Violent Predisposition

Of all the kits that Rainstrike had birthed, Dapple was her favorite.

She knew that as a mother, having a favorite child was taboo. You were supposed to love your kits equally, to cherish and appreciate them each as individuals, with strengths and weaknesses. It was those strengths and weaknesses that Rainstrike had been assessing since the day they were born, and that had led her to where she was now, leading Dapple through the Old Twolegplace to train, and to learn. The little she-kit was strong and determined, but not difficult, or belligerent. She'd be easy to mold, and easy to turn into a smart, capable killer like Rainstrike was. That's what she wanted, after all... she couldn't hope to bring the clans down alone, and who better to help her on her journey that began with ThunderClan's destruction than her own blood? Oakstar's own blood. Pure, strong ThunderClan blood.

"We're going to learn how to fight today, Dapple," she told the kit matter-of-factly. "Not to play-fight, like you did with the others, but a real fight. One where you may get hurt. Does that scare you?" She paused, turning to look at the calico kit.

Dapple blinked up at her mother. “Yes,” she replied in a soft voice, as matter-of-fact as Rainstrike, and shouldn’t it?

Tussling harmlessly with her litter was all the calico kitten had known. She knew she was the strongest, but she was careful.

Blood thrummed from her ears to the tips of her paws, but not loud enough to drown out sound and sensation. She held her apprehension like holding a breath. Like clouds hold a storm before the first rain falls. 

She had known when Rainstrike had brought her outside for the first time, alone, that it would be dangerous – and though she wasn’t eager for violence, she was prepared for a challenge. Despite being the slightest of her litter, she was the strongest.

For all of Dapple’s life their mother had been watching them, and for as long as Dapple could remember she had been watching Rainstrike. It came to this.

She measured each breath, bringing increasing awareness to her stance but not moving yet. “But I want to learn.”

"Good."

Rainstrike knew fear as well as she knew death. She knew how to handle it, and, even better, how to inflict it... how to wield it for her own personal gain. It was a skill she had mastered early, and one she intended to teach Dapple to do, as well.

"You should always be afraid of your opponent," Rainstrike told her. "You can be bold, and powerful, and fearless, yes, but that makes you reckless, and reckless more often than not equals dead. You don't want to be dead, I assume," the rogue moved close to her daughter, grooming the fur between her ears in a quick, short stroke. It was a rare sign of affection from the she-cat, and it didn't last long.

She moved away, turning to face Dapple with an unblinking expression. "When you fight an enemy, always watch, and learn, before you move in. It's better to have the upper paw by going in for a sneak attack, so if you get the opportunity to catch someone by surprise, that's better than a fair fight. Use your opponent's weakness against them. Everyone has a weakness. Use mine."

[OOC: Ok, so the battle system is super simple!! Essentially, it's broken up into two parts, HP (health points) and SP (stamina points). When you take damage, or deal damage, the HP is affected. When you use a move, your SP is affected. When your cat (or the other cat, or predator, or prey) reaches zero on either the SP or the HP, they can no longer continue fighting and must faint, or run away, or die in the case of predator/prey!

An in-depth explanation of the battle system can be found here: https://warriorclancats.forumotion.com/t183-battle-system-rules

But I'll continue with a little bit of an explanation. The SP/HP depends on rank. Dapple, as a Tier 1 rogue, has 45 HP and 140 SP. Rainstrike, as a Tier 3 rogue, has 75 HP and 200 SP. So when you want to use an attack, you find the one you want in the list on the link above, let's say Dapple will want to use Leap-and-Hold on Rainstrike. You would make your post, describing her doing the move, and then, since there is a dice roll involved with Leap-and-Hold, you'd hit "preview" at the bottom of your post, and then select "dice roll" and "effect dice." You then hit your post, and whatever the dice roll ends up being, the bot will post directly below your post. For example, if you were to use Leap-and-Hold, then the dice roll was a 6, Rainstrike would be stunned for two whole turns. Go ahead and try it out!]

The quick, short stroke of Rainstrike’s tongue between her ears warmed the calico kitten to her tail-tip, giving Dapple the boost she needed. Rainstrike had barely spoken her last word before Dapple sprang. 

All of her paws landed squarely, difficult to dislodge with her claws hooked in grey tabby fur. A lightening leap at a short distance, powerful enough to pin the opponent, was an advantage Dapple didn’t know she owed to the ThunderClanners who won their battles in the dense foliage of the forest – but she discovered it in herself now.

“So I make the move you least expect?” she breathed. To break from her pattern of caution, to leap without hesitation at her mother with claws unsheathed after a rare show of affection... was that a necessary element of unpredictability?



Leap-and-Hold
45/130 [-10SP]
Dealt [-9HP]

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

---

'Effect Dice' : 1

She'd expected more questions, more hesitation, but Dapple surprised her with a quick, vicious surge of movement, and Rainstrike felt thorn-sharp claws price her pelt and hold on even as she attempted, and failed, to dodge the hit she'd hardly seen coming.

"Good!" Rainstrike hissed in satisfaction, her tail lashing to and fro. She shifted her shoulders, testing Dapple's grip - it was good, above the level of skill most apprentices displayed, but Rainstrike expected nothing less. Dapple was her protégé. Dapple would be her revenge against the clans.

"The move I least expect," she confirmed, "but also one that uses my weaknesses against me. I've got half the sight of a normal opponent, it would have been smart for you also to have gone at me from the side I have less vision on. But that was good."

Rainstrike let her belly sink to the ground, grunting quietly. "Being on top of your opponent is a good advantage. While you're up there, you can bite, claw, shred... anything to get blood flowing, because a cat in pain is going to start panicking, and panic prompts mistakes."

Rainstrike is stunned for this turn and cannot attack.

Rainstrike
66/75 HP
200/200 SP

Dapple
45/45 HP
130/140 SP