A cold Dawn patrol... **FINISHED**

[darkangel]

Gingerstar crept forward, tail down, ears flicked up in warning. "It's nearby. Wemight as well get it once Littleflower comes back with reinforcements; we can't let it near the elders or the kits or the queens!" she was beginning to sound panicked, so she forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down. She anxiously kneaded the ground with her claws, but stopped when she realized she was making unneccesary noise.
"Once she gets back, we all pounce..." she decided.

[Magicheart]

Magicheart felt her fur and shackles rise, but forced herself flat to the earth, tail lashing. Could they fight off a fox with three warriors if reinforcements didn't come in time?

Magicheart saw a bush tremble 20 foxlengths off. "Gingerstar!" she hissed. "Over there!"

[darkangel]

Gingerstar swallowed her temporary fear and crept towards the bush, on silent pawsteps.
She sniffed the air. Yes. This was the fox.
She crept forth and Peeked through the bush; on the other side was a fully grown fox eating three squirrels.
"Prey-stealer!" she hissed, but backtracked so that the fox wouldn't hear.
"We need reinforcements; it's fully grown," she whispered.

[Magicheart]

Magicheart's fur rose even further off her back and let out a hiss of anger. "This is the last thing we need!" she growled. Her fury at Lostclan for taking her son's eye was fresh in her, and she was ready to fight to the death to protect him and the camp from any further pain. Her tail lashed more furiously. "We need a plan of attack." she suggested, looking at her leader.

[darkangel]

Gingerstar nodded. "Littleflower and Lionfire will go around to the side. We're going to pounce on the fox from two directions. Three, actually, three directions when the reinforcements come. They'll take the side facing the sun." she cocked her head, thinking about it. "The fox is pretty big, but we'll have the element of surprise," she decided. "You and I will take this side." she added as an afterthought.

[Seraphinu]

Lionfire took a breath, his claws sliding from their sheathes as he crept to his position, his eyes blazing. What could be taking his mate so long? he thought with worry. Then, as if on cue, Littleflower and two other warriors appeared- Icecrystal and Whitefire. Lionfire sighed with relief.

"We're here!" Littleflower hissed, her breath heaving, the two she-cats behind her, both looking frantic.

"We sent the apprentices back to camp," Whitefire reported. "What's our strategy, Gingerstar?" the gold-eyed she-cat asked, claws unsheathed and clearly ready for a good battle.

[darkangel]

Gingerstar nodded to all of them.
"Right then. Littleflower, Lionfire, you two take the side facing the sun. The other two will take the opposite side from us, and then Magicheart and I will take this side. We'll pounce from all directions, and we'll have the element of surprise," she decided quickly. "Go, and ready on my command!" she unsheathed her claws completely.

[Magicheart]

Magicheart nodded, her tail lashing in anticipation. Could this be the doing of Lostclan? she wondered. Nothing would surprise her about those cursed evil cats.

[darkangel]

As the other cats gathered on their sides that they were assigned to by Gingerstar, Gingerstar mewed to Magicheart softly, "May StarClan watch over all of us and give us luck." she mewed solemnly.
She got ready to spring.
"And...GO!"
They sprung onto the fox.

~
The fox reared around, twisting in surprise at all of the attacks coming at him at once. Gingerstar gave it a nasty swipe across the muzzle, making blood bubble up between its nose and eyes.

Crimsonheart arrived ont he scene just as the battle had started. She hissed, unsheathing her claws all the way and pounced straight onto the back of the fox, though she was immediately thrown off by the huge bulk, she was still able to get in a few clawmarks, even though they were shallow.

[switch321]

For a small cat, she certainly is fast, Brackensmoke thought grimly as he burst into the clearing that surrounded the Oak.
He spotted Crimsonheart being tossed off of the fox and sighed.
Looks like he was in for the fight.
"MrrOWW!" Brackensmoke unsheathed his claws and brought them down on the fox's face.

[darkangel]

The fox reared, throwing Brackensmoke off of him but Crimsonheart leaped back on immediately, tearing at the fox's flank.
With a lot of warriors, the fight was definitely tipped in their way on the scales of things, Crimsonheart thought grimly as she nodded slightly to Brackensmoke, acknowledging his help.

Gingerstar was fighting with equal viciousness. She had nodded to her deputy's arrival, and also at Crimsonheart's, watching her former apprentice with affection. She tore at the fox's back flank, scoring her claws down and biting into its thick fur, the fox was already pretty bloodied up; with about six or seven against one huge fox it was quite uneven.
She sighed. Now was not the time to pity the thing you were killing; it would've taken your clan's kits! she reprimanded herself.
The fox had given up fighting altogether, lying down with pained shudders as it was torn to pieces.

[switch321]

Brackensmoke had leaped back in to help end the creature's life.
He'd nodded back to his leader, and glanced Crimsonheart's direction, but it wasn't the time to think about talking to her.
They had a duty to do.

[darkangel]

Gingerstar continued to fight valiantly, finally taking a strike at the fox's throat. Its throat was slashed open cruelly and it began to bleed openly.
The fox took its last shuddering breath and lay down, dead.

Crimsonheart breathed a sigh of relief as the fox was dead, but her claws remained unsheathed, just in case.

[switch321]

Brackensmoke stopped clawing at the fox as it died.
"Ah..." He licked at his scratched shoulder, and glanced around at his clanmates.
"Everyone in one piece?" he asked, breaking the silence.

[darkangel]

Gingerstar dipped her head. "Yes, and so is Crimsonheart, it appears," she added as Crimsonheart nursed a small gash at her side, but other than that, she seemed fine.
((I was told that Littleflower and Lionfire are NPCs...here we go..))
Littleflower had a scratch along her pelt, but other than that, she was fine. Lionfire had a deep scrape across his back, which hecouldn't quite reach.
"Lionfire, maybe we should go back to see the medicine cat," suggested Gingerstar. "We don't want this to get infected... Crimsonheart and Brackensmoke can finish the patrol, since they're the least injured."
Crimsonheart bolted upright, always ready to do her duty. "Right away, Gingerstar!" she meowed.
"Well, on second thought, I'm pretty unscathed...the rest of you go get patched up and Brackensmoke, Crimsonheart and I can finish the patrol around the borders," Gingerstar decided as an afterthought.