Closed 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.

 

[Tickfrost Tickfrost]

When you're lost in the universe, lost in the universe, don't lose faith
My mother says, "Your whole life's in the paws of the Stars"

.

Hunger had become an ever-present companion for ShadowClan this leafbare, nipping at their heels, rubbing its ribs against their own. Tickfrost felt it like a physical thing, a cold set of teeth pressing into his flank as he padded alongside Blacktree and the rest of the patrol. Every pawstep reminded him of the nursery... Of wide, hungry kit eyes and tired caregivers doing their best to pretend everything was fine. They were hunting for the ones who couldn't hunt for themselves. The ones who needed it most.

His tail lashed once as he swept his gaze over the barren forest floor. A flicker of movement, just enough to raise his hackles, but before he could spring, the prey was gone. A breath too late. A heartbeat too slow. His claws scraped against frozen soil as frustration surged hot in his chest. This wasn't normal. Prey didn't just vanish like this. Not everywhere, not all at once. And why only ShadowClan? The other clans didn't seem to suffer as heavily... Why now? Were predators moving through? Had they hunted too hard in greenleaf? Or was it something worse, some omen he couldn't decipher?

The not knowing coiled inside him like a thorn.

He flicked an ear toward Stoatstream and Snowdropheart, listening as they spoke quietly, gravely. His gaze paused on the younger molly, his friend.... He watched the tension in her shoulders, the weight she always tried to hide. She carried too much. Always had, since the day he met her. And now hunger only piled more onto her back. Tickfrost exhaled through his nose, firming his stance. " We'll be able to catch something. " he grunted, voice low but steady. " We'll get the kits and caregivers fed. "

Even if it meant pushing deeper, searching longer, ignoring the gnawing in his own belly. Even if it meant every ShadowClanner returned to camp empty but for the hope they'd scraped together along the way.

Speech, thoughts/emphasis

16 MOONS

𖧧

SHADOWCLANNER

𖧧

SONG

𖧧

bio

 

[Blacktree]

BLACKTREE
​ Damn your love, damn your lies ​

Blacktree nodded to the others in the patrol, satisfied that they would do their duty diligently. The caregiver split off from the group, in no state to provide any comfort to Stoatstream. Timberfrost was going to get a firm talking to from her after his stay in the medicine cats' den. Putting such a heavy duty on the young cat... Though she couldn't entirely blame him for overworking himself, she supposed. Wasn't she heading down that same path, if the prey remained scarce?

Blacktree shook her head, clearing her thoughts. No more starving kits. Even if she had to work herself into Timberfrost's state.

The caregiver scented the air, smelling nothing but the mud of the pocosin. Where in the name of their ancestors had all the prey gone?

AND IF YOU DON'T LOVE ME NOW

✦

YOU WILL NEVER LOVE ME AGAIN

• OOC: rolled a 2 :(
• 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 walked quietly then, only looking out for any signs of prey - sounds, movements, scents. Fresh feathers or fur tufts in the wind.

The pale molly narrowed her eyes and tilted her ears - she thought she heard faint sounds of splashes in the nearby boggy pool. Slowly, she stalked towards the tall horsetail and peeked through - a single coot walked along the marshy water, looking for algae or whatever it was that the birds eat. She flicked her tail, trying to grab Tickfrost's attention towards her - she would need to be extremely lucky to catch this bird by herself. But perhaps, in a pair, they might be able to pull it off.

Slowly, Snowdropheart circled the pool of water, to get to the other side of the bird. She watched Tickfrost get into position and then waited for a breath. Then another. And then she leapt out of her cover, claws outstreched towards the dark bird. She was too slow, the coot hurrying in the opposite direction, out of her grasp, but it didn't fly away just yet. She has failed, but perhaps Tickfrost will not.

OOC: Rolled a 5 :( but Lion rolled a 10 so working together for Tickfrost to catch it!

 

[Tickfrost Tickfrost]

When you're lost in the universe, lost in the universe, don't lose faith
My mother says, "Your whole life's in the paws of the Stars"

.

An apologetic look was cast toward the caretaker, Tickfrost's ears pinning back as frustration pushed sharp edges into his stride. They couldn't return empty-pawed. He wouldn't. The thought of entering camp and meeting those wide, starving eyes with nothing to offer, it churned his stomach worse than hunger ever could. So when Snowdropheart's focus locked onto the coot, hope sparked in him like a struck flint. If they could catch that bird... His eyes met the molly's for a second and he gave her a curt nod in confirmation.

Then, he dipped his head and moved in a stealthier position, padding around the far side of the pool, movements careful, controlled. The coot floated blissfully unaware, and Tickfrost positioned himself where panic would drive the bird toward him. Every muscle in his body went taut, heartbeat loud in his own ears. Snowdropheart lunged, water splashed and the coot fled straight into his path. Tickfrost exploded forward. Teeth met feathers and bone. A swift, merciful bite. The body fell limp.

For a moment, he just stood there, breathing hard, staring at the prey between his paws like it might dissolve into mist. Food. Real food. Food that would quiet the nursery's cries. Relief crashed over him, loosening something tight and painful inside. He lifted his gaze to Snowdropheart, a rare flicker of warmth softening his usually stern expression. " Thank you, Snowdropheart... " he murmured, sincerity ringing clear. " I couldn't have done it without you. "

Speech, thoughts/emphasis

17 MOONS

𖧧

SHADOWCLANNER

𖧧

SONG

𖧧

bio

ooc: rolled a 10 !!!

 

[Mothbite Mothbite]

Still so young, Desperate for attention!

indentttMothbite's been quiet this whole time. Instead of talking, he's kept his eyes low, scanning the rich ground of the marsh for movement and sound. It's not so cold as the other territories, and scalier prey hasn't gone to sleep for Leafbare just yet. Mothbite wants to make the most of them before they disappear.

indentttThe glinting light of a skink's scales catches Mothbite's eye. In an instant, he drops into a hunting crouch. The lizard is hiding beneath a dead leaf, but with a low enough angle, Mothbite can see it clearly. Ever-so-slowly, he stalks towards his prey

indentttHe's only a whisker-length away from the skink when the sound of flapping wings startles the lizard from it's hiding spot. Mothbite reacts quickly, catching his prey by it's tail, but the skink breaks away, leaving Mothbite with nothing but a thin, wiggling tail for his troubles.

indentttWith a huff, Mothbite turns to look over his shoulder at the source of the noise. When he sees what Snowdropheart and Tickfrost have caught, his lost quarry is forgotten. "Nice catch!" He chirps. "How many kittens do you think we can feed with a bird that big?"

rolled an 8 <3

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Mothbite | 24 moons | Shadowclan Nightguardbababbnihfibnfdifdhfhabbabab