• ( juniperclan -- open )

[if found]

you know I am. sleekwind chuckled. ah, troutnose always referred to her little "falling in". it was a great day. owlflight, we'll be hunting by the creek if anything happens. but what concerns us old cats anymore? the elder laughed, and continued. creekpaw popped out. do you need anything for your joints? I can get you some herbs... we're fine, thank you. they exited camp after the young tom retreated back into his den. the water was a little higher than sleekwind preferred, but if it was cool and the rocks we're warm, that's all she needed. ooh, the waters nice. what fish do you fancy? not many cats actually fish in the camp anymore. maybe she and troutnose could teach the apprentices some time. she knew creekpaw fished when he could, but none of the other apprentices are that daring.

[tiints]

xxxｄｕｓｔｙｐｅｌｔxxxx- - -xxx(xxx - male - warrior - 26 moons)xxx(tag ;; forest, daybird)
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xxthe tom followed, his paws dampening on the forest floor. he stopped abrubtly as daybird stopped to examine what she had stepped on. dustypelt watched while the molly explained that these were foxglove seeds. he made a face when she said they were poisonous and was glad she took the time to tell him there was a difference. the last thing dustypelt wanted to do was hurt the clan. once daybird finished, the siamese replied,"ah, alright. will do. i'll let you know when i have some."the tom turned to his right, making a careful examination of the foliage he was thoughtfully padding past. there was a small growth of yellow flowers which the tom recognized as dandelion. he shook his head slightly, keeping an eye out for the red flowers. the tom kept searching.

xxxｓｐｅｃｋｌｅｔａｉｌxxxx- - -xxx(xxx - female - warrior - 25 moons)xxx(tag ;; forest, briarpaw & nightstep)
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xxspeckletail led the apprentice outside the camp. she thought for a moment and murmured, "hopefully nightstep can catch up with us." she wasn't much of a conversationalist, and had never had an apprentice, so speckletail didn't know exactly if there was something else to say. the molly thought that briarpaw was one of the older apprentices, if her memory was correct. she hoped that meant he would be able to hunt without instruction. the calico continued walking out into the forest, slowing down as the pair came to the expanses of territory that would be full with prey. it was still quite early in the morning, and speckletail knew that meant sun basking ground squirrels and birds looking for their own meal. in front of her was a meadow with various wildflowers and grasses. there were sparse, smaller saplings within the meadow. beyond it was a creek. the sound of moving water was audible. she turned to the brown tabby, "if you need my help, just ask.." speckletail dropped off and added,"i'll be right over here." with her head, she made a small gesture to the left side of the meadow. speckletail waited for a response before continuing, not wanting to be rude.

[crash the mode]

too close!

briarpaw
━━━━━ juniperclan apprentice ━━━━━
where forest, meadow | with speckletail

indentSpeckletail led Briarpaw out of camp without delay, the apprentice shooting a final worried look over his shoulder after his mentor but without protest. He couldn't do a whole lot of protesting. When Speckletail thought aloud that Nightstep might catch up with them he nodded, not reassured but without clear cause to need reassurance in the first place. He shook out his fur in an attempt to shake off thoughts that would dampen this trip out of camp. He'd been hunting many times before, but yesterday he hadn't done more than apprentice duties and he was looking forward to something more exciting.

indentSpeckletail led him to the edge of the trees. Briarpaw scanned the area before she could give her explanation, the tops of tall grass blades not giving anything away at first glance. He returned his full attention to his temporary mentor, noting her complete lack of explanation and understanding it to be nerves. No matter: he knew how to hunt on his own. No problem. He spent another moment there, the two cats just staring at one-another, before he realized she was waiting for a response. Briarpaw managed an "Oh," again, decidedly looking in the direction Speckletail said she would be, his vocal indication perhaps not enough for her to understand him. He nodded.

[tiints]

xxxｓｐｅｃｋｌｅｔａｉｌxxxx- - -xxx(xxx - female - warrior - 25 moons)xxx(tag ;; forest, briarpaw)
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xxthe she cat accepted the nod form briarpaw and turned to the side of the meadow she would be hunting. speckletail enjoyed hunting the most because it was calming to her. she could focus all her energy on one thing. after padding down the tree line a few foxlengths, she took a deep breathe and fell into her instincts.
xxshe crouched lower to the ground, the tree line and its brush covering most of her. with light paws, the calico shorthair sniffed for signs of prey. it took a little while before finding a creature of interest across the left side of the meadow. a plump red squirrel was resting on the side of a young tree. she stalked it from behind, careful to take into account the way the breeze was blowing. with the breeze coming into her, speckletail knew the squirrel couldn't smell her. the only thing left to do is not be heard. each careful step achieved an easier jump for speckletail. the squirrel moved up the tree slightly, looking around for danger. speckletail leapt, digging her claws into the tree bark and dragging the squirrel down, her teeth firmly in its stomach. the red squirrel struggled and scratched frantically. the she cat clamped harder and it ceased, limp in her jaws as she let herself fall back to the ground. speckletail looked around for a spot to stash it before hunting again. text

[majima]

「daybird|32|molly」「feeling fair」「dustypelt;;walking」「the forest」

The pair of wandering cats searched around the forest for the specified herbs, but there was none of the aforementioned items in sight. She spotted a sprig of fennel growing in the alcove in an assemblage of trees, but it was just best to let if grow over the course of time into a bigger patch. Daybird had finally had enough of prancing around the forest looking for the much-needed flower. She heaved a sigh and turned around to dustypelt "Okay, so...um... this might sound a little~ outrageous and totally dangerous but..." she paused as she looked around thinking of a good way to put this without the tom thinking she was crazy or something. "We need to go to a kittypet house" she looked him dead in the eyes whiling saying it calmly "But!" she quickly followed up "The twoleg's shouldn't be home and we just need to get into the garden they have, they grow poppy flowers there"

[Shippe]

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ｔｒｏｕｔｎｏｓｅ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ⚘

{ she-cat - elder - 88 moons- location; outside camp - tagged; sleekwind }

Happy to let Sleekwind take lead, Troutnose let her mind wander as they headed towards the stream. Though the clan hunted for fish rarely, it was one of Troutnose's favorite hunting styles. The elder's greatest strength was her nose, and she had always excelled at tracking prey. It was this ability that led to her warrior name. Lately, especially since she became an elder- call it an act of defiance against her aging body, Troutnose had become more interested in fishing for the challenge it provided her. Since the scent of the water masked that of the fish, Troutnose was forced to use her eyesight, and she relied more on her agility than she did when hunting other prey. The elder especially appreciated when the water was slightly murky like it was in the spot they were at today. "Well, Sleekwind, I'm easy to please these days. I'll take whatever I can catch," she responded, appreciating the the cool water and warm sun. While they were here to fish, the surroundings were calming, and Troutnose found herself getting lost in thought about nothing in particular, ignoring the point of their excursion.

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ｓｈｅｅｐ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ✧

{ tom - kittypet - 26 moons- location; his house - tagged; none}

As Sheep got closer to clan territory his senses sharpened. The kittypet was practical; even if the stories he had heard were exaggerated, as he suspected, these cats did survive on their own, not protected from predators and the cold like Sheep was in his home, so he knew they were not to be messed with. The kittypet reached the spot he liked, a simple tree near the edge of the clan's marked territory. Often, Sheep would sit in this spot until sun-fall, waiting to catch a glimpse of the cats patrolling their territory. He saw them from time to time, and even once or twice suspected the patrolling group had noticed him, but typically he missed the cats, arriving just after they had passed this section of their border. Sheep had yet to see any clan cat up close, but he knew they left their territory occasionally. A small part of him hoped that would happen sometime soon. While he wanted to meet one of these cats, he was not yet courageous enough to venture in their borders. If they left their territory, Sheep would be comforted by the fact that him and the strange cats were on more even ground, neither protecting their territory.

[ser]

ᴘᴀᴛᴄʜᴘᴀᴡ X
juniperclan apprentice // @owlflight, splashpelt

patchpaw had finally caught up to her mentor once they stopped at the camp's entrance, joining splashpelt, a pleasant and sunny calico, whom she had little interacted with. patchpaw flickered her tail above her head, the tip limply swaying, and directed her gaze towards the flora beyond her. she stared intently, imagining the scented borders before her; each time she left the camp, she secretly hoped to find something new or enticing deep within the woods. although, she knew the trails and paths fairly well, and on all past excursions had never discovered anything of the sort, she still believed in her wishful thinking.

as her eyes tracked the sights and sounds surrounding the clan, owlflight began to speak to her. the little apprentice nodded unceremoniously as her mentor continued, catching notes of "testing" and "memory." at the absence of any furthering sound, patchpaw presumed dialogue ended, and calmly turned to face the bold white she-cat; "oh, sure owlflight. i can do that." what that was, patchpaw wasn't completely certain, but surely she'd figure out along the way. feeling satisfied with her answer, patchpaw returned to her previous position, awaiting the patrol to depart.

[fawn,]

✿ ＳＰＬＡＳＨＰＥＬＴ
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x[ warrior . feeling positive . tagged owlflight, patchpaw ]

Splashpelt purred lightly and dipped her head to Patchpaw as her deputy's apprentice approached her to wait for the patrol. She wished she had an apprentice of her own, but with so few apprentices in the clan they had been assigned to more experienced warriors. Splashpelt was very happy with this arrangement as she felt it was important for the apprentices to learn from the best warriors rather than be given to someone who was less experienced. She just hoped that one day she would be able to have an apprentice and teach them everything she herself learned. She looked up as Owlflight addressed her and she nodded, mentally making a note of the area that needed to be strengthened, "That sounds good to me, I've heard that there were foxes sighted around that area too so that would be worth looking into" she stood to signal that she was ready to go and stretched out, limbering herself up to prepare for the patrol.

Splashpelt was excited to get out and about so early in the day, it was her favourite time to be doing things because she always felt invigorated. She watched the exchange between mentor and apprentice and thought about her own apprentice training and how excited she had been to be patrolling with her mentor, she saw the same excitement in Patchpaw as they waited to depart.

[crash the mode]

owlflight
━━━━━ juniperclan deputy ━━━━━
where camp, forest | with splashpelt, patchpaw

indentOwlflight didn't realize that Patchpaw wasn't paying attention, more interested now on the subject of the foxes. "Yes, if there are foxes in our territory we need to find their dens and send warriors to drive them away." A full-grown warrior could scare off a fox on their own, so long as that fox hadn't had cubs. At that point the fox would be more determined to protect its young, but an empty den wasn't anything for it to get attached to. "We don't want anybody running into one without warning."

indentAnother minute passed before Owlflight stood and signaled with her tail for the two cats to follow her out of camp. Her focus now was half on the patrol and half of deciding which apprentice duties she would assign Bluesight when they returned for her negligence. Scenting the air Owlflight could tell that their more rambunctious elders had gone out just before they had, and she considered testing Patchpaw. Her apprentice seemed more interested in the trees than what lay on the path before them, and she was almost snidely inclined to ask whether or not Patchpaw even knew what Sleekwind and Troutnose smelled like. She ignored this impulse in favor of keeping an ear out for anything out of the ordinary.

indent...

indentTheir journey to the first border was uneventful, and while she refreshed the markers Owlflight asked of her apprentice, "Can you recognize the scents of any cats who've been here recently?" Side-eyeing the younger molly, still feeling some of her earlier irritation. She could vindicate herself now, get it out of her system. "You can play, too, Splashpelt."

briarpaw
━━━━━ juniperclan apprentice ━━━━━
where meadow | with speckletail

indentSpeckletail disappeared to hunt on her own patch of the field, leaving Briarpaw to his own devices. He ducked into the tall grass without much thought for specific location, knowing only that something had to be alive in all of this greenery. Padding carefully, running through the list of things his mentor had taught him about how rodents can sense the weight of a cat through the ground if they weren't careful, he opened his mouth to scent the air. Something warm hit his tongue, the taste of a mouse. It would be difficult to find with such low visibility, but where Briarpaw wasn't one for making noise he could recognize one as well as any other cat. The scraping of tiny claws against the dirt to his left confirmed the location of the mouse, and Briarpaw dropped into a hunting crouch. He moved forward delicately, cursing the grass for how it parted around his bulk. In another step Briarpaw pounced on his target, dropping a swift bite to the back of it's neck and killing it. He took a moment to thank StarClan for it's life before he buried it to retrieve later. Before returning to the hunt, Briarpaw craned his head to look over the tops of the tall grass, looking for Speckletail. She wasn't his mentor, but she was responsible for him while Nightstep wasn't present and he'd like to stay at least kind of close by. Finding her again wasn't difficult, and without making himself noticeable he slid back to his four paws and returned to his duties.

[tiints]

xxxｄｕｓｔｙｐｅｌｔxxxx- - -xxx(xxx - male - warrior - 26 moons)xxx(tag ;; forest, daybird)
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xxdustypelt kept daybird in his sights as he searched for, what he now realized were elusive, poppy seeds. he spotted foxglove more than once. the tom also recognized other herbs, but couldn't name them. as the medicine cat signed, he looked up to the long haired molly. the tom would be perfect;y happy to continue searching. he still thought that looking for herbs was better than patrol, which he did everyday. as daybird came up with her plan, the siamese frowned and weighed the risk of it. he took a few moments."well.." dustypelt started seriously,"if you know where to go and the two-legs aren't around, it should be alright. i suppose." it wasn't that dustypelt felt comfortable doing this, but if daybird thought it wouldn't be troublesome, then he'd do it. it was for the clan, after all.

xxxｓｐｅｃｋｌｅｔａｉｌxxxx- - -xxx(xxx - female - warrior - 25 moons)xxx(tag ;; forest, briarpaw)
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xxspeckletail dug a shallow hole for her kill. she took a look around, her peripheral vision catching something. the molly turned quickly just to catch the apprentice slink back into the grass, which vaguely quivered from where he once was. she turned back and padded lightly, trying to catch another scent. speckletail had always enjoyed hunting the most, out of all her warrior duties. it calmed her, unlike most other cats or tasks. falling into a hunting croach, the molly followed another scent. it was no doubt a vole. her paws had to be extra light in order to not alert the vole of her presence. from her angle, she could just see the side of its body because it was distorted by a small fern. it a swift motion, speckletail made a shallow leap that placed her right in front of the rodent. her jaws reached to crush its windpipe. the vole's whiskers quivered.
...
xxafter a few more successful (and one unsuccessful) kills, speckletail looked for briarpaw. she felt like, between the two of them, there would be enough for the clan. at least for today. plus, speckletail wouldn't mind hunting later by herself if need be.text