Rising with the sun [closed]

Smallbean rose from his nest, eyes heavy with sleepiness. He had gotten to sleep a bit later that night, but it shouldn't be making his this tired, right? Ignoring the feeling the best he could, he pulled himself out of the moss bed that was his nest and looked out into camp. The sun had just begun to rise, nothing more than a thin line of light on the horizon. Shaking out his fluffy pelt, he remembered what he wanted to do today; he wanted to take Shrikepaw out on a hunting patrol and teach him the basics. He had to admit, he was very nervous, especially considering what had happened to his last apprentice. He had to make sure that he kept Shrikepaw safe, although he wasn't too worried about that since they wouldn't be going near the gorge.

Walking over toward where the young tom slept, he nudged him awake and quietly whispered to him. "Ready for a patrol? Meet me at the camp entrance" Padding away from Shrikepaw, he walked over to the front of camp and patiently waited for him. Thinking over it, he thought that he probably should have picked out a piece of prey for Shrikepaw. Shrugging it off, he realized that if he was hungry he would probably get some prey himself.

Sleeping in the apprentice den was something Shrikepaw was still getting used to. He had just been in the nursery, and now he had much more responsibilities. It made him nervous, but just getting to this stage made him feel good regardless. Then he was awake, being woken by his mentor Smallbean. His eyes were heavy with sleep, almost making him fall back asleep the moment Smallbean left. However, he was able to get to his paws and stumble out of the den. As he started over to the camp entrance, he slowly became more awake. Seeing Smallbean standing there, he suddenly realized: he was being taken out of camp! It would be the first time that he was leaving the safety of the camp, and it erased any appetite he may have had.

(I'm not sure if the battle system has changed since the olden days, but if you have any questions feel free to pm me or @ me on discord or ask staff or smthn ;0)


The tom's eyes lit up when he saw Shrikepaw emerge from the apprentice's den. It seemed as though it took the young tom a bit to come into the clearing, but that was none of his business; it was probably nothing important anyways. Meeting Shrikepaw halfway, he walked back to the camp entrance shoulder to shoulder with him, or at least close to it. It wasn't until the two were already out of camp until Smallbean spoke. "I'm taking you out for your first day of hunting! I'll be taking you to a place where i usually have decent luck catching prey, it's a thin patch of trees nearer to fourtrees." The tom shuddered on the last word. He'd rather not think of the meeting place, but alas, it really was a part of everyday life, it was hard to avoid the word.

It wasn't long until they arrived, the aroma of prey filling the area. Turning to his apprentice, he gestured to the clearing with his tail. "This is where we'll be hunting. I would assume you haven't learned the hunter's crouch yet, so allow me to demonstrate." Smallbean had done pretty well with managing his anxiety so far, but this might be wear it really shows. He couldn't imagine the embarrassment he would feel if he somehow managed to mess up the demonstration, Shrikepaw would think he's a joke! Walking over to a small shrub, he dropped into the hunter's crouch, keeping his tail low to the ground. "This... this is the first stance you would take. After this, what you would do is creep toward your prey..." Pausing, the warrior snuck up on the shrub, stopping when he was about a fox-length away. "Make sure you step lightly, mice can feel your pawsteps before they see you. You won't have too much a problem with that here on Windclan territory, as we have rabbits and hares, just make sure you're very quiet when hunting them. Whenever you feel you have gotten close enough to your target, what you want to do it use the speed you were born with. You want to quickly dart forward and strike your prey, like this." Taking a deep breath, Smallbean tried calming his nerves, but found himself to be slightly shaking. Trying to push it away, he focused on the shrub and took action. Moving as quickly as he could, he rushed forward and gave the shrub a good whack before stepping away. Maybe he didn't do all that bad? Turning back toward Shrikepaw, he sat down and looked him in the eyes. "What i want you to do next is go somewhere in this clearing and catch something. Remember, it's alright if you don't get it the first time, not many cats do, after all." With a curt nod, the tom walked in his own direction in pursuit of his own prey.

Sniffing the air, he soon caught whiff of fresh hare nearby. Following the scent, he soon spotted the animal, obliviously sniffing at the dirt. Crouching down like he had previously done, he creeped up on the creature until he felt he was close enough. Suddenly, he heard the bushes around him begin to rustle, as if something large were walking through. At the first glace of feathers he saw he jumped back away from the underbrush and called over his shoulder. "Shrikepaw! Goose!" This was bad. Shrikepaw hadn't had much battle training, if any at all. Maybe... maybe he could direct him on what to do while in battle? It was a long shot, but it might just work. "Hey Shrikepaw, while i duck under the goose, try getting an attack in on top, okay? I know you don't have much training, but as long as you have your claws unsheathed you're guaranteed to do some kind of damage." With that, he dove under the goose and slashed at it's belly.

Smallbean used Half-turn belly rake on goose, dealing 15 HP and costing 20 SP

Smallbean
80/80 HP
220/240 SP (-20)

Goose
25/40 HP (-15)
130/130 SP

Shrikepaw
20/20 HP
80/80 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

Shrikepaw followed Smallbean out of camp, listening intently to every word. This was his first hunting lesson, and he couldn't bear to mess it up in front of his mentor. Every piece of advice given, he tried his best to file it away in his mind. It seemed easy enough, but of course, things could always be deceiving. He wasn't very talkative, putting a lot of his effort into internally focusing himself for the task ahead, but he would nod to make sure Smallbean knew he was listening.

As soon as they reached the area Smallbean was talking about, Shrikepaw was hit with the scent of prey. It was like the prey pile in camp, but much fresher. They were alive, and the scent was amazing. He pulled his mind away from the prey and focused again on Smallbean. Knowing the prey was there was one thing, but he needed to actually be able to catch them. So he watched with wide, eager eyes as his mentor showed him the hunter's crouch. He noted the way his legs tensed, and how deep he would crouch before attacking the bush in front of them. Of course, that was all practice, and watching it at that. Now it was time for him to try it for the first time, and on live prey.

With a nod, he went the opposite way of his mentor, out into the clearing. He skirted the trees, keeping any eye out for the bounty of prey that was sure to be just within reach. When he was sure Smallbean's back was turned, he dropped into the hunter's crouch, trying to replicate what he had seen Smallbean do. He didn't want to mess this up, so he made sure to get his footing right before trying it out on prey. As it turned out, the 'prey' he was about to hunt was a bit different than he expected.

He heard his mentor shout for him. A goose? He whirled around, seeing it right after it came out of the brush. For a terrible second he froze, intimidated by the size of the thing: it had to be nearly three times his size. However, the voice of his mentor shook him out of it, and he rushed into the fray. This was supposed to be hunting training, but it looked like his battling training would happen earlier than anticipated. Taking Smallbean's advice that was shouted to him, he unsheathed his claws and launched himself into the air. He was barely able to get on top of the goose, but he struck at its back with his claws before he jumped clear. It was almost like... instinct.

Shrikepaw used Front Paw Strike on goose, dealing 4 HP and costing 10 SP

Smallbean
80/80 HP
220/240 SP

Goose
21/40 HP (-4)
130/130 SP

Shrikepaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

With the coming of colder whether, the goose knew that most of it's kind was flying sound by now, but hanging around for a bit longer would be nice. This had been it's home for a few seasons now, hadn't it? The only problem with this was the matter of finding food to eat. Cold weather meant less growing food, so going out whenever possible was a priority if it wanted to stay here any longer. Waddling across the open moor, the goose looked left and right for any sign of vegetation. After what seemed like moons, a small patch of trees caught it's eye. Letting out a honk of joy, it sped up it's pace and fast-waddled toward it's destination. Perhaps it would come across some tasty seeds!

Upon arriving at the patch of trees, the goose sensed something... off. Normally the only things it would encounter were the common mouse and rabbit, but this was something different. Something larger had been here, there were trampled leaves and twigs all over the place. Keeping it's guard up, it continued on, deciding it could fight off whatever was in it's way, even if it happened to be a badger. Peeking it's head into the area, he immediately spotted the disturbance- a pair of cats. A hiss escaped it's beak. Within the clearing he spotted two cats, both looking young although one was just small. The goose despised cats. It had dealt with them before, earning itself a few scars by doing so. Surely it could defeat these cats without a problem.

Charging out into the clearing, it went after the cat that was slightly larger first. It jabbed it's beak in the cat's direction, only to miss. Honking with rage, it watched as the cat called the smaller one. Getting ready to attack, it began to charge forward again- only to immediately feel an intense sting on it's underside. Tears of pain welling up in it's eyes, it looked underneath of itself to find one of the cats had attacked it! How dare it! It seemed as though the line of attacks would never end when the other cat jumped forward to slice at it. Now enraged, it decided it wouldn't wait another moment for it's chance to attack. Raising it's beak with arrogance, it thrusted it forward and into the first cat, satisfied with what it had done. That should teach those wretched cats.

Goose used Beaked Thrust on Smallbean, dealing 20 HP and costing 40 SP

Goose
21/40 HP
90/130 SP (-40)

Smallbean
60/80 HP (-20)
220/240 SP

Shrikepaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

---

Narrowing his eyes at the goose, only one thought came to his mind. I can't let Shrikepaw down like i did Heatherpaw. Jumping back, he looked at Shrikepaw who was nearby. He seemed to have gotten a hit in on the goose and was able to get out relatively unscathed. Flashing a forced smile toward the young tom, he readied himself for another attack on the goose- that was, until... Bang!. Smallbean felt an immense blow to his ribs, knocking the breath out of him. He fell to the ground, desperately trying to regulate his breathing again. Limbs shaky, he pulled himself off of the ground, uncertain of how long until he didn't have the strength to keep fighting. After regaining a bit of strength he forced himself back into battle, determined to make sure nothing bad came to Shrikepaw. Rearing up on his hind legs, the tom raised his paws and slashed his claws across the goose's face.


Smallbean used Rear-up to slash on goose, dealing 14 HP and costing 15 SP

Smallbean
60/80 HP
205/240 SP (-15)

Goose
07/40 HP (-14)
90/130 SP

Shrikepaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Shrikepaw gasped when he saw the goose slam into Smallbean, knocking him over. Thankfully, his mentor got up seemingly no worse for wear. He could see the goose was beginning to falter, which meant he needed to make sure his next attack counted. He didn't want to see it do any more damage to Smallbean. However, he wasn't sure that he personally was doing much damage at all. After all, he was just a small apprentice against a huge bird. Maybe... Maybe he could do what his mentor had done. Steeling himself, he used the distraction Smallbean inadvertently was to dive beneath the goose, doing what he could to duplicate his mentor's actions. He sliced at the goose's underbelly with his claws, hoping that it would do more than his previous attempt.

Shrikepaw used Belly Rake on goose, dealing 7 HP and costing 10 SP

Smallbean
60/80 HP
205/240 SP

Goose
00/40 HP (-7)
90/130 SP

Shrikepaw
20/20 HP
60/80 SP

The tom watched as the goose staggered about, obviously it was close to being defeated. He had to admit, it was surprising. Most geese he had fought took a lot more effort to take down, this one seemed to go down in a few blows. Had he really progressed that much? As Shrikepaw made the final blow, he stood back to see the mighty bird fall over in defeat. Turning to Shrikepaw, he rested his tail on the apprentice's shoulder. "I'm very proud of you, you have had barely any training and you've already defeated a predator." The words were accompanied by a soft smile. He was relieved that they had gotten out without much damage, other than the blow Smallbean had taken. He turned in the direction of camp, getting ready to head back. "Well, i think that we should head back to- Oh, we never went hunting!" Despite how he head just helped chase off a predator, the tom still felt like he hadn't done enough yet. "How about we catch one piece of prey to take back to camp, yeah?"

Deciding that would be good, he nodded to Shrikepaw and padded off into a particularly wooded area of the trees and tried smelling if there were any prey left that hadn't yet been scared off. To his surprise, the scent of mouse soon hit his nose and he began to follow it. Soon spotting the rodent, he crawled up behind it. He wasn't very accustomed to hunting mice, but he had to take what he could get. Leaping into the air, he pounced on the mouse, crushing it beneath his paws. Picking the mouse up, he wandered back to where they had started and waited for Shrikepaw to return.

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 3

Shrikepaw couldn't believe it: he had just helped defeat a goose. It was his first time out of the camp and he had been involved in something that at least he considered major. It was shocking, but... exhilarating. It was as if instinct had taken over, and he had been able to do what Smallbean asked of him. As if the blood of his WindClan ancestors flowed through his veins. He was startled when Smallbean rested his tail on his shoulders, but he found himself beaming from the praise. He felt like a real WindClan cat now!

Just as they were about to head back to camp, Smallbean remembered why they were there in the first place: to hunt for prey. Thinking about jumping right back into hunting took a bit of the wind out of Shrikepaw's sails, but he wasn't going to say no. He knew how important it was to feed the clan, so as his mentor went one way, he went the other, trying to find some sort of prey to catch. As he cautiously moved along the moor, sniffing for the scent of prey, he spotted the natural prey of WindClan: a rabbit. It was big, or at least big compared to him. Still, he couldn't be daunted. Using the hunter crouch he had just been taught, he snuck as close as her dared before launching at the rabbit.

To his elated surprise, his hunting crouch wasn't a complete failure. The rabbit tried to run, but he landed on it and pinned it down to the ground. He administered a bite to its neck, finishing it off. It took a considerable amount of effort to drag the thing back to Smallbean by himself, but he was brimming with pride the entire time.

The member 'King Falcon I' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

Happy to see that Shrikepaw was, too, able to catch some prey, he flicked his tail to signal for the younger tom to follow. Smallbean turned away, looking back to see if Shrikepaw was following. Seeing that he was, he positioned the mouse so that he was able to audibly speak. "I'm... proud of you, Shrikepaw. Just know that i think you'll turn out to be a fine warrior." He padded on, going to the direction to camp. When they got back, he knew he was going to want to take a long nap.