Young Light in Old Darkness [O]

RiverClan Camp - Midday

The atmosphere of RiverClan had been oppressive ever since the Gathering earlier that moon. The presence of the undead cats did nothing to ease the anxieties of the cats in the clan, and Poppypaw noticed it most prominently within the apprentice den. She worked hard to help keep the kits and her fellow apprentices away from the Dark Forest cats that took an interested in the young ones, and much to her relief, many of them seemed absolutely unreceptive to the Dark Forest’s advances. Even so, it was a lot of effort to avoid their gazes and prevent any fighting from breaking out in the clan.

Poppypaw decided that all of her fellow apprentices needed something to think about, even just briefly, besides the terrors that walked among them. She entered the apprentice den and looked around, noting there were a few apprentices who had comes back early from training or had the day off; perfect.

“Let’s go on an adventure,” Poppypaw announced to her fellow apprentices. She looked around at them and allowed her tail to stand on end to show her excitement and her chin to lift up much like she’d seen Perchfall and Jaystar do to address the clan at the Willow Branch. When she’d caught the attention of at least a couple apprentices, she continued, “We have been staying in the camp too much because of our fear. We should do something fun. And I’ve got just the thing planned for us.” She grinned at them and gave a decisive nod. “Who would like to join me? We’re not going far; just outside of camp.”

Poppypaw looked around expectantly at the other apprentices. Her stomach churned with a mixture of excitement and nerves. She hoped that at least some of them would agree to come with her. She wanted to do her best to lift up spirits in the camp, her own included, and she would hate for the apprentices to surprise her by being too worried or tired to join her.

[OOC: RiverClan apprentices are welcome to join at any point in the topic, even after cats have left on the "adventure"! I will post Poppy leading the group out after 2 days to let people join.]

Poppypaw

When Owlpaw suggested interest, Poppypaw perked up more. It seemed that they were going to have a few people on the trip after all! Poppypaw was relieved and let go of the nervousness that no one would be interested. “You’re nowhere near becoming a kittypet! It’ll be great to have you with us.”

Poppypaw looked to Moon, for a moment ecstatic that another friend will be joining their outing. When they commented about being able to work inside the camp, Poppypaw couldn’t tell if it was friendly teasing or a reminder of responsibilities, and her head dipped a little. She mewed, “Everyone here has either already done their tasks for the day or was granted a day off. I’m sure the mentors wouldn’t mind, especially to gain morale.”

Her head turned toward Rushpaw at his entrance and she brightened up again. She knew that Rushpaw was a recent apprentice, and he might have been feeling a little nervous from the move from nursery to apprentice den. Poppypaw wanted to make sure that he felt welcome. Moon was certainly welcoming to Rushpaw, as was he welcoming to shy little Kitepaw who crept up to the group. Poppypaw’s ear twitched and she tried to push away her confusion again about how serious Moon had been moments ago with the reminder of work to be done in the camp, if he was so welcoming to the apprentices joining her little trip. He seemed happy enough with joining for the idea, so Poppypaw brushed off any doubts.

“All are welcome!” she mewed excitedly to Rushpaw and Kitepaw. She looked to each of the apprentices and gave a confident nod. “This is a great group! Follow me.”

She led the way out of the apprentice’s den and then out of the camp. The sun was still high in the sky and they had plenty of sunlight to have fun before they had to return for the evening. Responding to Kitepaw’s question, Poppypaw explained what she had in mind more thoroughly.

“Today will be a test of skills!” she mewed with her head held high. “You’ll all be tested in three distinct areas, and the winner of each area will have bragging rights over the others. If someone wins multiple categories, then that shows how you’re destined to be a great warrior for the clan. Try your best, but remember to have fun too! We’ll be having a race, a test of strength, and stealth challenge.”

She pushed past some brush to reveal what she had worked on earlier that day: she had pulled down some sticks and leaves from some trees to set up a couple markers. “You’ll be starting here,” she mewed, placing a paw on a long stick she set up on the grass. “You’ll run that way,” she pointed with her nose towards another marker several fox-lengths away from the bend of the nearby river, “and then you’ll turn around and run back. The first cat to arrive back here at the starting area will be the winner and crowned the fastest apprentice in RiverClan!”

Poppypaw shifted aside so she could watch each of the cats as they got set up at the start of the race. “Everyone be good to each other, and try your best! Ready? And…GO!!”

[OOC: From a meta standpoint, the three games work like this:

Race – Each of the apprentices (minus Poppy, who will be the judge/referee for each game and thus will not be participating in the rolls) participate in a race. Each of you makes a post and roll an Effect Dice to get a number 1-6. The higher the number, the faster you run. After everyone makes their post with their effect die, I post as Poppy to declare the winner. If 2+ cats get the highest number then the race ties.

Spar – The 4 participating apprentices will be paired up into groups of 2 (Poppy will assign) and will play-battle. You are given 3 rounds to do as much “damage” as possible while following the battle system. All moves will be flavor-text as not using actual claws or teeth and instead using the movements (such as a belly rake would be batting with back paws, not actually clawing with them). Whoever is named the winners of each pair are then paired up for the finale and use the same system, with the fake HP reset since no actual damage was taken.

Hunting – This is last just in case a predator arrives to ruin the fun. Each cat rolls the usual hunting dice to claim a critter. The lower a number you roll, the more plump the prey is; therefore, the person who rolls closest to 1 is the winner of the hunting section. If multiple cats roll the lowest number then they tie. If someone rolls a predator, everyone will help out to defeat the predator and the day of fun will be concluded; but hopefully the apprentices will have food to bring back to their camp even after their day of fun!

Finally, Poppy has explained the race and initiated it, so you all may create your race post and use the Effect Dice! Once each person has gone, that is now the posting order, so be sure to wait your turn so we can get through the games efficiently :D]