READY OR NOT | windclan hunting patrol

[SOOTSPOT]

After the death of his aunt, he doubted Scorchstar would've sanctioned him to take a patrol deep into enemy territory, yet even as they gorged on rabbits and fine furs, the clan felt weak. There was no Deputy or Lead Warriors brazen enough to take the mantle should anything happen to the calico Tunneler. Trudging into marshland muck and grime was the last resort of an honourable path for recognition, but it was a gamble he would never usually make. Fur once parted by wounds from ShadowClan seemed to burn in foreboding, the thin, winding trees likely to hide anything that wanted to eat them. The mud crept up to his hocks, cold, and bitter, and again, Sootspot wondered what his mother had ever seen in the decrepit land.

He wondered, should he go to StarClan now, was she strong enough to have remade it in her image? Would the forest be dark and twisting, would cats cough and croak like the frogs she sought to gorge on? Would each breath smell of carrion? Would the sun never rise? Would StarClan become ShadowClan?

Or could he reshape it in WindClan's? Would they let him, when they saw the potential of a great cat squandered?

He blinked back to the present, eyeing his son behind him with a warmth that contrasted the Leafbare gusts. 'For your future, I shall not perish.' He tilted his head upwards to taste the air, to try and prove to cats tall and small that he deserved to lead them into danger, that he would keep them safe... and if he didn't, then it'd be their own faults for being weak. He looked towards the downtrodden Pinkshine and recently blinded Milkthorn, the timid Sparrow, the apprentice that bothered him to no end, and the one who had always been a useful friend.

Oleander or roses could bloom from Sootspot's tongue in equal measures, but in memory of his mother, no such flowers were offered. "Take everything."

He pushed through the bracken and broke out into a sprint towards the ShadowClan patrol he'd gotten his own motley crew to stalk (ShadowClan would know where the best ShadowClan hunting grounds were, after all). Teeth and claws were bared in a flurry as the swift tom threatened to use both, doing a fakeout with his right paw whilst grabbing a large toad a ShadowClanner was holding with his teeth. He pulled back until he was the only one with a grip on the amphibian, swiveling on his haunches and kicking mud into the other ShadowClan's face to give himself a chance to flee.

[ rolled a 17 for prey (engages w/ a shadowclanner for it and wins), rolled an 18 for prey size -- if ur shadowclanner failed a roll, feel free to have sootspot be the one that's stealing from them!! ]

[ (@VIPERPAW), @PINKSHINE (@NIGHTPAW), @milkthorn. , @Wraithwail, @SPARROWBREEZE, @Brackenpaw ]
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[MARBLEPAW]

Marblepaw's never been much of a huntress; Starlingheart, as a rule, did not hunt due to her queasy stomach and blinded eye, and so she really never got a chance to practice. She remembered Ferndance correcting her hunting crouch, and that's who she thinks of now as she lowers her belly to the mire mud and creeps through the grass. She can't scent anything downwind from her, except...

Puzzled, Marblepaw rears up, lifting her head through the marshgrass. There's the roughened sound of paws squelching through slime — paws unaccustomed to traversing through ShadowClan. The windblown scent of WindClan curls in her nostrils like smoke. They're here — not across the Thunderpath, where she'd met Celandinepaw, but here, right in their territory! The patrol leader, a small, wiry smoke-colored tom, steals a catch right from one of their warriors' mouths!

"Hey!" She arches her spine, pale fur bristling. "You're trespassing! And stealing!" As a rule, medicine cats aren't meant to fight — aren't meant to draw blood — but in her anger, she forgets this part of herself. Marblepaw launches herself at the closest WindClanner, aiming to draw her claws across their cheek.

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

• ooc: rolled a 4... all she's scenting is WindClan. feel free to be who she's attacking!
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 10 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.

​

 

[Wraithwail]

‧₊˚ ☾. ⋅ Wraithwail was not a violent cat, nor was she one to allow herself to be guided by malice and harbor any destructive desires. To her, the other clans were as they were just like how Windclan was as Windclan was...like everything in life, they all simply were. Existence built upon inner communities closed off to what surrounded closed borders all in the name of safety. Safety...such a cruel thing it of itself, right up there next to hope. Nothing could guarantee either, she knew this intimately- and yet they still rely so heavily on borders intricately woven into stark warnings well before her time- but that was all they truly were, warnings. Should one grow bold enough to ignore the promise of retribution, they should then expect to return back to where they had come from bearing the burden of serrated teeth and claws...should they be blessed enough to return at all.

She wondered if Sootspot considered this as he guided his patrol consisting of herself, Sparrowbreeze, Pinkshine, Milkthorn, and their respective apprentices to the edge of Shadowclan's borders, sparing not but a second as he took confident strides straight into sickeningly dull marshland. She found herself quite displeased as dainty paws squelched against slick mud and thickened peat, the sensation of sludge gushing in between once pristine ivory claws causing her boney frame to convulse with discomfort. She could not hide the expression on her face, grotesque disdain plastered plainly upon a grimace and scrunched pink nose. She could only hope their dishonorable haul would be worth the mess.

A flash of swift movement caught her attention, her stringy muscles growing taut as she froze momentarily in order to survey unfamiliar territory with harrowed olive eyes. She was out of her element in more ways than one, and yet she was not deterred as instinct took hold and controlled her like a puppet, the ghostly molly gliding across the contrasting abyss of shadowed woodland like a hoary apparition. She could not move as quickly here, to her great regret, the landscape tangled and muddled like something from a harrowed nightmare- but she was successful in her catch nonetheless, the frog that proved to be nothing more than a bite-sized morsel unable to outpace her elongated strides.

Wraithwail would lean down to prod the unappetizing looking creature with a trembling and hesitant paw before attempting to close her jaws securely around it. The taste made her recoil, and the texture was simply unspeakable, unlike anything she had ever felt before...she lamented it, really. Never again would she allow herself to be coaxed into such a disgraceful place again. How Shadowclan could manage would forever be a mystery to her, forever dormant and festering just as they seemed to do.

"Hey!" Her head swiveled in the direction of an indignant cry. "You're trespassing! And stealing!" She would be given little warning besides this, a figure that she dwarfed in her size hurtling directly towards her in a rather careless fashion, she would think. Her reflexes proceeded her, a flash of blinding white jumping out of the smaller mollys line of fire with a singular graceful motion. The two cats eyes would meet then, Wraithwail's plush, pink-lined jaws contorting into a haunting smile- comforting and kind on the surface, but beneath was something uncomfortable- it was not right, too wide and too soft for it to make sense given she had nearly been grazed by a violent touch. There was something locked away inside, a beast which thrived on mournful vengeance and curses to the world thinly veiled behind rare beauty.

"Oh, little soldado...such valiance you display..." She allowed her head to tilt, her neck craning to the side with such intensity it seemed almost...broken, and accompanied by eyes crumpled to slits by the push of her upturned jaw, she was nothing less than soul-stirring. "Such... tenacious desire to protect what is bestowed unto you...it is so rare, mi querida..." She took a step closer with languid movement, her body twisting and contorting like something unseen writhing and puppeteering the outer flesh of her tauntingly prepossessing form from within. "Has one never warned you...of the price that a paragon is expected to pay...?" She positioned herself protectively near her worthless catch, a silent but clear dare for @MARBLEPAW to challenge her again.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── MISTRESS OF GRIEF ༄˖°.🕯️.ೃ࿔*:･ LADY OF TEARS ──┐‎

• rolled a 17 for prey encounter, 1 for size. forgive her for being a little strange and offputting <3

• 

• 
  WRAITHWAIL she/her, warrior of windclan, 18 moons.
  ⭃ tall, longhaired white she-cat with hollow olive eyes.
  ⭃ mentoring none, mate to none, mentored by n/a, unable to conceive
  ⭃ peaceful, healing and minor combative powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by sloane ↛ @encarcerated on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

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[PINKSHINE]

So... Pinkshine feels a little bit bad, yeah... but Bluefrost has kits! And kits need to eat, and it's harder for that to happen when its so cold... When even the tunnels are scarce with prey right now, when three more moons of Leaf-bare still await them... she doesn't mind poking her nose onto ShadowClan territory so much. Sootspot looks kindly to her apprentice. She understands why. Pinkshine can't really muster much of a smile, even with the possibility of him glimpsing her.

She likes trailing ShadowClan so closesly less... but um, does it anyways, screwing her eyes against the swamp-muck with Sootspot at the helm. Her nose discerns no prey... she feels like her nose is too stuffed with mud to smell anything that isn't ShadowClan itself. It was only a matter of time, really, before the patrol is whirled upon. Pinkshine blinks at the sight of ShadowClan's Medicine Cat apprentice slashing for Wraithwail. You're trespassing! And stealing! " Um- Sorry! " It isn't insincere, stammered from where she would likely be flitting around the heels of a ShadowClanner, trying to keep out of range.

OOC: Flopped w a 4! Go girl give us nothing!!

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[NIGHTPAW]

Nightpaw followed along, walking beside Pinkshine while trailing after his father. This would be his very first hunt patrol and to think it would be to steal another clan's prey. He knew it would be dangerous, understanding clearly what that meant. He needed to be careful today, to watch his steps and decisions with caution. Father turned his head around to smile at them, and Nightpaw watched them silently. He had to do his best today, he wanted to make his father proud to succeed under thier very command.

A shadowclan patrol got spotted, and father gave his command for them to take everything. Nightpaw perked thier ears up at this and he would rush out while accompanying his mentor, seeking guidence from them right now since she surely knew better how to handle this then he did, and if so could use her knowledge and experience and follow her lead...But what Nightpaw find in Pinkshine was not a cat charging into action like his father did, going head first with an shadowclanner to steal prey...instead she stood back not doing much to assist at all.

Nightpaw had stopt behind his mentor to take her behavior in before his eyes drifted over to the others, to watch his father succeedfully stealing as he run away, his gaze shifted between the remaining shadowclanners with prey and he find an opponent that looked easy to take on, maybe distracted by the ambush or young like he was. In any case, he decided to act with or without his mentor to follow along. Nightpaw moved sideways so they wouldn't spot him that easily as he made his sprint towards them and locked thier eyes on the shadowclanner's prey. He bite into the bird's leg and pulled backwards while grapping dirt underneath his forepaw to send mud straight across the shadowclanner's face as he copied his father method so he could snatch the prey away from them, and with a quick turn Nightpaw started to take flight to run after his father with his victory clenched between his teeths.

// prey roll 20 ( engages with an shadowclanner and wins the stolen prey) prey size 13
points; 2
fill free to be the shadowclanner he stole from if they were unsucceedful with thier rolls!


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[milkthorn.]

his maw opened to contradict sootspot as they moved upon the moors, though, teeth snapped shut. He'd listen. He'd listen, and do this, because Windclan needed the extra morsels. Shadowclan would not need a few pieces of prey as much as they did with nursery full of kits and the growing clan. But then again, the rosetted warrior only cared about the well being of his own clan.

As they arrived on the border, his whiskers twitched from the unpleasant scent, and if he wasn't so focused on keeping up- (he was a sore thumb here in lands of shadows), and staying hidden, he would've covered his maw.

They slunk deeper into the territory, and Sootspots words hissed venom, adjacent to a power hungry leader. He flashed a look at each of them, and Milkthorn would acknowledge it with a flicker of his ear. He didn't trail far, when suddenly he spotted prey. A black crow, large body hopping along the frost bitten ground. And before long, it was swiped dead, teeth digging into its flesh to finish off the prey, before dragging it back to the patrol.

Alarm rang through Milkthorn as he arrived to the scene. An apprentices cry makes his torn ears swivel, before Wraithwail was upon her, hissing sweet venomous words. Blue eyes flashed to Sootspot, chucking mud at another, and then to Nightpaw, following the others movements.

And then, a body hits him. He remembered Cottonsprigs warning to be careful, and he would try, but as claws seared into him, he couldn't help but bare his teeth at the shadowclanner. A large white paw turns to swipe viciously at the attackers face. Hopefully stunning the other, he'd attempt to bolt off, crow having been thrown from his grasp, and another Shadowclanner sweeping in for it.

He could not risk being camp bound again.

He'd just do better next time.

Rolled 10 & 14 for prey getting stolen, but feel free to be the other shadowclanner and try to continue an attack!//

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[Brackenpaw]

There's something fitting being back at Shadowclan's borders to hunt when prey has grown scarce. As it had when the fires took hold of their clan it appears to happen when the frost takes hold. She's without her mentor, maybe strategic on Sootspot's part but it had been her own insistence to be part of this trip. She knows both mentors past and present may not be pleased with her decision but she finds this break of the warrior code to be a necessary one. With no clue how the other clans are going she presumes that they're the worst off, even if they're relatively well fed.

Who knows just how long that will last after all? She watches with interest as the tunneler leading this patrol charges forward and steals a large toad right from a shadowclanner! They chuff in amusement and gaze flickers to their other clanmates who vary in success. Dammed toad-eating cats not knowing when to quit seem to retaliate. It's a hypocritical anger at this, considering Brackenpaw too would react in such a manner. She thinks its the fact that their medicine cat apprentice of all things are attacking that stirs anger the most.

The she-cat lunges with a look that screams murder. Fear ripples off their calico coat for a moment as she rushes forward to stop any bloodshed that may befall her clan mates. Code breaking in the furtherest part of her mind, right now this is not a medicine cat but a threat. A lithe shoulder attempts to connect to Marblepaw's flank as she lunges. Hoping to discourage her from attacking Wraithwail again.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎‎ ‎ OH, IM JUST A GIRL ꕥ WHATS MY DESTINY ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• rolled a 7! | attempting to push @MARBLEPAW away (mobile post disclaimer)
• 
• 
  Brackenpaw ✩ They/she, tunneler apprentice, 12 moons
  
  
  ⸙ A scowling, tiny calico who still needs to grow into her ears.
  ⸙ Mentored by Scorchstar | Formally mentored by Bluefrost.
  ⸙ Speech, thoughts, attacking.
  ⸙ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted ( underline and tag when attacking ).
  ⸙ All opinions are IC only.
  penned by Juice.
  

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[SHARPSHADOW]

Tailed by vultures, of course they were. Sootstar had once roamed this marsh. She'd ditched it the first chance she'd had, then; washed it off like mud on her back... And yet she returns time and time again, looking for scraps. Scraps in the form of ShadowClan prey, ShadowClan kits. Kits seized by— " You! " It bursts from her mouth, in part this sharp, sucked in breath; in part a hiss, imbued with this anger his mere existence made him feel.

Sharpshadow anticipates a swing to the left of her head; lifts a paw in retaliation— but the fox-heart pivots in this ridiculous move that only his pitiful size afforded him. Dull eyes widen in indignance as his prey is seized by a fox-heart. Mud flies in his face. Blindly, Sharpshadow surges forward, teeth snapping. It's a heartbeat too late, that his jaws clamp. The barest hint of a tail-tip is caught in his teeth before the WindClanner is slipping away.

" You fight more like rats than we ever could! " They swarm like them; pick pieces of prey out of the maws of ShadowClanners already lucky to catch the little they had. Only for Marblepaw's sake, she tells herself, does she not chase the worst of them across the entire damn forest.

Sharpshadow pivots. Heavy steps carry her frantic toward her Clanmate. Two of them move in on Marblepaw, as if she wasn't a Medicine Cat Apprentice. As if she hadn't been put on this path before she'd even grown into her limbs. As if ShadowClan could afford to lose her. Sharpshadow intercepts the calico WindClanner, not yet threatening with claws, but using a thicker form to keep another WindClan pelt off of Marblepaw. A dark flank slides along the form of Marblepaw. A rare gesture of the tail is made, maneuvered in its half-broken state to shield the Medicine Cat apprentice. Her neck twists toward the wraith-like molly. Spit flies from her lips. " Back up! " surging with it is an authority perhaps held by a Lead Warrior. For him: held by someone that could not see another ShadowClanner disappear. Not another Medicine Cat. Traitor's blood is in her, isn't it?

Outnumbered. They're outnumbered, and she reminds herself of it as her claws itch to wipe the grin off of this WindClanner's face. He could throw his life away for less... If it wasn't Marblepaw. If it wasn't Marblepaw, he could. " Take your stolen prey and hope I never see you when we're even. " A bristling pelt makes him twice the cat that he once was. These two— These five. They're pieces of a nightmarish puzzle... Her eyes blaze in the direction of the head of them still, a tom she would give anything to never see again. Well... almost anything.

OOC: briefly engageing @/SOOTSPOT & then defending @MARBLEPAW from @Brackenpaw and @Wraithwail! I could not resist...

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[MARBLEPAW]

The cat Marblepaw claws barely reacts; she's startled by the response, in truth. The WindClan warrior turns to regard her with glimmering eyes, and her voice is almost soft. She descends upon Marblepaw then, looming over her with taunting words, arching her body over the catch she's claimed from ShadowClan territory. The medicine cat apprentice freezes, unsure of how to react; this had been the first time she's attacked another feline, and it has not gone remotely as planned.

But that catch belongs to our queens, our kits! She'd watched all seven of the mewling bodies in the nursery be born, watched the queens struggle in labor, and they needed every mouthful of what WindClan has stolen! Marblepaw bristles, preparing to attack again, when a pale shape barrels toward her. Marblepaw flinches, braces herself for impact, but is saved from having to do so by Sharpshadow.

The bristling lead warrior shows her own teeth; her jagged pelt is blown out, maximizing her size. "Back up!" Marblepaw allows Sharpshadow to take the lead, knowing he must be seething as much as she is. But the two of them can hardly do anything against a sprawling WindClan patrol, especially when one of them is nothing but a medicine cat apprentice, not trained in combat.

Sharpshadow lets out a low hiss of warning: "Take your stolen prey and hope I never see you when we're even." Marblepaw exhales, frustrated. She wants to pursue them, but Sharpshadow is right. There is nothing either of them can do alone. "Don't return to ShadowClan again if you know what's good for you," she hisses, but... she's not much of a threat, in truth, and no doubt all those WindClan cats can see that.

She watches them leave and gives Sharpshadow a defeated look. "I'm sorry. I tried, but..." She shrugs, helpless. She'll never be a fighter, not really.

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

• ooc: —
• 
• Marblekit . Marblepaw, she/they w/ feminine and non-gendered terms.
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — 10 moons old, ages realistically on the 1st.
  — mentored by Starlingheart ; mentoring n/a ; previously mentored n/a
  — shadowclan medicine cat apprentice, formerly a rogue. siltcloud x lilacfur, gen 3.
  — currently mated to n/a.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  sh fawn tabby with dull green eyes. courageous, curious, introspective, observant, judgmental, snarky.

​

 

[SPARROWBREEZE]

Is it the marsh's presence around her that makes chest tight, or is it the guilt eating at her? Perhaps both, she thinks, as they stray further from the moors and open air and into ShadowClan territory for a chance at a successful hunt. Even the rabbits are finding it too cold to be out of their burrows now, making Sparrowbreeze's job harder, making her clan hungrier.

Guilt is washed away at the scent of rabbit reaching her nose. The brown tabby makes a swift turn in its direction, one tail-ended by a hunter's crouch and a creeping crawl towards it. And when she nears, it's the smell of blood that she recognizes next, the smell of marsh after.

Someone's wounded her catch; someone's made it easier for her to catch it.

Sparrowbreeze is the one to deliver the killing blow, and a surge of relief washes over her as she moves to pick up her bounty — only for relief to be torn away from her with a blow to her own side. The large tabby stumbles, amber gaze alight with anger. This is her rabbit. This is her rabbit. Hardly does she second guess her next move, as moor-claws move to rake over the ShadowClanner's form in an aim to create some space between her and them. When she's able to, she moves to grab her kill, and makes an attempt to do what she knows best — run.

// rolled a 15 / 19 ! + 3 points!