Fortune (OPEN Hunting Patrol)

Being an apprentice was surprisingly... mediocre.

Not that Stormpaw had high expectations for it, though. In the nursery all the other kits thought apprenticehood was some sort of magical adventure filled with prophecies and glorious battles. The grey-furred watcher, however, always saw it as the way it was- hunting for the kits and elders, fixing bedding, getting rid of fleas, and occasionally being brought on a battle patrol. But no. Somehow apprenticehood was even more boring than that. All the she-cat really did was sit around, get some burrs out of nests, and hope Tinystar would put her on a patrol. There weren’t even any elders to take care of!

Stormpaw resisted the urge to claw out the weeds in frustration. Ranting to herself won’t change anything. If she wanted an opportunity, she had to make an opportunity. Sitting up from the center of the overgrown clearing she called ‘home’, the apprentice called out, “Does anyone want to go hunting with me?”  It was a pretty simplistic way to find hunting buddies, but hey- it usually worked. Stormpaw sat back down and waited, green eyes looking for anyone showing interest.

Amberdawn stretched out on her side in the sunlit clearing of SkyClan's camp, basking in the dappled light with half-closed eyes. In her head she thought of the herbs she was low on or missing in the herb stores, the ceremonies she'd seen recently, and the journeys she'd been on to the Moonstone. She hadn't seen her friend Mosspaw since the Gathering, where they were likely both surprised to see Flintfang - along with Burntstag - and the new "StagClan". Amberdawn strongly disagreed with the idea of abandoning their warrior ancestors; her entire life had been driven by them, and it was a significant portion of her duty to be able to interpret signs, omens, and dreams from their ancestors. Abandoning the warrior code, though... Well, truthfully, the she-cat could find no fault in it other than that StarClan had commanded it. That alone was enough to make her uncomfortable, though.

Her contemplation halted when she saw a blur of gray sit up suddenly a few tail-lengths away. Amberdawn focused her dark amber gaze on Stormpaw, a fluffy gray apprentice, who was calling for volunteers to go hunting. The medicine cat apprentice stood up, her eyes glimmering hopefully as she approached the warrior apprentice. "Hi, Stormpaw - do you mind if I tag along? I would love to stretch my legs," she mewed, smiling.

It was rare to find Lightfang doing nothing, especially in SkyClan’s camp. However, right now, he was doing exactly that. In truth, he’d started the day off expecting to be given something to do; his apprenticeship had been full of things like that, whether it was going on patrols, cleaning out dens, or training (either under Mistyrain, the warrior that replaced her during her illness, or himself). Then Tinystar had given out patrol assignments, and Lightfang wasn’t included in any of them. He wouldn’t have minded, except he needed to be out of camp. He’d searched SkyClan’s territory a hundred times over, but it would never be enough until he had proof of what he suspected: that Maplepaw was hiding, or that she was gone.

His ears swiveled toward Stormpaw as he heard her call. It wasn’t an official patrol... Still, it didn't seem as if he was needed today. Lightfang stretched, shaking out his fur (largely ineffective, as his pelt was too short for most things to get tangled in it). By the time he made his way across the camp, Amberdawn had appeared. Her presence was comforting; most older cats intimidated him, but between all the things that had brought him to the medicine den and his Moonstone journey, she wasn’t nearly as scary as she’d seemed moons ago. ”If you don’t mind, I’d like to join.” Standing tall as he surveyed Stormpaw through cool blue eyes, he waited for her response.

Stormpaw gave a friendly smile as two cats—both older than her— approached her. “Hello, Amberdawn. Hi, Lightfang,”  she purred. ”Of course you two can join me! I’ll probably wait a bit to see if someone else wants to join, but we should be going soon, if we want to maximize our time,” she continued, eying the slowly setting sun. “We wouldn’t want the sun to set while we are hunting. That’s when predators go out, I think.”

OOC: short and lazy

An apprentice, a medicine cat and a newly named warrior. Oh, Dark Forest, wasn’t this a rather…vulnerable patrol, to say the least.

The chocolate tabby tom padded towards the small group “I’ll join you” He wasn’t offering, even less asking. Hawkstrike was just letting know the other cats about his choice. Until he saw with his very own eyes in a future gathering that SkyClan was faring better in numbers against the other clans, he wasn’t going to relax one bit.

Up to that specific moment, he still considered SkyClan to be rather vulnerable, and he wasn’t going to let fate or luck decide if they lost any cat on a hunting patrol to either enemy cats or predators.

"Is that my dear brother Lightfang trying to patrol without me?" Sandblaze teased, padding leisurely towards the group. He had already checked the borders on the morning patrol, but he was feeling especially limber. It was hard to justify climbing trees while placing scent marks. Besides, he liked the little tyke, Stormpaw. She was smart for an apprentice... probably smarter than he was, currently. He once joked that he, Swallow, and Maple shared one whisker worth of brain between them, but he didn't quite like making jokes about his sister anymore. He missed her dearly.

"You know," he said, grinning slyly at the apprentice, "Tinystar was my mentor, once upon a time. On my first ever hunting patrol, we brought back an entire owl! I killed it myself and everything. Between the lot of us, we could probably handle the biggest badger in the forest, huh?"

Stormpaw’s gentle smile grew bigger with each person that joined her make-shift hunting patrol. ”Hello Hawkstrike,” she pleasantly greeted. She didn’t know much about the tom, except he was the most skilled warrior in Skyclan. He would certainly be useful while hunting. ”Oh, and hello- Sandblaze, is it?” she said to the other in the same, nice tone. The gray apprentice’s collected, friendly act fell away when Sandblaze continued on. ”Wow- wait, an owl? I had never seen one of those before, but I heard they are massive!” she exclaimed. ”I can’t imagine how hard it was to do that!”

As Stormpaw’s gaze fell back on the setting sun, she regained her more “formal and friendly” look. ”Well, I think this should be enough, I guess. We wouldn’t want to waste time.” she concluded. Looking back to see if the others were following, she climbed out of the rocky clearing and into the woods beyond. The grey cat barely held down an excited squeal. ’I am leading my own patrol! It’s almost like I am a warrior already!’ her thoughts said. She drowned out the immature thoughts, focusing on the forest around her. They were getting deep into the territory, and if she made any noise, all the prey would be scared off.

Suddenly, she heard a small scuffle from a bush a foxlength away. Hidden behind the branches was a squirrel, completely oblivious to the hunting cats nearby. Stormpaw instinctively slunk down, her belly brushing the ground, tail slightly twitching. She took one step forward. The squirrel still was oblivious. Another step was successful. And another, and another, each one as quiet as they could be. When she was close enough that she could see even the small details in it’s fur, she readied her haunches, and sprung.

Stormpaw hunts a Squirrel, using up 3 SP.

Stormpaw: 73 SP

It was successful. The squirrel didn’t even see her coming, and didn’t even try to flee. She trapped it under her paws and delivered a quick nip to the neck, hearing it’s shriek cut off alongside it’s life. Content, she picked up the large rodent and carried it back to the others.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

The newly-named Lightpaw was next to join them, and Amberdawn gave him a friendly smile. She had been the one to accompany him on his Moonstone; she was glad that he had earned his name. Stormpaw kindly welcomed them both to the patrol and then expressed a desire to wait for more members. Amberdawn nodded agreeably, for though she might be able to hunt alright she couldn't really contribute much where fighting was involved; an inability to use her claws was both a cause for and an effect of her position in the Clan. If they ran into a predator, she'd be little use, and a newly named warrior and newly named apprentice would likely want more help than she could provide.

They didn't have to wait long; a fourth cat approached that made Amberdawn go quiet, a large and imposing brown tabby warrior named Hawkstrike. The medicine cat apprentice didn't know him personally, nor had she heard much about him before, but the authority with which he spoke held a strange tone that made her feel nervous. Something about him was... off. She said nothing as Sandblaze joined them, and, fortunately, his good spirit - as always - helped take Amberdawn's mind off the strange feeling. She couldn't help but giggle at Sandblaze's bragging, explaining how he'd once killed an owl. She chuckled lightly.

At last Stormpaw declared the patrol fit to leave, and they all headed out into the forest. Amberdawn kept up the pace, making sure to never be at the back of the group; she didn't want to hinder the warriors and apprentices while they did their duties, and so she intended to be on top of things and ready to go and stop as her Clanmates desired.

Stormpaw was the first to split off in search of a sound. Amberdawn tread quietly, watching curiously for a moment before the she-cat disappeared into the brush. The medicine cat blinked, listening, and heard a soft rustling, a pounding of paws, and a tiny, short shriek. An instant later the apprentice appeared. "Nicely done," the medicine cat purred to her Clanmate, "I hope that's a good sign for the rest of the patrol."

Amberdawn took her own leave then, padding away with ears attentively perked. A soft scratching sound caught her attention, and her dark amber eyes spotted a small speckled bird pecking at some ants in the bark of a tree. The medicine cat crouched, trying to draw on her memories of hunting. Birds, birds, birds... They could see you before they could hear, right? She crept quickly and jumped, holding her breath as she soared through the air.

Amberdawn attempted to catch a bird, using 3 SP. Her catch was... successful!
45/45 HP
97/100 SP

The ground the she-cat landed on was uneven, and though her forepaws landed squarely on the bird she was unbalanced enough to stumble slightly. The bird slipped a wing free and let out a loud, distressed call that made Amberdawn's ears ring and fur stand on end. She hooked her claws into it and pushed it against the earth, smothering its sounds until she brought her teeth to its neck and killed it. She hunkered sheepishly over it for a moment, thinking with dismay, Oh, everyone in the patrol is going to know what a messy kill that was. I hope I didn't ruin it for anyone else. Amberdawn picked her way back, eyes locked on the floor and mouth locked around the bird she'd caught.

The member 'Grandmaster Suma' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Logically, a patrol containing an apprentice and a medicine cat probably wouldn’t turn down a warrior, even one as inexperienced as Lightfang; still, he relaxed when Stormpaw gave him permission to join. She looked skyward, and he followed, idly listening to her next words. Had he been that thorough as an apprentice? …Well. Probably. Hawkstrike arrived next, not even giving Stormpaw a chance to refuse him. Lightfang was no less thankful for his presence than he’d been the first time. He knew from experience that Hawkstrike was a cautious cat and a capable fighter, making him a valuable patrolmate (though Lightfang, despite being a warrior himself, still couldn’t look him in the eye). Then—

Despite how their previous patrol had gone, Lightfang greeted his brother with a slight smile. ”Even if I was, I don’t think you’d let me.” Soon, Sandblaze launched into the grand story of his fight against the owl; Lightfang simply shook his head as he listened to the tale for what was probably the hundredth time. It’d seemed impressive the first time, helped by the remains of the owl still sitting in the fresh-kill pile. Now, Lightfang knew for himself what it was like to fight one.

With Sandblaze’s arrival, Stormpaw decided the patrol was ready. Lightfang followed them closely. After a memorable hunt during his apprenticeship, he’d learned that he’d rather embarrass himself in front of his Clanmates than trail behind and risk being attacked. Besides, if something happened to Stormpaw… Sure, he was surrounded by warriors more experienced than himself and a medicine cat to boot, but he couldn’t let one of his first hunts after earning his name end in tragedy.

It wasn’t long before Stormpaw disappeared. She returned holding a squirrel, and Lightfang gave her what he hoped was an encouraging sort of nod. Soon, Amberdawn found something as well; Lightfang watched her go, paws slowing to a halt. It was quiet, as usual—until a screech split the still afternoon air. Instinctively, the pale warrior scrambled back, but no enemy appeared, and Amberdawn rejoined the patrol with a bird in her mouth and her eyes downcast. Forcing his fur flat, Lightfang stepped forward and nudged her shoulder, saying, ”Good catch," in an undertone. True, the cry had most likely startled off anything nearby, but Amberdawn had brought the bird down in the end.

It wasn’t a sound that grabbed his attention, but a scent. Sparrow. With a flick of his tail, he parted from the group in search of his prey and found it some distance away, picking at a relatively open patch of earth. His first instinct was to wrinkle his nose—all those feathers made for a terrible meal. But prey was prey; many SkyClanners would appreciate it, one in particular. So, careful as ever, he began to close the distance between himself and the sparrow. Miraculously, it didn't notice him until he sprang; it was pinned before it could flap its wings. Lightfang dispatched it with a quick bite and returned to his Clanmates, pride warming his fur.

Lightfang attempted to catch Bird, using 3 stamina. The attempt was successful!

Lightfang
40/40 HP
117/120 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5