clinging to the light of day [p]

[chanterellegaze ☾]

today was something of an unusual day for chanterellegaze. she typically preferred to spend the daylight hours (at least in the warmer moons) dozing in her cool den, waking only as needed to tend to patients. this day, however, she had awoken with the sun. far from being seized with an urge to look upon the forest's newleaf splendor (though that was certainly a perk), the medicine cat was prowling the woods under the light of the sun for a simple reason. it was easier to find many of the herbs she needed for her stores in daylight. some, like flowering coltsfoot, were more visible with bright petals opened to the sky. others she simply preferred to harvest when it was warm, perhaps for some medicinal benefit, perhaps for the sake of tradition. 

either way, the pale bengal she-cat found herself with wet belly fur, poking around in a marshy spot deep in the middle of the pine forest. there was bound to be plentiful horsetail here, and with its important uses in treating infection and stemming bleeding, chanterellegaze never felt as though she had too much. occasionally, she'd find a patch of water hemlock in shadowclan's marshlands. if she had the time and energy, she did what she could to uproot the dangerous plant, or else trample it down to keep it from propagating. it was far too similar looking to parsley, and she feared some irrational scenario in which another cat was looking for herbs and decided to collect it. 

while she worked, creating a small pile of the thick stalks, she reflected on previous seasons with bluepool. how she desperately missed the company of the yellow eyed tabby that had taught her everything she knew. though the two she-cats occasionally walked side by side in silverpelt, seeing her every half moon or so was hardly enough. her mentor had amassed a truly impressive body of knowledge in her many moons, one chanterellegaze could only dream of. sometimes, when she found herself puzzling over two similar plants in the field, she could hear patient bluepool's voice. "the dock plants found here have much larger leaves than that... no, chanterellegaze, that's sorrel." she smiled, comforted by the sense that the deceased medicine cat still walked with her.

notes// my second thread with chanterelle ^___^ it is a little before sunhigh (noon), newleaf. she is not near any borders, and is in a marshy area in the pine trees looking for herbs. for badgernose

[badgernose]

•   B A D G E R N O S E •

It was a good day. Good weather meant prey would be out and about. Badgernose was relaxing after taking his apprentice out for a little bit of training. He still didn't like the idea of being a mentor and now he was stuck with one. The warrior wanted to be alone. He grew up disliking others and others did seem to take a liking on him either (which he didn't care). He wished it stayed that way. He liked being alone. Now he had to take his apprentice hunting, paroling, and training? When will he ever be able to be alone again?

Well today was the day, Badger was going to seize this moment to go out before he would have to take Sagepaw out along for the evening patrol. He had been eyeing the fresh-kill pile which was fairly stocked. Even so, the warrior decided he was going to go out to hunt for a little bit.The green-eyed warrior stretched out before getting to his paws. He shook himself, his long black and white fur ruffling as he did so. He gave his chest a couple of licks to flatten his fur. With a flick of his tail, he trotted out of camp.

Badgernose always enjoyed going out to hunt alone. Well, he likes doing this alone in general, but hunting particularly gave him a chance to clear his mind and stay clear of any clanmates who wanted to chat. He liked the feel of fallen pine needles under his paws, the thrill and anticipation of chasing prey. The warrior tasted the air, his ears pricked up listening closely for the sound for potential kill. Surely enough, he heard soft croaking near the marshier parts of the pine forest. His green eyes glittered as he silently and carefully followed the croaking until he was able to catch a glance of the frog a few tail lengths away. The tom closed his eyes, trying to feel as if there was any breeze that could possibly reveal his presence. Luckily there was none. Dropping into a hunting crouch, he slowly approached the frog from behind. The frog just sat in its spot, croaking. It seemed unaware of the approaching danger behind. Something suddenly startled the frog, at least that is what Badger believed what happened, because the frog was leaping away. Foxdung! Huffing, the tom leaped out from his hiding place, and bounded after the frog. After chasing the frog around for a bit, the feline finally managed to catch up to it and pounced onto as it tried to leap away. He quickly lowered his head to deliver a fatal bite to the frog as it went limp in his jaws. Lifting his head, Badgernose sniffed the air again, trying to detect any other prey that could be nearby. Instead, he detected a familiar scent. Picking up his fresh catch, he decided to follow the scent trail until he saw a cat with their back towards him. Inching closer, the Shadowclan warrior could see that it was Chanterellegaze picking herbs.

“Picking at grass and leaves again huh?” He muttered under his breath, the frog still between his teeth. Badgernose had no intention of interacting with any clanmates, so he decided that he would slip away before he got caught. Or who knows, I might get caught picking at grass and leaves too.

Tag: // chanterellegaze ☾