Blending with the colours of the winds [Closed]

Ivystar waited at the edge of the Broken Pools, her green eyes shut for once as she breathed in the cold air, puffing out wisps of white with each exhale. There was peace here, something that was difficult for a leader to get these days with everyone needing her guidance or permission. She didn't regret her decision all those moons ago to be deputy, but even she needed little time outs like this. Time to enjoy the rich territories they lived in before the wonder of the lightly sprinkling snow would turn of fear of starvation.

As for why she was here, she was here to teach her apprentices. Ravenpaw and Duckpaw needed a few lessons in hunting, Yarrowpaw had already learnt and didn't need it. He'd been assigned to elder's dens duties, Frogjaw had been complaining that the moss wasn't being taken out enough. She was a little early so she wasn't expecting them soon, so she just enjoyed the quiet for now.

Duckpaw knew that the whole point of being an apprentice was training and learning. She was excited for it all, too. She didn't want to be the greatest cat in the Clan, but that didn't mean that she wanted to be weak and pathetic either. She just wanted to do the best she could. It had taken a few heartbeats for Duckpaw to blink the sleep out of her eyes and shake the drowsiness out of her body, but now she was bright-eyed and ready to do things, but she didn't express her excitement through words. She had never been to the Broken Pools before, so she was ready for the new experience. She had padded through the territory quickly, as she didn't want to keep her mentor waiting. Duckpaw didn't want to see Ivystar as any different from another mentor that she might've been paired with. She just wanted to see Ivystar as a mentor, but it was a bit difficult to do so considering that she was the leader of RiverClan.

The cold breeze of Leafbare blew through her fur and she welcomed it. She had never experienced true warm weather before since she was born towards the end of Leaffall, so the cold was what she was pretty much used to. When she finally found the Broken Pools, she paused for a moment to take in the sight of it, gasping slightly, considering that she was impressed at the smallest of things. After getting over it, she padded up to her mentor, her gaze calm. Duckpaw dipped her head slightly with respect and as a sign of greeting.
"Hi, Ivystar," The apprentice began, "I think Ravenpaw will be here in a bit. We'll start then, right?"
The apprentice then cringed, realizing that she had let some of her excitement and eagerness spill out in her final sentence, and she tried to erase the attitude that she had had before by replacing it with a calm expression that gave away nothing.

Ravenpaw's eyes snapped open, already bright with excitement. She was going to start training again today! She had been eager to learn more ever since Stormheart had died. She got to her paws and shook moss from her pelt, giving her sleek fur a quick lick. She noted that Duckpaw's nest was empty, so she hurried out of the apprentice den. The crisp leaf-bare air ruffled her fur, sending a shiver down her spine as she trotted out of camp. She set off at a brisk pace towards the Broken Pools, thoughts whirling through her head. She was glad to have Ivystar as a mentor. Ivystar had been so kind to her, especially since she had no parents in RiverClan. She wasn't yet sure what to think of Duckpaw, since they hadn't had much of a chance to get to know each other, but she seemed nice enough.

As she neared the Broken Pools, she began running, hoping she wasn't late. She dashed up to her mentor and Duckpaw, flicking her tail in greeting and nodding respectfully to Ivystar. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake up this late!" she apologized. "I hope I haven't held anything up!"


OOC: Sorry this took so long I am in a European time zone so when most people are active I am asleep or at school. I should be able to post every day though :)

"Morning, Duckpaw." Ivystar dipped her head back in greeting. She was poised, but her whiskers twitched in amusement at the eagerness of the newly named apprentice. Duckpaw's youth showed, despite her best attempts to hide in behind a calm facade. She didn't begrudge her for being eager, it was a blessing to be so full of the vigour of youth. Ivystar was certain that despite wanting to keep her clan well fed and healthy, she couldn't physically rustle up that much enthusiasm for fishing. "Yes, but we must be patient. Prey won't disappear if we wait, if anything, they're more likely to rouse once the sun rises higher."

Her ears twitched, picking up the sound of rustling drawing closer through the reeds. She frown, not bothered by Ravenpaw's tardiness, rather her noisy entry. "Hush. Are you trying to scare away everything from the river to the gorge?"

Though her words were harsh, her tone was more exasperated than mad. The doves in the distance seemed to have not noticed, but she was all for being overcautious. Leafbare was upon them, and losing a single piece of prey wasn't something they could risk. "Ravenpaw, have you ever hunted a bird before?"

Ravenpaw ducked her head, embarrased. "Sorry, Ivystar," she responded quickly, in a lower voice. She couldn't believe she had been so careless, especially in front of her Clan leader. Why hadn't she slowed down and come in quietly? I'll just have to do really well when I'm hunting, she thought.
When Ivystar asked if she had ever hunted a bird before, she felt heat rising to her face. "Hunted, yes, caught, no. And it's been awhile since I've hunted anything." It was an embarassing fact, but Ravenpaw really hadn't had much practice with hunting and consequentially wasn't very good at it.

Duckpaw nodded slowly in response to Ivystar's words about the prey being more likely to awaken once the sun rose even higher. She tried to make a mental note of it to remember later on, maybe just to impress herself, or maybe to impress somebody else. The RiverClan apprentice flattened her ears against her head once the RiverClan leader scolded Ravenpaw for being so loud. She shot Ravenpaw a brief sympathetic glance, not knowing what else to do in the situation. The young she-cat remained quiet once Ivystar questioned Ravenpaw, and she wrapped her brown tail around her paws, listening intently for anything she could pick up that would be useful to use for when she hunted.

"Hm, well there's no better time to start. Duckpaw, I want you to try track down a bird with your nose. Ravenpaw, you will catch it. I'll be right behind you." Ivystar gave them one hint, she'd heard fluttering of wings in the distance towards the trees that hung in the distance near the Broken pools. She flicked with her tail to that direction, guiding the apprentices to make the journey.

ooc; okay, i'm pretty sure i don't need to use the dice to scent out an animal, but if i do just tell me and i'll edit this. )

ic;
Duckpaw's brown ears perked up when she heard her name, and she listened silently for her instructions. Once they were given to her, the brown apprentice rose from her paws and began to pad in the direction that Ivystar had flicked her tail towards. Okay, she was looking for birds. Birds...
Yes, Duckpaw, birds... those things with the wings that chirp all the time... birds.
After rolling her eyes at her short moment of complete ignorance, Duckpaw lifted her nose up to see if she could smell anything. To her, prey all smelled the same. Since this was her first time training, she had barely ever had the chance to experience the smell of an alive bird that wasn't in the fresh-kill pile with a bunch of other scents from other dead creatures. However, she did smell something. It didn't blend with the scent of RiverClan, or cat so it wasn't another feline. So, was it a bird? She lifted her head a little bit so she didn't have to move forward any further and risk making a whole bunch of noise. Once she craned her neck, though, she spotted a small bird poking around the base of a tree. Her eyes lit up with excitement, but she tried to calm herself down. Duckpaw looked over at Ravenpaw, thrusting her head in the direction of the tiny bird so that the other apprentice could try and catch it.

Once Ivystar had given her and Duckpaw instructions, Ravenpaw watched the newer apprentice sniff out the bird that Ivystar had indicated. Ravenpaw was impressed; not because Duckpaw had found the bird, but that she had found it on her first try. She smiled at Duckpaw and nodded. "Good job," she mewed quietly. Now it was up to her not to make a fool of herself and actually catch the bird. Mouse dung. I know I'm going to miss it, she thought.
Ravenpaw crouched, carefully inching closer to the bird. Just as she pushed off the ground to leap, she spotted a strange movement in the trees in front of her and twisted so she landed ready to fight instead of trying to catch the bird. As she had suspected, strange animal, with a scent she identified as a raccoon, hurried out of the trees. Ravenpaw tried her best to remember the battle moves she had learned. Ivystar is here, she won't let it kill me, she thought, panicked. She did the first thing she could think of, lashing out at the raccoon with her front paw to scratch its muzzle.

Ravenpaw used Front Paw Strike, dealing 6 damage and costing 10 stamina

Ravenpaw
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Raccoon
24/30 HP
300/300 SP

ooc: my luck :/
help I know the battle system but I don't know how to rp the raccoon

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 10

In the distance, she heard rustling. Too big to be prey, but too small to be a predator. So she'd passed it off as another patrol passing by, until she smelt the fear coming off her apprentice and the sound of tree bark being scraped. That was not the noise of a cat's claws being sharpened on a trunk, that was the sound of a something else. And whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

Ivystar got there in time to see the creature be slashed by her apprentice, Ravenpaw had courageously taken the first measure of defence, driving home the message that she wasn't prey. Good, she thought, that was good instincts. But now it was time for her to play her role as their mentor and leader.

She sprang at the beast, slamming into it with her full weight. Her claws raking at it's pelt as she did so, coating them in a thin layer of blood. It's thick pelt made it hard to penetrate into it's flesh properly, but it seemed to be have frightened it enough that it yelped in fear and backed away from her. Licking it's wounds frantically, it scurried away in fear.

Ivystar used Run and Tackle. Bonus damage as the Raccoon was not paying attention.
-15 HP
-3 HP
-10 SP

Ivystar:
120/120 HP
290/300 SP

Ravenpaw:
2/20 HP
70/80 SP

Raccoon:
24/30 HP
300/300 SP

ooc: it's okay, I brought it down to over half health so it can run away. Harlem, you're welcome to chase and give the finishing strike so we can bring it to camp as prey if you really want to. Though Ivy will scold you for taking a risk like that.

Duckpaw had immediately started to creep backwards out of fear once the raccoon leaped out, however she had to practically force herself to stand up straight and be ready to attack if she needed to. She was an apprentice, after all, she had to at least try and protect herself.
Ravenpaw attacked it, and the RiverClan apprentice flinched as she watched Ravenpaw and the raccoon. She bared her teeth, ready to strike it, when Ivystar decided to leap out and attack the predator herself. Duckpaw sucked in a breath as the raccoon weakened and raced away, knowing it would be defeated if it stayed.
What if... She thought, the tip of her tail twitching in thought. However, the apprentice shook her head. It was a stupid idea. Besides, she barely even knew how to fight yet!
Maybe I could, though... Duckpaw thought again. Before she knew it, she was racing after the raccoon, and the thud of her paws on the ground brought her back to reality. She couldn't turn back now, right? She was already chasing the thing, even though it was dangerous and deadly. Even though Duckpaw kept calling herself stupid, she also tried to reassure herself by saying it was a brave thing to do. After a few more speedy strides, the apprentice caught up to the larger creature, which was slowing down. The apprentice bunched her hind muscles before leaping up and sinking her teeth into the neck of the raccoon, and she could practically sense the life draining out of the animal as it fell limp.

❖ duckpaw used killing bite on raccoon, costing 10 stamina and dealing death. raccoon is dead. ❖

raccoon ❖
dead

duckpaw ❖
20/20 HP
70/80 HP

ivystar ❖
120/120 HP
290/300 SP

ravenpaw ❖
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

Ravenpaw slumped against a tree, her adrenaline fading away into exhaustion. Duckpaw had raced after the raccoon, and in its weakened state, the younger apprentice was probably going to kill it. Ravenpaw wondered what Ivystar would say if Duckpaw came back having killed the raccoon. Come to think of it, she wondered what Ivystar would say when Duckpaw came back in the first place! Excitement and energy drained, Ravenpaw picked herself up and stood waiting for her fellow apprentice to return.

ooc: i gotta question how is Raven at 2 hp if the raccoon had done anything she would be at 000 or is that a typo and i'm stupid

ooc: That was a typo on my behalf lol Also this will count as your battle encounter so you don't need an assessment. You just need one hunting patrol now. I'll throw up a quick topic for you and you should have all your requirements ;)

Ivystar chased after Duckpaw in alarm, and when she was greeted with the thick scent of blood and fear, she thought the worst had happened. But it was all for nothing, everything was fine.

"Duckpaw, what in StarClan's name do you think you were doing!?" While it was impressive that she managed to take out the raccoon, the risk to her safety and health outweighed any benefit of catching the best. There was no cat in the clan that would have preferred more fresh kill for the death of an apprentice, even in Leafbare. "Head back to camp with Ravenpaw now! I'll bring our catch there."