no angst silver bells ✧ successful hunt

[Orangestar]

𝐵𝑈𝑇 𝑇𝑂 𝐴 𝑊𝑂𝑀𝐴𝑁, 𝐵𝑌 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐸𝑁𝐷 ✧ 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐋𝐋 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀

• 
  
  — orangeblossom | tags
  — she/her ; deputy of skyclan, mentoring eveningpaw.
  — scarred white-and-ginger she-cat with brown eyes.
  — "speech" ; thoughts
  — chibi by waluigipinball
  — penned by mercibun. @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots.
  
  

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Orangeblossom returns to camp just after sunhigh alongside a small patrol, chin high in the air proudly and clutching a middling vole between her jaws. It's not the beast Hiccup-paw had hauled back to camp a moon ago, but it'd be enough to feed the queens or a couple of warriors had the earlier patrols come back successful too. She's missed leafbare. Even though it's so cold her pawpads go numb and she fears her whiskers might freeze, Orangeblossom's hunting is never as easy as it is when it's snowing. The prey is scarce and skinny, but it's a challenge, and a challenge is exactly what the deputy needs right now. It keeps her mind and her paws working, blood rushing and rare excitement sharpening her features.

"'ow'd oo o?" She meows to another SkyClanner, words heavily muffled by the vole. Truthfully, it doesn't occur to her that she might not be understandable.

​

 

[softheart]

Much like the wind and the snow, Softheart drifts about. His hazy eyes greet the deputy. "Nice." He offers, tilting a head towards the vole grasped in her jaws. "With...?" He has to puzzle the muffled words out. "Hunting..? Leaf-bare has them all hiding." Another long pause before more words materialize. He's improved, he likes to think, although it's not uncommon for prey to become alerted by his clumsy plodding, practically crashing into most of the surrounding area. What did he get? He's bought something back he's sure.. "Fine. Uh.." Being in the midst of the outdoors during such a cold time isn't in his realm of experience, prior taking comfort in the warmth offered by inside.

That was it. He thinks his accomplishment is coming back to mind now. He's been delighted to catch something between his paws, even if it was measly and half-starved. He'd returned unable to stop smiling. "A mouse... But it's uh.. Hard to find stuff now." Blinks. "I think someone else might have had more luck."
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[SLATESNARL]

Warm eyes draw up toward the red-splashed deputy as she carries her spoils into camp, seeming to be satisfied with her efforts. Slate cannot help the twinge that threatens to intensify in his chest, but he tries to ignore it as he rumbles a comment in Orangeblossom's direction, "Good catch." He offers her a quick nod. Slate's hunts did not yield much as of late, mostly mice. Being able to scale the trees would definitely help in securing juicier delicacies like squirrels, but with how icy and slick the trunks were, he wouldn't even dream of trying right now.

His gaze turns toward the former kittypet, Softheart, who remarks about his own hunting success. Hm, perhaps he wasn't as useless as Slate initially thought he would be... being a pet and all. "Findin' any prey is lucky these days. Better than nothin'." Especially since the critters liked to burrow underneath the snow and away from the frigid air. Warriors had to work harder than before to unearth their meals, and to make matters worse, the crunching of snow often gave their positions away before they could get close enough. Being able to bring back any food was an accomplishment in itself.

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ ☾ —— 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙘𝙠, 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚

• 

• 

  ✰ SLATE
  —— he/him; lead warrior of skyclan; former rogue
  —— bisexual; single; not looking
  —— hulking, scarred charcoal-black colored maine coon with amber eyes
  —— "speech", thoughts, attack
  —— link to full tags; @ on discord for plots.
  —— penned by beatles

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[BLAZESTAR]

Joints that have suffered grievously beneath a monster’s massive paws do not twist so easily in leafbare cold. Climbing had been fruitless for Blazestar this morning; his only attempt had ended in him sliding back down, twinges in his back and his hips. The only prey he’d managed to scent through the pine needles had evaded him neatly. He’d given clumsy, numb-pawed chase to a weathered, leafbare-thin mouse—and it had slipped right into the gap between some roots twining across the forest floor. He returns to camp slightly defeated and limping, just barely perceptible.

He eyes Orangeblossom’s vole and Softheart’s mouse with approval. Slate offers that bringing back any prey in this weather is a successful hunt, and Blazestar nods his agreement. “Slate is right. Every mouthful feeds a queen, a kit, or an elder who can’t hunt for themselves. You can take that to the nursery, Softheart.” His gaze trails to the plump vole dangling from Orangeblossom’s jaws, and he smiles. “Nice catch—that’s got more than a few mouthfuls on it, even.” He gestures uselessly with a paw. “I wasn’t so lucky.”

, ”​

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[GREENEYES]

In the height of the prior leaf-bare, Greeneyes made his first catch: a bird, one captured in a springing tactic that forged a love for hunting the avian creatures in the then apprentice, a favoring the lead warrior still holds today. The tom always aims to capture a bird on hunts — the thrill of a leap toward fluttering wings — though knows not to ignore any ground-bound prey when faced with its scent trail, especially in leaf-bare, when the kill-pile is more empty than usual.

When he leaves camp to go hunting with @falconpaw! , he holds the same hopes as usual. It's a disappointing event, the day's hunt: the birds are quiet today — the remaining hidden away in their canopy-woven nests in warmth-seeking slumber. Even the scent of mouse he'd caught onto had grown stale, no doubt for similar reasons as the birds above. When his paws grow too cold to bare, he calls for his apprentice and returns to camp empty-mawed.

He's not the only one, he sees, though he can't help to be envious of the vole Orangeblossom carries, the mouse Softheart speaks of.

" I wasn't either, " he adds to Blazestar's lack of prey with twitching ears. His gaze settles on Orangeblossom's vole, a smiling nod at it. " I see you were though! "

Maybe, if they're lucky, more voles will still be lurking around, too foolish to be hiding away. His gaze shifts, turning to look at Falconpaw, to see if his apprentice had been dealt more luck than him. If not, then perhaps he'll take him back out later, if he's up for it: SkyClan needs all the prey it can get, right now. ​

✦ ABOUT

• 

  GREENKIT ‣ GREENPAW ‣ GREENEYES
  ── Lead 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​

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