Hunt While We Can [closed]

It had only been a few days since Mottledspark had earned his warrior name, but Lightstep felt that the tortoiseshell tom had become even more prickly and arrogant than usual. Over the last few days he'd been a bit bossy and micro-managed several of the tasks which Lightstep had already been doing for over a moon. Still, the newly appointed warrior had always been patient with Mottledspark. He knew the tom would work himself out eventually. In the meantime, Lightstep didn't let Mottledspark affect his work. He had been doing his job well without his friend so far.

Lightstep lay in his nest, grooming his sleek snowy white pelt, when Mottledspark trotted in, staring hard at him.

"It's almost sun-high - are you just going to lay here all day?" Mottledspark asked, sounding expaserated.

Refusing to be ruffled, Lightstep continued to draw his paw over his ear and face, washing himself in a steady rhythm. "I was on the moon-high patrol last night," the young tom pointed out, "while you were in here snoring and smelling of trout." The only thing that betrayed his annoyance was a slight twitch of his tail.

"You've had plenty of time to sleep," Mottledspark sighed, rolling his eyes. "Let's go and hunt."

Lightstep chuckled and mewed teasingly, "You only ever think about food." Still, he heaved himself to his paws and looked around the den to see Hailsong. "Would you like to join us for some fishing?"

A new warrior, a new noisy mouth she had to hear every day. Hailsong looked at the couple of toms that were arguing about patrols and hunting. Mottledspark, despite his earned new name, still acted like an apprentice sometimes and it was no surprise that he was bothering Lightstep. Yet, he had a point. A hunting patrol didn't harm anyone in the past and more prey was better for the clan. She didn't eat that much but she was well-aware about how big Riverclan was and how many foods they needed. "Why not? We should get going now if we want to catch as many fishes as we can." She mewed, stretching her whole body before standing up. The dilute calico she-cat approached both Lightstep and Mottledspark. She felt a bit old by the side of the son of his brother and his friend but it didn't matter too much. As long as she could fight and hunt, her age didn't matter. "So, who wanna lead the patrol?"

Lightstep nodded with approval and acknowledgement as his aunt stood up to join them. The young white warrior ignored Mottledspark's huff of impatience as Hailsong stretched. Lightstep couldn't help but be annoyed with his friend's attitude; he had wanted to go on a patrol, and now he had two warriors to go with him. Was it really so bad to wait another few moments to be properly stretched? However, it would do no good to point it out.

When Hailsong asked who wanted to lead, Lightstep knew that Mottledspark would want to. Instead of allowing the tom to bulldoze over the other patrol members, however, Lightstep suggested in a cheery tone, "Why don't you lead, Hailsong? After all, you're the more experienced warrior. Mottledspark and I are newer and have a lot to learn about leading patrols. Don't you think, Mottledspark?"

Mottledspark shot a glare at Lightstep but after a moment he softened his expression and mumbled, "I suppose." He glanced at Hailsong and murmured, "Would you mind leading the patrol?"

The small she-cat lifted her head, indifferent about the idea of leading the small group. "Sure, why not? Let's go to the river to catch some fishes and water rodents." Hailsong walked to the exit of the den and left their home of reeds and moss. It had been a while since the last time she interacted with the family who wasn't her siblings. It was not like she didn't like them... but she was rather the solitary, quiet type of cat. For her, it was most enjoyable to be with a small group than with a large patrol and that was why she felt so good by the side of just the two toms.

(Time skip)

In no time, the river was in front of them, clear and shiny as ever. As Hailsong approached it, she thought it would be a good idea to catch a fish for her mate, who was still in camp. He loved them, after all, and it was always nice to share a meal with Blizzardshell. "Okay, here we are. Since you both are no longer apprentices, you don't need me to watch over you all the time. Let's just gather all the prey we catch here." She mewed, pointing with a slight movement of her head the place they were standing."Three pieces of prey per each of us will be a successful hunt and we can carry all of them back to camp with no trouble. Let's fill that fresh-kill pile." She purred before making her way to the shore.

Hailsong soon found a good spot: a large rock that was near to the middle of the river. The experienced swam gracefully to it and once she was up there, she crouched. In just a few moments, the fish that she waited for was in her claws. With a hit of her paws, she tossed the river up and caught it with her jaws before it could fall back to the river. It was a lucky catch more than an expert one but good enough. As long as they brought back food, it was all they needed.

The member 'Jay Bord' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Lightstep knew it may not have been the most mature thing to step in and deny Mottledspark the opportunity to lead a patrol, but he had to admit he was getting tired of his friend acting so important all the time. He was older, and an only child, though, so perhaps it was just to be expected.

Lightstep nodded once at Hailsong's instruction, replying, "Sounds good to me."

Mottledspark simply grunted, and then the three of them made their way out of camp to the river.

---

When they arrived at the river, Lightstep looked to where Hailsong indicated they would place their prey and nodded once, keeping the spot in mind.

"I'm going to head further upstream," Mottledspark stated tartly before stomping up the shoreline.

Lightstep watched him go and rolled his eyes. "I thought the battle would've calmed him down, but getting his warrior name made him bossier than a badger," the young tom stated to his aunt. He shrugged and moved a short distance away from Hailsong to do his own fishing. Within a few moments of poising himself over the water his white paw flashed out to snatch up a somewhat small fish, but prey was prey. He dispatched it quickly and padded over to drop it with the rest of the prey they'd catch.

Upstream, Mottledspark glared at the water, staring through the current with burning green eyes. When he saw a shimmery shadow under the surface, he lashed out with a white-tipped paw and pulled a fish out to kill it with a swift bite. He dropped it unceremoniously onto the shore and continued fishing - he thought he'd have fun on this outing, but nobody treated him any differently since he'd become a warrior and he hated it. Mottledspark didn't know what he'd expected, but it wasn't this.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6, 4

The she-cat looked at Mottledspark walking away and while she was coming to the shore to leave her fresh-kill, she shot a glance at his niece. "Don't you worry too much. Young warriors often act even more arrogant than when they were apprentices. Your father, actually, was somehow like that, always wanting to be better than Cinderfall." She mewed, as she walked to the river once more. "As his friend, if you want to do something for him, just stay with him and try to calm him when he gets to hot-headed. With age and experience, it is probable that he will become less of a mouse brain like my brother was. Even if he can act selfish and arrogant, all cats need friends and family and it seems you two are rather close to each other." The small she-cat purred, offering him a smile.

But the happy, educational moment didn't last for too long. The she-cat smelled something weird in the air and when the shadow crossed over their heads, the danger was clear. Her fur bristled and a hiss came out of her mouth. "Lightstep! Mottledspark! There's an eagle coming!" She shouted right before the huge bird came down with his claws open ready to strike. The bird attacked Hailsong, tossing her to the water but an experienced warrior like couldn't be knocked so easily by an attack like that and she soon jumped off the water to claw the predator.

Eagle used Swoop, dealing 20 damage and costing 20 stamina.
Hailsong used Underwater Push-off, dealing 14 damage and costing 15 stamina.

Hailsong
60/80 HP
225/240 SP

Eagle
46/60 HP
180/200 SP

The member 'Jay Bord' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

Lightstep listened to Hailsong's first words with a soft grunt of acknowledgement. He certainly hoped he hadn't acted that way when he'd received his name. For a moment he wanted to ask, but then he thought better of it; he certainly wouldn't seem more mature if he needed validation of his maturity. Instead, he listened carefully to his aunt's advice and experience. Lightstep appreciated what Hailsong had to tell him. He certainly intended to stay friends with Mottledspark forever.

The personal moment came to an end as Lightstep heard a whistling screech in the sky and heard Hailsong's cry of warning. Immediately Lightstep whirled around from their new pile and raced towards Hailsong to watch her be thrown into the river by the large bird. With a yowl of rage, he lunged for the bird, giving Hailsong her needed opportunity to regain her footing as he grappled one of its wings at the shoulder and slammed it to the ground with his weight. It screeched with fury and whirled to snap its beak at him, but a flash of multi-colored fur told Lightstep that Mottledspark had arrived.

Mottledspark heard Hailsong's cry and immediately left his position, his frustrations melting away. This was what he was a warrior for. He watched Hailsong go tumbling into the shallows and saw her recovering as Lightstep brought the eagle to the ground. The furious bird was just about to take a chomp from the tom when Mottledspark leaped forward, rearing up and slashing rapidly and furiously at the eagle's face.


OOC: Ignore the die roll - I didn't realize that you can't use stun moves when you're double-teaming predators (thought it was only for cats)!

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

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'Effect Dice' : 4

At the sight of the other two warriors coming up to help her, the more experienced she-cat noticed that they might actually beat it. Both Lightstep and Lightstep, despite their young age, were strong enough to handle a few hits and as long as they kept attacking, the predator wouldn't survive. And an eagle of that size would be enough to feed all the kits of the clans. Hissing, the dilute calico she-cat slammed her claws on the bird's head, leaving long wounds over it. The eagle in pain screeched and fought back, clawing the closest cat.

Eagle used Talon Strike on Mottledspark, dealing 10 damage and costing 10 stamina.
Hailsong used Upright lock, dealing 16 damage and costing 25 stamina.

Hailsong
60/80 HP
200/240 SP

Eagle
13/60 HP
170/200 SP

Lightstep
40/40 HP
110/120 HP

Mottledspark
30/40 HP
105/120 HP

Lightstep felt the eagle's powerful wing flapping and pushing into him and his face as the predator scrambled to become airborne again and escape the three warriors attacking it. He stumbled back as a wing slapped against his eyes, and heard and yowl of pain as it lashed at Mottledspark.

The tortoiseshell tom had no time to react; one moment the eagle had been tackled to the ground but the next it was bucking furiously to its feet and had lashed at his face. Mottledspark felt the eagle's talons score dangerously close to his throat and down towards his shoulder. He scrambled backwards, gritting his teeth and waiting for the pain to subside enough to attack again.

Lightstep moved slightly aside as Hailsong lashed at his head, and immediately the white tom stepped in to take over for her, rearing up to continue battering the eagle's head ferociously. He felt a grim joy as it continued to stagger, though despite its growing wounds that darkened its feathers and more panicked movements its screeching only grew more angry.

Having recovered, Mottledspark used the distraction of Hailsong and Lightstep's barrage to circle the eagle and leap for its neck to bite in hard at the spine. The eagle had been stranded on the ground and trapped, already bloodied, and despite how furious it sounded it was little match for the heavy RiverClan tom. Mottledspark let its blood run into his mouth and stepped away proudly, then looked between Hailsong and Lightstep. "Are... you guys... a'right?" he panted.

Lightstep backed away from the eagle's corpse as it slumped fully to the ground. His coat was mostly just ruffled, but his eyes stung; he was sure the eagle must have thrown dirt in there. Nothing a little swim wouldn't fix. "Fine," Lightstep replied breathlessly before looking to his aunt.