ShadowClan Life Before Destruction

[BluBunnie]

Originally Posted by Duststorm

The senior warrior instantaneously grew serious as she settled in front of the apprentice. Her mind raced with moves she could teach him. Simple... Simple... A blow perhaps? Glancing around he clearing, Badgerbite spotted a small collection of branches intertwined together. Lifting herself up from the ground, she casually strolled over and hooked her claws in the clutter, dragging it across the clearing and back to Ratpaw. "Ok, so this is your enemy. Until we have the chance to practice with another mentor and apprentice, this pile of twigs is your worst nightmare, got it?" Positioning the pile directly in front of Ratpaw, Badgerbite lifted her paw slightly off the ground. "This is a blow with the paw, relatively easy and you should already know how to do it, but starting simple. Now. I want you to strike the direct center...." She motioned to the center with the tip of her tail, "...of pile with your claws sheathed. This technique is used during practice. Never use your claws against another apprentice, unless they have it coming of course!" She purred, amused with her own joke.

"Let me demonstrate." Badgerbite gently nudged Ratpaw's flank, pushing him to her right as she positioned herself in front of the twigs. "When you go to hit, watch where you're hitting, but also watch around you." In one fluid motion, the molly landed a blow to the center, causing the pile to go down with the force and quickly spring back up once Badger retracted her paw back to her body. "Can you explain to me why this move is so important?"

Ratpaw watched curiously as his mentor brought the pile of branches towards him. He chuckled a bit, he never imagined he would be fighting against a pile of twigs. he wondered what it would be like to practice with another apprentices and he wondered which ones he would practice with, 'I wonder if I'll ever practice with Tawnypaw?' He thought. He grew serious once more and perked his ears as Badgerbite told him what to do, he smirked a bit at her comment.

He moved over more to the side after Badgerbite already nudged him, he wanted to make sure he was out of the way. He knew how powerful a blow could be. His eyes widen as he watched his mentor demonstrate the blow, he wouldn't want to be at the end of that especially if she had her claws out. He winced to himself, although he did know what it was like to be hit with a powerful blow. He thought back to all the times his mother hit him, she never drew out her claws but she tried to hurt him as much as possible without him having to go to the Medicine Cat. His ears twitched as he thought about his mentors question, his mother used it against him to punish him but he doubted that was the answer. 'If I was in battle why would I use a blow?' He thought. "If you use the blow towards the head of the cat you could confuse them and get another bite or blow in. If you have your claws out you could damage their eyes or ears or nose, which can temporally disable them during battle?" He ended the statement as a question. He wasn't sure if he was right, he did know that whenever his mother did punish him with a blow it did leave him with a headache and confused for a few minutes.

[Jingle]

Originally Posted by bad company

He laughed as she pushed him away and he rolled onto his back, nipping and clawing her paw gently. He listened as she listed all the things he had to do to become a deputy and his ears fell. "Aw man! But mom, aren't you a leader? Can't you just work around it?" he asked.

And as she said he was going to need more training he only gave you a huff before he smiled yet again at her. "Well, if you say so." he purred, and jumped at her again, only to catch onto her neck once more, and he pressed his nose to his.

"Hey mom, do you think I will ever become a cool leader like you?" he asked with a purr, smiling softly as he held onto her, his bicoloured eyes alight with play and love as he stared into the leader's eyes.

"Nope. That are the rules that StarClan have put in place for all the clans to follow." Halestar mewed gently, a small and sweet smile on her face. She once again gently pushed him off, pinning the kit down gently.

"Maybe, love- it will take a lot of work though." She replied, licking his head with a gentle purr and the leader sighed. "StarClan will show you your path soon enough."

[Ludicrous Lunacy]

Originally Posted by Nettleclaw

Fleetear looks on at Fallenkit, weakness striking his legs as he falls back trying to sit down. The thought never occurred to him having always thought that he cared too much. Could he have not cared enough, to follow Squirrelleap through her pushing him away? He blinks, jumping out of his thoughts and back to the terrified kit before him. Peering over, he could see Marshclaw, of all cats, had taken notice. "Fallenkit..." I'm one of the best warriors, but ive failed. I failed my mate, I failed my kits, I failed my sister, and now im about to fail Fallenkit. Can I still call myself a Shadowclan warrior? "...Im sorry. Your right. I'm not your father, but your mother trusts me enough to take care of you and your siblings. If you know what to do to make everything right again, I would love to hear it. But for now, please accept my apology and let's take this quietly to the nursery?" He tried his best not to sound forceful, but the urgency in his voice implied that his mind is racing pulsing faster than his heart as he stood back up to gesture escorting him back into the nursery. So many things nearly slipped his maw through sheer emotion, Marshclaw can't know any more of his failings.

Chocolate ears angled back, it hurt him even more to hear if come out of Fleetear's mouth. "You're right." The feline had half been hoping it wasn't true, that he had jumped to conclusions and been wrong. He had half been hoping he was wrong, and even with the older tom's reaction to the question, he had been childishly optimistic that he wasn't right. But those two words... It meant more to have them told to him by the other cat. He felt as if he had been stung by a bee inside of him and his throat and mouth had gone painfully dry, and for once, Fallenkit understood how his mother must have felt seeing him for the first time. I blamed it on them... But I'm the problem here... This is my fault--I did this... I did this. Not them. I was the mistake and I just ruined their lives... I shouldn't be here. Still on his paws, he dropped his head and tail, brown eyes tightly shut. He stayed there, frozen, for little more than a heartbeat, and then, without uttering a word, turned and sprinted away in a random direction, hardly able to see through his blurring eyes.

[monfang]

Originally Posted by Jingle

"Nope. That are the rules that StarClan have put in place for all the clans to follow." Halestar mewed gently, a small and sweet smile on her face. She once again gently pushed him off, pinning the kit down gently.

"Maybe, love- it will take a lot of work though." She replied, licking his head with a gentle purr and the leader sighed. "StarClan will show you your path soon enough."

He giggled as she pinned him and listened as she spoke. He nipped her paw again, giggling as she continued on. He jumped up with a playful grin after slipping out from under her paw that seemed massive compared to his small size. "I will be the best there ever was! I'll be the strongest in all of ShadowClan, and I'll be the best leader StarClan could ever make!" he meowed proudly. "Whitestar! Leader of ShadowClan! Hero, Savior, and cute!" he meowed and then laughed, padding up to her. "Good title huh?" he purred.

[wickedvirtues]

Echokit returned to the nursery, settling in next to her littermates and sleeping after a bit of staring at the ceiling worrying about being an apprentice soon. 'Stop being mouse-brained, Echokit! You still have three moons..' she thought with a small sigh, wishing she wasn't so small. 'I'll be the tiniest apprentice in ShadowClan!' She thought, she then shook her head and cleared the thoughts away. She soon woke from a mediocre sleep, blinking the blur from her eyes as she stumbled slightly on her tiny paws. "Ugh, I feel like fox-dung" she hissed, rubbing her paw over her ear as she yawned. "Mouse-dung!" She spat as she fell over her own paws. Blinking, she stood and shook the dust from her messy Siamese pelt. She glanced around to see if anyone had gotten a glimpse of her embarrassing moment. In a moment of solitude, nobody was looking at Echokit. She smiled with a faint blush hidden under her pelt. 'Thank StarClan!' Echokit thought, grooming her pelt as she avoided any eye-contact.

[lone]

Originally Posted by Nighty

Smokeblossom thought she saw a glimpse of claws, but thought better of it when she checked again. The young feline only assumed that it was her mind playing tricks on her, paranoia. She was about to roll back onto her paws when Clawpaw jumped. It seemed like only a matter of moment and she was on top of her. Wait, this wasn't right. A loud cry of pain escaped Smokeblossoms maw. It was a cry of pain. That hurt, more than it should have. She kicked the apprentice off with her hind legs, dislodging the claws from her shoulder. She looked down and to her horror, blood was running from the wound. Stunned, she realized something. This was her brother. Had she been so blinded by what she wanted to believe that she couldn't see the truth? Rusticash had tried to kill her before,mwheres had she trusted him again? Because she wanted to believe he was good. That he could change. That he could be a better cat. This was apparently not true, and she knew that this had to be another attempt to get rid of her. She too unsheathed her claws, hissing, eyes pointed at Eusticash, not the apprentice. "Y-you're d-dragging-g a-an apprentice int-to this n-now?" She hissed at him, not even caring about her voice. She whipped back around to the apprentice, a disappointed look worm on her face. She wasn't mad at the apprentice, but she was enraged by her brother. He had most likely corrupted this she cat, told her his ways and taught her that way. Rusticash didn't seem to be satisfied with anything. Smokeblossom bushed up her pelt and glared at the apprentice. "I-I'm not fighting y-you." She stuttered, pale yellow hues still fixed on the white she cat. "He's u-using y-you."

Rusticash ignored the hateful glances from his sister, eyes focused solely on Clawpaw. "What are you waiting for Clawpaw, keep going! Show this warrior how I taught you to fight." He smiled, his eyes sparkling in menace. He was growing anxious as he awaited the time. Clawpaw was doing great, all she needed to do was injure her some more and then he could swoop in and end it all.

Using her? True, Rusticash seemed to be pleased that he had hurt her. Very pleased. No, that wasn't true! He was helping her. To grow stronger, to grow... better. Clawpaw swallowed, unsure of what to do. Whether to listen to her mentor, the cat who had guided her through life so far, more so then her own parents... and had certainly been stronger then her brother, who cared about Whisperblaze?-- but at the same time, this grey feline seemed to know what she was talking about. Using her. That thought had never entered Clawpaw's mind before and now she was having all sorts of doubts, plaguing her, showing her that perhaps she had been wrong. Maybe Rusticash really was a horrible cat. Swallowing once more, the white cat's legs began to tremble before she heard her mentor's voice. Keep going? Now she didn't know what to believe. "I..." Her voice trailed off and she sighed as she unsheathed her claws. "I don't have a choice." This was directed towards the she cat.
　
And in Clawpaw's mind, it was absolutely true. She wanted to be a warrior? She was going to have to injure this cat. Sorry. But did she mean it? Perhaps... there was a surprising amount of guilt pressing on her chest, and weighing on her mind. It was nagging her. Picking at her mind and her heart until she wasn't sure whether she believed what she was doing was right or wrong. Again she swallowed, trying to find a way to breathe normally. There had to be a way to. Again she unsheathed her claws, having sheathed them after being kicked off. The blow had hurt and winded her at the time, but only for a short while before she had bounced back, angrier then normal. Now she was channeling that earlier anger to keep going. To continue onwards. To make Rusticash proud, and to become a warrior. She was doing this for herself and for him, no one else. There was no other cat she would be doing this for, not at the moment, anyways... he was the closest thing to a parental figure she'd had.
　
Or rather, the type of parental figure she would have liked to have. Clawpaw leapt at Smokeblossom again, this time aiming to rake her claws down the feline's back. Alright. He wanted her to fight? So she would fight. And, if the grey cat wasn't going to fight back, so be it. It was only going to make this easier for her in the end. Harder on her concience, which was surprisingly still active, but easier when she would become a warrior. And then there would be no more of this if she didn't want to. She had nothing to lose! Right now? Everything to lose. I want to become a warrior. That was the only thought in her mind as she flexed her claws mid-air, wondering if she needed to shift her weight to avoid falling. If she missed her target then she would land on the ground, possibly cracking several of her claws somewhat painfully... but she would still have to go on. She wasn't supposed to give up here. This was the only chance she was going to get, and she needed to take it.
　
Never before had she wished there was an alternative more then at this point.

[Bella~]

The spotted she-cat had just woken up, she stretched and dug her claws into the ground while doing so. She accidentally let out a loud yawn, now freshly embarrassed she said her her tail back and forth, her green orbs scanned her surroundings and she grinned widely upon seeing Coldheart. A small smirk crossed her maw and the small she-cat crept up behind the tom, her ears laid back as she did so. She pounced and him and tackled him with the thoiught s 'what a snarky tom, this should give him a scare!'
@Noire

[Dust]

Originally Posted by BluBunny

Ratpaw watched curiously as his mentor brought the pile of branches towards him. He chuckled a bit, he never imagined he would be fighting against a pile of twigs. he wondered what it would be like to practice with another apprentices and he wondered which ones he would practice with, 'I wonder if I'll ever practice with Tawnypaw?' He thought. He grew serious once more and perked his ears as Badgerbite told him what to do, he smirked a bit at her comment.

He moved over more to the side after Badgerbite already nudged him, he wanted to make sure he was out of the way. He knew how powerful a blow could be. His eyes widen as he watched his mentor demonstrate the blow, he wouldn't want to be at the end of that especially if she had her claws out. He winced to himself, although he did know what it was like to be hit with a powerful blow. He thought back to all the times his mother hit him, she never drew out her claws but she tried to hurt him as much as possible without him having to go to the Medicine Cat. His ears twitched as he thought about his mentors question, his mother used it against him to punish him but he doubted that was the answer. 'If I was in battle why would I use a blow?' He thought. "If you use the blow towards the head of the cat you could confuse them and get another bite or blow in. If you have your claws out you could damage their eyes or ears or nose, which can temporally disable them during battle?" He ended the statement as a question. He wasn't sure if he was right, he did know that whenever his mother did punish him with a blow it did leave him with a headache and confused for a few minutes.

Badgerbite watched her apprentice carefully, her ears perked forward as she absorbed his answer. Tilting her head, the warrior thought for a moment before responding slowly, "Well, you aren't wrong. A blow can be a disorientation, allowing you to gain the upper paw of a situation, and it can cause injuries like that, but you should use the blow to disorient an unsuspecting enemy." Pleased with her explanation, Badgerbite motioned with her tail towards the pile.

"The pile is your enemy. You've managed to get close and while they're unsuspecting, hit them on the center of the head." Badger emphasized 'hit them' sounding a bit vicious, but nonetheless excited to see how her apprentice would perform.

[Ever]

@fenic!
Mountainpaw stretched as he woke from the apprentice's den. He had freshly groomed his cropped brown and grey fur and felt ready to tackle the day. He had only been named an apprentice shortly ago and was looking to make his first few lasting connections. Sure he had done so some as a kit, but the situation had been a little difficult since for the majority of his upbringing he had been separated from the other kits. Though that had been out of his control, he had never known why his mother had made the choice. He supposed it was because she was leader at the time, but they should have moved into the nursery a little sooner to make better friends, he thought. Mountain shook his fur and decided not to let the thought weigh him down, he had never been one to hold grudges. Much like his father, Mountain had been born with the gene to see the good in all, and that's what he went about doing. His steps held quite a bit of pep in them, well as much as the wobbly-footed apprentice could, as he tried to decide what to make of his day. His mentor was needed for a patrol early so it was up to himself to decide what to do. The young tom supposed he ought to go and hunt, but he needed to decide where. Thankfully the prey numbers were beginning to go up dramatically now that the snow was finally melted. Though spring here was never great and a couple of colder days had haunted the new-leaf. Mountain just hoped that he could bring something back before sun-high in hopes of impressing his mentor.

[Fel]

Originally Posted by Ever

@fenic!
Mountainpaw stretched as he woke from the apprentice's den. He had freshly groomed his cropped brown and grey fur and felt ready to tackle the day. He had only been named an apprentice shortly ago and was looking to make his first few lasting connections. Sure he had done so some as a kit, but the situation had been a little difficult since for the majority of his upbringing he had been separated from the other kits. Though that had been out of his control, he had never known why his mother had made the choice. He supposed it was because she was leader at the time, but they should have moved into the nursery a little sooner to make better friends, he thought. Mountain shook his fur and decided not to let the thought weigh him down, he had never been one to hold grudges. Much like his father, Mountain had been born with the gene to see the good in all, and that's what he went about doing. His steps held quite a bit of pep in them, well as much as the wobbly-footed apprentice could, as he tried to decide what to make of his day. His mentor was needed for a patrol early so it was up to himself to decide what to do. The young tom supposed he ought to go and hunt, but he needed to decide where. Thankfully the prey numbers were beginning to go up dramatically now that the snow was finally melted. Though spring here was never great and a couple of colder days had haunted the new-leaf. Mountain just hoped that he could bring something back before sun-high in hopes of impressing his mentor.

Batpaw had been young when she was given away, but she'd never exactly known of her birth's predicament. She had been born to Lilith and Onyx, outsiders of the clan, but she had been given to Nightleap, her adoptive mother, by her biological mother as a newborn kitten. Born on rouge and loner territory, she was given away because her mother couldn't take care of her any longer. However, her and her adoptive mother -and biological father- looked almost exactly alike, and so she'd never had any sort of reservations about her mother growing up. She'd never truly experienced the Evil Era, and grew up being protected by Nightleap, with barely any friends as she kept to herself. Now that she'd just been made an apprentice, Batpaw stepped into the clearing quietly, her paws treading through the crowds of cats uncomfortably until a familiar brown pelt flashed into view. She recognized Mountainkit- wait, Mountainpaw- from the nursery in some of her time in the nursery, though she hadn't ever had the guts to go talk to him- just like almost every cat she'd seen there.

"...Uh, hey?" She mumbled quietly, the new apprentice trying not to draw much attention to herself but alert Mountainpaw to her presence. "I'm... uh, a bit new to the whole 'apprentice', thing, and well, I was wondering if you could... help me out?" She whispered, almost heating up under her fur with embarrassment.