border I see burning ♔ Hunting Patrol

[Tawnyclaw]

*+:｡.｡

PROMPT - WindClan's fire is too far away to hurt skyclan, but up in the trees, you can spot the distant, rising smoke.

Tawnyclaw's eyes can't stop glancing up at the canopy above his head. It had started as a longing for his favorite nap spots but had quickly turned into a wary double-take. Whenever there was a break between the thick clumping of trees, he could see faint strings of grey, unlike any cloud he'd ever seen. It didn't take a genius to know it was smoke coming from Windclan's ravaged land. To think that the smoke would be so thick that its wisps managed to travel all the way here...? He wondered briefly if embers and cinders could somehow...no, no, now that would be too far.
Looking over his shoulder at his patrol mates, he meows, "We're not close enough to be at any risk, but just in case if your throat feels dry, don't be afraid to get a drink" Better safe than sorry, right? Or was he being patronizing? He quickly turned away, forcing himself to ignore the spider crawl of nerves running up and down his spine.

"Good luck" he waves his tail at the rest of the patrol, inviting them to scatter in search of prey as he sniffs for a trail himself. He's glad that, here, in Skyclan's untouched part of the five territories, the air still tastes fresh and clean. Hopefully it stays that way.

*+:｡.｡ Updated 3/15/24

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  GENERAL:
  ♔ Tawnyclaw
  ♔ DFAB— He/Him — Unsure
  ♔ 12 moons — Ages 1 moon every month 28th
  ♔ Skyclan — Warrior
  ♔ Son of Orangestar and Ashenclaw
  ♔ Brother to Cherryblossom, Eggbounce, Glimmersun and Owlheart
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ♔Physically hard | mentally medium
  ♔ Attack in bold #bf8924
  injuries: None currently

​

 

[Owlheart]

Owlheart practically jumped at the opportunity to be part of a patrol led by her brother. It was exciting to be a part of something like that! Perhaps it was the bias that she already had for him but she thought he was doing well. She found it difficult to separate Tawnyclaw the patrol lead to Tawnyclaw her brother but for the most part she was managing it well.

The tabby walked behind him, keeping an ear out for any kind of danger or simply just for prey. She had noticed Tawnyclaw's head tilt towards the tree tops. At first she thought nothing beyond it, her own eyes only following that lead once or twice. Just a cursory glance to ensure that a bird of prey wasn't lurking amongst the branches and foliage. He just seemed to keep doing it though, maybe he saw something that she didn't? or maybe he was daydreaming, she doubted that he would be doing that on a patrol though.

If it wasn't that what could it b- oh. oh. The fires from Windclan were causing smoke. That makes sense, from what she understood they sounded intense. Owlheart looked to the skies, beyond the gaps between the trees and finally noticed the source of concern. Realistically the fires were never going to reach Skyclan, yet she can't push aside the pang of anxious thoughts. Just like with the eclipse, the thought of the clan burning up- it seemed to be crossing her mind a lot lately. Maybe Windclan's troubling times had just been feeding into her concerns.

“Of course, that sounds like a good idea” she meowed back with a nod. A smile making its way to maw as she encouraged her brother's suggestion to drink water. Before separating she decided to drop formalities for a moment. Calling out to Tawnyclaw “I think you're doing great, by the way” with a wide grin before sniffing to find a trail to follow. She decided to climb up a nearby tree, surveying from one of the lower branches so her attention wouldn't be divided by the smoke billowing in the sky.​

 

[Coyotecrest]

Windclan's moors burn. The news of their despair spread like wild flames that ravaged their rolling fields. Yet he felt not an ounce of pity for them. Being a lucky survivor of Sootstar's brainwashing madness he assumed the inferno was simply karma catching up to them. It was startling to think he still could have been there, surrounded by blackened smoke and charred grass instead of here. Happy, with a loving mate and wonderful kits to call his own. Not a day goes past where he does not internally thank Blazestar for the second chance and Thistleback for his petition.

Flaxen-colored ears swivel forward as Tawnyclaw's voice lifts the silence. "Alright." He would remember that, although he prayed they wouldn't need to. His head bobbed with understanding, shifting his attention over his shoulder to focus on his son he flicked his tail, coaxing him to follow. "We'll try our luck over here." Coyotecrest murmured, keeping his voice low to prevent spooking any prey. Stepping lightly across pine needles the warrior parts his jaws, allowing the various scents of the forest to wash over his tongue. Game was nearby, evident in the fresh tracks and fresh smells. But he wished to challenge his son, his apprentice. "What do you smell, Blazingpaw? Tell me, is it close? Far?" He asked with a blink of emerald green eyes. (apprentice tag @BLAZINGPAW ) ​

̶̶̶̶  «̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ «̶ ̶̶̶   skyclan warrior / twenty-two moons old / he/him  ̶ ̶ ̶»̶ ̶̶̶ ̶ »̶ ̶̶̶  ​

 

[CHRYSALISWING]

A sense of pyrrhic joy filled the spiteful tom first, as he imagined Sootstar's former warriors falling under the blustering heat of the flames, as though it were their ardent passion that had eaten them from the inside. Their moors would burn just as their blood and their fangs had. He stared from the patrol's safety, seeing pillars of grey emerge from the once-green plains. Starclan had raptured them, like their punishment had been foretold by the name of their former tyrant, a sardonic irony that only those on cloud thrones could laugh at. Even the Skyclan warrior did not laugh. He remembered the injuries inflicted from their kind from so long ago, and yet he did not laugh. As the smoke clambered into the blue, Chrysaliswing found no inclination to show any joy that he might have felt, as though the manner of exult felt foreign upon his face. If anything, he felt prickles of nervousness nip at his paws at the thought of the inferno creeping closer and closer to the pines...

Heterochromatic gaze rested on the distant flames for just another moment before Chrysaliswing turned his back to it - if it was as far as Tawnyclaw said, then there was no need to concern himself with another clan's matters. Ears flicked around as he honed his focus to the objective of the patrol. The scent of faraway fumes intertwined with that of the pine forests, of which his whiskers twitched in consternation, for trying to untie the trails of mouse from that of miasma was more trouble than it was worth. Perhaps the acrid aroma had driven away the rodents and the birds even from their stead. I wonder if the eclipse was an omen... He grumbled and returned back to trying to glean something from the discordant mess.

𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 ⚠︎ 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦

• OOC:
  
• 
• 

  —— CHRYSALISWING / He/They / 23 Moons
  —— Warrior of Skyclan / Mentoring n/a
  —— A long-haired tomcat with chimaeric patterning. His left side is fully black and his right side is black splotched with sunset-orange. He has complete heterochromia, with his right eye being a bright green and his left eye being a glowering yellow.
  —— Abrasive, temperamental, and critical. Approach at your own risk and engage at your own cost. Despite this, he is a hard worker and quick to call out what he finds wrong.
  —— Penned by Tempest. Contact on Discord (naruk4mi) for plots and threads.

​

 

[SILVERSMOKE]

Seeing his namesake trail up from behind the treeline left an uncomfortable prickle running down the tom's spine like a lick of cold ice. He could only imagine what it was like up close, the thought of the heat scarring his paws all shades of pink was enough to make his breakfast grow unsettled in his stomach (even as a glimpse across the territory revealed the threat to be far away). The only comfort he found was that it was WindClan up in flames, the karmic Houdinis deserved something if the claws of their victims were forbidden from piercing their skin. Turning his head away from the distance felt like showing his back to a predator, but with a hunt to focus on, the Lead Warrior knew he had to try. Walking parallel to the border, he cast a harsher-than-usual glance towards Tawnyclaw, head ducked low between his shoulders as if he didn't want to be seen. 'My throat is dry, but not because of the smoke,' he huffed to himself, trying to shake the notion of pyrophobia from his brain.

He'd been absent during the eclipse, curled up in the medicine cat's den hoping his snake bite would not take a turn for the worse but his thoughts grew similar to Chrys'. It certainly seemed possible that StarClan had something to do with WindClan's misfortune, as aloof as they were, it seemed they frequently intervened to remind WindClan to behave. 'StarClan knows what they are doing this time.' He could guess, but with his opinions on the dissension still conflicted, it wasn't a path of logic readily followed by the Lead Warrior. "Let's hope it scares their prey towards our territory," he muttered, claws twitching eagerly at the thought of an easier hunt. He'd grown weary of missing most morsels, though he could not outspeed a hare, he could certainly outwrestle one if it didn't see him quick enough.

​