Warriors: The Beginning

[Stunningfire]

Foxthunder nodded his approval. Then he decided it was time for some more of-the-season hunting practice. "How about we try some leaf-fall hunting? We haven't done much at all, but I want to see how you do and then we can pinpoint your weaker spots and work from there. What you want to do is locate your prey. Make sure it isn't too far away that you won't be able to catch it, but also make sure that it isn't so close that you'll stumble over it when you start running. Would you like an example first?" he offered, willing to help his apprentice get started the best she could in the cooling weather.

Hazelpaw smiled shyly as her mentor nodded in approval, and she breathed a silent sigh of relief. She wasn't as bad at hunting as she thought she was. Then Foxthunder suggested leaf-fall hunting and Hazelpaw's nerves returned. Locating her prey sounded hard... it had to be exactly the right length from her. Her mentor offered to show her an example and Hazelpaw nodded fervently. "Yes, please," she mewed, curling her tail up behind her back.

[SoiledLove]

Icefire smiled when she saw Starlingleaf become cautious at the word 'died'. "Don't worry, I'm fine. And, yes, I have. Fall said they go to the Tribe of Endless Hunting. I bet my family is waiting there for me. Fall said it was a paradise for cats," she said, looking up at the sky as if she could see her parents looking down at her.

~~~

"What am I doing? What am I doing? What are you thinking? You really think that I'd just follow you? I've learnt to not trust cats easily! Which mouse brain would just obediently follow some stranger!? What do I know you would do to me? Huh?" Sky asked, narrowing his eyes.

[Unknown]

((Sorry for my inactivity))

"Yeah, yeah." Coldstorm snarled. "Stop stalling, rogue. Are you going to get out of my territory or what? This is your last chance. I have no mercy for fools like you.”

 

“Quiet.” Mountainmist snapped, quieting Sunpaw. “Today you’ll learn how to improve your defense. You have gotten quite a couple of scratches from that rogue.”

 

[ChocoBrownie]

"Aww!" Sunpaw mewed. His mentor made sense, but... "But, Mountainmist! If I improve my speed to your level, those rogues won't be able to scratch my pelt!" Sunpaw replied, flicking his tail. "Wouldn't it make more sense if we trained on speed more?"

[StarSea]

Lunapaw flicked her tail and pressed her ears flat. "I don't have time for this and I've already had to deal with one loner today when I should be training so either you come with me willingly or I drag you there by the scruff. Your choice, fox heart!" She was prepared to fight him if she had to. He was younger than her and most likely less experienced than herself. Then her eyes widened. Whe- when did I become so mean? Sure he's ruining my day even more, but he's only a kit! "I'm sorry, I didn't mea-"

(Cut off by Sky?)

 

Foxthunder turned to the vast moor when Hazelpaw agreed to having an example. He slowly stalked forward until he could pinpoint some prey - a rabbit - and where it was. Finding it wasn't too far and wasn't especially close, he bolted at it. It sat up for a moment to see what it was before it too bolted off. It's long back legs pounded hard on the ground, pushing it farther and farther away from Foxthunder, so he gave himself a boost, letting his tail lay flat, limp with the wind. Pressing harder, he chased the rabbit and as he came up on it, the rabbit swerved to the left. He had to think quick to turn on time and as he did, he reached out a paw, claws unsheathed, and grabbed it. He held it down as he gave it the killing bite, then realized that it could have been a better help if he had brought it to Hazelpaw, released it, and then let her try. Foxdung! Why didn't I think of that before? he swore at himself. He gave thanks to StarClan for its life as he bounded back to where Hazelpaw stood. "You're not guaranteed to get it the first time, so don't beat yourself up if you don't get anything for the first few times, okay?" he warned her and gave her an nudge, setting down his rabbit. "Close your eyes and use your other senses. What do you smell? What do you hear?" he asked her.

[SoiledLove]

"Hm... No," Scar said, smirking again, "We city cats have no reason to listen to you clan cats."

Then he suddenly leaped from a relaxed standing position, a trick he had learned in the city, a great way to catch traitors off guard. He aimed for the shoulders, trying to pin the other cat down.

~~~

"You're the fox-heart! Even I, no matter how small I am, have to eat to survive! If you want to fight, you have one coming!" Sky shouted boldly, crouching and ready to pounce. His fur was fluffed up, making him look twice his size, his tail lashing and his eyes narrowed.

[Unknown]

Mountainmist sighed. "There are some cats who are even faster than me. You can't just base it on speed alone, Sunpaw. If you do that, you'll never win a battle. Now...try to intercept my attacks. But don’t dodge.” With sheathed claws, Mountainmist moved in. Rushing forwards, she sent a paw down on Sunpaw’s head.

 

"I thought so." Coldstorm whipped to the side and reared up, using his immense size to try to overcome the rogue cat. He swung a paw towards Scar with stored power. "You're going to regret that, rogue."

[SoiledLove]

Using the force of the hit to his advantage, Scar curled up as the paw swiped at him and he rolled under the other cat. Then he suddenly came out of his curled up shape, knocking his paws into the hind paws of the other cat as he reared. The force of Coldstorm's attack made Scar's snipe feel weird, but it gave him an extra push and he collided with Coldstorm's hind paws with more force than he normally would have had.

[ChocoBrownie]

Sunpaw instinctively held up a paw, intercepting Mountainmist’s blow. Then, taking advantage of his speed, used his hind paws to kick Mountainmist’s legs. Supposing, this would cause the other cat to collapse, but the kick wasn’t really powerful.

[StarSea]

Lunapaw instinctively reacted to Sky's stance and dropped into the like. "You don't have to steal!" she snapped back at him as he shouted at her. Ashkit couldn't take all of the yelling, as well as being cold and hungry, began mewling helplessly. I'm sorry Ashkit! she thought as she shouted at Sky again, "I hope your skills are as big as your mouth!" With that, she lunged at him, claws unsheathed.

[Unknown]

"Not bad, but..." Mountainmist sweeped to the side. As Sunpaw swiped her foot, she used the other paw to slam against Sunpaw's pelt. "...that leaves my other paw available for attack." Leaping up, Mountainmist sent another blow at Sunpaw.

 

As Coldstorm met the earth he thrashed, using his hind claws to lash out at the rogue.

 

[SoiledLove]

Sky darted forwards and dodged the attack by going under Lunapaw. Then he turned and said, "If I didn't steal, what could I do? The prey is everycat's!"

He then leaped at Lunapaw with his claws unsheathed, faintly aware of Ashkit's mewling.

~~~

Scar hissed as he got a scratched on the leg by the other cat. Then, he jumped onto Coldstorm and tried to dig his claws into the other cat's shoulders.

[ChocoBrownie]

[[bump?]]

[SoiledLove]

((BUMP? Why don't you reply to Mountainmist?!))

[ChocoBrownie]

[[Good point.]]

 

Sunpaw buckled, falling to the ground to avoid getting attacked. Using all four paws, Sunpaw lashed out in all directions, eyes focused on Mountainmist. As soon as she hit the ground, Sunpaw immediately rolled on his side, swiping her pelt.

[StarSea]

"You could join a clan! Then maybe you'd learn some manners!" She swiftly dodged Sky's attack, feeling his claws brush extremely close to her skin. As he passed by, she reared up and aimed for his shoulders.

[SoiledLove]

Instead of stopping or trying to dodge the counter attack, Sky accidentally forgot to stop and went right past Lunapaw, trying to stop. This saved him from the attack. He lost his balance for a bit but quickly caught himself and turned to face Lunapaw.

"You're the one without manners! What's a clan, anyways?" he asked, crouching, ready to pounce, but holding back out of curiosity.

[Stunningfire]

Lightningstreak nodded, then flinched a little when Nightstar turned her gaze toward Wildshade. What was she thinking? Why would she appoint Wildshade to lead a patrol - ah, Lightningstreak really needed to focus; she was losing her touch. It was probably because Wildshade was near her at the time - yes, that was it. She flicked her ears. "Will do, Nightstar." She scanned the camp as her leader left, looking for a cat to lead the patrol. What about Deadwinter? Lightningstreak nodded in approval of her choice and padded over to the warrior.

 

"Hello, Deadwinter," she meowed, dipping her head in greeting. "I'd like you to lead a hunting patrol, please. We'll need as much prey as possible for the upcoming leafbare. Take... Wildshade and Twistedpaw with you." Lightningstreak's tail flicked at the thought of the warrior. She really wasn't supposed to play favorites among the Clan, but the deputy honestly detested Wildshade. His attitude and the way he treated every cat... Lightningstreak's eyes flashed. "Yes, uh, Wildshade and his apprentice. You can take another cat if you wish."

 

[Anyone seen Bates recently? :/]

 

Starlingleaf blinked in surprise. "The Tribe of Endless Hunting... I've heard about that before." She tilted her head slightly. "Who is this Fall? Is he or she a Tribe cat?" The medicine cat's eyes grew a little rounder with wonder at the thought of Tribe cats. She didn't know much about them, only that they were sort of like Clans and that they lived in the mountains. A few cats, a long time ago, had visited them and there were legends about cats leaving their Clan to join the Tribe of Rushing Water.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Stunningfire

[SoiledLove]

"A tribe cat?" Icefire tilted her head, "I don't know. He's been a city cat for as long as I know. Fall is the elder of the city. He knows a lot and has been to many different places. What's a tribe?" She then asked, curious. These cats sure did seem to know a lot. Fall had never talked about tribes except the tribe of endless hunting.

[Stunningfire]

Hazelpaw watched curiously as her mentor stalked forward, intent on catching a rabbit. Her eyes widened as he bolted forward and the rabbit ran off. For a moment, she was worried that it was going to get away, before Foxthunder threw himself forward. The apprentice noted the way that he lay his tail flat so that he could boost his speed. Hazelpaw curled her tail up in excitement as Foxthunder neared the rabbit, resisting the urge to cheer in fear that it would ruin his concentration. She then gasped a little when the rabbit swerved to the left, and watched with awe as her mentor quickly caught it.

 

"That was amazing!" she mewed happily when her mentor bounded up to her. She flicked her ear in acknowledgement at his words and nudge, knowing whatever he did, Hazelpaw would want to get it on the first few tries because she was such a perfectionist. Obeying her mentor, the apprentice closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the fresh moor air.

 

A breeze blew past, ruffling Hazelpaw's fur and bringing the faint scent of squirrel with it. Hazelpaw's eyes shot open. "Squirrel," she breathed, surprised. Squirrels weren't exactly common on WindClan territory; this one must have come from ThunderClan territory. And it wasn't as close as Hazelpaw would have liked, judging from the scent - with all the open space, scents could carry quite a long way. By the time she got to the squirrel, it might have already run away. But, still - Hazelpaw was determined. She might still have a chance if she hurried.

 

She began to follow the scent quickly, pausing once in a while to taste the air. Now that the breeze had disappeared, she couldn't smell the squirrel anymore, but she knew which direction it came from. Soon she neared a patch of land with a clump of trees, and knew that the squirrel must be somewhere there. Remembering what Foxthunder had instructed her to do, Hazelpaw stopped and tilted her ears toward the patch of trees. Her senses honed in on the sharp scrape of the squirrel's teeth on an acorn. Bingo!

 

"Locate your prey. Make sure it isn't too far away that you won't be able to catch it, but also make sure that it isn't so close that you'll stumble over it when you start running." Foxthunder's words ran through Hazelpaw's head and she began to creep forward, more sure now that she could smell the squirrel and hear it as it ate. Too intent on her prey and exhilarated by how close she was, Hazelpaw forgot to check her pawsteps to make sure that they were light and not too heavy.

 

The moment she neared the clearing and could finally catch sight of the squirrel, Hazelpaw took a step forward and it bolted. "Fox dung!" she made a chase for it, flattening her tail like she remembered from Foxthunder's demonstration, but this wasn't a WindClan moor. There were too many twigs and plants in the way, and Hazelpaw found herself slowing down, the squirrel disappearing out of sight. She sighed, defeated, her tail drooping.

 

Starlingleaf frowned slightly. Perhaps Fall used to be a tribe cat, or his parents were. She'd never heard of any cats besides those from the Tribe of Rushing Water believing in the Tribe of Endless Hunting. "Well... according to what I hear, cats from the Tribe of Rushing Water are a lot like Clan cats," she meowed. "They live in a group - on the mountains, apparently - and help each other live. I don't know much about it," she added apologetically, licking her chest fur a couple of times in embarrassment. When Starlingleaf was a kit, she had never been very interested in the stories that the elders told, unlike the others. She preferred to listen to Roseleaf, the medicine cat at that time, talk about herbs and such.

 

"Once we get to camp, you can ask some of the elders. They have lots of good stories." Starlingleaf smiled. "Speaking of camp, we're almost there."

Edited October 25, 2012 by Stunningfire

[SoiledLove]

"It's fine," Icefire mewed, "It sounds nice to live in a clan or a tribe. So... What do you have to do in a clan? Like, what's your role and all?" Her curiosity was overwhelming her as they got closer to the camp. She was itching to know more.

[Stunningfire]

[by "you" do she mean Starlingleaf specifically or in general? o.O]

[ValidEmotions]

Met by chill air and light snowfall, Dusteye glanced around before looking to Oakpaw to see if the apprentice was right behind him. "Let's head east. I'll show you Outlook Rock and the border beside the Thunderpath. If there's time afterwards, I'll take you to the old badger nest. There's always been a good source of prey around the old nest." Dusteye stated, twitching his ear to flick off snowflakes. The wind was ruffling his fur the opposite way, letting the chill of the coming Leaf-Bare seep through his flesh.

---

 

Nightstar nodded faintly, touching her tail tip to Silentpaw's shoulder. He knew what the touch meant, that she wished for him to watch and follow her example. She had been using such a motion since day one of his training. Dropping low, similar to a regular hunting crouch, she kept her tail straight behind her. "When the ground is covered in snow and frost, you must be wary of how you distribute your weight. If a cat is not attentive, then their paws are sure to slip out beneath them. To be successful in hunting during Leaf-Bare, you must keep your feet light and your body evenly balanced."

 

((Okay. Since GF is no longer part of the RP, should we just act like Wildshade never had Twistedpaw for an apprentice?))

[SoiledLove]

((First 'you' is in general, then Icefire wants to know what role Starlingleaf plays for the second 'you'))

[Stunningfire]

[Narvix: err, sure. Or someone else could play Twistedpaw. o.o if nobody's up to it, I can]

 

"It is," Starlingleaf said with a smile. "I don't know what I would do without my Clan... well, different cats have different roles." She paused, wondering where to start. "Cats younger than six moons, kits, start out in the nursery. Pregnant queens and nursing queens stay there as well. Once a kit reaches six moons, they become an apprentice and a warrior is assigned the role of "mentoring" the apprentice. The warrior teaches the apprentice stuff such as hunting and battle moves and such. The apprentices also have the job of making sure the queens and elders are well fed. Oh, by the way, elders are basically retired warriors."

 

Starlingleaf glanced over at Icefire, worried that she was going to fast and confusing the loner. "Most of the Clan is made up of warriors. Warriors are supposed to protect their Clan, hunt for the Clan, and patrol borders to keep out invaders. As you already know, each Clan has a leader. They lead the Clan, obviously. Leafstar is ThunderClan's leader. And there's also a deputy, to take the place of the leader once he or she dies. Deputies are in charge of patrols and such. Our deputy is Fallenvoice."

 

Starlingleaf grinned. "Now, as for my role... well, I'm a medicine cat. I'm in charge of taking care of my Clanmates when they're ill or injured. When I was a kit, I never really liked to hurt others - I preferred to heal." She blushed a little. "I really do like being a medicine cat; it's amazing." Her eyes shone. "And I get to have a special connection with StarClan as well, and - oh, wait. Sorry, that's probably too much to take in at once." She glanced over at Icefire uncertainly. "I'll tell you about everything once you get settled into the Clan," the medicine cat promised. "And look! We're here."

 

Starlingleaf padded into camp, looking around for Leafstar. "Leafstar," she called, waving her tail to get the leader's attention. "Could I speak with you for a moment, please?" She glanced over at Icefire. "Don't worry," the white she-cat meowed. "I'm sure Leafstar won't have any problem with you joining the Clan."