Daybreak [c]

Dawnpaw had planned this moment out very carefully. Hawkuncle had mentioned Ashstorm in a good light. Therefore, Dawnpaw would like her, since Hawkuncle liked her. So she had plotted out how to talk to her grey, massive aunt, who might have been slightly intimidating. She had gone over what she knew. Ashstorm had a daughter, Quietstep, whom Dawnpaw hadn’t met. Her mate had been in the Asylum. Her mentor had been Hawkuncle (they could bond over that! Dawnpaw had been kinda trained by Hawkuncle!), and she was in the same litter as Lichenblaze? Maybe? She wasn’t quite sure on that one. She was big. Fluffy. Strong-looking. Experienced. Ma- no, that was Ravensnarl. Did she have an apprentice? Umm… maybe?

Lost in thought, Dawnpaw nearly bumped into the cat said thoughts were about.”Ooops! My bad! I was actually just looking for you, Ashstorm! Would you like to come hunting with me? I don’t really know the territory, so I’d like to have you along, if you don’t mind. Oh, and if you’re busy, don’t bother!” She didn’t look busy (otherwise, Dawnpaw wouldn’t have asked), and she did hope Ashstorm would come along. She barely knew her. (If she did, she’d likely call her Ashaunt- no, she wouldn’t, that was reserved for Prima’s litter. Maybe… she didn’t know, she didn’t know her yet, that was the whole reason to ask her on a hunt.)

Ashstorm wasn't doing much and wasn't really planning on doing much.  She was very bored.  She sort of was zoned out though, just looking down.  She really didn't expect for an apprentice to almost bump into her.

Ashstorm stared silent for a minute, just because she wasn't expecting it.  "It's totally fine," she informed her niece.  "I'd love to go hunting with you, Dawnpaw!"  The name of her niece was easy to remember for Ashstorm.  She didn't care about the name though.  She didn't think anything different about her just because of her name.  "Here, follow me.  I'll show you some good hunting spots."

Ashstorm left camp, but made sure to stay near in case Dawnpaw got hurt and they needed to go back.  "We're here.  But before we start hunting, I just wanted to ask you what happened after Dawnhawk raided the camp?  If you don't want to answer that, it's fine, I just was wondering."  She shifted her paws a little bit.  She was sort of uncomfortable.  She didn't really know Dawnpaw that well and she didn't want to make it seem like she was only hunting with her to get answers.

Dawnpaw shifted her weight from paw to paw while Ashstorm… thought? Maybe? Oh, but she said it was totally fine! Good! And she knew some good hunting spots? This was turning out to be a worthwhile expedition. As Ashstorm left camp, Dawnpaw followed, swiftly leaping into the trees as she kept pace above her grey aunt- not much above. Just a little bit. She always felt better, safer in trees.

As Ashstorm began to talk Dawnpaw lightly returned to the ground. It wasn’t very polite to talk to another cat while you were in the trees and they were on the ground. What she talked about, though, wasn’t expected.

Pain searing pain in her head shooting through shooting stars blood lifeblood Cloudmane Maplepaw Blossomstep Foxfire Wrenspring blood on the ground warm and sticky clogging her nose quick flight through dark trees branch pain in her head then dark. The memory lasted less than a millisecond, merely a flash in her eyes and a slight stumble in her paws.

“I don’t… I don’t think I remember.” She didn’t… she didn’t remember. Whenever she tried to think about it her head hurt… the world spun searing pain through the blood… though the wound had healed. “I’m sorry,” she mewed quietly, hoping she hadn’t let Ashstorm down. “The next thing I remember after my apprentice ceremony is dunking my head in the river. And Hawkuncle, of course.” She shifted from paw to paw, clearly uncomfortable. She didn’t like thinking about it… her thoughts chased each other in circles. Circles. She didn’t like circles. Or did she?

“Hawkuncle mentioned you, Ashaunt,” she continued, suddenly bright. She was sorry she couldn’t answer Ashstorm’s question, so she’d temporarily called her Ashaunt. Maybe that’d make her feel better. “He talked nice-like about you!” She beamed up at her aunt, hunting temporarily forgotten. It had been an excuse to talk, anyways. Though she did wish they could talk in the trees. She liked trees.

Ashstorm could tell that this was making Dawnpaw uncomfortable and immediately felt bad for asking.  She listened, wondering why Dawnpaw didn't remember anything.  She didn't think her niece was lying, it definitely didn't seem that way.  But the memory loss was still very weird.  Her best guess was that Dawnpaw's mind forgot the traumatic experience, because it caused her pain.  Ashstorm felt very sympathetic towards her, she didn't want anything bad to happen to her family, especially as young as Dawnpaw.  And then her niece apologized.  Ashstorm quickly responded to this.  "No, don't be sorry.  It's totally fine.  I'm sorry that I asked."

Then Dawnpaw called her "Ashaunt" which was sort of weird, but also felt pretty nice.  She smiled at her after Dawnpaw was done speaking.  "Is that so?"  She replied.  "I was his apprentice when I was a lot younger, as you might know."  It felt weird how much time had passed since then.  There had been so much that had happed.  It felt like time was moving way to slowly at times and way to fast when she reflected on it.  It was never right.  It seemed that it could never be the right time.

"I think that I'm one of the very few cats who remembers that he's a real cat and not just an enemy," she said truthfully.  "Even if I do think that every now and again.  I'm pretty sure I'm one of the few that still thinks of him as family, even though he has done so much evil.  Honestly... It's even hard for me to tell why I still love him and call him my brother at this point."

Dawnpaw’s tail twitched happily. She already liked Ashstorm, although the older molly was… intimidating, to say the absolute least. Still, Dawnhawk was golden as a daydream… where the stars had that thought come from? Dawnpaw shook her head a bit, dislodging the voice in her head that would occasionally speak out at the worst times, thinking the worst of other cats. She listened as Ashaunt spoke, ear tufts twitching.

“Because he is your brother!” Dawnpaw spoke out with more vehemence than usual, surprising herself. “Sorry! But- he is your brother. And he will stay your brother, no matter what you think of him.” She skirted the “he’s evil” remark… not because she thought he was evil, but because she had difficulty telling evil from… not-evil. It made no sense to her, but apparently what made no sense to her made all too much sense to other cats.

“What you think, or anycat thinks, does not change reality. If I think the sun is purple, that won’t change things. It’s what is that is. Sunlight steaming through sodden leaves after a sudden storm.” The picture blossomed in her mind, spellbinding her for a moment at the mental image of golden light. Dawnpaw shook herself, focusing on Ashaunt. “Oop! I almost forgot we were hunting! Show me how you hunt, Ashaunt!” She’d gotten into the habit, now. Oh well. Ashstorm was officially Ashaunt, and a small smile perked on Dawnpaw’s face.

Ashstorm sighed when she listened to Dawnpaw explain.  That wasn't exactly what the grey she-cat meant, but she knew that her niece was right.  Even those who were still small carried a lot of wisdom, as Ashstorm knew well.  She remembered being the age Dawnpaw was and feeling so horrible that none of the warriors thought that she was smart enough to handle anything on her own.  She had learned from experience, but sometimes even the young apprentices had better knowledge then some of the well experienced warriors.

"I suppose you are correct," she responded.  "But many cats in our family -too many of them- decide that disowning someone is the best way to solve anything.  They are ashamed to call him family.  But, yes, the simple fact of saying something does not change what is, as you have said.  It is sort of funny that some choose to not call others family as if that somehow changes reality, isn't it?"

She briefly paused as Dawnpaw spoke again.  She laughed quietly to herself when she realized that she completely forgot about the fact that hunting was the whole reason that they came.  "Okay, this is how I normally hunt."  Immediately, she began looking around for some prey.  She spotted the brown fluffy tail of a squirrel poking out from a bush.  She got down, slowly creeping towards it.

Soon enough, it scurried back under the bush.  She would have tried to chase after it, but she wanted to stay near Dawnpaw in case her niece found something that she wanted to catch.  Ashstorm turned back to the other she-cat.  "Clearly, the way I hunt isn't the best way."  She said, with a small awkward laugh to follow it.  "Now, what about you?  How do you hunt?"

The member 'Little Ripped' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Dawnpaw nodded at Ashaunt’s words and watched as the grey molly crept after a squirrel. “It’s alright, Ashaunt! Everycat misses sometimes! This is how I hunt, Hawkuncle taught me.” With a flash of golden fur Dawnpaw leapt into the trees, merely a blur as she sped on the lower branches. This was how a SkyClan cat should hunt. Quick, easy, and with caution. Merely a golden wind passing through the trees like a squirrel. Speaking of squirrels… Ashaunt’s squirrel (not that it was hers, it was just the one she’d missed) sat on the ground, nibbling at a nut. Dawnpaw locked her gaze on it as she came lower, lower, until she was straight over it. Then, she sprang, muscles working in perfect harmony, claws extended, eyes locked onto the target.

With exemplary skill, she pinned the squirrel beneath her paws and bit its neck, swiftly killing it before it had even a chance to escape. Picking it up in her jaws, she hurried back to Ashaunt, merely a few tree-lengths away. “That’s how Hawkuncle taught me,” she mewed, setting the squirrel down and burying it. “Use the trees, even when catching prey on the ground. That’s all I know how to do- I wouldn’t hunt very well without trees.”
Dawnpaw attempted to catch a squirrel, catch was successful

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Ashstorm generally did not want to climb trees.  This, of course, was very unusual for a Skyclanner.  But when she was young, the trees were still unstable from the fire and the ground was still covered in ash.  With her larger build she didn't want to take a chance on it.  That stayed with her for the most part into warriorhood.  She would climb trees, and was quite good at it, if she needed to, but if not she would prefer to stay on the ground.  That's how she was taught, but it felt weird almost that they seemed to have been trained by the same cat and yet had very different hunting styles.

"He... taught you to hunt?"  She asked, fogetting about hunting again.  "So... Dawnhawk stole you to give you a lesson in hunting and then just drop you off at the Gathering?"

Dawnpaw clambered up a nearby oak, sinking her claws into the rough woods. “No, he just wanted to see me!” she called down to Ashaunt, who seemed to be a better fighter than hunter. Unless she had some secret strategy! Maybe she sat and waited for prey to come near… oh, but she was talking. Maybe she was talking so the prey would think “oh that cat is talking she is not trying to eat me I can go near her!”. That would be cool. Maybe Dawnpaw could do that- but she’d rather stick with what she knew, and what she knew was trees.

The golden she-cat inched along a thick branch, just above an unsuspecting starling. Starling. Wasn’t that what Beechaunt liked? At any rate, the feathers were very pretty. Just as Dawnpaw prepared to leap for it, something else leaped for her.

Technically, eagles didn’t leap. They swooped down and snatched prey in their talons… like an unsuspecting apprentice. Dawnpaw gave a startled yowl as the bird sunk its talons into her sides, sending flashes of pain down her torso. Suddenly, the bird started to fly. Slow, clumsy flight, but flight nonetheless. Dawnpaw squirmed and clawed at the eagle’s talons, yowling for Ashaunt. The eagle was far enough off the ground that a fall would hurt. Dawnpaw frantically thrashed about as the eagle tried to fly off with her- luckily, she was just big enough to slow it down dramatically, and just small enough to stop them both from plummeting to the ground.

Dawnpaw attempted to catch a dove, catch was unsuccessful. An eagle has appeared! Dawnpaw used Front Paw Strike, dealing six damage and costing 7 stamina. Eagle used Swoop, dealing nine damage and costing fifteen stamina,

Dawnpaw
11/20 HP (-9)
47/60 SP (-7) (-6 for hunting)

Eagle
34/40 HP (-6)
110/125 SP (-15)

Ashstorm
70/70 HP
157/160 SP (-3 for hunting)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

Ashstorm tilted her head at the apprentice's answer.  It seemed... strange.  Why did Dawnhawk take her?  Why did he teach her to hunt just to bring her back to Skyclan?  It all seemed really off, but she couldn't think of a logical explanation for it.  She thought about this for a minute, but when she saw the eagle dive towards Dawnpaw, trying to figure out why went to the back of her mind.

Ashstorm was in pure shock and terror when she saw the eagle take Dawnpaw in it's talons.  It was all to much like when Sneezing and Mountain got carried off as kits.  Alright, keep it together, she told herself.  This isn't then, I can still help to stop this.

The grey she-cat leapt on a branch that wasn't far of the ground, trying to steady herself.  She hopped from branch to branch until she was next to a small branch that was directly to the side of the eagle.  She pushed little weight on it with her front paw.  The branch clearly bended and creaked under the bit of weight that she put on it, but she didn't have to much time to think about that.  She pushed off of the branch she was on and briefly set her back legs on the not steady branch and pushed off, giving her the force she needed to hit the eagle.

She hit it's back and dug her claws into it through it's feathers.  The eagle was getting close to the ground.  "Jump down, Dawnpaw," she yelled, when she was sure that they were close enough to the ground that Dawnpaw wouldn't get hurt.  The large bird hit the ground with a thud.  Ashstorm hopped off of it, at first thinking it was dead before it got back up again.

Ashstorm used Jumping Strike dealing 12 in damage and using -7SP.

Ashstorm
70HP / 70HP
150SP / 160SP

Eagle
22HP / 40HP
110SP / 125SP

Dawnpaw
11HP / 20HP
47SP / 60SP

Thank the stars, Ashaunt appeared out of nowhere, forcing the eagle down. Dawnpaw managed to wriggle free at the last moment, hanging onto a low branch as the eagle hit the ground hard. Ashaunt seemed to have vanquished it… but the eagle struggled back to its feet, a shrill cry escaping it. Dawnpaw had to do something before Ashaunt got hurt! The golden apprentice clambered onto the branch she had been hanging onto, readying herself. She catapulted off the branch, landing squarely on the eagle and pinning it down. The feathers kept slipping under her paws, and it was obvious she wasn’t going to be able to pin it down for long. “Are you alright?” She yowled, not daring to take her eyes off the eagle.

Dawnpaw used Leaping Bound, dealing 3 damage and costing 10 stamina. Eagle is pinned.

Dawn
11/ 20 HP
37/ 60 HP (-10)

Eagle
19/ 40 HP (-3) PINNED
110/125 SP

Ashstorm
70/70 HP
150/ 160 SP

"I'm alright," she assured Dawnpaw.  Her niece was smart, pinning the animal down was the best way to go and a change that Ashstorm had missed the time before.  Ashstorm didn't hesitate to attack it again.  She bit down hard where one of the wings connected to it's body, in hopes that it wouldn't be able to fly again after that.  When she let go, her head turned towards Dawnpaw, even if her eyes wouldn't leave the eagle.  "Are you alright?"

Ashstorm used Snap, dealing 11 in damage and using -7SP.

Ashstorm
70HP / 70HP
143SP / 160SP

Eagle
8HP / 60HP
110SP / 125SP

Dawnpaw
11HP / 20HP
37SP / 60SP