A feast for kings ✘ Stealing prey

[PRICKLES]

*+:｡.｡ Today's hunting was a bountiful one! For whoever caught the prey and for Prickles, who happily dug up the half-buried food for himself! It was quite fun, actually, as Prickles trailed after the patrol. The thought their prey was secured, buried deep enough to hide the scent to retrieve later - but unfortunately for them, Prickles had been watching and knew what displaced mounds of dirt to look for. They licked their lips, ruby fur fluffing up as their typically itchy skin now flushed with joy as they ate a feast they never would've acquired on their own! Digging up two shrews was enough to fill their belly, now they were digging up the other catches - a squirrel and a vole - to bring back to the Red Water cats, figuring Sasha would appreciate a little gift.
It would be the last hole he dug up that would make Prickles pause. A meaty fish lay half uncovered by their paws, reeking and sticky. Placing down the prey they carried, they aimed to sniff the creature, only to pull back with a hack. Instead of covering it back up though, Prickles tentatively took a bite anyway, just for the experience. Yep - absolutely rank! And promptly spit out their mouthful all over the fish, rendering it inedible to anyone who didn't want to share the backwash of a rogue.

It would be then that Prickles hears the sound of paws crunching on frosted ground. They scratch frantically at a distracting itch before grabbing hold of their prey just in time to catch the gaze of whoever it was that would poke their head out of the bushes. With a muffled gasp, Prickles would turn and promptly kick dust and dirt into the riverclanner's face before making a beeline back the way they'd come - stolen treasure secured in their teeth!

A win!

*+:｡.｡ Updated 1/9/23

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  GENERAL:
  ✘ Prickles
  ✘ DMAB— He/They — Bisexual
  ✘ 12 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ✘ Member of the red water rogues
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ✘Physically medium | mentally medium
  ✘ Attack in bold #f35336
  injuries: None currently

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[FOXTAIL]

Today was an exciting day, it's Eelpaw's first day trying out hunting out in the territory! They spent a good portion of the day at one of smaller rivers, and he showed his apprentice the technique to snatch up a fish. They practiced the technique for a good while, he's quite confident that Eelpaw will master the technique, but he also wanted to expose her to catching land prey. Land prey wasn't as easy to catch as fish, but it was nearly, practically, as important as fishing. They spent longer on this, and Foxtail hunted alongside her.

"Not bad for your first day hunting!" He meows to his apprentice as he pads in the direction of the prey they caught together. As he knew they would be out for a good chunk of the day, the warrior buried the caught prey; showing Eelpaw the importance of burying prey while hunting. It obscures the scent from predators that might be lurking by, as predators who will happily take a free meal without having to do the work to get it. "We'll continue tomorrow," He mews, "Let's bring the prey we caught together back to camp-"

The warrior comes to a complete stop, his nostrils invaded by a scent he doesn't recognize. It doesn't belong to any cat, or clan, that he knows, and the scent is close!

Foxtail pushes his head through the bush, eyes widening at the sight of a red tabby— with one of their catches in his mouth! He barely gets to blink before the trespasser turns and kicks dirt into the young warrior's face. He yelps and quickly shakes the dirt off, his fur bristling. "H-hey!" Foxtail yowls, feeling his heart race as he leaps through the bush, "Get back here, that doesn't belong to you!"

He tries to race after the trespasser, but the red tabby is quite faster than him. The rogue crosses the border, and disappears over the horizon; and the tabby chimera comes to a stop. His ears are flattened to his skull, and he breathes out a wordless damn! He heads back over to his apprentice, and the confidence the tom previously had about his apprentice's first catch seems to diminish. "Did they steal anything else?" He murmurs mostly to himself, eyes widening when he sees all the other prey they caught have been dug up too. The squirrel and shrew were gone, he saw both of the land prey in the red tabby's jaws, and the fish— it lays unburied, with a bite taken out. His tail droops, they can't bring this back to camp now! Not only that, the rogue didn't even bother to swallow his bite, and the young warrior winces in disgust at the spat out bite.

That... that slimy rogue!​

𝐨𝐨𝐜 —— 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦

• apprentice tag @EELPAW
  
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  credit to skaicraft (via insta) for the artwork <3
  
• Foxtail

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  warrior
  warmhearted
  timid
  experience: trained
  backstory: tbd
  biography: [HYPERLINK]
  credit to nopeita for the pixel & meghan for the icon <3
  

  cisgender male [he / him]
  eyes: green
  pelt: cinnamon/chocolate
  fur length: long
  parents: dawnflower and redfur (riverclan npcs)
  16 moons
  

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[Feathergaze]

Foxtail's yelp split the air, jerking Feathergaze to attention. She'd been heading for a walk along the river border, forgetting that warriors were heavily discouraged from leaving camp alone during this time. Just as she'd turned back, the familiar cry reached her ears, pinning them back. Oh no. Oh no, what if one of the rogues found him? She ran for the sound, heart leaping in her throat. He'll be okay, if he's all the way out here he must have someone else with him, right? Spotting Foxtail staring across the border, looking angry but unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Stars above, Foxtail, you scared me," she meowed, shaking her head as she slowed to a stop. She dipped her head in greeting to Eelpaw, only to notice the messy scene before her. "What's all this?" Torn earth, mingling scents that should have been purely RiverClan, and a desecrated fish. It... It smells like rogues. Her stomach squeezed, pinpricks of ice spreading through her insides. but they're not here, not anymore or there'd be fighting. Then what was going on? The faded scent of rodents still hung in the air, despite Feathergaze not being able to see any furry prey. Oh dear...

"Did they dig up your caches and run?" the young warrior asked, eyes gleaming dismally. No one looks hurt, that's much more important. But from the looks of it, the loss of prey was not insubstantial. And the fish, what had they done to the poor fish? They'd ruined it, and not even bothered to take it with them.​

 

[FERNGILL]

A yelp shattered the air- Ferngill's head twisted quickly to the sound of Foxtail, beginning to bolt behind the trail of someone markedly unfamiliar. They were almost a spot in the distance by now, a blood-spatter in the snow- and immediately, the ginger tom knew. A rogue, another rogue. "It's not worth it, Foxtail!" he called, trying to call back the warrior- with the dirty tricks the rogues were playing, the... the ambushes that left wonderful warriors dead, he couldn't lose sight of someone. Not just after a promotion, especially...

Thankfully, Foxtail drew to a halt, face twisted in frustration. Ferngill was not far behind Feathergaze, chest heaving from the startling he'd just received. "Fish-guts," he cursed, nose wrinkling up at the scent. Leafbare hunting required such a great level of concentration, and now... now there was barely anything to show for it. He craned his neck to look into a hole, seeing the fick with back-wash spurted all over it left behing, the stale scent of vole fresh-kill quickly dispersing into the horizon.

A meadow-green eye, written clearly with disgust, flickered to Feathergaze. "They stole what they wanted and ruined what they didn't," the small tom sighed, defeated. "Should we report it to Smokestar? I mean- let's report it to Smokestar. For a moment he forgot he made those sorts of decisions now.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[LAKEMOON]

LAKEMOON — me and the devil, walking side by side.
The memories from the last time emboldened rogues sunk their claws too deeply into the forest were still fresh. Being driven from their homes, her clanmates pounced upon like prey. They were here once more, a new threat casting a shadow upon them.
When a clanmates yelp catches her attention, Bristlepaws training session takes a turn, Lakemoon beckoning her apprentice to follow her lead as she turned heel to investigate.
The foreign stench clinging to the breeze laces the lanky warriors veins with ice, concern tugging brow bones forward.
Foxtail is sauntering back, grimacing. Feathergazes light presence brings Lakemoon no amusement.
At least, Lakemoon figures, Foxtail had the ration to forget a fruitless chase. The scene before her may send a softer-bellied cat into knots, but when her attention shifts to Ferngill, it is anger that sets azure optics ablaze.
"Damned leaf-bare… makes those half-wits feel bold." The warrior scoffs, tail lashing as she’d turn in the direction of camp with a flick of her tail towards Bristlepaw.

"speech"​

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• apprentice tag — @BRISTLEPAW

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[Rimefang]

How long must they suffer the presence of rogues? Rimefang bristles as he follows the sounds of conversation, putting together what happened by the time he arrives. Did those mang-ridden dirtfaces think they would get away with this? He looks upon the ruined prey, and his temper flares.

"Who do they think they are?" He hisses. "I'll rip them apart and leave them for the vultures." Claws dug into the ground as he paced, peering in the direction the rogue seemed to have gone. "They're getting too bold. They need to be taught a lesson."

Rimefang will not allow his new home to be overtaken again. They had only just gotten it back, only just recovered from the illness that crippled the whole forest. They can't lose their territory again, and he won't stand by idly as arrogant fools pick at them as if they were carrion. No, he will send them a message when he comes face to face with one of these heathens. One he will engrave into their tiny little brains so they don't ever forget.​