Winter Hunting [HR]

CLOUDHEART:

The air was cold in his lungs as he as the ginger and white tom slipped out of the dens, frosty blue eyes blinking against the light of the morning sun. He was definitely feeling his aching paw today and he knew it would be sore for quite some time. The claws would grow back, no sweat, but he was still irritated with himself for having allowed his temper to control him to begin with... and because two clanmates had witnessed his little tantrum. Cloudheart gave a soft sigh, breath billowing out into the frosty air. Soon he would be going on a patrol with one, or perhaps both, of his squad members. He just had to wait for them to join him. Smudgenose especially wasn't a cat to laze around, so he suspected that his old kithood friend would be joining him before too long. The sooner the better, so that he could try and work out some of this soreness.

SMUDGENOSE:

With the recent promotion of the rest of Cicadasong's kits, and the apprenticeships of Teapaw and Widowthroat, changes had understandably been made to squads. Though truthfully, Smudgenose hadn't been expecting a change to his own squad. Upon hearing the news of who his new guard would be, he truly didn't know what to think. He'd been best friends with Cloudheart when they were little, and then their lives as apprentices had actively sought to push them apart, it would have seemed. Now moons later, he was left viewing his friend as a stranger. Smudgenose supposed he would do his best to take the whole situation in stride, as it came, but the nerves were almost enough to make him sick. Wanting to leave a good first impression on his new guard, he'd woken earlier and wandered out to approach Cloudheart with a tiny, nervous smile. "Duskleap is still sleeping, if you'd like to get in a quick morning hunt without them? We can always go back out later as a full squad," he offered, deciding to try and be all business. Besides, with the temperatures cooling off, it really would be good to try and get in at least two hunts a day, to keep the freshkill pile as well-stocked as possible.

CLOUDHEART:

The voice of Smudgenose soon reached his ears, as he suspected that it would. Cloudheart turned his head towards his new partner, ears flicking slightly in thought, before he gave a nod in response. "That sounds good." he agreed. He was far too restless to sit in one place for very long... and the camp was coming along nicely. The freshkill pile looked a little low, so multiple hunts wouldn't be a bad thing. He started forwards without saying anything else to Smudgenose. He did wonder though- what did his old kithood friend think of him, if anything at all? He and Smudgenose had been so close when they were little... That felt like eons ago, after all that had happened since the early moons of their lives.

SMUDGENOSE:

The black and white tom stood for a moment as Cloudheart rose and simply started walking off, before finally lurching into motion behind his guard. Trotting quickly, he drew level with the white and ginger tom's shoulder and walked alongside him in silence for a moment. He found himself wondering what one said to an estranged childhood friend. "So how have you been?" Smudgenose couldn't help but mentally cringe as soon as the words left his maw. How well could one be after the whole mountain lion debacle?! True, some Clanmates were taking it better than others, but he didn't think anyone was without adjustment pains- especially with Teapaw now part of the Clan. "Actually, you don't have to answer that. It's stupid question anyways," he quickly added, glancing away to avoid his embarrassment.

CLOUDHEART:

Smudgenose was quick to follow suit, falling in line beside the ginger and white tom and matching his strides. Silence lapsed between them for just a few heartbeats, before the other asked him how he’d been. It was a perfectly mundane question, no harm meant, and Cloudheart immediately swallowed his irritation that he had even been asked. ”As well as possible, with all that’s happened lately.” he responded simply, with a flick of one tattered ear. Smudgenose had retracted the question almost as quickly as he’d asked it, but Cloudheart had answered it all the same. He didn’t ask how his old friend was doing, however. To do so would open up more windows for conversation, windows that he would prefer to keep shut if he could manage. So he continued on without another word, frosty blue eyes sweeping about their surroundings in search for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing to concern him at the moment… Although he didn’t particularly expect anything to come up.

SMUDGENOSE:

He found himself waiting for the question to be returned, but didn't find himself wholly surprised when it never was. Cloudheart had changed a lot since they were kits, and there were some gaps not even Smudgenose, friendly and caring, could bridge- at least not by himself. It was so hard to fully put himself on the line anymore, that he'd need to see some effort on Cloudheart's end before he fully committed. As it was, he'd focus on their task at paw. Roll: 9 +2, 11. Success! Scenting a rabbit on the breeze, it wasn't much longer that the rodent came shooting into their path and tried to make a quick escape. Somehow Smudgenose was quicker, however, darting off from Cloudheart's side to run the prey down and catch it with a flying leap and tackle.

CLOUDHEART:

It was painfully clear that Smudgenose was waiting for a reciprocal answer and, when it never came, a bit of awkward silence lapsed between the two toms. Cloudheart didn't push the mantle though, not backing down from his determination to continue being antisocial either. Although... unless he wanted the atmosphere to be this awkward all the time, he supposed he was going to have to relax just a little, now wasn't he?  Cloudheart opened his mouth to return his question, but didn't get the chance to do so as Smudgenose suddenly launched himself forward. The hunter had spotted a rabbit up ahead and bore down upon it with surprising speed. It barely had time to squeal before it was humanely killed. Cloudheart didn't say anything right away, instead standing vigil in case any predators heard that brief squeal or caught the scent of blood.

SMUDGENOSE:

The rabbit dispatched, Smudgenose dropped it and subtly glanced back at Cloudheart to see what his guard was doing. It appeared he was keeping an eye out for danger, but the black and white hunter still couldn't help the pang of frustration and disappointment he felt when no praise was forthcoming. Naturally this was his job, he would do it with or without praise or thanks, but it had always been nice when he was paired with a guard who recognized his hard work. "We'll have to bury this for later and head somewhere else, or just go back into camp. I bet all the other prey in the area has gone into hiding for now," he commented, dragging a paw over the soft pelt of his catch. Idly he wondered how hard it was to skin an animal, thinking of the pelts CaveClanners wore, and thought a rabbit pelt would make a nice nest liner for the cooler months.

CLOUDHEART:

Perhaps Cloudheart sensed Smudgenose’s frustration and disappointment, or perhaps he had intended to give praise and just hadn’t done so yet. Either option was very likely but either way, the praise soon came. ”Good job.” he stated. ”Burying and coming back sounds like a good idea. If we can catch one more prey item I think the pile will be in good shape.” He started to make his way into another direction, but it was then that he spotted a familiar form up ahead. One he wished wasn’t familiar. ”Lets go the other way.” he mumbled as he turned into another direction. He did not want to deal with Boneblaze anymore than he had to. 

SMUDGENOSE:

If Cloudheart wanted to move on and try to catch more, then Smudgenose would go along with him. But first the black and white tom buried his current catch, to keep any predators from easily finding it, before plodding along behind the orange and white guard. He nearly ran smack dab into the larger tom at his abrupt switch in directions, peering into the distance at Boneblaze before altering his own course heading away from Cloudheart's sibling. Yeah, he really didn't want to get into the middle of their drama today either. Roll: 16 +2, 18! Scenting the air, his eyes lit up as he realized they wouldn't have to move on very far in order to catch more. "Stop," he whispered firmly, dropping into a crouch as he spotted the bird he'd just smelled. Gliding forward, he gathered his haunches underneath himself before launching forward to finish the hunt off nice and cleanly

CLOUDHEART:

”Stop.” That single word had the ginger and white tom stopping on his tracks, dropping down into a crouch in order to stay obscured and not sabotage his partner’s hunt. He remained quiet and still, watching as the hunter glided forward. The other tom exploded out of his cover and killed the bird off with ease, as Cloudheart expected that he would. ”Well done. That should be enough.” he waved his tail as he indicated that they should turn and head back. This was enough to count as a successful haul.