The Night is Yours Alone [closed]

'Thornstar sure was a busy lady.'

Frecklepaw's mind had been wandering for the last few moments, and eventually, that was where it landed. Her mentor hardly had the time to train as often as the small apprentice liked, but she was almost certain that she wished to go out more than any normal warrior would be able to manage anyway. Her small paws left indentions in the snow as she padded towards the warrior's den, seeking to find Thornstar's son and deputy, who was supposedly taking her out for a patrol today. Her eagerness to get out and explore had overcome her will to be patient, so she was slightly early- surely he wouldn't mind. Peeking her head inside, she spared a glance at the sleeping warriors, and whispered quietly, "Er, Flintshard? It's patrol time, I think?" She hadn't meant for it to be a question, but she wasn't entirely sure how else to say it.

Flintshard hadn't been asleep. He had...Trouble, sleeping a lot of time even if he rarely mentioned it to others. He could work with what sleep he did get and it wasn't easy to try to figure out how to make it more manageable. And so he laid in his nest, nose buried beneath the fluffy mess that was his tail and simply listened to the faint, stirring breathing of his sleeping Clanmates. That was until a voice, familiar, called his name. His eyes flickered open as he sat upright, peering at the entrance of the den to see...Frecklepaw, was it? His mother's apprentice. ...Ah, right. He had forgotten that he had been tasked to train her - Thornstar nearly sick with worry over the fact that Frostpaw hadn't been seen in a while along with the general work that being a leader entailed.

He nodded his head in silence acknowledgement of Frecklepaw, pushing himself to his paws as he padded over and easily brushed past the tiny apprentice. Freed from the cramp den, he stretched out his limbs, giving his pelt a fine shake to fluff it against the cold, leaf-bare air. "Come along then," he meowed, wasting no more time as he moved to lead Frecklepaw from the camp. He wasn't rather eager to be doing this but he had agreed to take Frecklepaw off of his mother's paws for a short while. Besides, he supposed the fresh air was always nice and keeping tabs on the apprentices' training was now his duty.

Frecklepaw backed away quickly as the large warrior pushed out of his den, careful not to trip him with her long tail. She bounded after him eagerly, smiling up at him regardless of whether or not he was actually looking. "Soooo, are we hunting today? Thornstar taught me the whole crouch thing already, I can do it." She hoped that they would be hunting- she'd truthfully only ever hunted once, but she had to practice, right? And what better time to do it than now, so that she could show Thornstar how much she'd improved later on. The thought that they might encounter another patrol didn't even worry her in the slightest- if they did, then obviously the other Clans were doing something wrong since they were only supposed to hunt during the day. Shrugging her shoulders, she followed after Flintshard, careful with each paw step.

Flintshard's ear twitched as Frecklepaw broke the silence, clearly having far more energy than the deputy could really ever muster. He hadn't put much thought into what they were to be doing, he was just to distracted her for some time. Hunting sounded simple enough, he could judge her progress - of course he imaged an apprentice trained by Thornstar herself would be perfectly fine. "...Yes, we are hunting," he meowed, slightly awkwardly as he tried to hide the fact that he had simply decided upon that because of her suggestion. "Lets see what you can do," he said, coming to a slight stop as he gave a look around. Yes, this would be a perfect hunting spot. He turned his gaze onto Frecklepaw, settling down as he waited to see how well she could sneak. He imagined with her small frame and lithe body that she wouldn't have any trouble keeping silence and hidden. But for as much as ShadowClan praised that skill, it was only part of what was needed to hunt.

Smiling at the deputy's choice, Frecklepaw trotted along at his side, stopping abruptly when he did. Her face fell just slightly when he settled, waiting for her to make her move. She'd failed to mention that she'd never hunted on her own, only with the assistance of Thornstar by her side. Well... she had to at some point, right? Nodding her head, she dropped into the crouch that Thornstar had drilled into her mind, muscle memory taking over as she sniffed the air. Just to the west of where the pair had begun, the faint smell of a vole caught her attention. With a grin, she noted that it was downwind as well. Slowly, she approached it until she was close enough to pounce. There was hardly even a sound as she landed on top of it, quickly ending its life and turning to face Flintshard proudly with the prey dangling from her jaw.

Frecklepaw successfully caught a vole, using -5 Stamina Points.

Frecklepaw:
20/20 HP
75/80 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Flintshard watched Frecklepaw carefully, missing her fallen expression and hesitation as he simply waited for her to start hunting. Her crouch was good, perfect - he expected nothing less from his mother's apprentice. As something caught her attention, Flintshard tasted the air himself to try to pick up what she was staling, the scent of a vole reaching him. He raised his head, scouting the area until he spotted its light brown pelt neatly hidden in the shadows. The apprentice moved slowly, carefully...And soon enough, was holding the now dead vole in her mouth. A successful catch. "Good," he said, pushing onto his paws as he padded over to give the vole a gentle sniff and closer inspection. Satisfied, he gave a soft nod of his head.

"Find somewhere to bury it until we head back. You did good. Hunt some more on your own, but don't wander far and be careful. I do not want to have to return to the camp and explain to Thornstar that something tragic happened to her apprentice on my watch," he grunted with a flicker of his tail, dismissing her to head off on her own. "If you see trouble, call out," he summarized as he paused to give her one last look before he turned and limped off. He, truth be told, wasn't expecting things to go well when it came to hunting for him. He had discovered that the coldness of Leaf-Bare not only made prey scarce but hunting quietly nearly impossible at times. The marshy ground was frozen and cracked easily under a misplaced paw. With his limp, it made it even harder to move silently...But there wasn't a point in not trying. He could only hope that Basilpaw would have better luck if things weren't on his side.

As if to prove his point, Flintshard had just taken notice of a mouse when a faint cracking sound echoed beneath him. He watched as it raced off, giving a huff as he looked down to see that he had managed to tread on a stick - having not been bothering to be rather careful as he hadn't been actively stalking something. He shook his head, dropping into a crouch as he continued to stalk forward - deciding that perhaps it was worth at least trying to be quiet even without a prey in sight.

Flintshard missed a mouse, costing 5 stamina.

Flintshard
95/95 HP
245/250 SP

The member 'Honey Badger' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

Frecklepaw was practically beaming as she nodded, turning around to bury the prey where they had begun. Her light brown paws were covered in thick, cold mud, but she didn't mind. Listening closely, the petite apprentice swished her tail lightly as he mentioned going off on her own... Something she also hadn't done yet. After Flintshard turned around to stalk his own prey, she released a breath that she hadn't yet realized she was holding. Sniffing the air, she dropped into a crouch immediately when a brown lizard caught her eye. Despite the darkness, she was able to see it against the dark-colored wood. Without a second thought, she leaped once again. Just like before, she landed directly on top of it and it was over before she knew it, and she headed back before she buried it alongside the vole.

Frecklepaw successfully caught a lizard, using -5 Stamina Points.

Frecklepaw:
20/20 HP
70/80 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Being far more mindful of his steps, Flintshard eyes remained focused on the path ahead of him. As he moved past a slight clearing, something caught his attention. His gaze shifted over, barely making out the shadow of a frog beneath the surface of the nearby pool. He wasn't one for getting his paws wet. He didn't mind the mud but to actually go diving into a dirty puddle for prey...Tsk, he supposed it was worth it. He rocked backwards before he sprung, sailing through the air before... Thuck. There was a moment of confusion as his paws hit solid...Before sliding as he struggled to catch himself on the sleek surface. A soft chatter of confusion escaped him as he leaned down, certain that he saw a frog beneath him but...Why couldn't he get to it? He pawed at the surface, claws doing its best to peal away at it but...Nothing. His ears twitched, slowly drawing backwards as he gave it a strange look before he turned and carefully stepped from the pool's surface, nearly sliding onto his belly a couple times. He hesitated, staring at the frog before he huffed, not wanting to waste any more time on that mystery as he turned to head back in the direction of Frecklepaw.

He...Would not be mentioning that to her if she asked how things went.

Flintshard missed a frog, costing 5 stamina.

Flintshard
95/95 HP
240/250 SP

The member 'Honey Badger' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

Excitedly, Frecklepaw continued on her way. She'd be sure to tell Thornstar all about how she caught her prey, and she'd definitely elaborate on her she made sure to keep herself downwind. The soft movement of yet another piece of prey caused her to stop in her tracks, crouching to where her belly nearly touched the ground as she slowly moved closer, aware of her paws as she moved. Just before she pounced, the mouse realized her presence... But it was too late. She was sure to send a prayer to StarClan as she headed back once more to bury her catch.

Frecklepw successfully caught a mouse, using -5 Stamina Points.

Frecklepaw:
20/20 HP
65/80 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Flintshard came to a halt as he took in a deep breath, catching the scent of something nearby. He...Didn't recognize it. It didn't smell like any prey that he knew and that was a dangerous thing. He glanced off in the direction with narrowed eyes, before the flicker of movement stole his attention away. A squirrel had come to a stop not far from him, blissfully unaware and it wasn't an opportunity that he could pass up. Ignoring the strange scent, he dropped into a crouch and stalked forward before he  made his leap...And actually caught something this time. The squirrel's life was quickly snuffed out beneath his paws and he picked it up gently, a bit relieved that he wasn't making a complete fool of himself. He turned and kept on his way...Soon coming to where he had last seen Frecklepaw.

He dropped the squirrel, the unfamiliar scent reaching his nose again as he glanced off in the general direction of it. What was that? Hm... His musing was cut short as Frecklepaw returned, a mouse hanging in her jaws. "Good work," he said with a slight nod to her. "Dig up whatever else you caught, I think its time we..." he drifted off, a rattling sound catching his ear. It was a strange rattling, unable to even take a guess of what could be causing it until a strange creature finally broke through the undergrowth. He...Wasn't even sure what to call the thing, covered in what almost looked like giant thorns as it came to a stop. Slowly, it started to raise up its tail and fan out the thorns...Quills.

A soft growl escaped him as he took a step forward. "Frecklepaw, get behind me!" he ordered, trying to judge the creature. He had a feeling it wasn't friendly and was ready to defend itself...And he was ready to defend Frecklepaw. With a grunt, he launched himself forward and struck the beast's head. It drew back with a screech, before it spun its body. Flintshard was forced back as it struck him, pain flickering through him and he was surprised to see that a few of its quills were stuck into his pelt, into his skin. He glanced down at them, looking, if anything, slightly bothered by the presences of the sharp quills in his body. Well...This wasn't going to be a pleasant fight, was it?

Flintshard used Jumping Strike on wild porcupine, dealing 15 damage and costing 20 stamina.
Wild Porcupine used Quill Shield on Flintshard, dealing 20 damage and costing 30 stamina.

Flintshard
75/95 HP (-20)
220/250 SP (-20)

Porcupine
75/90 HP (-15)
420/450 SP (-30)