Between Night and Day

Sunnyskip waited by the entrance to WindClan's camp, shifting her weight between her legs almost constantly. Her first patrol as a warrior! And she would be going with another cat, Nightwind! He was one of the newer members of WindClan, a black tom with brilliant blue eyes. She was excited just thinking about the hunt! Maybe, if it went well, she would get a flower for Hayglow. Maybe she'd catch a bird and give some feathers to both Hayglow and Muddypaw too!! Her eyes roamed over the camp, searching for the black pelt of the other warrior. It was still weird to think about, her being a warrior that is. Sunnyskip.... Just thinking about her new name made her giddy. She wondered briefly if the tom was fast, and would race her. Probably not, he was far older....

Nightwind crawled out of the warrior's den a bit later than he normally would. The black furred warrior had a completely new coat of black machine grease stained fur. He'd been gone from Windclan for a good while while he forced himself to shed quickly. He made the excuse that he'd gone off hunting when his sister had approached him at the border to tell him news that their father had died. He'd been so distraught that he left without much notice, the journey had been fairly far, and that he had stayed to comfort his mother for awhile.

His eyes set on Sunnyskip, a new warrior from what he understood. She seemed... far too happy... He smiled and gave her a nod anyway. "Good morning Sunnyskip. Are you waiting for someone?" He stopped at the edge of camp and waited for her to respond. His days away from Windclan had been... very eventful and although he'd gotten a reasonable amount of sleep, he still felt the effects of poor sleep during the days prior.

Finally, she spotted him. After a bit, he approached her with a smile and a nod, which she enthusiastically returned. "Good morning! Yes! I was actually waiting for you. We're supposed to go hunting together!" She exclaimed, turning to wait for him to be ready so they could head out of camp. For a brief moment she was quiet before she turned to look at the tom again, a genuine look of sympathy on her face. "Also, I'm sorry, about your father. I'm glad you were able to spend some time with your momma, and I hope that you go visit them again soon." Maybe today wouldn't be the best day to ask for a race, now that she thought about it more. Some other day, for sure! Turning back, the young warrior walked out of camp and looked over her shoulder again to make sure he was following. She didn't want to leave him behind!

The news that he was supposed to go hunting with Sunnyskip was a surprise. No one told him... maybe she just didn't want to take no for an answer? That was fine, he supposed. At the mention of his fake mother and father, he looked down to mimic sadness. He simply gave her a nod to acknowledge her before he followed after her.

"Did Dayspring organize this patrol?" He asked out of curiosity. He was still stuck on the supposed to go hunting together. Had he done something wrong? He'd been absent from Windclan for a bit, it was true, but what did sending Sunnyskip have to do with anything?

She was a younger, ditzier warrior. Unless she was just a very good actor, he didn't have much faith in her detective work. Maybe it was just her lighter personality that made them assigned together, after telling such a complete lie of a story earlier to excuse his long absence.

Nightwind's question surprised her, and she paused. Dayspring had certainly told her, and she could have sworn... No, she was certain that the deputy had said that Nightwind would be joining her. She was sure of it. "Yes, Dayspring was the one who told me. Did she not tell you? Maybe she assumed I would tell you... I'm sorry! Well, you're here now at least, so let's go!" The two warriors padded across the moor towards the flower field, and the young warrior relished in the sunlight warming her pelt. Finally, the blooming flowers came into view, and Sunnyskip nodded to Nightwind before stepping away, turning her attention to the hunt ahead of her. A rustling in the tall grass brought the memory of the weasel to mind, and she cautiously approached, trying to gauge what the source of it was. A pair of long ears could be seen sprouting from the stems, and Sunnyskip paused. A hare, okay. Bracing herself, she suddenly darted forward with the speed she inherited from her mother. Her claws made contact, tripping the creature, and she ended it's cry before it could get it out with a quick nip to the neck. Picking up the hare was a different story, it's long legs dragged on the ground as she carried it out of the flowers and into the open moor. Setting it down neatly, she looked for Nightwind momentarily before turning her focus back on the hunt.

Sunnyskip attempted to catch a Hare, catch was successful. -3 SP. (117/120)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Nightwind's suspicions, however slight they were, were put to rest quickly. Sunnyskip wasn't there to interrogate him. Once they were at the Flowerfield however, he did notice her caution. He made sure to stay quiet and let her hunt. Watching he catch the hare and turn to look at him, he gave her an approving smile and a nod. "Nice!" He complimented her skill/ Now he needed to catch something. Hares had actually been... not as fun as they once were. He'd figured out the trick to catching them.

There was more than enough on just a few hares to feed the whole clan more than they could eat, so Nightwind decided that he was going to hunt something different. It had been awhile since he'd hunted birds... and hunting them without much cover from their keen eyes might prove to be a challenge. He spotted some starlings that landed on the moor and he began to move towards them.

The shiny black birds were beautiful, a mesmerizing dark rainbow of colors while still speckled with golden dots. Alas, they were still birds... and Nightwind wanted to catch one. He crept close, closer than he thought he'd be able to, before he raced across the ground toward them. His Skyclan cat abilities were not gone. Nightwind leaped up and snatched one of the birds from the air as they tried to escape from him. It was swiftly dispatched and he carried it over to Sunnyskip to show her. Maybe she'd appreciate the brilliant colors of the English starling.

"Check out this bird, Sunnyskip!" He held it up for her to see it. It was a shame their flight feathers were so small. The way the gold lined the edges of each feather against a sea of iridescent black would have been a beautiful decoration for a nest.

Well... if Windclan cats had nests sheltered from the wind anyway...

Nightwind attempted to catch a bird. It was successful! -3SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

"Thanks!" Sunnkyskip exclaimed in return, purring as the older warrior compliments her catch. Setting it down neatly, she waited for movement and didn't see any at first. Nightwind seemed to have spotted something, so she followed his gaze and stayed still and quiet as he made his approach. His stalk seemed a bit different, but she assumed that's what he had been taught by his mother. He drew closer and closer as the young warrior held her breath, fearing he had waited too long, gotten too close, but with a burst of speed he launched himself forward. She watched him leap with wide eyes, having never seen a cat jump that high before, and leaped into the air a bit herself as he landed and turned with one of the birds in his jaws.

"You did it! That was amazing!" Sunnkyskip gushed as she approached him to look at the bird more closely. She gasped as she saw how pretty the feathers were. "Look at them! They're so shiny and pretty!" She mewed, awed by the colors that reflected off of them. "Momma loves feathers, maybe I can try to catch one to give them to her! They're awful small though... Maybe she can keep some just to look at them now and then!" The young warrior purred before looking back up to Nightwind. "That was a really big jump though, I've never seen a cat jump that high! Did your momma teach you that? Could you teach me? Birds are hard to catch, because it's so open, so being able to jump higher would be a big help!" In her excitement, Sunnkyskip had kind of forgotten she was supposed to be hunting.

Nightwind was not immune to the effects of compliments and it showed. He stood up a little straighter and tilted his chin up. At the mention of taking the feathers back to Sunnyskip's mother, he shrugged. "Sure, sure..." He said through a mouthful of starling. "That was a really big jump though, I've never seen a cat jump that high!" And that was the moment Nightwind knew he had messed up. He hid it well on his face, but his heart skipped a bit. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He scolded himself. He needed to be more careful... One bird catch was probably fine. One really high jump was probably excusable. A consistent, Skyclan-like hunting style could get him in trouble.

"Yeah I actually learned that from my sister. No one else in my family is that good at catching birds." Hopefully Hollyhock was decent at catching birds in case this subject ever came up. He looked for a spot to bury the starling and made a note to maybe never do that again in front of other Windclan cats. "It's been so long since she taught me I'm not sure I'd be a very good teacher. It's just something I know how to do and can pull off on occasion." He shrugged, putting the starling in a hole and burying it. "I do believe it's your turn to hunt." No more questions out of you.

"That's amazing! If she taught you, she must be able to jump really high!" Sunnkyskip purred before a look of disappointment formed on her face as Nightwind continued. "Oh, alright.... You could still try, if you wanted! But it's okay if not." His final words registered and her fur ruffled slightly as her expression brightened again. "Oh, yes, we were hunting, weren't we? Yes thank you!" She mewed before turning and refocusing her attention. There, the grass was shifting slightly again. Opening her mouth, she scented another grouse. Recalling the hunt as an apprentice with her mother and brother, Sunnkyskip hoped she would have the same luck. Padding forward slowly, she spotted it in the tall grass, and after a moment to judge her jump she made it. Cutting off the bird's shriek before it started with a swift bite to the neck, she padded out of the flowers once again with her newest catch.

Sunnkyskip attempted to catch a Grouse (Bird), catch was successful. -3 SP. (114/120)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Nightwind watched as Sunnyskip caught a grouse. Impressive... though there was a part of him that wished she had missed. It would have made him look that much better for catching the starling before that. He padded forward to congratulate her anyway. Not one... but two snakes popped up out of the grass, peering over the blades at him.

He, without explanation to Sunnyskip, jumped a good two fox-lengths or so our of his skin and plopped back down in a fighting stance. He struck out with his claws swiftly, though upon a second longer look, the snakes were not the venomous kind. Thank goodness.

Nightwind used Front Paw Strike on Snake 1, attempting to deal 14 damage and -10SP

Nightwind
100HP / 267SP (-3SP from hunting and -10SP from Front Paw Strike)

Snake 1
Serpentine Movement is Successful! Nightwind misses his attack!
10HP / 80SP

Snake 2
10HP / 80SP

The snakes narrowly avoided the cat's claws. Snake 1 retaliates with a serpent strike, dealing 10 damage to Nightwind and -20SP

Snake 1
10HP / 60SP (-20SP)

Nightwind
90HP / 267SP (-10HP)


OOC: Feel free to have Sunnyskip step in lol

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

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'Effect Dice' : 6

Nightwind started to walk towards her, but as she waited for him he suddenly jumped. Movement at his paws caught her eye, and she dropped the grouse. Thin, long creatures were snapping at his paws. The tom lashed out with a paw, but the snake moved at the last moment and bit him. Wincing at the thought of those fangs making contact, Sunnyskip focused on the second snake and ran forward, planting her front paws in the ground as she swung her hind legs towards the back of the snake's head. Landing as the snake she had hit fell motionless, she turned her attention to the other. Perhaps if the two of them were attacking from opposite sides, they could overcome it.

Sunnyskip used Back Kick on Snake #2, dealing 10 damage and costing 15 SP.

Sunnyskip:
40/40 HP
99/120 SP (-15)

Nightwind:
90/100 HP
267/280 SP

Snake #1:
10/10 HP
60/80 SP

Snake #2: KO!
0/10 HP (-10)
80/80 SP