VERY GOOD ADVICE | Open, Snake in Camp

^{I FEEL LIKE A MILLION BUCKS —}

^{The cream tabby trotted over at the sound of someone crying for help, and spotted Sprucekit. He looked at the kit for a moment, not seeing anything wrong, but then his smile disappeared as he saw the snake.}

^{"Oh, uh. Don't move!" Stormkit said softly, watching the snake and the other kit. "Now, I'm not sure, but maybe that snake isn't dangerous." he added, trying to make sense of the situation. He was still very young though, and was hoping an apprentice or warrior would arrive soon.}

Startling at hearing Sprucekit asking for help, Rosepaw twisted around to find where the little kit was in camp. Leaping to her paws, fur bristling in alarm as she spotted the snake, Rosepaw cursed softly under her breath. "Sprucekit, don't move. Keep your eye on the snake. I'm going to try and come around behind it and kill it." The little calico kept her voice low and as calm as possible. She had never hunted a snake before, but she remembered a passing comment from Blackstar about taking snakes down from behind, back when they had been touring around and he had mentioned the snakes that sometimes approached the territory.

Hail on the other hand, didn't give a damn what rosepaw had said. That was his kid that snake was next to! Hissing, the lithe tom would dart forwards, aiming to shove Sprucekit to the side and out of harms way. quite frankly, he didn't care if he got bit, or hurt - he would not lose another child.

ASPHODELPAW ;;

-----> in a blur of cream and silver, Asphodelpaw was there. Taking advantage of Hailcloud distracting the snack with his movements, Asp would find an opening. Aiming to bite the snake’s tail, Asp would yank the serpent away from Spruce and Hail. Hopefully Hail would catch on quick and bite the snake’s head before it could turn and sink it’s fangs into Asp!

(c)trexgirl

Instead, hearing all the commotion, Blackstar silently made his way forward, quickly aiming to spring onto the writhing snake and crush sever its spine before it bit anyone, especially Asphodelpaw. Whatever anger the two had between them still didn’t mean he was gonna allow his daughter’s mate to get injured. Hail had kits to rear, his apprentice Rosepaw had to become a warrior soon, the kits had to both grow up and see the way the forest was, and he had lives to spare. Of course with good reason he would sacrifice himself, not recklessly or without great contemplation. He was still young and wanted to life his life as long as possible.

"i wait for the morning."

♚ ･ﾟ: when you feel alone it can change your mind — TAGS

Rosepaw watched in startled silence as the three toms decided to take action in the delicate situation that she had been handling just fine thank you very much. A fire grew in her belly, indignation stirring her gut and causing her fur to bristle with annoyance. Growling low in her throat, Rosepaw shoved to her paws from the crouch she had been in, turning on her heel and stalking off to who knew where. The calico needed a moment to cool down before she likely yelled at any of those idiots. Couldn't they see she was handling it? Couldn't they see that it was a precarious situation and that she was about to do exactly what they had done except on her own and with less mess? Couldn't those self-righteous, self-sacrificing idiots just trust her for once? Growling low again, Rosepaw scuffed her paw through the charred earth and went further downstream to sit by the river and breath. She just needed some space to cool down.

ASPHODELPAW ;;

-----> Asp have a passing glance at Rosepaw, but said nothing. She could fine all she want over not having become the hero of this debacle, but Asp’s priority was the kit. Coming over to Spruce, he looked him over for any injuries. Once he was certain the boy was safe he focused on the snake. Poking it he mumbled, “we probably could eat it...”

(c)trexgirl

"true, any prey we can get helps." he'd say curtly. While he and asphodelpaw weren't best friends, they seemed to have silently agreed to agree-to-disagree on the whole 'parenting' issue they'd had previously during that very dramatic clan meeting, and Hailcloud was doing his best to let go of that resentment and be... well, curious and not such an angry bastard. Not that he'd ever admit that's what he'd been, considering he was still sort-of in denial about his actions. Licking the top of his sons head, he yet again found his thoughts straying to his other kids - did they have someone to protect them as he had for Sprucekit?

^{I FEEL LIKE A MILLION BUCKS —}

^{"Woah! That was awesome!" the cream tabby exclaimed, looking at Hailcloud and Blackstar. They were both so brave and strong in the kit's eyes, and he looked at them with admiration. "Is there even any meat on a snake? It looks kinda skinny..." Stormkit added, examining the limp body of the snake as it lay on the ground.}

Had he heard something about meat? Dull eyes lighting up, Sootkit scurried toward the group. He had missed most of the action, a fact he'd later regret but his mother would probably be thankful for: if he'd witnessed the scene, Sootkit would have likely had nightmares for days about a snake coming to eat him.

The reptile didn't look like food, but he trusted his clanmates. Prodding it gently, he tilted his head and asked, "Food? Yummy!" Before anyone could stop him, he tried to bite a chunk off of the corpse, but his teeth slid off the scales, the snake untouched. No fair! Food was supposed to be eaten! Glaring at the snake, Sootkit mumbled, "Bad food!"

Snakes did not bother Flameseeker. During her youth, her mother and her had shared a cave that was home to plenty of snakes. Her mother had shown her how to tell the difference between poisonous snakes, and nonpoisonous snakes. After returning to the camp empty pawed from a hopeless hunting patrol, all the commotion about a snake made her curious. What was a snake doing in the middle of the winter?

The tabby padded over quietly, standing beside Blackstar. She looked down at the now dead body, and sniffed it. "It has a round head, that means it isn't poisonous. The clan can eat it, but there isn't much meat there." Frankly, the thought of eating a snake made her stomach upset, but the clan was so desperate for food, she knew most of her clanmates wouldn't care.