The Price You Pay

Dewlight woke up, stepping out of the warrior den and stretching, shaking scraps of reed from her short fur. Her claws extended into the soft, wet ground as raindrops dripped onto her head. It had stormed through the night before, but the morning sunlight was promising a warm, sunny day. With a grin, she lazily turned towards the apprentice den and trotted towards it. She had spoken to Ivystar just the other day regarding Yarrowpaw's progress, and had let the leader know that she believed he was ready to become a warrior. She had trained him the best she could, and she was so proud of how far he had come. Any day now, she would hear Ivystar's summons for his.... Wait. As she peered into the den, she found her apprentice's nest empty. She looked around before backing out of the den, searching over the camp. Where was he? Hmm... He had spent quite a bit of time in the medicine den recently... Perhaps he was there? Her smile returned as she made her way over, looking forward to asking him to accompany her on a walk, enjoying their final days as mentor and apprentice.

As she entered the medicine den, her heart sank. He wasn't there either... Concern wormed in her belly, and she once again backed out of the den she had just entered. He wasn't in his nest, he wasn't in camp, he wasn't in the medicine den... Oh! Maybe he had gone to sit with Ivystar! Shifting her focus to look for Ivystar, she quickly found the older she-cat and made her way towards her, lowering her head respectfully. "Ivystar, good morning. I'm sorry to bother you so early, but have you seen Yarrowpaw by chance? I was going to walk with him today, but I can't find him... Anywhere. I can't even get a good scent trail, because of the rain..." She admitted, tail tip twitching nervously. What if something had happened? All of those dogs were around, far closer and numerous than she liked. Had something happened? He couldn't really call for help, or hear them call for him to be able to respond... Fear gripped her heart as she thought of possibilities, and her eyes pleaded for good news from Ivystar.

It was on quite a rare occasion that Ivystar was able to get anywhere near quality sleep, and certainly not for an extended period of time. Despite her exhaustion, the previous night hadn't been any different than the past... How many moons had she been enduring this torture? With a shake of her head, she looked up to see Dewlight approaching her. Ears perked, she listened to what the she-cat had to say, a faint feeling of terror sinking into her chest at her words. "No need to apologize, I was already awake... But no, I haven't seen him since last night at sundown. This..." She paused for a moment, trying to compose herself. She was already panicking enough as it was, but she didn't need to spread that to Dewlight as well. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment and allowed her heart rate to slow before finally looking back up to Dewlight, standing up and beginning to pad toward the exit of camp. With a flick of her tail, she motioned for Dewlight to follow her.

"I don't mean to alarm you, but we've got to go out and look for him. He wouldn't be able to hear a dog or twoleg if..." With a sigh, Ivystar chastised herself in her head. "We need to find him, and soon." She mewed simply, heading out of camp and out into the open territory.

Dewlight was certain that Ivystar could see the terror that spread on her face as her heart sank upon hearing her words. It thudded in her chest, feeling as though it was in her belly. Judging by the deep breath Ivystar took and the way that she composed herself, the warrior could tell that she was having the same fears. Dewlight found herself mimicking the leader that she looked up to and paused to take a deep breath herself before following Ivystar out of the camp. The gray warrior simply nodded as Ivystar trailed off. She knew about his hearing, or lack of, and her stomach was twisting relentlessly at the idea that dogs or twolegs had gotten to him. They had to search for him, and they had to find him.

The scent trail had quickly faded thanks to the rain from the night before, and Dewlight found herself feeling like she was walking aimlessly in whatever direction seemed best. She couldn't remember when she had last actually scented Yarrowpaw, she just knew it had been far too long. Just as she went to get Ivystar's attention, the sound of breaking reeds to their left made her fur stand on end. She whipped to face the noises, backing up slowly to try to put some distance between her and the racket.... And then a breeze washed over her. The stench of dogs it carried was potent, and her lips curled instinctively as her claws unsheathed and she looked to Ivystar desperately, afraid to say anything and risk giving away their location.

Patches let out an eager whine as her owner waved her hand. The upwalker spoke a soft word, and the brindle and white dog bounded into the reeds, sniffing for prey. If she caught something, that would make her owner happy, and that meant Patches would be rewarded.

Waterfowl and voles were plentiful along the riverbanks, and Patches had caught a pretty black and white goose for her owner. She'd sneezed at the feathers as they'd tickled her nose, and had been careful to avoid the angry bird's wickedly sharp beak so that she could continue hunting. She'd never seen anything like the cat she had tried to make friends with in the marsh on the other side of the forest so far, but she could smell them around. Today, Patches was allowed to hunt, and while she'd kept to the birds so far, the scent of cats nagged at her, pulling her attention despite her efforts to concentrate. She couldn't understand why the humans went into a fuss whenever she went after them... Maybe it was just because at the time she hadn't been trained to hunt. Surely she'd be able to make friends with one of the creatures while they stayed here...

The scent of cat grew stronger, and Patches couldn't help the way her tail wagged in excitement. They were so close! Her owner was a ways behind her, happy to not interfere in her hunting any more than necessary... And after a few moments of searching, Patches spotted movement ahead of her.

A cheerful bark escaped her as she bounded forward, jaws playful (or so she thought) snapping at a gray cat that had frozen in place. The poor thing looked terrified... But there was no reason to be scared, really. Patches just wanted to play, that was all.

Patches used Thrash on Dewlight for -15 sp, dealing -10 damage. Dewlight is stunned for TWO turns.

Patches
100 / 100 hp
185 / 200 sp (200 - 15)

Dewlight -stunned 1/2-
50 / 60 hp (60 - 10)
140 / 140 sp

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

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'Effect Dice' : 4

Jake followed Patches as the latter ran to follow a mysterious scent. He barely knew anything about the fellow dog, just that she was another dog being brought to hunt prey for their owner. He was here because his owner wanted him to hunt prey for him, and the German shepherd wanted to make his owner happy. He had caught a lot of birds for his owner today, which made his owner happy. However, his owner also wanted him to hunt for more prey, more to eat.

Patches eventually led him to an area with other creatures. They had four legs, their paws were clawed, and their teeth were sharp, just like him. However, they were much smaller than him. Before he knew what he wanted to do with them, Patches began attacking the creatures. Connecting it with what they were here to do, he inferred that these cats were just a type of hard-to-fight prey, and that he needed to kill them. Rushing towards the other cat, he launched his teeth to the cat's neck. Unfortunately, he missed, instead sinking his teeth into the she-cat's shoulder. Still, it was a start to beginning to bring this cat down.

Jake used Iron Bite on Ivystar, dealing 22 damage and costing 30 stamina.

Jake:
HP: 100/100
SP: 170/200

Ivystar:
HP: 78/100
SP: 160/160

Benny's orange eyes gleamed mischievously as he ran with his pack. He didn't know them, but they were his pack for this holiday. Holidays were fun. Master always did holidays with Benny. He got to catch lots of ducks, and Master always left him one to eat. Benny loved ducks. They always looked and tasted different, but Benny liked them all the same. Master sometimes shot them, but Benny liked it best when he got to catch them. Those were the ones he was allowed to eat!

Benny yipped excitedly. Ducks! Two of them! This was the fluffy, hissy kind, the kind Master didn't let him eat when they were at home. But this was a holiday! He was allowed to catch ducks on holidays! White teeth gleaming as he lunged for the duck Patches was catching, Benny grasped onto its forelimb and clamped down.
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Benvolio used Iron Bite on Dewlight, dealing 22 damage and costing 30 stamina.

Benvolio
HP-100/100
SP-170/200

Dewlight
HP-28/60
SP-140/140

Patches
HP-100/100
SP-185/200

Ivystar's gaze darkened as she and Dewlight crouched low to the ground, prolonging the inevitable attack that was just seconds away. There was little they could do in the way of protecting themselves when the dogs launched themselves forward, digging teeth and nails into their flesh and muscle. Ivystar's stomach sank to her paws when she realized two of the dogs had attacked Dewlight, the younger warrior with far less training under her belt. Before Ivystar could leap forward to block their blows she felt teeth sink into her own shoulder and turned to see a German Shepherd digging into her skin. With a hiss she pushed herself back and made a point of dragging her back paw across the dirt, flinging the dog's paw forward and sending his nose straight into the dirt.

Ivystar used Experienced Steps, dealing -5 Health Points and using -5 Stamina Points. Jake is stunned for 1 turn.

Jake:
HP: 95/100 [-5]
SP: 170/200

Ivystar:
HP: 78/100
SP: 155/160 [-5]

Too late. Far too late. They had already noticed. Panic rose in her throat as not one, not two, but three dogs came bursting out of the reeds, and her hiss was interrupted as sharp teeth pierced her scruff. The dog swung her helpless body back and forth, over and over, and Dewlight realized that she couldn't tell which direction was up or down, let alone which way the quickest escape route was. She closed her eyes as she was thrashed around, but then more teeth latched onto her leg. A guttural yowl escaped her as the dog on her leg pulled just as the dog gripping her scruff yanked, and with a sickening pop and crunch she felt her leg go limp. Her eyes opened wide as she tried to move it, tried to get some sense of direction to run, but in her heart she knew it was over. She could only hope and pray to StarClan that it would be quick, and that Yarrowpaw hadn't shared the same fate. Hopefully Ivystar was faring better.... But Dewlight didn't believe that she would be drawing breath much longer to continue being a distraction.

Dewlight is stunned for one more turn after this one!

Patches cheerfully shook her head, much to the cat's misfortune. Another dog had joined in and had grabbed the creature's leg, and Patches tail wagged happily as she jerked the poor creature back, a playful glint in her gaze as she eyed Benvolio. They could play tug-o-war with it! Surely their upwalkers wouldn't mind that!

Patches continued to use Thrash. Dewlight is stunned for this turn.

Benvolio
100/100 hp
170/200 sp

Dewlight -stunned for this turn-
18/60 hp (28 - 10)
140/140 sp

Patches
100/100 hp
185/200 sp

Right after Jake bit the weird creature, he tripped, landing face-first into the dirt. He swore that there wasn't anything that he could have tripped on, but he definitely tripped on something. Snarling, the German Shepherd stood back up to face the smaller creature. At least the other dogs were ripping the other beast to shreds. Patches seemed to be having... too much fun trying to break the cat's neck, but at least she didn't act this way to other dogs, so he couldn't complain on her unusual attitude to fighting these creatures.

Jake is stunned.

Benny locked eyes with Patches, tail wagging a mile a minute. Friend! He liked this pack. Tug of War was a great idea! He preferred fetch, but this was still fun! He gripped the duck's leg harder, the taste of blood filling his mouth. He pulled back as he maintained eye contact with Patches, tail still wagging at the wonderful game they were playing.
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Benvolio used Iron Bite on Dewlight, dealing 22 damage and costing 30 stamina.

Benvolio
HP-100/100
SP-140/200 (-30)

Dewlight
HP-0/60 (-22)
SP-140/140

Patches
HP-100/100
SP-185/200

Panicked, Ivystar did everything within her power to fight the one dog she was fighting off. StarClan... Why couldn't they all have attacked her, she had many lives to spare... Her gaze shifted momentarily to Dewlight as one of the dogs clamped down, treating her like a ball of moss in the nursery. She had to help... But she wouldn't be able to until this dog was down. With a determined gaze, she moved her focus back onto the dog and with a deep, guttural growl, she launched herself toward it. With powerful jaws, she gripped onto his neck and dug in deep, lashing her head back and forth before the dog had a chance to snap out of his haze.

Ivystar used Snap, dealing -12 Health Points and using -7 Stamina Points.

Ivystar:
HP: 78/100
SP: 142/160 [-7]

Jake:
HP: 83/100 [-12]
SP: 170/200

Dewlight could no longer feel her leg, but she knew the damage was bad. Darkness threatened her vision as the second dog pulled again, and as she went limp she looked to where Ivystar was fighting. "I'm sorry...." She whispered as the darkness continued to set in, wishing for it to just take hold of her. She wasn't going to get out of this, of that she was certain. Still, though... She had to try.

Dewlight is KO'ed and can no longer fight!

Eventually the gray-furred thing stopped thrashing, and Patches let out a disappointed whine, leaving the creature where she had fallen. Bright eyes turned toward her companions... And Patches let out a dismayed bark at the sight of blood on the German Shepherd's black and tan fur. The second cat really didn't seem all-too happy about playing with them, and Patches couldn't understand why.

Maybe she just needed some encouragement.

Patches used Iron Bite on Ivystar for -30 sp, dealing -22 damage.

Benvolio
100 / 100 hp
140 / 200 sp

Dewlight -KO'd-
0 / 60 hp
140 / 140 sp

Patches
100 / 100 hp
155 / 200 sp (185 - 30)

Ivystar
56 / 100 hp (78 - 22)
142 / 160 sp

Jake
83 / 100 hp
170 / 200 sp