Follow in my Footsteps [C]

All through the territories, a pinkish orange glow took over the sky as birds began to sing and everyone but ShadowClan began to wake from their sleep. The apprentice den, Woolypaw noted with interest, was a lot less lightproof than the nursery. Not that he minded- dawn was a wonderful time of day and it never hurt to be up early, not to mention all the fascinating creatures that were active at that time. He yawned, whiskers twitching, as he uncurled himself and shook out his thick pelt. He got to his feet, any remaining drowsiness melting away. The sun's rays kissed his snowy paws as he stepped out of the den for a moment. The weather was warm, the breeze was minimal and the sky was clear... Perfect! He padded back into the den with a cheery skip in his step and a smile on his short muzzle. It took him only a moment to locate the beanpole he was looking for and tap him on the shoulder. "Yarrowpaw! Wake up, it's dawn! Early bird catches the worm, you know. Come on, let's go hunting!"

He had never actually gone hunting before, but he figured it was an intuitive process. He'd caught plenty of bugs before- how different could mammals be? He knew he ought to wait for Stormdance to teach him officially first, it would be the polite thing to do, but something about this gorgeous morning made him want to try it himself- and teach Yarrowpaw. The tom was incredibly kind and really quite pleasant, but he carried himself like a newborn deer and Woolypaw figured every minute of extra practice would help.

Yarrowpaw's indignant refusal to join Woolypaw on his adventure made him stop for a second with surprise, then huff with slight annoyance. Why wouldn't he want to go out on a day like this? None of it made sense to him. The weather was flawless, the prey was sure to be plentiful and how would Owlshriek even know? It was only going to be a quick outing. He didn't let it get to him, though. No, instead he took the few seconds it took his friend to stumble back into bed to formulate a plan- and execute it. Though Yarrowpaw had the height advantage by a long shot, Woolypaw was at least quicker and he shot in front of the other tom. He switched to a comically exaggerated tired stance, slooowly walking towards the apprentices' den. "You know what Yarrowpaw, you're totally right. Let's go back to sleep. Hunting is for fun cats, and we're too boooring and sleeeepyyyy." He pretend-yawned and plopped himself down right at the entrance to the den. Making a big show of stretching out and blocking the whole entrance, he smiled a sly smile at his friend.

"You know, Owlshriek wouldn't even know. I won't tell if you won't! It'll be just this once- and look, you're on your feet already so you can't be that tired! I promise it'll be worth it. There's so many unique animals to catch at dawn! There's blackbirds, robins, all sorts of rodents... I've caught lots of insects before! I could totally teach you to hunt." Of course, he failed to mention that foxes were also most active at dawn... "I could definitely protect you if something went wrong. I'll even take the blame if we get caught, just come on! Pleeease?" He added, supposing that a bit of manners was in order.

Woolypaw's relatively reserved smile finally broke into a grin and he shot to his feet, narrowly missing hitting his head on the top of the entrance to the den. "Yes, yes! Of course I promise! I'll take all the blame, we can say I kidnapped you and you were too scared of me to leave." He laughed and bumped Yarrowpaw's shoulder playfully. "I solemnly swear I'll return you right here exactly in time for your training session. Neither Owlshriek nor Stormdance will even know we were gone. Alright, worrywart? Come on, while the sun is low!" He began padding towards the edge of camp, making sure to look around just once to check nobody was watching. That being confirmed and his minimal worries being quelled, he broke into a slow run and, for the first time in his life, left camp on his own.

Well, not entirely on his own. A fact he was incredibly happy about- truthfully, the hunting didn't matter to him all that much. He was sure that, had he asked, Stormdance would gladly take him on a dawn patrol. Or he could have gone by himself, he was really quite confident nothing would hurt him as long as he stayed stealthy. But going by himself wasn't the point. The point was that he could finally hang out with Yarrowpaw, just the two of them. Although Yarrow was his best friend, they hadn't actually gotten to talk much since becoming apprentices. Woolypaw loved talking to all his Clanmates, but sometimes it was nice just to have fun with one cat he happened to enjoy the company of very much. "You know, I bet I can catch more prey than you. Mother's told me all about how the different prey behave- did you know that starlings have names for each other just like we do? Though that probably won't help us catch any. Makes you think though!" He grinned at Yarrowpaw. Suddenly, his ear twitched- was that a twig snapping? Despite his confidence, he felt a twinge of worry- could it be a fox? He sniffed the air, not entirely sure what he was doing. He didn't even know what foxes smelled like! "Yarrowpaw, did you hear that?" He whispered, eyes trained on the location of the noise.

After a few seconds of tense silence, a fat gray bird emerged from the foliage- a wood pigeon, Woolypaw deduced. He visibly relaxed and looked back at Yarrowpaw. 'Watch this', he mouthed before turning back to the bird. Alright, time to catch it... How hard could it be, really? He crouched, trying not to let his uncertainty show. Was he supposed to creep towards it? Yes that seemed right. He took one step, maybe two. Then he froze in his tracks.

Just behind the pigeon, a pair of amber eyes stared into his own. His body couldn't move. Fox. It was a fox. His thoughts jumped to Yarrowpaw and he managed to twist his head towards his friend. "YARROWPAW! RUN!! THERE'S A-" He didn't get any further than that, as just then a pair of jaws grabbed him by the scruff and violently tossed him aside like a rag doll. He landed on his side, head hitting the ground with a heavy thud. His world spun and his vision turned white. The fox rounded on him, preparing to deliver a finishing blow. Or so Woolypaw assumed, as it was hard to deduce anything about anything when the world was upside down. Yarrowpaw... Had Yarrowpaw gotten away?? He tried to look for him but his body would not obey, his eyes would not see.


The fox used Thrash on Woolypaw, dealing 10 HP and costing 15 SP. Woolypaw is stunned for 1 turn.
Fox
HP: 60
SP: 165 (-15)

Woolypaw
HP: 10 (-10)
SP: 60

The member 'Snickerdoodle' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

The member 'Snickerdoodle' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Effect Dice' : 1

The fox yelped as its tail was sharply pulled, sending a shock all the way down its spine and causing it to collapse to the ground. Woolypaw heard the yelp. A good sign, he thought hazily. Both that the fox was being attacked and that his hearing was still in check.

Wait.

The fox was being attacked?? Despite his dazed state, Woolypaw managed to connect the dots: Yarrowpaw was fighting. Of course he was, the idiot. Why didn't he go get help? A warrior was far more likely than him to even put a dent in the fox, which was almost twice his size. A feeling of dread washed over him, confirmed by a barrage of worried words from Yarrowpaw. If he had time to talk, the fox must be incapacitated... He found himself being oddly impressed by the lanky tom. He blinked rapidly, vision coming back, and tentatively got to his feet. He swayed a bit and his head was pounding, but he could stand. That being confirmed, he raised his paw and gently but angrily swatted Yarrowpaw in the face. "You mousebrain! Why didn't you run? The chances of either of us holding this thing off are so astronomically low I don't know why you would ever-" He was cut off by the sound of rustling. The fox was stirring. It was sure to recover from its stupor any second now. He turned back to his friend, eyes softening. "...Thank you for protecting me." he sighed. This was his own fault, after all. Ignoring the blood steadily pouring from the back of his neck, he unsheathed his claws and charged at the slowly rousing fox with a battle cry of his own. If either of them wanted to get out of this alive, he'd have to give it all he got.

He went for its neck, teeth bared. Though he had no battle experience, he knew that the neck was a weak spot- or at least if foxes were anything like cats. He sank his teeth into the white fur, closing his jaws with a quick snap. The fox yelped again as the fur began to stain red, the pain awakening it fully. Before it could retaliate, be shot back towards Yarrowpaw and placed his foot a little bit in front of the other tom. If the fox was going to attack one of them, he wanted it to be him. This outing was his idea and this fox was his problem. He shot Yarrowpaw a look that said "you better run if you know what's good for you".


Woolypaw is no longer stunned. Woolypaw used Snap on the fox, dealing 6 HP and costing 7 SP. The fox is no longer stunned.
Fox
HP: 47 (-6)
SP: 165

Woolypaw
HP: 10
SP: 53 (-7)

Yarrowpaw
HP: 20
SP: 45

It had simply been a regular day. Perchstar had done her rounds, checking in with all of the warriors about their apprentices, and how their training was faring. The youngest warriors especially she wanted to check in with. Stormdance had recently been an apprentice himself, but their lack of warriors had made him a mentor almost immediately. She thought they would have a simple conversation about training and assessments. However, the tom had said something alarming-- he didn't know where his apprentice, Woolypaw, was. A quick check around camp found that Owlshriek was in the same predicament. They had likely gone out of the territory on their own. At that news, Perchstar rushed out of camp, driven by an urgency that was likely unwarranted. Greenleaf was one of the worst seasons for predators, and the two young apprentices had snuck out on their own! Mouse-brains; hadn't their mentors told them why that was so dangerous?

It was likely that she was overreacting, and the two were simply swimming somewhere together safely. However, the dozens of recent reported run-ins with predators-- especially large dangerous ones, like the fox who had killed her not half a moon ago-- made Perchstar's anxiety spike almost through the roof as she ran across the length of RiverClan territory. Her ears were pricked, swiveling around for any kind of noise that sounded wrong. But there was only silence, and rushing water. Her paws began to slow. Maybe they hadn't gotten in trouble after--

A blood-curdling screech.

Perchstar whipped her head around to the direction from which she'd heard the scream. It was high-pitched and in pain. Woolypaw and Yarrowpaw. Immediately her run started up again, and within a relatively short time, she found them. Two small apprentices, both injured-- one far more badly than the other-- looking even more dwarfed in front of the large predator that loomed above them. A fox. Another one?! For a moment, she couldn't do anything. Her eyes met those of the enormous fox, one predator to another. It was larger and stronger. Not quite as big as the last fox she'd faced, but still... those giant teeth had pierced right through her body a few days ago. Her wounds ached at the remembrance. How it had felt to be limp in those jaws, body completely crushed, unable to do anything more than take a few feeble breaths and die.... Was she seriously going to lose another life, going to sacrifice another precious lifetime of looking after her Clan, just to save two foolish apprentices? Would she go through that pain again?

Yes. All nine times, if I must.

Resigned, the leader leapt in front of the two shaking apprentices, unsheathing her claws in one fluid movement. "Get behind me," Perchstar snapped, in a tone that indicated she would not be taking any discussion on the matter. "We will talk about this later." With that said, she dove forward and slashed at the fox's legs, forcing it to topple to the ground momentarily. Her moment of surprise would be over soon. It would recover, get up, and then... then she would have to really fight it. Her heart was trying to pound out of her chest, it seemed. As bold as she acted, as much as she tried to defend her Clan... she did not want to die like that. Not again.

Perchstar used Experienced Steps on the Fox, dealing 10 (8+2) damage and costing 10 stamina. Fox is stunned for 1 turn.

Perchstar:
80/80 HP
160/170 SP

Fox:
31/60 HP
135/180 SP

Yarrowpaw:
3/20 HP
38/60 SP

Woolypaw:
10/20 HP
53/60 SP

Woolypaw could do nothing but watch as the fox descended on his best friend, teeth clamping down on his spindly foreleg. Woolypaw let out a strangled cry, voice held back by the shock rooting him in place. He swore he heard a snap, more sickening than any sound he'd ever heard before. Blood poured from the wound and Woolypaw felt the urge to vomit, much less cavalier about Yarrowpaw's injury than about his own. Every fiber in his body was telling him to run to his friend. He needed to check his wounds, he needed to tell him everything was going to be alright- but some grain of common sense remained and he took a step back instead, putting space between him and the fox. His neck burned as he started to notice the dark blood flowing from it that stained his fur crimson. Was he going to die? Was Yarrowpaw? He saw no light at the end of the tunnel, his usually hopeful attitude replaced by a primitive sense of dread. He steeled himself, prepared to at least deliver a final blow on the fox before it undoubtedly tore his throat out. The fox, half blinded by the blood gushing into its face, locked its eyes onto him and aporoached. He hissed, claws ready...

A blue blur passed his face, launching itself between the apprentices and the fox. Herself, his brain corrected as he realised who it was. Perchstar. Had he not been bleeding out and filled with adrenaline, he probably would have felt some kind of fear that Perchstar found out about them breaking the rules. As it stood, Woolypaw was shellshocked and stepped numbly into place behind her.

He watched as she attacked the fox, her battle experience evident in the way she fluidly took it down. Despite himself, Woypaw felt a little spark of awe gping off in his brain. RiverClan's leader was amazing. The fox yelped as it fell to the ground. This was more than it bargained for. It laying prone on the ground, open to attack, imbued Woolypaw with some sort of last-ditch energy. He was going to help Perchstar kill this fox. She jad said not to get involved, but he couldn't stand to watch idly as all of their lives hung in the balance. There was no war cry from the tom this time, no one-liner. Yarrowpaw was hardly in a state to appreciate one, anyway. Woolypaw simply ran up to the brutish creature, paw raised, and slashed it deeply across the nose.

That seemed to be the last straw for the fox. It gave a pained scream that rattled Woolypaw to his core and rose to its feet, panting. It bared its teeth at Woolypaw for a moment, then turned its attention to Perchstar. For a terrible moment, Woolypaw thought it was going to kill her- but it did quite the opposite. With one final snarl at the leader, it turned tail and ran away as fast as its injuries would allow.

Woolypaw wasted no time, rushing to Yarrowpaw. "Yarrowpaw!! Oh, stars, Yarrowpaw. You're okay, you're okay. Perchstar's here. Your leg will heal. It's okay." He had no words for the leader herself. He'd broken the rules and paid dearly for it, and whatever punishment she was going to instate was entirely fair... Although he couldn't help but feel that dread building up again.


Woolypaw used Front Paw Strike on the fox, dealing 6HP and costing 7SP. The fox has fallen under 50% HP and has fled the battle.

Despite her words, Woolypaw darted forward for a quick attack when the predator was downed. A tiny bubble of frustration popped in her chest. What is it with apprentices and feeling the foolish need to prove themselves? After that blow, the large, russet fox got up, a high-pitched scream rippling from its jaws. She tensed instinctively. For a moment, Perchstar and the fox were in a battle of wills, staring each other down. Neither one moved. Faux-calm blue eyes met a bloody, enraged gaze. She willed herself to remain still, to remain composed... and yet, her legs shook. All she could think of was how those teeth would feel when they tore through her body. Images replayed in her mind-- fox lunging, jaw snapping, blood gushing, life fading. In that staring contest, Perchstar accepted her death. She would take it.

Then-- miraculously-- the fox gave up. With one last deep snarl, it flashed its tail, turning and running into the brush. Perchstar watched until she was sure it was gone. Only then did she let her tense shoulders relax, and released the breath she had been holding. I won't die today. And neither will these two fish-brains. The crisis had been averted. Well... the first crisis had been averted. The leader snapped her attention back to Yarrowpaw, who seemed to have sustained a pretty bad injury to his leg. She sucked in breath through her teeth. It wasn't good... but it didn't look unsalvageable, in her non-practiced gaze. Hopefully Dovesight would have some inkling of what to do. Relieved, worried, unamused, her icy blue eyes trailed over to Woolypaw, who looked distressed at his friend's wound. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you how utterly stupid this was," she said slowly, her tone perfectly neutral, letting every word sink in. No anger bled through her words-- but that was almost worse. She was disappointed. "We will talk about this at length later. For now, suffice it to say that you will each have another moon added to your apprenticeships. Every cat must now check in with Poppyshine before leaving camp, on pain of further discipline. You understand this is only for your own safety. If I had not arrived, you would have been killed." She let that word-- killed-- hang in the air for a moment. No beating around the bush. Then, Perchstar sighed. "Help me carry Yarrowpaw. If Dovesight gets to him in time, he will likely be fine." With that, she bent down, gently taking the gangly apprentice's scruff between her teeth and easing him across her back.