[i][center][h1][color=#8b7d6b]Brambletail[/color]: Border Patrol Outside WillowClan Camp[/h1][/center][/i]

Brambletail could smell the fox before Stormheart but didn't see anything, in a few moments the temporary lead cat spoke up anyway. Hawkpaw piped up afterwards, expressing their hope that they could drive it off. Brambletail nodded, [color=#8b7d6b]"Of course if we run into it we'll make sure to drive it off, it'd have to be pretty foolish to have not run off already."[/color] Despite his words Brambletail's every sense was perked for any sign of the fox in question. He'd tangled with most forest creatures in his life, and foxes were no exception.

Stormheart turned towards a bush for a moment; it was then that Brambletail locked eyes with the fox. In the next instant it burst out in a flurry of claws and teeth. Brambletail had already stepped forward and was circling it, looking for a chance to strike while also pressuring it to keep it from attacking. However the next event was out of both the fox's and Brambletail's predictions. Maplestream came out of nowhere, pulling off a series of damaging acrobatic maneuvers, that admittedly left little room for the rest of them to help.

Personally Brambletail thought she was being a bit dramatic. The fox should've already run away facing four cats, even if one of them was little more than a kit. That it hadn't probably just meant that it was stupid. The fox barely had a chance to recover from Stormheart's antics before Duskwing appeared with a sneaking strike of their own. Between the fox getting desperate and being whipped back and forth Brambetail suddenly surged forward, nearly shoulder to shoulder with the fox, just as it had lunged towards Stormheart. His left paw swept the fox's front legs, sending it crashing to the ground. Brambletail brought the same paw back down in a vicious swipe at the fox's neck, retracting it with blood and fur as he nimbly retreated. The fox would practically have to be suicidal to not flee now with such severe wounds and facing such numbers. Normally Brambletail would let such a foe get away, or perhaps track it down later, lest it strike a deadly blow in its death throes, but it might be better to kill it here and now...

[i][center][h1][color=#8b7500]Merl[/color]: Willowclan Camp, Elder Den[/h1][/center][/i]

Merl let out a massive yawn and an equally sized stretch as she slowly got up. As she got older she slept in just a bit more, but she still could never lay in one spot all day. After a quick circle she plodded outside her den, her one eye blinking rapidly a few times with the change in light. It was a bit brisk out, but the warm sunlight was more than sufficient to make up for it. That and Merl was no stranger to the a biting cold night or few. It seemed she was in time to see Fernstar heading over. [color=#8b7500]"Oh dearie is that moss for me? You're so sweet, let me get that old stuff out of the way for you."[/color] Merl said, and headed back into her den to do just that. Their young, ambitious leader always seemed to be trying her best to get something down. While Merl may have a few years on her but she was far from considering herself useless or entirely dependent.