Hawkheart blinked in surprise at his deputy's forwardness and then with a small nod, "I understand it's been...hard." He paused realizing he had equal part in not communicating with Ashtail, "I'd love to start over! If that sounds good to you?" Hawkheart tried for a reassuring smile, ears flicking.
Cragfur rose from the elder's den, giving them-self a good shake at the edge of the camp. Sniffing the air, they flopped over, with a huff and a grumble.
Cragfur dipper their head to Mistyriver, "Mornin'." They lifted a hind leg, thumping a particularly itchy spot behind their ear. "How did you sleep old lady?" They asked with a gleam in their eye. Cragfur may be old, but their den-mate was old, and they sought fit to tease them about it. Otherwise, they weren't really sure how to relate to the older molly. They'd only just recently joined the elders before Creekclan...their chest hollowed a bit at the thought, attempting to brush it off.
Hawkheart caught sight of Ravenflower and Barleyheart heading toward the entrance, and he flicked his tail as they passed by. "Good luck! Watch out for any feisty mice." He snorted softly at his own joke, smoothing down his chest fur a little self-consciously.
For sure! Is there anyone you had in mind?
Or anyone in general that just be down to be a mentor?
Frogsleap would absolutely teach Redpaw just the right amount of bad things
Frogsleap it is! ;P
Cragfur huffed, "The den's so drafty I can feel my tail cramping." They fluffed out their pelt to further their point, making a silent wish to the sky for sun-high to come just a bit quicker. "I'll have to nudge that Hawkheart to get working before we all freeze." Their eyes zeroed in on their grand-nephew, flicking an ear. He was a good boy, he was their brother's grandson, of course he was. A good deputy for the former Creekclan. But leader... they worried the strain of keeping all these cats together in a regrowing forest might be too much.
All three look great, and Snowcloud seems like a great foster mother! :) Accepted!
Hawkheart blinked at Bumblefrost, but shrugged off the unfamiliar name. They were from different clans after all, he stil hadn't learned one or two of the warriors names. "If you could gather everyone for a meeting in a few that'd be wonderful." He tried, with a tilt of his head. He needed to get together a few cats to explore the territory...and a few to hopefully stake out a new path to the Star Stump. He was sure Barleyheart was as anxious to hear from Starclan as he was, their ancestors had been scarily quiet the past moons.
Hawkheart blinked as the molly left, amused. He'd take a mistaken name over Frogsleap's loud 'advice' anyday. He caught sight of the tom across the Hollow, brooding after spending yet another night away from the warriors den. Which he'd thought looked pretty comfy, especially the warm fern and bramble covered stone. He sighed wistfully, if there's one thing Hawkheart missed it was sleeping with other warriors. The extra warmth during leaf-bare was priceless, and the leader's den carved out behind the High-Cleft was lonely at times.
ooc; no worries!!
The leader gave Ashtail a nod, wrapping his tail around his paws as he settled a little more onto the cleft. "I think we should start out with two patrols, one heading up north toward to Star Stump. And the other..." He paused mulling. It'd be nice to check on Creekclan territory, he missed his old home terribly, "Toward the east, at Oakclan." He shoved down the selfish urge. Oakclan seemed to have suffered the most losses, and he was sure Ashtail and Bumblefrost would appreciate the look as the sole survivors thus far. He inclined his head toward his deputy, silently asking for his thoughts.
Cragfur rumbled a hoarse laugh, letting them-self relax a bit, "Redpaw has skipped out on tick duty." They filed Mistyriver's commentary away for later. They knew their little nephew was trying hard, but pulling at younger warriors ears had always been a tried and true practice.
Cragfur hesitated a moment before nodding. They wouldn't think of them-self as young, but they could imagine the sheer amount of aching joints Mistyriver dealt with. "I'm sure we can coerce one of those kits turned warriors into getting us a fat rabbit or two." Starclan knows they more than deserved it.
Chivepaw looks like a cute character! Accepted!
Cragfur gave Redpaw a tiny raspy purr, "Good to see we have one good young cat around!" They joked, hind leg coming up to thump that spot behind their ear again. "Why don't you see if you can find some mouse bile, hmm? Us old people would appreciate it." While Cragfur wasn't the friendliest of cats, they did have soft spot here and there.
seed0 would you be interested in a possible future for Barley/Hawkheart? Or does he have more of a puppy love deal?
Cragfur flicked their tail, welcoming Chivepaw to the small circle of cats. "I just asked Redpaw here to find some mouse bile." They tilted to their side, rolling back onto to their feet with a not-so-pretty grunt. The large maine coon gave their chest a few licks, "I'm sure you two can find some trouble to get into along the way." They murmurer good naturedly.
Hawkheart let out a half frustrated, half amused purr, "When do we not need food?" He blinked trying to group together enough warriors for everything that needed be to done, without leaving the camp unguarded. "Why don't you handle the hunting and exploration patrols? Just leave me a warrior or so for the trip to the Star Stump." While Ashtail was still unfamiliar, Hawkheart already felt he could depend on the other tom's judgement.
"I suppose the exploration could wait a bit!" Hawkheart stood with a long stretch and a yawn. "If you don't mind watching the camp for a bit, I'd like to lead the stump patrol." He was impatient to get closer to conversing with Starclan, especially in throes of leaf-bare.
Tansy could meet with Jupiter and Maria?
Absolutely!! The fluff would be off the charts dude
With a nod of appreciation to Bumblefrost, Hawkheart rested his gaze on Frogsleap for a moment. He didn't know much about the other tom, he'd admit, Marshclan was small, but with how often the clan had been caught between disputes... It'd never been a priority to make many friends there. The distrust was well deserved, he figured. Something he'd have to earn along with everything else. Swiping a tongue around his jaws, Hawkheart let out a call signaling the rest of cats for a meeting. They needed to get the day under way already!
Cragfur let out a little mrrow of agreement, fighting off the sprinklings of doubt in their chest. "Things do have a way of working themselves out." Their ears flicked up at Hawkheart's call, letting them-self sink down a little more firmly besides Mistyriver. "Let's hope those apprentices know their mouse tails from rats, hm?" They murmured with a raspy purr.
