Border I need to learn to walk with these feet ✪ SKC patrol

[Dustystar Dustystar]

{$title} yayyyy patrols! WC cats are preselected, but any SKC cats are welcome to join!

✪ Align my Heart, my Body, my Mind​

indentThe wound at Dustystar's neck itches. It's begun to scab over, now, in the days since the attack. Though Starclan had undone her death, she'd been left to heal the wound on her own. The only cure for a wound like that is time.

indentShe's not so damaged, though, that she can't do her duties. Lazing about will only let down her clan, not to mention Peonypaw. Goldenroar's assignments hadn't escaped her notice, however. The most dangerous task, patrols that could run into Thunderclan or Riverclan, were left to less damaged cats. Dustystar does her best not to be hurt by it, but she can't help but feel a bit bitter. Does her Deputy not trust her?

indentJagged grey stones rise over the horizon. They've reached the gorge. She taps her tail against Peonypaw's shoulder, as a signal, before picking up the pace and running towards the rocky outcrop. It doesn't take long to reach it. As she near the edge, Dustystar slows, looking over her shoulder to check if her clanmates have kept up with her pace.

indentIn an instant, a wave of sound and motion erupt from the chasm behind her. Acting on instinct, she places herself between Peonypaw and the dark cloud.

Ahh! It's bats! They aren't actually dangerous, but it's pretty startling.

- @PEONYPAW @Sweetnose @Sparrowpaw @Tinytail @Petalpaw @Cloverpaw -​

Dustystar - 27 moons - Windclan Leader

 

[cloverbloom cloverbloom]

This part of the territory was far from a familiar area to Cloverpaw, and the closer they got to the gorge, with its sharp drop-off and what seemed like unstable footing, the slower she moved. She wasn't sure she'd ever been this close to the SkyClan border, or even interacted with a cat from their neighboring clan. What kind of life did they live, surrounded by the trees she could just barely make out across the gorge?

She was interrupted in her thoughts by a large, dark mass appearing from - inside the gorge? She wasn't sure, but she took a few quick steps back, her tail all puffed up. Whatever creatures were flying upwards was letting out horrible, shrill noises that made her want to crawl out of her fur, or maybe look for a nearby tunnel entrance to hide. "What are those?" She'd never seen anything that looked like them before, or heard anything like them for that matter.

__________way down deep inside ✿ there is a real me___________

• "speech" - thoughts
• 
  

  

• Cloverpaw she/her & windclan
  ✿ lh red lynx mink w/ white spotting
  ✿ 11 moons
  ✿ Peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  ✿ Slight suppressed southern accent
  
  
  penned by pastelskulls
  template by scarlet
  template art by lassie​

 

[PEONYPAW]

Peonypaw's slitted eyes burrow deep into the back of Dustystar's neck. He cannot see the scar that had apparently stripped her of her life from this angle, but he can imagine it, for he has memorized its snake-like pattern like his life depended on it. It's such a peculiar topic; the idea that Dustystar would not be here not if she had been any other cat without StarClan's apparent assistance- it's scary. Death and all that it entails is terrifying. Peonypaw's mind can't even comprehend it fully, even though he and Petalpaw know it intimately.

Whatever. All this is too confusing. A simple patrol shouldn't be too complicated. He would rather curl up back at camp, but alas.

He nearly jumps out of his fur when Dustystar's tail brushes along his shoulder. Despite the mini-fright, Peonypaw begrudgingly obliges her signal, and he relishes in the breeze combing through his short fur as the patrol nears its destination.

And then, another scare. Peonypaw lets loose.: his fur becomes something akin to a hedghehog's spiky back; those long ears of his press back against his skull; his body lowers itself to the ground, as if ready to pounce. The onslaught of sheer noise blocks out any perceptiveness he has, so the fact that Dustystar had instinctively shielded him from danger is lost on him for the time being.

"Bats,"

he pushes the word out through gritted teeth. Petalpaw and him had encountered some before on their never-ending quest to find a safe place to live in, but not to this multitude...

"Can't they just shut up?"

 

[cygnetscratch]

SkyClan patrols don't often head out this late. And, when they do, they're less often to harbor only a few cats. Cygnetscratch isn't out here alone (she isn't stupid) but in the moment of being startled by the bats, she is entirely on her lonesome. Golden eyes widen, mirroring the gilded moon above them as the shroud of bats fly past. She hardly notices WindClan across the gorge, until the moggies on the other side begin asking one another questions about the infernal creatures. Instinctively, Cygnetscratch first looks for her own Clanmates. WindClan hasn't proven violent, but neither had ThunderClan, and... well...

Her tail lashes behind her as she listens to their sharp voices, but keeps steadily to her side. They wouldn't dare cross the gorge anyways. It's a near death wish.

"They scream like that because they can't see," the molly calls over, ears folding back. Where had the WindClan cats lived before, that they don't know much about bats? Cygnetscratch hadn't lived with any infestation of them, but their former home usually had one or two that liked to linger about. Usually, her Clanmates would catch and eat them during the longer stretches of hunger. Yet they somehow still came back... "It's how they communicate," she finishes, seating herself comfortably and waiting for them to pass.