[ti]Open[/ti]Clan Duties, time to Patrol

[Miss Tactical]

The new-leaf air was brisk this morning. He thanked StarClan' for his slightly longer fur. He shook himself, warming up his muscles, it was his turn to run the dawn patrol. He narrowed his eyes slightly. He couldn't wait for the snow to melt completely. He preferred the end of New-leaf when it was warmer. He could run around, wind blowing through his fur and it didn't bother him. He paced back and forth scanning the warriors den, it was empty. There was a light thaw so the warmer weather was more than likely making the prey scatter around. Perfect time to hunt!

He poked his head into the apprentices den and smirked slightly. "GOOD MORNING APPRENTICES!" He mewed loudly. The sun was just starting to touch the forest line, and he always got a slight kick of waking apprentices up from their slumber. His whiskers twitched with amusement as his eyes laid on Saltpaw. "Up for some hunting and a patrol in the forest?" Although he worded his statement as a question, he didn't really give the option for the apprentice to say no. "I will be out of camp near the forest, prey will be out and about don't take too long" He mewed.

Rushfeather turned around and exited the camp heading into the forest. How nice it would be to patrol without freezing your tail off. The gray and white tom sat in the clearing,
tail wrapped around his paws as he waited for whoever else may be joining them. It would be a chilly morning but by the time sunhigh hit, it would be comfortable.

[silverfang218]

Sootpaw is startled awake by a warrior’s call; the snowy apprentice’s head pops up before he even is awake enough to know where he is. It takes multiple moments for the tom to look around and push himself to his paws. By then Rushfeather was gone and Sootpaw was left wondering why he was awake. He did, however, briefly catch the statement that whoever woke him up would be waiting near the forest.

Sootpaw’s paws carry him into the forest, stumbling a bit as he is still blinking sleep from his eyes. His feet take him to the clearing, obviously the most natural place for a patrol to meet up. The snowy tom plops down, laying on his stomach next to the warrior who must have awoken him. “Good morning, Rushfeather.” The apprentice murmurs, still not quite fully awake.

[Ringtail]

A brisk breeze woke a couple of cats in the warriors den. A pure white she-cat, Swanfur, and creamish colored tom, Ringtail, fluffed themselves awake. THe brisk breeze had woken the two as if like an alarm in the young morning. The young she-cat arched and streched herself awake, perking her ears to a familiar voice waking the apprentices. Ah, her father. What a pleasent joy he is. She only smiled, pawing at her cheek to rid a small chunk of leaf bits off her flowy pelt. Ew.
She gave a light huff and gave one final stretch, poking her head to check the weather. It was warmer than usual, but it was that time of season for the weather to turn much warmer. She flicked her tail, knowning her father would be out and about espically in this weather. She headed towards the entrance of camp, curiously following his familiar scent. Heck that was her fvorite scent, it reminded her of thier family. The she-cat purred to herself, absent-mindly padding out of camp.
On the other paw, Ringtail lazily rolled onto his back and begin to do the usual stretches any cat did in their morning routine, rolling back onto his paws to hold his tail and head high. Today was a new day in newleaf, and of course he had breakfast on his mind. He kinked his tail, deciding to follow Swanfur, assuming there was a patrol being formed. "Good morning!", He mewed lightly, pausing each and every step to say the greeting to any others that were awake and around him. 

[Miss Tactical]

Rushfeather twitched his whiskers with amusement as Sootpaw made his presence known. "Nothing like a fresh new-leaf day to fill the prey pile eh Sootpaw?" He touched the apprentices shoulder with his tail as two others padded out of camp into the forest. His daughter, Swanfur, and Ringtail. He padded to his daughter gently touching his nose to her cheek and gave a slight nod to the cream colored tom in greeting. He wasn't particularly familiar with him. He narrowed his eyes slightly He better not be courting my daughter..... The thought soon faded as the sun started to rise higher into the sky. "IvyClan has been kind of quiet on our border. Their markers are stale so I figured now would be a great time to put up some fresh markers, and catch some prey." He mewed coming up with their patrol route. He looked into the distance perhaps he should have gone to the meadows...MothClan....he huffed ruffling his fur. Many cats were getting up in the middle of the night and joining them. He scowled disdainfully at the thought. How could one just get up and go? "Anyways, Sootpaw it will also be good for you to get some more hunting practice in. Have you ever hunted in trees?" Rushfeathers eyes brightened at the thought of running through the trees catching birds.

[silverfang218]

Sootpaw huffs in response to Rushfeather’s cheery question, but he gives a nod anyways. The apprentice just doesn’t like to be woken up when he doesn’t expect it is all. He turns to follow Rush’s gaze towards the two approaching sets of pawsteps. Soot waves his tail in greeting to both Ringtail and Swanfur. He doesn’t know either of them very well, only their names really though he also vaguely recalls that Swan is related to Rush… probably his daughter, if Soot had to guess.

He nods again at the explanation of what exactly the patrol plans on doing, though he shuffles his paws a bit as Rush asks if he ever hunts in trees. Honestly, Soot isn’t all that great a hunter; even the smallest jump requires an intense guessing game for the apprentice with sight in one eye. It’s took him an entire moon to get even a little bit consistent, and that was hunting on the ground. His inability to judge distances is not going to serve him well in the trees. “No, and I doubt I’ll be any good at it, but I will try my best.” He answers; he’ll give it a good try, but this will end with him falling out of a tree. At least he always lands on his feet.

[Ringtail]

Swanfur gently returned the nose gesture to her father, touching hers to his forehead. "Good morning father.." The she-cat uttered quietly, flickering her fully tail to the side. She gave a soft yawn, it being kinda early for her for getting up and hunting. But duties call. She padded over to seat herself away from Ringtail, obviously showing she wasn't interested in him. She could have cared less about the cream colored tom, since there were probably better choices. And no Rushfeather, you are not picking this young lady's mate. She would happily find her own. The white molly glanced over at Sootpaw, having heard about him from maybe her father? Oh who knows.


The tom, Ringtail, awkwardly flicked his tail in greeting to Rush. Why was he so awkward?? Because well, he needed advice. And the one to ask was Rushfeather. He was a ladies' man, right? He should have all the answers for wooing the ladies. Heck that was the reason he had gotten up so early. And also he would like some breakfast. The tom's belly rumbled. but he solemnly ignored it. "So to just the Ivyclan border?? Shouldn't we try marking along the Mothclan border?" He also had his eyes on other she-cat, but he'd rather talk in private with Rush. The tom also waved his tail at Sootpaw in a short greeting.

[Miss Tactical]

Rushfeather looked back over his shoulder for a moment. MothClan's border was important..... he huffed contemplating the thought. "Yes MothClan would be a good idea...but their border is in the opposite direction. If we have time we will swing around. While there's a thaw we can make IvyClan know we aren't messing with borders."  The statement was bold and said with a very straight forward knowledge. Rushfeather's whiskers twitched. "Shh...." He got into a crouch before scaling up a tree. Rushfeather was known for his agile speed. The tom loved to run. He loved to also run in the trees. He was unique in that sense, but he didn't mind passing on his joys to others. Within a few moments he came back down, bird clamped in his jaws. He placed it on the ground, licking his muzzle clan. "It's a little stringy but when Newleaf progresses they will get more plump." He flicked his tail to sootpaw, beckoning the apprentice over to the tree he just climbed from. He did just remember the tom had trouble with his vision. Curses....maybe we can work around that..... Rushfeather thought for a moment before a light bulb went off. " Before we hunt lets master the balance. Sootpaw, when you lose a sense, your others become stronger. However you still have partial eyesight. When you get up there, close your eyes. Tell me what you hear and smell."  Take away one thing, everything else has to work hard to make up for that loss. Hopefully today would be a moment of success for the apprentice, something he would be able to take pride in. 

[silverfang218]

Soot has no preference which border they end up at; he’s an apprentice and so he simply sits quietly as the patrol route and borders are discussed. He takes in all the information as he listens. He blinks as Rushfeather climbs the tree then returns with a bird; he had briefly caught the bird’s scent but had thought nothing of it.

Sootpaw’s balance has already been pretty good, so this should be no problem. It’s aiming jumps and judging distance that tends to escape him. Sootpaw gives a quick nod to Rush’s suggestion and quickly begins climbing the tree. He pauses and climbs onto a low-ish limb. Following Rush’s instructions, Soot closes his eyes and waits a moment, taking note of what he hears and smells. “I smell the three of you below me, along with the bird you just caught, Rushfeather.” He starts with the most obvious smells, though the scents barely reach up to where he’s sitting. “I hear the fluttering of wings from that direction. A good sized bird- the breeze is carrying the bird’s scent away from me, so I can’t smell it. I’m starting to smell flowers too; I think the first newleaf blossoms have started to open… I think I can smell celandine down there too- I’ll have to remember to pick it up on our way back.” He had thought nothing of the herb’s scent while on the ground, but now that he was specifically picking through everything he could sense, it occurred to him that it was an herb he not only recognized but knew the name of. It was the same one that Silverfang had treated him with on their journey, trying to help his damaged eye heal.

He opens his eyes to glance back down to his clanmates below. He gives them a quizzical look, wanting to know what Rush or the other warriors want him to do next.