CRUEL JOKE // discovery by thunderpath

[Sunnyday]

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
The cold.
Oh how he loathed it. Sunnyday could only think fondly back on the better moons of weather, back when it was warm and bright. Not dark and cold. Prey would be harder to come by now and that honestly worried him, especially when the clan still had so many young mouths to feed. Mouths he had played a part in bringing into the clan. He felt a responsibility, naturally, which was why he continued to push himself to hunt whenever possible by chasing breaks in the weather. But his successful attempts were becoming rare and it only served to frustrate him.

Normally he'd maintain a distance from the thunderpath, but desperation to bring something back pushed him to take a risk. He remembered how his father had once told him that the monsters that used the thunderpaths only ever killed but never ate their prey, which meant that the prey often laid unclaimed. Sunnyday hoped that the advice was true and he prayed to StarClan that he'd find something to claim.

However, what he found was something most unexpected and of great frustration. A stag. It lay dead on the verge, large and fresh. No way of taking it back to camp. An utterly useless carcass, like some cruel joke sent to mock him. It was too much and he let out a yowl of irritation as he sat down beside the body, dwarfed in comparison to its bulk. "Come on StarClan, give me something! Not this! It's... it's not fair!"

So much food to waste, but not a bite for him or ThunderClan.​

 

[nightbird]

nightbird had been out trying to catch any hint of a prey scent she could find. she had little luck, everything smelled too faded to be found. any creature who left a trail behind was long gone by now. the small warrior was about to head back to camp when she heard yowling not far off. her brow furrowed as silvery eyes looked around for anyone it could belong to. no luck, yet again.

she followed the sound all the way up to sunnyday, sat beside the carcass of something large by the thunderpath. wordlessly, she walked over and examined the dead deer, likely another victim to the monsters that crawled along the border. a simple sniff could tell it was rather fresh too. really a shame that it would likely be left to rot. this thing could keep them fed through the brunt of leaf-bare.

"quite a catch, sunnyday." she hummed. the older warrior seemed distraught over the dead animal, but there really was nothing to do about it. the only thing that may have deemed this creatures death as useful was if the monster that claimed it's life helped out the thunderclanners a little bit by making it less whole.​

[ ☾✩ ]​

 

[Flamewhisker]

Flamewhisker — I'll sleep when I'm dead

Normally, the red Molly would stay far from the Thunderpath. She hadn't seen anything like it until she had set off on her own. There were many in the twolegplace, and that had been traumatizing. She had almost been eaten more times than she could count on a paw, so whenever it was possible she avoided this one. However, unsuccessful hunts caused her to also look outside the box. She doubted there was any prey hiding over by the border, but if it meant her clanmates going hungry, and her swallowing her fear, she would venture near the path.

As she arrived, she spotted Sunnyday and Nightbird. Sunnyday seemed very distraught...and it didn't take her long to process why. Her ears flattened as she spotted the fresh carcass. Enough to feed the clan for a week...Just sitting there, wasting away. The tabby padded over to join them, nosing the deer's leg. "What a waste...the monster could have at least eaten it."
​

 

[Sunnyday]

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
On a good day Sunnyday would have laughed at Nightbird's words and seen the obvious funny side, but his current mood kept him down. He ended up smacking the side of the deer in a moment of frustration, his claws merely bouncing off the thick hide. A complete waste of one's life. "Can't move it. Can't eat it. Can't even bury it." He murmured with a solemn shake of his head before he turned to look back at Flamewhisker and Nightbird. "Sorry, I was hoping to find prey along the edge of the thunderpath, considering that the monsters never eat their kills." He supposed he ought to be honest about why he was there in the first place.​

 

[Hollow Tree]

It felt that this situation only added to the bitter cold air. Hollow Tree felt the stress of her clan mates on her shoulders. She did what she could to keep them up but there was only so much a cat could do alone. The brown feline wasn’t the best at cheerful pick-ups. She was awkward and often took too long to get out any words. Coming across the scene, staying a good tail-length away from the Thunderpath. Looking out at the dead deer. Even if they could reach it, would it be safe to eat?

Hollow Tree stared out at the corpse. Her eyes looked over her clan mates. Would leaf bare always be like this? She hopes not. After a couple more moments of silence from her, she finally finds an idea that could work. Though, it was rather dangerous for anyone inexperienced with the Thunderpath. “Perhaps, if we wait long enough the dead deer will attract birds.” she suggests trying to catch the birds that may gather. ​

[ well i didn't tell anyone, but a bird flew by . tags ]​

 

[JAYWISH]

Jaypaw didn't often need to be reminded to stay away from the thunderpath, it was downright instinctual at this point. Not only was it scary, it was stinky, and that was good enough reason as any for him to keep a distance. What ends up drawing him, tentatively, is the loud yowl that sounds out. It panics him at first, terrified that one of the monsters had hurt a clanmate, but a heavy sigh of relief slumps his shoulders when he sees everyone corralled there all safe and sound. Now, he's only curious to what they're looking at. The apprentice slinks to his mentor's side before his jaw falls to his neck. This thing is huge! He doesn't even understand what it is until Hollow chimes in. A deer? He's never seen one of those before and shyly he taps his paw against the horns sticking out of the dead beast's skull. It's so firm, even pushing as hard as he can doesn't budge the deer's head.

Jay blinks, finally processing the words around him before he scoffs and cuts his eyes to the road. Man, Sunny sounds so sad but he can't quite wrap his head around it. "Why don't they eat it? Did they leave it for the birds then?" He tries to find a bright side to it but that feels hollow. 'They must just kill for fun.' Now that thought makes him swallow thickly and pull his eyes away from the bloodied street. If they can kill something like this, monsters would make short work of cats. Especially runty looking apprentices like him.​

[ I'M THE HERO THAT SAVES ME ]​

 

[Sunnyday]

☀ - WHILST MY HEART STILL BEATS
Hope flickered back to life with Hollow Tree's words and Sunnyday's ears visibly pricked up with renewed interest. Yes, they could use the deer as bait. Sure, crows weren't the best tasting things around but right now he'd have no objections to catching and eating one if it got them all through another day. The lanky tom stood tall as he decided to address the group. "We'll catch birds then, even if we have to wait all day. Everyone, hide in the verge. We'll keep out of sight until they come to feed on the carcass."

As he prepared to slink off into hiding he paused to look back at Jaypaw when he asked about the monsters and their reasoning for not eating the prey. "Maybe no one taught them that they can eat what they kill. Probably for the best, otherwise they might stray off the thunderpaths and into the woods." A terrifying thought, hopefully one that wouldn't become reality. He then settled himself into a dip beneath the bushes that still granted him an ideal vantage point of the deer. Now came the waiting game.
​

 

[Hollow Tree]

It had always been strange that monsters didn’t eat their prey. Then again, monsters were monsters. They had been given that name for a reason. She hoped that something good would come out of the dead deer. It was sad to think the corpse would go to waste. Hollow Tree prayed that birds would show. At least the thunderpath would cover their scent with its natural stink.

Though, fear lingered in the air at the thought of another monster coming by. “One of us should focus on the thunderpath. Catching birds can be everyone's main focus, then one can warn us if they feel a monster is coming.” feeding the clan was important but she didn’t want anyone to give their life to the thunderpath. ​

[ well i didn't tell anyone, but a bird flew by . tags ]​