Mossclan; Cats of the Wetlands (Open)

Crowstep stared silently down at the young cat, his expression virtually unreadable before he gave a nonchalant shrug, "If you believe you know best and can gain no value from awareness of your own territory, I suppose you can stay here then." He paused as he flicked his tail towards the elder's den where Ashcloud and Russetwhisker sat chatting away, before speaking again. "I'm sure the elders could use tending to if you feel that you're above such tasks." Again there was that eerie lack of emotion, not even anger or annoyance eminating from the tall tom. It was as if he truly didn't care one way or another. He hadn't intended to refamiliarize them with the whole territory but he felt little desire to explain himself to the young cat, after all, it was Jackalleap's duty to deal with him and his uneccessary questions.

Perhaps the warrior was being unfairly harsh, however, as was the nature of Crowstep though it was rarely an intended behavior. More simply just the way he was, a fact most of the older cats just accepted and put up with. "As for you, Swallowpaw, You've not yet had the chance to acquaint yourself with the mountainous regions. It wouldn't hurt you to experience them before you're living there for the next several moons." He explained. The dawn patrol, himself being among them, had assured there were no signs of large predators in the immediate area and he would like to use that fact to the advantage of training the young she-cat. That and he'd heard Willowbreeze's warning about the fox in the dry forest, the mountains would be safe enough.

Smokefeather continued for sometime, perhaps her focus further masking the conversations behind her, until the damp grass slipped away to forest floor. Supposedly the fox had been spotted in the forest, though they clearly weren't far enough in to pick up a strong scent, however, she did catch the faintest traces on the wind. There was no mistaking a fox was in the forest somewhere. "It's certainly been making itself at home.." she murmured, although aware it was unlikely the others would be able to easily pick out such a faint smell among the forest scents.

Nevertheless, the subtle comment was more for her own benefit, and to warn the patrol they were in enemy territory at this point. It wasn't hard, however, to pick out the scents of Longnose and Sagedream, both of whom she assumed had passed by on their way back to camp. She continued forward with upright ears and concentrated focus on the scents among the forest, her paws light on the long dead leaves. Perhaps both to and against their benefit, the melting snow had made the leaves and ground somewhat mushy, masking their pawsteps for the most part but doing the same for anything else in the forest.

Willowbreeze offered the clan leader a sympathetic smile, knowing well Smokefeather's antics were fairly well known through the camp. She certainly wouldn't want to humiliate the poor cat, least of all during such an important task, but she could empathize with Stormstar's concern. They had their share of reckless cats, but none seemed to match Smokefeather in actively overworking herself senseless. "If nothing else, I'll keep an eye on her. I'm pretty good at staying busy without overworking, after all. Maybe I can shoot some ideas for her Sagedream's way that'll keep Smokefeather busy but non-exhaustively." She purred quietly for Stormstar's ears alone. Her words were sincere enough despite the joking nature in the latter half, and she hoped that alone could assuage some of the older cat's worries as well as some of Smokefeather's self-imposed burdens.

However, as Smokefeather paused and made it clear enough they were to pay attention, she lifted her own head with upright ears. Glancing around, she was ever impressed by the nature of trackers, completely unable to catch the scent of fox that the grey she-cat seemed to have already gotten some idea of. She really was a fine tracker.

With his own meal little more than bones, the tom stretched his muscles with a wide yawn, though he only settled himself more comfortably after doing so. Ashcloud could at least take some pride in keeping Russetwhisker company, even if it was just as much for his own benefit, and technically guarding the camp was a task in itself. It was enough to soothe his own ever scarce worries. "I can't imagine we'll need to worry too much this far from the forest." he stated in agreement, glancing over the clearing now devoid of the gathered patrol, though he offered a prayer to Starclan that it went off without a hitch.

"Not that I'm complaining, I'll take a nice day in the sun on faux guard duty over, well..." He let his voice trail off in a form of expression, it no more a secret that he was disinterested in the work that awaited him outside of camp. His ears swiveled to the camp entrance though, noticing a few warriors returning in the form of Nightlark and Maplesplash. "Huh, didn't even notice they were gone. Perhaps on a romantic rendezvous." he spoke playfully, the latter half loud enough for the two to hear him if they were paying attention. Honestly, he was probably the onyl one that would sneak away for any shenanigans with another cat but, well, pokign fun never hurt anyone.

If the warrior noticed the frustration of Driftpaw, he chose not to acknowledge it. Crowstep's behavior was odd but perhaps there was a benefit when met with otherwise unruly apprentices, whether he thought about it or not. "A wise choice." he replied with a heavy sense of indifference, as if it really didn't matter to him one way or another, but he had no complaints with the additional apprentice so long as they behaved themselves.

He then regarded Swallowpaw with a nod, paying little mind to the stutter of the young cat. If he could understand her then that was enough. "It's good to hear you understand the value, Runners and Trackers both must know their territory well, otherwise they become little more than a burden to their clan." he explained, perhaps a little more direct than another warrior might have put it, but certainly not wholly incorrect. "Come along now. The sooner we arrive, the better." Crowstep stated clearly, knowing well they'd need to return home well before the night masked the danger of the mountains. With that said, he headed for the camp's exit, nodding a brief greeting to the returning warriors.

Longnose nodded softly, both in agreement to bringing up the issue of the bones later and in regards to the aid with carrying home the freshkill. The forest sure had become strange today and the long-legged she-cat was looking forward to leaving it. How odd that the soft wet ground of the marsh had become so much more inviting than the forest, or perhaps that wasn't so odd for a Mossclan cat. It was strange, however, that such a simple outting had brought up such concerning signs. Nevertheless, The light she-cat split the prey pile fairly evenly so that neither of them would be more overburdened than the other. It wasn't the massive pile they may have liked for the day but it was well enough for leafbare and hopefully easier to carry back.

"Let's hurry back, then, I don't want to hold you up too long." she purred softly with gratitude before picking up her share of the pile. Then, when sure Sagedream was ready to move along, would begin the trip home.

Believing his words well enough recieved by the two cats, Crowstep seemed to pay little mind to the conversation behind him whether he'd heard or not, though with ears as large as his it was hard not to catch the faint word here or there. Even so, being considered unusual among the clan was hardly new knowledge and even rarer was the instant that it bothered him, though behaps it was more common as a young apprentice. Nevertheless, once he was a fair distance outside the enclosure of the camp, he glanced back towards the apprentices, "Now, I presume you both know where the mountains are." He began, flicking his tail towards the massive inclines of rock quite visible from just about anywhere in the territory.

"Although there are numerous paths into the mountains, I'll show you the one we use when we leave for the Newleaf camp. Remember to stay close, the rivers have risen and become strong with the melted snow." Crowstep explained before turning and making a run towards the first river. It was not a far distance by any means, but his long legs carried him there fast and perhaps he wanted to see how long it would take the two young cats to reach him. Even a runner's apprentice would find it impossible to keep up with a fully fledged runner immediately, their legs not yet full grown, but it was ever necessary to gauge their potential. The short distance, he assumed, would be equally manageable for the young tracker in training.

With the assurance that Sagedream was prepared move out, Longnose nodded in understanding before beginning the journey home. She was perhaps just as grateful to be away from the muddy forest floor, grateful that as damp as their marshy territory was, at least the dampness didn't seem to form as much mud and filth. The spongy surface was to thank for that she would imagine, though the pale colored she-cat hardly spent her days thinking about the composition of their territory.

With the two of them and no particular hunting breaks in between, it was but a brisk trot back to the camp and the warrior was certainly grateful to see the small enclosure at the edge of the sunken trees. Perhaps it was her imagination, but somehow she felt the water was just a little bit higher than when she left, though she was more keen to believe it was merely anxiety. After all, they'd be leaving any day now. Padding up to the freshkil pile, she placed her burden among the other pieces of prey, tilting her head in mild surprise as she noticed there was more there than before she left. "I see we weren't the only ones hunting this morning." Longnose purred in relief as she stood aside to let Sagedream add her own prey to the pile.

As the she-cat slipped further and further into the forest, ever aware of the patrol behind her, if ignorant to their conversations, she began to pick up on a more direct trail. Rather, a stronger scent that seemed less like it was consuming the forest as a whole and more like an actual lead. It seemed to overlap with the scent of cat and she could only assume that perhaps the fox had been following someone for short time, the scents breaking away from eachother with its implied disinterest in pursuing. That in itself was relieving, feeling confident that although the beast might have considered following someone back towards the camp, it seemed to have lost interest in light of something else.

Even so, it was a strong trail and more than hinted that the fox had been here recently, though likely earlier in the morning. She wondered if it was perhaps just after Sagedream and Longnose had spotted it, but she had no further evidence to conclude that, nor did it really matter too much in the long-term. With her tail, she signaled that they were growing fairly close, actively alerting the patrol though she had a feeling the strength of the scent was well and fully apparent now. If that weren't enough, continuing along the trail showed many a kicked-up leaf and signs of fox dung. Eventually she came to an abrupt stop, eyes focused on a red-furred shape in the distance, just within eyesight.

Perhaps Willowbreeze might have been flattered by the thought she was coming off on the more clever side, her humor often disguising it whether intentionally or not. Starclan knew the confident she-cat hardly needed her ego inflated by such praise. "If she gives me too much trouble, I'll get her on that rock and just sit on her." the white cat added softly, though fully in jest. After all, a cat forced to rest rarely rested well, thus they simply had to find a way to get Smokefeather to rest on her own terms. Not really all that simple but light work might be enough to slowly inch the young cat down to a more bearable workload. Perhaps in a subtle act of comfort, she brushed lightly against the Leader's side before speaking again, "You can trust in us. I imagine much and more of the clan would be happy to help as well." Nevertheless, such things would have to wait until this fox business was handled, though sometimes she felt like predators were less trouble than internal clan affairs. She didn't particularly mind it, though, internal affairs tended to be the result of fairly peaceful times for the clan. It was challenging in it's own right but almost pleasant with the right mindset.

Regardless, she fell to silence as she quietly padded along after Smokefeather, head raised high and ears fully perked for even the slightest of sounds. However, for the time being, all she heard was the faintest sounds of their own breathing and the light squish of their paws in the muddy earth. It wasn't the sound that would catch her attention, though, it was the scent of fox growing more clear as they walked along, the signs from Smokefeather alerting her to the threat they were approaching. She hadn't imagined it'd just leave on its own, but that didn't mean she was excited either when the vague shape appeared on the horizon ahead of them. Even being out of its immediate notice, Willowbreeze couldn't prevent the prickling of nerves that stiffened her muscles.

The tom was quiet at first as he listened to Russetwhisker, perhaps even taken off-guard by the direct nature of which she spoke of duties some cats would view as lesser. He couldn't say he disagreed either, in a way. Ashcloud didn't often consider the more 'menial' duties that were required to keep the clan functioning, and he certainly didn't think he put much effort into them anymore than more heavy effort tasks but he couldn't help finding the concept interesting. Maybe that was wisdom he wouldn't truly understand until he had retired as well and could really appreciate it, but it was certainly food for thought. Being a bit of a 'meat head' himself, thinking too hard didn't often come naturally to him, after all. "I guess that makes sense, I suppose even a patrol of fighters is useless if a predator attacks camp in their absence." he replied, as if attempting to better grasp the older cat's words.

Nevertheless, a Mrrow of laughter escaped the young tom upon realizing he had, in fact been heard -- all the more amused by his grandmother's comment at his expense. Of course, he doubted any romantic feelings existed between Nightlark and Maplesplash, but he couldn't possibly resist poking fun at his fellow warriors. "A romantic rendezvous is indeed what you heard! You and young Maplesplash, you beast!" he exclaimed playfully in reply to Nightlark, sticking his tongue out in a manner matching his tone. Then he returned his attention to Russetwhisker with a dramatic sound of shock, "Oh but how tragic it would be if I didn't leave some cats for the others..!? It is a sacrifice I must make to let some escape my claws!" It was surely no secret he tended to get around but he wasn't particularly ashamed of it either. At least he tended to keep it in the clan, unlike certain other more leacherous warriors -- not that he was naming any names. However, he blinked with a sudden realization as Russetwhisker reminded him about the fox, "That's right, they weren't here for all that." he murmured thoughtfully before glancing back towards the two warriors, "Heads up, a fox was sighted in the territory. Stormstar took a patrol out to deal with it, but he wants everyone to remain cautious until they return."