Darkening Shadows

Ashpaw dashed through the forest, trees blurring on either side of her. She skidded to a stop when she found a spot suitable for hunting. The ground beneath her paws was covered with soft pine needles, muffling her paw steps. She was there to hunt for her clan, to do everything she could to help the sick cats who had caught the deadly plague. A black crow cawed from a nearby tree as if signaling the death of those who had gotten the illness StarClan had sent. Snarling angrily, Ashpaw vowed one day she would kill that crow, her fury making her want to do impossible things. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she glanced around, scanning the nearby shadows for signs of movement.

There!

A bush rustled as something brushed against it. Ashpaw squinted, trying to see what it was. Suddenly, a realization struck her. That was too big to be prey. It was either another cat or a predator. She relaxed slightly when she understood that it could have been her clanmate, but tensed again when she imagined it was a raccoon. She wouldn't be able to fight it off alone.

She felt like jumping into a river when another realization slapped her in the face. She forgot to use her nose. And her common sense, but whatever. Raising her nose, Ashpaw sniffed the air and a scent assaulted her nose. ShadowClan. She let out a sigh of relief, relaxing her tense muscles. She hadn't realized she'd crouched into a defensive position. "Who is it?" she called softly, wanting to know who it was while afraid she would scare away the prey if she was too loud.

Ebonypaw was stalking a mouse. I must hunt for my Clan. She thought, promising herself that she wouldn’t lose this mouse. As she padded closer and closer, her tail accidentally brushed up against a bush, causing it to shake. Ebonypaw froze, and so did the mouse. It squeaked in fear, then scampered away quickly. Ebonypaw sighed in frustration, then suddenly, she heard another voice. “Who is it?” A soft voice called out. Must be a loner or a fellow ShadowClanner. Ebonypaw took a deep breath, then walked through the bush.

"Ebonypaw." Ashpaw greeted neutrally, not letting any emotions show. It was the annoying she-cat who had bugged her when she was still a kit. Not that Ebonypaw had done anything bad, Ashpaw just didn't like her, because the other apprentice rubbed her fur the wrong way. She raised an invisible eyebrow. "How's the hunting going?" she asked, still keeping her emotions under wrap, knowing Ebonypaw had missed her catch earlier. Hopefully, Ebonypaw didn't realize how freaked out she had been moments before. She would put aside her dislike for the other apprentice for now, because they needed to work towards the same goal: feeding their clan. "I'm hunting here," she nodded at the clearing. "If you don't mind, could you hunt somewhere else?"

Ebonypaw felt speechless again. She wasn’t the type of cat to clap back. She was more of the quite, “ok fine” type of cat. She pressed down her rage, then turned away from Ashpaw. “Ok then. I can catch more prey somewhere else anyways.” She replied mildly. The Clan needs food, and I’m going to get my Clan food, with or without another cat’s help. Ebonypaw thought with determination. “Well, I guess bye then.”

Ashpaw dipped her head, keeping her tone polite. "Thank you." At least Ebonypaw wasn't purposely annoying her into one of her tempers like she tried to when they were kits. She was usually able to suppress her anger, but it wasn't a good idea to play with her emotions. She turned away from the other apprentice, still hiding her emotions behind closed doors. "We can make it a race. See who catches the most prey." she mewed in a monotone. Ashpaw knew she had been cold to Ebonypaw, probably the reason why they hated each other right now, so she hoped she could soothe the dark gray apprentice into making friends. With someone else, of course. It wasn't good for Ebonypaw to be close to her. Ashpaw would probably say something horrible and scare her into fearing making friends for the rest of her life. She didn't need that guilt on her conscience.

“Oh um sure.” Ebonypaw was a decent hunter, but she didn’t know about Ashpaw. Ashpaw seemed much fitter than she was. She spotted a toad croaking nearby. She scrunched her nose together. Toads weren’t her favorite, she much preferred mice and birds more, but she knew a couple of cats that preferred toad over other prey. Ebonypaw started to stalk it. Slowly but surely, she reached a mouse tail away from the toad. Then she pounced. She slammed it onto the ground, stunning it, then killed it with a final blow at the head. She turned towards Ashpaw. “You can kill it with a bite at the neck, but I like to kill it with a blow at the head. It’s easier, and way less messier.” Why am I giving pointers at a cat who’s probably better at hunting than I am? Ebonypaw thought. She used to be rude to me too, so why am I trying to be friendly? Ebonypaw thought that it was probably because she was lonely and wanted to make friends.
 

Ebonypaw attempted to catch a toad, catch was successful! It cost her three SP

Ebonypaw: 
77/80 (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

ooc: hope y'all dont mind me tossing red in here, she needs the patrol req

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Redwolf had followed Ashpaw out of camp when her appentice had taken off and out of her sight. She was confident that Ashpaw could hunt by herself, and that if any trouble arose, she'd be close enough to lend a paw. She followed the track that Ashpaw had taken, the sounds of her meeting one of her denmates in the forest meeting her ears. Satisfied that Ashpaw was safe for the time being, the red-pelted she-cat went in a new direction, searching for prey to bring back to camp. The sounds of a rodent met he ears and the scent crossed her nose, and she dropped into a crouch, slowly stalking her prey. When she felt she was close enough, she pounced.

Before the mouse could even squeal, she found her mark, and she ended the mouse's life with a quick nip to the back if its neck.

Redwolf attempted to hunt a mouse. She was successful.

Redwolf:
40/40 HP
117/120 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

Ashpaw nodded at Ebonypaw's tip despite the fact that she usually killed prey exactly that way. She flicked her ears backward when she heard a noise behind her. Turning to look, she saw a flash of red and the scent of ShadowClan. It was probably her mentor, Redwolf, with the brightly colored pelt Ashpaw would recognize anywhere.

She gave herself a mental jab. Right, hunting. She scanned her surroundings for prey, dropping into a hunting crouch when she spotted a small shadow. Looking forward to sinking her claws into something soft, she grinned ferociously. Checking that the wind was blowing towards her, Ashpaw crept forward, making sure her paw steps were light, she didn't step on something that would make noise, and her tail wouldn't brush against anything. Slowly, she stalked the unsuspecting lizard and pounced, killing it with a swift blow to its head. She picked up the lizard's limp body by its tail and dropped it near the root of a nearby tree before scraping some pine needles onto its body. Straightening, she looked around for more movement that would signal prey.

Ashpaw attempted to hunt a lizard.

Ashpaw:
20/20 HP
77/80 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Ebonypaw nodded at Ashpaw. Even though they started off on the wrong foot, Ebonypaw really thought that it was impressive. Suddenly, Ebonypaw spotted a bird on a branch on the pine tree to her left. The branch seemed a bit high, but she knew that it was only in her mind. Slowly but surely, she hooked her claws on the bark of the tree, climbing up slowly. The tricky part was trying not to slip and scare the bird. Ebonypaw was no ThunderClan or SkyClan cat, and this was her first time catching a bird. She padded lightly across the branch. Waiting for the perfect timing, she leaped, pinning the bird’s wings under her paws so that it wouldn’t escape. Then, she killed it with a strong blow at the head. Then, she slowly scrambled down the pine tree, burying the bird in the ground so that she would fetch it later. 

Ebonypaw attempted to catch a bird, catch was successful.

Ebonypaw:
SP: 74/80 (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Ashpaw padded silently a bit further from Ebonypaw, not wanting to hunt in the same area. Scanning her surroundings, a flicker of movement caught her eye and she froze, looking at the shadows. Its scent hit her, and she dropped into another hunting crouch.

Mouse. And it was nibbling on a seed near the root of a tree, unaware that it was being hunted.

Ashpaw grinned maliciously, enjoying the thrill of the hunt. After confirming that the wind was blowing in the right direction, Ashpaw crept forward, keeping her paw steps light. The mouse was trapped beneath her paws, and killed with a nip at the neck. Another perfect kill caught flawlessly without any errors. The limp body of the mouse was soon dropped and buried next to the lizard she had caught before, and she marveled at the number of prey that had been there. One last piece of prey, and I'll head back to camp. she thought, They'll probably need it soon.

Ashpaw attempted to hunt a mouse.

Ashpaw:
20/20 HP
74/80 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2