one hell of a drug- hunting patrol

[RHINESTONE.]

[glow=#b8dcf8,2,300]▶ NATURE'S CORRUPTED IN FACTORIES FAR AWAY ◀[/glow]

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.