Beautiful Day [CLOSED]

Lightpaw was completely ready to patrol. Soon… so soon, she could become a warrior. Then they would see, all of them! But that was then. Now, she was going to hunt for this pathetic clan. She stretched, flexing her claws, and flicked her tail as she waited for the others to arrive.

”Heh, what’s wrong, kit? You anticipating somethin’?” Asterstrike purred with a wink of his blinded yellow eye, walking up to the waiting apprentice, his daughter Sparkfire following close behind him. It was getting harder and harder for him to continue on with life, especially with his brother dying at the claws of ThunderClan’s deputy. At the very least, he still had Thornstar and his kits. But still, he felt himself growing more and more tired and sore as the days dragged on. It wouldn’t be long before he would be forced into retirement, he reckoned. Reckoned? Stars, I really am gettin’ old....

Sparkfire twitched her tail in a silent greeting to Lightpaw, but didn’t say anything else, ready to begin hunting.

Lightpaw shrugged and started into the forest, starting after a frog. She pounced, but alas, it hopped away. She twitched an ear. Keep calm. It's just one frog....one frog that she was going to get. She pounced again, with the same result.

Asterstrike’s ear flicked, a little irritated by Lightpaw’s refusal to answer his question. Sighing and shaking his head, deciding to let it go, he padded a few tail-lengths away to begin his own hunt. Spotting a mouse scouring under the snow for food, he crouched and stalked slowly towards it. After a quick pounce and sharp nip to the back of its neck, Asterstrike buried the rodent in the snow to mask its scent from starving predators. He had decided to look for Lightpaw to see how she would be coming along before he returned to his hunt.

Asterstrike caught a Mouse, costing 5 SP.

Asterstrike
95/95 HP
245/250 SP

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Lifting her nose up to the sky, Sparkfire scented her surroundings, concentrating on pinpointing anything that moved. She picked up on the scent of frog, and she cringed with a soft gag. After all this time, she still detested frogs. However, this was leaf-bare, and she knew that the Clan needed to eat anything they could get their claws on. Even if she didn’t like eating frogs, perhaps someone else would. She could just gulp down a mouthful of snow to wash out the taste.

Creeping through the snow on silent paws, she located her prey near a snowy rock. She lowered herself into a hunter’s crouch and slowly stalked towards the little creature. Catching it under her claws, she winced with a soft whine before reluctantly leaning down to land a killing bite on its spine. Immediately, she gagged and turned sharply to bury her muzzle in the snow, trying to ward off the revolting taste of the frog’s slimy skin.

Sparkfire caught a Frog, costing 5 SP.

Sparkfire
45/45 HP
155/160 SP

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

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#1 'Hunting Dice' : 3

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#2 'Hunting Dice' : 2

Lightpaw pounced again and continued to chase after the frog. After a few more tries, she turned and clawed the tree, leaving deep clawmarks behind. "Starclan," She hissed angrily, This frog is harder to kill than Poppyheart was!"

The approaching pawsteps stopped right in their tracks at Lightpaw’s frustrated statement. Asterstrike had been close enough to hear the apprentice’s words, and for a moment he had completely lost all feeling and thought. He had been in some sort of deep, dark void, aimlessly wandering, trying desperately to comprehend the words that had just come out of her mouth.

And then, as if by magic, everything clicked into place.

Beartooth hadn’t killed Poppyheart.

It had been Lightpaw.

All of a sudden, he remembered that his daughter was still present, still hunting for prey alongside them. If he was going to deliver swift justice, he would have to make sure his kit wouldn’t be present to witness it. ”Hey, Sparky,” he meowed, grinning lazily at his daughter, acting as if nothing had just happened. ”Why don’tcha take our catches back to camp? I’ve gotta help Lightpaw with her huntin’ assessment. It, uh, kinda slipped my mind, heh.”

The younger warrior looked up at her father, giving him a perplexed look. Asterstrike’s own look didn’t waver even for a second, so finally Sparkfire shrugged and unburied the caught mouse. ”Fine. But I’m not putting my mouth around that frog.”


”That’s fine, Lightpaw and I will bring it back.” Asterspark waited until Sparkfire padded back to camp, and once she was out of earshot, he approached Lightpaw again. ”Heh, heya, kit. So, uh, before we get started on your hunting assessment....”

His smile twitched upward into a sharp, menacing grin, staring her in the eye with pinpricked pupils. ”Why don’tcha tell me repeat to me what you said about k i l l i n g m y b r o t h e r ?”

Lightpaw froze, staring blankly at the claw marks as Asterstrike's tone changed, ever so slightly, and he sent Sparkfire away. Well, maybe she was overreacting. Maybe he did just want to give her assessment. That is, until she turned around. Her tail briefly went between her legs before she got ahold of herself. That expression was not that of a test. That expression held the wrath of someone who had lost a sibling. Of course, she might have felt the same if a cat had murdered Darkpaw instead of just lightning. She'd have killed them on the spot. Well, there was no going back now. "I said," She forced herself to look up and stare Asterstrike in the eyes. "This frog is harder to kill than Poppyheart was." She lashed her tail. "He needed to die, and if you can't see that then you do too."

The older ShadowClanner never took his eyes off the apprentice, even after she repeated herself. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity staring into her eyes, he finally sighed, actually looking disheartened. ”Geez.... I feel for Darkpaw, I really do. Losin’ a beloved littermate isn’t an easy thing to go through. I hope she’ll be okay after all this. But, what’s done is done, I suppose.

“It’s a beautiful day outside,” he continued, looking up at the blue sky with only a few scattered clouds. He then directed his attention to the pine trees, then the snowy ground. ”Birds are chirping. Snow is sparkling. On days like these, kits like you....” He turned back to stare Lightpaw in the eye, his terrifying grin returning. ”...should be rotting in the Dark Forest.”

Unsheathing his claws, and with great speed, he slashed them across Lightpaw’s face, drawing blood and knocking her to the ground.

Asterstrike used Front Paw Strike on Lightpaw, dealing 14 damage and costing 10 stamina.

Asterstrike
95/95 HP
235/250 SP

Lightpaw
6/20 HP
80/80 SP

Lightpaw blinked. What? But Darkpaw was the dead one, not h- oh. It was an insult. "Oh, low blow." She muttered between his sentences. Dark blood spattered onto the snow as Lightpaw tumbled to the ground. She leapt to her feet and shook the blood off her muzzle. "Hey, I'm just stating facts!" She launched towards him, claws unsheathed, aiming for his throat.

Lightpaw used Front Paw Strike, dealing 6 damage and using 10 stamina!

Asterstrike
89/95 HP
235/250 SP

Lightpaw
6/20 HP
70/80 SP

Asterstrike saw the attack coming a mile away. Acting quickly, he leaped out of the way of the flying claws. ”Did you really think I’d just stand there and take it?” Claws already at the ready, he struck out a second time at the apprentice’s face, knocking her hard back to the ground.

Asterstrike used Dodge and Fight on Lightpaw, costing 15 stamina.

Asterstrike’s counterattack hit, dealing 8 damage.

Asterstrike
95/95 HP
220/250 SP

Lightpaw
0/20 HP
70/80 SP

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

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'Effect Dice' : 4

Lightpaw went flying again, this time hitting her head on the tree she had clawed mere moments ago. More blood dripped from her face, but she couldn't bring herself to try and attack again. Asterstrike, however, would. "I- I'm sorry!" She played a nervous stutter, feigning a fearful innocence. "I just- Could have saved him, but I didn't and the only way for me to come to terms with it is pretending I had to! I didn't really kill him!" Perhaps she was being a bit overdramatic, but adult cats ate that up. "You wouldn't kill an apprentice over a, heh- simple misunderstanding, would you?" Somehow, deep down, she knew Asterstrike saw through her facade, but she had to try. No, no! It would work! It made perfect sense, after all. And the daughter of such sweet cats would never kill anyone, Starclan no! Ha ha ha.... little did they know.

Lightpaw was confident she would get away with this.

The tom approached and stared down at her in silence, contemplating on what he should do to her now. He saw guilt and fear in her eyes — or rather, that’s what he would have seen if it were sincere. He was very good at reading other cats just by looking into their eyes. There was no sincerity in them. She was just scared of dying. That’s why she was apologizing.

His facial features softened, as if reconsidering killing her — and then he flipped her onto her back and pressed a paw down hard on her throat. He didn’t aim to crush her windpipe, but he did know that applying this much pressure would prevent a cat from trying to push up against the force to risk asphyxiation. ”You probably didn’t know this, kit, but ... I’ve got a little secret of my own to share.” He leaned down to whisper into Lightpaw’s ear. ”I knew it had been you who killed my brother all along. I saw you do it, when you thought you were all alone. You slashed your claws into Poppyheart’s throat, and then you made two more gashes next to them to make it look like Beartooth had done it.

“You may be asking yourself, ‘Well, if you knew all along, why didn’t you just tell anyone it was me?’ Am I right?” he continued with a hiss. ”Well, it’s simple: no cat would believe an apprentice would have killed her own Clanmate — a fully grown warrior no less. If I had said anything, you’d have been in the clear right then and there. So, I played the waiting game. I waited until you slipped up even once — and you did. And now, I can have my long-awaited karmic retribution.”

Asterstrike repositioned himself, sliding his paw on her throat up under her chin to lift her head up and expose the weak spot, the other paw pressed against her chest to keep her pinned so she couldn’t squirm away. ”You’re gonna rot away in the Dark Forest for your sins, Lightpaw. Who knows, maybe I’ll even join you one day for this murder. I dunno, and yet I don’t really care. Say hi to my step-bro for me.” Bearing his teeth, he clamped his jaw hard around the apprentice’s throat, biting down as hard as he could until he heard a sickening crunch. He only let go after she fell completely still.

Asterstrike used Killing Bite on Lightpaw, costing 10 stamina.

Lightpaw is dead.

Asterstrike
95/95 HP
210/250 SP

For a few long moments, Lightpaw thought it worked. That perhaps, Asterstrike had fallen for her performance. Alas, it was not meant to be. Instead, she found herself on her belly, Asterstrike's paw pressing on her throat. His tone changed again- cold, yet still contained his usual easygoing rhythm.

He'd seen it happen? Asterstrike had watched, in shock or rage or something, as she disposed of his brother? His explanation made sense. Except…. It didn't. No cat would take the word of an apprentice over that of a senior warrior. And Beartooth could have pointed out that he hadn't made that gash. No, that would have ensured her fate. And after all, no cat was that good an actor. Even Asterstrike. For a moment to send a cat away, sure, but moons? Asterstrike only wanted to scare her, and Lightpaw refused to let that happen.

"No," She hissed. "We both know you didn't see. You just don't want to admit you were fooled." For the rest of his speech, Lightpaw was waiting for claws to spill her blood. Obviously, Asterstrike wanted her to hear everything. An ominous end gave her the feeling she was about to die, so she blurted out, "I may not be sorry, but tell Mama I am." Oh, Starclan, that was too sappy! And mama? That was so kitlike. She opened her maw one more time, and began to speak-

Only for Asterstrike's jaws to clamp down. Her last moments were filled with a dreamlike pain, before finally the world faded. Was this how Darkpaw felt? It was prolonged of a sort. Everything had stopped existing. When did that happen? Her eyes flicked up to see the bloodstained claw marks on the mighty pine. She fell limp, vision finally disappearing with all the rest of her senses. But very briefly, her mind still ran. This should have happened a long time ago. It should have been Darkpaw to survive. And maybe Scorchedbird. She didn't know him as much as she probably should have. Oh well. All's well that ends well. At least she'd made an impact. Now, though, she was tired. So she went to sleep, having forgotten why.

Lightpaw wasn't going to wake up this time.

Lightpaw is dead.