zephyrine wrote:"Hey Breezeclaw!" Heatherpond called, trotting toward her friend, who was grooming herself in a corner of the camp. "I asked Ashenclaw if we and our siblings could go out hunting, and he said we could! I just feel like we're all still divided or something, and it's bothering me. A Clan is supposed to be a group of close, tight-knit cats, after all!" Breezeclaw could only stare at her for a moment before shaking her head miserably. "Heather, really?" she grumbled. "It's not that important." "Yes, it is!" The silver tabby sighed, "No, really." She hated the idea of going on any sort of patrol with Pinedust. He kept asking her if she was alright even after she already told him she was fine. But you look so upset. What's the probem? he would go on. You, she wanted to say, but she held her tongue. Why in StarClan's name couldn't he just leave her alone? "Oh, come on, Breezeclaw," Heatherpond mewed, interrupting her thoughts. "It won't be as bad as you think it will. Just one hunting patrol. I'll go find my brothers, can you get yours?" She was answered with a barely audible grumble, "Fine." While Heatherpond bounced off to search for her brothers, Breezeclaw slunk toward the warriors' den. What would her mother say about this? "Cinderdawn, wake up," she meowed flatly and prodded him in the ribs. "Ow! Breezeclaw!" the darker tabby yelped, jumping to his paws and shaking his fur out. "What do you want?" "We've been assigned to the dawn hunting patrol." "With who?" Breezeclaw's ears swiveled back and nearly flattened against her skull. That was the very question she was hoping he wouldn't ask, seeing as her mother was now awake as well and listening. She paused before mumbling, "Heatherpond, Falconchaser, and Pinedust." Frigidrose hurried to her paws and padded quickly over to her kits, a disgusted expression plastered onto her face. "What?" she nearly hissed. "What was that?" Breezeclaw repeated herself, and Frigidrose scowled. "Now why would Ashenclaw assign just the lot of you to a hunting patrol, hm?" "Heatherpond asked him if -" She was interrupted by a hiss from her mother, "Oh, of course she did, the mouse-brained fool. Well. Something bad is certainly bound to happen. It would be best if I accompanied you." With a flick of her tail, Frigidrose trotted out of the den. Cinderdawn sighed and mewed quietly, "Oh well.... Let's hope for the best." He began to pad toward the den's exit, and Breezeclaw followed. With Frigidrose on the patrol now, she wouldn't even feel comfortable talking to Heatherpond. The potential fun - if there was any to begin with - was being mercilessly drained out of this patrol. When the siblings reached the camp entrance where the rest of the patrol had gathered, the confusion and disappointment of Frigidrose joining was clear on Heatherpond's face. Noticing Breezeclaw approaching, she gave a weak smile to her friend and then the rest of the patrol. "Okay, I guess we'll head out now." The group was silent as they stepped out of the camp. The quiet was almost painful, and when Heatherpond tried to start up a small, awkward conversation, it was even more so. A few monster-lengths away from the camp, they began to split up to search for prey. Frigidrose and Cinderdawn were the first to stray from the group, teaming up to catch a bird, and shortly Heatherpond and Falconchaser followed suit, stalking a plump mouse, leaving Breezeclaw and Pinedust standing there awkwardly, avoiding each other's gazes. Of course, just had to be him, the silver she-cat thought grumpily. Thanks, Heatherpond, for leaving me alone with your creepy brother. Real friendship at work there. "Do you smell that?" Pinedust mewed quietly. "Probably just some prey, mouse-brain," Breezeclaw muttered, not bothering to give the air a good sniff to identify whatever it was and instead padding off to hunt on her own. "No, it's... different. I don't know what..." A piercing yowl interrupted him, "Badger! Get back to camp! Now!!" Breezeclaw felt an icy chill slither down her spine at Cinderdawn's words. She felt like she couldn't move. Where was her brother? Was the badger after him? While Falconchaser and Heatherpond did as Cinderdawn had said and fled toward the camp to gather a larger patrol that could take on the badger and drive it out of the territory, Breezeclaw ran in the direction the yowl had sounded and was followed by Pinedust. "Cinderdawn!" she cried as she tore her way through the undergrowth, low branches smacking her face. She ignored the stinging and continued her dash. "Breezeclaw, get to camp!" Cinderdawn howled. "I'm not leaving without you!" A low growling soon caught her attention and she darted in that direction, quickly coming to a small clearing where a large badger had her brother cornered. His gaze flitted around, searching for a way to escape, and suddenly he leapt backwards and clung to the side of a tree. He was about to scramble up, but his claws had dug into the bark so deep that he was having trouble retracting them. Breezeclaw charged forward as the badger moved to strike at him, but she wasn't fast enough. The creature tore Cinderdawn from the tree, yanking a couple of his claws out and sending him flying for a second before hitting the ground with a thud and skidding a fox-length. Breezeclaw stared at her brother, praying to StarClan that he would get to his paws. When he didn't move, she ran toward him and crouched at his side. His eyes were barely open, he was trying to get up but was struggling greatly. Pinedust and Frigidrose were fending off the badger which gave Breezeclaw the time to nudge her brother to his paws and get him walking, though with a great amount of support from her. "Let's go!" she called back to the others. "You get him back to camp," Pinedust hollered. "We'll wait for Falcon and Heather to return with reinforcements. You need to go!" Breezeclaw reluctantly followed his orders and tried to urge her brother on. Soon a patrol flew past them with Falconchaser and Heatherpond at the lead, and the group was followed by the two medicine cats, who hurried toward Breezeclaw and Cinderdawn. Appleheart assisted the silver tabby in helping the wounded tom to the medicine den. Cinderdawn collapsed onto a moss bed and Appleheart carefully tended to him. Willowcloud brought Breezeclaw some poppy seeds, but she hardly felt like eating anything. With some urging from the fluffy, gray medicine cat, she eventually swallowed the tiny seeds. She would not stop staring at her injured brother. His breathing seemed to be failing. This can't be happening - i-it just c-cant.... Cinderdawn... please. You can pull through. I know you can.
Prey eaten: x1 hare + x2 squirrel
Patrol: Patchthorn, Frostpath, Stormbreeze, Birchwing, Crowstorm, + Snowstep
Training: Fernpaw
Cinderdawn is killed by a badger
Driving off the badger: Ashenclaw, Webfang, Honeydapple, Cloudtalon, Falconchaser, + Heatherpond
x1 poppy seed has been used