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... i will not act on my worst instincts [ open ]
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Post by boarstar on Jun 13, 2015 12:10:52 GMT -5
NEVER PRESUME THAT ... pale, yellow hues studied the frog near his paw, croaking on the odd moment and keeping him from enjoying a peaceful afternoon. well, as peaceful as he could get it with riverclan and thunderclan swallowing up his territory. the borders that had been agreed to at the gathering were barely there anymore, continuing to be shifted as each clan became greedy. in boarstar’s opinion? every piece of land he took was rightfully his own. after all, it had been before skyclan pushed themselves in. the tom’s paw neared the frog, claws inching out to dig into the rock’s mossy surface below them both. another croak came from the creature.
he despised the cats, the clans having been in a state of peace before skyclan came, their ribs showing and fur matted. while boarstar had sympathy, the cats could have easily went on a little farther, could they have not? let their elders and queens stay while the most fit could go on, rebuild themselves from the pathetic image they had come here in. boarstar’s lip curled and with a twitch of an ear and a flick of a paw, claws sunk into the frog with a died off croak. lucky for him, he wasn't exactly hunting.
drawing the creature closer to him, his jaws neared it before he enclosed sharp teeth around the piece of prey to draw it nearer. usually, boarstar preferred to eat in his den or amongst his clanmates when the sun was going down but in the cool fog, he was content to stay here. chewing off a leg, he closed his eyes with a flick of his tail against the moss. with the havoc going on, boarstar was content with this peaceful day. about to take another bite out of his meal, ears pricked forward at the sound of a twig snapping. Immediately, boarstar regretted his decision to eat the frog for the lack of being able to scent.
ears twitching and eyes scanning the foliage, he spoke with a cold tone,
“come out already, would you?”
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foxtail
ShadowClan
these small hours, these little wonders
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Post by foxtail on Jun 13, 2015 21:20:39 GMT -5
Embarassing.
Foxtail limped beneath the conifers with his head low and his tail almost dragging on the ground. Since leaving the nursery a moon ago he’d made it a point to go on patrol as often as he could. At first it was to refamiliarize himself with the schedule of a warrior and the changes in the territory over the last six moons, but now it was for the exhilaration: no kits to take care of, no secret on his shoulders, just the freedom of running with his Clanmates and serving them as a warrior. This was the life he was meant for, not skulking around behind his Clan’s back.
The hunting patrol this afternoon should have been easy. He’d hoped to bring back some fresh-kill and enjoy it while listening to his kits tell him about their training. Instead he’d tripped in a hole hidden by the low-lying fog and hurt his right foreleg enough that it refused to bear weight. Foxtail felt sure it was a bad sprain and not a break, but it was enough to make him useless to the patrol.
The only consolation in all the humiliation was that he’d at least convinced them not to give up a second warrior to escort him back to camp.
He was making slow, steady progress back to camp when he noticed cat scent nearby. Boarstar’s scent was faint but too familiar not to recognize. No sound, so he didn’t seem to be moving much. Foxtail continued forward, his eyes searching until he saw the orange tom laying on a rock. He seemed to be just starting to dig into a frog and not mindful of a cat approaching. It allowed Foxtail a secret moment to guiltily admit to himself that his leader was surprisingly attractive. Okay, so maybe big toms were Foxtail’s type. It didn’t hurt that Boarstar was a clever leader and unquestionably one of the best cats to lead ShadowClan through the recent troubled times.
Something tipped the leader off and suddenly he was ordering Foxtail to show himself. The brown tabby limped forward obediently, dipping his head as he approached. “Sorry, Boarstar. Didn’t expect to come across you.” He motioned towards the frog. “Good hunting?”
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Post by boarstar on Jun 14, 2015 9:32:17 GMT -5
as the brown and white tom limped into his view, boarstar’s ears twitched as he surveyed the leg that was causing his limp. due to how he’d been in camp this morning, he knew where foxtail was supposed to be and obviously now why he was not. settling back down, he nodded.
“yes, but sit, would you? i’m no medicine cat but you need time off that leg.”
boarstar blinked at the leaner figure, hoping he would do so. as bad as the thought was, shadowclan didn’t need any of their warriors impaired with the disputes currently going on around them. biting into his frog, boarstar didn’t tear, instead standing and easily finding his way down to foxtail where his pelt brushed the tom’s as he sat beside him. “foxtail,” he rumbled around the amphibian.
“how are your kit’s doing? adjusting to their mentors well?” his round eyes landed on the cat next to him.
boarstar figured he had chosen the right cats for all four children. setting down the frog, he nudged some of it towards the cat beside him in a wordless attempt to share. the small talk he was making concluded that he wanted foxtail to stay for a bit, rest on that leg before moving on to their medicine cat at camp. turning his head, he lifted his paw and began to drag his tongue between the pad’s to clean out any grit or leaves caught between them on his trek here.
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wolfspirit
ShadowClan
Posts: 2 
Rank: warrior
Age: 22 moons
Gender: male
Played By: riptide
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Post by wolfspirit on Jun 14, 2015 18:20:08 GMT -5
foxtail's leg really hadn't looked good. the hunting patrol had been going smoothly, with just a touch of stray fog from that morning. shadowclan territory always seemed to be boggy, though, so the tom had paid no mind. with already two lizards dangling from his jaw, wolfspirit jolted around when he heard his clanmate crash into the undergrowth, his forearm twisted at an odd angle. he cringed at the sight. the medicine cat would need to see to that right away. foxtail refused when another cat offered to help him back to camp, though. no cat questioned his decision--shadowclan was big on its pride, after all.
wolfspirit turned his head back around after watching foxtail limp out of sight, listening for any more prey to be found. his yellow gaze catches on a low-hanging bat, apparently asleep. won't be for long. jumping was not the brute's strength, but wolfspirit was able to leap high enough to snag the creature's transparent wing in his teeth, causing it to flutter about in panic. with another swift bite, the bat was hanging limp in his jaws. he made his way to the other two lizards and back towards camp, finished with his hunting for now. he could never catch enough prey, but his own stomach was growling at him, and he figured it was time for a break.
a short while later, wolfspirit scented foxtail's trail, and veered off his own path to go check on the tom. if he needed help getting home, wolfspirit might as well do it. a new smell brushed his nose, however, and he realized boarstar was with the injured cat. he could turn around right now and head for the camp, but he figured he should at least check up on foxtail before doing so. the warrior wove his way through the tangle of vegetation until it opened to reveal his leader and foxtail. setting down his catches, wolfspirit dipped his head to the other toms. "how's your leg?" he asked in a rumbling voice, eyes flicking toward foxtail.
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foxtail
ShadowClan
these small hours, these little wonders
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Post by foxtail on Jun 16, 2015 12:02:30 GMT -5
Foxtail was happy to accept the invitation. He moved carefully, doing what he could to keep weight of his bad paw as he lowered himself to the ground. It throbbed but nothing more, which felt like a confirmation that it was a minor wound easily mended instead of something more serious. Good. He’d hate to be confined to camp again after only a moon of freedom. He smiled as Boarstar took a spot beside him and took in the leader’s familiar scent. How could he have ever dreamed of leaving ShadowClan? These trees, that frog, even their scent was born in their blood just as surely as their teeth and claws. This is where I belong. I promise I’ll repay my debt to the Clan and to you, Boarstar.
"They're doing wonderfully, of course. Their mentors were well-chosen." The offer of frog had his mouth watering. Owleye had scolded him more than once for having frog breath, but Foxtail wouldn't trade a single one for every fish in the river. While the idea of eating when he’d failed to bring anything back didn’t sit well with him, he also didn’t feel right declining the offer for food. He decided to tear off a leg for himself, licking his lips to get every bit of flavor before even taking a proper bite. “Briarpaw brought back a lot of prey on his hunting patrol the other day. I think Cypresspaw might have been a little jealous. Briarpaw always complains about wanting to do more battle training, but his mentor is turning him into quite the hunter in spite of himself. And Cypresspaw herself is already figuring out things I was learning in my tenth moon! Even little Volepaw was just telling me that he was…” The ramblings trailed off as his ear twitched. Another cat was close: Wolfspirit.
The tom wasn’t much younger than Foxtail, but he worried about Wolfspirit. When Bluepelt’s abuse was brought to light, Foxtail had been one of the cats demanding exile, preferably after a thorough maiming. He wasn’t the only cat to feel guilty for being oblivious to what was going on, but he did wonder if he might have noticed if he wasn't busy canoodling. Just another reason to devote himself fully to his Clan and keep a good eye on his little ones and their training.
"I think I'll live. It might be slow going back to camp but I doubt I'll be down long. How did the patrol go?" The handsome dark-furred warrior had already made a couple of good kills before Foxtail left, so at least something would be brought back for the Clan.
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Post by boarstar on Jun 20, 2015 10:12:36 GMT -5
as yellow eyes watched foxtail take the amphibian's leg, boarstar soon took another bite and chewed silently as the tom told him of his kit's. boarstar was happy for them and happy for his clan. with apprentices who worked as hard as those, shadowclan would be able to prosper, especially in the frightening, frigid moons of leaf-bare. eyes closing in contentment, it wasn't long before foxtail suddenly cut himself off. ears pricking, boarstar's eyes open and he gazed about the fog before finding a familiar dark pelt.
wolfspirit. admittedly, he was angry with himself for not having caught wolfspirit's pain when he returned to camp. boarstar was shadowclan's leader, he was supposed to know almost everything that went on in the confines of shadowclan's camp and territory. his eyes narrowed. bluepelt had been dealt with, of course, after batheart had found both the two tom's training session. even though wolfspirit wasn't quite the same tom that had come out of the nursery, he was a dedicated warrior, one that cared about his clanmates. that's all he wanted.
watching the two converse, boarstar finished up the remains of the frog before speaking as well to wolfspirit,
“yes, how did the patrol go?"
it wasn't quite hard to tell by the prey at the grey cat's feet.
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wolfspirit
ShadowClan
Posts: 2
Rank: warrior
Age: 22 moons
Gender: male
Played By: riptide
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Post by wolfspirit on Jun 21, 2015 18:27:04 GMT -5
the tom's smoky head rose from it's dip, and he glanced down at his clanmate's leg. it looked a little swelled but nothing the medicine cat couldn't fix. certainly it wasn't broken. wolfspirit was well aware of the pain that came with breaking a limb. though he had tried to keep his visits to the medicine cat's den low, there were times where he couldn't avoid it. the warrior blinked, pushing the hazy memories away.
"yes, how did the patrol go?"
oh, right. the hunting patrol.
wolfspirit looked down at the lizards and bat that laid limp at his paws. it really had been a successful day. batheart had accompanied him along with a few apprentices. and foxtail, of course, but his trip had been cut short. even the apprentice's maws had been full of food. his yellow eyes met the two toms' gazes for only a few seconds before flittering around again. "prey was plentiful," he spoke. despite losing a sliver of territory, it seemed the small animals were all but waiting to fall in the warriors' jaws. "greenleaf is certainly being good to us. the elders will have a hardy feast awaiting them."
he turned to foxtail, then, glancing to his leg. "i'm sorry for your injury. i should have been watching." it's true. viperfang had told him to lead a hunting patrol. foxtail was under his watch and he had failed the older warrior.
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foxtail
ShadowClan
these small hours, these little wonders
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Post by foxtail on Jun 22, 2015 19:12:31 GMT -5
The good news warmed the lithe tom and approval and high spirits radiated from him as he bit off another mouthful of flavorful frog. Not all of their problems could be solved with prey, but there was joy and pride and hope in a well-fed Clan. Full bellies helped keep cats content and tensions low.
Wolfspirit’s apology came as a surprise. If he’d been a bit younger or less sympathetic to the younger warrior, his fur might have raised at a perceived insult. He was no great stand out, perhaps, but Foxtail was a grown cat very well capable of taking responsibility for his own mistakes. In the back of his mind he heard a voice, too reasonable and calm to be his own, that assured him no cat was saying that and he was blowing things out of proportion again. He took in a breath, willing the grounding scents of pine and freshkill and ShadowClan help keep him level-headed.
“That’s a load of mousedung, Wolfspirit. You should be able to a trust a warrior to watch his own four paws.” He looked to his leader for support. “Right?” Heat tickled under his pelt, embarrassed to talk about his own shortcomings so frankly in front of Boarstar. Hopefully that embarrassment would help to remind him not to be such an idiot. Just because times seemed good right now didn’t mean that ShadowClan’s warriors should become careless.
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Post by boarstar on Jun 26, 2015 9:47:07 GMT -5
wolfspirit's claim was true, every cat in his clan would be going to sleep with full bellies tonight. the thought had boarstar's maw curl into a smile, the satisfaction of how they were surviving with a smaller bit of territory than they were accustomed to flooding his veins. while it still angered him that riverclan and thunderclan were closing in on him, his cats were fine.
licking a round paw as the two warriors conversed, boarstar drew it over his face before allowing his ears to prick into the air.
"i should have been watching..."
"... you should be able to a trust a warrior to watch his own four paws.”
both toms' statements were true, clanmates looked out for each other and helped each other when they fell down. although it wasn't in the warrior code, it was an expectation out for all the clans. well, at least for shadowclan, boarstar knew that greatly. however, at times the clan needed their warriors to watch out for themselves, as foxtail said. they couldn't bring home a lack of prey, nor could they afford many injuries. luckily for them, it was greenleaf and foxtail hadn't harmed himself in the middle of leafbare. bringing his gaze to foxtail's, boarstar dipped his head before looking back to wolfspirit.
“both of your opinions are correct, but we shouldn't talk about this now. firedream needs to have a look at that leg."
not quite rising to his paws yet, boarstar pressed his shoulder to foxtail's, urging the tom to his paws. or, to three of them. |
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