I Won't Let Go of your Paw [CLOSED for Moths in the Sky]

Every day was more painful than the last one. Cinderflame wanted to leave, run away and not ever see the face of Stoatstar ever again. All the love and admiration she once had for him seemed to be gone and yet... if she didn't love him, why did it pain her so much to think of him? To leave him? Cinderflame was bitter and becoming more of a hermit each day, avoiding her clanmates but her own siblings. The she-cat hadn't even come close to Appledapple, her hero. How could she now that the she-cat knew the truth about their heritage? Cinderflame feared Appledapple would only confirm what the Thunderclan leader said... and she couldn't handle it right now.

From the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of Rainpaw following her. The warrior has not yet told her siblings about their real parents... Cinderflame didn't want to hurt them... but it was true that she couldn't keep them away from the truth forever. They had the right to know but... not right now. Today, the two siblings had to focus on one thing: prepare themselves for their escape. "Come closer, Rainpaw. This is what we are going to do." Lowering her voice so the Dark Forest escorting them wouldn't listen, she whispered in Rainpaw's ear. "We have two days left to prepare for our trip and you need to know how to both hunt and fight. First, we will be hunting whatever we can find and hide some of the prey in a hole under the tree. When the time comes, we will get that food for our escape so we have something to eat for the journey. Follow my lead.".

The young warrior sniffed the air and a plethora of smells filled her senses. Lucky for them, leaf-bare was finally ending and prey was more abundant than ever. With some luck, the two of them will gather enough prey to bring to camp and to themselves. Her eyes caught a blackbird standing on one of the branches of the Owl Tree. She crouched and approached the animal slowly, making sure Rainpaw was seeing her. With her tail lowered, but not enough to touch the ground, Cinderflame waited for her chance to jump on the distracted animal... and then she jumped. Her paws didn't make a sound as she leapt towards the bird and her claws landed right on the animal's neck. Before it could attempt an escape, the warrior quickly brought her jaws to the bird's neck and bit hard enough to make it a quick and least painful death. Cinderflame dropped the bird in front of Rainpaw and mewed: "Remember this: always keep your tail low but don't drag it on the ground or prey will hear. Check where the air is blowing and put yourself into a position where your objective won't smell you. And lastly... don't lose sight of what you're hunting. Your eyes must always be on them."

Cinderflame has attempted to catch a Bird, using 3 SP. The catch was successful.
Cinderflame
30/30 HP
77/80 SP

The member 'Jay Bird' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Rainpaw nodded, observing Cinderflame's form, before going to hunt themselves. They wanted to play with fate for a high reward, a hearty meal, a fish, but they knew it could very well backfire, they could lose it or fail to even find one, but fate being the tempting they were, had won Rainpaw over, they promised themselves to only try once, as several failed catches could inform the Dark Forest of their plans for that moment. And Rainpaw wouldn't want to do that. So they gripped their back claws into the dirt as they sat at the side of the small river, but before they watched, they talked in a soft manner. "Cinderflame, I'm going to try and catch a fish, I promise I'll only try once, multiple attempts, especially multiple failed attempts will give us away, now, I'll get to it." They informed Cinderflame, before peeking at the water and taking their chances with the water.

Rainpaw didn't see anything, Nothing. They thought they did, but almost fell in due to their mistake. "Annnddd I'm stopping there." They said, walking away from the riverbank.

The member 'Moths in the Sky' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

The warrior waited for her sibling to come back and mewed. "No luck, huh?" Cinderflame wasn't exactly a fan of fish, the scent was too strong for her nostrils. Also, fishing wouldn't be a really helpful skill since they don't know if where they are going there's gonna be a river or something like that. She sniffed the air, catching the scent of a rodent. However, the she-cat couldn't tell whether it was a squirrel or a mouse. "I'm smelling something interesting. Be right back, you keep practising hunting land prey. We are going to need it."

Without further delay, the brown and red she-cat followed the smell to a bush where some movement could be seen. The warrior hid and waited for a clear sight of her objective before striking. She couldn't let a silly mistake make her fail... they needed this food more than ever. The bushy tail was suddenly visible when the squirrel finally decided to leave the bush to get a sip of water from a puddle. The she-cat didn't wait for a second and she leapt towards the animal. This time, the catch wasn't as clean as before. The warrior barely caught the squirrel's tail with her claws and when it was about to break free, she lunged forward to close her jaws around the neck. After some thrashing, the animal was dead and another prey was added to the pile. "Even without the stars... I don't doubt Starclan is blessing us with luck today."

Cinderflame has attempted to catch a squirrel, using 3 SP. The catch was succesfuk

Cinderflame
30/30 HP
74/80 SP

The member 'Jay Bird' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Rainpaw chuckled a bit. "Got it, I'll be right around here." Rainpaw purred out, as they smelt the air, they heard and smelled a few starlings, dropping into a low crouch, similar the pose Cinderflame was in just earlier, stalking the starlings as they crept slowly towards them. now or nothing.. They think to themselves, then making a leap towards the unsuspecting starlings. Front legs out and claws unsheathed, they make an attempt to reach out and grab one.

Rainpaw leapt as the slightest sound of their tail was heard by the starlings, they had alerted the mini flock to their arrival. "Uurrghh.. Forgot about that part.." They mumbled to themselves, getting up and shaking the dirt out of their fur, but hey, there was a shimmering starling feather left behind, that's good, right? They affixed it quickly into their fur.

starling pic because these are pretty:

The member 'Moths in the Sky' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

The she-cat was getting more impatient but she tried not to be so harsh on her sibling. Most of all, Cinderflame was worried... if Rainpaw didn't catch up with hunting soon, they will be in trouble. "It's... fine. Just don't forget next time and you'll catch something."

In order to not distract Rainpaw from their task, the warrior stepped away in search of more prey. During the first few minutes, she was unsuccessful. Yet, when she was about to give up and return to their sibling, a little head emerged from a hole. Cinderflame quickly hid behind a rock and stalked the mouse from a reasonable distance. Slowly but steady, she approached the rodent with her body crouched. But a sudden wind gave away her scent. The small mouse quickly rushed to its hideout but the warrior wasn't going to give up so easily. As fast as she could, the she-cat ran behind the mouse and leapt at the last second. Her claws landed on the animal's back when it was a whisker away from its den. With one quick bite, she ended her task and returned to where Rainpaw was, hoping they were luckier this time.

Cinderflame has attempted to catch a rodent, using 3 SP. The catch was succesful

Cinderflame
30/30 HP
71/80 SP

The member 'Jay Bird' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

Rainpaw nodded their thanks to Cinderflame, they then sniffed the air, and tuned into the sounds around them, and began to stalk a squirrel. Rainpaw crouched low, tail just high enough off of the ground, they walked slowly towards the aforementioned squirrel. The walk feeling like an eternity, but they were getting closer to the squirrel they were stalking.

Finally, they felt they were close enough. Let me catch these next bits of prey, I want to help out my peers.. In case it's harder to catch stuff over there than over here, then we'll have more prey in the stash here.. They thought to themselves, Before attempting to make the catching leap.

They made it. They leapt onto it, and bit at it's neck. They ran towards Cinderflame and put the squirrel down. "I caught it this time!" They said in hushed excitement. They had finally contributed to the mini 'Prey Pile'.

The member 'Moths in the Sky' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 4