Midnight City: Midnight Clan

Swiftheart always found silverpelt so beautiful. As she took a few moments to gaze upwards at the night sky she refocused. She wondered if Frostpaw was up there watching. Frostpaw was her apprentice prior to nettle. Frostpaw had died on the trip back after the wolves chased them out. Swiftheart had managed to carry her appretnice fast enough from the wolves and just when she had thought they were safe, Frostpaw had succumb to the sickness. During her run from the wolves, they had been seperated from the main group... Swiftheart couldnt help but wonder if she had stuck better to shadowclan if heatherberry could have saved her apprentice. Prior to Frostpaw she had Harechaser also gone now from sickness who she mentored many moons ago, a sister to her and a friend. She shook the thoughts aside, she had done everything she could. With Deerleap sacrificing herself to the stars to stop the dark forest she knew her first apprentice was not able to be in starclan, forever gone now. She took a deep breath, she would not fail this fourth apprentice entrusted to her. Nettlepaw would earn his warrior name, she would ensure it!


She pushed the thoughts of the past aside and grinned a bit thinking of all the bestest hunting spots she could take him. Her energy was peaking again and she half ran half skipped to the apprentice den. Poking her head in she scanned till she could see him. There he was!!!!

She was so eager to get going she was half tempted to yoink him scruff side and just run with him into the forest. She resisted such a thing and purred in greeting waving a tail.

"Come on Nettlepaw! Its training time!" she purred. She was doing her best to not actually be jumping up and down in excitment. This was like when he was a kit! But now it wasnt illegal.

"Come on, lets see what you remember from kithood" she purred and ran towards camp exit knowing him well enough to bet that he would be right behind her.

"Swiftheart?!" In two shakes of a squirrels tail, Nettlepaw was running beside his mentor, legs pumping rapidly to keep up with Swoftheart's keen excitement. The tom was far too excited, he hadn't even groomed himself before rushing off, moss and feathers clinging to his usually spotless white pelt. Maybe it could serve as camouflage?

By the time they stopped though, the pace of their run had all but dislodged Nettlepaw's accessories, the last feather settling on the ground between mentor and apprentice. Hurriedly, he gave his pelt a quick lick, to at least look a little presentable. "I've been practicing my skills on Batkit!" he purred, puffing out his chest. At Swiftheart's behest he assumed a huntng crouch and began to stalk into underbrush, his rear held up far too high.

The scents of the marsh he knew already, thanks to the head start Swidtheart had given him and the others as kits. It didn't take him long to identify the scent of lizard, and to find the unsuspecting reptile. With a squeak the apprentice burst out of the bushes and onto the lizard, capturing it between  his large paws. He opened his paws to look at the wriggly thing as it squirmed to escape. "Not so fast!" he quipped, killing it with a swift bite. "Swiftheart, I caught a lizard... come tuck in, we should enjoy my first kill, no need to share it with the others, they didn't put in the hard work." he meowed loudly to the white warrior.

Nettlepaw attempted to catch a lizard! It was a success! Costing -5 SP

Nettlepaw

20/20 hP
75/80 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Swiftheart ran with her apprentice side by side. Oh how she missed this! Oh this was what she had needed!

She ran with him till they slowed to a stop and she watched as her eager apprentice was already scenting the air and was stalking something. She made a little note to remind him to keep his tail lower in the future. She held her breath just observing and watching for now.

Moments later he pounced forward! She craned her neck forward on paws edge wondering if he had caught it. HE HAD!

She gave a happy and satisfied purr of congratulatory to him. "Your First apprentice catch! Well done Nettlepaw!" she praised going over closer to him to inspect the lizard.

Her ears flicked as she listened to him talk. She gave him a little glance, he wanted to eat now? Because the others had not helped? Before the queens, elders, and kits?

She settled down sitting next to him and flicked her tail tip gently once and twice thinking about that.

"Nettlepaw?" she purred gently starting out. There was no anger or disapointment at all in her voice, just gentle and sweet toned as she usually was.

"Do you remember when you were a kit and we would play together? The game where you would race up Jaggedrock and pretend to be leader Nettlestar?" she asked glancing at him with her happy playful smile

"What would Nettlestar do? Would he eat before his clanmates? Before the kits the future of his clan? Before the elders who had served under him their whole lives?"

She glanced down at his lizard.

"Nettlepaw, part of being an apprentice and becoming a warrior in your future is making your own decisions. As your mentor, my job is to try and be your guide, to help you where I can but not to control you.

As I see it, I will not make you do one thing or the other. Nor will I force you into making the right decision. If I were to always force you to make the right decision while you are my apprentice then as soon as you become warrior what will you have learned? If I force you to always be good as my apprentice when you become warrior you will be so tired of the dictatorship that was mentorship that you will want to do whatever your heart desires.

So, no... I will not make you give up your first catch if you truly want to eat it you may."

She settled down next to him.

"But as your guide I can have you think about some things. Your first catch is special, something everyone remembers even when they become an elder.

But, by the time you become warrior and you have been on countless hunts they all start to blur together. I can honestly say I do not remember the difference between my 9th catch and my 21st catch was.

One day, when you are warrior and you are sitting around with your friends talking about your first catches: and they are talking about which kit, queen or elder they gave theirs away to what do you want to be able to tell them?


and... as for the others not helping... you are right, they did not help catch this lizard. But may I ask, when your mother was exhasuted just after having you: was it you that caught food for her? When you were a young kit was it you that caught food for you and your denmates?"

She glanced back to him with a shrug. "The choice is yours, I will not scold you for eating it, nor will I reprimand you if you do. I will not even mention it to Leopardstar, because at the end of the day you have to begin to learn how to choose who you want to be"

She got up back to her paws and gave him a playful smile. "In either case, lets keep going I still gotta catch something too, cant let you have all the fun"

Before Swiftheart had finished talking Nettlepaw was cutting in “The great Nettlestar would eat it!” he opened his mouth to take a large bite, but Swiftheart was still talking and the words began to sink in. His ears fell back, slightly ashamed of his disregard for those who couldn’t hunt. He still really wanted to eat this lizard, and Swiftheart was giving him a choice. The tom chewed the corner of his mouth, mulling it over. “What if we have a bite each and then give the rest to ShadowClan?” he asked, but it still felt wrong. The bundle of fluff that was his tail twitched in thought. “Okay, fine… I guess some oldie can have it… Maybe Sablestrike he should be retiring soon.” he meowed, pushing himself to his paws. “But whatever I catch next I want us to eat, deal?”