My emotions had an echo [Battle Training for RC Apprentices]

ooc: This will count as your battle training for warrior requirements. I am gonna punch the hunting system dice until it gives me a predator.

Otterleap waited by the broken pools, absentmindedly brushing his paws through the cold icy waters as he waited for the apprentices to come. The chilly winds made each water drop on his fur freeze into ice bits, but he wasn't bothered at all. Nothing could hurt him after the coldness of his reception at camp each night. One time, he'd voluntarily wandered out of the warrior's den to avoid the suffocating silence, only to be forcefully dragged into the warmth of a den by Ivystar. Between her and his daughter, he was barely managing to keep himself from hurling off a gorge.

But now, Ivystar had given him a purpose. He would make their apprentices strong. There was the scent of a fox nearby, a fox fought with no honour. The perfect enemy for apprentices to practice against, with his aid of course. Minnowslip was a stone's throw away too, foraging for herbs. He would teach them all that they needed to know, to make up for his crimes.

Scorchpaw padded slowly across the snow-covered ground on his way to the broken pools, his thick, brown tabby fur fluffed out to keep the cold away. With each step he took, he lengthened the trail of paw prints that was already stretching out behind him. Owing to his naturally thick pelt, the snow did not bother him as much as it bothered other cats, but that did not mean that he was completely unaffected by it. As he walked, the tabby apprentice thought back to the clan meeting that Ivystar had held not long ago. How high the tensions had been then. ThunderClan and WindClan were preparing to fight against RiverClan, but even within its own camp RiverClan had cats that could very well be its enemies. Scorchpaw's own mentor Sweetheart had been one of them. Agitation, frustration at the situation, as well as anxiety for the future of his clan swirled around in Scorchpaw's heart, in the end becoming anger towards ThunderClan. Scorchpaw had never liked the other clans much, but now he especially detested ThunderClan. Everything was the fault of those shrub-dwelling cats. Because of them, RiverClan had to fight another war in the state it was now.

As he caught sight of Otterleap, Scorchpaw's pace slowed and his green eyes narrowed slightly. He pushed aside the thoughts he had been dwelling upon and headed over. When he had heard that Otterleap would be the one training the apprentices, he had readily accepted it. Unlike some of his clanmates might have felt, the only thing he had in him towards this interesting development was curiosity. Ever since RiverClan had returned from the battle at Sunningrocks, Otterleap seemed to have been shunned by the majority of his clan. Scorchpaw had heard that it was because Otterleap had killed Thistlepaw, the ThunderClan apprentice, but to Scorchpaw it looked as if the tom was already paying the full price of his crime. The tabby apprentice was very curious as to what kind of cat this Otterleap was, and how this battle training session with this murderer would go. "Good day, Otterleap." He mewed, voice holding no emotions. It seemed he was the first of the apprentices to arrive.

"Morning, Scorchpaw." Otterleap meowed with all the dignity he could summon. There was no time for him to wallow anymore as the first of the apprentices had come. He had a duty to keep them safe, to teach them to be strong so that a cat like Specklefang or Blizzardstar couldn't do what he did to them. So it was time to feign health, blinking to keep his gaze even, and his fur fluffed up to give the impression of strength. The senior warrior stepped away from the waters, padding over to inspect the apprentice.

Scorchpaw was fluffy, but he clearly had some bulk underneath all that fur. His stance was even, no misplaced or misshapen legs. The tabby circled around the tom once more, looking over at his jaws. Strong, healthy, good colouring on his lips. It would do.

"Have you ever fought against a predator before? Something that wants to kill you?"

Reedpaw finished up his fish, and headed out to Broken Pools, where there was a scent of a fox. Otterleap was conducting the whole thing, Reedpaw didn't know how he felt about that, but he would get over it. He would mostly likely get to fight a real enemy. He approached the broken pools to see that Otterleap and Scorchpaw were already there. "Hello Otterleap, Scorchpaw."

Brightpaw had heard about some kind of battle training going on. Well, since he had been too young to fight against ThunderClan the first time, he could really use this time to train up, in the hopes that Ivystar might just send him this time. Brightpaw had a thick enough pelt, but little specks of snow had gotten stuck close to his skin, and were slowly melting into the coldest water. She shivered as he walked, catching the scent of Reedpaw. At least he would know someone here. His oddly coloured eyes found the group of cats and he lengthened his strides, blue and amber eyes flashing in apparent excitement. The grey and white tabby tom studied the warrior closely. This had been the cat guilty of murdering an apprentice! He didn't quite know how to feel about it, as it didn't matter too much that the apprentice was dead. No, that Thistlepaw or whoever had deserved it. The thing that worried him more was that he would be training alongside an alleged murderer. He didn't let any of his emotions show as the tom reached the group. "Hello, Otterleap, Scorchpaw, Reedpaw." He greeted each cat in turn, keeping his voice polite and void of real emotion.

Scorchpaw stood his ground as Otterleap circled him. A slight ripple of discomfort traveled through him when he realized that the warrior was sizing him up. "No." He replied honestly. He had been fortunate in his hunting trips and had yet to run into a predator that he had to take on. On his very first day of hunting training with Sweetheart, a raccoon had showed up, but Sweetheart had been the one to defeat it then. The tabby apprentice felt that it was about time he take a predator on himself. If there was going to be a war, then he needed to become strong, something he certainly wasn't with his limited battle experience. Just as the word left his mouth, two more apprentices showed up. Scorchpaw recognized them as Reedpaw and Brightpaw respectively. "Hey." He mewed, flicking his tail.

He nodded in greeting to the apprentices, contemplating Scorchpaw's reply. He didn't want to throw them into the deep end and have them maimed, but a battle to the death was very different to a simple battle between clans. They had to learn... If things went wrong, he'd end it all.

"We will be hunting down the fox that's lurking near the twoleg's farm. Usually the twolegs take care of them, but I think it's too cold for even them, they're taking too long to hunt it. Ivystar worries it'll hurt a kit or apprentice. Together, we will bring it down. Ready?" The warrior spoke solemnly yet quickly, not feeling comfortable with long chats after his semi-isolation from any cats in camp. Most cats, besides Dewpaw and his family, had avoided him and it left him a little awkward in interactions. He could tell they weren't comfortable with him, but they'd have to make do.

Spotpaw stopped at the edge of the broken pools. Hunting down foxes? With just apprentices? "I- is there room for me?" He really hoped Brightpaw didn't hate him anymore.

OOC: short

Brightpaw nodded to Otterleap. He hadn’t had any battle training so far, but when he used to play fight with his siblings in the nursery, he would always come out on top. He had to look away when his brother arrived. Honestly, he was being such a drama queen recently, even claiming that he couldn’t call Brightpaw his brother anymore! Well, Brightpaw was mature enough to not mention it, but he wouldn’t be forgiving Spotpaw in a hurry.

OOC: gah it’s short

Reedpaw nodded at Spotpaw when he arrived, and turned his attention back to Otterleap. The dark tabby didn't have much battle training, but he knew he was ready.

When the spotted apprentice showed up, Scorchpaw shot him a cold look. He had not forgotten that Spotpaw was one of the cats who was currently considered untrustworthy, and the thought of having to train alongside Spotpaw was definitely less than pleasing to him. Nevertheless, Scorchpaw reminded himself that this cat was still his clanmate. It had not been confirmed that Spotpaw really was a traitor towards RiverClan. Until then, Scorchpaw would just deal with it without saying anything. The fluffy tom turned his attention back to Otterleap, unsheathing his claws. He pushed his thoughts about Spotpaw to the back of his head. There were more important things at the moment. It was time to take on a fox, and he was ready.

ooc: Go pile on and attack the fox for your warrior requirements kiddos. Otterleap will serve as distraction so apprentices don't get KO'd

Otterleap startled at Spotpaw's appearance. That was certainly unexpected considering his vocal opposition to his actions, but the warrior wasn't one to begrudge an apprentice for their views. It was natural to hate him, he was just glad they at least respected that he was a senior warrior with something of worth to teach.

"Of course. Come, follow." He lead them through the snow fields, ploughing a trench as he marched through the thick beds of snow. It was a deliberate attempt to make their lives a tiny bit easier as they all approached the thickets nearby the Twoleg farm. "Quiet."

Pressing his belly into the cold earth, he crept up slowly, sniffing the air for any signs. There was a faint musk of decay, but it was hard to tell if it was the fox or crow food. Then he heard it, a rustling in the bushes that was increasing in fervour. "Get ready!"

-

The fox was a fat vixen, she'd come across this territory in search for food and had found plenty in the scraps surrounding Twoleg farm. Between the fat barn mice and the chooks that wandered about, she was doing quite well for herself and her kits. But today there were intruders, little cats that wandered too close to her makeshift den. Unlike the others that lazed about in the Twoleg dens, they didn't startle and flee at her scent.

So she had no choice but to fight.

Fox used Thrash. Otterleap is stunned for 2 turns.
-20 HP
-20 SP

Fox:
90/90 HP
250/280 SP

Otterleap:
STUNNED FOR TWO TURNS

The member 'Pikachu' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Effect Dice' : 5

OOC: Why pika now I feel bad about attacking(and possibly killing) a fox

Spotpaw nodded and looked down, avoiding the harsh gazes from Scorchpaw and Brightpaw. Reedpaw seemed... neutral, at the least. Once they made it to the fox, he ran full speed at it, throwing all his weight and claws on the fox.

Spotpaw used Run and Tackle, dealing 9(6+3) damage and using 10 stamina.

SPOTPAW
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

FOX
81/90 HP
250/280 SP

ooc: >:) Also chop chop kids, you don't get the battle requirement if you don't fight the fox

Beneath the Fox, Otterleap snarl and slashed at it with his claws to keep the beast's attention on himself over the apprentices. They wouldn't have been able to survive a blow without some serious injury, so he took it upon himself to shield them. He gritted his teeth through the pain and tried to hold it in place through the crunch of it's teeth.

-

The fox yelped in pain when one of the slightly smaller cats slammed into her pelt, but the older cat stopped her from biting the little one. It was frustrating, they refused to leave. She wanted to run, feeling overwhelmed but her kits, no, she had to fight. Twisting, she snapped her jaw on the older cat's shoulder, the angle was awkward so she couldn't clamp down, but she drew enough blood to be satisfied.


Fox used Ironbite. Otterleap is still stunned for one more turn.
-30 HP
-20 SP

Fox:
90/90 HP
210/280 SP

Otterleap:
50/100 HP
280/280 SP