private CRASH AND BURN ☾✩ hunting patrol

[nightbird]

following howling wind's assignments, nightbird cast a glance to try and find the others. landing on silverlightning stood by wolfwind's side, the small molly approached with no more greeting than a flick of her ear. "we ready?" she hummed, but it wasn't much of a question. she turned and began heading out of camp, a brisk trot carrying her past bramble walls.

it was a quick departure, but she had no apprentice to gather. he would rather be slashed by some windclanner than train anyways. black ears tipped down at the thought, but there wasn't much time to dwell. they were quickly approaching the snakerocks.

despite the supposed lack of adders, this remained a treacherous place. the rocks where they found their home were difficult to navigate. especially when they were still damp from the recently melted snow. nightbird stopped a few lengths away from the landmark, giving a quick scan over the area. "be careful, the rocks might be wet," she warned before breaking from the group in search of prey. she had no plans of returning empty pawed.

@WOLFWIND @Silverlightning ​

[ ☾✩ ]​

 

[Silverlightning]

War weighin' on my heart but I can't fall

Silver emits little more than a soft hum to indicate he is ready for departure. With a flick of his feathered tail the ticked tabby follows silently behind the darker warrior. Slate grey eyes skim the surrounding territory as they move deeper into the forest and eventually come across snake rocks. He gives a single flick of his ear, listening as Nightbird warns them about slippery stones. However, long before Thunderclan was a thought in his mind, Silver and his family thrived in the mountains upon jagged rock and slick granite alike. He was currently in his element. With a surprising amount of grace for a cat his towering height, he scaled the boulders with ease. Quiet concentration set upon his face as he searched the area of any hint of prey.

Another casual leap and the warrior is descending snake rocks after catching the scent of rabbit. A flicker of hope dances within his otherwise deadpan gaze as he gives chase, now sprinting the long eared creature down until finally he gets his claws on it and makes the final blow. "Got something." He murmurs around the mouthful of fur, leaning over and dropping it off to the side for now. But in doing so he spots a suspiciously large pile of bones. Silverlightning's ears flick back and then forward again, picking up the sound of barking somewhere in the distance. It's not the distinct yapping of coyotes like he is used to but his attention snaps to Nightbird no less.

"Nightbird, we need to-" Before he could finish he stops. Turning again he squints into the distance as he could have sworn he'd seen a canine like figure in the corner of his eye. Silver allows a miniscule scowl to decorate his features as he turns back to face the rest of the patrol. "Perhaps we should retreat for now...There are too many bones down here for my liking." He voices, bending down to grasp his prize in his jaws. ​

Seekin' shelter from the storm on this blank road​

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[WOLFWIND]

Nightbird's gesture was met with no more than a dull look. Nothin' personal, it was all most folks could get from Wolfwind these days. It was just a patrol, same time as all the others. They had a better chance of coming back empty-pawed than with somethin' but it was dishonorable not to try, she knew. And really, it was a stupid question, cause she know they were goin' even if she wasn't ready. Why bother saying anything but yes? "Mehh." She gets a half-answer from her. A yawn rattles from Wolfwind's maw before she pads after the two of 'em about as enthusiastically as she'd be to eat wood.

Sparkpaw is elsewhere for the day, or something. Placed on some other rando patrol. She couldn't really be bothered to think about it, not when the other two were already movin' forward without another word. Sunfreckle would probably beat the shit out of her if he heard that, but he won't, so whatever.

Neither of 'em really seemed to be talkers, and normally, Wolfwind would be the one to break up this boring-as-hell silence, but she couldn't be asked today, really. Nor could she have been yesterday, or the day before, or for like, the past moon. At least, not until nightbird reminds her the rocks might be wet. Yeah, like she didn't know. "Had my assessment here, ya know," Wolfwind says, though the challenging nature of it loses way once it actually comes out of her mouth. Flat as it could be, but it makes her point.

Silverlightning disappears near instantly with a flash of silver for and suspiciously rabbit-reminiscent ears, drawing an unbidden, "The hell?" to slip from her lips. She hardly saw those stupid things in Thunderclan territory; couldn't imagine why it'd be hanging out around a gross wet pile of rocks, either. Lucky bastard. And, curse his stupid long legs, he somehow catches this thing without running into a tree and cracking his skull open. Man.

Wolfwind's ears swivel around the area, not because she was copying some lucky guy, okay. Her own ears work totally fine, and they're pickin' up... barking, or something. She narrows her eyes at an invisible enemy, not quite picking up on where it was comin' from. Silverlightning says somethin' about a bunch of bones, and she glances toward where he was looking. Didn't adders swallow their prey whole? Wolfwind parts her jaw, picking out a scent from the air, though for the life of her she couldn't remember what it actually was. "Ugh, what's that smell?"​

 

[nightbird]

she had broken away from the others to find her own catch. the faintest sound of tiny claws against rock had reached her ears and she did not plan on letting it slip away. nightbird moved through the rock pile fluidly, taking slow and steady steps to avoid losing her footing. it wasn't a long chase, the mouse didn't even sense her presence. finally cornered between two daunting stones, she made her attack, swiftly delivering a killing bite to it's neck after a leap in it's direction.

silverlightning mumbled something through a mouthful of fur. silver eyes grazed the rabbit and she forced a nod of congratulations to the warrior, only slightly spiteful at the fact he had made such a catch. but it didn't really matter who caught what, all that mattered was returning to thunderclan with a bountiful bundle.

"bones?" nightbird echoed quietly, peering down to see for herself. it was an odd sight, but one that could be explained by either the blizzard or the steep rocks. perhaps they had just fallen and been left to rot. it's a painful idea, with the corpses that lie in the dirt many cats could be fed. she grabbed her kill and moved back to stand by wolfwind. it wasn't until she made this move did she hear the distant barks and yips. she narrowed her eyes, looking over the entirety of snakerocks. nothing seemed out of order, but then the wind changed directions in a smooth gust.

scrunching her nose up in a grimace, it seemed to register in her mind just as the blue molly voiced her distaste. the scent's vague familiarity taunted nightbird as to what it could be. "dog," she huffed, finally pinning it down. the warrior had only encountered one that had found itself wandering too close to thunderclan's home. the beast fought the best it could, but it was stupid and easily driven away by the claws of the clan. sharp teeth pierced her cheek as she thought. it took five or so warriors and apprentices to drive away the last one. even then it wasn't dead. "retreat until when? the clan needs fed," nightbird thought aloud, finally giving a response to silverlightning's request. there was a snap in her voice as a result of frustration and desperation. it was always something.

a sigh passed her lips as she debated returning home. they already would be returning with something bigger than they've seen in moons thanks to that rabbit. she just didn't want to give up so easily, not when this trip had already proven to be rather lucky. another narrowed scan crossed the area, but this time it wasn't just bones she saw. a beastly shadow danced across a large rock, only a few lengths behind silverlightning, and the fur along her spine involuntarily spiked. it's movements were uncoordinated and muddled, yet threatening as ever. the patrol hadn't yet been spotted, but it was only a matter of time."move, quietly." she demanded, voice low. nightbird didn't elaborate, it would only waste breath she might need to flee. slowly, she stepped backwards to put some distance in between her and the shadow, tapping wolfwind's flank with her tail to urge her to do the same. they were so close to camp. they could make it back before being detected, but only with an extreme amount of luck and silent movements.

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[Silverlightning]

War weighin' on my heart but I can't fall

Wolfwind's verbal disgust toward a certain scent leads him to part his jaws partially. A faint odor somewhat reminiscent of coyote wafts across his senses and he closes his maw as Nightbird identifies it. "So that's it then..." He murmurs more so to himself than the others. Yet another unpleasant stench to commit to memory. They did not have dogs up in the mountains, but the sheer amount of bones were not to be taken lightly. He understood a threat when he saw one. In regard to Nightbird's frustration he levels his gaze with her. "I'm well aware of that. But hunting until it shows itself is not optimal." Long legs bunch to perform another leap, bringing himself closer to where they stood. "We need a plan, perhaps we return after alerting Emberstar and Howling Wind. There is no way of knowing how many are out there." Based on the barking alone he was confident it was more than one.

The command given to move quietly falls from the molly's lips and he was glad to hear a retreat was in order. It was a wise decision for now. But it was her stiff body language caused him to glance behind him once more. There in the shadows was another large figure emerging from behind the first, skidding to a stop beside its fellow hound. Searching fervently it put its nose back to the ground, sniffing to pick up the trail of lost prey. The squirrel in question bolts past him and in the direction of Wolfwind, scrambling over rocks with weighted exhaustion. Realization strikes as he lowers himself against the stone to blend in and back away. Today was not simply a stroke of good fortune concerning food. They merely caught what the dogs flushed out through haphazard means of hunting.

Camp was not far, they could make it if they ran. But it would be at the potential cost of alerting the baying mongrels. Slow steady movements inched Silver out of the dog's general line of sight, rabbit still clenched between his teeth. He tosses a glance at his fellow warriors, checking on them briefly before descending the rest of snake rocks and making the final push toward camp. ​

Seekin' shelter from the storm on this blank road​

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[WOLFWIND]

Dog, "Of course that's the fuckin' smell. Why'd a bunch'f muts come all the way over here?" They'd have to of come from by River or Sky; busted all the way through the forest just to settle by some rocks? Yeesh. She couldn't say she'd ever met one herself, but she's heard what'd happened, some idiot chased down. She'd basically ignored Silverlightning's lame as-all-hell request to backtrack, and that was somethin' she and Nightbird could agree on, it seemed. For once, Wolfwind feels her own input isn't needed. She hums stubborn agreement with the patrol's leader; watches on.

It's lame as hell, but maybe necessary. It was just the three of them after all, and Wolfwind hardly had the energy to fight. That was about all this lot had going on. Without it, the three of them were crowfood. (A way easier way to say 'not optimal,' pretentious ass.) Too much time is spent standin' around. The 'patrol leader' mulls it over, and the drop of a shadow finally spooks her into leaving it seems. (Not like it didn't do the same for Wolfwind, but she'd never say that). Nightbird drones an order, urges Wolfwind with a flick of her tail. "Don' tell me what to do," she grumbles, but complies nonetheless, led on by a smokey plume.

She backs up along with Nightbird, and nearly trips over a squirrel, making a break for its life, it seemed, and nearly ending it anyways in that very pursuit. Maybe it's slow, stupid, somethin' else, maybe both? All that matters is that she catches it, and that'd be another cat fed, despite the newfound... development.

Wolfwind shares a glance with Silverlightning; lifts her brows, urging him on. A shudder seems to pass through all three of them. More new neighbors, even worse than the last. Wolfpaw sighs through her nose. Mumbled around the prey, her tone is grim. "Whe'ver we return at all s' up to the two f' em."​