Near the far edges of the territory lies the crumbling wreckage of ThunderClan's old camp. Minimal signs that anyone ever lived here remain, save for decaying bramble barriers and a few abandoned trinkets. What used to be a gaping hole in the center, has since been transformed into a deep pit of water. A willow tree, previously damaged by the sinkhole and left tilted into the pit, now acts as a bridge out of the pond if cats should be unlucky enough to fall in.
Sometimes the earth still groans, like a slumbering beast waiting to be reawakened.
Prey such as moles, mice, and other ground rodents are the most common to be found amongst the debris.
Last edited by dino.; August 2nd, 2024 at 05:16 PM.
| Larchflame |
( @.squid @xavier. - sorry for the small post )
There had been a lot on the molllys mind as of recent. Her thoughts buzzed through her head uncontrollably, voicing her fears, proposing terrible situations to her, and reminding her of simpler times. She flashed a little glance towards the warriors den, at least she still had her brother. Larchflames thoughts were interrupted by her name being called out by Alderstep. She got to her paws and stretched before padding over to the deputy. Maybe this patrol would do her some good.
"Yo." she waved her tail slightly in a greeting, "I'm ready to go when you are." Featherglow better show up soon, the quicker they get out of camp
the quicker Larchflame can get her mind off this mess.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xavier.
> THE LONER •°.. 《 No active purrks 》
|| he/him ||
Featherglow walked into the clearing the moment he heard his named be called. Oh, a patrol. Just got back but it's whatever. Yeah whatever. The golden tom went over to his clanmates only giving a small nod to each of them indicating he was ready to go.
With both his patrollers ready to go, Alderstep spent no time setting off into the territory, trekking to the far edges of their land to the old camp. He already began mentally preparing himself to look upon the dilapidated place. It still felt so weird to think that he used to spend the better part of his life there, and now it was just more hunting grounds, with a tinge of eeriness.
"Should be small things here, rodents and such," Alderstep commented, gaze sweeping over the pit in the center. His ears flicked as he looked at either of his clanmates, sharp-eyed. "Split up?" he suggested. They were only going to be catching mice and shrews: not really a teamwork activity. "Just watch your step, 'cause I'm not gonna be the one dragging your carcass outta the pit if you fall down there," he grumbled additionally. Stars, could a cat even survive falling down there? How deep was it? And would he even dare to get close enough to the pit to see? That wasn't the definition of 'watching his step,' was it? Alderstep looked to the giant hole once again before scanning the area, senses straining to catch any hints of prey.
__________________
time is nothing when you've nothing to do, don't you know
It was so weird being here again.. everything felt so familiar, but so off too.
So familiar that Larchflame could almost feel her paws falling in line with one steps she had taken moons ago, leading her back to camp, but as they arrived with the sinkhole in its place she couldn't help feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Right." she meowed in agreement to Alderstep, both about the not-falling-in thing and about splitting up. She looked at the two toms for a moment, Alderstep better take his own advice, I don't want to be getting my ear shredded by Bumblestar if he winds up dead. The calico decided to make her way to the right of the abyssal pit, keeping her mouth open a little to check for scents. There was a faint smell of mice along with that of a vole, though the voles was pretty faint, so she began following the mouses' scent trail.
So things were a bit.... Wobbly right now and a lotta cats were down in the dumps. Which wasnt Mudhound style of choice! Not by far! No, they were more interested in being happy and having the cats around them be happy too! This was a mindset that'd be semi useless if they didnt intent on spreading joy but luckily they didnt mind doing that too!
So who was their target of joy for today? Why it was Springpaw! The hesitant if capricious apprentice had been kind to them of late. She'd cured their horrible sun blindness and allowed them to see the meeting (which had turned out to be important if unpleasant to be in)! The medicine cat apprentice had been kind when doing so too, she didnt make fun of the tripod for them making a foolish mistake and had been very gentle which was much appreciated. So for giving kindness she was getting kindness in return.
It was the way things should be after all.
But what was a good gift and thank you? Herbs would probably be useful but Mudhound didnt really know any, plus then it'd be a work related gift and not a personal one, Springpaw was more then her role afterall. Prey might be good but it was basic. You could just grab prey off the pile whenever you wanted and the maine coon mix didnt know Springpaws favorite to gift that one specifically. So a trinket, something pretty or fun that could be kept and enjoyed that might suit the young healer was more suitable.
Where to find it was easy too.
The haggard ruins, the very place Mudhound was once born and newly reopened was host to many trinkets and bobs left behind in the evacuation. Things once owned and loved that could be again, reminders of good old times to bright light to shadowed nows.
So in the warrior padded, gazing with wide eyes at the area as they remembered fragment kit memories, left decayed and old.
It was.... Empty, though perhaps that was to be expected, quiet but the groans of the old tree from the wind flowing through it and the echod groans from the ground. Which were.... concerning but Mudhound wasnt running yet. They were getting to work. Pawing through fallen dens and overturning old moss they searched, discarding a few shattered shells and gathering a pile of things that may just work, tucked beneath the old meeting spot.
It was a long search and nothing struck their fancy as they looked growing frustrated until a low hoot filled the air. The warrior froze in the once clearing, golden eyes going wide as they slowly lifted their head, scanning the trees. And in the old willow the cats golden eyes met gold in turn, the bright wide gold of an owl.
Not just any owl to be exact, a huge dark great horned owl.
The two were similar in an odd way, both standing still but calm, fur and feathers rustling in the night breeze, gold eyes meeting gold. Even their coloring and size were similar, shades of brown and huge the raptor and hunter stared and felt a strange sort of understanding. Maybe this bird was a threat to others, but they werent to Mudhound, not right now, as they shared this quiet night. Maybe the owl was stressed to, dealing with bird territory troubles of its own and maybe it to had young it wished to protect and care for. Maybe the owl too was searching for something and was happy to share a moment with a fellow creature.
Or maybe Mudhound was reading too much into it as the cat blinked first. The owl was neutral to them that much was clear but how could they know the mind of a bird. Still there was a sense of melancholy rare to the warrior as the owl silently took flight away from the ruins, going away on its own nocturnal journey.
It left a gift though. A large perfectly patterned flight feather drifted to the ground in front of Mudhound and struck them as just what was wanted. So with a soft smile the warrior picked it up and left this place, taking their treasure back to what would be its new owner in time.
Since Larchflame had gone right, Alderstep went left, trailing after that rodent smell. Wariness kept him on guard, but he took care not to tense up to either cause himself pain or ruin his hunting form. With realistic goals set, he wanted to catch at least two things on this patrol.
So, as the mouse scent hit his senses, he went into the dead-to-the-world-except-for-yummy-animals mode, determination powering him forward to catch the stupid itty-bitty creature. Well, not stupid, he supposed. Mice could be smart, by their standards. If they had those. Alderstep frowned down at the now-dead mouse, giving up a moment later. Who cares, the mice tasted good and so he was going to continue catching them.
Onwards to the second, yeah? Alderstep prowled the ruins, having cached his previous catch where he'd caught it. It was difficult to separate the scents left behind by the previous mouse, and so it took some time until Alderstep finally caught wind of something new: mole. His attention tunneled to just that, focus sharp as usual. Mouse and mole; the two m's of yummy.
He felt like screeching when his tedious searching was halted by the fact that the mole scent went into one of those little holes the pests made. It was like the mole was trying to imitate the giant abyss, pitifully. Alderstep chose to play the boring waiting game, wanting nothing more than to start digging up the rodent. If only that tactic was foolproof. After what felt like moons, the mole made an appearance, which was an ultimately fatal mistake.
Alderstep snatched the rodent up, barely a chance given. Two pieces of prey, done. Content, the tabby fetched his mouse and carried the two fresh-kill back to where he'd come from, ready to meet with Larchflame and head back.
Craneblood stepped into the ruins of the old camp, eyeing the pit in center before he glanced down at Frogpaw. "I have absolutely zero clue where you are in terms of training. I have no idea what your past mentors have been doing. Do you know anything else outside basic fighting moves?"
Since Larchflame had gone right, Alderstep went left, trailing after that rodent smell. Wariness kept him on guard, but he took care not to tense up to either cause himself pain or ruin his hunting form. With realistic goals set, he wanted to catch at least two things on this patrol.
So, as the mouse scent hit his senses, he went into the dead-to-the-world-except-for-yummy-animals mode, determination powering him forward to catch the stupid itty-bitty creature. Well, not stupid, he supposed. Mice could be smart, by their standards. If they had those. Alderstep frowned down at the now-dead mouse, giving up a moment later. Who cares, the mice tasted good and so he was going to continue catching them.
Onwards to the second, yeah? Alderstep prowled the ruins, having cached his previous catch where he'd caught it. It was difficult to separate the scents left behind by the previous mouse, and so it took some time until Alderstep finally caught wind of something new: mole. His attention tunneled to just that, focus sharp as usual. Mouse and mole; the two m's of yummy.
He felt like screeching when his tedious searching was halted by the fact that the mole scent went into one of those little holes the pests made. It was like the mole was trying to imitate the giant abyss, pitifully. Alderstep chose to play the boring waiting game, wanting nothing more than to start digging up the rodent. If only that tactic was foolproof. After what felt like moons, the mole made an appearance, which was an ultimately fatal mistake.
Alderstep snatched the rodent up, barely a chance given. Two pieces of prey, done. Content, the tabby fetched his mouse and carried the two fresh-kill back to where he'd come from, ready to meet with Larchflame and head back.
| Larchflame |
( aaa sorry my reply took so long!! )
The mouse trail seemed to be the right choice, as not long after beginning to follow it she was met by a woodland mouse upwind of her, peacefully nibbling a kind of seed. Creeping up slowly, the mouse was none the wiser, only just noticing the warriors presence when her shadow covered the sun before her paws landed squarely on top of it. Hardly letting the mouse scream from terror Larchflame delivered a killing bite, putting the creature out of its misery before it had to suffer too much, however it seemed as though the tiny cut-off screech it managed to let out spooked another mouse into running nearly right into her claws from a nearby bush.
She was quick to react, slamming her paw down on it's tail as it ran by, but not quite quick enough, as not even a heartbeat later it had wiggled itself free and bolted into a tiny mouse hole to her left. Larchflame hissed in annoyance, it would've been an easy catch, the thing ran into her for starclans sake! Her tail flicked with irritation as she picked up the mouse she had caught and began to circle back around to the old camp entrance, there'd be a bird or something over there.
Sure enough a small blackbird was resting in a small oak tree, with low hanging branches. Larchflame made swift work of climbing the tree careful to only take larger steps that might send vibrations through the branch when the breeze passed by, as to not alert the bird. The blackbird was on a thinner part of the tree, but that didn't deter her. Once she reached the same branch that it sat on she coiled up before taking a big leap. Instead of aiming for the bid itself she aimed just past it, off the branch, bracing for the impact of falling with her jaws open to catch the bird on her way by. Larchflames plan mostly worked, she snagged the blackbirds wing in her maw as it tried to fly away, but she hadn't accounted for the blackbird squirming this much, so she landed awkwardly on her left forepaw. Yikes, she thought to herself, examining her injured paw after delivering the killing blow to her prey. I'm gonna feel this tomorrow.. she winced, testing to see how much weight she could put on it.
She was fine, she could still walk, though she ought to get Drizzlecloud or Springpaw to check it out when she got back to camp. Retrieving her mouse from earlier she continued making her way back to meet up with Alderstep, trying to shift her balance according to her paw.
Larchflame came back soon enough, though she looked to be walking weirdly. Alderstep tilted his head in confusion, further studying her gait. It was difficult to tell what the hell the other warrior was doing, but she'd brought back a mouse and a blackbird, which meant four pieces of prey total between the two of them. Impressive. Alderstep nodded his approval, thoroughly satisfied with the patrol.
"Let's get going," he said with a glance cast to the sky, observing the sun's position carefully. Alderstep then picked up his prey gently, so as to not spoil it with his jaw's grip, and stalked off in the direction of the camp. The ruins, he decided, were not so bad. Yielded a nice amount of prey. Didn't seem too dangerous. He'd send more patrols there in the future, for sure.
Craneblood stepped into the ruins of the old camp, eyeing the pit in center before he glanced down at Frogpaw. "I have absolutely zero clue where you are in terms of training. I have no idea what your past mentors have been doing. Do you know anything else outside basic fighting moves?"
StormyEye acted like he was just hanging out with some friends, exploring ruins, catching some prey and goofing off. He struggled to look playful and innocent. He hopped into a secluded area,
' ' check this out! ' ' he chirped, pointing into the used-to-be medicine den.
This'll do, he thought. He listened close, the only noises he could hear outside were faint chirps of cats, if they spoke quietly they would be ok. He examined the cats around him, not many. Only two! FrogPaw and Jaggedface. Hm, they both didn't like BumbleStar, so it would do though he would have to other warriors later.
' ' this will just be us speaking to one another, we cannot take action yet, we must only act like friends and speak like friends. Tell no one of this group unless you're completely sure they would join and support us. ' ' His back was arched low as he whispered the words quietly. ' ' now, ' ' he meowed, a bit louder this time as he grew more comfortable with the spot. ' ' tell me, why did you join and what really ticks your the most about BumbleStar. I can go first. ' '
His posture grew tall again and his voice was just a bit a louder so the others could hear him with his head high.
' ' I started this rebellion because I think that BumbleStar is simply put too kind. He is stuck up and arrogant, leaf bare is coming and we barely have any patrols out even though we are in war with shadowclan and just defeated riverclan. So I started this rebellion. Thats why I started this rebellion and why I hate BumbleStar, now you, and quietly. ' ' He whisper-spoke, and waited for the others responses. ' ' you first Jagged ' '
Haggard Ruins
Re: Haggard Ruins
