savannahssu

The Rise of WillowClan

@Hazelrah OH JEEZ HONEYPAW PISSED XD

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @Hazelrah @The Elvenqueen

Fernstar listened intently as the loners told the story of how they had ended up together, and of Felix's hardship with his housefolk. She had never lived with Twolegs of course, but Maplestream had many moons ago. After they had gotten closer, Maplestream had confided in her about the time she spent with them, both the hardships and the times she seemed to enjoy. She couldn't really say whether these cats were better off out on their own away from their housefolk or not, given how harsh leafbares always were. Prey is scarce, the snow is deep, the wind is chilling, and dry ground to sleep on is hard to come by. But despite all of that, leading her Clanmates and experiencing their friendship and admiration was more than enough for her to be happy.

"I'm very sorry to hear about your housefolk Felix" she mewed, dipping her head in sympathy. Her attention was diverted as she heard the scuffling of small paws rapidly approaching the entrance to the nursery. Frogkit trotted confidently past her and Stonefall right up to Felix and Otis and placed a bundle of herbs at their paws. Her small squeak was latent with pride and excitement at the small amount of responsibility Blackpelt had granted her, and Fernstar's heart warmed. She will make a wonderful medicine cat one day. Swishing her tail, Fernstar mewed warmly, "Frogkit, give the loners some space, they need some time to recover. Come sit with me." As her adopted kit scurried towards her, she shot Stonefall a comforting glance. There was no need for him to be so worried about Frogkit when she was right here in front of them. Nothing could happen to her that they wouldn't be able to stop. She wrapped her tail around Frogkit and pulled her close between her front paws. Focusing on their conversation once more, she lifted her head and said firmly, "My deputy is right to be concerned. Prey is very hard to come by and herbs do not grow well in leafbare. We are lucky to have found a patch of herbs growing on a far end of our territory that stocked our medicine den a little extra. I can't in good conscience send you away while injured, so you may rest here in our nursery for a couple sunrises until you are fit to travel again." Wanting to show her authority, she went on, spiking the fur along her spine slightly. "But; you are not to take prey from my Clan's fresh kill pile. While you are here, you must hunt for yourselves. And one of my Warriors will guard the entrance to this den during the night, for the safety of my Clan. I'm sure you understand."

Rising to her paws, she waved her tail over her shoulder, gesturing Stonefall to follow her and nudged Frogkit out of the nursery gently. She padded towards the base of the large tree that held her den and leaned down to give Frogkit a quick lick behind the ear. "While the loners are here, you're going to sleep in my nest with me. I want you safe and within my sight at all times, unless you are with Blackpelt in the medicine den. When the hunting patrol returns, I will bring a piece of prey for us to share. I shouldn't be too long, so get up there and rest." She gave the kit's hindquarters a nudge with her paw and waited for her to start climbing the short distance to the hollowed out owl's nest she had lined with moss and feathers. Keeping one ear swiveled back to listen, she turned to Stonefall. "It would be cruel of me to turn them away with injuries, especially during a harsh leafbare like this. They need some time for their wounds to heal, and they will hunt for themselves so we aren't losing any of the Clan's resources. Once Sunfur and the others return, we will share prey and I will inform everyone of the situation." She hoped Stonefall would be able to relax a little, after the way she had handled the situation. There was no reason to be on edge, for now. "Try to relax; maybe you and Spidernose can share some prey when she returns." She twitched her whiskers in amusement before turning her back and padding towards the Warrior's den. "I'm going to speak with Maplestream, come get me if something happens."

The Rise of WillowClan

@Shadow Dragon Why?

Warrior Cats Medicine Cat/Apprentice

Anyone interested in Warrior Cats, good at writing and want to play a medicine cat role please PM me!

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @The Elvenqueen @PrankFox

Sunfur blinked in surprise as his Clanmate burst from the bushes next to him and in what seemed like no time at all, turn back to him with the second mouse dangling from her jaws. He was surprised Spidernose had acted so quickly at Stormheart's signal. He thought he had understood what Stormheart was trying to communicate to them, but he hadn't been sure enough to act on it yet. He shrugged it off. That was what his Clanmates were for; where one cat lacked, another made up for. They made each other stronger. He rose from his crouching position and let his excitement shine through his eyes as he bounded up to Spidernose. "That was amazing! You were so clever and fast on your paws! I don't think I could have done any better myself." Attempting to ignore the chilling winter air seeping through his fur to his bones, he shook out his pelt and turned back the way they had come. Gesturing over his shoulder with his tail for Spidernose and Stormheart to follow, he felt fairly good about the amount of fresh kill they were going to return to camp with. A bird, two mice and a squirrel would be enough for whichever cats were awake to have some, and the dawn hunting patrol could simply catch what they had eaten, if Fernstar gave them permission of course. But with what they were about to return with, he didn't see a reason why she wouldn't. As they neared the tree where he and Spidernose had caught the bird, he veered slightly and meowed, "You guys go on ahead of me while I retrieve the bird. Get back to camp and I'll catch up. Maybe I can manage to snatch something up on my way back." Opening his jaws to taste the air and make his way back towards the trunk of the large tree, his mind began to wander. What were those strange loners doing here? Would Fernstar turn them away? He didn't know what to make of the situation, and he was sure he would lose sleep over it.

The Rise of WillowClan

@Hazelrah Are you still around?

The Rise of WillowClan

@Hazelrah You might wanna carve out some time because. . . what you have to respond to is quite a bit xD

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @The Elvenqueen @PrankFox

Sunfur nodded his head decisively. Following Stormheart would be a great way to make sure they didn't miss any prey that was nearby. Stepping out from under the canopy of the pine trees, he opened his jaws to taste the air for Stormheart's scent. The jarring cold of the snow on his pads sent a shiver through his fur. The energy he had exerted catching the bird had made his temperature rise in contrast to the cold, and now, paws deep in snow, it was all gone. Struggling to muster more energy out of his exhausted body, he turned to Spidernose and meowed, "Stormheart went this way." He padded around the right side of the trunk of the tree the birds had been in. "We can head in that direction and see what we can catch, then after we catch up to him, we can head back to camp. I want to cover this area very thoroughly. As we make our way through this denser brush, place every paw step very carefully. Whatever Stormheart didn't catch is going to be very on edge and easy to startle. Keep your ears open and scent carefully." He turned and nosed his way through the first bramble. I pray StarClan will bless us on this hunt. . .

As they made their way away from the tree trunk, Sunfur was disappointed that he had neither scented or heard any prey in the brambles or snow. He had heard birds in the sparse trees above their heads, but he knew that neither of his Clanmates would be up to the bird stunt he and Spidernose had performed earlier. He worried that they may not have a choice if prey continued to be as scarce as it had been recently. Eventually, they made it to a very tightly woven section of undergrowth. He opened his jaws and his ears pricked as he smelled mouse. Dropping into a hunter's crouch he scanned the shallow snow around him and finally saw one of the mice scratching at a patch of frozen earth the snow had been scraped away from. As he was about to leap, his eyes lifted for a heartbeat and he met eyes with another cat, concealed in the other side of the brush. The look in the cat's eyes seemed both excited and urgent. Stormheart?! Had he been about to catch his mouse? Why hadn't he pounced yet? Was something wrong? He widened his eyes and twitched his whiskers aggressively, hoping Stormheart would understand his confusion.

The Rise of WillowClan

@Hazelrah I'm really happy you got a job again though! I'm not upset about it haha The quality of your posts are always great so :)

The Rise of WillowClan

Interacting with: @The Elvenqueen

Sunfur tried with everything he had to contain his excitement as the birds fluttered chaotically away from their nest and landed on two different branches a few fox lengths from where Sunfur was crouched. One of them was on his branch. He crept forward, placing each paw as delicately as possible as he inched closer to the bird. Worry sparked in his pelt as he felt as a gust of wind rake through his fur and he realized that any heartbeat now, the bird would catch his scent. I'm not downwind! The bird twitched its feathers against the wind then jerked its head in Spidernose's direction. I have to try now or it will get away! He used every ounce of strength in his hind paws and launched himself towards the bird. He was barely able to sink his claws into the thin skin of the bird's wing and pulling downwards, he slammed the bird down against the branch and delivered a killing bite that cracked the tiny animal's spine. Triumph flooded through Sunfur's pelt and he nudged the bird off the branch to land on the snowy ground at the base of the tree. Slowing his breathing, he scanned the barren tree for the other bird, but it was gone. He had hoped they could catch both of the birds, but maybe he had been too confident. Whatever the case, he was pleased they had caught even one.

Digging his claws into the trunk of the tree, he clumsily slid down the tree until he was a few tail lengths from the ground, then jumped down landing in a deep swath of snow. Trudging towards the base of the tree where the ground was clear, he gazed up the tree and meowed happily "Spidernose you can come down! You did a great job!" He padded a few paw steps around the tree to retrieve the bird and buried it under a heap of snow. Fernstar will be so pleased! Focusing his senses, he opened his mouth to taste the air. If they could figure out which direction Stormheart had gone, they could tail him and see if they could catch any prey he may have missed. Sunfur hoped the tom had caught at least 2 pieces of prey to add to the bird he and Spidernose caught, but in a leafbare as harsh as this, he didn't know what was realistic to hope for. The Clan was cold and hungry and now that they had trhee loners in camp, there were even more mouths to feed. Although, he thought Those loners have survived until this point, they can hunt for themselves. Why should we sacrifice our prey for strangers when our warriors and apprentices need it? Irritation pricked in his paws and he shook himself from this thoughts. Where else might they be able to find prey?