IN THE THICK OF IT \ hunting, phase iv

[iciclefang]

The warmth RiverClan had enjoyed during the Clanwide celebration had ended abruptly, cruelly. The sky developed a violet belly, and the clouds thickened into masses; before the cats knew it, the air developed a fierce bite, and snow began to drift from above them, piling along the riverbanks in thick white stacks. The wind had picked up, too; as she struggles into the riverlands now, the storm rakes freezing claws through her short, sleek tortoiseshell fur. Frozen reeds shatter as she clambers through them; she has forsaken grace for the power needed to get through the blizzard, now.

Iciclefang does not lead this patrol. It will be some time before she will be trusted to do so again, and though it's bitter, she has swallowed this truth. She's without Pinepaw, too, for the duration of her stay in Moonbeam's den, and even when she's better... will her daughter wish to finish her training under her? She isn't sure, and that hurts as bad as everything else that has happened in the last few days.

She scents the air; there is nothing, nothing but the blinding snow, the cold that seeps up from the frozen ground and into her paws. She can feel her feet numbing, even as she tries her paw at scooping them into the riverwater. She barely feels the chill; is that concerning? Her movements become clumsy, clumsier than they have any right to be, even in this blizzard, and at last she withdraws from the water.

"Nothing here," she murmurs; her lips are frozen. She feels as though she's speaking without moving them at all.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: health roll means she has contracted frostbite. there will be no encounter in this thread. she found no prey. open to anyone who wishes to roll for their health.
• 
• Iciclekit . Iciclepaw . Iciclefang, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 30 moons old, ages realistically on the 17th.
  — mentored by Smokestar ; mentoring Pinepaw ; previously mentored Cicadaflight
  — riverclan warrior. mudpelt x icesparkle, gen 2.
  — former mate to Stormywing ; current mate to no one.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh tortoiseshell and white she-cat with ice-blue eyes. confident, capable, proud, dry, conceited, condescending, distrustful.

​

 

[FOXTAIL]

It feels.... strange that he is leading this patrol, over Iciclefang. Even though he was in agreement for her to lose her rank as lead warrior, due to the code she broke, it will still take some time to get used to. I can't just sit around in camp, and wait for this storm to blow over, The lead warrior thinks to himself, as a shiver runs through his body. We need to bring some prey back to camp.

He leads them to a clearing with a river flowing nearby, which he was barely able to make out due to how thick this blizzard is. His ears twitch as he barely can hear the river flowing, so he feels some relief that the river hasn't frozen over. He hopes Iciclefang, and his other patrol members, will be able to catch something. He knows that river must be frigid, and he watches as Iciclefang's silhouette approaches it. For once, the shivering tom doesn't trail up to the riverbank. Instead, he sniffs the air... silently praying that he'll catch a scent through the blinding snow.

He expects to find nothing, but his nose twitches again. A fresh scent reaches his nostrils, one that smells of a mouse! It's straight ahead of me! The tom wastes no time lowering to a hunting crouch, knowing that he'll have to be quiet as a mouse to catch it. The tom is far more used to fishing, but thanks to his brief time as a dry-paw as an apprentice.... he is a little familiar with land hunting. He just... hasn't done it before with a blizzard blinding him. Hasn't done it before while shivering so much, and he can only hope he'll be able to catch it.

He focuses onto the scent, and takes silent.... trembling steps against the snow coated ground. Eventually, the mouse comes into view, and Foxtail makes a pounce for it. Snow flurries into the air, and his fangs sink into the mouse's neck.

"....I-I f-f-found s-s-something," Foxtail shivers violently, stuttering even more than he normally does. He remains low to the ground, ears flattened to his skull, shivering as another breeze brushes against his thick coat. He loses his grip on his catch, and it doesn't even make a sound as it lands on the snow. "I-I'm.... s-s-so c-cold...." His teeth chatter, and he begins to wonder if they should head back to camp.​

𝐨𝐨𝐜 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭

• rolled a 5 for health roll, 13 for prey encounter & 6 for prey size
• 
  
  

  ---

  credit to raphaelion (via da) for the artwork <3
• Foxtail

  ​
  

  lead warrior
  25 moons
  warmhearted
  timid
  experience: trained
  backstory: [HYPERLINK]
  biography: [HYPERLINK]
  credit to trops for the chibi <3
  

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

  ---

  ​

​

 

[MERLINPAW ✦]

There is no glory in sitting on your ass at camp, waiting out the blizzard in your den as your clanmates freeze their tails off in order to keep you fed. There seems even less glory in being the fool who braves the storm. Merlinpaw had been quick to offer up his help in hunting for prey, some drive to provide propelling them forward perhaps. Or maybe they have a death wish... who's to say?

Iciclefang and Foxtail have differing levels of success, the latter coming away with a single mouse and the former with nothing... they both look worse for ware. Merlinpaw feels okay, if a little bit cold. The harsh snowfall obscures his vision a decent amount, and it makes it difficult to see his patrolmates, let alone any prey. And he can't rely on his ears due to the ferocity in which the wind howls, so he just has to trust his nose to be working despite the challenges.

There's a flash in the corner of his vision, a small, grey bird he thinks, perched briefly in the low, barren bows of a tree. Quietly, Merlinpaw watches it, and his luck rears it's head when the little thing (a titmouse?) flys down to the ground, pecking at what might have once been a stash of seeds and nuts. Merlin pounces, and the blizzard is as much a help in his hunt as it is a hindrance, the sheet of white obscuring his leap until he's already on top of his prey.

"Are- are you alright?" He cannot help but ask Foxtail, his stuttering worse than normal as the wind billows through him. They already know the answer. Of course the lead warrior isn't alright if his reaction is this, but they had to ask anyway.

i used to think // that memories were like pollen

• 
  ooc - health roll: 19, healthy !
  roll to catch: 20, size: 10 2 points
  
• 
  #6360c4
• 
  (img) Merlinpaw * they/him* 10 moons
  mentored by Streamsong
  short furred blue classic tabby w/ low white; brown eyes
  Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
  penned by Neptune. || Neptune on disc, dm me for plots

​

 

[carawaysong]

-ˋˏ ༻✧༺ ˎˊ- the snow coming down nearly blinded her vision. the last time the landscape had been painted so blankly there was much more joy to be found in it. now, she was a warrior, meant to go out in the chill and bring something back.

carawaysong stayed low to the ground, snow balling up to collect on her long fur. it dragged, slowed her down and tugged so uncomfortably she could hardly focus. she puffs out in frustration, trying to let her worries dissipate like her breath on the air. eventually, she stumbled across fresh tracks in the snow, followed them all the way up to a squirrel digging at the frozen ground.

she was on it quickly, ending its life with a swift bite to the back of its neck. the warmth in her mouth distracted her from the tingle in her paws. by the time she rejoined the group, it felt like they had fallen off entirely. a shiver rolls down her spine, shaking gathered snow from her back. the warrior didn't complain with a mouth full of prey, she was sure that by the time she returned to camp and warmed up her paws would regain feeling anyways.

BLOOD IS RUNNING DEEP ˎˊ───‎ ༺ SOME THINGS NEVER SLEEP ‎‎‎⚔︎

• OOC ↛ contracted frostbite, rolled a 17 to find prey & 11 for medium sized

• 

• 
  CARAWAYSONG ✩ SHE/HER, WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN, 15 ☾'s
  ⭃ a tall and slender longhaired silver tabby with olive green eyes.
  ⭃ willowroot x poppysplash / / mentor to rivuletpaw.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[owlcrest]

He felt the need for praise. A drive, something so stubborn in him. He didn't know why, but he just... Missed it. He had not heard anyone give sincere praise, not since Nightingalestrike died. He missed his mentor, and he would cast a clouded look towards Hemlockshine, before back forward, no emotions in his gaze as he padded along the tundra before him.

Riverclan looked so... Barren. So boring, as the patrol traversed through the frostkissed lands and snow white fields. He was thankful for his long coat, but alas. He still felt the sting of the cold as he inhaled a breath that felt frigid down his throat and made his lungs ache.

He could not smell anything like this. He noted Iciclefang reaching the edge of the river, dipping a paw in briefly. But she seemed.. unflinching, odd. Indifferent. He barely paid attention to everything that had happened. He thought it insulting a bit that Lichenstar would yell for all the clan to here- a trial, she called it. But Owlpaw would continue to say nothing. He had no say, and no indifferent opinion on the other.

She had done what she needed to keep her family loyal. Though ... Treating others differently was the weird part. But he didn't and wouldn't dwell on it as he glanced carefully over the river water. A snap reaction to a shadow, somehow it still swam. It was asking for death, an easy prey, as he slammed it onto the riverbank. Quickly, he ended its life, and look to the others.

"You guys are shivering like.... Bad. You can't get sick," he murmured, flattening his ears back.

18- healthy//
13- prey found//
11- 2 points!//
@HEMLOCKSHINE mentor tag//


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[rivuletpaw]

Rivuletpaw clenches her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. It's Owlpaw's comment that deigns her to try as much, worried that her own clicking teeth may be scaring prey off from others. Her nose feels intensely cold - so chilled that she fears she isn't feeling it at all anymore. Her toes, too, weigh into the snow with the same unfeeling heaviness. Green eyes flit away from the brown tabby as she continues to try her best in not alerting the prey around -

A mouse, a squirrel, a fish. Rivuletpaw opens her maw to try and scent the air, but beyond the vague warmth the others have already caught, she can't find much else. She moves closer to her mentor, a tremor in her limbs as she looks on pathetically. "Should we try... somewhere else?" Carawaysong was successful, in the least, but it seems the molly's apprentice is much less so.

[ rolled 8 for health (frostbite) and a 9 for prey encounter (can't smell shit out here!!! my nose is falling off!!!) ]
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[pebbletail]

(☼) pebbletail sends a prayer of thanks to his uncle as he steadies himself against the billowing winds. due to smokestar's genes, the blue tom's thick fur shields him from much of the blustering snow, and peb refuses to thank his mother. so he sends a thought for his uncle, whom he hopes is watching riverclan in this moment. stomping along beside owlpaw, the young warrior presses briefly against his friend, a show of solidarity in the storm. his teeth chatter gently, not as violently as foxtail's do, and a flash of worry glints from sunspark eyes at his former mentor's trembling. "good catch," the tomcat notes, and nods to carawaysong as the she-cat returns with a squirrel.

owlpaw turns off, pawsteps headed towards the river, and worry for his friend causes pebbletail to follow. the younger slams his paws into the ice, scooping something from the water, finishing it off with quick jaws. "well done!" the blue tabby praises his friend, eyes brightening just for a moment. the chill nips and gnaws at the warrior's ear tips, their thin skin not protected by his mountains of fur. he cannot feel them, and fear tumbles to the pit of his belly even as a grin ghosts on his maw. he raises his head to scent the air. a warm, musky smell reaches the tomcat's nose, and he tenses, head swiveling to a low growing bush that hangs over the bank. head lowering, body straightening, pebbletail slinks towards the bush, recognizing the tantalizing smell of a squirrel. he supposes the creature must be stuck out in the blizzard with the rest of them. large paws gently stepping through the snow, he lashes out, snatching the squirrel from its hiding spot and breaking its neck on impact. it is not a large thing, but it might be the most prey he's going to find, so he returns to the patrol with pride.

LET ME BE YOUR OWN ☼ ICARION CARRION

• // rolled a 7 and contracted frostbite, rolled a 14 and found prey, rolled a 10 for 2 points. " #848DAE"
• 
• PEBBLETAIL ☼ HE / HIM, WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. 13 MOONS OLD, PENNED BY LAVS
  
  
  a large blue tabby with low white and vitiligo. pale blue fur covers the length of pebbletail's stocky body, sliced through with darker tabby stripes and spots. baleful orange eyes peer out of heavy set sockets, and his muzzle, paws, and tail tip are dashed with white.

​

 

[splashdance]

If she keeps working, then the discomfort that plagues her becomes a distant memory. If she presses forth in this wonderland of chilled ivory, then she won't have to think too dearly of the details of her circumstance - nor will she have to dwell on the demotions, on the deaths, on the illness and injury that plagues them despite their success.

If she can bring anything home, then whatever she must do will be forgiven.

It's not a big catch, but it's certainly no minnow either. Splashdance tugs ashore something about as long as her chest width, her teeth clenched around its body despite the chattering in her jaw. It slaps at her a few times, but faced with the frigid air, the prey eventually slows and stills. Splashdance shakes off the droplets of water that still cling to her, joining the rest of the patrol. Her gaze lingers on Pebbletail for a moment before turning to stalk off. She doesn't have the energy for her own drama, not right then.

[ just got Chills + rolled for 2points :]! ]
​