A Day of Hunting [Open]

[Deleted]

Newleaf was now clearly in full swing. The sky was mostly gray and white with patches of blue fighting their way through. Every once and while sunlight filled the conifer forest as the clouds raced around above his head. As the sun brightened the territory once more, Scorchfur moved his eyes from tree to tree and hiding spot to hiding spot, wondering if a piece of prey may be hiding in the shadows created by the dazzling light. Sniffing the air, only the scent of evergreen trees crossed his nose and of long gone cats and prey. It seemed that this spot wouldn’t yield any prey, yet it was Newleaf, so there was bound to be a squirrel or a bird or something lurking around.

Slowing down his pace, Scorchfur made sure that his footsteps were light and quiet as he moved farther into ShadowClan territory. He figured that it was possible he may have scared away the prey around this area with his pounding footsteps. While he enjoyed hunting, it wasn’t his forte. His build was just more suited for fighting than hunting, which had made him put less focus on building up his hunting skill. It didn’t mean it wasn’t worth trying though. He was quite insistent on trying his best to provide food for his clan, even if it meant spending the day far out in the woods trying over and over again to not return to camp empty-pawed.

A scent on the air caught the warrior’s attention. It was quite definitely the scent of a mouse. Movingly slowly, Scorchfur began to follow the scent, and soon enough food a mouse on the ground. He lowered himself into a hunter’s crouch, making sure that he wasn’t making too many vibrations that could possibly scare the little creature away. The mouse seemed oblivious of the nearby cat and continued to blissfully search for seeds in the ground. With a burst of energy, the warrior leaped towards the mouse and sunk his claws into it. Swiftly, he killed it and then examined it. It was smaller than expected. It would be a fine meal maybe for an apprentice or an older kit, but it wouldn’t be satisfying to an older cat.

Scorchfur picked up his catch in his mouth and moved to the base of a tree. There he buried the kill so he could come back for it later, and then he turned to continue searching for prey. It’s Newleaf for StarClan’s sake. There must be something better than that.

[Littledrop]

Littledrop had longed to leave the camp, and so she was quite relieved when her brother, Flamestripe, assigned her to a hunting patrol. They were to go out and bring back fresh-kill, which was perfect. Littledrop would have some solitary time, she hoped, without much opportunity to think. She would just have to hunt, focus on the prey, catch it, serve her Clan. She wouldn’t have to speak much or run the risk of passing another Clan on the border or anything. She had a particular distaste for ThunderClan, for in all her experienes, they would be the more aggressive and volatile of ShadowClan’s neighbors.

So she and her patrol went deep into ShadowClan territory and split up, agreeing to meet back at a particular tree with all their fresh-kill. Littledrop darted off straightaway. She heard baby birds crying out in their nests, but the branches were too high for her to catch. She passed by the Twoleg dwelling, skirting past it – never hurts to be cautious.

At one point, she passed by a small puddle-like pond, where she heard a faint ribbet. She halted and sniffed the air, parting her jaws so the scent could glide over the top of her mouth. A toad. She lowered herself into a crouch and swiveled her head toward the sound. Sure enough, a toad hopped out, unaware of her presence. She was behind it, her long silver fur brushing the ground beneath her. Without a sound, she leaped forward, landing on the toad, and swiftly broke its neck. Her first successful kill of the day. She buried it by a tree, which she marked so she could find it again, and moved onward.

She thought she scented another ShadowClanner out here, but her first impulse was to recognize if it was Firestep. Since it wasn’t, she didn’t bother trying to place a name to the scent, she simply allowed herself to enjoy the relief. And, though she would have taken the heartbeat it needed to acknowledge this nearby cat – who was close, though Littledrop didn’t see him – she found herself distracted suddenly by a light fluttering of wings. A plump, or possibly pregnant, black and white magpie landed close to her, downwind. Littledrop dropped into a little crouch and took a single cautious step toward it, so focused on this potential kill that she was completely unaware of Scorchfur’s very near proximity. So far, too, the magpie failed to notice her, so she lowered herself even further, sinking into her haunches and preparing to pounce.

@scorchfur +is TAGGED | 423 WORDS | NOTES: hoppin' in, hope it's okay ^^

[frostnose]

Frostnose ~ 30 ~ Warrior ~ShadowClan ~ Tom

Frostnose had been relieved when he had been chosen for the hunting patrol. It was his preference and his specially and hunting in Newleaf was the best there was. He was also grateful when the patrol leader had suggested they split up and hunt seperatly. While he enjoyed most of his Clanmates, it was also nice to get some peace and quite when searching for your next meal.

The white tom was more then aware that his Patrol mates weren't all the most talented of hunters so he vowed to over-hunt in an effort to bring up the patrols average. He threw up a silent thanks to StarClan when nearly out of the gate he spotted the bushy tail of a squirrel. They were rare in ShadowClan territory and starting off with one of them was a good omen for the rest of the day. It was only seconds later that the limp body hung from his jaws. He buried the creature and went off after his Clanmates.

Some time passed and he'd found another piece of kill. When he was ready to set out again, he parted his jaws to taste the wind and recognized the scent, not of freshkill, but of his patrol mates. It seemed they had done a wide loop and made it back nearly to the same place. Scorchfur and Littledrop. He wasn't sure where the other members had found themselves.

Tags// @scorchfur Littledrop
Comments// I'm hopping in too!

[Deleted]

Moving slowly, Scorchfur was so tied up in sniffing the air and looking from side to side for any sign of prey that he didn’t notice that Littledrop was closer than she had been before. The sound of a cat’s heartbeat, however, caught his attention and he swung his head around towards the heartbeat. The scent of the cat had not quite hit him yet, and he was unaware that it was just another clanmate. Not knowing this, he lowered himself to the ground and began to slink towards the sound. The warrior moved forward making sure that he was silent until he moved around a bush and saw the familiar silver she-cat, Littledrop. ”Oh hi!” He said feeling relieved that it was a member of his clan and not of a different one. Sadly, he hadn’t taken the time to register the fact that she was in a hunter’s crouch and may not want to be disturbed. Of course, the magpie squawked in surprise and flew off and out of sight. ”Oh StarClan.” He hissed, feeling quite embarrassed about his actions. Normally, he thought things through, yet this time he had not, and it had messed up his clanmate’s kill. ”I’m so sorry Littledrop. That was quite foolish of me.” It was quite a bad mistake on his part.

His tail twitched awkwardly as he tried to come up with something to say to make up for his faux pas when Scorchfur noticed the presence of yet another Shadowclanner. Quite happily taking the distraction, he turned to face the other member of the patrol, Frostnose, ”Hello Frostnose, had any luck?” Hopefully better than mine… He said silently to himself. ”It should be a good day for prey. Newleaf seems to see the emergence of lots of prey, but I haven’t been finding much this patrol. Maybe we three should look together?”
Littledrop frostnose

[Littledrop]

Littledrop reached forward with a single paw, her gaze locked on the magpie before her. Her pounce was ready, all she needed was to go. And just as she was about to… “Oh, hi!” The magpie cried out and flew away, as did several other nearby birds. This area was of no use anymore. But she refused to sigh and look upset, for Scorchfur seemed to regret his hasty excitement. Instead, she twitched her whiskers in light amusement and meowed, “It’s alright, Scorchfur. Don’t worry about it. I already caught a toad a little while ago, and I haven’t checked that way yet.” She flicked her tail in the direction she meant.

Just then, she scented Frostnose, and Scorchfur greeted him. “Hi, Frostnose,” she greeted him. Both of these toms were younger than she, though Scorchfur not so much so. With a pang in her heart, she realized Frostnose wouldn’t have known her when she was a happy and sociable cat, for he was too young – he would only have known her from her time after Firestep. Scorchfur, on the other paw, would have been young, but at least he could have seen her before that terrible relationship, which haunted her even still. Of course not everyone would have known all the intimate struggles, but everyone at least forty moons would have seen Sunstrike tear out Firestep’s wicked eye.

She nodded at Scorchfur’s words. “I agree, perhaps we’ll come across something great, something big.” What, she couldn’t imagine too well, but she supposed now that they had all run into each other, there was no reason not to stick together. They’d tried hunting on their own already, and clearly that didn’t work. Perhaps a change of tactic was in need.

“I was just saying to Scorchfur,” she meowed to Frostnose, “that I haven’t checked over that way yet. I don’t know if you have, but it’s possible we might be able to find something over there.” She gestured with her chin toward the direction. She figured since neither Scorchfur nor Frostnose seemed to appear from that direction, perhaps they had also not be that way, and it could prove to be a fruitful venture.

@scorchfur & frostnose +is TAGGED | 364 WORDS | NOTES: boop

[frostnose]

Frostnose ~ 30 ~ Warrior ~ShadowClan ~ Tom

”Hello Frostnose, had any luck?”  “Hi, Frostnose.”  The white tom dipped his head in turn to each of his Clanmates.  "I have, actually."  Thicketwhisker had taught his son humility and the ability to know when bragging was out of place.  This was one of those times and Frostnose held back his census of kills.  He figured that hunting on a patrol was not a contest and should be about bringing food home to the Clan, not who brought how many home.  

"Maybe we three should look together?” "I don’t know if you have, but it’s possible we might be able to find something over there.”  He nodded and flicked his tail from the direction he had come.  "I did some winding but most of my path has been back this way.  I am sure that the way you suggest has plenty of new options."  He dipped his head to the older warriors.  He knew he was a better hunter then Scorchfur but he knew very little about Littledrop.  But the white warrior had been raised with honour and he bowed to his seniors.  "Lead the way." he offered, not wanting to step on the toes of the older cats.

Tags// @scorchfur Littledrop
Comments//

[Deleted]

Scorchfur was quite pleased that Littledrop was willing to forgive him for his ignorance. He normally didn’t act in such a foolish way, so he had hoped that it wouldn’t be held against him. He was also quite happy that he hadn’t messed up her only catch yet that day. ”Okay, good.”

Scorchfur nodded politely to Frostnose, ”Oh well that is good.” He was honestly glad that his clanmate was having some good luck, at least more than he was. He always wished the best for his clanmates.

“I agree, perhaps we’ll come across something great, something big.” The tom nodded and smiled at Littledrop, ”Yes, that would be quite good.” He liked her idea of looking elsewhere. This area definitely seemed to be a bit devoid of prey, maybe the prey had realized that there were three warriors running around looking for them. He looked to Frostnose, waiting to see what the other warrior thought of the idea and nodded once Frostnose agreed. ”That’s a very good idea Littledrop, please lead the way.” He smiled once more at her and took a step back so that she could take command over the group of hunters.

@littledrop frostnose
((Ack sorry crappy post.))

[Littledrop]

As the other two warriors deferred leadership to her, Littledrop realized that she was the most senior among them. Not yet a senior warrior, not the most skilled warrior, not the most outspoken warrior, not the cleverest, yet here she was, the oldest. So she blinked a few times to keep her eyes from widening too much. "Ah, yes, then," she meowed. "Let's go this way." It had been so long since anyone had put any real trust in her. She needed to make this a good thing. Of course, it wasn't that big of a deal, just joining up with some other warriors on a patrol to find some food, and they'd already caught some things by this point. So it shouldn't be a big deal.

The tiny fluffy silver she-cat took the lead, picking her way through the underbrush, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for even the quietest call, the slightest movement. The pines around them towered high, their prickly green sticking out and blocking much of the sunlight. She kept her dainty paws off of the newly sprouting buds and flowers, which were still just kits. Like her own kits, whom she failed for so many moons. Not that she would let such brooding thoughts darken her mind, not on this pleasant day with her Clanmates.

At a certain point, she smelled something different. Interesting. She paused, opening her mouth to let the scent waft in more. It was some kind of animal, some kind of rodent. A mouse, perhaps? She wasn't certain, but she was certain that there was a lot of whatever she was smelling. Perhaps there was a family. She glanced around, checking out the setting: there was a clearing just up ahead, and at the far end and to the left, there was an especially tall tree, with gnarled roots sticking up. It looked as if there might be a burrow of some kind under or around the roots, but she couldn't hear or smell anything from there -- the wind was coming from the right. The small clearing was surrounded by very low brambles and underbrush, except where they were entering. Tiny patches of wildflowers were fighting to live all around. On the right, whence the wind came, though, she could certainly smell something, and it was coming closer.

"Do you smell that?" she mewed softly, crouching low. "Prepare yourselves."

@scorchfur & frostnose +is TAGGED | 398 WORDS | NOTES: not crappy post! And if any other ShadowClanners wanna pop in, a surprise is coming up ;D

[frostnose]

Frostnose ~ 30 ~ Warrior ~ShadowClan ~ Tom

"Let's go this way."  Frostnose was really too young to know much about Littledrop or her harsh life.  He knew the basics - Firestep, Sunstrike, Ferretcloud.  But the kits were ten moons older then him and the famous altercation happened four moons before he was born.  But he knew that Littledrop was a soft spoken cat that didn't have much confidence and he wanted to bow to whatever authority she felt confident in having.

So when she picked a direction, he followed dutifully and kept his formation two pawsteps behind her, ready to react to anything.  And it was good that he did because a rich scent of prey wafted through the air on the back of a soft breeze.  The small group padded up to a clearing and his expert eyes took in the situation.  A tree with knarled roots perfect for a family to nest in and an open patch of sunlight surrounded by brambles and bushes.  There was no way out.  
"Do you smell that?  Prepare yourselves."  He followed suit without a word and dropped into his own hunters crouch.

Tags// @scorchfur Littledrop
Comments// So short >.<  I dunno what else to say

[PREDATOR]

WHAT DOES
THE FOX SAY

It had been a long day for the vixen. Her pups had whined all morning, and here she was, out catching prey for them. She had a nice, hearty collection of fresh-kill in her mouth -- which was much larger than a cat’s mouth, and so able to hold much more food -- as she padded back to the den with her youngsters.

With all the food in her mouth, it was difficult at first to scent what was ahead but, through the bushes to the clearing, she heard something. A soft meow drifted over to the vixen. In a heartbeat, she had her prey dropped and her hackles raised. Her kits were in that den right now.

In two bounds, she leaped forward and stood before the three cats: one white, one black, and one tiny fluffy gray thing. The vixen bared her teeth and growled. She was ready.

[Deleted]

Scorchfur only nodded in response and began to follow the silver warrior. She seemed slightly uncomfortable with the fact that she was leading the way, but she was taking the lead. So even if he was right about her being a bit uneasy, then it wasn’t enough to matter. He kept line with Frostnose as they headed after Littledrop.

When Littledrop mentioned it the scent hit him, Scorchfur lowered himself to the ground in a crouch immediately and began to survey the area. The scent was oddly familiar, but the warrior couldn’t place what it was exactly, until it bounded out in front of them. Fox! Scorchfur let out an involuntary hiss as the fur on his body stood on end. His instincts told him to step back to increase the distance between him and the fox, but that would just show fear and weakness to the predator, and it would mean not standing with his fellow warriors to help with the fight. In the back of his mind he contemplated possibly moving over closer to Littledrop, as in the eyes of the beast she would probably be seen as the weakest one, whether it was true or not.

Instead, Scorchfur leapt forward to attempt to slash at the fox’s face and then dart out, hoping that the others would help him.

Littledrop frostnose

[Littledrop]

Of course when Littledrop led the little group, they’d run into deadly danger – it would be just her luck. She finally tries to redeem herself, step into a more assertive position, and boom. Terrifying foe right in front of them. If she hadn’t suggested this direction, they wouldn’t be in this position. Of course, how could she have known that this would be here? How would she have known that there was a fox wandering through the territory? Well, she could have smelled it. Perhaps it was new, though, or perhaps it was hiding its scent. Were foxes that smart, that they could do that? To disguise themselves in Clan territory? Well, Littledrop didn’t have any time to think on the matter and ponder the extent of foxy intelligence, for the fox bristled and bared her sharp reddish fangs. She’d just been fighting or hunting, then. Her dark brown muzzle was tugged back in a terrifying snarl. All of Littledrop’s instincts screamed at her to run away, flee, get the fresh-kill and return to camp, but her black-furred Clanmate leapt forward. She couldn’t just leave him, especially not when she’d led them into this mess in the first place.

Without seeing if Frostnose followed, the tiny silver she-cat leaped forward, claws unsheathed. While Scorchfur lunged for the creature’s face, Littledrop down, aiming for the fox’s brown legs. She hissed, her ears pinned against the top of her head, as she slashed at the long slender legs. She noticed how long, curved, sharp the creature’s claws were, and they were always out. Of course, it was also larger than she was by quite a bit – especially as Littledrop was a fairly, well, little cat – and Littledrop knew one swipe from one of those paws could seriously hurt her, one bite from those jaws could be the end. She had to rely on her quickness and small size to avoid danger. It was both advantage and disadvantage, and it was what she often focused on all those moons ago when she was an apprentice. Scorchfur and Frostnose didn’t have that, though.

Truly, Littledrop hoped that they would intimidate the fox and frighten her off, or at least stun her, so that they could flee and report to the Clan her whereabouts. A bigger patrol, better chance of defeating her. Three cats, at least one of them so full of doubt and fear? Littledrop didn’t think this was a good thing, not at all.

@scorchfur & frostnose & PREDATOR +is TAGGED | 411 WORDS | NOTES: fightfightfight

[frostnose]

Frostnose ~ 30 ~ Warrior ~ShadowClan ~ Tom

The white warrior had stopped just behind his two Clanmates when they entered the clearing.  The scent that filled the air was clear but not one he ad come into contact with before - at least not fresh.  So he, like his patrolmates, had been caught off guard when the fox showed itself.  There was food dangling from her jaws and Frostnose understood what that meant.  The she-vixen had been hunting.  Normally, the more passive and friendly warrior would have requested the patrol back away and leaver her alone.  But not only did the cold of leafbare mean that they needed every piece of prey they could find, but it also meant they couldn't risk the fox stumbling into camp and causing bloodshed alla round.

But before the patrol could discuss their options, Scorchfur leaped at the red creature and attacked.  Littledrop followed a second after which only left Frostnose to act.  He hadn't wanted to attack at all but now it seemed like he had two options.  Stay and fight with his Clanmates, or run back to camp and get help.

Frostnose had heard of the ferocity of foxes and while he didn't know that she had kits she was protecting, that would have made her ferocity even worse.  But he had little doubt that the three cats together could defeat the fox, though injury would probably be sustained.  But he wasn't confident that the pair of them would be able to take the creature down if he left for help.  That, coupled with the fact that too many cats fighting one target would lead to a messy assault, he decided that staying and helping was the only logical option.  

While Scorchfur and Littledrop confronted the fox head on, Frostnose slipped into the bushes and darted around the flank the fox, jumping out at her from behind, aiming to land on top of her and sink his claws into her flank.

Tags// @scorchfur Littledrop
Comments// Finally getting around to my replies. Sorry it took so long guys!  Also i couldn't rememebr where it said but I'm pretty sure its leafbare right...if not I can change my post

[PREDATOR]

WHAT DOES
THE FOX SAY

The she-fox was glad to have left her fresh-kill hidden behind her, in the dirt wet from the newleaf rain. She would need her jaws to fight these foes.

The first one -- the black furred one -- rushed straight at her face. She was prepared for such a headlong attack and danced to the side, but before she could snap him up, she felt little fangs on her legs. The little gray one had latched on to her foreleg. Snarling, the she-fox shook her leg, hoping to fling the silver warrior to the side. Before she could do so, however, the third cat landed atop her from behind, sinking his claws into her body. She howled in rage and pain, but she wasn't over yet, not by a long shot. In her fury, she snatched at the nearest cat -- the little gray one -- aiming to wrap her jaws around the tiny fluffy body and shake her from side to side, as the she-fox would do to any pesky prey. Perhaps the cat would go flying and hit a tree, or be torn limb from limb in the strong red beast's maw.

While she focused her front on the little one, she shook and wiggled her body, hoping to toss off the white weight atop her, though it was an afterthought. In all her craze, the fox completely forgot to watch where the black cat was or what he would do.