there are leeches in denton lake // frozen rivers

MERLINPAW ✦

they never let you be famous and happy
Sep 17, 2024
38
3
8
It's cold. It might not be snowing so heavily anymore, but it's still freezing. Merlinpaw, luckily, remains healthy despite the fact many of his clanmates do not... he should be grateful, but honestly, it just feels like more pressure. More pressure to provide for those camp bound, for those who are too sick to get up, for those sick enough that they might never get up again. It is not a reality that the apprentice wants to face, but it is one they must come to terms with regardless. So, they've tagged along on a hunt, specifically a mission to get more fish for the pile, as that's where RiverClan's tastes tend to reside. They will eat land prey, too, of course, but any RiverClanner worth their fur knows that the water dwelling meals are better, especially in leafbare.

Reaching the river is not the same as always, though. He has to step through deep banks of snow, and follow close on the warriors' tails so he doesn't loose them in the field of white, and, finally getting to the river presents a new challenge... it's frozen over. The blue tabby can only blink at that. Frozen? How? He hadn't thought that was possible. What does this mean for their fish? They say nothing as they cautiously approach the bank of the frozen water, a paw extended to experimentally press down on the ice there.

It doesn't crack beneath their paw.

"That's-" they start to say, but can't finish the thought. How are they supposed to feed their Clan if the rivers aren't accessible? As if hoping the warriors on this patrol have an explanation or a game plan, sepia eyes dart from one to another, question unasked but apparent all the same.



  • ooc - @STREAMSONG ; mentor tag

  • #6360c4

  • (img) Merlinpaw * they/him* 11 moons
    mentored by Streamsong
    short furred blue classic tabby w/ low white; brown eyes
    Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
    penned by Neptune. || Neptune on disc, dm me for plots
 




To him, it wasn't just cold, it was freezing. Perhaps that was just because of the brief time he was a barncat. He breathed deeply to avoid constantly feeling as though the snowy air was somehow both burning and ice cold. His tail sweeps in the snow, an attempt to lessen the effort they would have to take.

His breath crystallized, and he decided to focus on the idea, the hope of food. Leaf-bare was bitter, and it was difficult to find food during such a time.

However, it came to a halt. Copper eyes scan the river down and upstream. Damn it, really? All of it appeared frozen. Both his ears and his tail twitched in annoyance. He tapped the frozen rivers. He glanced up at Merlinpaw, noting the question in the apprentice's eyes. "Maybe it's not frozen all the way down, we could try breaking some of the ice and seeing if it is."
 
() sunset eyes flit across the trail as the dappled blue tom follows his patrol towards the water. large paws crunching over frost, pebbletail finds himself lost in thought. the day is cold and dusted with snow, this patrol agonizingly fruitless. he hopes against hope that somehow they will find prey in the river, if it hasn't frozen over yet.

as if he has thought it to life, he watches merlinpaw trot carefully out onto the river, that has been completely encased. slick, shiny ice coats the surface, thicker than it had been even days ago. "starclan," the lead warrior breathes, brow furrowing as he comes to a halt beside lambleap. "it was only just freezing a few days ago," the young man comments, testing the ice with his own paws. even his hefty size is not enough to send a hole through the frozen water. pebbletail sighs. "yeah, that's probably a good idea," he nods to the cream tabby.

"merlinpaw, do you want to find a rock? something heavy, to try and break the ice." he instructs the apprentice and then feels suddenly so out of place. is he even allowed to give orders? two moons out of apprenticehood, newly appointed as a lead warrior, it is clear that lichenstar sees some potential in him. unless it was nepotism, he thinks vaguely, and then bites his tongue. she wouldn't do that… would she? clearing his throat, the white-dappled tomcat glances around for a rock of his own.


  • // " #848DAE"
  • 89442467_tOIzd3yHU0nBWAA.png
  • PEBBLETAIL ☼ HE / HIM, LEAD WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. 13 MOONS OLD, PENNED BY LAVS
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    a large blue tabby with low white and vitiligo. pale blue fur covers the length of pebbletail's stocky body, sliced through with darker tabby stripes and spots. baleful orange eyes peer out of heavy set sockets, and his muzzle, paws, and tail tip are dashed with white.
 

she remembers the crack of ice beneath her paws. theyd been much smaller, then . . tender pads slap - peeling from the frozen surface with each pounding step. she remembers teeth in her scruff — foxtail's, hoisting her from the ground before it collapsed beneath her and plunged her into the icy depths below. there is nothing but blackness, there . . she eyes the brackish murk churning like chilled molasses beneath their source of prey and sighs a cloud of disappointment into the frigid air. she can see the crust just beneath it ; a vivid memory of early youth flits behind her eyelids and she squeezes them closed, ambling along at pebbletail's heel. her belly churns an obnoxious humiliation as she does ( still apprenticed, still prone to sickness that keeps her away. that keeps her behind. ) she almost doesn't realize merlinpaw breaks towards the bank until she feels them pause — nearly tumbling right into blue - dappled hindquarters.

a familiar creak pierces her skull ( soft, slight. her skin crawls ), " oh, merlinpaw, please be careful. " bird - fluttering frets fall from rosetinged lips before she can stall it. in the same breath, lambleap suggests breaking it. the hinge of shellpaw's jaw weakens, turning wildberry eyes on him with a fear that shocks her just as much as the freezing water would ( she can only assume. her dreams swirl a wild vortex of dark, suffocating water. ).

she trains hopeful eyes on him finally ; that was dangerous, right? freezing, slippery, the jagged memory of ice splintering at her paws forms a deep knot in her throat that grows as pebbletail agrees. " a rock? " she echoes meekly, ears inclining backwards and leaning into a small, backward crouch. a rock, he says, would they have to sit here, chip away at the surface until it shattered? or perhaps one heavy enough to break the ice? they'd have to roll it over here, if they even could — shove it onto the icy surface and pray it falls through . . and pray one of their patrol does not. the tip of her tail twitches uncertainly before she peels rheumy eyes away, swallowing against the apprehension dampening her eyes, " or we . . could try sunningrocks? the — the vole like to hide in . . in the river rocks, when it gets this cold. maybe it's the same way there? " land prey. a poor substitute for fish, but one nonetheless . .

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  • i.
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  • SHELLPAW 𓆉 SHE / HER. FOURTEEN MOONS OLD, APPRENTICE OF RIVERCLAN, MENTORED BY LICHENSTAR ; SMELLS LIKE SALT & RIVER BLOOMS. HAZECLOUD xx LICHENSTAR, NIECE TO SMOKESTAR. PENNED BY ANTLERS ----------------- ° ❀ ⋆
    frail alabaster molly with lilac striping and watery amber eyes.
    78128298_wohFIHxKbNARetE.png
    she is pallid ; platinum splotched with ribbons of dovey lilac curls, wisped ends like memories of a distant shore and plush enough to conceal the juts of malnutrition beneath. tufted elderdown fur conceals a body worn fragile by tumultuous youth, too thin in some places and round with stubborn baby fat in others. her face is short - muzzled, framed half mast by eyes coined rheumy, rosen amber. the anemic cold pink - purple at tender paws and nose tell a lifetime of sickness, further made obvious by the feathering weakness in half - whispered tones.
    CHRONICALLY ILL ; prone to wheezing and coughing, nose at a constant drip from longterm illness - induced nasal polyps. not contagious.
 
Break the ice, Lambleap and Pebbletail suggest. Retreat to different hunting grounds, Shellpaw offers up, her voice meek and posture fearful. Slight frown on his maw, Merlinpaw can only blink at the other apprentice, unable to share in her fear of falling in (he does not know why she is afraid. The river will not consume him). Calmly, he backs off the ice, not removing his gaze from the alabaster molly as he does so, short tail twitching behind him with mild interest. The nosey part of him wants to ask her what she's so afraid of - why suggest running to different hunting grounds before even trying the rock idea? But he does not press. He does not voice this.

Once again on the bank, Merlinpaw looks to the others for a moment, deciding not to object to any of the orders (not that they'd had any desire to in the first place) and nods towards Pebbletail. "I'll go... find a rock," they say to him with a minuscule nod and turn around, gaze lingering, for just a second, on Shellpaw with curiosity. They are not one to butt into the affairs of others, and ultimately decide to leave her be in favor of searching for that rock.

This would not typically be a difficult task, but the blanket of snow covering the ground serves to do much in the way of disorienting the apprentice, and where they used to be confident in locating rocks, they just find snow. Perhaps under that layer they'll be able to find their target, but the idea of getting their paws wet is unfortunate. Still, there's little to be done in the way of that, so they begin digging out a rock. It is perhaps not as big as would be ideal, but it might do just fine. A moment of wrestling with it later, and it pops free of where it had suctioned itself to the frozen earth, and Merlinpaw begins nudging it back in the direction of the frozen river.

"...is this okay?" Monotone voice asks as he returns to the group.



  • ooc -

  • #6360c4

  • (img) Merlinpaw * they/him* 11 moons
    mentored by Streamsong
    short furred blue classic tabby w/ low white; brown eyes
    Peaceful & healing powerplay allowed || underline for attack
    penned by Neptune. || Neptune on disc, dm me for plots