Burning Daylight [Copperpaw]

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the ashen forest as Smokefeather led her new apprentice out of camp. She could tell that the crowd had made Copperpaw nervous, and hoped that getting out and seeing some of their territory would help alleviate the nervousness a bit. It wasn't too late, so while they couldn't explore the full territory, they could at least start on some training for the day.

Tail lightly brushing his shoulder, Smokefeather came to a stop not far from where the creek ran through Skyclan territory. It might've been the same spot she had once brought Primroselight all those moons ago, but where once the trees and grass had been vibrant, the forest was still coated in ash. The bubbling of the creek could be heard from up ahead.

"Alright, Copperpaw." Smokefeather began, settling into a crouch as she spoke, "learning how to crouch and stalk prey is important. You want to make sure your body is lined up so that the only thing touching the ground are your paws. Keep your tail lined up with your back and shoulders like this, and pay attention. A twitching tail casts shadows, shadows will scare off prey. Accidentally stepping on twigs or losing your balance will also scare prey off. Prey can see and smell and hear us coming, just as we can pick up on their presence around ourselves." Smokefeather kept her crouch as she explained, allowing the newly-named apprentice a demonstration to go along with her words.

"Do you want to watch me try and catch something first?" She asked, turning her eyes towards Copperpaw.

Copperpaw followed after his mother willingly, absolutely thrilled to get away from the crowd. As soon as he was further away from camp, he felt relief flood his entire body. His muscles relaxed and he felt like he could take a full breath. The bubbling of the creek made him prick his ears forward in curiosity, but he dared not make any noise. Once Smokefeather started speaking, his eyes remained glued to her, drinking in every word. He tried the crouch for himself and set his tail out behind him. It felt odd... but he could see how using this approach was best. There were many dizzying scents in the air too... how did he know which one to follow?

A hare suddenly came into view and he froze, watching it lap up water from the creek. That said, Copperpaw didn't know it was a hare. He'd never seen one in the freshkill pile. He'd seen plenty of rabbits, most of them caught by his older brother, but this one looked massive. His mother asked if she should show him how to do it first, but Copperpaw shook his head.

"Let me try... then you tell me what I need to work on?" He asked softly, his shy voice barely above a whisper. He stalked forward a few steps to get the feel of it, his copper-like eyes on the hare.

If Dawnhawk can catch these... I can too! He thought to himself. He ignored a squirrel that he had accidentally spooked away from the base of a tree, but aside from a rotation of his ear, he paid it no mind. The hare didn't react either, which was encouraging for Copperpaw. He crept forward, closer and closer, practically holding his breath and being very aware of objects around and in front of him. He got within a comfortable striking distance and bolted forward. The hare caught sight of him at just the right moment and hopped high into the air, clear over Copperpaw's reach. The apprentice startled and stared at it as it landed back down before it zipped away with blinding speed.

Slowly.... Copperpaw's eyes went back to Smokefeather. Clearly ashamed that he had missed.

"Oops... I thought... did I not get close enough?" His voice practically squeaked as he tightened himself into a defensive ball. His face felt hot and his chest felt heavy. Maybe he wasn't cut out for this?

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Smokefeather gave her son an encouraging nod, and sat back to watch him in silence. A hare was his target, Smokefeather smiled despite herself. They were harder to catch than rabbits, but if caught would feed the clan. Just as quickly as it had appeared, her smile dropped away as the apprentice froze up.

"It's okay, Copperpaw. You were startled when your pray jumped over you and froze. There will be more chances to practice." She mewed, padding over to where he stood. "Hares are quick and tricky to catch. I've only ever caught one and I'm still unsure how I actually caught it when your sister and I kept missing other prey that day. Dawnhawk and Bloodstrike have never caught one, that I know of." The pair of toms did have a penchant for catching rabbits, Dawnhawk in particular.

"I'm going to go after that quail." Her voice dropped, and Smokefeather flicked her tail in the direction of the bird.

Slipping into a crouch, the warrior silent left her apprentice's side to stalk after the bird. It was pecking at something on the ground, and Smokefeather carefully approached. When she was close, she pounced. Her claws quickly pinned the bird's wings to the ground and she quickly silenced the bird's panicked fluttering.

Smokefeather turned, and set the bird in the crevice formed between the roots of a tree. "We'll leave this one here and come back for it." She said, padding back over to Copperpaw's side.

"Why don't you give it another go? There's a squirrel over there." She murmured softly, pointing in the direction of the creature that had stopped to forage along the creek's edge.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

Copperpaw was confused at first when his mother explained to him what the creature was that he just tried to hunt. So that wasn't a monstrously sized rabbit? He smiled a little, his confidence returning. He nodded, then watched as his mother easily stalked a quail and caught it. Copperpaw took careful note of her stalking posture and how she moved and quickly followed suit, trying to mimic it to the best of his ability. He crept after the squirrel, making sure to stop moving any time it looked up.

Again, he got within a reasonable striking distance... then bolted toward it...

He was going to get it! Copperpaw closed the distance between himself and the squirrel. He could practically touch it when a flash of red fur  came from around the tree that the squirrel was near. A fox had closed it's jaws around the squirrel at first, only to drop it immediately when it's eyes landed on a cat launching toward it's face. The squirrel, dazed and confused, scampered away to a nearby log to hide under. The fox's face looked scarred up as well as down it's back and other parts of it's body. It had had a run in with cats before at some point. It bared its teeth at the young cat, and Copperpaw in turn, although scared out of his wits, instinctively arched his back and hissed a warning at it. It wasn't enough. The fox lunged forward.

The Fox used Iron Bite on Copperpaw, dealing 30 damage and - 20SP

Fox
90 HP/260 SP (-20SP)

Copperpaw
K.O.
-10HP / 80SP (-30HP)
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Copperpaw saw teeth lunge for him with ferocity in the yellow eyes of his attacker. Luckily for Copperpaw, he wasn't entirely brain dead. He kicked off of the ground and dodged to the side, somewhat like the hare had done to him though far messier with his landing. He dared a quick swipe at the fox before it could recover from it's bite. He couldn't growl, or scream or do anything. Copperpaw's terror had clenched around his throat and silence any ability to make a noise. His claws sliced through nothing but empty air. The fox was going to whirl around and bite at him again if he didn't think of something quickly.

Copperpaw used Dodge and Fight, dealing no damage and -15SP

Copperpaw
20HP / 65SP (+30HP from dodging) (-15SP)

Fox
Counter Attack Missed; Fox remains at full HP
90HP / 260SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

Rolling dice post.

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

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'Effect Dice' : 3

Smokefeather stepped back to watch her son stalk after the squirrel. He needed practice, as all apprentices did, but he'd make a fine warrior with proper training.

When the fox appeared, a threatening growl escaped Smokefeather's throat, fur rising along her back and claws unsheathing. She was moving immediately, leaping for the fox as it snapped at Copperpaw. He'd had the good sense to dodge, but Smokefeather was determined that he wouldn't have the need to do so again.

"Get behind it, and go for the belly if you can." Smokefeather ordered, tone sharp. It was probably the harshest Copperpaw had ever heard her, but she didn't care. Her brain had registered and recognized the scars that lined the back of the fox, and Smokefeather had every intention of adding to the previous damage.

Smokefeather used leap and hold on fox for -10sp, dealing 13 damage. Fox is stunned for TWO turns.

Smokefeather
80 / 80 up
230 / 240 sp (240 - 10)

Fox -pinned for TWO turns-
77 / 90 up (90 - 13)
260 / 280 sp

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

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'Effect Dice' : 4

Copperpaw stared in disbelief as Smokefeather tackled the fox and pinned it. He didn't move for a moment, but snapped out of it and shook his head as if he could shed the fear like water. The belly? Copperpaw's eyes traveled to the bit of soft belly flesh that was exposed while the fox struggled beneath his mom's paws. He swallowed, but charge forward and tried to do what he could to get under it and tear at the sensitive belly.

Copperpaw used Belly Rake, dealing 7 damage and -10SP

Copperpaw
20HP / 70SP (-10SP)

Fox
Stunned for two more turns
70HP / 260SP (-7HP)

Smokefeather
80HP / 230SP

"Good... Keep that up, but watch out for the teeth. I can't keep the fox pinned for much longer." And I'd rather not see you hurt, she thought. What was it with first hunts and predators? The same thing had happened with Primroselight, and even during Smokefeather's own apprenticeship. She had plans of exploring the territory tomorrow, but those plans were quickly morphing into combat practice instead. She was a fool to think that the foxes wouldn't show up again, an utter fool. She wouldn't have her son, her apprentice, running around defenseless.

For now though, she could continue raking her claws ruthlessly through the reddish fur and prevent it from doing much. This fox hadn't been the one to kill Sagelight, but it had run from a team of warriors before. She had no intention of allowing it to harm Copperpaw today.

Smokefeather continued to use leap and hold.

Smokefeather
80 / 80 hp
230 / 240 sp

Fox -pinned for ONE turn-
57 / 90 hp (70 - 13)
260 / 280 sp

The fox snapped its jaws around ferociously, clearly not happy being pinned to one spot while a smaller brat of a cat sliced up his belly. Finally, he managed to get his paws under him. He'd had enough! He pushed hard up off of the ground and shook the she-cat off balance, but the effort of doing so left him unable to retaliate for a moment. Should he snap his jaws closed over her kit? Or should he deal with the mother for now and work on the kit slowly? He decided upon the latter. His attention switched to the adult cat and he gnashed his jaws together in warning.

Fox is no longer pinned, but still cannot attack this turn!


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Copperpaw heard his mother's encouraging words and dug his claws in deeper into the fox. His heart pounded and blood coated his paws. Upon hearing what may have been a body hitting the floor, he found a new surge of strength and furiously dug away at the belly flesh of his enemy. A horrible mixture of both fear and fury overwhelmed the apprentice, a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling that he wasn't certain the he liked. Copperpaw wasn't like his father. He didn't share his love for violence or his determination to see another creature injured, but he loved his mother enough to push through the uncertainty. His claws tore. His heart raced. He shut his eyes.

Copperpaw used Belly Rake, dealing 7 damage and -10SP

Copperpaw
20HP / 60SP (-10SP)

Fox
Final turn of Leap and Hold
50HP / 260SP (-7HP)

Smokefeather
Final turn of Leap and Hold
80HP / 230SP

The fox managed to shake Smokefeather off with a surprising amount of strength, and she landed heavily on the ground. She couldn't stop to catch her own breath, though, not with Copperpaw still very much in danger of the fox.

The tree the fox had initially come around from had branches that were easily jumped to even from the ground. Clawing her way to one above the fox, Smokefeather shoved off the branch, aiming to land on the foul creature's back once again in a flurry of unsheathed claws.

Smokefeather used Sky Drop on fox costing -15sp, dealing 14 damage.

Smokefeather
80 / 80 hp
215 / 240 sp (230 - 15)

Fox
36 / 90 hp (50 - 14)
260 / 280 sp