A hunting we will go

Swiftheart awoke late in the evening as shadowclan was nocturnal and gave a long stretch in the warriors den with a yawn. She got up and walked sleepily over to the apprentice den.

Harepaw her younger sister had been assigned to her the day prior and she wanted to get training underway for her. She grinned happily in her usual good high spirits mood, this was gonna be alot of fun. She remembered back to her first hunting trip as an apprentice... she had been attacked by an owl.... hmm she would try and make sure that didn't happen to harepaw .... if it did she wouldn't hesitate to do anything to protect her family though.


She peaked her head into the apprentice den, seeing her Heterochromia sister she purred in greeting. Harepaw looked like she had an eye from murkystar and an eye from Mistyfalcon and resembled murkystar alot in other ways with her fur colour. Swiftheart was saddened a little and it showed on her face for a brief moment remembering their mom who had still not returned since the stars were missing and starclan was not able to revive her... she hoped one day she could see and talk with her mom again she missed her alot, Harepaw reminded her alot of Murkystar.

"Harepaw, would you like to go hunting with me?" she asked her smile returning again and excitement and enthusiasm as high as usual.
"I can show you the best hunting grounds" she purred happily
"im sure we will be a force to be reckoned with she nodded with a grin.

She had not had a ton of time getting to know her new siblings but couldn't wait to do so and this was a great first step and opportunity. If Harepaw didn't know how much of an extraverted talkative friendly she cat Swiftheart was she would soon find out.

"I can show you all over pine grove, ohh and I can show you were Nightstalker, and I once got attacked by badgers, it will be so much fun" she couldn't wait at all to show her around all their land and such.

"hmm maybe when you catch something you can give it to dad" she kept talking on and on

(( XD ))

She glanced at her sister eagerly hoping she would be just as excited.

"Swiftheart...?" Harepaw yawned, "It's so early." She squinted, her eyes not at all liking the fading light that was still visible through the trees. Shaking out her fur and giving it a few quick licks, the young apprentice quickly made her way out of the den, tiredness quickly forgotten and replaced with enthusiasm as Swiftheart spoke of showing her the territory. "You were attacked by badgers?" Round eyes gazed up at the warrior incredulously, though the mention didn't seem to dissuade her excitement any. Seeing the territory, maybe catching prey... How exciting! Harepaw was going to be the best warrior she could be!

Swiftheart grinned at her sisters enthusiasm and excitment. "The moon will be up soon not to worry..." she reassured her.

Shadowclan got used to the dark quickly and in no time she would train her sister how to move with the shadows and become in tune and like the night for which their clan was named.

"yeahhh the badgers really were a pain... dad saved us but its a long story... come on I want to show you lots" she said super excited as she jumped from topic to topic at sonic speeds.

She purred leading her out into the pine forest. She found a relatively dry spot of land (or as dry as anything in shadowclan marsh really can be that is)

stopping momentarly she wanted to show Harepaw the basics of hunting. "Okie... so the idea is to be invisible when stalking your prey... think about all the ways you can give yourself away to the prey" she explained in a whisper

"They can see you so stay low to the ground, including your tail too. They can smell you so try and approach from downwind if you can. Finally they can hear you... so try and keep quiet and only whisper when talking with your patrols

She demonstrated the hunter crouch to her sister showing her as well as explaining hoping that would help guide her.

She grinned positively loving every second of getting to spend time with her.

"here... you try" she encouraged happily with a soft smile

Harepaw followed her sister cheerfully, gazing around as the perpetual wetness underfoot became a bit more solid, pines dotting their surroundings. When Swiftheart finally stopped and turned to her, Harepaw listened intently, mismatched eyes watching as Swiftheart demonstrated the hunter's crouch. Keep herself hidden, make herself invisible... No problem. Right. She would figure it out. Everyone in the clan always said that her older siblings and her father Mistyfalcon were great hunters, and her mother had been Shadowclan's leader. Harepaw would live up to that, she would!

"How's this?" She asked, limbs protesting slightly as she forced them into the unfamiliar crouch. Her fluffy tail brushed the ground, and she lifted it, trying to adjust as best she could.

Swiftheart watched her younger sister try it out and she nodded reassuring her. "Excellent" she reinforced positively. "A true natural hunter" she purred proudly. Hmm now that she had that down ... it was time for her to try and catch something... hopefully they could get some food for the clan. The spring was giving with lots more prey than the harsh season they had just escaped.

The warrior sniffed the air, sure enough there was lots of signs prey was nearby. Compared to the harsh season, right now might as well have been an all you can eat - buffet. There was smells of squirrel, hare, toads, lizards... Swiftheart purred softly to herself at all the things they could track down after.

"Right, so now that you have the basics... What I want you to do is close your eyes for a second and just scent the air. Try and focus on one prey item you can pick out and follow its direction.... remember to keep low as you move toward until you get close enough.

Swiftheart was all too mindful as well that predators could be lurking about and she would keep an eye out for them... She remembered the first times she took deerleap out (deerpaw back then) they had been attacked. She wasn't about to repeat mistakes and would be on her guard and highly alert as Harepaw focused on just hunting... eventually she would have to teach her sister to be alert for everything around her as well but one thing at a time for now as she didn't want to overwhelm her apprentice on the first day.

Harepaw grinned at the praise. Hopefully she could prove Swiftheart right and live up to the rest of her family's brilliant hunters. Trying to parse the myriad scents of the pine grove took several moments of concentration, and she could scent a few things that seemed similar to what she'd seen on the fresh-kill pile in camp. There was something different about the scents, though. Fresher, perhaps, without being left on the pile for a few hours to days, she thought. There was another scent that she picked out, and slowly, Harepaw crept forward, towards a patch of foliage. Long ears and a bobbed tail were just visible. Rabbit maybe, though she'd only ever seen one on the fresh kill pile and it had been a small, scrawny thing. This one looked much larger... And well fed. It would be a good thing to feed the clan with. She leapt, and the creature raised its' head. Harepaw landed on it, stretching forward to sink her teeth into the neck.

Only, the creature jumped up and to the side as she did so. It thrashed, and Harepaw's claws sank into its fur to better keep the massive rabbit down. Harepaw let out a muffled grunt as something caught her side, but clenched her jaw, stubbornly refusing to let her prey go. Had it... Kicked her? The flare of pain told her something had. Either way, the struggle the oversized rabbit had put up was fading, and she stayed where she was for another moment until it fell still completely, feeling a thrill of triumph surge through her as her prey stopped moving. Her first kill! A messy kill that the prey had almost escaped, but her first kill!

"How was... that?" Harepaw wheezed, glancing up at Swiftheart with bright eyes.

Harepaw is attempting to live up to her name by catching a hare. Catch was successful!
57 / 60 sp

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Swiftheart watched the whole scene in silence not wanting to scare the rabbit off. She held her breath as the rabbit almost got away as it kicked about but her sister was on top of things and after a very short struggle it was clear there was only one way this would go.

She stepped forward from her hidden spot where she had been observing and also keeping an eye out for predators guarding her apprentices back.

She nodded a very big soft smile on her face. "Wonderful! Taht was perfectly done!" she purred very amused and happy that she had gotten to see her sisters first catch of prey right in front of her.

She looked down at the monster sized rabbit "wow, and what a first catch. This is a very good catch very nice and big" She said very clearly impressed with her apprentice and sister. "I could not have done it better myself she was very excited and gave alot of praise.

"I can't wait to show dad or Nightstalker!" Harepaw chirped happily, still feeling the excitement of accomplishing her first catch. They would be proud of her she was sure, and it would give her an excuse to spend more time with them and Batglow, too. And... Maybe she just wanted to show off. Just a little.

Perfectly done? Swiftheart was just saying that to make Harepaw feel good. She'd been kicked (not that she would admit it hurt) and that monstrous rabbit (though... it did smell slightly odd for a rabbit, she realized, but simply attributed that to her unfamiliarity with them) had almost gotten away from her. She would do better this time. Focusing, it took her a few moments to work her way through the scents that reached her nose, and once more she found herself following a scent that matched that of the overgrown rabbit she'd just caught. Catching one had been impressive, but two? Determined, Harepaw made her way towards it.

This time however, she wasn't so lucky. More focused on her prey than watching her footing, Harepaw's paw slipped on some damp pine needles as she leapt. The noise was soft, but the moment it took to regain her balance gave the oversized hare all the time it needed to process that warning. Before she made it off the ground, it darted away. Harepaw gave chase for a couple foxlengths, though it was beyond clear that she'd never catch it at the speed the creature moved. "Snakedung." She complained, turning back towards Swiftheart and trying hard not to let her embarrassment show. "I could've had that!"

Harepaw is attempting to catch another hare for -3 sp. Catch was unsuccessful.
54 / 60 sp

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

swiftheart again watched from a little distance away her sister was sneaking up on another rabbit but slipped up at the last second as it darted away Harepaw gave up chasing it after a short ways. However Swiftheart thought maybe she could catch it... It would be a bit of a long shot but if she could they would both have nice big rabbits to share with the clan a real treat... Swiftheart prefered them alot more than the toads and frogs that so many Shadowclan cats seemed to love ... she would eat them but ickkk rabbits were on the other paw very tasty and these looked extra plump.

She darted out from her hiding spot where she was observing Harepaw's hunting and she sprinted after the rabbit.


Maybe she would get lucky and the rabbit would not realize there were actually 2 threats around.

Swiftheart is attempting to catch rabbit for -3 sp. Catch successful!

She complelty caught the rabbit off gaurd and blindsided it pouncing directly on top of it and ended it very cleanly with a quick nip to its neck. It hung from her jaws and she smiled widely around it.

She set it down panting for a little from the chase and smiled at her sister. "I think we make a pretty good team" she said happily.

"Not to worry I am sure you would have had it if the pine needles didn't slip you up" she reassured and encouraged her younger sister.

Rolling dice:

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Swiftheart chased after the prey, and Harepaw couldn't help but feel slightly disgruntled that her older sister had managed to catch it instead of her. Well, it had been running for a bit... It clearly had begun to tire. Still, she grinned at Swiftheart's words. "Good catch! Shadowclan will never go hungry with us around!" She glared down at the slippery pine needles and huffed, "I won't make that mistake again." She declared confidently.

Swiftheart nodded with a grin at her young apprentice, she was already learning alot and picked up the hunting very quickly.  Swiftheart couldn't be more proud of her.

"That was very good, now the only other thing I should mention is to watch your surroundings when hunting, you never know when a pre..." her voice trailed off as a strong wind brought a familiar and unpleasant smell to her nose.

... as if on queue the strong familiar scent of Racoon was hanging in the air.

Sure enough two little beady eyes were peaking at them a short distance away looking at their rabbits that they had just caught.

With a flick of her tail Swiftheart ushered Harepaw behind her
"Stay behind me" she said sternly in an overprotective tone.

She stepped between the racoon and her sister and let out a warning hiss.

The racoon was not phased by this and licked his lips wanting those rabbits.

Swiftheart sighed, she didn't really want to fight this out but she also wasn't about to let her sister get hurt or get bullied out of their catches.

The masked creature took a daring charge at them, it was feeling brave today and was willing to test his luck...

It charged and Swiftheart and the opponent traded quick blows as they hit each other.

Raccoon used IRON BITE for 17 dmg 30 sp
Swiftheart used Front Paw Strike for 10 (+1) dmg and 7 sp

The raccoon bit into her shoulder and she winced slightly as it hurt quite a bit.  She landed a nice counter blow to the side of the angry creatures head claws raking along his side as she dug in.

Swiftheart:
43 hp / 133 sp

Raccoon:
9 hp / 90 sp

(OOC: I didn't know how big a fight you wanted so I did a smaller one.  If you want feel free to throw another one at us if you want, or keep it as the single. I am good either way :)  )