THE PULL OF POPULARITY ♡ windclan patrol

Sunstar's patrol assignments today had put a smile on Slateheart's face. Though, not without a quickening heart. Today, the warrior was assigned to lead his very first patrol - a true honor, one that he hoped he could do some justice.

From above, he was sent to follow the same route as Rattleheart's patrol, who took their trip by tunnel. Towards Fourtrees and ThunderClan, a simple enough route - with very little border to cover with another Clan on this edge of the territory, he had hoped there would be no trouble. Following him was his brother Gravelsnap - patrolling with him was always a treat to strengthen their repairing bond. Then, Redheart and Thundersong, warriors of new and old whom he was certain would do their job dutifully and without quarrel. Following was none other than Firefang and her new apprentice, and Slateheart could only hope that he wouldn't have to babysit the fiery molly and her sharp tongue.

Fourtrees had been marked successfully. As the patrol moved southward and ThunderClan's Owl Tree was in sight, Slateheart angled a wary glance back to his patrol. "You know the drill. Civil, but strong. We are not here to quarrel, but we will not show our bellies." Not that he thought ThunderClan would quarrel with them. He suspected they had some sharp-tongued apprentices, but it was the least ThunderClan could do to keep conflict down low after WindClan allowed them to run dogs through their territory.

Between the moorland and the forest, marked by scarce trees, was the strange Twoleg path that marked where they must leave their scent. Anticipating a ThunderClan patrol, Slateheart kept his posture tall and sure as he led the small group towards that path - but then, he stopped, abruptly dropping into a crouch amongst the grass and flowers. "Wait!" he hissed lowly, signaling for his patrol to do the same. "Do you see that?"

Between the moor and the Twoleg path that marked their destination stomped a lone Twoleg with big, strange paws. It walked along the treeline with furrowed brows and a focused gaze, looking back and forth around the moors and the forest. "What in stars name.." Slateheart mumbled. He's never seen a Twoleg this close, and for the life of him, he could not figure out what it was doing. But one thing's for certain.. "It's in our way. We have to get around it to mark." But.. was it worth it? The tom casts a nervous glance back towards his patrol. Thundersong had just recovered from her wounds, and he wasn't certain she could outrun the oddly-pawed Twoleg. Heatherpaw, the youngest of their patrol, was still so small. Slateheart is the leader of the patrol, and he should have been prepared to shoulder any strange scenario.. but still, uncertain, he shares a look with his brother with a hardset frown. "..What do we do?"
  • speech is #bbbb88
    patrol tags: @GRAVELSNAP @Firefang (@HEATHERPAW ) @REDHEART @THUNDERSONG
  • 78016217_relDzXG2vj7CiMr.png

  • slate-page-doll-low-res.png
    slate slatepaw slatetooth SLATEHEART
    ━━ MOOR-RUNNER WARRIOR of WINDCLAN
    ━━ 22 MOONS,, ages every 6th
    ━━ LYNXTOOTH xx ADELAIDE xx SILVERFOOT
    ━━ SIBLING to GRAVELSNAP and ASHPAW
    ━━ MATE to none | PARENT to none
    ━━ MENTOR to none | MENTORED by LYNXTOOTH

 

Campionsong heard the harsh drivel of the Twolegs just as the Windclanners had. Squawks, discordant as a songbird with a tone deafness, trilled out of the strange Twoleg's maw. Weaving a language so unlike that of the feline's, as though strings had been dragged from clouds and heavens rather than from their own voices, never sat right with the Thunderclan warrior. (Though, he supposed it was akin to listening to the songs of the dogs and the owls, and he was not meant to understand it but rather fear it.) The Twoleg did not slaver nor drool like a feral animal, simply methodically walked along the treelines and territories. What is it searching for? Grasshopper-green gaze quinted at the long-limbed beast. The silver tabby relented underneath the veil of shadows, crouching down so that the Twolegs could not find the Thunderclanners. "Stay quiet. It might hear you." He instructed to the rest of the Thunderclan patrol, the command soft yet succinct so unlike the flowery poet. He was a fool but rarely an idiot. He knew when to cut the act when potential danger reared its head.
 
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆ despite the moorlands rocky history, it was rare that a patrol to windclan's border ended in fluffed tails. nightbird held up amongst the frontlines of the patrol, ears pricked and eyes scanning the horizon. they had just passed the owl tree, thank starclan its habitant was either out of asleep, but soon past it the lead warrior stood dead in her tracks.

her tail sweeping the ground as she flattened towards it at campionsong's warning. along the border paced a twoleg, its actions strange, erratic nearly. from what she gathered it seemed to be hunting, for what she couldn't tell. beyond it, she scented a strong windclan scent. it would make sense for there to be a patrol around this time, she had yet to spot them as her gaze kept shifting back to the strangely behaved twoleg. "the hell's it doing?"
  • ooc ↛
  • NIGHTBIRD she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, 32 ☾'s
    a small black smoke molly with a white paw and pale silver eyes.
    mate to raccoonstripe / / mentor to none
    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.
 



The actions of Twolegs were nearly impossible to understand. Every time that he had seen them, it had been hard to decipher what they were doing, thanks to his lack of experience with them. Sometimes, at least, there were cats that had known Twolegs at some point in their life, whether they were former kittypets or had observed them more than he had that had known what it was that they were doing, but oftentimes even in this case their behavior was still a mystery to the cats.

He does not need to be told to keep low, keep quiet - even before any warning, the moment he lays eyes on the Twoleg, he crouches low to the ground, staying around foilage to avoid being seen while the Twoleg looks around, turning this way and that. He had never seen one of them display behavior like this. The tabby warrior's gaze lingers on the Twoleg for some time, trying as he might to decipher what any of this meant for naught. Like Nightbird, he could catch the scent of WindClan across the path, likely doing exactly what they were, crouched low to avoid detection as they figured out what to do next. He speaks very quietly, eyes still fixed on the Twoleg in case it turned toward them. "I'm not sure.. what could it be searching for out here?"

 
➴➴ Gravelsnap cannot help but to feel proud as they stride along behind their brother. They will gladly allow Slateheart to give them whatever orders he pleases, and follow after him as dutifully as they would a lead warrior. They can remember the first time they had been ordered to lead a patrol—it had been nerve-wracking at best, and they wonder whether the dark-furred warrior is nervous at all. He doesn’t seem to be as they mark the border with Fourtrees, and then make their way toward the ThunderClan border. The twoleg path always seems to be abandoned, but today… it’s different. There’s a twoleg here. It stomps around and makes a ruckus, and that would be bad enough if it didn’t also block the border with ThunderClan entirely. Slateheart drops into a crouch, staying low to avoid detection, and hisses for the patrol to wait, and Gravelsnap follows suit.

Across the border, he sees the forms of a few ThunderClan warriors moving, likely a group that is simply passing by on their own patrol. Hazel eyes narrow as he spots their mouths moving, speaking to one another likely about the problem that currently blocks the WindClan patrol from approaching the border. "We turn around," they state in response to Slateheart’s question, as though it is the most simple explanation. ThunderClan’s warriors have seen them at the border, and have certainly spotted the danger that lurks here—if ThunderClan wishes to attempt to cross their border here, then they can go right ahead. They would have to be a special sort of hare-brain to approach a twoleg this close. And besides, the patrol should not risk being snatched away or killed just to mark a border. "Sunstar would advise us not to risk ourselves. He needs to know about this."
 
it is not difficult to spot a twoleg out in the wild. they are tall, and while leafhusk isn’t sure what goes on in their heads, she’s certain they like to make their presences known. she instinctively crouches closer to the ground, poking a nose out of the bushes to get a quick look. the molly’s background will be no help today, the creature’s mannerisms are different than what she was used too.

"no idea, maybe it’s lost something?" she suggests, unhelpfully.

  • 80086491_tN0R2xbOnPV1ykB.png
    thunderclan warrior / / former kittypet・38
    mentoring adderpaw
    cis woman・she/her & bisexual
    peaceful & healing powerplay permitted・all opinions ic
    won't start fights・will try to end fights・won't kill
    excels in stealth and tracking & average at fighting
    written by maxine dogfriends. on discord
 
The scent of ThunderClan catches on the wind whistling through the thin line of trees, strong and present. It's likely there's a patrol on the opposite end of the path, though he can't see them with his body pressed low to the ground. It didn't take much to guess they were hiding like WindClan, watching the odd Twoleg move about in its peculiar way.

It had not spotted Slateheart's patrol yet, thank StarClan, giving them just enough time to decide the best course of action. Gravelsnap agrees with Slateheart's unspoken idea, that they shouldn't risk themselves for the border. That meant, at least one less cat to argue with him. "Okay. We'll head home. ThunderClan will not abuse our unmarked border with this.. thing patrolling about." He would hope ThunderClan would do no such thing regardless, but there was no telling with the lingering tensions between the moor cats and all.

Sunstar needed to hear about this, and WindClan needed to get out before they were spotted. Slateheart would not risk his warriors being taken today, not with two of their patrol already hindered due to age or injury. With a silent nod towards his patrol, Slateheart retreats back towards the moorland, keeping low to the ground until the patrol is out of the Twoleg's radar.

/ out - @Firefang @REDHEART @THUNDERSONG if you guys wanna get a reply in before the patrol leaves now's the time!
  • speech is #bbbb88
  • 78016217_relDzXG2vj7CiMr.png

  • slate-page-doll-low-res.png
    slate slatepaw slatetooth SLATEHEART
    ━━ MOOR-RUNNER WARRIOR of WINDCLAN
    ━━ 23 MOONS,, ages every 6th
    ━━ LYNXTOOTH xx ADELAIDE xx SILVERFOOT
    ━━ SIBLING to GRAVELSNAP and ASHPAW
    ━━ MATE to none | PARENT to none
    ━━ MENTOR to none | MENTORED by LYNXTOOTH

 
He loved getting to traverse the hilly landscape of their home and with the beauty of newleaf it was all the better. Gingerly the warrior bounded alongside the patrol. Long feathery coat billowing brilliantly behind as trotted. Once they dipped into fourtree's and near the great owl tree his curiosity spiked. They would never dream of leaving the moors again. Especially, after being cast to the barn, but a part of him always wondered what it was like in other clans. The ebony and white toms sudden drop caused him to blink away from his daydreams. Following their denmates direction his pupils thinned in surprise as a bumbling fleshy two-leg fell right within Redheart's line of site. Mousedung! Dipping low he cursed himself mentally for stalling.

Slateheart's question made him shake his cranium with an affirmative 'no'. The quicker they got out of there the better. Hissing low and shaky the tom did his best to keep his volume steady. "We shouldn't risk our pelts right now. You've got the right idea bringing it to Sunstar." Despite his lineage Redheart hated two-legs as much as the next clanborn cat. Especially, after his harrowing run in with the two-leg kit that had swung him around like prey. Visibly shuddering he kept himself close to the grasses to where he nearly drug his stomach across the soft tendrils. There was no way he was going to risk it all and be seen. Catching the nod he made haste to squeeze in near Gravelsnap and the patrol lead.

Quietly, he crept after Slateheart praying his racing heart wouldn't alert the strange creature meandering their territories.

// out!