Skunkstrike
36 Moons
She/Her
Purrk(s): Beefed Up
-------------------------
Her first actual apprentice! Her first real training session as a real mentor! It was like a dream come true! She felt herself swelling and ready to burst with pride as she led the apprentice to Cattail Pond, one of the nicest places to practice just about anything, from tree-climbing to battle training to hunting!
Hunting was today's training. She paused as she reached a small clearing and looked over, waiting for Mirepaw to catch up before they began.
Skunkstrike
36 Moons
She/Her
Purrk(s): Beefed Up
-------------------------
Her first actual apprentice! Her first real training session as a real mentor! It was like a dream come true! She felt herself swelling and ready to burst with pride as she led the apprentice to Cattail Pond, one of the nicest places to practice just about anything, from tree-climbing to battle training to hunting!
Hunting was today's training. She paused as she reached a small clearing and looked over, waiting for Mirepaw to catch up before they began.
Mirepaw followed his mentor to the pond. "Where are we?" he asked, before realising what he said, "Uh- I- I mean... uhh..." I can't let her know that I'm stupid enough to not know my own territory! The orange colorpoint sighed, before regaining his composure. "I mean... um, what did you want to teach me?"
__________________
"Do you and Barley have kits?" - Bella
The still-recovering (though almost healed, mind you) she-cat had been lounging outside of camp, just trying to get away from... well, everything. The camp was stuffy and crowded and too warm. Yes, there was a good amount of warm but all those bodies in that small of a space? Yuck. And that was how she found herself laying in the snow, thick coat and scraggly undergrowth protecting her from the brunt of the cold as she began to doze off. That was, until she heard a sploosh in the distance.
As she opened her eyes, a few ideas flickered across her mind. Had someone decided to go swimming? No, that would practically be a death sentence in this kind of weather. Or at least a recipe for a nasty cough. Fishing? But what kind of ThunderClanner would be fishing? Besides her. Was it RiverClan? Hesitantly, she got up onto shaky paws and stalked forward, trying to see exactly what was going on. And what she found was none other than the young cat who had spoken to her not all that long ago, Wolfpaw. The kid seemed like he was trying to fish. But he wasn't exactly great at it.
Violetfreckle slunk out of the not-so-lush undergrowth, making her way toward the apprentice. She stopped a few tail-lengths away, clearing her throat with a soft ahem. "You uh, learnin' to fish over there? In this weather?" She half-joked, sparing a glance toward the undoubtedly cold water. Yeesh.
The ear-splitting snap shook her back to the present as Redhawk released the trespassers paw. Turning swiftly on her paws she watched with wide, horrified green eyes. Ears pinned back against her head she looked at the ShadowClanner, her forelegs shaking a bit. "I...I..." she stammered, unable to come up with an answer. Her heart clenched tightly as her frightened gaze looked up towards Bumblestar.
"I... uh..." Her head felt foggy and her stomach rolled with nausea as her gaze drifted down towards the ShadowClanner. "...H-H-He trespassed. SSS-So we ss-should..." Her fur felt hot as she shook her head again. "...T-They did attack you..." Giving one last shake of her head and pelt she tried to stand taller, walking over on stiff legs. "T-They could be a t-threat to T-ThunderClan."
'Tough choices need making. That's just how it goes.' Bumblestar's words from the night after the last gathering rang in her head and she swallowed, looking up. "...T-Threats need to be eliminated." ...Stars, would she be tasked with doing it? She had never killed another cat before, and her forelegs shook at the mere thought of it.
A micro-expression twisted Bumblestar's features for a split second as she watched Redhawk's resolve falter. It was hard to tell what it was, appearing too small and leaving too fast to properly register.
At least Redhawk got to the right answer in the end. Bumblestar wouldn't make her do the deed for that.
Dimlizard surged underneath her paws suddenly but a harsh swipe to the side of his head sent him sprawling. His eyes clouded and he opened his jaws to speak - only nothing came out.
Bumblestar's claws sliced vertically through his throat, spilling scarlet into the snow. He gurgled and reached up to claw her, but she stepped out of the way with a twitch of her tail and tossed Redhawk a glance. "Trespassers get what comes to 'em. I won't lord over your choice of how you deal with 'em, but if ShadowClan keeps pushin' into our land and attacking whoever they come across, there'll be future problems."
She stepped away from Dimlizard's body, dipping her claws into the edge of the pond to clean the blood from them. A troubled look made her upper lip twitch and she returned her stare to the felled warrior. "Don't like this."
*-Asterpaw-*
45/100
he/him || 10moons || go with the flow: inactive, ultimate predator Lanky, flame point siamese with heterochromatic eyes
Upon receiving feedback, Aster nodded. More force in a real fight, keep his paw closer to his body so there's less room for retaliation. Alright. Sounds... um... doable? He's never thought so hard about his moves or his techniques when fighting. That one time he fought a baby raccoon for food when he was still making his way to ThunderClan had felt more like he was just flaining his limbs around. He'd never imagined there'd be so much structure and technique.
"Okay," Aster agrees, setting his brows and trying to feel some amount of confidence. He's not sure how well this will go - Bumblestar is clan leader after all, she's wickedly strong and could probably kill him in one bite like he's nothing more than prey. Maybe she'll hold back a little bit? Either way, is she expecting him to make the first move? Probably.
The young tom takes a moment to assess the situation, and, if Bumblestar does seem to be waiting for him to move first, he'll dart in low to the ground, veering slightly to her left, and attempt to spring up, reaching a paw out - claws sheathed - to bat at her shoulder with more force than he had while trying the move out the first time, hoping to maybe upset her balance slightly.
Bumblestar let him get in close, let the swipe connect. He was bigger than her, so the swipe definitely had some momentum to it, but she was used to this sort of thing. The sparring session wasn't about letting him knock her over so much as it was teaching him how to adapt on the fly.
As soon as he made contact, she swept around to the side and threw a forepaw out, the goal to knock his paws out from underneath him and send him to the ground. If he fell the way she wanted him to she'd turn the rest of the way and pin him.
Violetfreckle was sick of feeling useless. Sick and tired of being injured and playing the damsel in distress. She was going to provide for this Starsdamned Clan whether her injuries liked it or not. This determination was what sent the tabby she-cat slinking out of camp at dawn, bright orange painting both the sky and the snow she stepped on. She had one goal in mind: Cattail Pond. Fish.
So, so many fish.
As soon as she sat down, she spotted a trout. [10] She hadn't quite been prepped for the immediate prey, so it swam away as soon as her shadow fell across the water. She let out a low growl of frustration. Soon enough, though, another trout turned up. It was smaller than the last one; Violetfreckle licked her lips. [12] As soon as she went to strike, the fish darted juuuust out of reach. She could feel her claws brush against scales for just a moment, and hissed. As the sun rose, she became restless, resisting the urge to twitch her tail side to side. Just when she thought about moving, a sunfush darted into view. Great, it seemed she needed something easier. [3] And yet, it also seemed Violetfreckle was off her game. Once again, claws brushed against scales, but to no avail. She could even see a thin trail of blood rising in the water. Finally, frustration bubbled up into a yowl. ...Which meant she had to move across the pond. As she did, though, she caught sight of a rather.... interesting phenomenon. A fish -- frozen into an odd fish-cicle -- floated across the middle of the pond. Huh.
After a few deep breaths (and maybe a bit of violence against a tree), she settled back in. With one last deep breath, Violetfreckle closed her eyes. And when she opened them, another sunfish. Wait, no; was this the same one? It seemed a bit sluggish and if she squinted, Violetfreckle was able to make out the faintest trace of red in the water. [6] Finally, finally, the tabby hooked the fish with deadly claws and brought it out of the water. It landed a bit awkwardly, but she killed it swiftly. One down, however many she could hold to go. After this, it seemed hunting came to her much more easily. A pike swam up lazily, [19] and she caught it with ease. Two. The sun kept climbing the sky and reflected off the bright scales of another sunfish. [14] She nabbed the creature with ease. A chub floated by next, practically begging to be caught. [3] And while she may have fumbled a bit, Violetfreckle was at least happy she didn't mess up on catching something as simple and slow-moving as a chub.
Four fish. Two sunfish, a pike, a chub. Violetfreckle tried to hold them all and did so with ease. She had seen cats carry up to eight things at a time. No better time than the present to try, right?
As she settled back in, the sun was at its peak in the sky. She took a moment to take a drink and lap up the cold water of the pond. She had some off timing though, as a trout had just swam over. [8] She really only had a chance to paw at the water before the fast fish retreated to the depths. Violetfreckle grumbled but finished drinking. It seemed it was the season for sunfish, as another crept forward. [8] Without hesitation, the she-cat grabbed it, killed it, and added it to the pile. Five. Just as she turned around, another trout had sneaked up on her. But Violetfreckle was ready. [20] Ignoring the cold, she practically leapt into the water with both paws, grabbing the slippery fish and forcefully dragging it back to land. She ended it with a swift bite, only to see she'd also picked up a chub in the struggle and it was flopping around beneath the trout. Huh. She killed it as well, adding it to her pile. Seven. One more.
After drying herself off, the sun was beginning to sink in the sky. The faintest hint of pink washed over the clouds. But she was certain all would be fine. One more. A trout slinked into view, [12] but Violetfreckle just barely missed it. The sky started to turn orange and pink. The pond grew dark; it was harder to see now. But Violetfreckle would be blessed by the stars, it seemed; one last sunfish appeared with a flash of scales. [8] She grinned as she snagged the last fish out of the water, leaving it no time to even realize what was happening before she killed it.
She gathered her prey. Two more sunfish, a trout, another chub. That was... four Starsdamned sunfish. And two chubs, a trout, and a pike. Satisfied with her prey, Violetfreckle carefully treaded back toward camp in the waning sunlight.
Mirepaw followed his mentor to the pond. "Where are we?" he asked, before realising what he said, "Uh- I- I mean... uhh..." I can't let her know that I'm stupid enough to not know my own territory! The orange colorpoint sighed, before regaining his composure. "I mean... um, what did you want to teach me?"
Skunkstrike
36 Moons
She/Her
Purrk(s): Beefed Up
----------------------------
Skunkstrike frowned at Mirepaw, but then a lopsided, easy smile formed and she chuckled, "Cattail pond! A perfect place for beginners like you and me." She chortled, "Now, what we're going to do today is some hunting. But to hunt, you need to track. Take a big old whiff," Skunkstrike said, gulping down a lungful of air. "Already I can pick up a faint trace of squirrel over by those beech trees, I smell a strong taste of mouse by the thicket, and vole near the stream. Pick one, and I want you to track it down as silently as you can."
She lowered herself into a hunting crouch, even if it was a bit awkward thanks to her chunky size. Then she stalked a quick circle around Mirepaw, "Mice will feel you before they hear you, squirrels will likely see you before they feel you, and voles will smell you before they see you. So when picking your prey, keep that in mind." Skunkstrike whispered, "Now, you try and catch one of them, alright?"
__________________
The only character I am playing is Swiftfire.
Skunkstrike
36 Moons
She/Her
Purrk(s): Beefed Up
----------------------------
Skunkstrike frowned at Mirepaw, but then a lopsided, easy smile formed and she chuckled, "Cattail pond! A perfect place for beginners like you and me." She chortled, "Now, what we're going to do today is some hunting. But to hunt, you need to track. Take a big old whiff," Skunkstrike said, gulping down a lungful of air. "Already I can pick up a faint trace of squirrel over by those beech trees, I smell a strong taste of mouse by the thicket, and vole near the stream. Pick one, and I want you to track it down as silently as you can."
She lowered herself into a hunting crouch, even if it was a bit awkward thanks to her chunky size. Then she stalked a quick circle around Mirepaw, "Mice will feel you before they hear you, squirrels will likely see you before they feel you, and voles will smell you before they see you. So when picking your prey, keep that in mind." Skunkstrike whispered, "Now, you try and catch one of them, alright?"
Mirepaw tried to listen very carefully to Skunkstrike(?), and caught the scents of many different things. The beech trees, like his mentor stated, had an interesting scent. Squirrels, he reminded himself, They'll see me before they feel me... so I have to be very stealthy about this. He copied Skunkstrike's crouch, following the (what he assumed was squirrel) scent carefully, when a bushy tail caught his attention. Mirepaw pounced in that direction, snapping the squirrel's neck with his jaws. Unfortunately, he also happened to decapitate it whilst doing so. "Did I do it properly?" Mirepaw asked sheepishly.
__________________
"Do you and Barley have kits?" - Bella
A micro-expression twisted Bumblestar's features for a split second as she watched Redhawk's resolve falter. It was hard to tell what it was, appearing too small and leaving too fast to properly register.
At least Redhawk got to the right answer in the end. Bumblestar wouldn't make her do the deed for that.
Dimlizard surged underneath her paws suddenly but a harsh swipe to the side of his head sent him sprawling. His eyes clouded and he opened his jaws to speak - only nothing came out.
Bumblestar's claws sliced vertically through his throat, spilling scarlet into the snow. He gurgled and reached up to claw her, but she stepped out of the way with a twitch of her tail and tossed Redhawk a glance. "Trespassers get what comes to 'em. I won't lord over your choice of how you deal with 'em, but if ShadowClan keeps pushin' into our land and attacking whoever they come across, there'll be future problems."
She stepped away from Dimlizard's body, dipping her claws into the edge of the pond to clean the blood from them. A troubled look made her upper lip twitch and she returned her stare to the felled warrior. "Don't like this."
It was the first time she had seen a cat die up close. Wide, green eyes were transfixed on the dying warrior, body frozen in place. Redhawk's paws were pushed hard into the snow covered ground, starting to feel burning hot before going slightly numb altogether into a tingling numbness. It didn't take long for the gurgling to stop as the ShadowClan warrior died - still, scarlet spread out around them and stained the ground red.
Killing them made sense to her - she wasn't some fresh-out-of-the-nursery kit with no real experience in it. But there was a stark difference between hearing about it, seeing it front a distance, and this. She didn't like the way it made her stomach churn, anxiety nipping at her lungs with each intake of air.
"I've never... seen a cat d-die up close before." For the most part she had stayed out of battles. Even during Firefly Cove, she had been hiding among the trees, staring wide-eyed out at the battle. Back then she had still been a 'paw. The stench of blood and the yowls of her Clan echoed in her mind as Red turning her gaze towards Bumblestar. "...I want to protect T-ThunderClan. I want t-to be... sss-strong." It sounded like an apology as her whiskers quivered, eyes falling back to the body. She hadn't been strong here, not by a long shot.
Her own claws dug into the ground as she shook herself to detangle such thoughts from her mind. "What should we do with t-the body?"
Re: Cattail Pond
