Hedgefur watched as cats came and went, but his mood remained the same; grouchy and irritable. His clan,ate's were being loud, chatting cheerily with each other without a care, and the smoke couldn't help but be annoyed by them all. Gritting his teeth, Hedgefur just gave a pointed glare to Owlmask as he came out, and a few meager glances towards Pudgepaw, Mintstar, and Patchpelt, although his gaze hardened again when his eyes landed on Tigerblaze. If they wanted to do something together, he hoped and prayed that 'together' didn't include himself.
Her stomach now full once more, Pudgepaw slowly rose to her paws. She was feeling quite full, but her attention was now on Tigerblaze. Maybe NOW he'd take her out for some more promised training.
"What'er we gonna do?" She asked, eyes full of an eager, childish glow. She wanted to make her deputy proud.
Tigerblaze watched the others for a little bit, in particular, not really happy about Hedgefur glaring at him in particular. But, as Pudgepaw spoke up, he turned to look at her. "Well, if it's alright with Mintstar, I think I'm going to go ahead and take you hunting again."
Perking his ears, Patchpelt began to listen to Pudgepaw and Tigerblaze's conversation. The two planned to go on yet another hunt. This interested the tom because he wanted to spend mot time with Pudgepaw and he could also pull his weight in the clan by getting a hunt in. Turning his gaze towards Tigerblaze, he smiled. "Mind if I tag along?" STATS
"I suppose I'll just watch camp, you may go as you please." She mewed sophisticatedly in response to Patchpelt. She glanced over at Tigerblaze, "Alright, one question before you go...Did you claim any new territory lately? If so, where?" The gray-pelted she cat asked, she hoped it would be something belonging to Glenclan...she hated those lousy forest-dwellers. She almost hissed the word 'Glenclan' aloud. They were a clan of lousy back-stabbers.
Had she guessed? Well, he guessed he had probably still carried a little bit of scent from the areas he had gone to. He nodded at her. "I marked Tangletree, the Great Arch, and Pebble Beach. Although, mostly just to make sure we had a path for the Gathering." After all, they were the northernmost clan, and had to travel the longest distance just to get to Brightrock for Gatherings. He was hoping that none of the other clans minded. Infact, he was kind of worried about what would happen if Glenclan had decided to mark the Arch after he left. If so, he would just assume it was out of semi-reasonable paranoia, but, Mintstar? She would probably outright accuse them of trying to prevent them from going to the Gathering, and maybe even start a war.
"Anyway, c'mon, Pudgepaw, let's try Rocktree." He then turned and left for Rocktree. Though, maybe after a little hunting, it would be a good idea to check the territories that had marked again.
Pudgepaw, head buried over top of her old prey, she waited, turning her eyes on Mintstar with a hopeful expression. She wanted to run around - and show Patchpelt and her mentor that she was better than that. She waited, purring ever so slightly - only to spring up when she was able to run after them.
"Yes!" She yowled, immediately jumping to her paws. She then, well...ran after her mentor, turning her head momentarily over her shoulder.
Patchpelt gave a chuckle as he watched Pudgepaw race off. Raising to his massive paws, his yellow gaze turned towards his leader. He bowed his head in respects and then followed after his hunting group.
Owlmask worried that, maybe he should have agreed to go with his clanmmates - but after seeing Hedgefur's glare, he decided against it, instead padding closer to the older she-cat.
"I'll stay here with you Mintstar...if you're looking for some company." He purred, then, eying the Fresh kill pile, padded closer, licking his lips. He selected a rat which was nearly rigid with age, but still fresh enough to get a few good pieces out of, tucking in.
So loud. Hedgefur was unsure how his clanmates could possibly deal with the shrill heights of their voices, he felt they could chat his ear of should he allow them.
His eyes gave a violent roll as Pudgepaw enthusiastically left after Tigerblaze, bounding after him like a duckling to it's mother. Perhaps if the black smoke had some sense of humor, he might have laughed briefly, but he didn't so his jaws stayed firmly closed, worried that if they were open they would rumble some colorful words at his clanmates. Surely they wouldn't appreciate that.
Letting a sigh shutter from his broad chest, the warrior rose to his paws with a languid and luxurious stretch, his green eyes soon turned towards the night sky. It had gotten dark far more quickly than he had imagined, and it soon dawned upon him that the gathering was approaching quickly. Lowering his head, he bunched his muscles as he travelled to Mintstar, casting a contemptuous look to Owlmask before focussing on his leader.
"Mintstar," he rumbled, as if polite. "The gathering approaches. Who do you plan on taking?"
Owlmask found himself uncosciously chewing his last few mouthfuls quieter than before as Hedgefur shot him yet another glare that made the fur along his spine long to rise...or better yet, for him to duck into some sort of hiding-hole. He shivered unintentionally, but turned his gaze up at Mintstar. The gathering, yes - he wondered who would be coming along for it too. Although his nose caught scent of something foul.
Momentarily distracted, he approached the cause of the offending order and watched as scriggling worms crawled in the remains of the crow. Too bad - such a waste of food. The crow wouldn't be fit for it's friends to eat now. He padded over to a secluded area with soft soil so he could continue to listen to Mintstar as he worked to bury the offending prey - and carefully keep his eyes downcast and away from meeting Hedgefur's.
As Tigerblaze arrived back at camp, he heard Hedgefur ask Mintstar who exactly she would take to the Gathering.
Wasn't that the deputy's job? He couldn't help but narrow his eyes at the smokey cat, and went over to Mintstar himself. "Well, I definitely think Pudgepaw should finally go, see what it's like to be a Gathering herself."
Patchpelt followed after Tigerblaze, keeping pace with Pudgepaw. He perked his gray ears to hear the conversation. The topic was the gathering and who would be going. Patchpelt didn't care much for the gatherings. He would live just fine without going to one, but if he was told to go he would without any fight.
Without saying a word, the tom had taken his kill towards the fresh-kill and placed it neatly on top. Turning his head, he waited for Pudgepaw to do the same with her glorious kill.
"Of course Pudgepaw could attend, I shall announce the cats accompanying me to the gathering right now." The green-eyed she-cat mewed, padding towards the tree situated near the middle of camp. She began to climb to a low branch, her claws digging into the tree's thick bark. After pulling herself onto the branch, she stands tall and begins to speak, "May all cats old enough to hunt their own prey gather beneath the Hightree for a clan meeting!" She calls out, her voice bellowing throughout camp.
After most of her clanmates had gathered beneath her she looks down, "As you all know, the gathering is commencing very soon." Minstar pauses. "I have decided to bring, Tigerblaze, Pudgepaw, and Owlmask. I hope that this gathering will be a good one." She finishes, leaping off of the branch.
(OOC: If you don't agree with my chances, please, tell me. It's not certain that i'll change anything...so yeah.)
Tigerblaze nodded. "Sounds good to me. We should probably leave soon, though. Maybe have some food for the trip." He looked back at the fresh-kill pile, and made a face at the smell coming from his groundhog. He really should have had part of it when he had the chance. Shaking his head, he grabbed the rest of the groundhog in his mouth, and took it slightly out of the camp. He dug a bit, put the rotten remains of the groundhog in it, then buried it. Walking back to camp, he went over to the vole, and began eating a share of it.