[table][tr]
[td][/td]
[td][/td][/tr][/table]

Rhine had, as of late, been in a rather tired state. Taking over the entirety of the clan after the loss of so many was difficult, and while he was happy to help with all rebuilding efforts, he could also tell he was beginning to get worn down. Still, he had gotten a fairly nice night's sleep the previous evening, and he could feel his stomach distinctly rumbling from where he was laying in his den, so it seemed only natural that he would help out with the patrol. It took a long moment for the speckled smoke to gather up his energy to properly get up but eventually he shoved himself from his bed of dried seaweed and moss, heading out to where Vixenvenom was standing.

He winced a bit upon seeing Coconutpaw, not eager for the apprentice to go and critique his every move thanks to his new position as leader, but he wasn't about to let some kid stop him from patrolling. Padding over to a few paces in front of Vixen, Rhine sat down before he purred, giving a warm – if a bit sleepy – smile in response to her request, "I'll be happy to help out as well, Vixenvenom. The freshkill storages could go for some refreshing." It would be difficult, forcing himself not to eat any of what they caught until they got back to camp, but he could manage. He didn't always need breakfast, after all.

Perhaps if Hailkit wasn't so young, the kit would realize likely shouldn't be in such a playful mood. Sure, the hurricane had scared and confused him, but it only seemed to temporarily dampen his personality while it lasted. As the Clan started to rebuild itself, Hailkit seemed to be going back to his old self.

"I want to go!" Hailkit declared, puffing out his chest as he came bounding over.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

for someone so large, it was rather surprising how quiet he could keep his steps if need be - still Storm looked down at the gathered small ones (cats he’d learned was what they were called but he could never quite shake calling them small ones fondly).

He offered a nod ”I would join you but at most I’d only slow you down I think - ah, unless you heard them towards where I might hide?” that could work, he’d be able to kill anything herded towards him if he were lying in wait.

”otherwise I can go fishing for the stores?” at this he looked towards Rhinestone for permission - he could at least grab a big fish to feed them all no? that'd help!

[table][tr]
[td][/td]
[td][/td][/tr][/table]

Ah, shit. Much as Rhinestonestar was loathe to admit it – not because of who it had come from, but rather because he had wanted to go along – Vixen was right that the clan needed protecting. While they had begun to bolster their ranks once again as of late, that didn't mean that they were back to one hundred percent, and Rhine couldn't stand the thought of anyone getting hurt because he was starting to get a bit restless. Digging his claws lightly into the ground beneath him, the male nodded his head and said, sighing, "You're... very right about that, Vixenvenom. I'm still getting used to the new division of members..." It was odd, having far more apprentices and kittens than they did full fledged warriors anymore, but that wasn't a total loss. After all, as the apprentices and kits grew, they too would rise in the ranks, making the group stronger as a whole. They just needed to... get to that point, without some other kind of disaster happening. Ears briefly flattening against his skull, Rhine muttered as he glanced around camp, tail flicking behind him to reflect the thoughts racing through his mind, "I'll stay here with Featherear, and make sure that the camp is protected. Hopefully you and Cocountpaw can bring in some good prey... and Stormspine with his fishing, of course." The leader sent a small smile in Storm's direction, trying to reassure the large dinosaur that he was still helping out, even if he wasn't ideal for quiet hunting.

It seemed as though Rhinestone was not the only one forced to remain in camp despite their enthusiasm. He found himself smiling faintly as he watched Hailkit come bounding over, glad to see that the child was so excited for what – to some – could seem like such a menial task. He wasn't sure if Hailkit would remain so excited about ordinary hunting patrols once he was an apprentice, but the rusty colored leader could only hope that he did. Moving over to where Hailkit was, Rhine let his long tail curl gently around the kit, ushering back towards the inner part of camp as he spoke, "Don't worry, Hailkit. Even if you're not quite old enough to go on a hunting patrol, you're still very big, and strong, and you're learning. You wanna help Featherear and I with guarding camp while they head out?" Logically, Rhinestonestar knew that Hailkit would be of little help with actually guarding the camp, and that he'd be ushered away with the rest of the children should an actual threat arise. However, he had found that children liked thinking that they were doing something important, and he was sure that fake camp guard duty could give Hailkit that sense of importance.

The conversation that the adults were having was going right over Hailkit's head; to him, he had nothing to worry about... The adults would protect him and would help him, just like they did during the hurricane! Of course, this was more or less his young naivety than anything else. So Hailkit didn't really pay attention to their words until Rhinestonestar decided to address him directly, ushering him away from the growing patrol.

"Yeah, I can do that!!" Hailkit perked up at the idea of guarding camp, puffing his fur out in an attempt to seem much more bigger than he was. [glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]