Private Thread Whispers at Dusk

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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For some cats, two was a crowd.

Duskmantle followed behind the older she-cat, his long legs giving him vantage over the marsh grasses as they ventured forth. A duo was pretty much a necessity since the rogue killings. Palestar had condemned any cat not taking accountability for another. It kept everyone safer that way but it still stiffled Duskmantle's independence.

Once her sights were set on a nearby frog who had a tendancy for announcing its location, the smoke blue tom veered off to the left, deep into a pale thicket of overgrowth. Movement caught his eye but it was only a beetle, scuttling very slowly then flashing its irredecent wings. He paused to stare at it, watching it move slowly over a stalk. He wasn't sure how long he'd been watching it, but his thoughts meandered.

From nearby his ear flitted in Nightwhisper's direction as she asked if he had found anything. With a huff, he quickly swatted away the shiny green beetle into the underbrush and pretended he was halfway into a hunting crouch. He had originally scented water vole near the banks of the shallow marsh, foraging, and began to follow it.

"Almost." He called softly back at her, cornflower eyes focusing on the movement teasing in the reeds.

I did not wake up to be mediocre.

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At the rustling in the reeds, Nightwhisper moved away from Duskmantle with light paws and a silent voice, keeping the noise low as to not frighten the prey that Duskmantle was stalking. After she was a good distance away, she thought it would be better to be productive instead of waiting around for Duskmantle to catch the prey he was after.

Instead, she perked her curled ears in the direction of the farther side of the swamp in search of another morsel worthy enough to be brought back to camp in her jaws. And in the blink of an eye, there it was. A marshbird just for the taking, pecking for worms in the mud.

Before she could even form a second thought, her body formed a hunting crouch and moved forward through the swampy terrain after the bird still pecking at the dirt. Her bright green eyes narrowed as she moved closer, she unsheathed her claws as the bird noticed her, moving to take off to the trees. But Nightwhisper was faster.

Nightwhisper launched herself upwards, swiping her claws at the bird until she hooked one of it's wings and dragged it down to the ground, landing with a soft thud but dispatched the bird with a sharp bite to the neck. After the prey was hers, she lifted her muzzle, checking on her patrolmate and how his mission for prey was coming alone.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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Thankfully Nightwhisper moved off to continue her own hunt. HIs toes brought him closer, slunk down like a shadow as the descending dusk made him blend into his environment all the better. The vole played an invoting song amoung the reeds, foraging near the water's edge and that was when the shadow struck.

A paw swipe and the falling of jaws securely around the body of the plump creature was all it felt before it could make a peep. Only the rustling gave any indication of a scuffle but it was over quickly.

He picked up his prize and stalked over towards a small clearing, the cooling scent of night falling over the marsh now. Inhaling slow he dropped the vole and lifted his head. "Shall we move to the other side of the swamp?"

I did not wake up to be mediocre.

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"I think so. Prey aren't stupid, they'll catch on if we linger." Nightwhisper responded placing her catch a small distance away from the first, not making a clear path to any predator if they were to find the morsels before she came back, but a distance away that she knew where each was. "We might need it too! You've only caught a vole, and I've caught two pieces of prey!" She chirped confidently, though it was meant to be words of encouragement and endearment for Duskmantle to keep his hunting streak up, it may have sounded mean, but the ones Nightwhisper knew and the ones that knew her would know she never meant to be mean, not really.

Before Duskmantle could form much of a response, she lead the off, around the edges of the swamp in the hopes of slinking seamlessly to the other side. Her paws pressed into the mud softly, making the sound almost nothing but a soft squelch beneath them.

The further Nightwhisper went, the heavier her paws seemed to get, mud clumping and clinging to the fur beneath her paws. When the two came to a stop, Nightwhisper lifted her paws one at a time to tidy them up with vigorous licks. There was no time for slowness when there was prey to catch!

But the silence still weighed heavier than her paws, and perked up one of her curled ears and turned to her smoky furred clanmate. "Do you think Emberdust's kits would be mentored well?" She asked with a flick of her tail. She would have said something else, but the kits... no apprentices were the first thing that came to mind. Though part of her was curious on Duskmantle's stand on it.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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The tips of his ears shifted as she spoke, not quite enjoying the implication hidden behind the curtain of her words. The rational part of his self concluded that she certainly didn't mean to put him off but even as he prepared to brush her off, she was already on the move.

Duskmantle followed her, paw prints sinking in the moistened ground and shuffling quietly through the muck as they went. Alert in his stride, the long limbed warrior kept both ears open and eyes blinking across to catch any sign of prey - or that rogue.

At the inquiry of Emberdust's kits, Duskmantle paused to consider his responce. He technically didn't think he had much of an opinion on the new brood; he was too young to be considered for mentoring anyway. And he didn't want to.

"I've got no reason to believe that Heronsong won't mentor Wolfpaw well." He had some opinion on that, since Heronsong was his own mentor. "I'm not so sure about Swamppaw, but they seem happy to have gotten one another. Flutterdream is Flutterdream. Dunno if she mentors well, but she has StarClan's support..."

I did not wake up to be mediocre.

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Nightwhisper nodded at Duskmantle's response, she would be lying if she had said she hadn't thought about having kits before, but the aspect of dying for the kits seemed a little dire. Perhaps at some point she would be able to do so, after all... Emberdust did fine with her kits and Clovershine was older and certainly raised her own well. "I don't doubt that." She answered, flicking her tail in thought.

"But Wolfpaw isn't like you, I don't exactly... know what he's like. Even when I visited him in the nursery, when he was trotting about doing chores, he didn't speak a word to me. Never. Just kind of... stared like it was my job to talk." She explained, her confidence turning into something a little more perplexed and curious as she spoke. "I wonder what's under all the silence... you think he's trying to be mysterious or just forgets how to talk?" her words came light, like she was well aware that the last part seemed like the joke she was trying to make it out to be. 

The mostly dark she-cat took a glance down at her paws, taking a moment to imagine kits tumbling over them but shook her head, her life as a warrior was her main focus, at least for now. And even if kits were ahead of her, there wasn't a tom in her gaze that was well suited... not yet at least. "Flutterdream is a medicine cat, StarClan is always on her side, they'll be on Muddypaw's side too."

"As for Quailfeather and Swamppaw..." she thought for a moment, flicking her tail as if trying to track the train of thought "We grew up in the nursery, but I was so distracted by my own ventures that I hardly noticed him, even if he was twice my size" she chuckled as she moved the mud around with her paw "But I'm sure he's going to do well. Maybe it's that queen-like personality of his."

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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Duskmantle listened as Nightwhisper spoke....and spoke. His ears twitched once as if trying to keep up with the steady flow of her thoughts as they shifted from Wolfpaw, apprentices, to mentors and back again.

He drew in a slow breath through his nose, letting it out just as quietly, his gaze flicking ahead to the marshland rather than her for a moment. By the time she circled back around his whiskers flitted with dry amusement.

"Maybe he just doesn't have much to say. Not every cat feels the need to fill the air." Duskmantle offered at last, voice even as he offered a sort of explanation. He often didn't feel the need for idle chit-chat or even greetings some days. "If he stared at you maybe he was just waiting for you to make the first move."

His tail lowered, giving a sort of indication that he was moving off to find a second piece of prey. His paws were damp in the marsh sludge before they brought him to a shallow pool and the sound of frog song in the air. He moved in towards one of the mounds of dirt and reeds, pinpointing a robust song.

I did not wake up to be mediocre.

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Nightwhisper's gaze followed Duskmantle as he slipped through the swampland and she nodded in response, snapping her jaw shut from whatever she was about to say before he dipped. But the clan wasn't starving, and there were other hunting patrols sent out, perhaps an even amount of prey between the two would be enough to add to the pile... or maybe a third to her collection would be better...

She angled her ears to listen out to the scuffling or chirping of prey, and then, there it was, a small shift in the reeds, a mouse had been feeding on the seeds that the ground provided, she was close, but not close enough. She set herself into a crouch and crept forward in silence, letting her paws feel the earth beneath her so she made as little noise as possible.

When the scent made her mouth water, Nightwhisper held her breath, preparing a pounce to dispatch the mouse and claim it as ShadowClan's prey. And before the mouse could think of running from the scent of the ShadowClan warrior, she was airborne, pouncing forward with teeth bared and landing on the mouse with a swift bite.

The rodent let out a sharp squeak that was cut off by the silence and stillness of death. Hopefully whatever Duskmantle is hunting didn't hear that, Nightwhisper pondered before picking up the limp body in her jaws ready to meet back up with Duskmantle after the two had caught their share.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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Duskmantle stilled as the frog's song pulsed through the reeds, his body lowering until his belly brushed the damp earth. Every muscle drew tight and coiled as the frog continued to sing, unaware.Then the smokey shape struck in the darkness.

Mud splashed lightly beneath his paws as he pinned it without any wasted movement. He lifted the frog neatly in his teeth and turned to quietly return to where they had previously separated.

When his shape parted the reeds, his eyes flicked to the mouse in her jaws. "Hm." he said after putting down the frog. "This was a fine hunt. Between the two of us, that's a decent haul."

He swiped his tongue against his shoulder to smooth down what had ruffled up from his initial pounce.

I did not wake up to be mediocre.

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A quiet 'mrrp' sound came from the depths of Nightwhisper's throat when she took notice of the sound of parting reeds and the scent of Duskmantle drawing closer to her, however she didn't turn around properly until he spoke, flicking her mostly black tail before turning to the blue smokey pelted tom. And dropped the mouse to speak.

"I'd say so. Ready to drag it all back to camp?" she trilled, flicking her tail playfully at him, testing the waters almost. "Maybe the elders will thank us, maybe the apprentices too, we'd put enough fresh-kill in the pile to feed the whole den!" she chirped before lifting the limp body of the mouse with clasped teeth. For a moment, her mind seemed to wonder, back to the nursery, but she shrugged, she was sure it wouldn't stay empty for long, what's a few moons of an empty nursery going to do?

Her curled ears gave a friendly flick to the fellow warrior before she began trotting off, the mud making her slightly slower but no less determined.

Nightwhisper weaved around the water, maneuvering the mouse to carry it by the tail as she awkwardly place the frog and the bird in her mouth on her way around. It was only after that when she turned her head to face Duskmantle to see if he had been following her. Green eyes keen and eager to show off her catches to the camp.

Tiptoe through the murk and mire
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She did have quite the haul to bring back. Duskmantle was almost looking forward to seeing the expression on her maw as she stuffed it full of prey to take back. With only two pieces to mirror her three, it wouldn't nearly be so hard and he dipped his head dutifully to fetch both the frog and water vole.

Nodding in regards to her suggestion, his footfalls followed after the black and white she-cat, body poised low in the marsh despite his lanky legs and angular features that gave him an almost foriegn look compared to the rest of the cats in ShadowClan. It was a soft reminder that he was different. That he wasn't of ShadowClan blood, and sometimes he wondered if he shared their purpose...but his thoughts wouldn't darkly linger when his nose was full of prey smell and a clanmate to guide him back.

Maybe once this rogue was dealt with he could resume his search for his sire.