At a Crossroads [Open]

Despite his father's anger towards the SkyClanners, he actually sort of liked them. In the few seconds he had known Smokefeather, she had seemed kind, just a tired elder wanting to finally rest. There was also the cat he had fought that one day before a coyote showed up, he had some things in mind for him. Lion-whatever-his-name-was still owed him bigtime.

For now, though, Aether was with a patrol, and they were to be hunting. Although his siblings had left SkyClan, with Calypso in the lead, he wanted to stay. He wanted to prove to his father he could be strong. And he knew just how to do that!

A mouse had showed itself in the underbrush, and he just knew if he caught it, his father would be pleased. He just needed to get close to it, and boom, dead!

At least, that was the plan. Turned out, there was a lot more leaves and sticks without the snow to cushion his steps, and he was actually rather noisy. Huh, who would have guessed Aether could be noisy?

Aether is attempting to catch a rodent for 3 sp. Catch was unsuccessful.

The member 'Karuna' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

"You pounced too soon," Spottedfrog's voice was low and level, and as she came up behind Aether, she eyed the stick that he'd stepped on. Taking a paw, she rolled it against the ground, her white toes stained with mud from beneath the melting snow. It would be warm again, soon, and still Spottedfrog had seen no sign of Cedar... not since the night she and Pigeonsun left him... the night that everything had changed.

A quiet exhale escaped her as she eyed the brown tom before her. He was young, inexperienced... and her nephew, if he was Morningstar's spawn like she thought. He'd spoken up, at that meeting where Smokefeather died... called him Pa.

What I wouldn't give to spill your father's blood upon your paws, the same way yours did mine. Did Morningstar even have blood? She didn't know. Didn't particularly care, either. For the most part, she'd done a good job so far of keeping her feelings to herself, and that had kept the target off her back, but silence would only get her so far... she needed to engage.

Spottedfrog looked over at Aether, her expression neutral, "You have SkyClan blood... and SkyClan hunts better in the trees. I can teach you, if you'd like."

At first, the spoken critisism of the other cat left Aether slightly embarrassed, ducking his head as she spoke. This was not a cat he had interacted with before, and he didn't know how to gauge what she said. The lack of emotion made it so hard to tell her emotions. Was she one of the supporters or was he not someone she would be fond of? He was painfully aware of how, compared to the dark forest cats, he could be viewed as an easy target for anyone not so willing to welcome their stay.

However, it seemed this she cat had no harmful intentions toward him, citing his SkyClan blood and an apparent willingness to train him. That got him perking up real fast. "You can really teach me? That would be awesome!"

A heartbeat passed. The casual, thoughtful flick of her tail-tip was the only move the SkyClanner made. Spottedfrog surveyed Aether with unreadable, unblinking eyes for probably a second longer than was comfortable... and then her expression softened, and she dipped her head in a nod. "Of course. Watch and learn."

Moving just past him, Spottedfrog flicked her gaze around, searching for a suitable tree. She settled for a large oak, and walked a half-circle around it, eyes searching until she found what she was looking for and paused. Several fat pigeons sat clustered in the crook of one large branch, nestled together with their feathers puffed against the cold. "Once you see what you want... you go on the opposite side." She demonstrated. "So they don't see you coming." She nodded back at Aether. "And then you climb above them, and you can drop right on to them. You need to be quiet, of course, and that takes time to learn, but... watch."

Bunching her hind legs, Spottedfrog leaped up the tree. She ran, paws against the rough bark, for several fox-lengths before gravity started to pull her back down, and she sank her claws into the wood to haul herself up further. In but a moment, she'd followed a branch around and was above the pigeons, who had started to shift nervously. They sensed something, they were smart, but... she was quicker, and as she dropped down, claws outstretched, Spottedfrog landed perfectly on the pigeon in the middle. It struggled for only a second before she ended its suffering, and then took a paw and knocked it off the limb, where it fell in Aether's general direction.

Spottedfrog followed the pigeon to the ground - safely though, by climbing back down. "And that's all there is to it. You have to get used to the climbing, and let instinct take over... else you can panic and get stuck up there. The height isn't so bad once you get used to it." She tilted her head at him, silent for a moment before... "Why did you stay?" She hadn't meant to ask, and truth be told, even as the words left her lips, she regretted it. If he pulled away, shut her out, she'd have wasted her time... but she had to know. "The others... your sibling? They all left. Why did you stay?" She kept her tone gentle, but her gaze was inquisitive and determined.

The member 'JJ' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Aether watched as Spottedfrog skillfully climbed the tree, a demonstration that must have taken moons to perfect. The pigeons hardly knew what hit them before she was on top of them, and a heartbeat later one of the birds was lying at his paws. He had a big grin on his face, ready to talk about how great that was, but Spottedfrog spoke first, and he froze. 

"I-......I don't really know. I made a promise to my Pa. I told him I would follow him. But I was weak. I am weak. I tried to run the moment things got scary. So I guess I'm just following him now. And when he comes back, I will show him how much stronger I will be!"

Even as he spoke, though, he sounded doubtful. Morningstar hadn't even been around all that much, focusing more on his other kits. But he had to come back sometime. Aether was here, and Morningstar wouldn't leave him. 

Instead of continuing the discussion further, Aether decided to try out Spottedfrog's hunting technique on a squirrel he spotted. 

He took a running leap at the tree, trying to scramble up in the way Spottedfrog had, but he struggled to get a claw hold, and by the time Aether made it to the ground to try again, the squirrel had gone. 

Aether is attempting to catch a squirrel for 3 sp. Catch was unsuccessful. 

The member 'Karuna' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

It was a relief that he didn't immediately shut her out... but Aether's reluctance to carry on the conversation was clear as day. She slicked an ear to the side, gaze thoughtful as he answered her and then moved away to try for a squirrel... but he was a poor climber, with terrible form. Spottedfrog winced behind his back, but cleared her face as she padded up beside him. She reared up, placing her paws on the bark of the tree. "It isn't as easy as it looks," she reminded him. "It's what SkyClan excels at, but... it still takes practice. I wasn't very good at it at first, either."

Spottedfrog sat back on her haunches, staring up into the branches to where the squirrel had fled. It was long gone, surely, but there would be others. The she-cat slid her gaze sideways, to look at him again. "I've always tried really hard to impress my dad, too," she said quietly. "He was so strong, so... steady." Her voice lowered again, and the image of Bloodstar's body, still hanging limply by the entrance of camp flashed before her eyes. Her claws slid into the dirt. "I thought that if I could be like him, I could... I don't know... make him proud? Prove that I can protect SkyClan and its values, but..."

She shook her head, rising to her paws and turning away. "...at the end of the day, you have to be your own cat. You can't live in someone else's shadow forever." A flock of crows startled somewhere further into the forest, and Spottedfrog turned her head towards it, slowly. Her gaze dropped, holding steady on one of the stinking, faceless horror-cats that were ever present. If it stared back, she couldn't tell. "Come on," she told Aether. "Let's try somewhere else. You've got the talent, I can see it... you just gotta practice."

Aether looked sideways at Spottedfrog, growing sheepish with the way the conversation at turned. For a while, he thought she might have dropped the topic, with encouraging words to lift him from his failure. But then she started speaking of her own father. Of how she had aspired to be like him. Make him proud. Just like Aether wanted his father to be proud of him. And for a moment, he let his guard down. He no longer saw this she-cat as a Clan cat, but someone who was just like him. Even if they were raised differently.

But then she said he had to be his own cat, and Aether realized he didn't know what being his own cat meant for him. "I don't know how to be any different. My whole life, my Pa was all that ever mattered. He still is. And who am I, if not his son? Maybe I'm just being dumb, I know everyone else thinks I am. But if I am not following him, I don't think I would know where to go."

He never thought he would pour his heart out to a Clan cat like this. But then again, he never thought he would be living in a Clan either. Recent circumstances have brought all kinds of surprises. Spottedfrog suggested moving to a new location, and Aether nodded, following in her lead.

She was quiet for a bit as they walked, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. For a while, she stared at the ground in front of her paws, concentrating solely on moving forward, away from camp, to an area less traveled where there would be more prey for them to practice on.

"I know how that feels," she finally said, and left it at that for another several foxlengths of travel before continuing, a deep sigh preceding her next words. "But if that's all you see of yourself? That you're his son? That's all anyone else is ever going to see, too." Spottedfrog shook her head. "Step out of the shadow. It will be the hardest step you ever take, but also the most rewarding."

She paused then, lifting her head and drawing in a breath through her nostrils. "There's a quail, somewhere... why don't you see if you can find it?"

The thought of stepping out of his father's shadow, the fact that he was even considering it, Aether simply couldn't imagine doing that. But then again, it sort of sounded.....nice? He couldn't put his thoughts to words. If he went against his father, that would be a betrayal to him, but if he didn't, wouldn't that be a betrayal to himself? He didn't know what to do. He knew he wasn't happy, not with everything changing. But would leaving his family make him happy? And what if it didn't? He could never go back. But if he didn't do this, he would never know.

He needed time to think. Right now, everything was too overwhelming and he felt like he would burst into tears no matter what he chose. The quail Spottedfrog mentioned was a welcome relief, though, and he nodded to the she-cat, opening his maw to taste the air. He wandered around for a bit before the trail seemed to stop, and looking up, he saw the bird. It seemed he would get another shot at climbing.

This time, he was able to get a better grip upon the tree, and was able to circle around to get the drop on the quail. He almost lost his balance, landing on a branch instead of flat ground, but he unsheathed his claws and held on, to both the bird and the branch. With a nip to the neck, he picked up his prey and made his way back to Spottedfrog, pride shining in his eyes. He finally did it!

And maybe, just maybe, he could learn to be his own cat, too.

He could do this.

Aether is attempting to catch a bird for 3 sp. Catch was successful!

The member 'Karuna' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5