The Red Poppy ...oh, and an orchid

Poppypaw frowned sadly. It had been a full sunrise and sunset since the huge battle between the Clans and the Exiles, and his poor brother hadn't moved from his spot in his nest in the apprentices' den ever since the elders took Sparkfeather's body away to bury her at sunset. It was sunhigh now, and despite Daisyflame's constant coaxing for him to resume his training, Orchidpaw just didn't have any drive or dedication to his training anymore. He really wanted to change that. Perhaps a hunting patrol with his brother and one of their other friends would help cheer him up.

The ginger-and-white tom trotted up to another ginger apprentice who stood by the significantly smaller fresh-kill pile than it usually was, and he offered her a friendly smile. "Hi, Redpaw! I was wondering if you wanted to come alone with me and Orchidpaw and do a little hunting for the Clan."

Redpaw stood by the fresh-kill pile, looking at how small it was with a bit of sadness. There were less cats in the Clan than there used to be, and that big battle had taken so much out of all of them. She really needed to find some way to cheer them up... especially poor Orchidpaw. She felt so bad for her friend; he was completely devastated by Sparkfeather's death and didn't even seem like the cat he used to be anymore. If she went and caught so much prey that the pile was as tall as the apprentice's den, would that make him feel better? Just as she determined to do so, her other best friend came up, smiling as always, and proposing a patrol. "Of course, I would love to!" she meowed cheerfully, a grin lighting up her face. "If we can make this pile twice as big, I bet even Scorchstar will stop moping around."

"I sure do hope so," Poppypaw mewed in agreement. Leading her back to the apprentices' den, he poked his head in. "Hey, Orchidpaw! Redpaw's gonna come on a patrol with us!"

"'m not goin'," the fuzzy bluish-gray lump mumbled.

"Come on, brother, it's not healthy to sit around doing nothing. Have you even eaten yet?"

"Not hungry."

Redpaw followed her friend back to the apprentice's den, wondering where his brother had gotten to. There he was, lying on his side in his nest, not even facing towards the door. At Poppypaw's conversation with Orchidpaw, she grew a little frustrated despite her concern. How was she supposed to help him get better if he just moped around all day? It wasn't good for him to just sleep and think about his grief. She didn't know much, but she did know that wouldn't be helpful. Eyes narrowed, the dark red she-cat marched into the apprentice's den, and- gently- nosed the depressed apprentice up from his nest. "You're coming with us, Orchidpaw," she told him firmly, green eyes serious. "Laying here in your nest won't help with anything. You might not be hungry, but the Clan will be if we don't help feed them. Come on!"

"Yeah, exactly what Redpaw said!" Poppypaw agreed. He leaped on Orchidpaw and gave his tail a quick nip, causing him to squeak.

"Don't nip my tail," the bluish-gray tom grunted, narrowing his eyes at his littermate.

"Get up or I'll keep doing it!" With another swift nip, Orchidpaw yanked his tail away from Poppypaw's reach and thwacked his brother on the forehead with it.

"Ow! Alright, alright, I'll go, just quick nippin' me, huh?" With a sigh and a grunt, Orchidpaw rolled slowly onto his belly, then lifted himself up onto his legs in a stand and stretched each of his limbs out, feeling as if he hadn't moved in days.

"Yay! Finally, you're out of your nest! Now we can go!" Poppypaw cheered with a happy bounce. He turned and began to lead his brother and crush out of camp and into the thicket of ShadowClan territory.

Almost immediately upon arriving near a marshier part of the pine forest, a dark shadow swooped down from the sky and struck Poppypaw's side, sending him crashing onto his side into the shallow muddy marshes. He let out a yowl of alarm, and once his adrenaline from the startle wore off he hissed inwardly at the pain in his side, seeing a rather large claw mark had been scored across it.

"Poppypaw!" Brotherly instincts kicking in, Orchidpaw raced to his littermate's side with uncharacteristic speed, nuzzling him up to his paws. "Poppypaw, are you okay?"

"I-I think so," he whimpered, wincing in pain. "Wh-What was that?" He looked up to see a large bird -- the largest he had ever seen -- swooping down and aiming its talons at him, ready to slash at him again.

However, it didn't get the chance to. With a caterwaul of fury, Orchidpaw reared up on his hind legs to reach the owl and began slashing his claws at it, catching on one of its talons and causing it to draw back with a screech of pain and fury of its own. "Stay away from my bro!"

Owl used Talon Strike on Poppypaw, dealing 10 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Orchidpaw used Front Paw Strike on Owl, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Owl
44/50 HP
110/120 SP

Orchidpaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Poppypaw
10/20 HP
80/80 SP

Redpaw smiled as Orchidpaw finally came out of the den, and she happily trotted behind the two brothers as they set out into the territory, but almost immediately- before she could even make conversation- an owl swooped in and ruined everything. At first her pelt stood on end, frightened by the largest bird that she'd ever seen, and her first ever encounter with something hostile. But once she saw Poppypaw get slashed by its talons, a burning rage erupted within her, and the fear in her dark green eyes turned to anger. Right behind the blue-gray apprentice, Firestone's daughter leapt on the giant bird and slashed at it with unsheathed claws. "Keep your talons off of Poppypaw!"

Redpaw used Run-and-Tackle on the Owl, dealing 9 (6+3) damage and costing 10 stamina.

Redpaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Owl
35/50 HP
110/120 SP

Orchidpaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Poppypaw
10/20 HP
80/80 SP

"Wowie..." Poppypaw breathed, watching as his brother and crush began their attacks on the bird of prey, more particularly in awe with Redpaw's battling spirit and moves. She was so incredibly agile and swift when delivering her blows, and the protective rage that sparkled in her eyes was so charming and alluring.

"Hey, bro, I like spacin' out just as much as the next cat, but why don'tcha focus on the battle, huh?"

Orchidpaw's voice snapped the love-struck ginger-and-white tom out of his trance. He saw the owl swooping in to try and swipe at the trio of apprentices again, and he decided to leap into action next, scooping up a pawful of marshy mud and flinging it at the owl's face just before it could land another hit.

The owl crashed into the ground with a squawk of pain, its eyes shut tight with mud in them, allowing Orchidpaw to leap on its exposed underbelly and pummel at it mercilessly.

Poppypaw used Mud Slap on Owl, dealing 2 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Orchidpaw used Belly Rake on Owl, dealing 7 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Owl is Stunned for one turn.

Poppypaw
10/20 HP
70/80 SP

Orchidpaw
20/20 HP
60/80 SP

Owl
26/50 HP
110/120 SP

Redpaw didn't hear what the other two apprentices were talking about, too busy disentangling herself from the large bird that had just fallen on top of her. Spitting feathers ungracefully out of her mouth, the thick-furred she-cat smiled to see that Poppypaw was back up and looking better, and then turned her attention back to attacking the owl. Maybe they could bring it back as prey for the Clan! That would cheer everyone up! Newly enthusiastic, she lunged at the owl again, slashing at it with clawed paws.

Redpaw used Front Paw Strike on the Owl, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Redpaw:
20/20 HP
60/80 SP

Poppypaw
10/20 HP
70/80 SP

Orchidpaw
20/20 HP
60/80 SP

Owl
20/50 HP
110/120 SP

Poppypaw snarled and lashed his claws at the large bird’s wings right after Redpaw struck.

Unfortunately, however, the owl wasn’t kept down for too long. Blinking the mud out of its eyes, it threw Orchidpaw up and began to rise up into the sky again. With a furious screech, it lashes out at Poppypaw once again and sent him flying back into the mud.

”Poppypaw!” Orchidpaw cried, rushing to his littermate’s side, watching in fear as he struggled to climb back up to his paws, but ultimately failing to. With a furious snarl, Orchidpaw rounded on the owl once again and, with a battlecry, leaped up to knock it to the ground with a hard tackle. ”How dare you hurt my brother! Now you’re in for a really bad time!”

Poppypaw used Front Paw Strike on Owl, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Owl used Talon Strike on Poppypaw, dealing 10 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Orchidpaw used Run-and-Tackle on Owl, dealing 6 (+3) damage and costing 10 stamina.

Poppypaw is unable to fight.

Poppypaw
0/20 HP
60/80 SP

Orchidpaw
20/20 HP
50/80 SP

Owl
5/50 HP
100/120 SP

Redpaw
20/20 HP
60/80 SP

Redpaw’s eyes widened as Poppypaw fell to the ground, after the owl slashed him with its claws again. He couldn’t get back up… he was in trouble! With a screech, the she-cat jumped onto the owl and brought it down again, slashing it with her claws so it wouldn’t get back up. That bird would never hurt her friends again!

Redpaw used Front Paw Strike on the Owl, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina.

The owl is K.O.

Redpaw
20/20 HP
50/80 SP

Orchidpaw
20/20 HP
50/80 SP

Owl
0/50 HP
100/120 SP

Now that the owl wouldn't be able to bother anyone again, Orchidpaw rushed back to Poppypaw's side and tried to nuzzle him up. "Poppypaw! Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay!" Great StarClan, he couldn't lose Poppypaw, too!

Thankfully, Poppypaw's eyes slowly opened, and he looked up at his littermate with a small smile. "I-I'm okay, brother. Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, bro. All that matters to me is you." The bluish-gray tom pressed his muzzle into Poppypaw's shoulder.

Redpaw exhaled a shaky sigh of relief as she disentangled her claws from the now-dead owl, then sprinted over to Poppypaw as he spoke. "Oh thank StarClan!" Her green eyes were shining as she looked at him, just full of gladness that he was okay. She didn't know what she would have done if he wasn't okay... but she didn't like to think about it. Something jittery was fluttering around in her chest, and she wasn't sure if she liked the feeling, but she was starting to feel it whenever she saw her ginger best friend. She just sat there looking at him and Orchidpaw for a while, then finally spoke up- "well, at least we have the biggest piece of fresh-kill ever to bring back to camp! Scorchstar will be so happy!"

Orchidpaw looked up at Redpaw and offered her a small smile. ”Heh, yeah, guess you’re right. But first we should bring Poppypaw back to camp, then come back for the owl. I don’t want him tryin’ to walk on his own.”

”Nonsense, I’ll be fine,” Poppypaw huffed. He struggled up to his paws, wincing at the pain in his sides, and after taking a few stumbly steps he collapsed back to the ground.

”Yeah, no, I ain’t gonna letcha fend for yourself. Come help me, Redpaw.” Orchidpaw nuzzled Poppypaw back up to his paws and supported him with a shoulder on one side.

Redpaw scampered over immediately, sticking out a shoulder to support her friend's other side. Poppypaw would hurt himself if they let him try to get back by himself. Their contrasting shades of ginger fur meshed together surprisingly well, with Orchidpaw's lone gray-blue color on the other side. "Sure! We can come back for the owl later. You're more important," she purred, green eyes bright with relief at the owl's death and delayed excitement at the whole ordeal. Just wait until she told Firestone what happened!

"Th-Thanks, you two." Poppypaw couldn't help but nuzzle Redpaw's cheek fondly with his muzzle. She was so warm and soft... Yelping when he was suddenly jostled on his other side, he glanced at his brother. "Ouch! Careful, please!"

"Oops, sorry, bro, not quite used to carryin' all this weight," Orchidpaw apologized with a sheepish grin.

Together, Orchidpaw helped Redpaw bring Poppypaw back to camp.