The Ways of the World [closed for Chickenwing]

Beecloud found Sablepaw early in the morning, milling around camp without much to do. Good, he thought, I can give her something, then. He approached his apprentice with a gentle nudge to her shoulder, his enormous paw bumping her off balance a little more than he had meant it to. He meowed in greeting and tilted his head in the direction of the camp entrance. "How about I take you to the northern borders today, Lirista?" he asked, a wide grin pressing against his jutting-out fangs.

He led his apprentice out of camp, the heat a little less than suffocating, and tried to keep under the treetops, where the shade was most forgiving. "While we're walking... tell me what you know about ShadowClan," he asked in an airy whisper. It was best to keep quiet, as to not scare away the prey that may be lurking in the corners of every bramble and oak. "We're going to walk along their border today, and you'll learn to recognize their scent. After you help me mark the border, maybe we can catch some prey."

As he listened to Sablepaw's response, Beecloud watched the trees. A robin's nest hung in a maple tree above their heads, and a red-bellied bird was returning to it. He squinted at it, wondering if he would be able to remember its location when they returned. When it was out of their line of sight, he returned his gaze to the forest ahead of them, slinking over logs and bracken and weaving around trees.

Sablepaw scuffed a paw at the floor of the camp, dust puffing from the less-green-and-more-brown clump of grass she'd aimed at. Maybe I should go see if the elders need something. But she'd already looked for fleas, and most of the other apprentice duties, and besides, if she went again, Mossbloom might catch her and ask her to look for ticks instead. Unconsciously, her nose wrinkled at the thought of mouse bile, her tail twitching behind her as she turned and stared across the clearing at the warriors den. If only Mum wasn't out.... Or half her siblings.

But then pawsteps approached with a light shuff against the grass, and a hint of a deeper tread, and she looked up to see Beecloud's massive brown-tabby-and-white frame come up. His paw nudged her shoulder as her ears pricked and she trilled a greeting in the back of her throat. An instant later, she found herself stumbling to the side, the trill jumping a notch higher in a flash of surprise before she got her balance back, the tips of her ears warming. Willing the blush of warmth to fade, she glanced back up again to see him nod to the entrance, a wide grin on his face that made her feel a little better.

His words made her forget the whole thing completely. "The northern borders?" She repeated, feeling herself straighten up, a spark of eagerness glinting in her blue eyes as an answering grin appeared on her own maw. She practically trotted on his heels as he led the way of camp, the heat not so stifling, the day not so droning now that she had something to do.

Her ears twitched to him as he spoke up again in an airy whisper, and she frowned, trying desperately to recall something about ShadowClan, even as a thrill of excitement went beneath her fur at the thought of helping to mark the border, and especially hunting. Her techniques were getting better, especially with some friendly competition from her siblings, and a couple pointers. "Um, well, they uh... they live in a swamp, I think. With lots of pine trees, like SkyClan." She narrowed her eyes up at the canopy above, her tongue poking slightly out of her mouth as she focused. "And they... um...." A wisp of an elder's tale drifted through her mind, and her eyes opened fully again. "Oh! The wind from the mountains chills their hearts, so they're a lot less friendly, and they like the dark."

"And they maybe have frog's feet, but I'm not sure if Dock was telling me the truth about that or not," She added, glancing to the side and wondering if she should've even bothered putting in that last bit, a slightly sheepish smile pulling at the corners of her maw.

Beecloud nodded as Sablepaw explained, in brevity, her knowledge about their strange neighbors. She was certainly on the right track... maybe not about frog feet, though. It brought out a snicker in him, shoulders scrunching up to his ears. "Yeah, she was definitely messing with you!" he giggled, his meandering footsteps beginning to shift into a trot. "They eat frogs, though. They hunt, and fight, in the darkness. They live their day in reverse... couple of oddballs, they are. Never make the mistake of giving them the upper hand: if you have to pick a fight with a ShadowClan warrior, you do it in the daytime."

The warrior knew they were coming close by the acrid smell of the thunderpath. He flicked his tail up, motioning for his apprentice to stop in her path. His expression was more or less serious compared to the bright and tommish grin that generally graced his face. He nodded towards the border, encouraging her to follow behind him. When they came close enough for Sablepaw to see through the bushes, he peeled away some bracken to reveal the bane of every ThunderClanner's existence: the thunderpath. "This is our border," he said softly. "You can sort of smell ShadowClan, mixed in there. That musty, thick, piney scent is ShadowClan. But that bitter smell... that's the thunderpath. Have you heard of it?"

Beecloud ducked his head, brow furrowed. "The things that cross it belong to twolegs. They're called monsters. They're faster than the swiftest eagle, and they are more deadly than the largest mother badger. This was where Willowheart met her end." He looked to Sablepaw. "If you ever have to cross the thunderpath, and you will, it is safest when you can't hear them roaring. Right now, you could get from ThunderClan to ShadowClan crawling."

A few seconds passed, and the dull rumble Beecloud was familiar with came from their left. "That's one, now," he said above the growing thunder, "Remember the sound!"

A bright red monster zipped by, ruffling the fur around Beecloud's cheeks. The shining of its skin made him shudder more than the smokey haze that was left in its wake. The two sat in timid silence for a few more moments. "This is kind of a downer... do you want to hunt?"

Her ears started to heat up, just a little, as he laughed. I knew it! A flicker of annoyance made her tail twitch, and she briefly considered putting maybe a beetle or two in Dock's nest when they got back, belatedly moving into a quick trot to follow Beecloud. She sure sounded like she was telling the truth, though. Glancing sideways at Beecloud, she listened as he talked about their weird habits, feeling the space between her eyes crinkle. She nodded, skirting around a rock poking up out of the ground. "Got it. Don't face ShadowClan at night," She muttered under her breath, a prickling feeling pulling at the fur along her spine at the thought.

Then Beecloud signaled her to stop, and she slowed down, throwing him a questioning look. He moved forwards, and she trailed behind, blue eyes flicking over the foliage ahead curiously, and taking in the strange surface beyond as he peeled back a frond of bracken. It's like a... river of stone. And the scent coming from it.... She wrinkled her nose, feeling her ears twitch back at the acrid bitter as she took a deep breath. But she could smell the musty, piney scent underneath it, like dark fog creeping slowly through the undergrowth.

Beecloud mentioned the Thunderpath, and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded. "Mum and Dad have talked about it before. They say things go along on top of it...."

She watched his face as he ducked his head, feeling a frown cross her own face as she glanced at the Thunderpath, a slight shiver running through her tail. Willowheart died here? Catching Beecloud's eyes as he looked back at her, she tried not to think of what one of them might do to her, wide blue eyes reflecting the serious expression on her mentor's face. Mutely, she nodded. I don't want to cross it ever. Not even when there isn't roaring.

And then she heard it, her ears swiveling almost of their own accord as she glanced back at the Thunderpath, her spine tightening involuntarily as the ground started to rumble under her paws. Alarmed, she threw a glance at Beecloud, fear tightening her throat. What if it comes for us? But he wasn't moving, and if he wasn't telling her to get back, that should mean she was alright, right?

Still, she felt her body tighten around itself, crouching down, fur bristling, as something bright red and impossibly fast-moving roared past, ruffling her spiked pelt and beaming bright light into her eyes. Shivering, she blinked, trying to clear the blotches from her eyes, and forced herself to sit up again, only noticing now that her ears had flattened against her skull, the beat of her heart pounding inside them. Gradually, the roar faded, the tightness in her throat fading with it, and she swallowed, glancing up at Beecloud again as he spoke. "Y-yeah, that sounds more fun."

Beecloud nodded back at Sablepaw, and without another word, ushered her swiftly back into the thick of ThunderClan's territory. A short while into their trek, the young tom began to shift lower, crouching, slinking through the ever-dense ferns and bracken. He motioned for Sablepaw to join him at his side, and allowed them a moment of pause.

"When you walk through our territory, every pawstep should be deliberate and planned," he said quietly. The demonstration began as he sat back on his haunches and showed her the path in front of them. He moved his left paw, a large and beastly looking thing, pressing it against a twig, allowing it to snap. "Not there," he whispered. His paw moved to a patch of ferns, where it rustled. "Not there either. Here," he said, pressing his pad finally to an exposed cluster of moss. "There. One day, it'll be second nature to you. If you can make a path through the undergrowth without making a sound, a squirrel will never hear you coming. Half of hunting is the approach. For now, follow my steps."

Happening upon a place lined with large boulders, Beecloud decided it would make for great beginner hunting grounds. From where they stood, they were downwind. The oak trees nearby were riddled with holes, which surely hid many squirrels. "Stay downwind, so it can't smell you."

Beecloud locked his amber eyes upon his prey as it chattered on the ground. His claws flexed into the dirt, sudden performance anxiety burning in his belly. He looked at his watchful apprentice, brow furrowing, and looked back to the squirrel. In the split second he had spent looking for validation, the squirrel was tottering out of the clearing. He yelped, springing up and missing the prey by a whisker. He stumbled over, sheepishly glancing at Sablepaw. "Erm... but faster than that, preferably."

Beecloud attempted to catch a squirrel. Failure.
197/200 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Sablepaw felt relief wash over her pelt as they left the Thunderpath behind, and she followed Beecloud closely, her head tilted curiously as he dropped into a slinking pose. Hesitantly, she tried to copy him, her eyes flicking from him to the path ahead. When he stopped, she belatedly paused, sitting up and giving him a questioning look.

Her unspoken question was answered a moment later as he spoke, and she flicked her eyes down as he moved his paw, cracking a twig and making her ears stand erect. Fascination coloured her gaze and she nodded, intently watching as he rustled the ferns, one ear twitching. So the moss is quiet.... She and her siblings had played hunting games in camp, but all of the things on the ground here weren't as much of a problem there, and up until now she somehow hadn't really thought much about making noise by stepping in the wrong place. But prey would hear that, and she didn't want it to. I want to catch a squirrel.

A shiver of excitement tingled down her spine, and she followed Beecloud, her eyes flicking between her paws and the terrain and Beecloud, a hint of her tongue sticking out as she narrowed her eyes, keeping her paws to the moss and places free of twigs and leaves. This isn't easy. Not only that, her tail kept wandering, brushing a leaf or a branch and making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

But soon her mentor stopped again, and she paused beside him, tearing her eyes from the ground and looking up at the oak trees, boulders partially covered in moss and shaded by scrub sticking from the ground, the morning sunlight filtering green through the oak leaves. Squirrels? She glanced at him, opening her mouth slightly to draw the scent in, catching the woody, nutty, musky scent drifting through the mostly still air. And then a chatter caught her ear, and she watched as a little bushy-tailed form skittered on the ground at the base of a boulder, her ears alert, her tail almost trembling as she watched Beecloud start to stalk forwards.

He stopped, glancing back almost a little nervously, and she met his eyes curiously, her paws kneading slightly at the ground, claws digging into the softer ground where she stayed as still as she could. Is this how you catch a squirrel? Maybe he was trying to keep it from catching his eyes - she'd heard prey could do that. But then he yelped and leapt forward, the squirrel darting away from his paws. He glanced back at her again, a sheepish smile on his face as he spoke.

"Oh." She shifted her paws a little uncomfortably at his embarrassment and stayed where she was for a moment before suddenly realizing he probably wanted her to try and catch one. "Oh, uh, okay."

Ummmmmm.... Feeling the tips of her ears heat up just a little, she glanced around, opening her mouth. The sound caught her ear before anything else caught the rest of her senses, and she twisted her head around, catching a flicker of a grey tail behind a scrubby bush. Throwing a quick, hesitant glance at Beecloud, she crept forward, keeping her paws as quiet as possible and trying not to let her tail drift.

Smoothly, quietly, her pawsteps evening out as here breathing settled into a steady rhythm, she stalked the squirrel, her nervous heartbeat slowing as her eyes locked on it. Her pulse thrummed through her ears, steady, steady.... One last paw on the ground, just far enough. She could feel her shoulders as she leaned into a crouch, that flick of its tail, that twitch of its ear as it scratched at something on the ground, oblivious to her. Air in her lungs, and....

Spring.

Her claws met in its pelt, digging in just like when she'd caught leaves as a kit. Automatically, she snapped her head forward as it wriggled and let out a short screech, blood touching her tongue as her teeth buried in the back of its neck. A click, and its chattering shriek cut off.

She sat up, panting lightly, her heart pounding in her ears. Looking back up at Beecloud, she felt a smile grow on her face, turning to a grin as her eyes lit up. "I caught it! Look, I got it!"

Sablepaw attempted to catch a squirrel and succeeded, costing 3 SP.

Sablepaw:
HP: 20/20
SP: 77/80

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2