RiverClan RolePlay

She was purring again. That was a good sign. So she does enjoy my company! Brackenfall thought. "You're welcome!" He replied warmly.

Eyeing Rainspots closely, he could see she was looking at the fresh-kill pile. As honest as her effort may have been, the fresh-kill pile was small and Rainspots' stunt hadn't brought back any prey. However, her fur seemed to be drying quickly. "Do you want to go out again later? We could go together, maybe I can help!" He suggested, viewing it as the perfect opportunity.

Brackenful jumped up, slightly taken aback at Rainspots enthusiasm. "Right away? You're still wet though!" She protested. As much as he wanted to spend time with her, he wasn't too enthused about her catching her death. Seeing her smile, and that gentle but excited prod with her paw pushed him over the edge though, and he shrugged. "All right then! To the river?"

Brackenfall grinned, staring at Rainspots sudden change. From calmy grooming her fur, she had gone to hopping about in excitement. Brackenfall almost found it hard to believe this was actually all in favour of the hunting outing. "Well, great!" He chirped anyway, following her through the entrance and towards the river. No complaints from him, he was just happy to see her smile.

Thornwhisker sat on the shore of the river, on a boulder that jutted out into the water just slightly. It put him in just the right position to swat at any flitting fish and swing them onto the rocks. And sure enough, within a few moments, he darted out with his paw and flung a streak of silver past his shoulder and onto the gray rocks. Thornwhisker gleamed. It was nice and fat, certainly enough to feed a whole nest of hungry kits.

Strayheart nosed his way through the reeds by the shore just in time to see a flash of silver closer to the riverbank. Distantly, he blinked at the sight, and wondered if there was another cat hunting here.

When he emerged, it was to the treat of seeing Thornwhisker on the hunt. And it was most definitely a treat. The way his pelt shone in the light, the precision of his movements...

...Oh, and there was Rainspots and Brackenfall coming up from the other end.

Now it was becoming a group, and Strayheart's nose started to wrinkle at the thought.

After his conversation with Silverleaf, he'd just wanted to hunt and think to himself for a while--alone--but this was his favorite spot to do that in... where else was he supposed to go?

...With a jolt, Strayheart realized he'd been staring in his zoned-out state--and at Brackenfall as the tortoiseshell tom approached. With a flinch and a lashing of his tail, he tore his eyes away, shoving back the admiring thoughts that had started to form about the other tom. Instead he recalled, briefly, about what he and Silverleaf had discussed.

Maybe... he could still hunt here? Not all of his Clanmates hated him, right?

He decided to chance it. Slowly crept out from his reedbed-hiding place and started to approach. Awkwardly clearing his throat and keeping his ears and tail down as he made his way over.

Thornwhisker was closer, so he slunk towards the other tom.

"Good catch!" he started--and then feeling a little more awkward because he never praised other cats, usually. "Er... m-mind if I join you here?"

Rainspots looked down at the river. There were several fish swimming there. Many of them were quite large. She stole a glance toward Thornwhisker and noticed Strayheart had appeared. Her whiskers drooped a bit as Strayheart took up Thornwhisker's attention.

Rainspots shook her head and settled down on a flat rock beside the water, trying to convince herself it didn't matter. She watched the fish below for a long time before finally lifting a paw. She chose a fish and her paw darted into the water. She clumsily hooked the fish out of its element and onto the rocks.

For a moment she stared at it in surprise. The fish flopped around making the pebbles clack together. Rainspots pounced and tried to pin it. It was far too big for her to stop its convulsions. Awkwardly, she tried putting all her weight on it, but with no luck. The fish smacked her nose and she jumped back with a squeak.

Brackenfall eyed Rainspots for a moment. As devoted to her catch as she was, she was going about it all wrong. It seemed more like she threw herself on the fish, rather than nimbly whipping it out of the water.

He watched the ordeal for a moment longer. In any other situation, he might have even found it funny. But all Brackenfall could do today was hide his pity.

Breaking his train of thought, he darted forward to the fish and bit it in the neck, quickly silencing its sputters and allowing Rainspots the time to stand up and wipe the slime from her fur.

---

Thornwhisker hid a smile as Strayheart's pelt brushed his, though it settled flat again moments later. While they often found themselves in similar situations in the Warrior's den, this instances had never made much of an impression on Thornwhisker as it was the clan way to sleep so close to each other. And he did preserve heat.

This moment, however, held a precious and unspoken intimacy that Thornwhisker wouldn't give up if all of Starclan descended down from the sky.

He looked up at the sound of a vicious splashing and the slapping of a fish on the rock, as well as Strayheart's voice. It seemed Rainspots had just been beaten in battle by a fish. Thornwhisker forced back a chuckle.

"It's a wonder she was born here at all, really. You'd think she was born among those scrawny Thunderclan cats with the way she fishes." Thornwhisker quickly shook this comment off, not wanting to seem rude or uncaring. "She'll learn though, she just needs time. And Brackenfall seems a fine cat to help her."

Thornwhisker turned his gaze back down to the water, enduring the moment of a silence. You're a fine cat too, you know. He couldn't help thinking.

Actually, when Thornwhisker compared their Clanmate to those mange-pelt ThunderClan cats, Strayheart laughed. Under his breath, mind, so it was more of a chuckle, but still.

And he nodded along, agreeing with the rest of what Thornwhisker said too. Maybe not being a grump won't be as difficult as I thought, if this keeps up.

"Not everyone can be good at everything, I guess," he murmured out loud. "Brackenfall's a pretty decent teacher. If any cat can show Rainspots how to hunt, he can." And look amazing as he does it, he added inwardly with a flick of his tail. Then flinching because the motion caused a full-on whack to Thornwhisker's flank completely unintentionally. Never-mind being grumpy! I'm not used to sharing space with anyone either! Mouse-dung!

Rather hastily, he shimmied the tiniest bit to the side; although, any farther and he would surely end up falling right off the rock.

As it was, he couldn't get himself to look at Thornwhisker directly again. Even if he mumbled an apology under his breath.

The medicine cat was, indeed, present in his den; much to any cat's surprise (or rather, lack thereof), however, he was sound asleep.

Tabs was curled up in a peaceful ball in the back of his den, in a nest made of the softest mosses and feathers that could be found in all of RiverClan's territory. There was a slight twitch of his tail when Salmonstar called to him, but aside from that, he remained sleeping.