[IC] The Rise of WillowClan

[The Elvenqueen]

Hunting Patrol: the stream, with Sunfur

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Pleased that Duskwing seemed to agree with her suggestion, the other she-cat let out a small, quiet purr and mumbled a "good luck" to the patrol leader and her apprentice, before she turned and trotted carefully over the top of the snow to try and find Sunfur. Spidernose headed in the vague direction that they'd seen the tom scurry off in, pausing and opening her jaws to draw in the scents from around them. The she-cat picked up a cocktail of prey scent, mostly the mouse and squirrel Duskwing and Moosepaw had already caught, but further along towards the stream, she did catch the trail of her remaining Clanmate and hurried as fast as she could whilst still keeping her steps light so she wouldn't startle any prey, to catch up with him.

Spidernose emerged just as Sunfur missed the fish, grimacing sympathetically as she floated across the powdery ground to join him. "Bad luck." she mewed, her whiskers twitching. "You're braver than me though, fish are so slippery I can never get half that close to getting my paws on them." she raised her tail to point back in the direction she came, explaining. "Duskwing and Moosepaw are back there, we thought we might have better luck if we split into pairs and fanned out. Any sign of that groundhog, or something else similar? Maybe if we team up we can grab it. I could drive it towards you and you could nab it?" she suggested.

[PrankFox]

Duskwing glanced towards Moosepaw as he suggested climbing the trees to catch birds; looking up towards the leafless boughs then back down at him. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to try, just be careful, the last thing we need is a broken bone in leafbare." A brief feeling of discomfort slipped through her as she though of falling from one of the high branches. At his mention of a rabbit she carefully scented the air hoping to pick up the trail of such a fast creature. Picking up the trail, it lead in the direction of the more open meadows of their territory and was slightly stale, "Catching a rabbit would go a long way, but they can be difficult to catch, so doing it together would be best." As he caught another mouse and turned back she began to trot towards the edge of the trees but came to a stop before stepping fully onto the open field, "It'll be much colder without the trees to protect us from the wind," she could see Moosepaw, even with his thick fur, was starting to get more chilled, "We could try to catch it or try our luck in the trees," she mewed, leaving the final decision up to him. This'll be a good decision for him to make on his own

Stormheart nodded at Brambletail's response and made sure to keep his attention outwards, trying to quell the nerves that he felt by giving his full attention on the surrounding woods. Leading the patrol by the stream he could hear the faint voices of a few of their clanmates somewhere nearby. Probably members of the hunting patrol that was sent out, hopefully they're having some luck He didn't envy the hunting patrol, trying to catch something in this weather certainly wasn't easy, but the clan needed food. Stopping for a brief moment to scent the air, every muscle in his body tensed as the pungent smell of fox hit the roof of his mouth. Whipping his head to the side, yellow eyes peeled for any glimpse of a pointed snout, "A fox has been here recently," he said towards the deputy and Hawkpaw, "If it's as hungry as we are it'll be dangerous." He could feel the prickling of a possible threat across his fur, but didn't want to leap blindly into anything.

[sassy1085]

Hawkpaw: Border Patrol

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Hawkpaw hop along with Brambletail and Stormheart as the three walk into the forest, as she walk around, her eyes were really fascinated toward the small snowflakes as they fall towards the ground. When a snowflake fall to her nose, Hawkpaw let a small sneeze and then rushing to compose herself, she hopes that the two warriors didn't hear her, this is her chance to impress the two warriors and there is no way a sneeze will not make her look like a fool!

When Stormheart mentions, Hawkpaw face lit up from excitement, this could be time they show her some new fighting techniques! But then, that short hunting was cut short when Stormheart told her and Brambletail that a fox was here. Hawkpaw hear foxes before, her mother, Deertail, told her and her sister that she was almost killed by one but thank starclan that her mother made it out safe. "But we are going to chase it away, right?" Hawkeye ask Stormheart as she try to hide her nervousness

[savannahssu]

Fernstar: WillowClan Camp

Fernstar admired her medicine cat for keeping such good track of the herbs the Clan would need, but she wondered where they would find them all. With the snow covering almost every inch of ground and the harsh winds tearing through undergrowth, she worried if the herbs they would need survived this long into leafbare. Remembering the task she had set herself to do this morning, she stood, arched her back and politely asked, "When you're done getting the traveling herbs together, do you think you could help Maplestream and I re-pad the den walls? She is removing the old padding right now but new plant material needs to be collected and weaved into the bracken walls. Gathering moss would be helpful." Padding towards the den entrance, she meowed to Blackpelt, "We will leave tonight after the hunting patrols have come back with prey and the border patrol returns. After the dens are padded again, the camp should be well kept enough for us to be gone one night. I will be removing old bedding from the dens with Maplestream, so please bring all the moss you can find back to camp." Exiting the medicine den and emerging into the center of camp, Fernstar spotted Maplestream placing all the old moss and fern leaves from the warriors den in a large pile beside her. Without saying a word, she padded into the apprentice's den and begun doing the same. The moss smelled musty and unpleasant from the dampness of snow and extensive use. Merl will be happy she gets a new nest, I can hear her complaints already. I'll go there next. When the pile had gotten large enough, she instructed Maplestream to dispose of the old bedding by dumping it off a nearby gorge into one of the large rushing rapids. It was a very quick and convenient way to dispose of it all, and wasn't that far from camp.

She couldn't help all the feelings of excitement, nervousness and questions mulling around in her head about visiting the cats from StarClan. All the stories she had heard about cats of legendary importance to the old Clans, and they had deemed her worthy of StarClan's blessing and the nine lives of a leader. Her paws itched to get going to the Moonpool, but she knew for now she had to focus on her duties in camp. After the apprentice's den was stripped bare, she piled the old bedding by the camp entrance for Maplestream to dispose of next and padded towards the elders den. I wonder how Merl is doing with this cold? Maybe Blackpelt could give her some chamomile after I re-pad her nest to give her some warmth. Although her attitude was gruff most of the time, Fernstar could see how grateful Merl was to have her Clanmates around; and she shared the elder's gratitude. It was because of Merl the Clan had Brambletail, who was such a strong deputy. She wished the hunting patrol would return soon so she could offer the elder she-cat some prey. StarClan let them come back with prey to fill my cat's bellies. . .

[savannahssu]

Sunfur: Hunting Patrol

Sunfur shook his head, a bit irritated that he couldn't scent any prey on the land around them, but only the fish in the stream. He had nosed his way through the undergrowth that grew beside the stream banks, in between tree roots and surveyed the branches of the leafless trees nearby. No cat would stand a chance of catching birds with no leaf cover to hide behind. Birds are way too quick when they already know you're there Sunfur thought with annoyance. "Maybe we should head back towards Moosepaw and Duskwing to see if prey is running on their patch of land, because there certainly isn't anything here" He said padding towards Spidernose. "No point in wandering around not using our paws for something." He gestured with his tail for Spidernose to follow him as he padded back in the direction he came. Gazing up at the sky, he noticed that the sun had emerged from behind the clouds and was beaming down soft sunlight upon the frozen ground. He couldn't wait for the sun to melt the snow so he and his Clanmates could stretch out in the center of camp and enjoy the warmth. It had been way too long since he had been able to sun himself and just relax. Keeping his Clanmates fed and warm during leafbare was difficult, but it also meant that he could depend on somecat other than himself, and he was grateful.

Being lost in his thoughts, he wasn't paying attention to where he was putting his paws and suddenly felt the snow shift under his paws and felt a large pile of dirt underneath. Before he could remove his paw, he felt a a stabbing pain in his foreleg. Wailing in surprise and pain, he forcefully removed his paw from the fallen snow and noticed a snake burst from the pile of snow and slither quickly towards the undergrowth nearby the banks of the stream. Seizing his opportunity, he used all the force he could muster from his hindquarters and launched towards the snake. The snake didn't hear him coming and Sunfur was able to slam his paw down on it's head with his claws unsheathed, killing it quickly. Noticing the pain in his leg again, he slumped over and began licking the blood from the puncture wound. Even though he was hurt, he was relieved that the snake hadn't gotten away and that he was able to catch another piece of prey for the Clan. I need to get back to camp now and go see Blackpelt for some herbs. I don't know if that snake was poisonous or not. . .

[The Elvenqueen]

Hunting Patrol: with Sunfur, near Duskwing and Moosepaw

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The she-cat's ears drooped slightly as Sunfur relayed that he hadn't been able to scent much prey at all, her shoulders sagging in disappointment as she nodded and fell into step with the older warrior to head back towards the rest of the patrol. On the way, she kept her senses alert for any scents or sounds that might indicate prey and, upon hearing the scuttling of tiny pawsteps, angled her ears towards it to let Sunfur know before she dropped into a crouch and crept towards the clump of bushes at the base of a tree. There in the center lay a vole, picking at the dried out husk of a berry to try and get at the seeds that may still be inside. When she was close enough, Spidernose exploded forward, claws outstretched to slam into the small creature and hold it in place whilst her teeth sank into the back of its neck to deliver a killing bite.

Just as Spidernose turned to trot proudly back to Sunfur, however, he had disturbed the snake, and she let out a muffled, concerned meow as she dashed over to the tom once more, setting the vole down between her paws so she could better speak. "Oh, dear StarClan! Sunfur, did...did it bite you?! Oh, it did didn't it? This is bad. This is bad..." she was trying not to panic, but she knew how serious this could be. If it was an adder, or something else poisonous...
"You should go back to camp. Can you make it on your own?" she wasn't so sure it was a good idea to leave him to hobble slash stumble back to camp by himself. But someone had to tell Duskwing and Moosepaw where he had gone. "O-Or I could run and tell Duskwing and come back and help you get back to camp?" she fretted, her tail lashing anxiously.

[Shadow Dragon]

Blackpelt: Willowclan Camp (Medicine Den)

Medicine Den

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He chuckles, and nods. "Sure. Gimme a bit. I'll be over when I finish with what I'm working on." He finishes wrapping up the traveling herbs, then yawns. He checks that everything is well stocked, and sorts out a few extra herbs, making sure to hide his small stash of Foxglove, a rare, useful, but potentially deadly herb, with the other....poisons he's found. He frowns, tucking them up as high as he can, hidden on a shelf with the mystery herbs he's found. He sighs at the secrets he's hiding from everyone, including his leader. I can't let anyone know I have these. Not even Fernstar. He sighs again. I guess I'm just paranoid. But something feels....off.

He sets the traveling herbs to one side, and lightly hops out of his cave, walking to the middle of the camp to stretch his tired limbs. He sits down in a patch of light, and purrs, letting the light and warmth soak into his fur. This feels so....relaxing. He looks around, with a vague sense of unease. Why do I feel so jumpy?

[TykerS97]

Moosepaw: Hunting Patrol

Taking a moment to carefully consider his options, Moosepaw thought to himself As much as the cold is bothering me, I can't let my own personal wants get in the way of what is best for the clan. A rabbit would go along way in feeding the bellies of my other clan-mates... Making up his mind Moosepaw started to head in the direction he smelt the rabbit in. The open field would be a little colder but it would be worth it if we could catch that rabbit. "I think we should go for the rabbit. Catching that would go along way in feeding the other clan cats. Plus with the squirrel you caught, the 2 mice I caught, the groundhog Sunfur caught plus whatever Spidernose has caught might mean we could end the hunting patrol early... Maybe even gather some extra materiel for the Dens."

Crouching Low and trying to be as stealthy as possible Moosepaw started to head out in the open field, stopping at the edge of the grass. "I'll follow your lead Duskwing. This is my first time hunting a rabbit and I really want to catch it. How should we go about this?" Moosepaw braced for the extra windchill from the open field but was surprised when it didn't feel all that different from walking in the forest. I guess my fur coat is good for something... maybe I should volunteer it for padding in the dens.

[PrankFox]

Duskwing followed Moosepaw out into the field, fluffing her fur up slightly against the wind chill. "I agree. We should have enough, at least for now, and padding the dens is just as important." Padding a little further out, next to Moosepaw, she scented the air trying to pinpoint exactly where the rabbit may be. The sunlight that was now spilling through the breaking clouds lit the field in startling brightness, and allowing her to see farther across it to see the small, hunched shape of the rabbit digging in the snow. "I'll head around behind it and startle it into a run towards you, if we're lucky it'll run right into your claws."

Crouching down into a hunter's stance Duskwing crept deeper into the field, keeping her jaws slightly parted and her ears pricked in case the rabbit saw her before she could get close. Taking her time to swing wide around her prey, freezing for a moment as it raised its head, nose twitching before returning to scrabbling at the snow packed ground. Thank Starclan it didn't run yet...eyes bright, and excitement thrumming through her paws as she finally crept all the way around before leaping towards it with a loud yowl. As the rabbit startled and began to run she chased after it, keeping close on its fluffy tail, and driving towards where Moosepaw waited crouched in the snow.

Stormheart glanced towards Hawkpaw, concern for the young apprentice warring with his desire to drive the fox out of their territory. Depending on the size of the beast and how desperate it is, just the three of us might not be enough to win. Keeping one eye in the direction of the scent, "Of course we'll drive it out. We can't leave a fox wandering freely here," he turned back towards the thick clumps of brambles and bushes where the scent was strongest, "But if Brambletail or I tell you to run and get help you need to do that as quickly as possible Hawkpaw." The normal nerves he felt slipping away as the threat to his clan filled his mind.

The fox didn't give Stormheart any more time to decide what to do as it came leaping from the bushes, sharp teeth flashing in the just emerging sunlight. Thick reddish fur coated thick with snow shook as it landed on the ground in front of him. Leaping forward with an angry yowl, claws extended, he slashed at its pointed muzzle leaving a score of bleeding slashes behind. Leaping back just as its jaws snapped shut just in front of his nose, he glanced towards Brambletail and Hawkpaw, as they both leapt into the fray.

[sassy1085]

Cinderpaw : WillowClan Camp

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Cinderpaw sighs as she pad the den to the next, she rather go patrolling with Hawkpaw and Moosepaw, looking around the forest and catching my prey but what she doing? Staying at camp and padding some den. When Cinderpaw walk out of a den, she can see her parents in the warrior den with the other warriors, just talking, Deertail and Silverstorm spot their silver daughter and wave at her with smiles on their faces, Cinderpaw wave back but she wonder what are they talking about, probably talking about who is a great apprentice and Cinderpaw feel like it not her, she wish she was like Hawkpaw, eager, optimistic and ready to face danger and Moosepaw, very silent and observant hunter, which Cinderpaw is none of those things.

Cinderpaw was about to head inside the medicine den but then see Fernstar inside, talking to Blackpelt, she shrug, probably talking about warrior and medicine stuff. Cinderpaw was about to walk away but then, Blackpelt talk a glowing pool, filled with stars and seeing cats made of stars, Cinderpaw slowing lean to the side of den entrance, she want to learn more. Blackpelt mention some warrior names from some stories that her mother use to tell to her and her sister, Firestar, Bluestar, Yellowfang, every warrior and medicine cat were there, Cinderpaw can feel her heart racing, Blackpelt was talking to Starclan members!

Cinderpaw can hear Fernstar walking toward the medicine den entrance and with no hesitation, she quietly rush toward some den and watch Fernstar walking away from the medicine den. Cinderpaw heart is still racing, Hawkpaw and Moosepaw need to hear about this when they come back.

[savannahssu]

Maplestream: WillowClan Territory

Maplestream shivered against the damp spray from the rushing rapid as it misted against her pelt. It was cold enough already without being damp to make it worse. Fernstar had asked her to help strip the dens of old bedding and dispose of it into the rapids like usual. She would gather more moss and bracken on her way back for the warrior's and apprentice's den. She would have rather been out hunting but she was in such a deep sleep that she had missed the morning call. She sighed and realized it was her own fault; it wouldn't happen again. As she noded her way past the tall grass that bordered the banks of the rapid, she disturbed a mouse from it's digging in the dirt and it darted away, too fast for Mapleshade to catch it. Not to mention she didn't want to risk falling into the rapids. No cat would survive that. . . As she pushed the last of the old moss and fern leaves over the edge, she turned and made her way towards the trunk of an oak tree where she could see moss growing thick on one side. She stood on her hind paws and began shredding the trunk with her claws ans the moss fell in bunches at her feet. It was soft and dry and hope bounced in her heart as she thought what it would be like sleeping in fresh warm bedding tonight. She began clumping the moss into a large pile and filled her jaws with as much as she could carry in one trip. As she padded closer to camp, her ears pricked and her pelt bristled as she heard what sounded like hissing in the distance. Tucking the moss close to the roots of a nearby tree, she sprinted in the direction of the commotion.

Exploding through the undergrowth, Maplestream's eyes widened in horror as she saw Stormheart, Hawkpaw and Brambletail circling around a fox, avoiding it's snapping jaws and getting frenzied blows in where they could. Two warriors and an apprentice wasn't enough to drive a fox from the territory. Should she try to help on her own, or race back to camp to get help from the others? Thoughts racing, she had an idea. Darting as fast as she could towards the fox, she gathered all the strength she could from her hindquarters and leaped onto the fox's shoulders digging all four paws in as hard as she could and sunk her teeth into the fox's ear, shaking her head back and forth vigorously. The fox spun in circles desperately trying to throw her off, but Maplestream was ready and jumped away landing beside Stormheart. Darting beneath the fox's belly, she raked her claws along it's underside to distract it and make it turn it's back towards the rest of the patrol. Yowling above the fox's growl she flashed her gaze towards her Clanmates. "KEEP FIGHTING! But while you're at it, yowl as loud as your lungs will let you! We have to be loud enough to attract the attention of the hunting patrol! With four more cats to help us, the fox won't stand a chance!" Baring her teeth and swiping at the fox's muzzle, she hoped Duskwing and the rest of the hunting patrol would hear their cries for help.

[savannahssu]

Sunfur: Hunting Patrol

Sunfur lapped at his foreleg trying to curb the bleeding, worry flowing through his pelt as he hoped the snake that bit him wasn't poisonous. Leafbare had made it hard for Blackpelt to find herbs and he wasn't sure the Clan had the herbs to treat a snake bite. He glanced up at Spidernose who was shifting around anxiously not knowing what to do. "I can most likely get back to camp if you could support the side I was bitten on. Three of my paws still work after all." He tried to muster a grin to reassure Spidernose that is might not be as bad as she thought. "Someone will come have to come back for the snake though. We can't afford to waste prey, not to mention it's against the Warrior Code. He leaned against Spidernose's side and hopped along with his good paws. As they passed a small section of forest where the trees thinned, Sunfur heard a yowl in the distance and jerked his head in the direction of the noise, ears pricked and eyes watchful. He wondered if what he had heard was trouble, or just Duskwing scolding her apprentice for missing a piece of prey or getting himself hurt. He hast a worried and confused glance towards Spidernose and asked "Should we go see what that is?"

[TykerS97]

Moosepaw: Hunting Patrol

Staying in a crouched hunting pose, Moosepaw waited patiently for Duskwing to sneak around the clearing to get to the other side and corral the rabbit to his position. While he was waiting to strike Moosepaw began to wonder to himself. Is it just me or am I getting a bad feeling right now? Everything feels like it's going to well... I can bring up my concern with Duskwing later. he was brought out of his thought when he heard Duskwing yowl as she sprung at the rabbit. keeping his attention sharp, he waited patiently as the rabbit got closer and closer to his position. When close enough he let out a mighty leap and tackled the rabbit into a tumble and with all of his strength he bit into it's neck and shook his head back and forth violently. With an audible snap the rabbit was dead.

Standing upright to admire the kill Duskwing and he had accomplished he winced as he put pressure on one his paws that seemed a bit swollen. Being careful he put some weight on the paw slowly. "I think I hurt my paw tumbling with that rabbit... not my most agile moment." Remembering his feeling and the slight yowl he heard in the distance he asked Duskwing "Do you think we could go check on the other two patrols? I have a bad feeling and I don't think I'm good to keep hunting with my paw like it is...or I could collect the prey we've caught and bring it back to camp while you go check on them."

[Shadow Dragon]

Blackpelt: Willowclan Camp (Medicine Den)

Medicine Den

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He shakes himself awake. How long have I been asleep for? He looks around, and rushes back to his den, checking that no one has touched his herbs. Did anyone try to self treat themselves? He sighs in relief when he sees that everything is as it should be. Why am I so paranoid? He yawns, feeling tired still, and curls up in a small black ball, falling asleep. He looks around in his dream, and sees...nothing. Nothing but dark trees. No stars, no light. He whimpers, and hides behind a tree. He sees a few cats, but they feel.....dark and cold. Dangerous. He bites himself hard to wake himself up. He wakes with a jolt, and laps at his bleeding paw. Where on earth was that?

[The Elvenqueen]

Hunting Patrol: with Sunfur, near Maplestream's Patrol

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Spidernose nodded, still looking worried, but at least now she had a course of action that she could focus on and that helped her to not panic. Offering the tom her shoulder to lean on, she took his weight onto it to support him and began to stumble carefully along back towards camp. "Don't worry, as soon as we get you back to camp I'll get someone to help me come back for it. I'll have to come back for the vole, too." she promised, agreeing that they shouldn't waste any prey. The Clan needed everything they could get right now...The two hunters had made it a little way on, camp was still far enough away, when they heard the sound of the yowl. Spidernose did not scare easily, but even she jumped a little at how unexpected and loud the sound was. "Eeeek!" her dark ears flattened and her nostrils flared slightly as she and Sunfur stopped to locate the direction of the sound. "Is that...is that one of the Clan? They sound like they could be in trouble." she muttered, knowing that they should go and check it out. "We definitely should try and help them, but I don't know if you should over-exert yourself with that snake bite..."

Spidernose was no medicine cat, of course, but she had a bad feeling that Sunfur trying to run or fight after being bitten by a snake was not a good idea. "But if they are in trouble....we can't just leave them. C-Come on, we've gotta. Do you think you can manage? Wh-Why don't you try and call Duskwing and Moosepaw and then catch up, I'll run a little ahead and see what's going on" she decided with a nod. Only when she was sure Sunfur wasn't going to collapse or fall over without her to lean on did she push away from the golden-pelted tom, darting through the underbrush and keeping herself somewhat low to the ground, she headed towards Maplestream's screech. StarClan, please let us be on time...don't let them be hurt... they couldn't afford any more injuries.

[PrankFox]

Duskwing caught up to where Moosepaw had the rabbit panting slightly from the run. Her ears pricked up as she heard the same faint yowl from deeper into the woods, concern prickling across her pelt. Glancing down at Moosepaw and the rabbit she winced sympathetically as he put his paw onto the ground. "Go ahead and head back to camp with as much of the prey as you can and have Blackpelt look at that paw. If something is wrong I don't want you getting even more hurt." She didn't want to leave him alone to take all of the prey back to camp, but the bad feeling he mentioned made her nervous. She gave Moosepaw a last once over before darting off into the forest towards the sound of the yowl.

As Duskwing got deeper into the forest, somewhat closer to the stream, she could hear what sounded like fighting. Bursting through the trees she tensed as she saw several of her clanmates going toe to toe with a large fox. As the fox whipped around to face Maplestream she took the opportunity to leap forward and clamp her jaws around one of it's back legs, pulling back sharply its leg slipped out from under it on the snow, but she had to let go quickly as it's jaws whipped around to snap at her. She looked quickly around at the others, relieved that none of them seem badly injured. Fighting isn't what I'm best at, but I can't let them get hurt

Stormheart felt a strong jolt of relief as Maplestream jumped from the trees onto the fox's back. With her here they had more of a chance to chase the brute off. Heeding her advice he let out another loud yowl before jumping forward back into the fight as the fox turned more of it's attention to Maplestream. As he saw the slender form of Duskwing dart into the fray, yanking the fox off balance, he sent a quick thanks to Starclan for his clanmates quick response. He sprang forward and raked his claws down the fox's flank, catching its thick fur in his claws. One of its clawed feet struck out catching him across the chest, and sending him tumbling back across the snow. He hissed in pain as he pushed himself back up shaking drops of blood into the snow.

Stormheart could see the panic beginning to seep into the fox's gaze as more of his clanmates ran into the clearing. "It's getting panicked, be careful!" he called out watching as its movements became more frantic and unpredictable. He glanced around quickly at the other bristling cats around him, Starclan please keep us safe, as he jumped forward catching his claws into it's leg causing it to whip away from Maplestream on its other side leaving it vulnerable.

[TykerS97]

Moosepaw: Hunting Patrol

As Moosepaw watched Duskwing dart off, he hoped his bad feeling was just that, A bad feeling. Being careful with his paw, Moosepaw picked up the rabbit with his mouth and started back to camp. He would have to make multiple trips to get everything back to camp but he didn't want to waste anything that they had caught. Making note of where everything was, he managed to also carry the two mice he had caught earlier.... After several trips to the fresh kill pile, Moosepaw became less worried now that they had a rabbit, 3 mice, and a squirrel plus whatever Sunfur and Spidernose had caught.

Finally taking note of his paw, Moosepaw thought to himself. Although I want to go back out and make sure everyone is okay, I wouldn't be good to anyone with my paw like this. I should go see Blackpelt in the medicine den. Once everything was all set on the Fresh kill pile Moosepaw made his way over to the medicine den, going inside he greeted Blackpelt "Hello Blackpelt, I was wondering if you had anything for a swollen paw?" Gesturing to his swollen paw, Moosepaw went on to say "I had a bit of a tumble catching a rabbit with Duskwing."

[Shadow Dragon]

Blackpelt: Willowclan Camp (Medicine Den)

Medicine Den

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He tsx softly. "What'd you do this time?" He sniffs the wound softly, and nods. "I'll be right back. Don't move." He walks into the back, where he stores his herbs, and picks out marigold, oak leaves, horsetail, and cobwebs. He comes back, and gently applies the cobweb to the wound to soak up the blood, then chews the rest into a poultice, gently pressing it into the wound. "Leave it there until it either feels better, or until I take it off. Don't touch any of my herbs. You could make yourself even sicker." He sits down, and waits, his tail twitching, hiding his own bloodied paw, wrapped in herbs.

[Eklispe]

Brambletail: Border Patrol Outside WillowClan Camp

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, "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." 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...

Merl: Willowclan Camp, Elder Den

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. "Oh dearie is that moss for me? You're so sweet, let me get that old stuff out of the way for you." 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.

[PrankFox]

As Brambletail slashed the fox's neck Duskwing pulled farther back away from it, fur bristling, waiting for whatever it decided to do. Even a creature as dense as this fox seemed to be should be able to tell that it is completely outmatched. The fox swung it's head around towards each cat, lips pulled back to reveal it's pointed teeth before it finally turned tail and ran back into the bushes, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Duskwing took a moment to force her fur to lie flat, looking over each of her clanmates to make sure none of them were badly injured. Some blood matted Stormheart's chest but it appeared that his thick fur mostly protected him. Just to be sure, "Is everyone alright?" she meowed keeping her ears sharp for anything else that might be in the bushes. "We should probably get back to camp, I doubt much prey will still be in the area after all that noise." She knew Moosepaw should be back at camp already getting his paw looked at, so that just left Sunfur and Spidernose out by the stream. I should go find them and make sure they didn't get attacked by anything like the border patrol did. She turned and padded into the trees in the direction of the stream hoping to see the familiar shapes of the rest of her patrol.

Stormheart let out a sign of relief as the fox turned tail and ran before sitting down in the snow and licking at the shallow scratches on his chest. They aren't deep thankfully, it should be fine. He looked up at Duskwing's question, "I'm fine, just a couple scratches," he meowed softly and nodded as she suggested going back to camp, "that's a good idea." As she walked into the forest to find the rest of her patrol he glanced towards Maplestream "Thanks for coming so quickly," he shuffled his paws slightly in the snow, "I don't think just the three of us could've driven it off." Now that the fight was over he could feel the cold, and his nerves, starting to seep back into his fur, he was just thankful that no one else got hurt. They were lucky that so many of their clanmates were out, or else they would've had to try and fight it off while Hawkpaw went for help at camp. "That was a pretty bold move, jumping onto the fox's back like that." He meowed as he pushed himself back onto his paws and prepared for the walk back to camp.