canopy of trees [closed]

Greenleaf’s end had brought with it whispers of a long-overdue rain, longer nights, and cooler days—prime hunting weather, in Thrushpaw’s opinion. With her warrior ceremony looming on the horizon, there could be no such thing as too much practice. Today seemed as good a day as any other. Her parents were busy with their duties, her siblings were busy with their mentors, and though she searched the camp for Pinefrost, he was nowhere to be found. She had wanted company…but a solo patrol was better than no patrol at all. She ducked through the tunnel leading to ThunderClan’s territory, wincing as a few thorns caught on her shoulder. On the other side, she paused to stretch and listen to the birdsong. Hints of golden light peeked through the gaps in the canopy above. Alone or not, it was good to be out of camp.

Pebblepaw wandered through the undergrowth, his senses were alert. There was a chillness in the air he hadn't felt at all during his life. Is this what leaf-fall feels like? He wondered to himself. His tail twitched as he sensed movement, and then another cat. Who's out here? The grey and white tom pushed his way through another row of trees to find Thrushpaw, stretching and listening. "Thrushpaw?" He mewed. "What are you doing out here?" He came closer to the mollie, hoping not to have scared her.

Suddenly, the birdsong was pierced by the sound of rustling leaves. The tabby’s keen ears swiveled back toward the source; she spun to face it just in time to see a young gray-and-white tom, hardly apprentice-aged, emerge from the bushes. Thrushpaw blinked down at him, relaxing. Though she could be a little oblivious to what happened in her Clanmates’ lives, even she had heard about the kit who’d sprinted out of camp in broad daylight; now that he was one of her newest denmates, she sort of had to know him. She opened her mouth, searching for a name. Petal—no, no, Pebblepaw. ”I’m going hunting,” she told him, and stepped forward. Ordinarily, she would have left it at that; when it came to strangers, even strangers who happened to share a den with her, she was rarely the talkative type. But she'd been looking for someone to hunt with earlier… Maybe this was a good opportunity. Glancing over her shoulder at Pebblepaw, she meowed, ”Do you want to come along?”

Pebblepaw watched as Thrushpaw hesitated, before talking. "Ohs, it doesn'ts looks likes muches!" He giggled, before realising that he hadn't spoken in a normal way. it's too difficult anyway. He told himself. I don't need to speak 'normally' to any cat that's not really important. "Uhm, sorries, I's justs speaks likes thats." He quickly told her. "I trieded to talks to yous normallies buts I's justs can'ts stops it!" He caught himself after realising the tabby asked a question. After remembering what she said he gave his answer. "Uh, yeahs, let's goes huntings!"

(ooc: so I know how to use the dice, but I'm unsure what to do after you roll it, care to give me a short tutorial?)

ooc: sure! basically, you check the hunting system thread to see if the number you rolled results in success, failure, or a predator encounter; then you edit your original post to reflect the stamina loss from your roll (-3 SP in newleaf/greenleaf/leaf-fall, -5 SP in leaf-bare) and whether you caught or missed the prey.

for example: since thrushpaw is a thunderclan cat hunting a bird in leaf-fall, if i had rolled any number from 1 to 5, she would’ve caught the bird; if i had rolled a 6 or higher, she would’ve missed. (and if i’d rolled a 10, one of the predators from this list would have appeared for us to fight.) since i rolled a 9, she missed the bird. everything in the second paragraph here was edited in after i saw the dice roll!

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When Pebblepaw spoke next, giggling, a bemused expression crossed Thrushpaw’s face. ”Well, I haven’t really started yet,” she said slowly. In response to his hurried explanation, she shrugged, giving him a small smile. ”That’s fine. You can’t talk too much while you’re hunting, anyway, or you might scare your prey.” With that, she set off, setting a slow pace he could easily keep up with as she wove between the tree trunks. Though the birdsong had quieted, the bird scent was a good deal stronger. Raising her nose to the air, she followed it, near-silent as her paws shifted over leaves and branches, and before long, she reached the source: a sparrow poking around a tree’s roots. Snapping her tail in a signal to be quiet—though she didn’t know if Pebblepaw recognized it as one—she crouched down and began to creep forward.

A leaf crunched underneath one of her back paws. At once, the sparrow froze. Throwing herself forward, Thrushpaw lashed out with her claws. It was too little, too late; the sparrow fluttered upward into the branches, a few feathers short but otherwise unharmed. Thrushpaw blinked up at it, then back at Pebblepaw. For the first time, she wondered how much his mentor had taught him about hunting. If nothing else, she supposed she could've used that as an example of what not to do.

Thrushpaw attempted to catch Bird, using 3 stamina. The attempt was a failure…

Thrushpaw
20/20 HP
77/80 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

He followed Thrushpaw through the trees, he looked around at all the pretty trees and he listened to the lovely sound of chirping that made him hungry. He kept padding forwards, he didn't even notice Thrushpaw had stopped until he almost bumped into her. "Ohs-" He was about to apologise when he realised she had given him a signal. He wasn't quite sure what it meant but he became quiet. He copied her crouch quickly before memorising it, then he crept away to watch her in the bushes.

Pebblepaw watched as Thrushpaw began to stalk a little brown bird, he saw a leaf in her paw's path. He opened his jaws to say something but he was too late, Thrushpaw had stepped onto the wilted leaf, with a crunch, the bird was alerted of Thrushpaw's presence. He giggled as Thrushpaw leaped towards it, but it was too late, the bird was gone. "I's guesses that's whats not to dos!" He purred jumping out of the bush. He wore a bright smile as he went on. "I's was gonnas warns you abouts the leafs. Buts yous weres not... yous was toos lates."

He paused as he heard a little scurrying behind him, his paw lifted up in the air and he lifted his nose, then, he smelt it. "Mousey." He told himself, he dropped into the same crouch that Thrushpaw did and angled his ears forwards. Mousey. He repeated in his head as he saw the brown little mouse picking up little nuts from under a tree. He wiggled his haunches, getting ready to pounce on it, but just as he was about to leap, he saw the mouse lift up his head and quickly scurry away, he looked back at tail, which was right up in the air. "Oops." How do I keep my tail down? He wondered. "Uh, Thrushpaws, can yous please shows me yours huntings crouched?"

Pebblepaw attempted to catch Mouse, fail. Lost 3 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Just as she’d hoped, Pebblepaw picked that up quickly—before she’d even had time to explain it, in fact. Thrushpaw nodded. “It’s important to watch where you step.” That was one of the first things she’d learned; the dry weather and leaf-fall’s loose, crackly leaves had made it essential to keep in mind. Suddenly, Pebblepaw went quiet. His paw rose; a second later, so did his muzzle. Maybe he’d found a scent to follow. Watching the younger apprentice carefully, Thrushpaw lowered herself to the ground.

Apparently, he’d gotten far enough to know the basics of hunting—the crouch, the crawl, the pounce. But as he prepared to jump, his tail stood straight as a tree trunk. The next thing she heard was a set of tiny paws scurrying away. Pebblepaw stared at his tail, then at Thrushpaw, asking for a demonstration. That, she could do. Nodding again, she turned to the side and crouched once more. Her own tail laid flat, not quite touching the ground, but low enough that it wouldn’t give her away to any unsuspecting soon-to-be-prey. “It’s like this,” she said, sliding her paws over the dirt as Nettlestar had taught her to, “and you move like this. You have to step really lightly, or the mouse will know you’re there.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than another scent drifted past her nose. She turned to see a small, scruffy-looking mouse picking at the dirt. Perfect. Experience was the best teacher, in her opinion, but watching someone else was nearly as good. She signaled with her tail again and whispered, ”Watch.” Her own instructions echoed through her head as she inched closer, gaze fixed on the brown-furred shape, occasionally darting downward to make sure her path was clear. Suddenly, her prey was within reach. She launched herself toward it. Her aim was true; she bit down on the mouse’s neck before it could even squeak. ”There,” Thrushpaw said proudly as she faced Pebblepaw again, voice muffled by her catch.

Thrushpaw attempted to catch Rodent, using 3 stamina. The attempt was successful!

Thrushpaw
20/20 HP
74/80 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Pebblepaw watch silently as Thrushpaw demonstrated. "Ohhh..." He purred. "Rights, so yous haves tos-" He trailed off as he watched Thrushpaw focus her gaze on a small brown creature, scratching at the dirt. Thrushpaw flicked her tail at him. Pebblepaw didn't focus much on the catch, he was too busy trying to find the right position, just as he did, Thrushpaw leaped at the rodent. His ears pointed upwards as he fully focused on it, and with what felt like no time at all, the she-cat showed him her catch.

Pebblepaw nodded. "Thats was reallies goods!" He raised his head. "Hmm, it seems likes there's mores preys heres somewheres." Pebblepaw whispered, his ears turning towards the sound of flapping behind him, it was faint, but he was sure it was a landing bird, not one taking off. But when he poked his head through the bush and looked upwards, a bird must of saw him and flew off, dropping a few seeds on the ground in front of him. Backing back into the bush, he was about to go tell Thrushpaw that the bird flew off before he could even attempt to catch it, but then he saw a reddish brown shape run past his eyes.

He became still, watching the fluffy tailed creature pause to check out the seeds that the bird dropped. He was careful not to show his excitement and disturb the bushes around him, he was so sure he was going to catch it, but at the same time he leapt out, something scraped him across his muzzle, he stumbled, confused, but looking up he saw a huge, angry bird. His stumble caused the squirrel to run. He was confused and, well, terrified. Quickly, he let out a yowl for help.

Pebblepaw attempted to catch Squirrel, fail. Lost 3 SP, encountered Owl. Owl used Talon Strike, -10 HP (Pebblepaw) -10 SP (Owl)
Owl
50 HP
110 SP (-10)

Pebblepaw
10 HP (-10)
74 SP (-3)
(ooc: sorry if this is wrong, I had to look at other posts for this, I also had to find a predator that wouldn't completely demolish Pebble on it's first turn)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

ooc: it looks good so far! also i feel your apprentice-HP pain just for reference, here are the battle rules and moves and a battle system tutorial - if you have any questions, feel free to throw them at me, and i’ll answer them as well as i can

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Pebblepaw’s head whipped around, honing on the next sound or scent to draw his attention; in another moment, he’d disappeared into a bush in pursuit. For a brand-new apprentice, Pebblepaw was already a decent tracker. Following him would alert his target to the fact that it was being hunted, so Thrushpaw stayed where she was. An odd half-smile rose on her muzzle. Though this was far from how her hunting patrols usually went, it’d actually been sort of fun having someone else come along.

That thought abruptly vanished as a panicked yowl split the air. Thrushpaw’s ears went flat against her skull. There was no question where—or whom—it’d come from. Without another moment's hesitation, she shouldered her way into the bush and poked her nose out on the other side.

It took a second to process the scene that awaited her: a massive bird, spotted feathers ruffled in a play at intimidation, and Pebblepaw bleeding from a fresh set of lines on his muzzle. She’d never seen an owl on the hunt before sundown. The fire in SkyClan’s part of the forest and the subsequent prey shortage must have affected more than just cats; with the cooling weather, this owl had to be getting desperate. Not that it deserved any sympathy. ”Pebblepaw!” She burst out from the bushes and threw her considerable weight against the owl, grunting as she made contact. Leaping back, the striped she-cat wheeled around to face it again. Though running was probably the safer option, she’d fought worse than this with less training to fall back on.

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

Thrushpaw
20/20 HP
64/80 SP (-10)

Pebblepaw
10/20 HP
74/80 SP

Owl
41/50 HP (-9)
110/120 SP

Pebblepaw backed up against a tree, his back arched and teeth bared. The owl approached him, it's wings were open and it's eyes were wide. Pebblepaw saw movement in the bushes, he was about to call for help again when a familiar brown-and-white shape burst out of them, Thrushpaw. His puffed-up tail lifted as she knocked the bird and stumbled back. "Thrushpaws!" He gasped. Pebblepaw had to do something, the owl was already making it's next move, just as the owl flew up and reached out to scratch her face with it's talons, Pebblepaw quickly ran up in front of the bird, it's wings were still raised, he spun around, and slashed at it's exposed underbelly with his back legs. The bird stumbled backwards with a 'hoot'. It wasn't ready to fly away yet, it aimed itself at Pebblepaw, who backed into Thrushpaw. "What's its gonnas dos?" He murmured.

Owl used Talon Strike on Thrushpaw, -10 HP (Thrushpaw), -10 SP (Owl). Pebblepaw used Belly Rake on Owl, -7 HP (Owl) -10 SP (Pebblepaw)
Pebblepaw
10 HP
64 SP (-10)

Owl
34 HP (-7)
100 SP (-10)

Thrushpaw
10 HP (-10)
64 SP

As she’d hoped, her charge took the owl’s attention away from Pebblepaw…and redirected it onto her. With only a hoot as a warning, the owl struck out with its talons, a blur of motion too sudden to dodge. Stifling a yelp, Thrushpaw stumbled back. A thin trickle of blood worked its way down her cheek. Before the owl could take advantage of her distraction, however, Pebblepaw flew in to take her place, raking his claws down the owl’s underbelly. He backed away just as Thrushpaw recovered; instinctively, Thrushpaw moved ahead, keeping herself between him and their opponent. ”I don’t know…” Through the feathers, she could see hints of the scratches she and Pebblepaw had left. It was weakening. Maybe, with some convincing, it’d realize this fight wasn’t worth it. Her eyes narrowed to slits. ”I’m gonna try something.” As the owl swooped low, she hurled herself at it again—not to charge, but to latch onto it with her front claws, pinning it against the forest floor.

Thrushpaw used Leap-and-Hold on Owl, dealing 6 damage and using 10 stamina. Owl is pinned for 1 turn.

Thrushpaw
10/20 HP
54/80 SP (-10)

Pebblepaw
10/20 HP
64/80 SP

Owl [pinned]
28/50 HP (-6)
100/120 SP