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Post by absurdjinx on Sept 10, 2023 8:56:46 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/PTwRRvv/mink~jpg | minkfrost, "good or bad, it passes
tomorrow's a lifetime of chances"
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Minkfrost had woken up early for the dawn border patrol. She and three other clanmates had marked the RidgeClan border on empty stomachs, returned to camp to find a couple of gaunt shrews on the fresh-kill pile that they shared, and then settled down for a nap. Minkfrost hadn’t been able to sleep. She’d seen Duskclaw and Cindersong talking and spotting the two of them together made her mind race. She feared Duskclaw would lose interest in her and leave her for Cindersong. Besides Duskclaw, Littlewing was her closest friend, but he and Dappledfern were mates and considering starting a family. Neither of them would have time to attend the pity party she’d throw for herself if Duskclaw left her. Maybe Turtlewhisker could find the time. And her mother would surely expect an invitation. But Minkfrost would rather not lose Duskclaw in the first place. Unable to rest, she ended up in the fields for a mid-day hunt and had quickly discovered fresh mouse tracks in the snow. How lucky Minkfrost was that it wasn’t currently snowing and she wondered if she’d be able to find more tracks later that had yet to be covered up. She began following the trail, which guided her closer and closer to the MistClan border, and she started thinking the mouse might’ve wandered over the boundary. A few fox-lengths before PrairieClan territory gave way to MistClan territory, Minkfrost halted. On PrairieClan’s side of the border lied a hole in the ground, about a tail-length ahead of her, and the tracks led right to it. Minkfrost retreated backwards a bit, just enough so she could still reach the hole with a pounce, but far enough so that she wouldn’t be the first thing the mouse saw when it emerged. By how strong the scent was, Minkfrost knew the mouse was in the hole and she just had to bide her time. She moved downwind and settled down behind a patch of tall grass that the snow had spared, waiting. Just as she started thinking about Duskclaw and Cindersong again, she noticed a tiny pink nose poke out of the hole. After a lengthy moment, a skinny brown mouse climbed out, paused to sniff the air, and then bounded in Minkfrost’s direction. Once it stopped again, she decided she’d never get a better chance. She sprang out from her hiding spot and the mouse didn’t have time to react before she landed directly on it, pinning it beneath outstretched claws. She swiftly delivered a fatal bite and stood over her catch for a moment to murmur, “ Thank you, StarClan, for this prey.” |
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Post by robin on Oct 24, 2023 6:51:07 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/XSZtWPV/49656328417-51a2b3a570-c~jpg Turtlewhisker Sunlight filtered into the den, the sound of chatter resonating from outside and disturbing the tortoiseshell from her dreamscape. Her claws had been mere inches from the throat of an unsuspecting shrew and now she was blinking amber eyes open to stare at the empty nest across from her. Sighing, a cloud billowed from her mouth and Turtlewhisker could do nothing but shiver at the idea of leaving the relative safety of her nest. Her fur offered little protection from the elements and she longed for the days of greenleaf. Where the weather was warm and the prey was plentiful. Her stomach growled, as if on cue, prompting her to sit up. The clan had to be fed, and then maybe once she'd provided for others, she could settle down for a bite. Stretching out her long limbs, Turtlewhisker emerged out of the den and squinted against the sunlight. She didn't know how the sun could be so bright, but provide so little warmth. Fluffing up her fur as much as she could, she headed for the exit, nodding to those of her clanmates who called a greeting before ducking out of the camp. Turtlewhisker's paws guided her through the Prairieclan meadows, wishing that the sun would warm her pelt as she moved. Mouth parted to pick up the faintest trace of prey scent. Leaf-bare was always the hardest when it came to tracking prey, especially with the layer of snow that had covered everything and was chilling her pads to their core. She paused. Inhaling deeply as a familiar scent tickled her nostrils and her eyes brightened as she veered off her previous path. It wasn't prey scent that she'd detected, but cat scent. Minkfrost. Her friend was somewhere close by, potentially on a quest for prey too, perhaps they could team up to take down something bigger... Like a rabbit or hare? If they could find one. Before long she'd journeyed towards the border with Mistclan, and her fur began to prickle warily. They had no bad blood with the neighbouring clan at that moment, but that didn't mean that Turtlewhisker wanted to be so close to their territory. She wondered if Minkfrost was hunting nearby, or worse... If she'd crossed the border to do so. Starclan, she hoped not. The snap of a twig nearby had Turtlewhisker bristling and she sank into a crouch, her belly fur brushing against the ground as she crept forward. Peering through the grass, she relaxed when she saw Minkfrost on their side of the border, a mouse at her paws and she stood. "Hunting a bit close to the border, aren't we?" she mewed, a purr in her voice as she stepped out of her hiding spot and approached the other molly. The scent of Mistclan made her wrinkle her nose distastefully. Surely there were other places to hunt, where they weren't at risk of running into a hostile patrol. |
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Post by absurdjinx on Oct 27, 2023 3:37:41 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/PTwRRvv/mink~jpg | minkfrost, "good or bad, it passes
tomorrow's a lifetime of chances"
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“ Hunting a bit close to the border, aren’t we?” Minkfrost was so focused on thanking StarClan for the mouse that she hadn’t noticed anyone sneaking up on her. She jumped as Turtlewhisker’s voice flooded her ears, but due to her shock, didn’t quite recognize the sound as familiar yet. Minkfrost whirled around to face the threat she was sure stood behind her, the fur along her spine erect and her claws unsheathed. A fire raged in her soft blue eyes and her tail lashed furiously behind her. She was clearly prepared to take on anything, even if she had to do it by herself. But when her gaze settled on Turtlewhisker, looking as relaxed as ever, Minkfrost felt embarrassment warm her pelt. She abandoned her defensive stance and chuckled awkwardly in an attempt to turn her humiliation into genuine amusement, but it was futile. She knew she should’ve been more alert, especially so close to the border, but she couldn’t go back and change things. All she could do was silently promise to do better and hope Turtlewhisker wouldn’t mock her for her lack of awareness. As she turned back to her mouse, Minkfrost felt like she had to defend her decision to venture close to the MistClan border. “ I followed the mouse’s tracks, which brought me here. The clan needs to eat.” However, she couldn’t deny that she’d been wrong to let her guard down, even if it was to thank their ancestors for the mouse, so she reluctantly added, “ But I suppose I should’ve paid more attention to my surroundings.” As if to prove she had learned her lesson, Minkfrost scanned the area and parted her jaws slightly to taste the air. There were no signs that anyone besides herself and Turtlewhisker were present. She glanced over at her friend and said, “ Now that there’s no mouse to focus on catching, I feel a tad uneasy being so near the MistClan border. Let’s go deeper into the fields.” As of recently, PrairieClan and MistClan have developed a positive relationship, and RidgeClan was the clan to look out for, but the cat who killed Minkfrost’s father was currently of MistClan. Being a stone’s throw away from the home of her father’s killer made her feel a variety of emotions, emotions she didn’t want to deal with right now. She leaned over to scoop up her mouse and headed in the opposite direction of MistClan’s territory, careful not to pierce her catch with her thorn-sharp teeth. With a flick of her tail-tip, Minkfrost motioned for Turtlewhisker to follow her. She didn’t say a word as they walked to prevent accidentally tearing through the skin of her mouse, but the journey was short and within no time, a little hill stood between them and MistClan’s border. Minkfrost set her mouse down and dug a small hole in the snow to place it in before thoroughly burying it. As she did so, she finally spoke, “ What brings you out here, Turtlewhisker?” After concluding, she huffed, her breath creating a visible cloud in the air, and shook each paw, trying to remove the lingering snow out from between her toes. Minkfrost enjoyed water and loved to fish and swim in the river when it wasn’t covered in ice, but snow was something entirely different. She was not a fan of snow, or leaf-bare in general. The majority of cats despised it, but she was adamant that she hated it more than anyone else. |
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Post by robin on Nov 18, 2023 11:13:05 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/XSZtWPV/Turtlewhisker-posting-pic~jpg Turtlewhisker Turtlewhisker couldn't keep from laughing when she saw how Minkfrost jumped, spinning around as if ready to face the whole of Ridgeclan. Clearly, she had taken the she-cat by surprise, which hadn't wholly been her intention, but perhaps it had been foolish to sneak up on her as she had. "Keep your tail on" she purred, tail flicking and giving away the amusement she'd felt at her clanmates reaction. Trotting forward, her mouth watered at seeing the mouse resting at Minkfrost's paws, her stomach grumbled petulantly and she scowled in spite of herself. Leaf-bare was never kind to the clans, making prey scarce and forcing many to go to their nests with empty bellies.
"It's a nice catch" a sincere compliment, though Turtlewhisker wasn't sure if they'd be lucky enough to catch anything else that day. "You should've, but I understand why you were distracted" being preoccupied by the hunt made it difficult to focus on the surrounding area, especially in leaf-bare when prey was hard to find and the only thing playing on the mind was how your stomach hurt with hunger and how the rest of the clan were suffering similarly. At the suggestion of moving away from the border, Turtlewhisker dipped her head in agreement. She had no strong desire to hang around the border, it was inviting trouble and there was no need to stir up conflict, especially not during leaf-bare when everyone was already stretched too thin. Following Minkfrost further into their own territory, Turtlewhisker kept her mouth parted for any trace of prey scent, though the snow made even an accomplished tracker like herself struggle. They walked in silence for a little while, and there was no protest for the tortoiseshell, preoccupied with her own thoughts of prey - a mouse, or a plump rabbit would really go a long way at that moment. When they finally stopped, Turtlewhisker sat and curled her tail neatly over her paws. " I actually came out here to hunt, myself" she explained, gaze searching the white expanse around them for any tracks left behind by hare or rabbit, something big enough to give the clan a hearty meal, but there was little indication anything had passed by recently. "I caught your scent instead and thought we might have better luck trying for rabbit, if there are any above ground"She didn't know how successful they might be, but there wasn't any harm in trying their luck for a while. If they came across something else on their search, then they could always take a detour. |
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Post by absurdjinx on Nov 28, 2023 8:40:21 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/PTwRRvv/mink~jpg | minkfrost, "good or bad, it passes
tomorrow's a lifetime of chances"
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As Turtlewhisker explained what had brought her to the fields, gaze scanning the landscape before them, Minkfrost stared at the spot where she’d buried the mouse. Her stomach was past the rumbling stage and far into the sharp pains stage, and the smell of the mouse when she’d been carrying it had been mouth-watering. She’d love nothing more than to devour the fresh-kill right now, but she’d never be able to break the code in such a way, especially not when there were vulnerable clanmates at camp, relying on her to feed them. Minkfrost tore her eyes away from the spot and watched Turtlewhisker look out over the snow-covered field for a moment before following her friend’s gaze. The ground remained undisturbed, no prints in sight. She knew she’d been lucky to stumble upon the mouse’s trail, but maybe with Turtlewhisker’s tracking expertise, they’d be able to find a rabbit. “ There might be one or two wandering around somewhere. They’ve got to eat, too, right? And the clan could really benefit from something as large as a rabbit, even if it’s a scrawny one.” There was nothing good about leaf-bare. Cats went hungry, everyone was constantly exhausted, sickness became more common, and more. And, although it was a minor annoyance, Minkfrost hated that she couldn’t fish. Few of her clanmates liked to eat fish, which meant she mostly went fishing for just herself - and the river was always full of all types of fish! In leaf-bare, she was limited to land prey, like mice and rabbits. She wasn’t picky, but she did miss fish. She definitely wouldn’t mind eating some rabbit later, though. “ That is, if you can track one,” Minkfrost teased with a playful smirk, an amused twinkle in her eye. Though she teased, she knew that Turtlewhisker was one of PrairieClan’s most skilled trackers and had the best chances of finding a rabbit. “ But let’s head to the other side of the fields first,” Minkfrost said, already starting in that direction. “ I didn’t notice any signs of rabbits over here. And when we’re done, we’ll come back for the mouse.” At least if they failed to find a rabbit, they’d still return to camp with something. The mouse was small and bony, but no cat could risk being finicky in leaf-bare. “ Tell me how you’re doing, Turtlewhisker. We’ve got time before we arrive at our destination.” Minkfrost and Turtlewhisker have known one another for moons and moons, but they’d never been particularly close. Out of their friend group, she’d always felt closest to Nettlefang and Littlewing, but she still really enjoyed Turtlewhisker’s company and cared about how she was doing. Turtlewhisker was someone Minkfrost knew she could rely on and while they may not be the closest of friends, she believed their bond was strong enough to stretch beyond a lifetime. |
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