Fire and Ice [C]

The newly named Frostpaw wasted no time beginning his training, whether it would be with Rosethorn, or without her. It made no sense to wait, especially if he could get instruction on anything he did wrong from an older apprentice. It took only a few moments for the tom's gaze to be set upon Burningpaw, one of the apprentices he knew. Surely he would wish to get out of camp? He seemed the type. With long strides, the white tom made his way over, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the camp.

"Burningpaw, would you like to accompany me hunting?" A polite request emerged from his lips, despite his wish to practice out of camp, on real prey. When he caught something, it would be beneficial to the clan. When he did not, the prey would emerge for the next hunting patrol. Greenleaf was plentiful, there was no reason to delay. If Burningpaw denied him, well, he could find someone else. If he could not, then he would practice in camp. There were ways for everything, so long as you were willing to work for it. Frostpaw could only wait with an impassive expression for a response from the other tom. He would never admit it, but he was curious about the territory itself. Frostpaw had only seen so much, an opportunity to see the territory and begin hunting practice would be efficient.

Burningpaw sat beside the apprentice den, looking fairly neutral but absolutely seething on the inside. What was taking Freckleface so long? His tail lashed in agitation and he wished to the stars above that Freckleface would leave Shadowclan for some reason. Any reason. It was at that moment he noticed a figure of white moving in his direction. Seeing Frostpaw, Burningpaw perked up almost immediately. The apprentice was younger than him, but that was hardly a bother. Frostpaw asked him if he'd like to accompany him, and the white tom never got the chance to finish his sentence.

"Yes, absolutely!" Perfect, an excuse to get out of camp and continue to avoid Freckleface. He wasn't breaking any rules. He wasn't going alone. "Where are you wanting to go?" He asked the other apprentice. How different they looked, walking side by side. His own pelt an ever shifting mix of burnt oranges, ash blacks, scorched browns and white coals for toes, while his companion was white as snow. Even their eyes were opposite colors... ice blue and sulfur yellow. How further ironic that he was Burning- and the younger apprentice was Frost-. Had that been done on purpose? The names were maybe some mom and dad joke collaboration between their families (in which case it made Burningpaw want to roll his eyes, though he supposed on some level it was amusing). The pelts and eyes however... He wondered if Starclan had pre-determined them to be a fierce duo.

Would one compensate for the other's weakness somehow? Or... a disturbing thought... was Starclan trying to tell him that they were doomed to be enemies? He doubted the latter. Frostpaw had thus far given him no reason to believe that he was Unclean. Perhaps tonight they would have the opportunity to learn more about each other. It would be nice to have a night out with other true Shadowclanners for once.

"Preferably, more wooded areas. Mud is particularly... annoying for me." Frostpaw didn't enjoy admitting his vanity, but the constant dirtying of his pelt was something that was a nuisance. Of course, mud could be washed off with work. Others were more fortunate than he, darker pelts within Shadowclan were a boon. Something that only assisted in stealth, and something that didn't show how dirty their territory could be. Burningpaw seemed fairly average, an excitable cat who seemed to live for the hunt. Emotional, likely temperamental, at the very least he seemed polite.

Frostpaw himself began leading the pair out of camp, despite not know where to go from there. It was a start, however. "So," Frostpaw began making small talk, curiosity overtaking his quieter nature. "How is your mentor? Freckleface is it? I assume your training goes well?" He wondered if everyone was getting adequate mentors, even Frostpaw understood that different mentors were best for different apprentices. It allowed the fullest exploration of training, then, the best warriors would come of it. Of course, everything had the possibility to go wrong, apprentices could get the wrong mentor and not reach their fullest potential.

At the mention of more wooded areas, Burningpaw changed direction just slightly to start heading towards the Pine Grove. Mud for him wasn't annoying, per se, but he didn't love it either. He gave little thought to the idea of mud, especially once Frostpaw brought up Freckleface. Burningpaw looked over his shoulder and scanned behind him carefully. Seeing that they were not being followed, he returned his attention to the path in front of him.

"I avoid her when I can." He answered truthfully. "Flintstar's mate or not, she's a horrible mentor for me." And oh how it bothered him that Flinstar cared so little that he was with a mixed blood. A Shadowclan leader should take pride in Shadowclan blood and only Shadowclan blood. Murkystrike couldn't become the leader fast enough, in his opinion. "Everything I have learned has been on my own and I am completely fine with that." There was a bit of an edge to his voice, but it wasn't too terrible.

"What about yours?" He watched as a rat darted off of their path, but he made no move to go after it. If Frostpaw wanted it, he'd stay out of his way for now. Burningpaw was mostly just grateful for the walk and to be away from camp for awhile.

Frostpaw was a watcher, he observed everything he could. That is why he noted Burningpaw's look over his shoulder before speaking. Curious... Seemed that Burningpaw disliked his mentor. Unfortunate. "In what way is she inadequate? Perhaps it would be good for me to know for future endeavors." Freckleface, Frostpaw had never interacted with her. Nor had he seen her hunt or fight. Perhaps it was simply that Burningpaw disliked her teaching style, again, temperamental. "I have just received Rosethorn, not much training has been accomplished yet. I assume I would dislike most mentors I would have gotten anyway, however. They would likely just get annoyed with the lack of emotion I express. It would make it difficult for them to get any kind of gratification from training me other than seeing their work come to fruition." Many cats were emotional, Frostpaw had no issue with that until it got in the way of a goal. Sometimes, emotions must be put aside for the greater good of the clan, he knew that. He would appreciate if more could learn that lesson.

His gaze followed a rat that darted across the path. With a swish of his tail, he dropped low, stalking toward the creature. His lack of training was apparent, yet his form was enough to keep him from being seen immediately. Thankfully, his training in camp as a kit had paid off in a way. Despite the rat's movement, Frostpaw wasted no time catching up to it quietly, and pouncing, slashing the creature's throat quickly. Red spilled onto his paw from his strike, dyeing it worse than mud would. He dug into the moist earth, quickly creating a hole deep enough for the rat, and covered it, returning to Burningpaw. He stopped for a moment to lick his now reddish-pink paw, attempting to get most off before it dried. It left part of his paw an odd pink, but for the most part, it was removed. "The rat is now buried. Let us continue." Frostpaw did not much care for the lives of prey, they were prey to feed the clan, nothing more, nothing less. Simply something that sustained them for sunrises to come.

Frostpaw caught the rat! -3 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Frostpaw kept trying to get Burningpaw to talk, but it didn't seem to come from malicious means. Still, the dark apprentice once again glanced around for unwanted eyes and ears. Still nothing. He opened his mouth to speak just as Frostpaw caught the rat. Burningpaw waited patiently for him to bury it... and slightly raised an eyebrow, or what would have been one had he not been a cat, when he gave Starclan no thanks.

"Thank you Starclan for the rat's life." He said loud enough for Frostpaw to hear. He would let it go for now, but he hoped that tiny reminder would set Frostpaw in the right direction. "Not a bad catch for being so newly apprenticed." Burningpaw complimented him, hopefully showing that he meant no hard feelings. How was Frostpaw supposed to know to do that, when apparently most of Shadowclan did not?

"Freckleface doesn't hunt like a Shadowclan cat because she isn't one. Not really. Having a single Shadowclan parent and a Shadowclan mate isn't enough to actually be Shadowclan. Not like you and me. So her ability is sub-par at best and she gets in my way more often than she helps." He was unapologetic now, since Frostpaw wanted to dig deeper. Maybe this would be the beginning of a solid friendship, or they would find each other at odds.

"You can't deny there is a noticeable difference between those of us who are direct descendants of the first Shadowclan cats, and the descendants of those who happened to fall into our ranks along the way."

A lizard zipped away from the two apprentices and Burningpaw spun swiftly on his heel to pursue it. His claws show out, aiming to once again hit the back of the neck in an immediate killing blow. The lizard died immediately, likely feeling no pain in the slightest. Burningpaw lifted his claws to show the lizard to Frostpaw. It hung there by the back of it's skull completely immobile.

"I have had very little instruction, and so have you. Yet here we are, successfully hunting Shadowclan prey. That is the biggest difference between us and them. Thank you Starclan for the lizard's life." He muttered reverently at the end of his speech. He buried the lizard with swift ease in the soft, moist soil before rejoining Frostpaw on their journey.

Burningpaw attempted to hunt a lizard, he was Successful!

-3SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Frostpaw eyed Burningpaw for a moment. His loudness of thanking Starclan for the rat was unusual, he was fairly sure you did not have to externally thank them. They would know his thanks, he did not need to say it for them to hear him. He was caught off-guard by Burningpaw's compliment, he had not quite anticipated it. After a moment of quiet, Frostpaw spoke in his usual frosty tone. "I appreciate it. Training as a kit seems to have assisted as I predicted."

He fell back into silence as Burningpaw spoke again. A curious silence. Burningpaw's point of view was fascinating yet dangerous. Due to the more dangerous nature of the topic, Frostpaw quieted himself, allowing himself time to think. On one paw, Burningpaw wasn't completely wrong. Of course, cats that weren't born with Shadowclan blood would be less suited to hunting on Shadowclan territory, but on the other, new blood allowed Shadowclan to become something better than it ever could have been originally. Curious indeed. "You are not wrong. If everyone were purely Shadowclan, then it would possibly allow better hunting as they would be more suited to the territory. Though, with new blood introduced, it gives the opportunity for our clan to grow into something better than it would have been. We would never evolve." Frostpaw appreciated Burningpaw's point of view, it was interesting, truly. Yet the line of thought could grow into something dangerous, something more than innocent. Fascinating.

His gaze followed Burningpaw as he quickly caught a lizard. "Well done. You are skilled." Frostpaw waited for Burningpaw to bury the creature so they could move along. "It is not outside the realm of possibility that we have both simply been incredibly lucky. You and I are fairly skilled naturally, yet Basilkit is Shadowclan is she not? Look at her, she is not skilled due to her medical issues. The only true difference between 'us' and 'them' is that we are built for this. That does not mean, however, that a warrior could not have the skill to competently catch prey for the clan. 'Us' should be Shadowclan, and 'them' should be anyone that wishes harm upon us. Dividing Shadowclan only makes us weaker." Frostpaw was not surprised, Burningpaw wasn't as logical as he. It made no sense to needlessly divide Shadowclan, they should be standing together against any threat that they could face. If Burningpaw couldn't see that, that was his problem.

Burningpaw knew he would need to temper his words far more carefully after Frostpaw's response. There would be resistance if he pushed his views (as right as they were) too hard too early. He allowed a moment to pass before speaking again, making sure his tone was calm despite how passionate he was about the subject.

"Forgive me, Frostpaw, but I am a devout follower of Starclan. I believe in their plan, not... luck." There were few coincidences in the world, if any at all. Everything was planned and had a purpose. Anything or anyone that sought to tamper with that plan was evil and it should be extinguished.

"While I understand new blood needs to be introduced on occasion into the clans, it should be done very selectively and only when absolutely necessary. I don't want my clan to change as you put it. Shadowclan should be Shadowclan. Skyclan should be Skyclan. Riverclan should be Riverclan. And so on. Introduce too many foreign ideas or bloodlines in at once and we will lose who we are. Windclan is not Windclan anymore. They are not even a shadow of their former, intended glory. They are wild rogues with a weak, incompetent leader and no true Windclan culture or sense of pride to speak of." Of course, all of this was words straight from the mouths of his angry parents. He didn't know if he should truly sit Frostpaw down and have the lengthy conversation with him, at least not yet. He could barely contain himself from trying, but he knew that he would likely meet resistance and his efforts would be wasted.

A movement ahead caught Burningpaw's eye and he whipped his tail against Frostpaw's side to get his attention. He gave a nod towards some brush, indicating for him to go there, before he dropped into a low crouch and stalked into the bushes to hide as well.

There was a fox ahead, though the russet creature had not seen or smelled the apprentices. It rotated it's ears around as if it thought it had heard something, but eventually shrugged off it's suspicion and slinked away further into the forest.

"You see?" Burningpaw whispered once the fox had gone. "If we had been anything but Shadowclan cats, how would we have ever known that the fox was there in this darkness? The wind was not in our favor and the fox is just as quiet as us. We belong here. Shadowclan belongs here. Other cats do not." He felt that his point had been made enough by now and was willing to let it go. It would give something for Frostpaw to ponder over, if he was as smart as he thought he was. When he was ready, Burningpaw would gladly go into deeper detail on why he and his parents are right.

"I say we hunt that fox." He muttered, his tail tip twitching with anticipation. Only Shadowclan cats could fight predators effectively in the dark... us more so than most. Do you have the heart, Frostpaw? Do you have the guts?

"As I have said before, Burningpaw, luck does not exist. I agree with you on that much, though perhaps for different reasons." Frostpaw had seen enough, Burningpaw believed too much in something that had been proven to not always be correct. Starclan is just the dead of the clans, it does not mean that those dead suddenly become the best and brightest every clan had to offer. Many things can happen... the only thing you can truly depend upon is your own skill and work.

Frostpaw continued padding alongside Burningpaw, browline furrowed. "Shadowclan will not lose its way, even if we did, Starclan would allow us to find it again. Though is Windclan truly so rogue-like? I've not seen them with my own eyes. Perhaps soon I will be able to form my own opinion of them." His gaze found Burningpaw's, impassive as usual. He would not allow another to form his opinions for him. Only through himself could he know the truth, anything else could be a lie. It was this that allowed him to catch the other apprentice's cue to hide. He stalked into the brush, hiding his white fur as best he could. At least he was short.

His ears flicked over to Burningpaw as he spoke once more. It was certainly something to think about. Though, he couldn't completely agree. When Burningpaw said they should fight the fox, however, his face turned slightly so he could look at him. "What?" He hissed quietly, surprise tainting his usual tone. Fighting a fox? They were two apprentices, the likelihood of them getting injured was incredible. Yet... he wouldn't be able to stop Burningpaw... would he. With a sharp exhale from his nose, he finally nodded. "Alright, I suspect you would hunt the fox on your own to prove yourself or something of the sort. Let us hunt together to prevent more injury." A sharpness entered his eyes as he observed the russet pelt, the fighting spirit of a cat who hid such things on display for those quick enough to notice. Are you truly as strong as you believe you are Burningpaw, or are you padding a fool's path? Let us see.

Burningpaw was silent on the matter, allowing Frostpaw to think he'd gotten the upper paw this time. He would come around, once he saw for himself how the world really worked. To Frostpaw's... condescending statement... Burningpaw only responded with a short chuckle.

"You have the wrong idea of me, clanmate. I have absolutely nothing to prove." And forward he went, stalking after the fox quietly. He picked up the scent trail of the beast... and admittedly his heart hammered in his ribs. Maybe... maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He looked back over his shoulder to make sure Frostpaw was following and hadn't turned out to be a complete mouse-heart. So far so good.

He stalked silently through the woods, easily following the trail the fox left behind for them. He finally set his eyes upon it in a small clearing and the russet monster was happily swallowing a vole. Oblivious. Burningpaw took in a deep, slow breath to slow his heart rate. This wasn't like that raccoon, this was a fox. He needed to hit it hard, fast, and precise. Like a lightning strike. Once he felt Frostpaw beside him, he regained a little bit of his courage.

Had Frostpaw been a dirty blooded rat, he would have insisted that he go first, risking the most injury in doing so... but alas, he was a clanmate that deserved the breath in his lungs as much as any Shadowclan cat. Burningpaw wouldn't feel dishonored to die for him. The dark apprentice crept around behind the fox, using the darkness and his superior night vision to the fullest advantage.

And then he ran forward. On silent paws he closed the distance. He leaped... he landed...

The fox whirled and yowled, violently ejecting the vole that had been half eaten and part way down his throat.

"He's secured! Attack him!" Burningpaw yowled, his voice at a higher, strained pitch than he would have liked as the fox thrashed beneath his claws.

Burningpaw used Leap and Hold, dealing 7 damage (+1 from night finesse) and -15SP

Fox
Stunned for Two turns!
53 HP / 180 SP (-7HP)

Burningpaw
20HP / 45SP (-15SP)

Frostpaw
20HP / 60SP

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

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'Effect Dice' : 5

Frostpaw's ears flicked in slight annoyance at Burningpaw's laugh. Arrogance. He wouldn't be so obsessed with the line between Shadowclan and others unless he wanted to prove that Shadowclan was better. Frostpaw followed silently behind him, cocking his head as Burningpaw turned to look back at him. Was that fear he spotted? This was Burningpaw's idea. With a nod, he followed further.

They stopped not far ahead on the edge of a clearing. The fox, eating, would never see them coming. At the very least, he wasn't facing this thing alone, had he been, Frostpaw would have turned tail and ran back to camp to collect some kind of patrol. There was no room for fear, however, there was fighting to be done. He opened his mouth to speak, surely they would concoct a plan before assaulting the creature. Alas, Burningpaw went ahead, and Frostpaw watched as he performed his move. A leap, landing square on the fox. Perfect...

Hearing Burningpaw's cue, Frostpaw made his own move, sprinting from his cover and leaping himself. His claws plowed into the distracted fox's side, ripping long scores of red. "Keep holding! I'll do what I can!" He called, backing away for a moment to collect himself, and to stay away from the sharp claws of that beast. Burningpaw's hold would keep it distracted, then Frostpaw would take care of this.

Frostpaw used Jumping Strike, dealing 4 (+3 unfocused) (+1 night finesse), and using 7 stamina!

Fox [STUNNED 2]
45/60 HP (-8)
180/180 SP

Frostpaw
20/20 HP
53/60 SP (-7)

Burningpaw
20/20 HP
45/60 SP

Burningpaw kept digging his claws in, slowly climbing closer and closer to the fox's neck. The fox thrashed, snapped and yipped in response. Frostpaw had come in and attacked... and Burningpaw smiled. Good... he was no coward. A little reshaping of his mind and he just might be perfect. It was at that moment that Burningpaw lost focus. The fox whirled in a direction he had not anticipated... and his grip was coming loose.

"Get ready to hold it next!" He yowled in warning. At least their communication was good. It made all the difference.

Burningpaw continues Leap and Hold, dealing 7 (6+1 Night Finesse) damage and -15SP

Fox [STUNNED 1]
38/60 HP (-7HP)
180/180 SP

Frostpaw
20/20 HP
53/60 SP

Burningpaw
20/20 HP
30/60 SP (-15SP)