both haunted and holy [closed]

The chilly afternoon humidity, thick and viscous like sticky caress of rapidly congealing honey, wreathed across the sharp protrusions of Jaystar's angular shoulders; a palpable weight not unlike the perpetual gazes left lingering in the wake of his passing. Sharp boughs of an unbearably stifling breeze drifted across an oppressively barren bright sky, offering little reprieve for anything other than the gradually wilting foliage that fringed the reaches of the island, the freezing sunlight made all the more reflective by the soft dusting of snow clinging to the trodden sands.

The molten light of the late season sun caught briefly against the wan heat of Jaystar’s forever sharp gaze, twin flames shaded with iridescence blossoming as the skeletal tom turned a casual gaze upon the snow-soaked reaches of the Apprentice den, the two freshly summoned, sleep-shaded young ones certain to appear with little delay. He knew his two newest Apprentices through name and passing only, as he most often did when it came to the youngest among them, but the reaches of his newfound consignment of duties effectively sealed away anymore potential for information to sleuth through the recesses of his mind. It was almost tempting to concede defeat in newfound sympathy of Ivystar's once pressing schedule. Almost.

And without delay Spiderpaw appears. Hopping out from the apprentice den and his eyes gazing with excitement at his mentor- his leader. "I'm here! I'm here! What are we going to do today?" He meowed loud and clear, seemingly to have forgotten that half of his clan is true- still in a deep slumber.

He trembled with the force of his yawn, eyes bleary as he stood patiently outside of the apprentice den, paw pads feeling akin to ice as they connected with the snow-drenched dirt beneath. Aspenpaw shivered weakly, bowing his head as he tried to find the strength to wake up, his mid-day nap now becoming a rapid regret as the sun failed to warm his ginger fur and he desperately wanted to curl back up in his still-warm nest.

Within a few heartbeats the other apprentice had joined them, one he had lacked familiarity with but merely knew as the other tom trained by Jaystar. Jaystar, the name lingered in his head again, a foreign feeling accompanying it despite his lack of knowledge of Jaystar as an individual before his sudden rise to leadership following the assumed death of Ivystar. He blinked his way out of his thoughts, gazing back at the leader, staying silent and allowing his denmate to ask questions.

The carefully conditioned muscles atop weary shoulders, delicately interwoven alongside sparse fringes of unkempt haloed hairs and overlapping bands of tried and thoroughly tested muscles, momentarily tensed in an instinctive response to the sudden and vibrant appearance of Spiderpaw- seemingly innate awareness of tight social boundaries perpetually lingering in the aftermath of Asylum, the ghostly stares of lost eyes still an occasional chill creeping up the spine. The aquiline curve of Jaystar's muzzle scrunched up in a thinly-veiled display of thoughtful displacement at the younger tom's commentary, recollection of such brief time spent with Moonpaw shaded within the reaches of his tightly-wound consciousness.

"Good question," Jaystar eventually rumbled out, low voice hanging heavily against the chilly, stifling silence of the unbearably cool afternoon sun, "likely nothing too exciting or strenuous considering Cloverheart's chewing would render my ears to bloodied stumps should I allow either of you to catch a cold."

Barren reeds, purposely overlaid and carefully woven into an intricate webbing of finely-made knots, rattling softly under the sudden disruption of movement, the sleek smoky smudge of the newly-named Leader's lithe shape was the only immediate answer to the faint disruption of the snow-doused afternoon. Allowing for a few heartbeats to pass so that bother Spiderpaw and Aspenpaw could catch up from their sudden departure from within the depths of the camp, Jaystar rounded against the snow-sodden earth and began to pace forward again; dark fur unpleasantly fringed by the frigid tendrils of snow and ice that had begun to lay claim to his long, limber forelimbs. "Perhaps we can exercise your hunting skills for a bit, before the worst of the cold sets in and renders the river relatively useless for the remainder of Leaf-Fall and Leafbare."

Spiderpaw excitement seems to drop, just a little. "Well, Hunting for the Clan I think is just as exciting! Isn't that right Aspenpaw?" He gave his apprentice buddy a nudge. As though trying to get 'em to agree with him too.

He had followed in the same silence, allowing their conversation to take place, finding his brain elsewhere as the party made their way through the territory, an involuntary chill running up the length of his spine and making his whiskers quiver as he continued to move forward- one shaky foot in front of the other as he fought off another yawn. Aspenpaw had blanked out the conversation a little, but found himself stumbling a little at what was obviously an attempt at a gentle nudge, that was unfortunately lost on the sleep addled tom.

Immediately he sprung back to his feet, anger nipping in his paws, but fought to cool it off as he was steadily aware of his mentor being in a very good position to enact punishment if he saw fit to react negatively. Instead he took a deep breath, turning back to Spiderpaw with a forced look of happiness. "Of course," Aspenpaw offered up, feeling a slight amount of disdain at swiping his paw through chilled water back out to dry in the steadily cooling air. "What are we trying to hunt today?" He turned his attention back towards the leader, silently hoping to avoid the river today-- or at least until he was more awake and warmed up.

Soft curve of his already firmly-set lips twisting further into the faintest remnant of a perpetually lingering scowl, Jaystar simply offered a resolute nod in response to the light chatter propped up by his younger counterparts, movements mechanical and overly practiced. It was often times like this where pestering recollections slipped low beneath the flesh, memories of days better left to the withering grasp of time as compared to the delegation of true reflection.

Unkempt nape fur prickling under the biting chill of the alabaster day, the angular dark-furred tom more closely resembled an awkwardly gaiting hedgehog as he paced ahead of the two young toms, a soft cloud of brittle debris left suspended in the air after his somber steps and agitated tail. Downy tufts of silky dark fur dragging softly against the cool mud of the riverbank, the prickly tom carried forth his signature reclusiveness as he settled against the softly sloping earth, gesturing for Aspenpaw and Spiderpaw to do the same, carefully keeping his shadow angled away from the idling school of fish.

”Don’t fixate upon catching anything,” Jaystar eventually concedes to the contrasting pair settled just a tail-length or so away, ”focus on building technique and skill before anything else.” The observant silence continuously peddled forward, a singular dark forepaw carefully raised in the ensuing heartbeats, his dark gaze intently trained upon the lazy currents of the somewhat low river. A silvery arc of droplets was sent sprawling out into the moderately cool afternoon air, though the motion was largely for show and hardly brought anything to the immediate surface- the intent of such a display to remind both Aspenpaw and Spiderpaw of the usual decorum of technique for them to demonstrate.

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Jaystar has FAILED to catch a fish, costing a flat rate of -5 SP.

JAYSTAR
60/60 [HP]
125/130 [SP]

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hunting system info ; we are hunting fish + leafbare stats currently apply!

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

Spiderpaw beamed, unaware of Aspenpaw's ill attentions the tom merely puffs out his chest proudly, his eyes beaming as it was locked back onto their leader, though it is uncertain if the words said really to heart. Nevertheless, he nods proudly. The young cat awed and edged closer to where his leader stood, his eyes turning into satellites as he watched the water settle but always flowing. 

He quickly then took a few steps back back to Aspen's side.
Whispering.

"I think he hit the fish so hard it flew away."

He watched with care as his mentor explained a simple fishing technique, his eyes fixated on the water much like his denmate's as he waited for Jaystar's paw to flash up, wondering if the leader would manage a catch after stating the apprentices should focus on their technique rather than actually making a catch. Aspenpaw wouldn't deny that he wasn't surprised no scaled prey followed the sweeping arc demonstrated by the tom, but he snorted in amusement at Spiderpaw's whispered comment, shaking his head immediately after to wipe away the slight smirk he was left with.

He didn't reply to the joke, instead moving forward to the water, mentally preparing to swipe through the icy depths. Aspenpaw took a deep breath, and attempted to mimic the move Jaystar had done, the cold water sending a jolt up his spine. Stars, he hated the colder moons. Something brushed against his forepaw in the heartbeats it was submerged, and he immediately stuck out his claws and swiped it hard out of the water, a small minnow exiting the water in a display of droplets. The ginger tom immediately bent down to deal a killing bite, before shock settled in that he managed to catch something, and his jaw was left a little agape. He looked at his mentor, and then the other apprentice, and then the black-striped fish on the bank next to them. "Did you- Did you see that! I caught something! First try!" The apprentice was absolutely beaming, proud of his catch - no matter the size. What could he do if he actually tried, he thought with a sharp pang of pride, hoping he'd receive at least a little praise.

Aspenpaw attempted to catch a Fish, using 5 stamina. The catch was successful.

Aspenpaw:
20/20 HP
55/60 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1