smiles in the sunshine || open, semi-advanced || and tears in the rain

"Grand," Boarheart meowed, turning and leading the way into the forest. Swiveling his ears around to make sure the others were following him, he heard some faint mews coming from the back of the group. Glancing behind him, he saw that Bramblerose and Featherstream seemed to be in deep conversation with one another. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but shrugged it off and returned his attention to the vast forest spanning in front of him. As long as they didn't disturb the prey, what did it matter if they whispered at the back of the patrol? Secretly, though, his insides were burning with curiosity at what they were saying. But he pushed the feeling down, focusing on the task at hand. Feed the clan, Boarheart, he reminded himself. That's more important than anything.

And speaking of feeding the clan, a sudden noise from up ahead made the warrior stop in his tracks. Pricking his ears up, he listened hard but couldn't hear anything, so he parted his jaws slightly in order to taste the warm greenleaf air. A pleasant breeze ruffled his coarse brown fur and brought with it the mouthwatering scent of mouse. Dropping into a hunter's crouch, he crept carefully forward, all senses alert so as to deduce the prey's precise location. He paused again at the sound of another scuffle in the undergrowth. Ahhh, so that's where you're hiding, he thought to himself, green eyes honing in on a patch of ferns ahead where he was sure the little creature was hiding. The warrior chanced a few more pawsteps forward before squaring his haunches and closing the remaining distance with a single leap.

He misjudged the location of the mouse and landed slightly to the left, startling the litle creature and sending it darting away from him. But Boarheart had his sight set on it now, and in another swift pounce, had hooked his claws around the mouse. Bending down, he mercifully killed it with one powerful bite; he'd never understood the need to play with his food before the inevitable. Prolonging a creature's suffering, in his eyes, was just cruel and entirely unnecessary. Turning around, Boarheart trotted back to the rest of the group with the fresh-kill dangling from his jaws, where he promptly buried the thing so they could collect it later.

ooc; Ooh, I quite like the fancy post! That gif at the top is adorable *swoon*

ic;

Having buried his prey, Boarheart straightened up and turned around. He was about to thank Bramblerose for her praise, but was suddenly distracted by another noise. It sounded like something much larger than a mouse was moving through the forest. Not realising that it was, in fact, Hailfrost, the brown tom was about to investigate when he was distracted again, this time by the realisation that Bramblerose was suddenly very close to him. He turned to look at her, slightly surprised at the sudden proximity.

Skip the Gathering? Take a walk? Remembering how excited the she-cat had been about attending her first Gathering, Boarheart was slightly confused at first. Then he finally registered the flirtatious undertone in her voice, and instantly the otherwise confident warrior became nervous and slightly shy. He'd never really been good at this sort of thing. To buy himself more time, he have his chest fur a few hasty licks, attempting to smooth it down. He liked Bramblerose. And yet he also felt the same tug towards her sister. He felt excited and confused, not a position he was accustomed to being in.

"Your first Gathering, though," he said finally, a smile playing around his whiskers. "You don't want to miss that." He knew what a landmark this was for every young warrior. Still, a walk sounded nice.... "What if we walked to the Gathering and back together?" he suggested, hoping the she-cat would be pleased with this alternative. After he said this, he cast a glance over at the rest of the patrol to see if they had overheard his conversation with Bramblerose. He found his green gaze fell and rested on Featherstream.