Finding Some Sparkling Prey [Closed Hunting Training]

Blizzardstar padded across the territory, towards the best hunting spot she knew about within the slowly healing forest. They had left camp early on purpose, after all, if they wanted to find the most prey and have the best catches they needed to be the first ones on the spot that day. She really hoped Sparkpaw didn’t mind to wake up so early…

Once they had arrived she sniffed the air almost instinctively. Good, she could smell plenty of prey around them at the time even if they couldn’t see it right away. Plus, this hunting training would also work wonders for the younger apprentice to get used to the undergrowth of ThunderClan’s territory and learn to use it on his favor “Very well, we are here. Are you ready to learn how to hunt to feed your clan?”.

Sparkpaw stumbled along behind Blizzardstar, trying his hardest not to crash into the bushes and scare off all of the prey, but it was a struggle. His eyes were still groggy from sleep, and his ears were pressed down into his skull. His paws tripped on each other often, but he caught himself as quietly as he could. When Blizzardstar finally stopped, he lifted his paw to rub the tiredness out of his eyes. Sunlight beamed almost sideways through the dense forest, dappling everything with a leafy green glow. The sun was just on the rise, and prey was waking up for the day ahead. For some of them, the day ahead would be their last day.

Sparkpaw looked up at Blizzardstar, who was seemingly wide awake, a sparkle dancing in her bright blue eyes. How was she so ready for the day? Sparkpaw took a moment to stretch, his jaws opening wide, a tremor moving from his head all the way down to his dappled tail. When he was done, he looked up at his mentor, who was waiting patiently. He could do this, he thought. "Yes," he mumbled. Then, "I'm ready. I can do this." He chanted that phrase to himself, under his breath, over and over. But could he really do it? Yes. He could.

OOC: Ok, time to go out of character again, I guess.

So, the first thing you need to check is the hunting system spreadsheet (Link to the Hunting System). There you’ll find a list of all the kinds of prey that exist on the site as well as the chances of catching them.

Once you decide to start the hunting you must pick one of the kinds of prey found in the site. Then follow the steps I gave to you on the battling system to pick a dice, though this time you must pick the “Hunting Dice”. According to the number rolled on the dice, you will catch the prey or not. There are two exceptions to this rule though:

-0: a cero in the spreadsheet means that the territory doesn’t have the kind of prey you’re looking for, and also keep in mind that there are zone-based prey. For example, you are a ThunderCan cat and for some reason want to catch a fish. You can’t catch a fish in the Snakerocks for obvious reasons, but if you’re in a place near water like the Sunningrocks you may catch one.
-10: A ten means that while looking for your prey, you stumbled into a predator and a battle is started automatically. I won’t go into detail for now, and unless one of us rolls a 10 I’ll wait to explain this to you until you understand the rest of the system.


I’ll give you an example of how the hunting system is used. Since this is TC's territory we'll use squirrels, which are the easiest to catch in here. Remember to ask if you have any questions.

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Blizzardstar smiled and nodded “Lets start right away then” She purred before looking around “First you need to find your prey, that’s where you use your nose, ears and eyes. Then you need to get close to it and wait for the perfect opportunity to catch it. I’ll try to find the nearest piece of prey and show you how it is done”.

Once she was done speaking she sniffed the air, the scent of squirrel making her ears perk up and her eyes follow the source of such aroma. She approached carefully, dropping into a hunter’s crouch when she was getting too close to not be spotted otherwise. Waiting for the perfect time, she pounced on its direction, claws ready to trap the rodent and fangs ready to give the fatal blow. The small creature had no time to react and its death was quick and painless.


(As you can see I rolled a 4. For a TC cat in their territory, the catch rate of a squirrel falls between 1 and 8. 4 is within this range, what means my cat successfully caught it and I have to edit that in)

The member 'Ink' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Sparkpaw nodded, opening his mouth slightly and sniffing the air just as Blizzardstar had done. He watched as she prowled silently through the undergrowth, dropping into a chrouch that Sparkpaw tried to imprint into his brain. Blizzardstar pounced, standing up with a heavy squirrel swinging from her jaws, looking at him explectantly.

Sparkpaw sniffed again, smelling a mouthwatering vole nearby. He dropped into a crouch that resembled Blizzardstar's, but his tail was low, almost touching the ground. He silently pounced, aiming at the prey, but it ran off before he could catch it. Had he done something wrong? He looked back at Blizzardstar, who's eyes were widening slightly, but not at him. Heavy footsteps were approaching behind him. Sparkpaw's head whipped around, to see a badger a few foxlengths in front of him. Oh, no no no no! Thoughts were exploding through Sparkpaws brain, but mouthing came out his maw. he scrambled backwards, getting behind Blizzardstar as quickly as he could.

The member 'Abby' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

OOC: Oh, Holly StarClan….Ok, ok, ok. Usually I wait a bit longer before this, but since you rolled a 10 I think we have no choice but to move the hunting to a bit later and deal with this battle encounter. This is the reason battle training must always be done before Hunting Training.

These are triggered each time a hunting dice falls on “10”, no ways around it. If you’re unlucky enough to get this, a predator will attack your cat while it looks for prey!

Usually the one that rolls the 10 must control the predator. Also keep in mind that the predator will be trying to win the battle, so you can’t just force the predator to lose the battle. More than one cat can attack the predator though, and it is really common that as soon as someone gets a battle encounter the whole group of cats will attack the predator immediately. Now, there is the other side of a coin, more than one predator can appear if more than one cat rolls a battle encounter. However, this time, since it’s your first battle encounter, I’ll control the predator so you don’t get confused. Next time you roll a 10 you’ll need to do it though.

You pick which predator appears, though some members like to make it random through number generators outside from the site to make it more interesting. Now, unless you want to bring the predator as prey to your camp, you don’t need to make it hit “0” on their HP. It’s enough to lower their HP to 1/2 of their full HP to chase them away. You picked a badger, so we’re going to go with that, you will also choose between bringing a badger to camp as your cat’s very first prey if we manage to take it down, or chase it away(Tell me your choice in OOC to know how to proceed).

When you rp as a predator, the predator will ALWAYS move first since they ambush your cat. After that, it will be a constant back and forth of one turn for the predator, one turn for your cat unless you use a stun move on them. Then you can post twice or trice with your cat, depending on how many turns the predator is stunned. I’ll have Blizzardstar get on the badger’s way this time so your cat doesn’t takes the damage though, as badgers are really tough and we don’t want Sparkpaw either getting KOed first turn. Then, as it should’ve appeared on your turn (We’ll let it slide this time, as you didn’t know), I’ll have her attack it as well.

This will be considered a real battle, so HP and SP won’t be regenerated. Don’t worry about your cat though, since you’re the one going under training, the attacks of the badger will be locked on my cat only. However don’t let this mislead you, as I said earlier, badgers are really tough (Actually the second toughest predator behind the dog) so some strategy to win this fight will be needed.

Also, I will say it rn, given the rules CONGRATULATIONS!!! By getting a battle encounter you’ll fulfill both your training and Battle/Assessment requirements as soon as we’re done with the topic. Extra glory sprinkles on your cat for managing to make such a rare feat so early on.

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Blizzardstar’s fur stood on end when the badger appeared within the foliage Stupid, stupid, stupid! She was so confident when they arrived, how she could’ve missed the smell that came from the predator and put her apprentice in such danger?!

The badger immediately sprinted towards the apprentice with clear intentions as it prepared one of its massive paws. The white leader didn’t even wait for the younger cat to reach her and hide behind her before she quickly got between the massive predator and him. She had some experience with these creatures and she knew that one single hit was more than enough to knock out or even kill a cat as young as him, even fully grown warriors had troubles with them at times.

She couldn’t make a sound as the strong blow landed on her side, sending her stumbling at a couple foxlenghts away with a sore flank. Even with the mental preparations she had forgotten how hard these creatures could hit.

The badger used Heavy blow on Blizzardstar, dealing 25 damage and using 20 stamina

Blizzardstar:
95/120
300/300

Badger:
120/120
300/320


Blizzardstar took a sharp breath, getting back on her feet as quickly as she could even if after the blow her whole body screamed to her not to. She couldn’t give herself a break, if she did Sparkpaw could get seriously injured or even worse, killed.

With a battle yowl, she sprung forward, using her strong legs to cover the space between the badger and herself. Her usually kind expression transforming into a furious one, determined to protect the apprentice she had at all costs. Using her size as an advantage and her strength she grabbed the scruff of the badger and shook it as violently as she could with the intention of stunning it long enough for them to at least get the upper paw on the fight.

Blizzardstar used Scruff Shake on the badger, dealing 10 damage and using 25 stamina. The badger is stunned for 2 turns

Badger:
110/120
300/320


Blizzardstar:
95/120
275/300

The member 'Ink' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 5

OOC: Sorry I took so long to reply. I think I'll just chase it away xD But can I do a Leap-And-Hold while Blizzardstar is on it's back too? If not I can edit the post

Sparkpaw watched as the badger swatted Blizzardstar out of its way, clearly chasing right on his tail. He squared up, ready to do something, anything, to protect himself. But suddenly the black and white snout was knocked violently sideways as his mentor leapt on its back, grabbing its scruff and shaking it with all of her might. It's dark, beady eyes took on a dazed, confused expression, and it stumbled slightly, turning in a small circle, looking confused. Sparkpaw hesitated for just a moment, glancing between his mentor and the badger. Her face was twisted in an angry snarl, and he knew right then that she would protect him. With a surge of bravery, he leapt onto the badger's back, struggling to push it to the ground. It was much bigger than him, but Sparkpaw scraped at its back with all his might. He had to win this. He was going to win this.

Sparkpaw used Leap-and-Hold on the badger, dealing6 damage and using 10 stamina. The badger is pinned for 2 turns.

Badger:
89/120
300/320

Sparkpaw:
20/20
70/80

The member 'Abby' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 4

OOC: While as far as I know there is no direct rule against that thanks to being many vs one, doing that it’s really frowned down upon and I would advise you against doing it again, as it would be like resetting the stunned turns and falling into the “Not letting them attack” clause. We both know there must be a turn between stuns to let the other player, in this case predator, attack too.


The badger growled at the two cats, still trying to figure out what happened.

The badger is confused for 1 more turn


Without losing a single second, Blizzardstar turned towards the badger and closed the short distance between the two before using her paw to strike at it with unsheathed claws.

Blizzardstar used Front Paw Strike on the badger, dealing 18 damage and using 10 stamina. The badger is stunned for another turn

Badger:
71/120
300/320


Blizzardstar:
95/120
265/300