Headstrong [Trufflepaw]

Beechfang padded along the creek, listening to the soft trickle of the water as she scanned her surroundings. The morning was altogether unreasonably warm for a cat with thick fur, and so she'd taken the chance to go with one of the earlier patrols in the hopes that she'd be back in camp before the sun could roast the forest. She was having a hard time actually focusing on hunting rather than her own thoughts, however. Trufflepaw had joined her, the young apprentice a bit ahead of Beechfang, and she couldn't help but smile to herself. Her kits were growing up and would make skilled warriors Skyclan would be proud of.

Beechfang couldn't help but worry for them, as well. After having confessed at the gathering things had been... Awkward. Tense. Wolfpaw wasn't thrilled with her, she knew, and Trufflepaw and their siblings would feel the same way. They had every right to, of course, and Beechfang only had herself to blame for it, really. The feeling of regret was a strange thing, but she wanted better for her kits than the mistakes she had made. And for the clan, too. Riverclan would come calling sooner or later, and she only hoped that they wouldn't press for war over one cat. Whatever punishment Perchstar and Bloodstar could agree to, Beechfang would accept, and hope that none of her kits followed her pawsteps.

Trufflepaw had spotted her mother taking a stroll as she headed out of the camp to find something interesting to do. In all honesty, she was heading out to scout the RiverClan border, but with her Mother spotting her it was too risky. She had a small plan, nothing big, but first, she wanted to really familiarize herself with the layout of the land between the clans. But now, instead, she padded along in front of her Mother. Slowing down, Trufflepaw joined to walk along side the scarred warrior. "Mother, honestly, I don't know why everyone is upset with you. You did nothing wrong." She spoke bluntly, but in a quiet voice as to not scare away too much prey. They were, on a hunting patrol afterall but she must get this cleared and out of the way first.

"Kitten," Beechfang sighed wearily. Trufflepaw and her siblings were young, so young. "You are too much like me for your own good." Padding forward, Beechfang brushed her tail against Trufflepaw's flank.

"I killed their medicine cat. I suppose some on the other side of the river would call it cold blood, regardless of the circumstances. Whether those circumstances warranted her death is debatable too, I suppose, regardless of my own feelings on the matter." Cloverheart had deserved it, she told herself. Nothing could have ever made up for the suffering that Beechfang had experienced because of her stupidity. "I took away someone's family, someone's friend. Riverclan has the right to be upset." She doubted Cloverheart had friends, more like clanmates who had no choice but to put up with her, just as Skyclan had put up with Beechfang as medicine cat.

A voice in the back of her mind whispered that she was no better than Dawnhawk. A voice she very much wanted to ignore. She shook her head.

"Come on," she mewed, "Let's get some hunting done before it gets too warm out."

Trufflepaw shrugged at her Mother's lamenting. "She wasn't our family, so I still don't think it matters." But, she would follow her mother's lead and agree to hunt for her family. It was already too warm out for Trufflepaw, but she didn't say anything. To any other cat, she would make a snide remark. Opening her maw, she scented for bird, or perhaps squirrel. Soon enough, the scent of squirrel hit her pallet and she started her hunt. Slowly weaving through the underbrush, her prey was in sight. with a leap of her strong back legs, she was on top of it. Sinking her jaws over its neck, it squealed and struggled until it was over.


Trufflepaw hunted, using -3 SP.
20/20 HP
57/60 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

"To us, no," Beechfang sighed. Why? Was this her punishment? To have kits exactly like herself? "Were our positions reversed, you would understand their anger." As Beechfang had understood that anger very, very well.

Trufflepaw went to find prey, and Beechfang smiled to herself, watching as she took down a squirrel. "Good catch," She mewed. It had been a somewhat messy kill... Again, very reminiscent of Beechfang's own hunting when she'd been an apprentice the first time around. She turned to find prey of her own, quickly catching sight of a quail. She'd gotten used to hunting with her limitations, and with leafbare's grip well and truly gone, catching the bird was quick and almost effortless.

Trufflepaw could hardly hold back her beam at Beechfang's praise. Head held high, she approached Beechfang with her catch and dropping it next to her Mother's. "Mother, while we are out here, would you spar with me and give me tips? I want to be as great of a warrior as you." Her eyes pleaded as she looked up to her Mother, waiting for her response. To spar with her Mother would mean the whole world to her. One day soon, she would get to fight side-by-side with her too, as her equal and not her kit-apprentice.

Beechfang could all but feel the apprentice's pride at the praise, and she kicked some dirt and pine needles over their catch to mark them for later. The request to spar made her grin, however, and she nodded. She wasn't quite sure where Trufflepaw was at in her training, but more practice would never hurt, and Beechfang wanted her to be prepared too. She knew she wouldn't be around to protect her kits forever, and if things went south...

Best not to think of that now.

"Of course," She mewed, moving a short distance from where their catches were buried. "Come, over here." She made no move to strike the first blow or even give Trufflepaw an indication of what to do, simply watched her, a hint of challenge sparking in her expression. "Well?" She asked, a small smirk curling her lips.

Trufflepaw felt a thud to her side as her Mother's paw connected. She hissed out of mocking fury at her Mother's smirk, then swatted her pack before dodging to the side. "See? I'm pretty good. The next legend."

Trufflepaw used Front Paw Strike causing 6 damage and using 7 SP.

Trufflepaw
20/20 HP
53/60 SP (-7)

Beechfang
64/70 HP (-6)
160/160 SP

"Is that it? You can do better than that." Beechfang mewed, aiming a sheathed paw at Trufflepaw's shoulder. Not hard enough to do any lasting damage, but the blow would still be felt if she didn't dodge, Beechfang was sure.

Beechfang used Front Paw Blow for -5 sp, dealing -7 damage.

Beechfang (adjusted for disabled stats)
58 / 65 HP
125 / 130 SP (160 - 5)

Trufflepaw
13 / 20 HP (20 - 7)
53 / 60 SP