use the extra training and Twistedpaw learn to be a bit more social. If Fallownose had a problem with this he better bring it up before Batglare left, otherwise he was going to assume all was well and do as he pleased.
The large tom calmly padded over, taking a seat next to Batglare. He heard the warrior call for another cat, but took no mind to it. He was far to busy clearing the fuzz from his thoughts.
Keeping his mouth sealed shut, he allowed his mind to wander while he enjoyed the string of silence between the two cats. Minks? Never hunted one. He had heard of them though. The way Fallowose described the creatures made them seem like bloodthirsty pests. While Thundersnow didn't believe that himself, he still knew that problems were problems. And problems needed to be solved.
From what he'd heard, Minks were otter-looking animals, black pelted with darker eyes to match. Thundersnow already knew the creatures would put up a fight.
Nothing the patrol couldn't handle, surely. He had full faith in his clanmates and the stars above.
Despite the lingering white patching on the toms pelt from the mink attack Fallownose padding to his usual 'Im going to assign patrols' spot had roused the tom and brought him front and center. Aaaaaaand earned him a lead patrol spot! Nice. The tom enjoyed border patrols, generally wished he was assigned to more though had trouble shaking the lingering guilt of not going on hunting patrols. See, he was good at those, tunneling helped in the winter when prey hid below, and the prey pile was oft empty. Windclan had a weird thing with it either being very full or empty.
So justifying going to the borders to do nothing but check wasnt something he could do often.
But this was governmentaly approved via the deputy! Lets gooooo!
"On 't dep. Applefrost, Winterpaw, an' my own charge gather up. The squirrels 'ave been quiet after givin' us their land but we aint droppin' our guard. 'll show ya the new land we got an' maybe we can get some forest fare outta 't, make use o' the new space.
Nightpaw, 'f yer up fer 't maybe I can teach some huntin' while we're at 't."
He really needed to ramp up the training with the kid, she'd gotten kind of training so far but like hell was Crowtooth was gonna let his first apprentice languish.
Winterpaw could piggyback off it the lesson too if needed.
Winterpaw stood at attention as Crowtooth spoke, waiting for his mentor and Nightpaw to join them so the patrol could start. This would be Winterpaw's first, and could be a valuable chance for him to learn from their patrol leader. Though it's not like he was buzzing with excitement, Winterpaw couldn't help but think through what might happen on their hunting trip, and what this other apprentice was like. He couldn't recall ever really running into them.
His eyes seemed clear that day, the world more bright. The sun was peaking through the clouds, its feeble rays doing their best to beat back the leaf-bare chill. Rabbiteye had eaten already, and was ready to patrol. His blue hues flickered over the two cats assigned to him. Deadmoon, whom he remembered speaking to one night outside the entrance tunnel, and Sweetpaw, whom he couldn't recall having ever spoken to. Deadmoon seemed ready to go, so he padded over to her with a dip of his head.
The brown warrior waited a few heartbeats for Sweetpaw to join, then set off wordlessly out of camp.
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Ain't much that I know what to put 'ere...
"And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies." - Haymitch
| Lightningstorm |
Flock Together [Tier 3] - Inactive | Mind Reader - Active
Large ears perked up as the medicine cat heard a familiar voice calling her in a rather unfamiliar way. Lightningstorm had just done a rare emerging from her den not to eat, but to call out for patrols. The minks had done a number on her herb storage, and she would need more herbs now. She knew newleaf was right around the corner and would much rather wait for fresher, better herbs... but there was no time to do so. Of course, her plans were paused for now by none other than the deputy himself. Almond eyes narrowed as she turned a suspicious look towards Fallownose, she wondered why she'd been sent out on patrol today.
A younger her would have been thrilled by the prospect of adventure. The idea of heading off on such a different patrol exciting to say the least. She had done hunting patrols on her own and with her mate before, but never official ones. Usually only the ones meant to feed her ever since she had taken to never eating from WindClan's prey pile or the ones when Firestorm managed to convince her to go out for some fresh air with her. As paranoid as she was about leaving the herb storages alone, the Abyssinian mix had a hard time saying no to the fiery dame.
Despite her heart beating erratically in her chest as said prospect was presented to her not by the warrior but the deputy himself, however, she found no reason to doubt his intention. There was no malice in his voice, and truth be told, if his luck with patrols was as horrid as hers, then it became a matter of attempting to find anyone half dependable within the clan's walls to go out and gather sustenance for the clan. A quick look at the prey pile confirmed these suspicions, finding it empty - having been avoiding it, she couldn't tell how long it had been thus - despite all the warriors available in the clan. Shaking her head, Lightningstorm's interest was renewed when she heard her mate's name escape the gray tom, concern flashing briefly in her eyes. With Firestorm pregnant, she wasn't too keen on her exerting herself more than required... especially considering the... origins of this particular pregnancy. And yet she knew better than arguing about it. The green eyed queen was looking far too giddy at the chance to lead a patrol to be even remotely worried about her condition right now. Not that her pregnancy was leaving her any room to be forgotten, considering the nauseous look on her face.
"If I didn't know any better, Fallownose, I'd say Firestorm put you up to this. Medicine cats are supposed to be in the medicine cat den, you know? Prey pile's looking mighty empty though, innit?" she mewed, giving an exaggerated sigh before rolling her shoulders, getting ready to head out. "Fine. I'll head out for a hunt. But only 'cause you asked so nicely, love."
The eyes gave her pause, forcing her to blink momentarily as she found her patrolmate. She looked nothing like him. Talked nothing like him. And in terms of actions, she honestly seemed like a quiet but equally bitter version of herself at first glance. But the green and blue gaze was not something she had been expecting to stare at today, her heart feeling as if claws were raking violently across it, Cowtuft's kind face swimming before her eyes.
Maplepaw seemed to be looking for her among the crowd, understandably not finding her considering Lightningstorm was hardly the tallest cat in the clan. A fact her shorter than average mate loved to lord over her. That was probably for the best, as it gave the medicine cat a moment to center herself before approaching, offering raised brow and a smug smirk to the younger feline. Just because she didn't trust the cats in this clan to not turn on her at any moment it didn't mean she couldn't have her fun at their expense. That was what Firestorm had meant when she kept asking her to relax, right? If not... well, too bad. A simple case of earnest misunderstanding.
"Maplepaw? Looks like our benevolent deputy has placed us on hunting duty by Windy Hills. Must have really annoyed him something fierce to be placed with me. Let's be off, then. I promise to be as annoying as possible so you can let him know his vengeance has been completed," she purred, a teasing glint in her eye as she got ready to lead the way towards the bird of prey filled hilltops.
Oh, a patrol! The maine coon's eyes lit up at the idea of something to do. So, he would be going to the ThunderClan border with Crowtooth, his apprentice, and Nightpaw. Didn't seem too bad. He joined his patrolmates, forcing a tiny smile onto his maw. He knew where the new border was as he'd been on the patrol, but he supposed the apprentices didn't. When Crowtooth mentioned teaching Nightpaw how to hunt, he let his yellow gaze settle on Winterpaw.
"Winterpaw can surely benefit off of the hunting lesson as well. I know where the new border marking are, by the way," he mewed. "Ready to go!"
NIGHTHAIL she/her. 36 moons. long haired black and grey molly with lighter splotches; blue eyes; scarred
( purrks; the collector, rapid recovery )
padding back to camp, nighthail makes her way to the deputy. "everything was fine at riverclan's border..we had no trouble. rabbitspring, however, disappeared shortly after we arrived at the border. I'm not sure where she went."
Batglare padded into the camp reeking heavily of blood and a hint of death. The warrior had thorns jammed into one side of his muzzle oozing crimson, and dark red blood had flattened the fur on his hind leg, flank, back of his neck, and chest where gashes and scratches were hidden. He moved with a heavy limp due to the thorn stuck in one of his paw pads and was forced to keep an eye close to avoid blood dripping into it from a scratch on the top of his head.
The tom's front paws and claws were covered in dirt from a freshly dug grave. Having sent the other two ahead of him to go and see Lightningstorm, Batglare dropped off Gingersplash's body and buried her in Starry Meadow. By the time he returned to camp, he wanted to pass out. He made sure that he wasn't in danger of dying, but he needed to visit Lightningstorm and sleep this off. Batglare was mildly concerned that this might slow down his training with his apprentices.
"Fallownose, I'd stop sending patrols to Twilight Falls. There is a large group of minks guarding that territory, Thundersnow, Whisperingpaw, and I just managed to get out alive. We found Gingersplash's body there as well, the minks got to her before we could. I already buried her in Starry Meadow. Sadly, hunting was the least of our worries, so we've no prey to bring back." He doubted any punishment would be issued, not after what he and the other two just went through.
"I can take out a different hunting patrol, after I visit Lightningstorm and take a nap, if WindClan's in need of prey." His injuries hurt, a lot, but since he wasn't dead. It was unlike Batglare would be resting for long. Nothing was broken, so he'd be on his paws whether he was ordered to or not to make up for the failure. It was the minks' fault nothing was hunted, but it still felt like a slight to the senior. At this point, he'd probably go hunting just to make himself feel better.
It was with more than a hint of a sheepish expression that Deadmoon returned to camp. She might have passed Rabbiteye on the way back, not too keen at all to stick around near the minks, and seeing as Fallownose was waiting for a report she saw no harm (well not no harm, but less harm than keeping him waiting) in letting him know what had transpired. Approaching with as much composure as she could muster considering this was probably a bit unorthodox, reporting a patrol the assigned leader had made it too before they returned to camp, she began to speak. Rabbiteye and Sweetpaw will be along soon I'm sure, we all left Sky Glade at the same time was the first thing she wanted to make clear. Deadmoon hadn't gone fully rogue, she just....jumped around the chain of command a little. but we haven't got any prey. Because there were minks. Lots and lots of minks. We left before they could spot us, or at least come after us it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that the skinny....things had seen them as unworthy of pursuit but there was no way to hunt there. If you want us to go out elsewhere I'd be happy to though! she added, because that sounded just a bit too much like giving up for her taste. Didn't want to sound like a massive slacker, no sirree. @Lillith @MockingRabbit @Collieheart (Wanted to get this in before the deadline )
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All hail the Rat Queen's!!
Shrewstep has Silver Tongue and Mind Reader purrks
Pit has Just a Scratch and Beefed Up Tier 2
Last edited by gs29513; March 16th, 2024 at 08:19 PM.
The tom was both pleased and not as he padded up, nodding to Fallownose as he quickly dropped the prey gathered on the pile before he returned to chat. "Befor ya get confused I know 't was a border patrol but we found time ta teach Winterpaw ta hunt an' brought back some food. That's 'cuz 't was dead quiet on the border, an' not 'n a bad way." So all good really. Quiet patrol and they even managed to squeeze in a lesson and some hunting to refill the pile, none of which explained the ire. Crowtooth quickly explained however with a smile. "Nightpaw didn' pull 'er weight. She vanished halfway through an' showed no interest 'n huntin' or the border not that she shows any interest 'n anythin'. I dunno what ta do Fallownose, she's my first apprentice an' no matter what I do I can' get 'er ta try, when I do get a lesson 'n 'm draggin' 'er through 't. What should I do?"
The tom was lost, at first he thought it was his own failure as a mentor but Winterpaw had taken to instruction like a fish to water and really the tom had been teaching tunneling courses well for ages. It wasnt a good feeling, failing Twilightstar in this way and in a bitter way he wished he got a different apprentice like Fallowfeather.
Re: WindClan Patrols
