Break of Dawn [Dawnpaw]

Smokefeather stirred awake, blinking up at the sunlight that broke past the woven reeds of the den. Carefully she stretched, trying to avoid disturbing Bloodstrike who slept beside her as she did so. They'd gone on a hunt the night before, and it had yielded more prey than they'd ever caught in twolegplace even with the pair being distracted by other things.

Grief, dealing with the officially-mentorless Dustpaw, Their own apprentices... Trying not to step on toes in the overcrowded Riverclan camp... Beechpaw had wound up the newest medicine cat apprentice, and how Sagelight had cajoled their firstborn into that, Smokefeather still wasn't quite sure. Beechpaw hadn't been particularly talkative when she and Bloodstrike had asked, and neither had been up to trying to argue it out of her. She was frustrated, Smokefeather and Bloodstrike were frustrated. That conversation could wait until things were calmer, at least.

With a shake of her head (not that it helped clear her thoughts), Smokefeather pushed her way out of the den, gray-green eyes searching for one of the Skyclan apprentices. Helping train them was something she could do without wanting to rip her fur off, at least. And training would provide a distraction and just might keep her own thoughts at bay for at least a little longer.

Still, it took a while to even find one of her own clanmates. It seemed like Riverclan had an endless amount of apprentices. So many apprentices that their leader had at least three, from what Smokefeather could tell. That was all well and good, but they weren't Skyclan and weren't her responsibility to train. The camp was crowded at best, and Smokefeather was sure the Skyclanners wanted out just as much as she did.

A pale silver and gold form caught her eye, and Smokefeather couldn't help a soft smile briefly flicking across her tired face as she spotted her son. They hadn't spent much time together recently, maybe now would be a good time to start again.

"Dawnpaw!" She called, flicking her tail and turning toward the camp entrance. He'd get the message to follow her, she was sure.

Dawnpaw had basically... not stopped moving since they got here. He had to run over to one place, check it out, sniff all over it, then run to another and rinse, lather, repeat. Riverclan territory was dope! Not to mention all of the Riverclan she-cats were fairly smokin' hot. He spent his time fulfilling his duties of course, but any amount of free time he had and he was off exploring. Any time he passed some Riverclan she-cats his eyes would wander, but so far he hadn't been caught eyeing them like fresh pheasant breast.

When Smokefeather had called to him, he had just dropped off a vole onto the fresh-kill pile. He had arrived into the camp with his chest out, shoulders back and head high as he passed by a few Riverclan apprentices, maybe not so sneakily trying to catch their eye. He had pivoted on his heel to go out for more food when Smokefeather's voice reached his ears. He halted in place and stared, hiding his bewilderment quite well.

Of course the first she-cat to want me to sneak away with her is my mom... He thought with a disappointed sigh, but he followed her anyway. She probably wanted help hunting or something. Still, he wasn't about to leave any kind of bad impression on any Riverclan babes that might be watching. He strode after his mother with confidence and the same sure-footed-ness that his father possessed... even though Bloodstrike had had very different reasons for strolling through foreign territory like an absolute boss.

As soon as they were out of sight of any other cats, Dawnpaw's posture melted back down to a normal one and he looked at his mother with a much softer gaze.

"What's up, mom?" He asked, wondering exactly what it was she wanted.

Smokefeather's whiskers twitched as her son stopped and looked at her. Her kits were at that age where they wanted to rely less on their parents, yearning for independence and becoming a warrior. A visit from his mother probably wasn't what Dawnpaw had been expecting today. With everything going on, she'd hardly had time to spend with Dawnpaw and Beechpaw that hadn't been interrupted by fighting giant, unholy dogs or been among a patrol of several cats, but she'd managed to catch at least one of them now, which was good.

"I thought we could get out of the overcrowded camp for a bit." She said, continuing to lead him away from camp and towards a stand of beech trees not far off, "Thought maybe we could spar, since fighting a clanmate seems to be something you and your sister seem to enjoy so much." Smokefeather left no doubt as to which sister she was referring to. Primrosepaw wasn't it, the young she-cat was as sweet as one could get, and didn't enjoy sparring. She understood that she had to learn it, but Smokefeather was confident she would never resort to violence if there was a peaceful solution to be had. Dustpaw, while volatile, wasn't one to attack her clanmates either. She had thought Dawnpaw and Beechpaw weren't the sort either.

They had never gotten along, even as kits, always squabbling over something. Smokefeather had hpoed that maturity and distance with their mentors would solve their petty differences. Evidently she'd been wrong.

"Care to explain why?" Smokefeather turned sharp eyes to her son now, voice deceptively soft.

Dawnpaw honestly... pretty much forgot about Beechpaw and him getting into a nasty scrap at one point. Because you know... there had been like... a fire. And Bloodstrike getting all up in the grill of the leader of all cats. Not to mention that he and Beechpaw fought a stray rogue together. Got tore up mind you, but did it regardless. So Dawnpaw at first did not register what his mother might have been referring to. As a matter of fact, his attention was caught more on the word spar. He and his mom? Dawnpaw's stomach soured a bit at the thought. The last thing he wanted to do was raise claws at his mother, and not just because she could one heck of a disciplinarian when she wanted to be. He loved his mother. There was something inside him that, of all the things he tortured and hurt for funsies, his mother was not to be touched ever.

After a few seconds though... the realization of what his mother had been referring to crept back to the forefront of his mind.

Ooohhhh..... that.... His ears rotated back and his tail flicked. He inhaled deeply and let out a very long, loud sigh and let a few moments of silence pass between them.

"You know..." He began softly and met his mother's gaze carefully. "I had a whole speech planned out for Spottedstar, Wolfcall, you and dad. I had it all planned out for weeks waiting for some kind of back lash that never came... and you know what?" He straightened up his posture and walked a little bit taller. "I don't remember a single Stars-Cursed word of it. As a matter of fact... I don't even really remember what our fight was about." He furrowed his brow and thought for a moment. His tail tip twitched and his eyes scanned the ground as if the answer would be there. Oh right... he was worried Beechpaw was going to open her fat blabbering mouth about him going to Thunderclan territory and may or may not have been trying to get warm and cozy with a pretty Thunderclan she-cat. What was her name...?

He couldn't remember, but he was not about to tell his mother anything about that. Assuming she hadn't caught how he was behaving towards the Riverclan she-cats.

"I chased a Thunderclan apprentice off of our territory and crossed the border on accident. She made assumptions and was going to go tell everyone I crossed over with her just because. As soon as I realized I had crossed the border I left the Thunderclan girl alone and then ran into Beechpaw. I figured, 'You know what? I'm getting in trouble anyway. I might as well pull some of her fur out, go up to Spottedstar with a little swagger and take my punishment with both my head and my tail way, way up." Mildly true. Mostly true even. And it was something he absolutely would do had he gotten in any real trouble for that incident.

Actually, his mom was probably not going to be happy. So... he may as well do the thing he had imagined in his head so many times. She was about to pound him into the dirt no doubt... Time for his Dignity Dance!

He bounded ahead of his... probably not amused parental figure and started to prance like a trained dancing horse from Germany. He high-stepped rhythmically to create the closest thing he could to a beat with his paws hitting the ground a little harder than normal. His chin was as high as it could go with his shoulders rolled back. Even his back was arced to stretch his neck and his tail that much higher, and his tail tip was already pointed up towards the heavens.

What came next was, albeit an inappropriate time to start singing, a captivating singing voice for a fresh teenage tom like himself. His voice was smooth, his pitch fluctuated confidently and without any adolescent cracking. He used his gut to project the sound to be loud and clear and his mouth formed the words for maximum clarity and sound.


Yes. Yes he was seriously trying to butter her up. Even if he was performing terribly (which he most certainly wasn't), maybe it would be enough to get a chuckle out of her and get her into a slightly less irritated mood. Was it a long shot? Maybe, but he had been waiting for an opportunity to display this song and dance routine and he just... never got the chance because he never actually got in trouble. He thought he did pretty well for an "on the fly" performance.

Now to see what Smokefeather thought....


OOC: Disclaimer, I did not come up with this song, just tweaked the real version a bit to match WCC both for IC reasons and in accordance with WCC rules. Thanks!

Smokefeather calmly watched her son, and let out a quiet, nearly inaudible sigh as he began speaking. He wasn't denying the fight, that was good. Still, something in his response told her that his words weren't quite the truth.

Beechpaw was honest, often brutally so at time. She didn't hide emotions, and was prone to lashing out in anger. All things the large tabby freely admitted to when asked. Yet Beechpaw would never lie about something so serious just because. Stars, the she-cat could hardly lie by omission from what Smokefeather could tell. She wore her emotions plainly on her face, and lacked the common sense to abstain from confronting others when her temper was roused.

What had led up to the fight wasn't really the issue, as far as Smokefeather was concerned. They were apprentices, young, impulsive.

"Whether or not you were seeing a she-cat or drove a Thunderclanner off of Skyclan territory isn't the issue, Dawnpaw." Smokefeather sighed, "But you can't go around attacking your own sister. She's your clanmate. You two need to learn to tolerate each other. You aren't harmless kits anymore. Having disagreements is fine, not liking each other is fine too. You two can avoid each other all you want. But leave the claws for our actual enemies, not for petty squabbles among family."

Dawnpaw pranced in front of her before she could continue, and Smokefeather's ears flattened in irritation as he began to sing, of all things. Brat. She thought.

"You sing well. Trying to get out of sparring?" She asked, whiskers twitching slightly, though some of the irritation had indeed faded from her gaze.

Not that that meant he'd gotten away without sparring with her, yet.

Well, he had tried. His song and dance routine hadn't done much to soothe his mother's irritation. Even though she had complimented him, she was still wanting to kick the crap out of him. Well... fine then. Dawnpaw sighed.

"I get into it a little bit with my sister and I'm in trouble. Did she ever get punished or is all of this attention for me and for me alone?" He growled a little bit. With that note, he spread his paws evenly apart and looked his mother in the eye.

"You wanna fight, I'll fight you. Come kick the crap out of me mom!" He said with some snark, but there was plenty of affection in his tone as well. Still, he couldn't quite get the nerve to attack his mother first. Partially because he loved her and would never want to hurt her, and partially because his dad would literally pin him down and pull his head away from his body if he dared lay claws on his mother for real.

"That's enough." Her tone sharpened once more at Dawnpaw's words, an irritated expression crossing her face as he asked if Beechpaw was being punished as well. Bratty, pain in her tail, stubborn kits. Where had she gone wrong as a parent?

Sparring with Beechpaw wouldn't be a punishment for her. That much was... obvious, painfully so. She viewed being a medicine cat as punishment enough, and there was a small part of Smokefeather that thought the clan was being punished with that move even more. Impulsive, claws-first Beechpaw, a medicine cat? Still, Smokefeather would do what she could to support her kit. She'd seen how much work Sagelight took upon himself, and had been happy that the older tom had an apprentice once more. Beechpaw would have to learn to accept it, eventually. Hopefully Bloodstrike would have more luck getting through to their ever-frustrated daughter than she had.

Sparring with Dawnpaw might actually teach him something. Or knock him down a peg or two.

"Your father is dealing with Beechpaw. Both of you are lucky that other problems were and are more concerning than a petty squabble between littermates." With that, Smokefeather launched herself forward. Her claws remained sheathed, and she would never dream of actually harming him, but Smokefeather would treat him exactly as she treated her own apprentice in a spar. Her ears flattened and she deliberately kept her tail close to the rest of her body.

Smokefeather used Jumping Strike for -20sp, dealing -12 damage.

Smokefeather
60 / 60 hp
180 / 200 sp (200 - 20)

Dawnpaw
8 / 20 hp (20 - 12)
80 / 80 sp

Dawnpaw thought highly of himself for sure, but he was far from unintelligent. He knew he didn't have the experience to beat his mom or his dad in combat. Still, he would always at least try. Bloodstrike had taught him that much and had warned him even that running was disgraceful and should be avoided if possible. Dawnpaw still hadn't been expecting the sudden rush forward from his mother, as it seemed like there was going to be more to the conversation than there was.

He jumped deftly to the side and avoided her paws, but barely had enough time to try to make some very minor attack back at her. A quick smack over the ears, but with his claws sheathed as well. He back-pedaled away from her after that, knowing that he was now too close to dodge a second blow.

"I catch rabbits mom." He teased at her with a smug grin that he knew was going to be wiped off of his face at some point, but oh well. He was gonna do what he was gonna do while he could do it. "You'll have to put forth a little more effort than that." He taunted, his tail flicking in excitement behind him.

And I'm not Beechpaw... But he didn't dare say that out loud, at least.

Dawnpaw used Dodge and Fight, successfully dodging and counter-attacking, dealing 3 damage and -15SP

Dawnpaw
20HP / 65SP (-15SP)

Smokefeather
57HP / 60SP (-3HP)

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

---

'Effect Dice' : 5

Dawnpaw had chosen to dodge, and Smokefeather couldn't help the approval that briefly flashed in her eyes as he managed to land a blow across her ears. It wasn't a great hit and nothing that would have kept her from moving away, but for all of her current irritation, her son wasn't entirely mousebrained.

"Are you going to just sit there? One hardly-felt smack won't do much, kit." She countered. And oh, how Smokefeather wished for the trees of Skyclan territory, with their sturdy branches she could leap from with ease. Unfortunately, this was Riverclan's starforsaken piece of land, so there would be no dropping on her opponent from above.

Instead, Smokefeather darted behind Dawnpaw. He wasn't the only one who could put on a burst of speed in the family. She'd yank sharply on his tail, aiming to pull him off balance.

Smokefeather used Tail Yank for -10sp, doing -6 damage.

Smokefeather
57 / 60 hp
170 / 200 sp (180 - 10)

Dawnpaw
14 / 20 hp (20 - 6)
65 / 80 sp