Before the sun even rises (c)

Antpaw had asked to not be left waiting. So Dawnfeather wasn’t going to leave her waiting. Although it had been sunrises since she’d been able to wake at the crack of dawn and tree-fly, she still woke just before the sun rose, when the night was slowly losing its grip.

But today was different.

Instead of lying awake, pressing her face into Prima’s fur, or vacantly grooming Olive’s pelt, or seeing if Beetle was awake yet (for no reason!!! None at all!!!) she could go. With a beaming face, she sprung to her paws, neatly stepping over tails and paws, and made her way out into camp. For a moment, she simply stood there, breathing in the crisp morning air. The night guards looked over warily. One, a white tom, made as if to call out, to remind her she couldn’t leave, but she joyously pointed her tail at the apprentice den. He snorted with a smile and turned back to the entrance, pitying the apprentice she was waking before the sun even rose.

Dawnfeather poked her head in, a silly smile pushing its way over her face as she glimpsed Beetle’s black pelt. She brushed her tail against his back as she leaned over, rasping her tongue over Hollowpaw’s head before finally fixing her attention on a little calico pelt. She took a deep breath. Whew. Once she woke her, there was no going back-

A gentle paw brushed against Antpaw’s side, followed by a voice altogether too chipper for such an early hour. “Antpaw, it’s time to train! Your first day as an apprentice!” she purred, slowly backing out of the apprentice den.

Orange eyes snapped open and their owner sprang up in her nest at her mentor's call. "M'up! An' I'm ready to slay the day!" she called out rather loudly with no consideration for the slumbering presences all around her before stopping herself as she got a good look at the scene. Oh. It was... early... very early... Dawnfeather wasn't kidding when she said that they'd be starting her training early. Even-StarClan-was probably-still-sleeping types of early. Well, she did ask for this. They always say to be careful of what you wish for. This is a prime example of why.

The apprentice shook herself from her stupor and raced to follow her mentor, not caring if she stepped on a few limbs on her way out. She nearly bumped right into said mentor but stopped herself just in the nick of time. She smoothed the fur on her chest as casually as she could as to hide her mild embarrassment of having been caught acting like an enthusiastic kit. She was better than that! "Um..." she began while she cleared her throat, "What're we doin' for mah first day? Are we gonna fight some predators o-or climb to the very top of tha trees?" Antpaw was just imagining all the things she would be doing, the 'first day' having been lost on her from the moment she awoke.

Dawnfeather beamed as Antpaw shot to her paws- another early waker! Finally! Yay! With a joyful purr she led the way out of the camp entrance, nodding to the night guards. “We should start with hunting- you can’t fight if you can’t hunt, right? And if you know how to kill a sparrow, it’ll make it much easier to kill a hawk.”

The young warrior kept a steady pace passing through the territory, always on the lookout for roots or holes, hidden under the foliage. “We won’t do climbing yet,” she told the apprentice as they came to a halt. This part of the forest still bore the scars from the fire moons and moons before Dawnfeather was born- bark on some of the older trees still black, cracked, and scorched, and her keen eyes could pick out quite a few limbs that would treacherously snap under even the lightest of cats. Even she hardly dared to tree-fly here (though Bloodstar’s instructions were starting to be carried out- some of the trees bore scars from where limbs had been snapped off scant days ago).

“This is most certainly not a good place to climb- unfortunately, some of our territory is still like this, weakened by the fire. But. There’s always a silver lining- the ground prey flourish..  It’s always best to start with ground prey before going into the trees. Now-“ Her ears pricked at a rustling in the leaf-litter. “Mouse,” she whispered, pointing her tail in its direction. “The breeze is blowing towards us. I’ll see if I can catch it, watch closely.”

Keenly aware of every little imperfection in her crouch, she crept closer, paws silent against the forest floor. This wasn’t a bad crouch- she was better at ground hunting than she’d thought- then came a swift skittering sound, and two mice fled for their burrows, too fast for the young molly. With a slightly sheepish smile, she straightened up and turned to her apprentice. “That was a decent crouch, I promise. Those mice must be-“ the words died on her lips.

Something quick and grey rushed out at her apprentice, oddly-shaped claws aimed at the eyes, but Dawnfeather was faster, ramming Antpaw out of the way, a sharp pain flaming up on her back. She shot to her paws, ignoring it, facing her opponent with bristling fur. A growl burst from her maw and she unsheathed her claws, ready to sink her claws into its fur. It wasn’t about to harm her apprentice.

Dawnfeather attempted to catch two mice, catches were unsuccessful and spawned a predator!
A wild raccoon has appeared! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrS523dOHU4
Wild raccoon used Quick Swipe, dealing 8 damage and costing 10 stamina!
Dawnfeather used Blocking Leap, redirecting Quick Swipe and costing 5 stamina.

Dawnfeather
42/50 HP (-8 due to Quick Swipe being redirected by Blocking Leap)
115/120 SP (-5 due to Blocking Leap)

Raccoon
20/20 HP
110/120 SP (-10 due to Quick Swipe)

Antpaw
20/20 HP
60/60 SP

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

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#1 'Hunting Dice' : 6

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#2 'Hunting Dice' : 10