Come, Let's Flit Among the Trees (closed)

Paws padded softly in the pre-dawn, a hazy white more felt than heard as she glided over the ground to the apprentice's den. The soft sounds of breathing escaped from it's entrance, joined by the brush of fur against leaves as Swansong ducked inside. Eyes glimmering briefly green in the dark, she opened her mouth slightly to draw in the scents of the apprentices, her eyes falling on one in particular. Her maw creased in a smile as she wound a couple of pawsteps closer, careful not to get too close. The young molly was very excitable - she wouldn't put it past her to leap up in an explosion of moss.

"Willowpaw," She mewed gently, keeping her voice soft. Hopefully the others weren't light sleepers, though if they were, they might have already awoken as soon as she stepped in. "It's time for our patrol. Are you ready?"

The moment Willowpaw heard her name, she jerked-and shot upwards, barely avoiding smashing into Swansong. She quickly twisted her body to land on the ground. "I'm so ready! Definitely!" She purred in excitement.

She was definitely a little overexcited.

A slightly surprised laugh briefly burst free of her maw as the apprentice shot up, nearly banging into her in spite of her precautions. I wouldn't like to think what would have happened if I hadn't been careful. She resisted the urge to wince at her charge's loud voice, instead favouring her with a purr in return and picking her way back to the entrance. "Then we'd best get going!" She said lightly.

Once outside, she glanced at the molly, still keeping her voice mostly quiet as she spoke. "We'll mostly follow the borders, but if you smell any prey nearby, tell me and we'll stop for a bit of hunting practice."

"I will!" Willowpaw exclaimed, dutifully nodding. This was her first time out of camp, and gosh, was she excited!

It was only then that she remembered that other cats were probably still sleeping, and she was probably disturbing them. "Sorry... I got carried away." She added awkwardly in a whisper, trotting after Swansong.

She smiled. "It's alright. The dawn patrol should be getting up any time now." They passed through the camp entrance into the dimly lit trees, grey light filtering down to the quiet forest floor. "But it's still a good idea to remember the cats around you, even if you can't see them - just like you keep track of your surroundings," She added, glancing at the young she-cat with a gentle smile as she turned and headed along the trail that led to the border with ThunderClan, pine needles springing under her paws. "That said, I think they're used to the noise by now."

She scented the air, sifting through the smells around them. As expected, this early in the morning along the trail there wasn't much - a few stale mouse and other rodent tracks, but nothing fresh. Once they got further along, possibly taking a side track if they needed to, they were bound to find something, though.

Willowpaw followed Swansong, going along as softly as possible. That meant she constantly kept an eye on the ground to make sure she didn't step on anything that made a lot of noise.

As she went, Willowpaw sniffed at the air. She scented something vaguely... Oh wait, that was a stale mouse scent. Was it? She sniffed at the air again.

It faintly caught her tongue almost within sight of the borderline, just as the trees were starting to thicken with the undergrowth that always grew close to ThunderClan's territory. Evidently, it also caught her apprentice's too. She glanced down and beside at the young she-cat, keeping her ears pricked for the soft scuffling sounds of a mouse. "Can you smell it?" She murmured, catching the faintest scratching sound among the shrubby roots of a young oak tree straying into their territory a couple of fox-lengths away.

Willowpaw nodded, not trusting herself to not alert their opponent if she spoke. It smelled like a stale mouse scent... But wait, it wasn't as stale as she thought it was... She sniffed again, stepping as lightly as possible. It was... A live mouse! Her head snapped towards where the scent came from.

(Do you know how to use the hunting system? There's a topic that tells you what to do, but if you need any help or anything, feel free to ask me or anyone on the discord!)

Willowpaw nodded, and Swansong saw her head snap towards where the scent was drifting from, carried on a light breeze that rustled the dark shapes of leaves around them. Mentally, she gave a satisfied nod. There was certainly nothing wrong with her apprentice's nose. "With mice it's important to keep your paws light," She murmured, staying where she was as Willowpaw lightly stepped forward. "They feel vibrations through the ground easier than most prey."

She glanced sideways at the little molly. "Do you want to try catching it? The wind is towards us, so it shouldn't pick up your scent."

((I'm assuming I need to roll a 1-5 in a 10-sided dice roll?))

Willowpaw nodded, still not speaking. She began to step forward as lightly as possible, ears twitching for the sound of movement. She spotted the tiny figure of the rodent.

She shifted slightly closer, then pounced, swiping at the mouse. It wasn't a very professional move, but then again, this was her first attempt.

20/77
(80 SP-3 SP)

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 10

A whisper of something other than the breeze suddenly passed by overhead, a large shadow swooping down. The sound of beating hearts reached its ears, the sight of a small form scuffling at the ground catching luminous eyes. Angling its wings, it dove down, talons reaching-

Another creature pounced, its paw swiping towards the mouse, and the owl's talons shifted, grazing the small cat instead of its intended prey. But this one... this one would do. Its head shifted as it swooped up again, zeroing in on the apprentice below.

Owl used Talon Strike, costing 10 Stamina and dealing 10 Damage.

Owl
HP: 50/50
SP: 110/120 (-10)

Willowpaw
HP: 10/20 (-10)
SP: 77/80

Willowpaw hissed in pain and hopped back. Her teeth were bared, ready for a fight, but the strike had severely hurt her. Wounds ran over her body in multiple places, blood staining her grey pelt.

Teeth gritted, Willowpaw lashed back out at the owl using her claws.


Willowpaw used Belly Rake, dealing 7 HP of damage and costing 10 SP

Owl: 110/50 (HP-7)

Willowpaw: 10/67 (SP-10)

Swansong watched as her apprentice moved forward, her stalk not bad for a first attempt at real hunting. A faint sound caught her ear, and it twitched as she glanced up, an instant before a shadow dropped out of the lightening sky. A gasp came free of her maw, shock briefly freezing her muscles as it swooped down onto Willowpaw. What in the stars-!

The hiss of pain from her apprentice shook her out of it, and she leaped forward, powerful muscles launching her at the bird, her claws unsheathed and reaching to rip at its feathers.

---

The owl let out a screech as its new prey suddenly turned, its wings wildly flapping to keep it in the air as their claws tore feathers from its body and left bleeding scratches behind. Fiercely beating its wings, it rose out of range, baleful eyes locked on these hissing enemies. Another defiant screech left its beak, and it swooped again, this time raking its talons across the back of the lighter coloured one.

Swansong used Jumping Strike, using 20 SP and dealing 10 damage.

Owl used Talon Strike, dealing 10 damage and using 10 SP.

Owl
HP: 33/50 (-10)
SP: 100/120 (-10)

Willowpaw
HP: 10/20
SP: 67/80

Swansong
HP: 35/45 (-10)
SP: 140/160 (-20)

Willowpaw gritted her teeth and leapt forward to lash out again. The owl was focusing on her mentor, so she had more opportunities to attack. Spinning, she grabbed the owl's tail feathers and yanked hard, hoping to unbalance it.

Willowpaw used Tail Yank, dealing 2 HP of damage and using 10 SP, stunning the opponent for 1 turn.

Owl: 31/100 (HP-2)

Willowpaw: 10/57 (SP-10)

Swansong: 35/140