backwoods [CLOSED]

Shadepaw sighed to herself, taking a moment in between her duties to sit and watch the rest of camp, tucked away in a shadowy spot. A lot had been on her mind lately. She had discovered something about herself in her training, something she had been meaning to speak to Vulturecry about, but couldn't find the right words to do so. And there was the matter of her dear sister's newfound warriorhood. Shadepaw was proud, of course she was, but she missed curling up next to her sister in the den at night, and whispering silly things together in the early mornings before training. And part of her wished she could have earned her warrior name at the same time. But...she wasn't ready. Vulturecry may have thought she was ready, but Shadepaw didn't quite believe it in her heart yet.

She had more work to do.

As she watched camp, a familiar pelt caught her eye and the smokey apprentice found herself padding towards it. "Birdsong!" she called, greeting her sister with a head bump to her shoulder. "Are you busy? We should go on a hunting patrol together, I could use the practice."

Birdsong turned at the sound of a voice, grinning happily as her sister bumped her shoulder. After becoming a warrior, she'd seen less of Shadepaw, and Birdsong missed spending time with her sister. Purring, she leaned into her sister for a moment, glad for Shadepaw's company. Since moving to the warriors' den, her nest was next to Ravenclaw's, but she missed her sister.

"Shadepaw! How are you?" Birdsong's tail shot upwards, "We haven't hunted in ages, let's go!"

"I'm doing pretty good! My training is...going alright." she mewed, padding out of camp. She looked over her shoulder at Birdsong, drumming up her usual soft smile to hide what she actually wanted to say. There were some things she needed to talk to her sister about, but she wanted to get away from any prying ears first. "How are you doing? What's it like being a warrior?"

Once they were sufficiently away from camp, Shadepaw began to scent for any prey nearby, eyes scanning the foliage for any signs of movement. Just like she had been taught. Whiskers twitching, she lowered herself into a hunting crouch when a songbird fluttered down onto the ground from a tree above. Her pelt blended in well with the earthy tones of the ground; the poor bird didn't have a chance. She crept closer, unsheathing her claws (a pang of guilt radiated through her), then leaped at the bird just as it made a move to fly away.

Her claws sunk into soft flesh (what a monster) and her weight carried herself and the prey back down to the ground. She killed the bird with a swift bite to the neck (wicked, how she liked that soft snap of bone) and buried it nearby to collect later, feeling very disgusted with herself. She really needed to talk to Birdsong.

Shadepaw attempted to catch a bird, using -3 SP. She was successful.

Shadepaw
20/20 HP
77/80 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

"It's been okay... I wish we could spend more time together, though." Birdsong mewed, trotting out of camp beside her sister.

"What's bothering you?" She knew that smile, something was bugging Shadepaw, and Birdsong didn't like it when things bugged her sister. Shadepaw turned to catch her own prey, and Birdsong quickly fell silent before searching for her own. A bird was quickly spotted on the lower branches of a tree, and Birdsong carefully made her way toward it. Leaping from branch to branch just as mom had taught her, Birdsong's paws quickly pinned the feathered creature and she nipped its neck before jumping back to the forest floor to bury her catch.

Birdsong attempted to catch a bird for -3 sp. Catch successful!
117 / 120 sp

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

"What's bothering you?" came her sister's voice, and Shadepaw smiled wistfully to herself. Of course Birdsong could tell, she was foolish for thinking otherwise. She sighed as she gathered her thoughts, her ears pinning back against her head. She waited for Birdsong to finish what she was doing, then padded over to her, bumping her head against the other's shoulder for comfort. Shadepaw then fixed her with an intense stare, desperately hoping Birdsong wouldn't condemn her for what she was about to say. "Please don't hate me for this..."

She took a seat, curling her feathery tail tightly around her paws to hide the fact that she was flexing her claws deep into the dirt. "I don't know where this came from, or why I'm the one that got it, but... Every time I use my claws during battle training, or to hunt, it...it feels good. I know you don't really like hurting things, Birdsong, and I want to be like that, because I really do care about the lives of others, and I don't want to harm anyone. I just can't shake the feeling that...I love it. I get so energized when I hunt, or fight, because sinking my claws into things, tasting blood, feeling the snap of...of a little bone under my paws...I-I don't know, I don't know what's wrong with me. I've always been like this, I don't think it was anything I learned..." She kneaded her paws anxiously, sending a worried look her sister's way. "I'm sorry I haven't told you sooner...I haven't even told Mom, or Vulturecry. I'm so worried about what they would say. I...I was worried about what you would say too. You know I'd never even dream of hurting you, Birdsong. I'd never use my claws against you. I-I just want to know...am I a monster?"

Birdsong turned, nuzzling the top of her sister's head with her own. "I could never hate you, mousebrain." She mewed, attempting to lighten the mood at least a little, but Birdsong could tell that whatever was bothering Shadepaw, it was bothering her quite a bit. Birdsong sat next to her sister, and stayed quiet while she spoke.

"Shadepaw..." Birdsong sighed, leaning her shoulder in her sister in an attempt to comfort her. "You're not a monster." She began, "I don't enjoy hurting others but... You wouldn't attack someone just for the sake of it, you wouldn't hurt an innocent, either. And you feel bothered enough to tell me about it. You aren't a monster, and there's nothing to hate you for, sis." Birdsong was sure of that much, she could trust her sister more than anyone in the clan except for mom, she thought.

"Have you seen our medicine cat and deputy? I don't think you're the only one in the family who enjoys a fight." Birdsong added, only half-joking. Beechface and Bloodstrike were... intimidating.

The dark gray molly pressed back against her sister, curling her tail around the other's as she listened quietly. That really took a weight off her shoulders, to know there were no hard feelings between them. Shadepaw nodded, even letting out a little giggle at the thought of Beechface and Bloodstrike. "You can say that again...Beechface and Bloodstrike are pretty intimidating, but I bet they're absolute beasts in battle. Especially Bloodstrike..."

Birdsong purred as Shadepaw twined their tails together for a moment, happy to have this moment with her sister.

"They probably are," Birdsong agreed, "I think Primroselight mentioned that they fought a giant dog in twolegplace once... I'm not sure I believe it." No way a pawful of cats could defeat a dog as large as that one was claimed to be. Surely when Primroselight had heard the story, it had been exaggerated. But then, if any cats could pull off defeating a dog, the deputy and medicine cat both seemed like they were vicious and stubborn enough to make it happen. Birdsong was no fan of bloodshed, but they'd done it to save a clanmate. She didn't think she'd ever be insane enough to do the same thing, though... If it had even happened.