Stars in the Skies (c)

Dawnfeather (she’d always feel a little tingle of happiness at her name, no matter how much time passed) was restless. This wasn’t a day to spend cooped up in camp, like a bird without flight feathers. No, she wanted to soar, through the trees like a squirrel with wings. But she didn’t want to soar alone. She wanted to talk to someone, laugh with someone, have fun with someone, but she didn’t know who…

Ah.

A pelt very similar to her own caught her eye. She hadn’t done nearly enough things with Prima, not since she came back. They could hunt together! That would be wonderful, just a nice hunt with her mother, through the trees in the morning breeze… ooh, that rhymed. She hurried over to her mother with a smile (although Prima couldn’t see it, she couldn’t help herself). “Hello, Prima! Do you want to come hunting with me? Just a nice little hunt, we could talk, and stuff.” She purred softly, excited at the prospect. This ought to be good. It was a perfect day for hunting, slightly cool but not cold, a tiny breeze ruffling her fur, the sun warming her back.

ooc: sorry this took a while! thought I had already responded

"Of course! I've been meaning to spend much more time with you." Primroselight could do with stretching her legs, and a nice gentle hunt would be the perfect thing. More importantly, she wanted to catch up with Dawnfeather, since they had struggling to get proper time to spend together. After everything that had happened, she wanted her daughter to know that she was always there, even if she wasn't any help when she sometimes needed to be. But there was only so much she could do when she wasn't actually with her.

"So how are you enjoying warriorhood? A bit more fun, a bit more freedom. Oh and of course, a shiny new name." She asked as the two warriors made their way out of camp. 

Ooc: no worries!

Dawnfeather beamed as Prima accepted, a warm feeling blossoming in her chest. She missed her mother- it wasn’t that they were separated or anything, it was just that they didn’t spend enough time together. “We should definitely do that,” she agreed with a purr, glad Prima agreed. Although she missed Hawkuncle, being back in SkyClan was a wonderful feeling, even if she did feel out of place sometimes. Prima, Smokema, Beechaunt, Olivepaw Beetlepaw Dandelionpaw, her good friends. Practically every cat she interacted with seemed wonderfully nice.

Dawnfeather stopped a moment at Prima’s question, wondering. “Yes, I really like my name! It isn’t shiny though… how can a name be shiny? It’s been nice…” A rustling in the leaves above attracted her attention, and she looked up to see a squirrel scampering overhead. Prima liked squirrel, didn’t she? With a tail flick she leapt up into the nearest tree, then took off after it with blazing speed. This was something she loved. A shiver went up her spine as she twisted and turned, ducking under branches and leaping over limbs, narrowing in on the squirrel as it led her in narrowing circles. With a last burst of speed, she managed to pin the squirrel’s bushy tail and end its life with a bite to the neck.

She dropped down next to Prima with the squirrel in her jaws and laid it on the ground. “I caught a squirrel! Beechaunt said you liked them!”

Dawnfeather attempted to catch a squirrel, catch was successful!

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

"I'm sure you'll grow into it soon enough." Primroselight said encouragingly, but quickly stopped talking when her daughter trailed off. Sure enough, noises from the above branches meant prey nearby, so the warrior left Dawnfeather to it and left to find her own catch. She could hear her companion scampering through the trees, and tried her best not to feel nervous. Just because climbing certainly wasn't her thing, didn't mean it wasn't an effective way of catching prey. 

After straying a little further away, the scent of rabbit caught her attention. Ears pricked, Primroselight crept towards the source of the scent; a bush a few fox-lengths away. Rabbits could be difficult to catch, but fed many more than a mouse, and its pelt was good to line queens' nests. She had cornered it now, sure that it hadn't noticed her. With one sweeping leap, she reached out and pounced, trapping the animal and quickly killing it.

She brought it back to Dawnfeather and added it to her squirrel. "Wow, thanks!" Primroselight knew her daughter was thoughtful, but it still took her by surprise that she remembered such a specific detail.

Primroselight attempted to catch a rabbit. Catch was successful!
127/130

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Dawnfeather gave a delighted purr at her mother’s catch. “I’ve never caught a rabbit before! Hawkuncle’s really good at that, though. That’s awesome, Prima! Rabbits are so hard to catch, but you were just like zoom and flash and caught it! I’m glad you like the squirrel!” Her tail twitched with a bit of pent-up energy. She hadn’t been on a good run-fly in a while. Maybe her and Prima… no, Prima wouldn’t like that. To be honest, she wouldn’t like it either if she couldn’t see. She relied so much on sight… she’d tried, once, back when she was an apprentice, to go about all day with her eyes closed. She’d discovered she could barely close her eyes without immediately falling over. Turned out she was even worse than most sighted cats at walking about with her eyes closed. Prima was awesome.

A rustling in the bushes behind them caught her attention, as did the faint whiff of… quail? Smokema liked quail. Dawnfeather flicked her tail… abruptly remembered Prima couldn’t see it (stars, she was not being considerate at all! That’s not very nice of you, Dawnfeather) and dropped into a hunting crouch. Ooh. Ow. There seemed to be a reason she didn’t hunt on the ground. There were pokey things, like these sharp rocks and that branch that seemed to be purposefully placed to catch her in the stomach. Despite the mental ow…ow…ow.. she managed to catch the quail with a leap and a bound, and lay it down next to the squirrel. This is nice… just me and Prima…

Dawnfeather attempted to catch a quail, catch was successful.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Even though she always appreciated her daughter's knack for affectionate nicknames, Primroselight couldn't help but flinch slightly when she mentioned Dawnhawk. It wasn't that she was scared of the tom she had once called her brother, but more concerned at how friendly Dawnfeather seemed to be with him. Almost as if he hadn't cat-napped her. The two of them were quite similar, with one key difference; the older warrior had limits when it came to seeing the best in others. Although, Primroselight wondered if she would be the same if all that had happened just didn't.

She still laughed at Dawnfeather's excitement, remembering when catching a rabbit seemed impossible. Even now, it was mostly down to luck.

They both continued to hunt, the younger warrior creeping away after a quail. Primroselight scented the air, picking up traces of shrew, which she followed. She crouched down and lay in wait, knowing it would pass by soon. When it did, her paws flashed towards it, missing by a hair-breadth. Disappointed, she heard it scuttle away into a burrow, unscathed. At least Dawnfeather's hunting was going slightly better, the scent of freshly-killed quail in the air. "I wish I was having your, kind of luck," She said with a smile. Then a thought crossed her mind. Here, away from camp, when they both were in a good mood, she could ask a question that had been on her mind a lot recently. "Dawnfeather, you know Dawnhawk, or Hawkuncle, as you call him. Do you think he's a good cat?"

Primroselight attempted to catch a shrew. Catch was unsuccessful!

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

While Prima went after a mousey-scent, Dawnfeather returned to the trees, the breeze in her fur. With a leap, she pinned a dove by its tail feathers. The dove gave a startled cry and tried to fly off, but Dawnfeather’s weight was too much. “I’m sorry,” Dawnfeather murmured, releasing it and watching it fly off. She killed her prey with one bite. The dove had been scared, and frightened, and she didn’t see the purpose of catching it when they had caught so much already. It would be cruel to let it see its approaching demise.

Empty-jawed, she returned to where she’d laid the quail down. It seemed Prima hadn’t caught the mousey-scent creature, but Dawnfeather wasn’t surprised. Mice were very difficult to catch, so small and quick. “I didn’t catch anything this time either,” she mewed, flicking her tail. “This is a lot, though, that rabbit could easily feed two.” She looked up at the canopy, hoping that her act of kindness towards the dove wouldn’t mean any empty stomachs. She’d better keep hunting- but Prima started to talk and so Dawnfeather respectfully sat down to listen.

“Yes,” she mewed, her gaze flicking to a lizard scuttling nearby. With a flash of movement she caught it, sharp claws piercing through its skull. She laid it down next to the other prey they’d caught, purring. Lizards weren’t anyone’s favorite, but they were prey! “Why do you ask, Prima?” She questioned, tilting her head. No one asked her that- but, to be honest, she tried not to mention him after the first disturbed looks. Only with cats she knew.

Dawnfeather attempted to catch a lizard, catch was successful.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

"I just... I knew him when he was young, obviously. He's changed a lot since then." It was a rare occasion that Primroselight struggled for words. Not that she was overly chatty, but was usually confident in reassuring others. Maybe she was treading too carefully around her daughter's feelings. After all, she may've been the warrior's kit, but she was a grown adult now; some stuff just needed to be said direct. Never did she think she'd take a leaf out of Beechface's book when it came to parenting. "I don't think anyone but him knows the full scale of his actions. Some might've been justifiable, at least in his own mind, but so many lives were lost..." She stopped herself before she mentioned Featherkit. She didn't even know if she was protecting Dawnfeather or herself with that.

"From how you see him, I assume he was nice to you when you were with him. Not many cats who fall into his paws were that lucky, and I can promise you that you being family was not the exception." He had attacked Smokefeather, and Primroselight was convinced he wouldn't ever stop trying to kill Wolfstar and Bloodstrike. "Just if you see him anywhere, or he tries to make contact, please, please tell me, okay?"

The cream warrior was acutely aware that she had put a serious damper on their nice, casual mother-daughter hunting trip. "I'm sorry about that, I just want you to be safe. And I thought it was better to do it here, because if I so much as mention Dawnhawk in camp I think your aunt would have my pelt." She tried with a small smile, the joke coming off slightly forced. Beechface had good reason to be beyond angry: the two siblings had always squabbled, but what had become of them was so much more extreme. Primroselight also knew that her sister wouldn't appreciate the slight sugar-coating going on, but Dawnfeather was her kit, who sugar-coated everything so much the original thing was lost under it.

“Everyone changes,” Dawnfeather offered with a shrug. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have new names- we’d stay the same, stagnant. Stagnant ponds are full of life, though… “ She stayed quiet as Prima continued to speak, ears rotating. She… knew he’d killed… but he hadn’t done it… out of spite. To be honest, to her, actions were almost always justifiable.

”Okay!” She purred, smiling. “Beechaunt wouldn’t have anyone’s pelt! She’s the medicine cat, after all!” Dawnfeather’s memories of being a kit were faint, and since she’d returned to the Clan Beechface had been recovering… she didn’t remember a firey, short-tempered cat, just a tired one who needed to be thanked.

“Umm… Prima? Can I… ask you something?” Her shoulders drooped, her ears flattening. Another lizard scampered across the stone, but she didn’t try to catch it. “Where’s Stag? I know she’s gone, but…” The young warrior looked up at her mother with wide eyes. She knew her sister was gone… she didn’t know what had happened… life had caught her in its swift-flowing stream, and the stagnant waters were soon forgotten.

Primroselight wasn't expecting that question. The warrior had lost enough kits in her life, and enough siblings. She had more than most, and the more you had, the more there was to lose. However, the she-cats optimistic outlook battled not to let her see it that way; not only did she have more to lose, but she had more to love, and be loved by. Even if she wasn't on great terms with her half-siblings. Or really even knew them. "Stagkit walks with Starclan. I'm sure she's safe and happy there." She turned her face to the sky, almost as if she could feel those she had lost looking down on her.

"Did I ever tell you properly about my sister? Not Beechface, or any of my younger sisters. Dustpaw." It had felt far too long since she had paused to remember her littermate. But it was always a constant what if? in her mind: what if Dustpaw was still here? What if she'd managed to keep a close enough eye on Dawnhawk, to keep him tethered to the clan. Her words could be harsh sometimes, but she'd had a constant loyalty to her family and clan, something that their brother had clearly missed out on.