ᴛʜɪᴄᴋᴇᴛᴄʟᴀɴ

Onyxwind saw Specklefoot, dipping his head in greeting and looking straight at her. "Of course! You can come as well as Acornpaw. There's no reason to be stuck in camp all day when you're an apprentice, is there?" He said happily, calling over the apprentice. "Acornpaw! Care to join a patrol?" He asked. "Anyways, we'll get moving soon." The deputy confirmed with a short little tip of his head.

Acornpaw looked up mid-lick from grooming her coat. "I'd love to go!" She purred. She bounded forward, running to stand next to Specklefoot. The two had always been pretty close for some reason. Not in a romantic way, but rather as friends.

Cinderstar smirked a little, but said nothing. He turned and trotted towards the entrance, flicking his tail up for her to follow. "We'll hunt by the river, there will he more prey there, I'd think," he meowed, leading the way around the walls of camp to head north towards RippleClan.

"Hostile, as always." Cinderstar sighed. "The gathering was very tense. I purposely didn't take some warriors, because I know some would have started something. I was concerned a battle was going to occur anyways." He paused just slightly as a hawk flew overhead, but he continued on jogging. He could begin to hear flowing water again. "I'm just worried a war is going to start."

Cinderstar nodded in agreement. "It is true. We have a strong clan this New-Leaf, but I'd rather not lose any blood." He suddenly stopped as he reached the edge of the river. He opened his mouth, letting the scents of the forest flood into him, searching for prey.

Nearby, Cinderstar scented a squirrel. He stalked the fluffy rodent carefully, who was nibbling a nut at the edge of the forest a little ways upriver. He crouched and stalked the rodent, placing his paws carefully. Suddenly, a crow cawed overhead, alerting the squirrel of his presence. He raced after it, but by the time he had taken three paw steps, the rodent was already chittering at him from a tree. He growled lowly, but turned and focused on prey elsewhere.

Cinderstar snickered quietly, but movement from the stream caught his attention. Watched a water vole swimming, and it crawled onto the riverbank. He quickly crouched. As long as he was quick, it wouldn't sense him. He wriggled his hindquarters, judging the distance and preparing for a jump. He leapt forward, landing squarely on the vole. He quickly bit down, and stood with the limp creature in his jaws. "We probably scared away all the prey here," he meowed, his voice muffled from the rodent's fur. "Let's head back and see what we can find in the forest on the way home."

{ Cinder or Fox could catch a rabbit? }

Cinderstar nodded, and lead the way back into the dense trees, keeping a sharp eye out for prey. He scented the air, careful not to drop his catch, and scented rabbit. "I smell rabbit," he whispered, careful to keep his voice down so as not to spook the rabbit out of hiding.

{ No biggie! I'm poofy too. }

"I have an idea," the leader whispered. "You go around, and scare the rabbit towards me you chase it, and it'll be so scared it won't be expecting me. I'll ambush it here," he said quietly, crouching under a large bramble bush.

{ So sorry, Fox! }

Cinderstar heard Foxtrot growl, and readied himself to pounce. He heard leaves scuffle and scatter as the rabbit raced towards him. As soon as he saw it, he launched off his powerful hind legs and snagged the rodent by a hind leg, almost missing it, but pulling it down nevertheless. He swiftly gave it a bite to the back of the neck, quieting it instantly. He looked up proudly, dragging the large rabbit. "This'll feed the clan," he tried to say, but it sounded more like, "Isll eed a an." He nodded to thd vole, asking Foxtrot to carry it, and he started to drag the rabbit back home.

{ Would you like to be done for the night? I don't want to keep you, and I'm really distracted. }

Cinderstar grunted with the effort of keeping the large rabbit off the ground. "This'll be a feast for the whole clan, if we can get it back," he muttered. His neck ached from keeping it off the ground, but he eventually dragged it into camp and wrestled it into the fresh-kill pile.

{ Let's continue tomorrow ^^ }