other DRY ON GENTLE // skyclan lonerlands patrol

[spicepurr]

"I'll walk you home again after, Teevee..." Spicepurr's jaw parts with a yawn, the sun just barely peaking through the pine boughs. She had slept in SkyClan's camp prior, rather than within her twoleg nest, just to make gathering this patrol a little easier on them all. She imagines Teeveesight likely did the same thing, if they didn't wake up earlier than the sun to arrive in camp on time. Regardless, she imagines the light homesickness she feels in her chest could be felt by the other daylighter, too.

The molly tilts her gaze along the path ahead. She tries to put out Figfeather's words of caution, finding unease and discomfort still in them. If you had to stress that, why send us? Chickbloom, who's only just healed from his injuries; Greeneyes who's grieving his partner; herself, who tastes blood in her mouth near constantly... She can only imagine that the other Daylighter in the patrol must be suffering some kind of ailment, too, just to round them all out.

"Oh - oh, wait -" she halts her patrol suddenly, the stench of twolegs surprising her. Her mind must've wandered, or the wind is not blowing in her favor - because the two furless beasts are close. One is poking the ground with a long, shiny stick, whilst the other tests the footing further along the path. Spicepurr isn't afraid of twolegs, but she knows not all of her patrol may be keen to greet them. "We can hook around them," she suggests, but turns her gaze to the former lead warrior, hoping for some guidance.

@GREENEYES @Chickbloom @Teeveesight.​

 

[GREENEYES]

By now, Greeneyes is more than used to taking part in dawn patrols, but he can't help but feel bad for Spicepurr and Teeveesight.

Such early hours are never kind for a daylighter's split life. He can't expect that Spicepurr went home the night prior, and can't expect the same for Teeveesight. Though they've sworn an oath to SkyClan, was it really fair of his sister to expect them to be here longer than they needed to be? Especially with how much the daylighters have already helped out lately?

" Everyone doing okay? " he asks the patrol, a malachite gaze darting between the three warriors he finds himself with.

Though he's not the cadre's leader, Figfeather's words stay put in his mind — a warning toward the sorry group she'd chosen to trek the unmarked border. Greeneyes finally feels like he can move a paw without thinking his whole world is ending, Chickbloom is short an eye, and Spicepurr is still healing from her own wounds too. Teeveesight might be the most okay out of all of them. So why put them here, of all borders? Greeneyes can only hope that it's an easy trek, that nothing stirs at the border so early in the morning.

But he's wrong, jilted by Spicepurr's halting words and the sour scent in the air. His eyes go wide, and his lungs tighten. No. The red warrior looks up to face twolegs once more, their too-long limbs nearing the patrol. Greeneyes can't breathe. Suddenly, he's back at the marigold patch, paws frozen in place. Not again, not again.

Their pelts are different than the last, but he has little faith in their presence — if one could steal Fireflyglow from him, these can steal the patrol away from their home too. One carries a stick, no doubt to harm them. " We... We need to... " he starts, paws shifting backward — away. He can't do this again. He can't.

Spicepurr's words bring him back, and he realizes she's looking to him for guidance. Right, he has more experience than anyone else on their patrol, he should... he should probably help. Greeneyes blinks, a quick nod of his head following. " Right. Good... Good plan, " he agrees with her before looking to the rest of the patrol.

" Watch your step, and... and keep watch for any traps or... or the scent of twoleg food, " the warrior lets out a shaky breath, glancing back at the looming twolegs, " Figfeather will want to hear about this. "

 

[Chickbloom]

Every swing of his head left Chickbloom more and more self-conscious, the few moments of extra effort it took to see anything on his left side making the milksop even more worried than usual about what could be hiding around the next corner. The coward flicked his tail, motioning for his charge to walk along his weak side. "Y-You're my eye, okay? I'm - y'know - counting on you" The warrior mumbled to Gravepaw, aware the statement was a little overdramatic but hoping to make his apprentice feel like more than a third wheel.

Though with the state of the patrol, 'third wheel' might be underselling their importance. Ironic that the two students were some of the group's strongest assets, emotionally and physically.

Chickbloom had so much weighing on an already stressed mind, and the coward was in no mood to deal with twolegs at the moment. The broken lighthouse lighting the strange duo regarded them the same way one might a volatile customer: suspicion and annoyance. The former kittypet was certainly scared, a sidelong glance to Greeneyes' frozen form reminding him of how much they'd lost recently, but the boy was more receptive to upwalkers than some in Skyclan.

His first priority, though, was comforting the one with no experience. "D-Don't worry" Chickbloom whispered even as he placed himself in front of Gravepaw. "They're - y'know - usually harmless, b-but be careful." Time in the nursery had given the coward experience when it came to calming flaring tempers or soothing scared kits, but strategy hadn't come into play when he'd been hanging out with Butterflytuft.

In that, Spicepurr was a beacon in the black, and Chickbloom urged his apprentice a few tail-lengths back as the patrol readjusted. "If you - you see a box of s-shiny vines, just r-run." The order was directed at Gravepaw, but his sentence hung in the air like a guillotine's blade over them all as Fireflyglow's memory weighed on the whelp.

"M-Maybe Figfeather'll - y'know - declare war on 'em. W-Wouldn't be surprised" The baby bird chirped, a hail-mary attempt at humor to keep spirits up.

// apprentice tag @GRAVEPAW​

 

[GRAVEPAW]

THERE'S A FAWN IN THE FENCE THAT ——————​

"Okay" he squeaks out with a timid nod, taking the roll of Chickbloom's eye with a deadly sincerity. Wandering a little too close to his mentor, not really understanding why he wouldn't since he is his eye now. The soft tom was counting on him, Gravepaw couldn't just let him down like that. "I'll do my best" he decides to add with an additional nod, pawing at the ground as they walk. It felt weird being the only apprentice here, peering up at the warriors as they walked around the territory. Trying to use his minimal knowledge to the best of his abilities, learning to scent the area kinda and staring at any slightest source of rustling. The sound of yawning draws his attention so Spicepurr, not understanding why the daylighter was so tied, she had slept hadn't she? Was he supposed to be tired too?

Greeneyes asks if everyones okay and he peers up at his mentor, trying to figure out if maybe that question was meant for him. He's the most recently injured after all, only just returning to duty. He peers up at the others, landing on the quiet Teeveesight, trying to see if the daylighter would also yawn. The sight of Twolegs stops his wandering gaze "um Chickbloom" he whispers to his side as Spicepurr points out their presence. The other warriros reactions, minus the daylighters, does little to calm his flighty nerves. They were going to be taken weren't they? Were the twolegs going to hurt them? Was that stick one of harm? It wasn't like they could climb it after all. To his relief and his worry the dual toned warrior puts himself between his apprentice and the twolegs, while he wanted to peer around him he wouldn't take a gift for granted. Neither would he take Chickbloom's kindness. "Usually?" His voice raises an octave, a worried squeak while trying to keep it under a whisper.

He would loathe himself if he had been the one to alert the twolegs to their presence. "What happens when they're not?" It's hard to not catastrophize, not when he's been raised to be a walking magnet to it. He knows that his mentor is trying to calm him, to reassure and give advice, it does little to calm his nerves. "Shiny vines?" It's another squeaked out whisper, looking to Spicepurr for guidance about what this could be. Why would they even use that when they have sticks? He keeps his gaze on the ground, not wanting to risk the chance of seeing them when Chickbloom moves.
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——————————————————————————————— you can't get free ​