Hope Has No Place Here (Nightstriker Training)

"Come along, little ones," Theron purred as she glanced over her shoulder, leading her small group of Rank Ones to a corner of the camp. It was time to start training - teaching them what it meant to be a Nightstriker, along with starting their more intensive battle training. Perhaps a little hunting as well - as a treat, not that it was to be their job. But the skills that came to hunting, could be used well when one was hunting their own. "Ah, you three are already here, perfect," she meowed as she reached the area she had claimed for their training for today - a trio of cats waiting her. One was already well known to the kits, Roe, although his back was turned as he was bent over something. Instead, the two who did take notice were a pair of brown cats - one darker than the other, but both with creamy white spots across their pelts. 

"So, this is 'em?" the male of the duo rumbled, leaning to glance at the kits that followed after his Captain. "...Pretty small, aren't they?"

"Oh shush, Alois," the she-cat hissed softly, raising a paw to whack him on the shoulder. Her orange eyes narrowed as she sighed. "They are only five moons old, of course they are small."

Alois winced, frowning as he looked at his sister. "I-I didn't mean anything by it! I was just saying..."

Theron rolled her eyes, although there was a smile on her face. "Perhaps, but they will be proper Nightstrikers in due time. Play nice with them, Alois. I don't want Locust hounding my tail because you can't wrap your head around the size of children and are too rough." Alois pouted, but the Captain paid him no mind as she raised her head to look over them at Roe. "...And Roe? Did you bring it?"

"Hm?" Roe jolted, glancing up from the black and white pelt that was stretched out in front of him. "Oh! Yes, I've brought it. Do you want it now or...?"

She shook her head, flickering a tail at him. "No, no. I will wear it when we get to that part in the training...First..." She turned, her attention falling back onto the new Nightstrikers she had brought with her. "You four, line up. As I've explained, we will be starting your training today. We will first cover what it means to be a Nightstriker and the code we hold ourselves to - then, we will work on expanding your skills. But that brings me to our...Guests," she said, motioning toward the three Nightstrikers. "This is Alois, Lexine and Roe, although you are already aware of Roe. They are members of my strike force - which I will explain more about in a short bit - and will help me oversee your trainings."

One crimson stained paw was put ahead of the other. It was about the only thing Dawnhawk could keep focus on as he dragged the scarlet carcass by his teeth. The fox weighed a little more than he himself did and the young gold and ivory tom could feel it in his blood-soaked legs. They handled the weight well at first, but as time went on his muscles strained and were on the verge of seizing as he neared the Asylum territory. He'd had to stop for a quick rest a few times, his sides heaving with the labor of his breath. Still, Dawnhawk had a determination that few cats had. He would drag the one-eared fox to the Asylum territory if it killed him. He had inherited that from Bloodstrike at least, though Dawnhawk certainly wished he'd inherited his father's size and strength along with it.

It took the tom almost two full days to drag the fox carcass to the Asylum territory, between the resting, the hunting for bits of prey to keep him going and the breaks for water. He was grateful that it was leaf-bare and fairly cold so that he didn't have to fight the heat on top of all of this. The cold had been his ally as well with keeping scents fairly contained. The mud on the other hand... Dawnhawk hated it. He hated how it looked on him and his new fox suit, but he understood that it was important to hide himself and everything that he was up to. The Asylum cats wouldn't like it if he attracted all four clans to their headquarters by way of fox and feline blood trails.

Once he finally had the Asylum camp in his sights, he felt another burst of energy and a boost of his morale. This would be something for them to see. If they had any doubts about his abilities before, they wouldn't by the time he got in there. Dawnhawk dug his determined paws into the ground and pushed off with powerful leg muscles to haul the fox in. He caught Theron's voice instructing the kits too...

Perfect... He thought to himself, giving his full effort in the final leg of this journey. As Dawnhawk dragged the fox in by it's throat, he didn't meet anyone's eyes. The one-eared fox was the same one that had killed Skyclan's medicine cat, Sagelight, and whose left ear had been removed by his father no less. Dawnhawk had wanted this fox specifically to wear, should he ever go to do battle with Skyclan on the Nightstriker's behalf.

A perfect symbolism of cutting them away from Starclan... First the fox kills their only fully fledged medicine cat, and then that same fox's hide turns the son of the deputy into a Nightstriker. There was no better option.

Dawnhawk himself looked far more feral than his father did when they were in Riverclan territory. While Bloodstrike had been cold-expressioned and his pelt had been greasy and unkempt, Dawnhawk was covered head to toe in mud and blood. His eyes held a ferocity in them more intense than the forest fire that destroyed Skyclan's territory. Dawnhawk eventually dropped the fox's head with a thump onto the ground and he stared at Theron with determined, unblinking eyes while he panted for breath.

"I brought mine... it just needs to be formed now..." His eyes scanned over the kits that were to be trained today too. Though the looks were quick, Dawnhawk sent the kits a clear message with his eyes alone: I am better than you, and this is just one reason why. Not that he felt the kits would be much competition for him even as they got older. He had quite a head start on them already and was determined to keep it that way. He did notice Blazingkit among them, but was careful not to stare for too long. His eyes were back on Theron shortly after looking at the kits.

"I want to stay for the lesson. I need to learn too."

Katana eagerly followed behind Theron, pace swift and eyes filled with readiness. It was finally time for training and she had been roaring to get right into it. She wasn't exactly sure what they'd be learning today but what she did know was that it was going to be great.

Once they arrived, three other cats stood a few ways away, one of them already familiar to her. She liked Roe and was glad that he was here to join them. The other two... she wasn't really sure about. However, she found their little interactions to be quite amusing, even if the tom had kinda insulted them. The she-kit wasted no time in following the order to line up once it was given. Training was surly about to start!

Okay. Maybe it wasn't about to start but she could wait a little longer. Besides, Theron was introducing the other cats. Katana felt better once they were properly introduced. The two new cats now had names to their faces and honestly, it relieved her. Alois and Lexine. Pretty neat. Her attention was somewhat diverted when she heard a dragging sound coming closer to the group. Huh? What was that? The green-eyed kit looked over at the noise, that was even closer now, with diluted curiosity. Who was that? She raised an eyebrow when the mystery tom gave them a look. He seems to be real full of himself. Well, that's a charming trait. She rolled her eyes and then shifted them back to Theron, awaiting further instructions or words. Whoever he was, he didn't seem to be pleased at their presence so why should she give him the time of day? She had better things to focus on.

Thalia trailed after Theron, keeping close to Katana; the other younger cat was perhaps the closest thing she had to a friend among the Nightstrikers (excepting maybe Roe, but he was far older than her, and it was nice to have a friend who wasn't), and so found herself drawn to her - well, that and perhaps her seemingly endless supply of confidence. Roe was there, she noticed, as were two strange cats that Theron introduced to them - as well as a mysterious, unfamiliar stranger whose stare immediately sent her on the defensive. She stared back, head held high; she was a Nightstriker, after all, if only a new one. She could barely tell whether he was a cat, for all the stuff he'd covered himself in.

A shadow watched from the darkness of one of the edges in their little camp, a glint shining from his pupils. He melded into the blackness, only a hint of amber-gold standing out. The little kits... interesting, they seemed eager to be trained, despite where they'd come from. Probably they didn't remember where their origins lay, just as he didn't. Only a vague impression of snow and cold lay there, long ago covered by this existence.

He stretched his forepaws in front of him, muscles rippling along his large frame, his eyes half-closing as he watched, Theron and the others' voices barely twitching at his ear. The new lifeblood of our existence. Stolen kits.

A scent caught his nose, and his eyes wandered over, ears catching the sound of a heavy body dragging along the ground. A fox-sized body. Ah, the new one. The one who had come from one of these "Clans." Strange tom, to be sure - abandoning what were surely his family and friends to join them. But he was a Nightstriker, one of the Asylum, and if Theron had accepted him, so he too would have to. Rift would have hated him, He thought idly, watching as the young tom dropped the fox's head, the thump reverberating through their camp.

Though not because of his obvious disregard for loyalties. If anything, that would have endeared her. No, it was simply the Clan part of him that would have drawn her ire.

Well, Nightstriker training requires Nightstrikers. He rose to his paws, stretching leisurely and padding smoothly out of his shadowed spot, eyes flicking over the gathered Rank Ones. What an interesting medley. A slight smile touched the edges of his maw, his eyes narrowing in friendly greeting as he stopped by Theron and the others. "You want to learn," His deep voice rumbled, his eyes drifting over the dead, stiff fox's carcass. "I wonder if you know what that means."

Following behind Theron, Stag padded behind Katana and Thalia, but still made sure he was close to the group. The young tom wasn't particularly close to any of the cats here, but he still considered all of them as family and would trust all of them with his life. After all, they were the only cats he had ever known, and the cats who hd raised him. But sometimes when he smells pine needles or the earthy scent of mud, he gets washed with a feeling of comfort. It was odd, but maybe it was just because he enjoyed the soft ground and trees, just like how other cats liked to stick to the dense underbrush of the forests.

Lost in thought, the tom didn't even notice the other Nightstrikers that the group was approaching. When Stag finally snapped back to reality, he realized that Theron was having a conversation with three other cats, one of which he recognized. He had begun listening in just in time to hear Theron order them to stand in line. Following her word,s he lined up, taking a spot next to Katana. He listened as Theron introduced the group to the other two cats, Alios and Lexine. "Oh, nice to meet you guys!" He smiled at the cats who he soon found out were part of Theron's strike force- whatever that meant.