pafp Never slow down ✦ awkward patrol

[Nightfish]

𓆝 . ° ✦ Denial comes easily to Nightfish. Just close your eyes, turn your head, and voilà! The molly who happens to be your former mate (who you still harbor some (mostly bitter) sentiments for) (and who unexpectedly (and unpleasantly) happens to be a part of the clan you are taking shelter with) is gone. Out of sight, out of mind, or something.

Up until she appears out of thin air to save his sorry tail from the rogues pinning him down. He’s good at denial, but no one’s that good.

Now that he’s forcefully been made aware of Apple Stem (or is that not how she calls herself nowadays?) it’s as if she’s everywhere. Staggering to Shadowclan’s territory? She’s a tail’s length from his nose, walking with her clanmates. Grooming himself in their sorry excuse for a camp? He hears her voice behind him, the sound dragging some unspeakable emotion out of his chest that makes his teeth clamp painfully around the paw he was meticulously cleaning, an instinctive reaction to the near-physical discomfort. He joined Riverclan, poor swimmer that he is, to put distance between them after their life together was cleaved in two — and now he’s there, just as damp as usual, and not even free from her.

And when he’s sent on a hunting patrol to try and root out some meager freshkill from the stars-blighted marshes, who else is he sent with but Apple Stem. So much for escaping her.

It’s hell, is what it is. And he’s trying, he is — staring straight ahead, as if she’s not part of the patrol at all. But he can feel the awkward atmosphere like a weight on his back. It’s distracting. So distracting, in fact, that he doesn’t see the patch of mud in front of him until he’s stepped into it, and the change under his paw is so startling that he slips and slams his face straight into the puddle, splattering mud and who knows what else all over his fur and probably scaring away any land prey in a five fox-length radius. Nightfish feels embarrassment and frustration burning within his chest, but he flexes his claws, bites his tongue, and pushes himself to his paws.

“Sorry. Wasn’t looking where I was going,” he grits out, still staring fixedly ahead and refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

✧　°　.　✶　.　°　✧​

ooc Information

• ooc: @APPLEFROST
• 

  NIGHTFISH — HE/HIM ･ 38 MOONS ･ WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN ･ PENNED BY KANGOO

  a large black and lilac chimera with high white and blue-yellow heterochromia and an expressionless face.

​

 

[APPLEFROST]

There isn't enough fur on her bristling pelt or claws that struggled to remain sheathed that truly expressed just how much disdain she held for a single cat. It's entirely unlike the speckled molly to harbor such hate in the eyes of her Clanmates. Applefrost was a cat that floated about, airy with her heart carried by the breeze. Not even the cats in SkyClan that held hate in their hearts for the Daylight warriors bothered her to feel so negatively, even Silversmoke was someone she saw neutrally.

Only few knew the depths of her history with the chimera. Not even Apricotflower had any knowledge of every detail from their separation. How claws had torn across fur and teeth and clamped down on flesh until both of them could taste blood. It was reckless, it was brutal, and when he ran off she was comfortable believing she would never see him again.

Then he stood in the mess of RiverClan seeking refuge. A name blind to her, never assuming anything under the name Nightfish. She hadn't been so cowardly- Applefrost had kept her name even as a Daylight warrior. She didn't consider it any different now either, simply more fitting than before.

Like a contagious little curse he wrought the very rogues that took his own home onto hers. Now they were trapped together, stuck on a patrol to feed their respective Clans. Applefrost saw it more as actually fighting their food than hunting, but the end result should have been the same.

A gross splat drew her attention down to the mud followed with a messy splatter across rugged fur. Applefrost's tail lashed, pale eyes flashing with the same flurry of emotions as when she had saved him. "Maybe you should shake the fish guts from your brain. We have mouths to feed." Her voice is much harsher than she anticipated, hardly in control of the tone in her voice when directed at him. "If we ignore the mess he's made, I think there's a trail of possum here, if we can work together for that."​

 

[LIGHTNINGSTONE]

// @meadowpaw

Lightningstone may not seem like it, but he does pay attention to the personal lives of his clanmates. He is watchful, ever attentive - something that made him a wonderful watchdog for Cicadastar. But even he has no idea what's going on with his clanmate and this SkyClanner. He watches with well-hidden confusion as he remains tense around her, short with his words. And when he finally falls, spluttering into a mud puddle, he lifts his brow with mild surprise.

"Get your head on right, Nightfish," He mutters, but his voice is not unkind, merely matter-of-fact. "We have to bring enough prey back." Despite addressing the tom, his eyes shift suspiciously towards Applefrost as she begins to speak with thorny words. She is quick to give them a direction to go off of and he suppresses the urge to wrinkle his snout with distaste. Better not. They should be working together, but he cannot help but wonder who she is to Nightfish, anyhow. "I'll go around this way," The blue tom utters with a flick of his tail, already turning to head into the shadows.​

 

[HARRIERSTRIPE]

”…Possum…?” Harrierstripe echoes as he stares at the fallen RiverClan cat, supressing a chuckle. What a mess that would be to clean from his fur! Harrierstripe would most certainly not be helping, he’d never share tongues with a RiverClan cat to begin with.

He focuses his gaze back on Applefrost as Lightningstrike pads off, ”We’re… going to hunt a possum?” He’s only seen one or two of the ugly-faced creatures in his life time. Eating one did not sound pleasant, they were eseentially over-sized rats and stunk of buzzard-food. ”…Alright.” Reluctantly he agrees, though he is suspicious the prey will cause a half-moons stomach ache to anyone who eats it.

”I guess… I guess I’ll go this way?” He murmurs, confused and unfamiliar with both territory and they prey they sought to catch. Doing his best and not wanting to let his clan down he strides in the opposite direction of Lightningstrike in hopes of helping to surround their prey- wherever it was.

☾ INFO BATTLE

• 
  » Harrierkit . Harrierpaw . Harrierstripe
  » WindClan Warrior
  » He/him
  » A black and chocolate chimera with golden eyes.
  » "Speech" ․ thoughts ․ attack
  
• 
  » A foe who uses jeers and jaunts to distract his opponents.
  » Excels in using terrain to his advantage.
  » Fights to outwit and see another day.
  » May powerplay minor harm. Can powerplay healing

​

 

[Nightfish]

𓆝 . ° ✦ Great: here comes the comment gallery.

“Thanks, Apple Stem, didn’t ask,” he hisses. The mess he’s made… the nerve! Like it’s his fault this whole place is full of nothing but rats and mud! But Stone’s chiding holds him back from saying more, and his ears pin back as he says, sullen but contrite, “Got it. Won’t happen again.” He’s not going to pick a fight with him; there’s something about the tom that makes him think Stone could wipe the floor with him, easy.

With the other two going around in a pincer, that leaves the rest of them — including Apple and Nightfish, next to each other — to actually root out the damn possum. Glaring past Apple, he mutters, “If there even is a possum…” and lowers his nose to the ground to try and pick up the trail.

✧　°　.　✶　.　°　✧​

ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  NIGHTFISH — HE/HIM ･ 38 MOONS ･ WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN ･ PENNED BY KANGOO

  a large black and lilac chimera with high white and blue-yellow heterochromia and an expressionless face.

​

 

[sparkspirit]

This is...not pleasant. Be it the territory or the company, or some combination of both, Sparkspirit spends most of the walk shying away from the other warriors. The tension is thick enough that his tail carves through it on each uncomfortable sweep; almost enough of a palpable trail. Did the others know something that he didn't? Lightningstone seemed more comfortable with his clanmate than the WindClanners, but that would probably come with the territory. Literally, since they lived together. For a moment or two he had contemplated asking. A recipe for disaster, clearly. He chooses not to. Are they leaving them alone on purpose? Is that why they're moving to flank the prey?

Electric blue eyes flicking uncertainly between the patrol members and ears flicking backwards in unease, he eventually decides to go with the safest route: "Harrierstripe, wait– I'll go with you." Only once they're a good distance away does the patched tom lower his head and whisper conspiratorially, "Am I imagining the tension between those two? Wonder what their problem is."

𝘛𝘈𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘌𝘋 𝘐𝘕 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘞𝘖𝘙𝘋𝘚 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘐  ･｡ﾟ  🗲  ╱╱ 10.15.2023 𝘊𝘈𝘕𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘚𝘈𝘠 ˊˎ＜

• OOC. —
• 🗲　　. 　 ˚　.  SPARKSPIRIT. HE - HIM - HIS. 12 MOON OLD MOOR RUNNER OF WINDCLAN. VERY LOYAL TO HIS CLAN. PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ————
  
  
  ——  a trim mock tortoiseshell tom with mostly black fur splashed with the occasional patch orange. he has a singular white mark on the back of his neck shaped similarly to a lightning strike, and a small scar across the bridge of his nose. his eyes are a shocking electric blue.
  

  ✦ ECHOLIGHT x ELMBREEZE. ADOPTED BY YEWBERRY. BRIGHTFAM, BUT SOMEWHAT ESTRANGED DUE TO HIS LOYALTY TO WINDCLAN. ————————

• "speech"

​

 

[HARRIERSTRIPE]

Sparkspirit comes to follow him, Harrierstripe welcomes and respects the presence of the tom. He was not only a few moons more expirenced than Harrierstripe, but he was his father’s apprentice at one point too. That alone makes Harrierstripe more certain that by working together they will succeed.

His ear flicks at the mention of the two cats, Nightfish and Applefrost. Harrierstripe was unfamiliar with the both of them… but Sparkspirit is right. There had been tension and it seemed to go past enemy clan bantering. Something about it cut deeper. ”I saw it alright.” He confirms lowly, ”There’s bad blood there, but I can’t tell you why.”

☾ INFO BATTLE

• 
  » Harrierkit . Harrierpaw . Harrierstripe
  » WindClan Warrior
  » He/him
  » A black and chocolate chimera with golden eyes.
  » "Speech" ․ thoughts ․ attack
  
• 
  » A foe who uses jeers and jaunts to distract his opponents.
  » Excels in using terrain to his advantage.
  » Fights to outwit and see another day.
  » May powerplay minor harm. Can powerplay healing

​

 

[APPLEFROST]

Her widened stare narrowed and the hopeful luck of a possum filling their bellies was not enough to dampen the embers of her temper. "If you must address me at all, you will do so correctly. Unless you've got scales clogging your ears, too? My name is Applefrost."

The WindClanners and Nightfish's Clanmate abandon the pair to themselves. If Nightfish's fall hadn't scared off what was left, certainly their bickering would.

"You better pray to the stars there still is. It'll be your fault we come back with nothing at all."​