(ay yiss #ask me what seagull taste like plot is in action xD for that I think this thread takes place a moon or so ago, when Accalia was still nursing his kits and Uta noticeably amps bringing down prey, giving the first piece to the group as a courtesy by accalia's request cause she was probably the girl in the office getting an ocean of flowers when there's a flower shortage lmao)

Uta, subtle fun fact, could almost always be found lounging or lurking in trees and more recently on top high twoleg's nests always getting a bird eyes view or all the potential prey beneath him. Sand on the other hand was the last place he wanted to be - it was slippery, slow, so much effort had to be exerted and therefore wasted, the risk of mistakes increased by any percent or chance was not to his liking as he was not a sloppy killer. He should've known not to hunt too close to it but it had to be done. In a pinch, with the prey shortage he could always pick off alley cats that no body would miss - no he wasn't possible still the cannibal rumors of younger him painted him to be. Dangerous and deadly he was though, and he had intention of taking out a hawk or it's nestful of large flightless, fattening chicks competing for their same prey it would still take out extra mouths to feed while being a much more appeasing meal for Accalia and any other of PI for that matter after she and the kits had their fill. Unfortunately herbs were kinda low as well and this hawk had a mate who both did not take kindly to his attempt to take out the nest. On guard, he lost his element of surprise and wasn't going to get out of this one without some viscous fighting and even then neither Shaman or Mage would appreciate this reckless tom once again taking up space in their den and requiring both herbs and wounds to be nursed for a week over maybe a day's worth of prey for the group at most.

An explosion of sand kicked out under his feet as the tom chased a rabbit on the beach, those jumper's legs on sand were like fins in the ocean and Uta knew he needed to ended it quickly and forced it all into one strong lunge at the rabbit - s q u a w k - a white and grey blur swooped at the rabbit almost smacking the tom with a wingful of feathers as he ducked his head and streched claws out for the prey but grabbed nothing but fluff. His side crashed down sprayed a wave of sand as the tom landed on his back still looking up at the paw that held clumps of fur of his lost prey, as both creatures took off in the sky leaving his view. The only thing in the
tom's head: 'Since when could birds pick up a 5-pound rabbit?'

Uta quietly processed the events as he slowly sat up, flicking his tail and scattering sand. He relaxed his gripped paw letting go of the fluff to be carried away with the wind.

"They never looked that big - only hawks and owls have been big enough to carry off good sized prey like that" he wasnt even concerned with if he was hurt just at the failure. "No wonder preys getting low these rats are fattening up on our prey" his tone sharpen with the accusation clearly not happy with the new rising threat. He finally looked at Regulus "Hm, bad luck indeed"

"Neither have I, I've only seen so many on the SummerClan's beach ... don't know what they're doing over here..." the marbled tom looked over the beach, too cold and rocky and rather inhabitable compared to the other where twolegs frequented and left easy pickings for the seagulls (i think I remember reading and learning summerclan lore and then the new layout took over and now im going off of poor memory to fill in the details xD). If he had to guess, perhaps a few of them tried to follow the twolegs, perhaps they from the city and now they were here perhaps they starting picking at their prey and getting way too comfy on land that didn't belong to them filling up their bellies with prey that most certainly did not belong to them. And pretty soon they'd be getting claws to the their faces that didn't belong to them either.

/ how would you suggest we take care of this problem? /
His neutral, thoughtful look changed at the sound of that inquisitive idea. His eyes narrowed with annoyance holding back no straightforward or simple notions - no he wanted to and would go out of his way to make things dreadful things suffer if he could- oh there was no question to if, just 'when'.
"They're just bigger, crowfood-eating rats... They'll eat anything, I have a desire to find one of those big piece of flat bark twolegs have (plywood) and throw it out there with scarps on it. Then figure out how many of us are part fish, and can hold our breathes long enough to wait for them to come to the floating bark and ambush them and drag them into the water to drown them..." he knew there was the possibility they could drown as well, this rough draft coming off as a pity-fueled, bad presentation but the determination was there.

The much more realistic idea had an appeal to it he had to admit. Blinking away the petty seething to actually think about it, yeah it was much more efficient and along the lines of his style - like taking out a hawk's nest and it's parents with Hywel. Albeit, just the two of them meant there were injuries but like before if he could entertain the idea of working together with his group mates he could execute these satisfyingly efficient plans! This must be what Accalia meant by playing nice and getting more involved or whatever.

"That clever little she-cat." Clearly he needed her. The marbled tom looked back to Regulus, "Of course, but what could we use? Honey? We'd need a whole nestful..." Not to mention arranging the complicated plan needed just to get honey with as little stinging as possible. "Or perhaps something like using thorns- brambles and weaving them. These rat birds are greedy - I'd bet they'd reach through any thorny bush to grab food and be too stubborn to let go of it to get out even if their life depended on it..." He sinisterly smiled as he was describing what twolegs knew well as a 'monkey trap'. Though coconuts were hard for a cats to carve so why not a heavy, punishing net of brambles that could serve the purpose of trapping multiple birds at once? Lattice weave or tied with ivy as twine the possibilities were endless.

( I TYPED A REPLY AND ACCIDENTALLY HIT CREATE REPLY INSTEAD OF POST /cries)

"Eh," the tom shrugged leaving the option open for Regulus to decide; he wasn't exactly the one to ask at the moment when he had been so distant from the other PI members as of late. "I suppose if you know any cats that can weave, or have the patience in case of a few prickly jabs." It was at random times like these h occasioanlly remembered he had kits somewhere out there, and wondered if that SummerClan was still around. That blind one didn't seem to like him but even he could weave a darn good flower crown, if they had an ounce of that skill in their group it would easily be enough cats to make this work.

"I learned how to weave a long time ago... though it has been a while..." he admitted the potential for errors which made him accepting of help if it might be beneficial for them. He omitted the fact that he didn't remember because he had other motives on his mind, failing to pay attention back when he flirted with half of that clan. After all, his first fling from that area Vadima, was not a clan cat who could teach him the techniques - not that he needed a reason to stick around or interact with them, or do what he did.

"I do kinda remember, although worst case we can always try asking a SummerClan cat." Different groups, different interests, meant little to him outside of entertainment value. Most of the time he just considered himself a neutral force and that went after whatever it was he wanted and would try to get anyone or do anything to get that help to achieve a means to an end. "There is still a cat or two who may remember me... and want to chase me off but I do have a favor to call in." he reinforced that was a good thing and not all a problem because a favor was a favor after all.

"If even just the two of us go to learn, then I am confident we could blaze through a net in no time and have that potential for future use."