The future's in your paws. Shape it well.Roleplay in a cat Clan of warriors. Based off the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. Takes place in an AU before the cats in the books existed.
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Subject: the birds are singing at night [C] Mon 1 May 2023 - 20:44
Silverpaw
Silverpaw had made it a point so far to be diligent and quiet (as quiet as he could be, at least) on most he was on. And as far as he’d walked into the territory with Moondancer, he’d been just that. But some odd tree-lengths ago, he’d seen a big blackbird out of the corner of his eye, flitting between the thin trees. Silverpaw watched it flutter along, grateful that it kept fluttering in roughly the direction they were walking. The next time it left a perch, it dropped to a patch of dry earth.
“This was a hunting patrol, right, Moondancer?” Silverpaw asked casually, already padding forward. He turned to offer a smile as he passed her, and he would have looked sheepish if it weren’t for the glint in his eyes. He knew he should wait for her response, but… it was right there! The bird was practically asking to be prey. Silverpaw dropped into as low of a crouch as he dared, wary of the mud and his still-wobbly balance, and crept forward. He'd just shoved forward hen the blackbird unfolded its wings and shot off. Silverpaw landed with a clumsy splash and stood blinking for a moment at where the bird had been. He'd been so sure of that catch... but oh, well. Shaking out his fur, he turned back to Moondancer with a wider grin. "We might as well keep trying now, right?"
Silverpaw attempted to catch a bird... attempt unsuccessful. -3 SP.
Subject: Re: the birds are singing at night [C] Tue 2 May 2023 - 8:01
Another night, and another patrol. It was monotonous, boring... Moondancer hoped it stayed that way. She didn't know Silverpaw all that well, and that was fine with her. He wasn't family, so her expectations were firmly at the bottom of the deep marshes. A question of this being a hunting patrol slipped from the young tom, and before Moondancer could answer, he was off after the bird that had been on their path for the past few minutes. Moondancer could've told him it was foolish, and her expectations were proven right by the missed catch.
"We don't go after birds for a reason." Moondancer shrugged, then turned. Indeed, this was a hunting patrol, and she wasn't about to go back to camp with empty paws. As quickly as Silverpaw had gone for the bird, Moondancer had spotted a mouse. Dropping into a crouch, she carefully made her way toward it. The tabby leaped forward, and with a swift bite it was done. She turned toward Silverpaw, prey dangling from her jaws. See? Catching prey isn't that difficult, her smug expression seemed to say.
Moondancer attempted to catch a mouse for -3 sp. Catch was successful! 117 / 120 sp
Subject: Re: the birds are singing at night [C] Thu 4 May 2023 - 10:53
Silverpaw
The dismissive quip made Silverpaw stall for a moment, blinking after Moondancer while she sought out her own catch. Sure, birds were a rarity on their fresh-kill pile, but why ignore one that was all but flying under their paws anyway? His whiskers twitched, but he stayed quiet, watching Moondancer successfully leap for a mouse. Silverpaw answered her look by tilting his chin up and turning away.
A challenge! He huffed inwardly. Late embarrassment over the blackbird crept down his spine, but he forced it at bay. It was tempting, searching for another bird just to prove her wrong… But he wouldn’t turn it up when he saw a lizard. It would be easier, and if- when he caught it, at least he would have something. Silverpaw lowered into a crouch again, forcing himself to bend just a little further, and crept forward. C’mon. C’mon! He got closer to it than he had the bird, eyes widening when he realized it was well within reach. He wanted to be sure, though– and his stalling gave the lizard enough time to take notice of his moon-cast shadow and skitter away across the mud.
The second failure stung faster than the first. He was supposed to be doing well! Frustration dampened his high spirits while he lingered in place. He didn't want to turn and see a sneer or, stars forbid, disappointment on Moondancer's face. Sighing, Silverpaw collected himself and put a bounce in his step to circle back to the warrior. "You're not going to say we don't hunt lizards, are you?" He laughed mildly through the question, but he antsily shifted between paws waiting on a response.
Silverpaw attempted to catch a lizard... attempt unsuccessful. -3 SP.
Subject: Re: the birds are singing at night [C] Thu 4 May 2023 - 12:07
Perhaps her catch had motivated Silverpaw to do better, but it seemed he'd fall short this time, too. He turned to her with a snarky comment, and the warrior only just resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "No." Moondancer answered dryly. We are supposed to hunt lizards, and you can't even catch one? She kept the thought from being spoken, but only just.
"Come on, maybe there will be better luck further out." She mewed. With that the tabby began to walk, not waiting for a response, and it wasn't long before she caught sight of another piece of prey they didn't see often on Shadowclan territory. If Silverpaw had gone after a bird, surely she could go after something uncommon too... And she'd actually catch it. Dropping into a crouch, Moondancer stalked forward.
Her paws slammed into the creature and a swift bite was all it took. She turned toward the apprentice, completely unable to hide her smugness now. "Come on, aren't you going to try again?"
Moondancer is attempting to catch a rabbit for -3 sp. Catch was successful. 114 / 120 sp
Subject: Re: the birds are singing at night [C] Thu 4 May 2023 - 15:53
Silverpaw
Moondancer’s answer was simple, and it met his request, but Silverpaw wilted at the curtness. He kept his chin up while they walked deeper into the marsh, but the smile had gone from his face, and his tail twitched with irritation. The vain hope in Moondancer’s suggestion didn’t return his enthusiasm. I bet she thinks I'm incompetent. I'm acting like it.
It wasn’t long before the tabby was stalking after something else. Petulantly, Silverpaw wished she’d fail. But of course, she was on the rabbit in seconds. And it didn’t even flinch, just sat still until it was time to go limp. Silverpaw’s glare would have been lethal if the rabbit weren’t already dead, though it lost no intensity when he turned toward Moondancer’s goading. After a moment of convincing himself snapping wasn’t worth looking worse, he grumbled, “Of course.”
He didn’t have to look hard for another chance. Moondancer’s rabbit hadn’t come alone; as he tore his glare off the tabby and searched the marsh, he spotted another one nearby. Disgusting doubt made his legs feel stiff just looking at it. Pressing his claws into the peaty ground, Silverpaw whispered, “Stars, just stay still,” and forced himself after it. For the most part, it did: Silverpaw got close again, and he'd learned from his last attempt not to wait once he was confident he could reach it. Lunging forward, he stretched out a paw, claws flexing and just starting to push against its flank-
Then, screaming, it kicked out in its violent scrabble to get away. Thin claws caught his snout, and Silverpaw fell gracelessly back to his paws, stumbling backwards with a hiss. He'd shut his eyes when the pain first hit, and when he tried to open them, he spent a few seconds blinking back the instinctive tears. On the edge of his vision, he could see blood welling up where the rabbit got him. His tail lashed wildly behind him, and everything in his body begged to tear after it, but he hadn't seen which way it went while he reeled. Silverpaw wanted his teeth in its neck. He was furious with that stupid little animal, whichever way it'd run, and his head hurt, and he just wanted to catch the oversized, flea-bitten rat. Was that so hard? He'd done fine in the– admittedly minimal –hunting he'd done so far. Bitterness was thick on his tongue. Without turning back to look at Moondancer, Silverpaw did his best to keep the hiss from his voice to call, "We can keep going. I don't want to go back to camp empty-pawed."
Silverpaw attempted to catch a rabbit... catch unsuccessful. -3 SP.
Subject: Re: the birds are singing at night [C] Sun 7 May 2023 - 18:39
Moondancer had to try very hard not to laugh as the tom decided to go for a rabbit as well. He wanted to one-up her, clearly, but it simply wasn't going to happen. Moondancer had caught hers, she had nothing to prove, and all Silverpaw had proven so far was that whoever his mentor was, was not doing a good enough job. But it wasn't Moondancer's duty to teach him, especially if he wasn't capable of picking things up by simply watching her. He had heart though, she'd give him that. She stayed quiet, face carefully neutral as Silverpaw stalked after his target.
His claws just brushed the rabbit's pelt before it kicked away, darting off with a squeal. Moondancer grimaced as the rabbit's paw actually landed. That had to sting, and she was just glad she wasn't the one on the receiving end. A scratch to the nose like that would be terrible for her complexion. Nearly as terrible as the embarrassment would be.
"Are you sure?" Moondancer tried to keep a straight face, if Silverpaw was incapable of catching anything, that was his own problem. She would have to let him try again though, wouldn't she? It wouldn't do to have him think she was mean. "Oh, fine." She said before he could answer her, If you can find whatever that rabbit didn't scare off... Good luck, kit.
![the birds are singing at night [C] Mistpe10](https://i.servimg.com/u/f80/12/50/89/25/mistpe10.gif)
![the birds are singing at night [C] Sig2](https://2img.net/h/i105.photobucket.com/albums/m235/Nightshade302/siggys/sig2.gif)
