the lion's outside of your door [Patrol]

[badgerstar]

Why had Badgerstar given himself the marshlands to patrol? He was regretting the decision even as he woke and stretched in his solitary nest – feeling the ache of yet another night of sub-par sleep in every movement. There was no denying that the WildClan leader was getting old. Even with the gift of his nine lives, the years still took their toll. Fortunately, it was something that Badgerstar could usually bluff his way through in front of his clanmates – it was doubtless that some of them would use that fact in their arguments about his… leading style. But they needed to learn that a clan leader’s word is law; he was not about to change his mind just because it made some of his clanmates uncomfortable.

In this specific case, it was Badgerstar himself who was rather uncomfortable – with the thought of trudging though the humid marshlands in the greenleaf heat more than in getting up at such an early hour. Still, it had to be done, and this morning it had to be done by him. That was simply how it was.

Badgerstar made his way down to the floor of the great hollow with practiced ease – new leaders might find the climb up and down the great rock treacherous if they weren’t careful, but so many years had passed that Badgerstar hardly noticed the steep descent. He first headed for the apprentice den, sticking his head into the darkness and pausing just long enough for his eyes to adjust to the dim interior. He located Brightpaw and Greypaw rather easily and gave them each a sharp nudge in the shoulder with his paw. “Meet at the freshkill pile,” he ordered curtly – they had already been told the night before to expect the dawn patrol, so he wasn’t going to elaborate.

His next stop was the warrior’s den – and he gave Mothfrost the same treatment that the young apprentices had received, with almost identical orders slipping from his muzzle. Then it was a simple matter to pad across the camp to the freshkill pile and wait, his long tail flicking with the only indication of his impatience. As his patrol gathered up, he uttered another curt meow: “You can grab something to eat before we leave, but eat fast if you do. We have a lot of territory to cover.”

Badgerstar was already ready for this patrol to be over with.

[brightpaw]

Brightpaw woke up abruptly, her blue eyes flying open to find the source of her sudden state of consciousness. She immediately recognized Badgerstar before her as he instructed her and Greypaw to meet him at the freshkill pile. She gave Greypaw an exasperated look. “Looks like someone’s fur was ruffled the wrong way,” she muttered under her breath to the other apprentice. Brightpaw had been really excited to patrol with the Clan leader, but now she wasn’t so sure. If he was just going to be grumpy the whole time, this wasn’t going to be as fun as she had expected it to be. Still, a patrol was a patrol and this was the first time she had gotten to experience one. Moody leader or not, she decided she was still going to be excited.

She made her way out into the clearing, pausing for a heartbeat to survey the morning around her. It was already refreshingly warm, which would get increasingly not refreshing as the day went on. And they were going to patrol the marshlands? Maybe Badgerstar’s foul mood was with good reason.

She finally made her way over to the fresh-kill pile with the others and the bicolor leader briskly gave them the instructions to eat quickly before they left if desired. Brightpaw paused before carefully grabbing a small, dusty mouse from the pile. She was quite hungry but didn’t want to look too greedy or disrespectful in front of Badgerstar. So she ate her mouse without a word, discarding it neatly and returning to the patrol meeting place. Today was going to be interesting, that’s for sure.