The Maple Forest

Berrywhisker collapsed weakly onto the soil and whimpered a little. The buck hadn't hurt her too badly, but she could tell she had been cut up by the point somewhere along her side. "He might've cut my side with his antler once but I should be fine." she told her leader before looking at the buck's corpse. She glanced towards Rainstar and licked her muzzle, it was red with the buck's blood. "I was going to spare his life but I wouldn't want to risk it going after you and Cherrypaw." she added in through pants.

Cherrypaw, with Rainstar's help managed to bite at the doe's neck and delivered the fatal bite to the neck. Once the doe stopped struggling, she let go and panted a little. Noticing Berrywhisker hopping onto the buck's back, her sky-blue eyes widened as much as they could. The warrior was brave to do such an act and was surprised that the slender fae had managed to bring down the powerful creature. Watching as Rainstar and Berrywhisker spoke, she learned from the warrior that she had only killed the buck to protect her leader and her. She was shocked to hear that and watched as Rainstar began to lift the buck.

Berrywhisker took a deep sigh of relief hearing about the cut, relieved that it wasn't too deep. At the compliment, her fur heated up a little bit. "Yes, I'm loyal, like every ThunderClan wolf should be." she woofed softly and then grasped the buck's neck and lifted it, waiting for Rainstar to lead her over there. Her wound stung a bit but the bleeding of the cut soon stopped and she flicking her ears a bit as snowflakes landed on them and irritated her a little. She glanced around worriedly but she could see no foxes or any of the deer she had chased off. She was keeping watch for any danger for dragging a deer made her feel vulnerable.

Berrywhisker looked around as the snow fell to the ground. She dipped her head to Cherrypaw as the apprentice was sent back to camp and Berrywhisker stood watch over the carcasses. Her ears forward and alert to any noises other than her own breathing and Rainstar's paw-steps and her brown eyes alert for any movement. Her breath caught in the air to show how cold it was and she shook her pelt a bit. She sniffed the air, determined to sniff out any threat before it shows itself.

Cherrypaw's ears lowered a bit as she learned Berrywhisker had been injured due to the smell of the fae as she drew close. At Rainstar's command the ginger and white fae dipped her head to Rainstar and dipped her head back to Berrywhisker as well. She padded off as quickly as she could with the cute little limp she had with her crippled paw. Two warriors! I gotta get two warriors! she thought as she began to run. Eventually she disappeared from view in the falling snow that soon littered the ground with its white beauty.

~ ThunderClan Camp ~

Leopardstrike approached the area Cherrypaw had indicated to. As she did so, the smell of blood wafted over her. Her fur pricked as she caught the scent of wolf blood intermixed with that of the deer: someone had been injured. The warrior hurried over to where Rainstar was standing, quickly noticing her offensive posture. What is it? she wondered. Her green gaze shifted towards where her leader was staring at. For a few seconds she wasn't certain what had captured Rainstar's attention, before she caught sight of some animal she couldn't yet identify. Immediately, she let out a snarl, moving to stand next to Rainstar and protect her leader should the animal attack.

Rockybolt slowed down to a stop when he neared the others. He quickly picked up the scent of blood, and, glancing about, noticing that Berrywhisker was wounded on her side. He was about to approach her to ask if she was okay, when he spotted Rainstar. The leader was on edge about something. He tilted his head, uncertain what was going on. From his vantage point, he couldn't see anything. "Rainstar?" he asked, hoping that she could fill him in on what was the trouble.

Leopardstrike's gaze remained fixed on where the creature had been; it appeared to be slinking away and soon was out of sight. The warrior was left feeling on edge. The creature may have been gone, but it could always return. She wasn't able to identify its scent and only felt more unsettled as a result. Perhaps I should follow it. Before she could make up her mind, however, Rainstar spoke up. She gave a small nod in response, and then walked over to where Berrywhisker and the buck were. The smell of wolf blood grew stronger, and, glancing at her Clanmate, she noticed that her side had been wounded. Thankfully, it seemed like it would heal up fine should she receive medical attention. "Ready? If you ever feel too weak to continue carrying the buck, just let me know," she said. The wolf bent down and bit down into the deer, and started to drag it back to camp as soon as Berrywhisker had done the same.

The golden retriever frowned when Rainstar implied that something had been lurking nearby. Well, at least it was gone now. With any luck, it wouldn't be back. He gave a slight wag of his fluffy tail when his leader asked for him to help her and padded over to where she was standing. He bit into the doe's hide and glanced back at Rainstar. "Should we go now?" he asked, making sure she was ready. Upon hearing affirmation, Rockybolt started back in the direction of the camp clearing.