Briarclaw | Lioness | 24 moons | ForestClan | Warrior
Mentions: Blackheart, Willowpaw

One of her ears twitched and she smiled, happy to accept Blackheart's words of, ”I'm glad.” It wasn't often that she heard that from him. It may have even been the first time, from the way it brought warmth to her heart. This may have been because she didn't spend much time around the deputy, though. She had always just sort of watched him from afar. Finally her boldness had broken through and allowed her to speak up to the chestnut furred lion.

She followed his gaze to the apprentice Willowpaw. The look of thirst on the young lioness's face reminded her of her own, causing her stomach to feel shriveled and her throat parched. Even the prey tasted drier since the lack of rain. The drought had been hard on all the Clans, she knew. And even if they ate every part of their prey, including the pieces that contained traces of water, it simply wasn't enough. They needed to find a new source.

Blackheart's voice brought her back out of her thoughts, watching as puffs of dust entered the air from his kneading. Even the dirt and grass looked dehydrated. Trying to push thoughts of water out of her head, she focused back on what was being said, and nodded her head. “Large prey would definitely be welcome. Perhaps we'll see a kudu out there,” she suggested, licking her lips at the thought of bringing down one of the males and getting to chew on a long, spiral horn. The horns didn't provide food, but they were good for stress relief and sharpening teeth.

The look on his face suddenly changed, however, and she cocked her head to the side. Briarclaw wasn't the best at reading facial features, so she couldn't quite tell what emotion he was feeling. Instead of trying to just guess it, she asked curiously, “Is something wrong, Blackheart?” As eager as she was to be out of camp, he seemed rooted to the spot at the moment. And she couldn't take down a kudu on her own.

Blackheart | Tom | 26 moons/2 years, 2 months | ForestClan | Deputy
Location: ForestClan Territory; Camp | Mentions: Briarclaw, Leader / Pride in General - Open for interaction

The firm leg muscles of the deputy flexed as he contemplated on what to do, his tail lashing as his claws began kneading the ground once more. By now, he would have asked for some other lion to be in charge until he returned, but there was no other lion around, at least not one he trusted, their only apprentice wasn't even in camp. What would he do? Letting out a huff, he figured he'd have to choose some feline he wasn't all too familiar with. Just as he was about to go looking for some warrior to help, the feminine voice of Briarclaw bringing his attention back to her. His worried thoughts about their leader had blocked everything else out. Odd for him. Blackheart turned to the lioness, right ear twitching in slight concern, that concern actually showing, a tad bit, in a small part of his sharp, blue eyes. "It's our leader. I haven't seen him/her all day..." he paused, taking a moment to sniff the air. "...and by the smell of it, he/she has not even walked in this part of camp..." he said, the concern and worry hinted slightly in his voice, though only a little bit, as his firm voice rarely faltered. It hadn't since he was an apprentice- on one tragic day.
Oh, that apprentice day, the day before his warrior ceremony, the very last day his voice faltered. Sadness flashed across his stony eyes as his thoughts raced back to the fateful day.

He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, looking back at the leader's den, deciding to focus on that. He looked back at Briarclaw, blue eyes back to their stony look. Blackheart looked around and his eyes stopped on a warrior (nameless. NPC) that he knew a bit and he called him/her over, "Hey! Watch camp while we're gone! We're going hunting! If you see -blank-star, let he/she know where we are!" he called over before turning back at the pretty brown lioness. He nodded his head, "I think we're good now... Ready?" he asked, tail lashing idly as his paw raised slightly, ready to walk out of camp. Blackheart needed to hunt, he felt like he needed to let off any steam he felt, and digging his claws into an animal, a kuda especially, as the lioness had suggested earlier. Oooh.... A kuda would be perfect- meaty and delicious. He licked his maw, eager to leave now. Perhaps hunting, whether it be a kudu or something else, with Briarclaw would help him, emotion-wise.

Ooc: Sorry about the him/her|he/she - thing the person that reserved the spot hasn't posted a form, or given us a name, so I had no idea what to call him/her/whatever. :P Also, the thing about a fateful day and stuff might be confusing now, but I'm working on his history atm (well, when I'm not typing this reply cx).
Yeah, his last day of apprenticeship was pretty tragic, making everything from that point on pretty bad for him...I'm getting so into writing his history, but when I wrote part of it... my heart broke 3 Still, it'll explains perfectly why he's like this (how he is now). ;)

Briarclaw | Lioness | 24 moons | ForestClan | Warrior
Mentions: Blackheart, Willowpaw

Slowly, she began to recognize the emotion on Blackheart's face as concern. A moment later, he told her why—he hadn't seen their leader at all yet today. As Briarclaw thought about it, neither had she. That was strange. Normally she saw them at least once in the morning when she woke up. This was truly puzzling, but perhaps they were out in the forest hunting, like she and the deputy were about to do. If so, they might even cross paths.

As Blackheart's eyes rested on (NPC), he called out to them to watch camp. Briarclaw thought that was a good move. Since they weren't sure where their leader was, and their deputy was about to head out with her to go hunting, there needed to be someone to watch camp. She had even spoken to (NPC) on several occasions, and found them to be a responsible lion/ess. They were certainly a good choice. The camp would be safe in their paws.

Gazing back at her deputy, she nodded, saying, “Ready.” A moment later, her sight fluttered over to Willowpaw, who came in dragging a carcass. It smelled of leopard, but so long as the owner hadn't followed her, it might make a good meal for the Clan. Turning back to Blackheart, she asked, “Do you think we should take Willowpaw along? Perhaps we'll be able to find her something to drink. If nothing else, the hunting experience would do her good.”

Blackheart | Tom | 26 moons/2 years, 2 months | ForestClan | Deputy
Location: ForestClan Territory; Camp | Mentions: Briarclaw, Willowpaw, Leader / Pride in General - Open for interaction

The chestnut-furred male put his paw fully on the ground, looking over, down, and then, finally, his eyes came to the lioness' face, specifically her eyes, as she asked the question. He looked over and immediately saw the grinning apprentice, rolling his eyes as the two both looked at him in anticipation, though Willowpaw did have more of the excited aura then the older female. Blackheart looked at Briarheart before looking down at the apprentice, nodding his head. "Sure, I don't see why not. It'd be great if we found a new source of water, too." he said, ear flicking slightly as he added his suggestion. "Are you ready to leave now?" he asked, a small flicker of amusement flashing across his eyes for a tiny moment. Lashing his tail idly, the large lion would turn around and begin making his way to the camp entrance, though would stop and wait there for the two she-lions to come before he would exit.

Ooc: I didn't have anything else to add, description/thought-wise, above so it's a bit short lmao <33 Again, I hope some sort of drama happens (danger, awkwardness, etc) when they're out. Maybe run into the leopards? Ooh, a fight would be cool. xD

Briarclaw | Lioness | 24 moons | ForestClan | Warrior
Mentions: Blackheart, Willowpaw

A soft smile graced her lips as she saw the way Willowpaw's eyes lit up at the suggestion of her tagging along. They needed to train the apprentice anyway so that she would grow into a well-rounded member of the Clan. At first she was afraid that Blackheart might say no, especially after seeing him roll his eyes, but she was pleasantly surprised when he announced that dear Willowpaw could come with them.

A light laugh escaped her as she said, “Yes, I'm ready now,” and began to follow him out of the camp. The dry grass beneath her paws again brought her mind back to the lack of rainfall, and she despaired over the idea that they might all become so dehydrated that they couldn't move. At the back of her head there was already a swirling sensation as if something were moving back there, but for now she could ignore it. How much longer she had before her thirst truly got to her, however, she didn't know.

(( OOC: How ironic would it be if there were a warrior named Rainfall? ))

Blackheart | Tom | 26 moons/2 years, 2 months | ForestClan | Deputy
Location: ForestClan Territory; Camp | Mentions: Briarclaw, Willowpaw / Pride in General - Open for interaction

The dark warrior let the smallest smile creep on his charcoal lips at the lioness and her comment, but it was unseen by both Briarclaw and his small apprentice. "Good." he grunted before moving forward again, his exhausted yet strong legs carrying him out of the camp. Like any good warrior, or deputy, the stubborn male had brought it upon himself to not drink that much, barely a sip everyday, so that the rest of the camp got as much water as possible. As you'd imagine, this stubborn action caused him to become very dehydrated, so he was getting just a tad dizzy inside, though it barely affected him, the weak effect of dehydration did though. But, being a headstrong lion, he pushed himself on and would force himself and his body to serve the clan. He was a determined warrior.

For a moment, the dizziness entered his eyes and he closed his eyes, paws faltering for a moment. With a quiet growl, he straightened his walking, opened his eyes, shook his thick name, and the dizziness disappeared. Blackheart wouldn't let the others see his lower health, especially the lioness and his apprentice. The lion raised his head and sniffed deeply, looking for the scent of some big animal, ignoring the scents of small creatures pass. Soon enough, as they continued walking, the scent of a (forest?) buffalo. It wasn't a kudu, but any big animal was good enough for him. Perhaps... The chestnut-furred lion stopped, looking over at the two. "Buffalo." he said, his voice hushes slightly, as he sense the beast was close, well too close for them to be lumbering around in the forest. He thought of a plan, "I would that that one of you would scare the beast towards me, perhaps you, Willowpaw. Then the other lioness would flank it and keep it going towards me. But, I suppose I'm open to suggestions." he said, his eyes mostly looking to Briarclaw for suggestions, wondering what she thought they should do.

Ooc: Sorry, this is a tad late. ;) Also, since I have forgotten to ask, I didn't know the territory of ForestClan, so I just guessed and put " (forest?) buffalo " since I just figured that ForestClan probably meant they were in a forest. But i didn't know for sure (considering their lions. xD)

Briarclaw | Lioness | 24 moons | ForestClan | Warrior
Mentions: Blackheart, Willowpaw

Briarclaw followed Blackheart into the thick of the forest, drinking in the scents of plants and animals alike. Most were smaller creatures, ones that would feed perhaps a cub or a sickly elder, but anyone with a larger stomach would be left with pains lining their belly as it cried out for more food. For some time, it didn't look like they were going to have any luck, until suddenly Blackheart said a single word: Buffalo. Opening her mouth, she let the air slip down her throat and sure enough, the scent of what was likely a cape buffalo entered.

The lioness listened intently to her deputy's plan, then allowed herself to zone out enough to imagine how the hunt would go. Willowpaw's chuff almost brought her out of it, but she managed to hang on. Cape buffalo were dangerous creatures, even for a lion. They were aggressive and normally didn't scare easily. If it wasn't wounded, the animal would likely try rushing them, which could crush Willowpaw and probably Briarclaw herself. She opened her mouth again, searching for the scent of blood, but the wind wasn't blowing at the time.

Glancing at Blackheart, she said, “We'll try it, but it might not budge if it's healthy. If it doesn't, should we circle around and try to come at it from behind?”

((OOC: I was waiting to see if anyone else was going to post, but I guess not?))