Duskwing gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement to Fernstar glancing quickly around the camp to make note of the other cats that would be joining in her patrol; noticing that her own apprentice was not among the group. Pushing herself to her paws, she trotted quickly over to the apprentice den and sticking her head through the fronds she could see the larger form of Moosepaw still curled in the moss, his thick tail curled over his nose. "Moosepaw! We're heading out on hunting patrol with Spidernose and Sunfur. This'll be a good time to see if that stealth training has paid off."
After staying a moment to make sure the apprentice was stirring Duskwing stepped back out of the den and turned to find the other two members of her patrol. Padding up to them, she dipped her head in greeting, "It's cold this morning, hopefully all of the prey hasn't decided to stay in their dens." She shivered slightly as her feet sunk into the snow that covered the ground and a chilly wind blew through her russet pelt.

Stormheart dipped his head towards Fernstar some surprise rippling through him at the prospect of leading the patrol around the borders, rather than just being a part of it. Ok, no need to be nervous, just a standard border patrol, no problem. The frigid air of leafbare pulled at his thick coat and he briefly glanced towards the sky, attempting to ascertain the prospect of another snowfall. He glanced around camp noticing both the ever rambunctious Hawkpaw practically bouncing with excitement and grinned slightly. Padding towards the entrance to camp he met up with Brambletail and gave the stern faced deputy a respectful nod. "Anything unusual seen around the camp that we should be on the lookout for?", he questioned towards Brambletail as they prepared to leave camp.

---

Hawkpaw open up her eyes when the sun was shining on her face, she look around in her den to see all the apprentices, including her sister, Cinderpaw, sleeping. Hawkpaw then let out a tiny gasp when she see Fernstar coming out of her den and crouch down as her tail wiggle from excitement, when Fernstar call for clan meeting, Hawkpaw happliy jump up in the air, finally some action! "Everyone! Wake up! It a clan meeting!" Hawkpaw call out to the sleepy apprentices, including her sister. Cinderpaw jump a little bit when she hear her sister shout and then tiredly look at her "Huh?...Oh, did Fernstar call for a clan meeting?" "Yes! Come on, let go! Try to wake up Silverpaw!" Hawkpaw try to push her sister out of her moss and walk towards Silverpaw "Um, Silverpaw? It's time to get up, Fernstar is calling for a clan meeting" Cinderpaw gently say to Silverpaw and also gently moving with her paw, unlike Hawkpaw however, she is already out of the den, she didn't even try waking up Moosepaw, Cinderpaw sighs, typical Hawkpaw, always want to be first

Hawkpaw didn't care if the snow is making her paws cold, leaf bare is not holding this apprentice down! After rushing over toward the stump with Cinderpaw and the other apprentices behind her, Hawkpaw impatiently can't wait for the meeting and was overall excited about doing mark borders duty with Stormheart and the deputy, Brambletail! Cinderpaw however, was kinda disappointed to stay at camp for padding duty, she was hoping for hunting patrol with her sister and kinda hoping with the deputy. Hawkpaw spot the disappointed look on Cinderpaw face, "Boop" Hawkpaw then boop her sister nose with her paw, the two sister chuckle with each other, lighting Cinderpaw mood up with her silly sister "I hope you have fun with your mark borders duty with Stormheart and Brambletail, Hawkpaw." Cinderpaw say to her sister "I will! I bet they are going to teach some new fighting techniques!" Hawkpaw say proudly and then smirk at her silver sister "...And I hope have fun with your..." Hawkpaw move her head toward Cinderpaw and whisper something to her ear that make Cinderpaw turn red "...Mate." "UGH! Hawkpaw, shut up!" Cinderpaw yell as she push her sister into the snow and then Hawkpaw rush toward the camp entrance, laughing all the way there.

---

Hawkpaw: WillowClan Camp Entrance

---

"Good morning Stormheart! Good morning Brambletail!" Hawkpaw excitedly say to the two warriors at the camp entrance "I'm ready to mark some borders!"

Brambletail: WillowClan Camp

Brambletail suddenly, with hardly a glimmer of lethargy, such that it was hard to tell if he had been sleeping at all. He delicately stepped down to clearing, his white paws daintily stepping between patches of snow for better footing and comfort. His amber eyes glimmered in the sunlight as they made sure everything was as it should be. Maplestream wasn't here. Hopefully nothing bad had happened to them, it would be bad if something had snuck into the camp. The smell and lack of prints made that seem unlikely, but not impossible. Even if they had, they'd be long gone by now, though he might take a look around later just in case. The tiny kill pile made Brambletail twitch his nose, it was a bit disappointing, but conditions were quite bad. Upon hearing what Fernstar wanted he carefully went to the edge of the small camp, resting his haunches a snow free patch of sunlight.

Moments later Stormheart and Hawkpaw arrived, the former with a demeanor that attempted to match his own and the latter bounding with reckless energy. "Nothing of note, but that's no reason to relax." Brambletail said, his tone guiding but not quite authoritative. Hawkpaw's enthusiastic greeting was merely met with a brief nod. "Lead the way." Brambletail hadn't really understand the need for marking territory initially, but it seemed it had its uses in a Clan so he went along with it. Brambletail could manage something like this fine, but Fernstar had the right idea making Stormheart lead, that cat just needed more confidence. As opposed to Hawkpaw, who could probably use less. Ah well, this was the point of a Clan wasn't it?

Moosepaw: Hunting Patrol

The slender she=cat stretched as she was called to join Duskwing's hunting patrol, moving quietly along to join them. As Duskwing took the lead and led them out into the territory, Spidernose couldn't help but shiver a little under the cold breeze, and chuckle slightly under her breath. Oh, you're cold, Moosepaw? Think how those of us with thinner fur must feel! she thought to herself in amusement, though she didn't want to upset the apprentice by saying it out loud. Her dark ears came forward at Sunfur's suggestion about the groundhog and, very carefully, she picked her way across the snow, trying to ignore the uncomfortably cold feeling of it between her toes, to stand beside him, remaining still and quiet so as not to disturb Moosepaw's attempt at hunting the mouse. "Nice catch, Moosepaw!" Spidernose purred. Sure, his co-ordination could use some work, but with the big and bulky build that he had, she wasn't surprised he was having some problems with that.

A thought occurred to her, then, and she turned to look across at Duskwing and voice it to see what the patrol leader thought of it. "Perhaps we should split off? Not go too far away of course, but say two of us go in one direction, and the other two in another." she suggested thoughtfully. "We'd be able to cover some more ground and maybe catch more prey that way. Or perhaps we should see if we can get another groundhog? That'd feed quite a few cats..."

The tired black tom wakes up, and yawns, stretching, and arches his back. He looks around the den he found, with many convenient nooks and crannies to store the herbs and berries he's been experimenting with. He sniffs around, then wanders out of his den to look for some prey, and more of those interesting herds he found. He licks his lips, and shivers slightly, the nip in the air cutting through his thin coat. We'll have a bad Leafbare if this cold keeps up. He shivers. Why would Starclan send such a harsh Leafbare? Did we do something wrong? He looks up when Fernstar pads into his den. He dips his head softly in respect to his leader. He purrs when he sees the starling. "Good morning Fernstar. How're the new apprentices doing?" He very gently licks her between the ears, and settles down onto the floor. "I'm still experimenting with Chamomile. It seems to give the others heart, or happiness at the very least. I'm unsure of any side effects however." He yawns, and nibbles at the prey, purring gently.

"I've...found something. Something strange. I found a glowing pool, filled with stars. I drank some, and fell into a deep sleep. It was like my mind had been pulled from my body, like a dream, but so much more. It was filled with cats. Cats made of stars, like they crawled off the sky and settled down in front of me. They told me to....to bring you to them, on the next full moon, but they wouldn't say why. They felt....good. Kind and loving. I don't know what it means, but they appeared in my dreams last night, and reminded me that they asked me to take you to them." He sounds very conflicted. "I...I think it was Starclan. I can't think of any other description for them. They looked like the stars themselves were trapped in their pelts."

He chuckles softly, seeing her reaction to his dream. He eats the rest of the starling before answering, and smiles. "I recognized all of them, from the stories. Firestar and his mate Sandstorm. Bluestar. Yellowfang and Cinderheart were there, as were Onestar and Tallstar. There was one that called himself Skystar....and Ravenpaw. He's in Starclan." He smiles. "I always though that he stayed at that barn of his, with....oh, I forget his name....Barely? Barley?" He shrugs. "Regardless, they want to see you. Sandstorm was the one who spoke with me, the others were just waiting quietly in the background. But I still recognized them. They seemed pleased with what you've done so far, but they didn't answer when I asked how it felt in Starclan. They just smiled, and I woke up."

He begins gently licking his chest fur back down, and yawns. "I'll need to get more herbs..." He looks wound his store of herbs, muttering to himself about what herbs they'll need, and what he needs to restock. "Burnet, Chamomile, Daisy leaf, Heather nectar, Honey, Lamb's ear, Ragwort, Sorrel...." He sniffs each one, and mentally checks it off on his list. "I'll need a bit to finish preparing the leaf wraps of herbs we'll need, but I should be done in a little bit...."

Brambletail: WillowClan Camp

"Of course, a free meal is a free meal no matter which way you split it." Brambletail said simply. Being an oppertunist was something that came naturally to him and being on a simple trek to mark the borders didn't stop him from keeping a keen eye out as they walked, for snow free patches of ground, potential danger, or unsuspecting prey. Although his paw steps and words were soft, the same couldn't be said for the rest of him. Brambletail's frame was filled with energy, even for something so simply. His eyes scanned the area diligently, and he seemed ready for anything despite his relaxed tone of voice. Some might consider his level of attention overboard, but it was simply Brambletail's natural state.