ThunderClan Territory

[Willowfern]

// @tomatosoup

"No, it is not necessary to bring back marigold like prey, unless you've been sent on an herb patrol, of course," He said, glancing at the marigold before taking up three stalks in his maw, "I'll bring some back with me..."

"It isn't dangerous to fish here, it's just a waste of time when you could bring back plenty of land prey," As he spoke, a minnow darted through the creek, "The clan will appreciate any kind of prey, really."

He looked over his shoulder, "Alright... we'll be going to Muskrat Mire as our last stop, traditionally I'd take you to Firefly Cove but..." He sighed, "Well, you know."

[tomatosoup]

@Willowfern

Juniperclaw listened, his whiskers twitching. After a moment, he looked around as Dogbark had done, and gathered up two stalks of marigold.


"... yes," he meowed, through the herbs in his mouth. He hesitated. "... where will you bury your- our- dead while RiverClan holds the cove?"

He moved after Dogbark, looking back at the glittering stream and yellow flowers poking through the grass.

[tomatosoup]

@Naiad



Juniperclaw trotted into the cave, inspecting the ground. It was sandy, covered in dirt and soil and grit that had been tracked in and out by cats over the years. Grip would be good. Falling would hurt like being hurled into stone, but when didn't it?



He wasn't used to training with other cats. He wasn't used to training with kittypets. Former kittypets. Ex-kittypets. But Newtheart was plenty intelligent and had survived a month on his own, so surely he couldn't be too soft.


He remembered training with a band of rogues, one of the rare times a group had stayed together more than a moon. Sparring then had been less of a practice thing and more to claim prey, mates, or dominance in the group, but Juniperclaw had learned something from it. He had some practice with attacking a cat where killing them wasn't an option. Just not... often.


He considered the floor, whiskers twitching, before turning to look at Newtheart.

"Here," he meowed. "Come look at the ground."

[beau]

@tomatosoup
(Sorry, forgot the mention XD)

Newtheart padded over next to Juniperclaw then looked down at the ground, not sure what he was supposed to be gleaning from it. "It looks... painful?" His fluffy coat would likely protect him somewhat from the gritty sand, but it still wouldn't feel good to fall on it. His sensitive paw pads ached slightly from just standing on the small shards of rock.

He still retained some affects from his previously soft kittypet life, including his pads. Most of the warriors had rough calloused pads from years of traversing through the tricky terrain in the forest, but Newheart's were still soft and sensitive. Before coming to the forest he lived exclusively in his twoleg nest, where all the surfaces were either smooth and slick, or soft and plushy.

He had an odd sort of grimace on his face, he was not looking forward to this in the slightest, but it was necessary. The tom had already proven himself useless in a fight during his occasionally confrontations with Shadowclan he had when he was a rogue, but he needed to learn and quickly. Tensions were still high with Riverclan, and he wanted to be ready in the event something did happen.

[tomatosoup]

@Naiad



Juniperclaw got up and moved across, giving them maybe ten paces of space between them. He hardly noted the grit beneath his pads.


"It'll help you keep your grip on the ground," he meowed, and turned to face Newtheart.


In the rogue groups, when he fought someone, he had just... attacked. They had looked at him, he had looked at them, and they had read in each other's faces, fighting time.



But Newtheart was grimacing. He was a kitty-pet. He didn't know anything about fighting.


Juniperclaw hesitated.

"Alright," he meowed. "I'm going to attack you. Ready?"


Giving any kind of warning hurt like gravel in his mouth, his self-preservation scraping the inside of his head. He told it to shut up. It was not in possession of all the facts.

[beau]

@tomatosoup

Newtheart nodded a bit hesitantly. He was just going to leap at him? I mean, the tom supposed that's how it worked in real fights, and those didn't even have a warning attached. He dug his claws into the ground, bracing for the impact. Newtheart mentally tried to rehearse what he might do, he knew he was bigger than Juniperclaw, and relatively strong. He could try and use that.

It's just like the climbing lesson, Newtheart promised himself silently. He recalled how he climbed first, then recieved pointers after, perhaps that was Juniperclaw's technique now.

The tom's tail tip twitched in anticipation but he was sure to keep his golden eyes on Juniperclaw, that was one lesson he had learned in his previous scuffled. He thought back to that Shadowclan apprentice he had fought, Daisypaw. That molly was ruthless, no holding back, and Newtheart still bore the scars to prove. One semi-effective maneuver he had done lit up in his mind. He fluffed out his fur, making his sizable figure even bigger, and hopefully making it more difficult to sink claws into him.

[tomatosoup]

Juniperclaw huffed out a short breath. Then he exploded across the space.


There wasn't really another word for it. In half a second he closed the distance between them, claws out, and aimed at Newtheart's face, aiming to club his head sideways to get him off balance, and in the same movement launched himself upwards so he could try and land on Newtheart's back and ride there, where the bigger tom would have trouble hitting him.

[beau]

@tomatosoup

Newtheart flinched at the claws aimed for his face, twisting his head to the side and staggering at the sudden weight on top of him. He panicked for a moment, trying to think of what he should do.

The large tom flung his back towards the ground, hoping to at least get Juniperclaw off of his back. He twisted, ready to stand, though it would take a second to clamber to his paws. He was mildly surprised at the sting of scratches on his cheek, but he had worse wounds before. The tom still wasn't very accustomed to pain in general, and even minor scrapes shocked him.

[tomatosoup]

@Naiad

Juniperclaw leapt free as Newtheart flung himself backward, and was on him again as he twisted to try and stand. Get him while he's down. He aimed to bury his teeth in the thick fur around Newtheart's neck. Not enough to pierce the skin, just enough to make a point. Killing blow.

[Singing Jay]

- Fernpaw @finnzel (sorry for the delay)

WHAT THAT IT?! Was a dump hole in the ground everything Cornbrain
had to show him?! This had been a complete waste of time. "I should
have just staid in camp" "That's it?" he mewed and could feel
the fur in his back bristling up in rage. "Some hole in the ground?!"
And why did Cornpaw call it a 'Super cool hole'?!

Fernpaw had to admit that there were some cats he'd like to see trip in
there... Well luckily Whitewolf was dead so she wasn't a problem anymore...
But still, even if that was the only use for the hole it was still rather useless
in his (absolutely correct) opinion.

"Did you only call me over to show me some dump, useless, completely
unnecessary hole in the ground?!" he mewed, his voice almost lowering
into a growl, angry at the idiotic apprentice.