PLAY THE GAME - hunting

[Mouseflight]

When they had finally gotten out of the caves Mouseflight had soon decided he wanted to go hunting, the lack of sight making it more difficult to hunt than he had thought it would, the few moments of being able to eat lizards not able to get enough food in his stomach to actually sustain him much longer. He felt his stomach twist and knot, hunger clawing at him as he moved forward. When someone asked where he was going he just said a simple "hunting" and kept moving, and though he heard the sound of a few others follow him, he didn't look behind him. For once, he didn't care who it was, whether it be a kittypet or a WindClan-born, he was going to hunt with whoever went with him. They had all just been through hell and somehow survived, so he wasn't going to complain for the extra help.

It took a while but he finally found a spot that seemed good enough to hunt and soon found himself sniffing the air, ears swiveling as he listened for the sound of any sort of rustling before taking off, using all his strength to keep going and chasing after the odd-furred rabbit before him. That was, until he found himself skidding over a small rock and sliding forward, face soon down on the ground as he continued to slide along slightly rockier terrain than he was used to and the rabbit got away. Covered in dirt and dust, Mouseflight sat up, paw moving up to rub his jaw and try to shake off the embarrassment that now prickled through his skin - hopefully not everyone saw that.

⋆｡°✩ threw my voice into the dark

• dice roll of 12 to catch prey, if caught roll a d6 to see if your character can control themselves and keep trying to catch prey to bring back or eat it then and there! 1 is eating it then and there, and a 6 is being able to resist!
  Mouse rolled a 2 // o7
  
  hunting party is;; @iciclefang @STORMYWING @FERNPAW @GREENEYES @Needledrift
• 
  ⋆ mousekit - mousepaw - mouseflight
  ⋆ ftm - he/him - 11 moons
  ⋆ bisexual - open to relationship
  ⋆ tunneler of windclan
  ⋆ attack - speech - thought
  ⋆ penned by tikki

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[FERNGILL]

Fernpaw had never done much land hunting; his father wasn't well versed in it. Maybe it wouldn't have been so noticeable if Fernpaw had been naturally gifted in anything else, but... other than swimming, a rather basic RiverClan skill that he'd grasped near-instantly, the ginger tom was simply untalented in every area that made a warrior. By sixteen moons old, he'd finally managed to grasp most of them- but hunting on land strayed far beyond his ability. The techniques of the cats around him, used to hunting like that, hadn't gone unnoticed though- so, given the opportunity to try it for himself, Fernpaw had accepted.

Tracking was still difficult for him, but eventually he caught the scent of something small- mindful of where he placed his paws, he padded toward the noise, the short shuffles. Fernpaw's verdant gaze searched his surroundings for the perpetrator, eventually crouching a few tail-lengths from a mouse. At least he was practiced enough to move quietly- and though his hunting crouch wasn't perfect, it was functional. Concentration was as clear as sunlight upon his face, his muscles bunching and his hindquarters wiggling. He readied himself, and pounced.

Small jaws clamped around a smaller body- he hesitated for a moment, but once he felt the mouse trying to wriggle out of his grip the technique of a killing-bite was almost instinctive. Not far from him he heard more shuffling, and- his prize still in his mouth- Fernpaw sought Mouseflight, studying the young warrior and the state he was in for a few seconds, coated head-to-toe in dust. "You alright?" he asked in a hushed call, tiling his head a little. Distraction was needed, because... he wasn't sure how long he could hold off eating this prey.

\ rolled a 14 !!!​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[iciclefang]

Iciclefang, unlike her brother, excels in land hunting, though she prefers fishing and diving for her food. The first thing she encounters, however, is a scrawny-looking crow, and she can’t help but grimace to imagine the sandy-textured meat on her tongue. She can’t stand bird meat and instead turns her senses back to the ground, watching passively as Mouseflight takes off after a rabbit and just misses his catch. She can see Fernpaw, too, stalking a mouse, and though she’s still not happy with her brother, she feels a certain satisfaction upon seeing him kill it.

She tastes the air, and her ears swivel forward as she concentrates. There’s something scuttling in the pile of stones just to Mouseflight’s left… she can hear them deep within, squeaking and scratching at the rocky surfaces with tiny claws. She slips closer on deft paws, raising her bad paw just slightly so it does not stumble into mountainous debris. She can practically sense the shrew’s whiskers trembling against the pile of stones, and when she leaps, it’s practiced and skilled.

When she turns back to her companions, the shrew is limp and hanging unceremoniously from her white-flecked jaws. She waves her tail with pride, then drops it at her paws. Here, there are no sick, no kits or queens or elders, and the blood that had flooded her mouth upon killing the creature had tempted her. She takes a single bite from the soft belly, swallowing and closing her eyes to relish the taste. The flesh sings of pine, of unique seeds and grasses she’s never encountered before—but despite its foreign spice, the shrew is delicious and well-earned. She decides she’ll save the rest for some other lucky cat.

ooc ✧ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦

• rolled a 20/d20 for catch and a 3/d6 for self control
•  
• 

  — iciclekit . iciclepaw . iciclefang
  — she/her ; warrior of riverclan
  — lesbian ; single
  — short-haired tortoiseshell with white and ice-blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Pin

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[STORMYWING]

☁︎

Stormywing is not far from Fernpaw, her gaze lifting from her own hunt just in time to see him bring down a mouse. If he were to look in her direction, she'd give an approving half-smirk, which would fall as soon as she looks past him to see Mouseflight take a harsh tumble and miss the rabbit he'd been chasing. She grimaces. Tough luck. She has to admit the unfamiliar terrain is odd on her paws, which are still sore from traversing the caves. More patient than she has been in the past, she looks away, pretending to not have seen his mistake while the red-furred RiverClanner goes to check on him.

She then spots Iciclefang, who expertly and flawlessly pounces and kills a shrew. The gray-striped she-cat is staring a little too long, she realizes, and yanks her gaze away, opting to congratulate her on her catch later. Right now, she needs to focus on bringing back prey for the group.

Eventually, she catches sight of a bird, one that is unfamiliar to her but hops and pecks at the ground just like any old forest bird. Her tongue swipes hungrily across her lips as she dips into a hunting crouch and begins to stalk forward. But here, the ground lacks the cover she is used to. It doesn't have the thick bracken and ferns of the oak forest and so she is poorly hidden, if at all. The damned thing sees her long before she pounces, already taking flight before she can even react. A frustrated growl leaves her as she pushes off in a panic, leaping high up in the air for it but only swiping at empty space. She lands with a thud, staring after the escaped prey with a scowl.

// rolled a 2!

I WANNA TASTE LOVE AND PAIN ☁︎​

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[Needledrift]

This terrain is not suited to a ShadowClanner. There weren't any murky fronds for her to hide in, there were no frogs or rats or wetlands to be found. The air was drier, the land was rockier, and Needledrift was uncomfortable with it all. She liked the marshalnds, she loved the way the trees seemed to curl towards the earth, almost as if they wanted to embrace the inhabitants of the shadows belows them. It was of no surprise to her, what with her flat-footed gait and webbed paws, that she hadn't been able to catch any more than a grasshopper here and there.

The rest of the patrol had laser-focused on rabbits, shrews, birds, squirrels, all creatures that likely inhabited their respective territories. All creatures they would know how to hunt back home on drier lands (except perhaps the tortoiseshell and the ginger tom. Though many others scoffed at the food available to ShadowClan (even and especially ShadowClanners themselves) Needledrift couldn't help but miss the frogs and lizards she was more used to stalking.

"I wish we could find a pool or something." The gray and white she-cat remarks to no-one in particular. "Maybe could find some tadpoles... or some bird's eggs hiding in the reeds..." ​

 

[GREENEYES]

With salamanders being his - and likely everyone else's - primary source of food while trapped in darkness, Greeneyes wants nothing more than a taste of some real food. Though he's been craving a good bite of bird for days now, the SkyClanner would settle for a mouse, if it meant not eating another salamander again.

So when one of the moor-dwellers starts wandering off, with the answer of a hunt to whoever asks, Greeneyes thinks it might be an opportune time to hunt too - and so do others, it seems.

The rocky terrain isn't too familiar to the warrior, but is reminiscent enough of the Rockpile to be tolerable, he thinks. Parting his jaws, he is quick to take hold of a scent trail - one that causes his gaze to brighten. A bird - Greeneyes had mused to his cave-mates that he'd catch a big one when they were free. Was this it?

Malachite eyes capture the potential catch soon after, watching as it perches on a stone, taking a break from its flight. Greeneyes crouches down, paws lurching forward. His fur sticks out aginst the bare terrain, and without any cover, the warrior tries to sink as low as he can to avoid being spotted by the bird.

However, the failed catch of another on the patrol startles his own, and it launches off the stone to fly in tandem with its fellow escaping bird. Greeneyes' gaze widens, and he leaps, using the now-empty stone as leverage. A clasp of paws catches nothing, and he lands with staggered feet and a slight frown.

Maybe he wasn't going to catch a big bird after all - but at least he's out of the caves, he supposes. The tom turns to look at the rest of the patrol, to see if anyone's managed to catch anything yet.

"Well, at least you two caught something," he says to Fernpaw and the tortoiseshell, sharing a small, but earnest smile. Greeneyes can't help the surprise that the two RiverClanners were the ones with the successful catches - that they'd excelled more in land-hunting than the actual land-hunters.

Ears then twitch at Needledrift's words - it sounds like his former guide has also had no luck. "Maybe we can try elsewhere?" he suggests.

✦ ABOUT

• // rolled a 4!
• 
  

  
  
  GREENKIT ‣ GREENPAW ‣ GREENEYES, Warrior of SkyClan
  — Daisyflight x Raven Ramble
  — AMAB; He/Him
  — A red tabby and white tom with bright green eyes.
  — Mentored by Sheepcurl; Currently mentoring Falconpaw
  — "Speech"; Attack
  
  ✦･ﾟ: * — Among SkyClan's first born, Greeneyes is a bright tom with an affinity for the world around him. Despite always seeking to be kind to others, the warrior believes he's cursed - a belief brought on by rhetoric that green is a deadly color.

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[iciclefang]

Iciclefang puts a protective paw over her shrew, watching the other cats disband from their little core to hunt. Stormywing narrowly misses her bird, perhaps missing the undergrowth ThunderClan is used to utilizing to shield their movements from prey. Needledrift, too, comes out empty-pawed, wondering aloud if there are any pools of stagnant water nearby. The tortoiseshell’s eyebrow twitches. “Are there frogs this high up?” It’s a genuine question; besides lizards, she isn’t sure what else ShadowClan eats, and she hasn’t seen anything like what the night-dweller is describing.

The final cat to try their paw at bringing back prey—a long-furred ginger and white warrior—misses his bird, too, and he suggests trying somewhere else. His remark to Fernpaw and herself causes her to smile at her brother. “RiverClan showing the other Clans up again, I see,” she says in a dry tone. It’s a small jest, but it’s a peace offering, too—is this acknowledgment enough for Fernpaw, or is he demanding something grander, some immense gesture?

ooc ✧ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦

•  
•  
• 

  — iciclekit . iciclepaw . iciclefang
  — she/her ; warrior of riverclan
  — lesbian ; single
  — short-haired tortoiseshell with white and ice-blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Pin

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[FERNGILL]

Fernpaw did a terrible job of hiding his wince at the empty jaws of each of their hunting companions- everyone except Iciclefang, of course. He wasn't, for once, even a little envious of her. His own prize lay in his jaws- it had been an unpracticed catch, but a catch nonetheless, and surprise glimmered emerald in his eye as Greeneyes looked toward him- and then Iciclefang, who smiled at him. They'd barely looked at each other recently, mostly by Fernpaw's own doing, but he met her eye then and offered her as earnest a smile as ever. "Imagine if we'd found a river!" Maybe they should try a trip to the river like this, if they found one... though Fernpaw found himself carefully skirting around the possibility of failure now, knowing how it had doomed him to inadequacy in Iciclefang's eyes.

It was then that he remembered that he was upset with her.

Turning his gaze away from her, he looked to Greeneyes and the Shadowclanner then, thoughts whirring. She'd spoken of eggs, of tadpoles- squeamish as he was (though he tried valiantly to hide it), Fernpaw swallowed forcefully. "Somewhere for tadpoles?" he asked reluctantly, nose wrinkling with ill-concealed disgust.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​