Territory SC for the children // hunting

[Blacktree]

BLACKTREE
​ Damn your love, damn your lies ​

When Grayflight had told her of Viperhowl's near-attack on Magpiepaw, the caregiver had nearly seen red. All of the Clan was starving, and if more cats took on Viperhowl's attitude, the more vulnerable would suffer. A kit couldn't go out and hunt for itself - where were they meant to get food if the hunters ate it before anyone else had the chance?

Blacktree wouldn't cause trouble with the other warriors. As she currently had no litter of her own, and Amethystkit was nearly ready to be apprenticed, she'd gone to a few other cats to round up a patrol. The caregiver led the group out of camp and into the pocosin, her fur bristled with anxiety. With Timberfrost still sick, the ratio of caregivers to kits was overwhelming, and she didn't like to be away from them for too long.

"Alright," she mewed, her voice brittle. "We're hunting for the kits and other caregivers. I won't have those young ones starving on my watch. I appreciate you all coming out to help, but if I catch you eating anything before we get the chance to take it back, you will have to deal with me." Blacktree may not have been a warrior, but she knew how to fight enough to leave a mark that wouldn't soon be forgotten.

The molly looked out to the pocosin and heaved a sigh.

"Let's get on with it, then."

AND IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME NOW

✦

YOU WILL NEVER LOVE ME AGAIN

• OOC: Much like the other hunts, roll a d10 to see if you catch anything! Only a 10 will net you any prey.
  Keeping this thread to just the tagged folks - I'd like to encourage some interactions amidst the hunting!
  Tagged: @Blightpaw @Snowdropheart @Tickfrost @Stoatstream @Mothbite
  
• KEY:
  

  speech

  
  

  thoughts

  
  attempted action
  

  "other character's speech"

  
  
• 
  

  Click on the image for tags!​

  BLACKTREE is a long-furred she-cat with vitiligo and brown eyes. A former Colony cat, she joined with Sable and the other future ShadowClan cats in the split. She still bears a scar from that night.
  ShadowClan Caregiver
  60 moons
  Cis female (she/her)
  Sister to Grayflight, Patchfog, and Hollis. Mate of Dunehusk. Mother to Pine. Former mate of Blisteringfury.
  Peaceful powerplay OK!
  

 

[Snowdropheart]

Snowdropheart

Snowdropheart jumped at yet another chance to join a patrol specifically going out to feed the nursery - her best friend was growing thinner and thinner with each day and her kits needed the nutritions. The horde of the other kittens too, ShadowClan's future lay with them and they had no means of feeding themselves on their own. That's why she was here today, ready to look for prey for them.

Snowdropheart walked alongside Stoatstream, the younger molly on edge ever since her father's sickness. She wished she could help the she-cat, but she wasn't sure what there was to say that wouldn't be just empty words. Snowdropheart knew what it was like to lose a parent, though she had her family to rely on. Who did Stoatstream have?

Instead, Snowdropheart decided to be open and honest. "I keep trying to say the right thing, something wise and comforting, but everything feels small next to what you're carrying..." she spoke sympathetically. "So maybe... I just wanted to tell you I'm here. If you ever need anything or... yeah."

She gave Stoatstream room to speak, looking around for any signs of prey in the meantime. She spotted some droppings on the ground, assuming marsh rabbit, and lowered her muzzle to sniff on them. Stale, old. The rabbit would be far gone by now... She whipped her head around when she heard a splash, the familiar plop of a frog against water's surface. Too late - the creature would have already buried itself in the mud, and Snowdropheart did not see where it jumped in. It would be impossible to dig it out.

She sighed, returning to Stoatstream's side. She would need to be more vigilant, more aware of her surroundings, if she hoped to catch any prey.

OOC: Rolled an 8 :( no prey, but maybe some therapy talks?

 

[Stoatstream Stoatstream]

SOMETHING SACRED

HIDES IN EVERY DROP OF DEW

When Blacktree suggested a larger hunt for the nursery, she was the first to volunteer to come along. She had already been hunting excessively to make up for Timberfrost still being unconscious, taking on the care of Saffronkit between hunting and patrols. Honestly, she was just glad such an extensive patrol was being sent out for the nursery, Stars know with Wisteriastrike and Jadethorn's bunch took up a lot a prey alone, maybe it was selfish to want to prioritise her sister, but knowing how much her kin had suffered in the last moon, she was deadset to make sure Saffy and Monster didn't suffer in the same way.

She padded along quietly, breathing the cooling air of the pocosin, trying to taste for prey nearby. But, instead, a familiar face nudged her gently, meeting Stoatstream with a small smile. Though as the molly met Snowdropheart with a similar muted smile, her breath caught in her throat with the mention of her father.

Expression falling slightly, she glanced away and spoke quietly. "Thank you, Snowdrop." Her voice was a hollow hum reverberating in her skull. "Just the fact you're helping us with the nursery is a kindness enough. I hadn't thought I would be taking my father's tasks this long, so the help is nice." She offered the other molly a tired smile; she wasn't all put together to hunt, exhaustion tugging at her eyes with every long blink.

It was only made more obvious as the scent of a lizard just barely caught her attention; it was small, but it was something. She flicked her tail for Snowdropheart to give her a moment before she padded towards it, slowly, carefully- and yet the thing skittered away. Stoatstream let out an exasperated sigh, face knit in frustration, before she took in a deep breath and settled her face to the usual tired sort of half-smile she wore. "I can see why the caretakers are so tired, it's not an easy feat, caring for so many others, feeding so many mouths." She chuckled, dryly.

The young warrior hadn't signed up for the work, hunt for Saffronkit, who was too small, Fleafire, who was still injured and her father, who had barely eaten in his unconscious state. Cicadabuzz had to resort to force-feeding fragments of food for any chance of him not withering away in his deep slumber. Just the thought knit a line across the mollys brow; it was an awful thought, terrifying even.

She sighed and padded back to the group, not allowing her grievances to rest in her expression. "The more of us that hunt, the more likely we are to find prey to bring to the nursery, that's all that matters." It sounded almost rehearsed; it had been. One of the things the molly repeated to herself ad nauseam.

YOU'RE MORE THAN STAINED GLASS ​

OOC - Rolled an 8 :(

YOU'RE THE LIGHT THAT COMES THROUGH ​

STOATSTREAM She/Her, Shadowclan Thief, 14 moons old.
A slender white cat with lilac markings and dark blue eyes.
Mentored by Sablestar // mentoring none
Sibling to Fleafire and Monsterpaw
Timberfrost x Oleander (Gen 3) / mated to none
"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK, PAWSPEAK
[/COLOR] penned by Pheo ↛ phoenixwashere on discord, feel free to dm for plots.