IceClan's Camp

[Torrentstar]

What had brought Froststar to this place, so early in the morning, so early into New-leaf? Nothing, really, except the uncontrollable urge to get out of the almost claustrophobic space of the den. Oh, and the omnipresent gnawing sensation in her stomach.
She needed to stretch her cramped muscles and get out of camp. Hunting was good this season, although the mice were thin and rats had never been more than crowfood.
The slender grey cat dropped into a hunting crouch, her long tail whipping almost viciously back and forth, her mouth watering at the smell of the chaffinch. In an instant, Froststar exploded from the bushes like a hairy missile, landing on top of the visibly startled bird, battering it with cruelly unsheathed claws. She severed the spinal cord with a deft bite, and the bird limply dangled from her jaws.
By the end of her hunting excursion, Froststar had collected a chaffinch, a plump mouse and a small vole to put in the fresh-kill pile.

[sandstep]

Whisperwind opened her crystal green eyes, blinking sleepily. Fatigue weighed down on the white she-cat as she slowly stood up, stretching each limb in turn. Yesterday had been a big day. Yesterday was the day that she had become the Medicine Cat. Her heart pounded at the thought. No longer was she Whisperpaw, no longer was she longing for the freedom of being the Medicine Cat. She /was/ the medicine cat. She slowly loped outside of the den. The sunlight hit her pelt, dancing and sparkling off of it. Whisperwind let out a small yawn.

[Torrentstar]

Froststar selected her food with care, eyes sweeping dismissively over the chaffinches, voles and rats. She plucked a plump, tender-looking mouse from the bottom of the pile and sank her teeth into it.
Her teeth hit something soft, wriggling slightly. Froststar dropped her mouse and inspected it. Maggots wriggled in the body! "Oh yuck." She spat, having swallowed a bit, and coughed, the cough quickly turning into a retch. "Disgusting. Crowfood!" Froststar cried, coughing and burying the rancid mouse.

[chansen]

Ironheart padded quietly out of the warrior's den at the sound of his leader retching. His cold blue eyes swept over the scene, taking in the maggots writhing in the fresh-kill, and a look of revulsion swept over his face. Finding crowfood in the fresh-kill pile was rare, and utterly disgusting of course, but was sadly becoming more and more commonplace after the harsh winter that their clan had suffered. All creatures of their territory were hungrier than ever, and prey had rarely been this scarce...

[sandstep]

Whisperwind's eyes darted towards her retching leader. She gave one look at the maggot-ridden mouse then hurried toward Froststar. She carefully supported her, pushing her head against Froststar's side. The medicine cat gingerly slipped towards her den and grabbed some water mint. The white cat gripped the leafy stalks in her teeth and bounded back towards Froststar. She tore off a leaf and rapidly chewing it into a rather sticky pulp. She lay the pulp on a dock leaf and gave it to her leader. "Eat the pulp," she instructed.

[chansen]

Ironheart sat, watching the scene silently, then after a moment he stood and padded towards the entrance. None of the other warriors seemed available for a hunting patrol, but their clan certainly needed more prey. And with Froststar in the state she was in, he decided it wasn't the best time to bother her...besides, she'd already done her share today. The sun glinted off of Ironheart's silver fur for an instant as he slipped out the entrance, then he was gone.

[Torrentstar]

"I'm okay," Froststar protested. "Just maggot-ridden mice...thanks anyway." She obediently took the pulp and chewed it, swallowing. Her ears flicked and the silvery leader calmed down, as the water mint soothed her stomach.
"Ironheart," Froststar said quickly, "to prevent more cats eating maggoty prey, can you help me search the pile for other rotten fresh-kill?" She rose to her feet and moved over the dwindling pile, searching it by scent and look for signs of decay.
Froststar removed the mouse and a few others: a finch, a vole and, although it pained her, a plump rabbit that had gone uneaten for too long. Bugs and maggots infested the inside, and she shook her head as she buried it under a bush. Something had to be done.

[chansen]

Ironheart nodded as he entered, hearing Froststar's request, and padded to the freshkill pile. After dropping his own catches onto the small pile, he began to paw through it carefully. He had a sharp nose, and soon found one more rancid piece of prey that Froststar had missed; another small mouse with a belly swollen with maggots. Wrinkling his nose in disgust, Ironheart picked up the mouse gingerly in his teeth and followed Froststar to the bush, dropping it underneath and burying it with the rest of the rotten prey. It was unfortunate to have lost so much of their prey as crowfood, but it would have been more unfortunate for their warriors to fall ill because it hadn't been found.

[Torrentstar]

"Thank you for that, Ironheart," Froststar meowed, and rubbed her face against his flank as a thank-you. She stepped away, and used her back legs to scoop more loose dirt over the prey. "I think I'll let the Clan know," she thought, and paced to the center of the camp.

"Let all cat old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High Oak for a clan meeting," Froststar proclaimed, and took a seat underneath the old oak tree that served as their meeting-place.

OOC:// Did I get the Clan meeting call thingy right?

[sandstep]

ooc;

Almost.

"Let all cat old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High___ for a clan meeting"

[sandstep]

Whisperwind watched the warriors dig through the fresh kill pile, searching for maggot-ridden prey. The medicine cat twitched her ears with a disdainful sniff. As Froststar called the summonings from under the old oak, Whisperwind couldn't help but think of the scene that had just happened as a sign from StarClan. She shook the thought off. It couldn't be, she thought, It must just be a coincidence. The black and white she-cat took her seat near the front of the horde of cats. She sat down on her haunches and ginglerly lay her tail across her paws.

[Torrentstar]

"Alright, cats of IceClan," Froststar began as the cats assembled themselves. "This will be quick. Ironheart and I have found some rotten prey in the frsh-kill pile. It has been removed and buried under the bushes over there" she gestured with her tail "so please do not dig it up. If you encounter any rotten opr rancid prey please bury it." She stood up and leapt from the base of the massive oak to the ground. "That is all. Thank you."

Froststar approached Whisperwind, and flicked her tail. "Whisperwind, thanks for the cat mint," she meowed. "It really helped."

[chansen]

Ironheart stood as Froststar lept from the Highoak, and dappled shadows crossed his dark silver tabby fur as he approached her. "Froststar," he meowed quietly, "Do you have any warriors to spare for a border patrol?" He wasn't the type of cat to explain himself, but Ironheart's request was clear. Many cats, including himself, had long suspected Cloudclan of trespassing on Iceclan territory.

[Torrentstar]

"Of course, Ironheart." Froststar narrowed her eyes. "Are you checking on the borders? Good, good. Take whoever you can find, within reason, of course."

The misty blue-grey she-cat, having granted him permission to go on a patrol, turned and padded away, thinking she needed some time to be alone. The Clan's problems were really preying on her mind and she felt like nothing was going right. A visit to EmberClan to see Darkheart might just cheer her up, she thought bleakly, and padded away from the camp stealthily to go check on the state of affairs in EmberClan.

[Torrentstar]

Re-entering the camp, Froststar gazed around, her cerulean eyes mysterious. She flopped down in her den, exhausted.