world's not perfect (c)

Since his dream a few nights back, Dovepaw found himself growing slightly more antsy when he patrolled by the ThunderClan border. He knew that the other Clan were their allies; he knew that he had nothing to fear from them. However, that wasn't his problem. He wasn't worried about an attack. Rather, something kept itching in the back of his mind. A whisper from a dream he'd had. Obviously, it had just been a dream. It wasn't real. But if it had been real... then he was of ThunderClan blood, rather than some rogue. He might have family across the river that he'd never met. What if they were looking for him? Looking for his siblings? He had come to love and appreciate RiverClan, and he truly felt home here. But did he have obligations to his origins of birth that he was refusing to meet?

No, obviously not. No. It was a dream. He was not ThunderClan, and neither were his siblings.

Today he was hunting with a couple of warriors and his sister, Swanpaw. The warriors were further upstream, leaving the two apprentices to hunt together downstream... and leaving them a chance to talk. For some reason, as he settled down on the riverbank and turned to look at his sibling, he tasted a strange question rising onto his tongue. Did you have a weird dream, too? A dream about a tom who said he was our dad? A dream about... But he refused to even entertain the idea that the fantasy might have been real. It hadn't. And so, when he turned, Dovepaw changed the question mid-sentence. "Did you have--a good dawn patrol this morning?" There was a strange pause in the middle of the sentence, but hopefully that could be put down to his normal awkwardness. He shook out his fur and looked down at the river, choosing instead to concentrate.

Fishing. It may not have been in his blood, wherever he was from, but it was a technique that he'd done his best to learn quite well. One sat on the muddy banks of the river and sat with a paw raised, like so. His fur was a bit long to move as cleanly through the water as his mentor's did, but he had learned to move with slightly more force to counteract it. Pale blue eyes sharpened, watching the ripples carefully for any hint of a silver gleam. There--a flash of scales. When he saw it, his paw swiped, claws shining in an attempt to catch the fish. Thankfully, it was a success. His move was perfect; almost flawless, actually. He blinked in surprise when the fish came flying out of the river, gills already slit, landing neatly at his side. Wow. I... didn't know I could do that. A brief surge of pride rose within him. Who cared where he was from? He was a RiverClan cat. Having made his catch, a small smile crossing his maw, Dovepaw turned to look and see how Swanpaw was doing.

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 1

The warriors on their patrol were a little farther upriver, and Swanpawa didn't mind that at all as she walked alongside her brother. Thunderclan territory lay across the river from them, and while they were allies, Swanpaw was still a little on edge as she stared across the river at the imposing trees. Allies, sure, but Swanpaw had never spoken with one of them before, and that meant she didn't trust them. And she was content to stay on Riverclan's side of the border, anyways. That was simply where she belonged.

Dovepaw's voice broke her from her thoughts, and Swanpaw turned to him with a small smile, hardly noticing the slight pause in his words. She had grown used to her brother's awkwardness, and paid it little mind as she replied to his question. "Well, I wish the dawn patrol wasn't so early... But I guess it wouldn't be dawn patrol then, would it? Not that I'm complaining, of course. I'm learning a lot with Poppyshine."

"Woah," Swanpaw breathed, "Nice catch!" Her own fishing was still a little clumsy, but it had been improving under Poppyshine's tutelage. She would be able to catch fish like that too, soon, she hoped. Focusing her attention on the flowing water, Swanpaw waited, hoping to see the flicker of movement beneath the surface, tail tip twitching in impatience. She was just starting to think about turning away and going looking for land prey when movement flickered, and her paw shot out, arcing toward the water's surface with unsheathed claws. She caught the silvery scales of the fish, hooking it towards her. The fish flopped onto the bank, quickly killed and set next to Dovepaw's catch.

Swanpaw attempted to catch a fish for -3 sp. Catch successful.
57 / 60 sp

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 1

Dovepaw looked over at his sister when she answered his question. He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan of getting up super early, either," he admitted. "But at least it's a bit cooler before the sun gets up. Not as oppressively hot." Right now the sun was almost at its peak, beating down with its warmth onto the cats below. Thankfully, this part was somewhat shaded by the trees across the river, and the cool breeze eddying up from the ripples below helped with the almost-unbearable temperature. "Is learning from the deputy cool? I haven't spoken to her much, but during my ceremony, she seemed super nice. I bet it's better than--I mean--well." Slightly embarrassed at his blunder, he looked away. When he looked at Swanpaw again, his gaze was serious. "I don't remember if I ever told you. I'm... sorry about the thing with Drizzlepool. It was just unfortunate. I hope that training with Poppyshine's been making up for it."

When Swanpaw complimented his catch, he couldn't help but smile. "Thanks! Your catch was pretty great, too. We're naturals at this, no big deal." He settled his chest fur down with a few quick licks of his tongue, then--pride stoked and warmth running through his veins--Dovepaw looked at the river again, searching for another fish to catch. Maybe if he was good enough, he could bring one back for all three of his siblings not on the patrol. The biggest would have to go to Pidge so she wouldn't throw a tantrum, and so the competitive Crowpaw and Ravenpaw wouldn't argue with each other. His whiskers twitched when thinking about the family's dynamics. Maybe he should get a fish for Owlcall, too. A few moments later he spotted one again. A gleaming sparkle underneath the shallow blanket of river water. He let out a quick breath, poised himself, then struck at it with unsheathed claws.

Dovepaw attempted to catch a fish. Rolling...
A weasel appeared!

He was so focused on the fish that he didn't even notice the weasel that was running alongside the riverbank. Upset by the cat in its way, the weasel let out a hiss and attacked. Sharp fangs bit into his front paw that was still stable on the ground, distracting Dovepaw and making him lose his catch. "Agh! Ow, what's that?" Wincing, he glanced down to see the rodent latched onto his front paw. He tried at first to shake it off. When that didn't work, he struck at it with his other paw. It was hard to fight something that was attached to him!

Weasel used Gripping Bite, dealing 7 damage and costing 15 stamina. Gripping for 2 turns.
Dovepaw used Front Paw Strike, dealing 6 damage and costing 7 stamina.

Dovepaw:
13/20 HP
53/60 SP

Weasel:
14/20 HP
120/135 SP

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 10

"That's true," Swanpaw agreed. The shade was nice, and the breeze was cool and inviting just as the water was. Perhaps when they had caught something, swimming would be a nice way to wind down.

Her brother continued, asking about training under the deputy, mentioning that it was better than... what she'd had. Swanpaw was inclined to agree with him, and shrugged off the apologies. "Poppyshine's great! And she really is super nice!" She mewed, "Don't apologize... Drizzlepool was... I don't think she liked me. I was kind of rude to her when she was still an apprentice and... Well, it was awkward after that. I wish I had gotten the chance to apologize to her..." They hadn't even had much time to form an awkward bond of unwilling mentor and apprentice before her swift illness. Swanpaw shook her head, turning the topic toward the more positive. "I'm glad to be training again. Lavenderpaw taught me how to fish while Drizzlepool was still sick... But Poppyshine's been teaching me how to hunt other stuff and how to fight." She grinned.

Dovepaw had turned his attention back to the river, and Swanpaw did the same. No sooner had she done so than a wriggly creature had attached itself to her brother's paw, his yelp immediately alerting her that something was wrong. Swanpaw hissed in surprise and anger. "Hey! Get off of him!" She batted furiously at the thing with unsheathed claws, wanting to dislodge it from her brother's paw as quickly as she could.

Swanpaw used Front Paw Strike for -7 sp, dealing -6 damage.

Swanpaw
20 / 20 hp
50 / 60 sp (57 - 7)

Weasel
8 / 20 HP (14 - 6)
120 / 135 SP

Dovepaw
13 / 20 HP
53 / 60 SP

The weasel's sharp teeth were still sinking deep into his paw. Thankfully Swanpaw leapt to his defense, striking quickly and throwing it off balance. From there, it took Dovepaw only a few more frantic blows with his unoccupied front paw. One made a lucky strike, knocking the weasel out cold. It dislodged from his foot. A quiet hiss of pain escaped through his teeth. Lashing out, one more blow ended its life. It wouldn't be attacking any more unsuspecting apprentices--and certainly not his sister.

Weasel continued to use Gripping Bite, dealing 7 damage and costing 15 stamina.
Dovepaw used Front Paw Strike + Desperate Blows, dealing 10 (6+4) damage and costing 14 (7+7) stamina.

Dovepaw:
6/20 HP
39/60 SP

Weasel:
K.O.

Swanpaw:
20/20 HP
50/60 SP


The combat ended as quickly as it had begun. He panted, breathing a little bit heavily, feeling adrenaline coursing wild through his veins at the sudden shock. His paw was still throbbing. Tiny pricks from the weasel's teeth were visible through the dark fur, as were two very small drops of scarlet blood. This was... his first time seeing blood. Huh. He hadn't thought it would be quite that red.

Dovepaw felt a little bit dizzy. He sat down, staring at the small injury to his paw. "Well, that... could've been worse." His voice was shaking--not from fear or from pain, though there was certainly enough of that last one running amok in his system at the moment. It was probably just the shock making his tone warble slightly. "Glad it didn't get you, at least. Do we, uh... eat weasels? What should we do with it?"

"Are you okay?" The moment the fuzzy thing was off of her brother and laying still on the ground, Swanpaw turned her demanding, worried gaze to Dovepaw. There was blood on his paw, bright crimson against his fur, and while the wound didn't look horrible (to her untrained eyes, anyways) it did look painful. Dovepaw turned to her, shakily. Adrenaline, wearing off, she thought. Pain maybe, she didn't think her brother was scared, and she wasn't going to mention it.

"I don't know." She admitted, considering the question. Weasels preyed on birds and lizards, she knew, not completely dissimilar to them. "I can't imagine it would taste as good as fish, if we do." She mewed.

"I'm..." Was he okay? The question made him pause for a moment. On the one hand, he felt oddly quivery, and there was blood beginning to well out of the tiny injuries on his paw. On the other hand, Swanpaw hadn't been touched at all, and the weasel was now stone-dead. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry about me." Dovepaw managed a smile. "Doesn't look that tasty. You're right. But it's a waste if we do nothing with it, huh? Do you have any ideas?" It wasn't really as cool as vanquishing a dog or a fox or something, but at least now he could say he'd beaten a predator. It was certainly more than nothing. And if he could fight a weasel... then there was no way that that weasel of a cat would ever be pushing him into the sand again. It made him feel strong, almost. Slightly more confident. But also, it did hurt. Just a bit.

Dovepaw thought he was fine, and while it didn’t completely soothe the worry she felt, Swanpaw would take it. “Good.” She mewed, even if his reply seemed a little shaky to her, it didn’t seem like the injury was life threatening. She’d make sure that he saw the medicine cats back at camp, anyways.

“Hmm.” Swanpaw eyed the weasel for a moment, thinking. “Do you think someone might like the pelt, maybe? I mean, assuming we can get it off without butchering it, maybe it could be something for the nursery? Or... No, that sounds too complicated, I think. I don’t know.” She shrugged at her brother.

At least his sister's voice was distracting him. Dovepaw looked up from the small crimson blots on his paw, deciding that if he didn't pay the wound any attention, it didn't exist. He didn't need to run back to camp. He could wait until they were done. When Swanpaw inquired about the pelt, Egretswoop flashed into his mind. His mentor wore a fox pelt like a second skin in a way he'd once thought odd, but now knew fit her very well. Would she want a weasel pelt? No, probably not... It was a little too small. He echoed his sister's shrug. "Yeah, I'm not sure. Guess we could bring it back to camp, just in case. Might be fun to brag about anyway, huh?" He smiled. It was true that now he could say he'd beaten a predator! Sure it was a small one, and sure he had help. But he'd really fought something that could bite him back. "Pidge will probably be jealous."

It was odd. Even though he should've been focused on his wound, the simple pain was reminding him of something else. A face with a scar, with a torn-out eye. Had that been the work of a predator... or of another cat? He'd never asked. And it had just been a dream, so the answer wouldn't matter. But thinking about Starlingflare made him remember the question he'd almost asked. Dovepaw looked over at his sister again, pale blue eyes contemplating. Would it really be so weird to ask? If she said no... then that would be that, right? It would confirm that there was nothing to worry about. But what if she says yes? He frowned slightly. Well, he'd just have to decide what to do about that if it happened. "Swanpaw," he began hesitantly. "Have you had... any weird dreams recently?" Should he clarify that statement? Mention the tom calling himself their father? No... for some reason, he didn't want to mention him. Swanpaw would know what he meant if she'd had that dream. If not, then everything was fine. It would be fine. Right?