Out of the Nest [Closed]

Badgermask stood at the cusp of the ShadowClan camp, a soft frown on her face as she stared out at the pure white horizon before her. An apprentice... She had quickly accepted it, but the fact of the matter was that she had no idea how to go about teaching Larkpaw what it meant to be a ShadowClan camp so far from their territory. There was no shadows to hide in, where to step in the marshes to avoid falling into the bog and it would be neigh impossible to teach the art of stealth when the ground crunched with every pawstep thanks to the layer of snow that had fallen upon the lake. She suppose the only thing she could focus on was the basics of hunting and fighting - but she wasn't sure where to start there... A sigh escaped her, glancing behind her as she waited for Larkpaw to show up for the first day of training.

Whatever, she would figure it out once they were out in the field.

Badgermask jolted slightly at Larkpaw's loud and enthusiastic greeting, ears slicking back on her head before she took in a deep breath to steady herself. Well, it was easy to see that Larkpaw was far different than how Creekpaw had been. "Yes, I am ready," she meowed, a half lie with how she wasn't even sure what they were going to be doing - before her eyes narrowed as Larkpaw threw out the idea of fighting predators. "No. No predators - not if we can help it. You haven't had a single combat training."

She raised an eyebrow as Larkpaw quickly fell into a hunting stance to offer up the idea of hunting, before a soft huff escaped her. "You want to go hunting? We can cover hunting," she meowed with a flicker of her tail as she stepped out of the camp and into the white expansive that was the snow-covered territory. "Come along - and be quieter, you don't want to scare off the prey before we even arrive," she added with a glare - but there was an unexpected softness to it. Perhaps it was the fact that Larkpaw was fresh out of kithood, the fondness that Badgermask felt for kits hadn't been fully lost on Larkpaw yet.

It was already clear thought that the two were going to be quite a pair.

Oh good, she was talkative. A heavy sigh escaped Badgermask - this was all quite a far cry from Creekpaw but... Ugh, she didn't answer her now, she would just keep bothering her with questions. It was hard to follow them, but she was pretty sure she got most of them. "No set location and we'll hunt whatever we find. This isn't our normal territory, I don't know what lives here and you are my second apprentice," she answered simply but then she grimaced. Questions about her family - it brought up bitter feelings as she stared down at her paws.

"I...Had littermates but they are all gone. My sister is the medicine cat thought - Heatherberry. As for my mother..." There was no easy nor simple ways to describe her feelings toward her mother as her tail swished with uncertainty. "...My mother is Leopardstar - and my father is Echomist before you ask. She is...Fine. Busy with leadership, we do not talk often. Had a...Falling out, I suppose," she uttered as her whiskers twitched. 'Falling out' was an understatement but it was not something she wanted to talk about further. So she turned, coming to a stop as she glanced at her apprentice.

"But enough about me - we are here out here for your training." She took in a deep breath, glancing around with a soft frown. She wasn't even sure where to start on how to cover hunting - this was a far cry from their standard hunting area but she suppose at least figuring out the hunting crouch would work. "We'll start with your hunting crouch," she meowed as she dropped into hers, eyes glimmering as she stared at her apprentice. "A hunting crouch is one of your most important tools - a proper one will help you close the distance on all sorts of prey. You want to keep your head low, weight even on all of your paws. You need to be mindful of your tail - keep it low as well, but make sure it doesn't brush the ground," she explained as she took steps forward. "Prey are sensitiveness and jumpy - make too much noise and they will flee...But they can also sense the ground tremble with steps which is why you have to be careful not to favor your paws - you need to step lightly."

She lifted her head, taking in a deep breath as she scanned around. A flicker of brown caught her eye and the smell of a mouse soon confirmed it. "I see a mouse - watch me, I'll show you how it done," she murmured as she turned and started to carefully stalk towards it. Her fur prickled, hating the lack of cover - so used to hunting in the shadows but it didn't matter. She would just have to make do as she came to a stop, shifting her paws slightly as she dropped...Then pounced to close the distance.

Her paw landed on the mouse's tail - followed by her other paw on its neck. It didn't even get to make a squeak before it fell still as she carefully picked it up - not wanting to tear the skin and risk it going bad early. Turning, she padded back to Larkpaw with a flicker of her tail. "And that is how its done. Of course, even with a perfected hunting crouch...Prey can easily grow wise to your location. You will not catch everything - accept to face that disappointment early," she meowed, before she dropped the mouse and gave her apprentice a look. "Now then - I want you to give it a try. Show me your hunting crouch in action."

Badgermask attempted to catch a mouse, costing 5 stamina and succeeded.

Badgermask:
55/55 HP
105/110 SP (-5)

OOC: Just to be safe, I am going to copy and paste a hunting explanation I made for another apprentice - with edits to fit our current situation and stuff. -Ahem-

For start, I'll just link the hunting system here. The hunting system itself is rather basic - whenever you want to use it, you decide what you want to catch, hit preview on your post and go down to the dice roll option beneath the edit spot. Have Dice Roll #1 set to Hunting Dice, then send your post!

One thing that should be noted that if somebody posts before you, when the site asks if you want to edit your post - its best to agree to edit it even if you don't have to and reset the dice back up because otherwise it cancels it which can pose a problem. But that tends to be a problem in big fight topics, not hunting ones. Just something to note.

Based on what you are hunting and what you roll, you can see if you succeeded or not. I'm having Badgermask go for a mouse and because the season is currently Leaf-bare on the site, that means if I roll a 1-6, I catch it! 7-9 is a failure, but the hunting requirement is still counted...10 however means a predator appears and the hunting attempt is nulled when it comes to counting as a requirement, but whoever rolls the 10 gets to decide which one appears so its easy to just pick a low-health one if you don't actually want a big fight. (Another thing to note, predators can be chased away at half health which is why its extra useful to just pick one with low health.)

Every attempt to hunt with the system also costs SP - 3 SP during Newleaf, Greenleaf and Leaf-fall but 5 SP during Leaf-bare (which is the current season so!) Its recommended to keep track of it in your posts like I did, mostly because your current SP will be reflected if a predator comes around. HP and SP also refill between topics - thought you can choose to carry over it if you so desire (or want to visit a medicine cat to get that fixed)

While this does not matter for now, but will once we are back in the forest - in each Clan territory is sub-area which has different bonuses. For ShadowClan, hunting in the Pine Grove adds a +2 success range to any  hunting attempts. So if we were hunting there, I would actually be able to catch the mouse with a 1-8! ...But we are at the Lake where no hunting bonus is applied. Other such places is Beech Copse for RiverClan, The Tunnels for WindClan, Stony Hollow for ThunderClan and Moonlit Creek for SkyClan. However the bonus cannot go past 9 - rolling a 10 is always a predator.

...Hopefully that makes sense?

Oh! Another thing - you can stop your post with the attempt to catch, then go back to edit it to mirror if you succeeded or failed once you know your dice roll (such as I did for this) I will admit that sometimes if I am feeling extra lazy, I will write a barebone one-sentence post just to get the dice roll first and then write the proper post afterwards with the knowledge of what I got (thought I do often list what I am hunting in that barebone post just to keep me honest)

The member 'Honey Badger' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

A scoff escaped Badgermask - but it was a gentle one as Larkpaw came bounding up. "Yes, yes - you did. Don't get comfortable with it, you won't catch every prey," she meowed with a flicker of her tail, her eyes fall to the mouse that Larkpaw had dropped next to hers. "...But you did good. That being said, there isn't much to teach you about hunting then if you got the basic this quickly. A more in depths lesson will happen once we've returned to our territory...How many moons away that might be," she sighed as she turned, taking a few steps away as she mused on it. There just wasn't much to teach Larkpaw on this front... Which meant the other aspect they had to go over was...

"Hunting was a success - which leaves us to take in your combat skills. While we will not be chasing off a predator..." she drifted off as she came to a stop, turning to face Larkpaw before she dropped into a crouch. It wasn't that similar to a hunting one but her paws were more set - to keep her steady and standing no matter the strength of the blows put against her. "I will explain the basics...But first I want to see how you would take on a foe above your skill. So? Attack me - the opening move is yours."

Badgermask:
55/55 HP
105/110 SP

Larkpaw:
20/20 HP
55/60 SP

OOC: I know I saw you ask a bit about combat in the Help-Desk on Discord but once again, just to be safe - old combat explanation copy and pasted and refitted to current situation.

Combat! The battle system can be a little confusing at first. Link to the Battle System and lets see how I can explain this... This guide was first written with a predator encounter in mind, so we'll cover that first. When rolling a 10 via the hunting dice or just forcing a predator encounter if you want, it tends to fall upon the person who rolled it to control it. So if I had forced a predator, it would fall upon me and it would only move on _my_ turn (aka when I post.) However, if you roll a 10 and are uncomfortable/unsure about doing that, you could likely ask another person in the topic to take over controlling it.

For this fight, I chose not to have Badgermask perform an action to allow you the first hit of the fight - so I'll just go into how special moves work. Special moves are attacks that cost a stun or a pin, which will rob a cat of their turn unless they can negate it (either by using Duck-and-Twist on a pin or Random Recall on a stun). Each special move cannot be used on the same target twice - so if I opened a fight with leap-and-hold and the fight continued on for a bit, I would not be able to leap-and-hold my foe again but could use other special moves - granted there is a standard or situational move I use in between those turns. Can't stun lock opponents.

Situational moves are what they sound like - just moves that have a special 'when' you can use them. Be sure to pay attention to the description but don't be afraid to ask for clarification if you aren't sure if it is the right situation to use said move. Then there are group-restricted moves - a passive buff and a special/situational move.

As ShadowClan, we deal +1 damage if the topic takes place at night (which is when ShadowClan tends to be active anyways, being a nocturnal Clan) and Mud Slap, which deals minor damage but stuns an opponent...But is only usable in wet areas like our standard territory so can't really use it here.

For how much damage you deal, you always need to remember what rank you are - which will also tell you what abilities you can use! As you climb the ranks, more and more abilities will be open for you to use (so if it has a damage listed for your rank, you can use it! If not, its a no-go and gotta wait!)

Battles become a game of using your resources wisely - knowing when to take a chance on rolling the dice (literally) or sticking with safe damage. Of course, its all in good fun even when big Clan vs Clan battles happen! Friendly spars are also a good way to get a grasp on the system because its a full fight to either side hitting 0 HP so you get more chances to try different moves but there is no true risk to it - just your cat is tired out when your HP or SP hits zero!

Its also seen as a common courtesy to also list the HP/SP of those in the fight with you but is not truly needed - you could just keep track of your enemy health and your own cat health! When it comes to a big battle, you just need to list those actively fighting at your side/against you instead of everybody partaking in the battle. Just those being effected by your actions, so to speak. I...Hope this is enough? A lot of rambling to be sure, but its hard to explain the system I feel - mostly when I am so used to it so I don't consider it being hard to grasp at times.

Badgermask waited patiently as Larkpaw stood there, simply using the long time to study her apprentice in return. She was loud - energetic, talkative...Inquisitive. A curious sort for sure - the type to stick her nose where it didn't belong, likely. A simple native attitude that could easily get her into trouble... And despite how much it clashed with her own personality, the warrior couldn't help but find it charming in some way. The earnest outlook was what she liked of kits - cats who know little else to be honest as they do not realize what lying will gain them.

...It would be a shame when the world would break her like it did everybody sooner or later.

Her thoughts were however interrupted as Larkpaw finally moved - dropping into a crouch before leaping towards the warrior. Badgermask shifted to the side, careful to keep her movements from being too fast as the apprentice managed a solid strike to her shoulder. The warrior huffed in pride, before she quickly pressed forward - a paw swiping towards Larkpaw's back leg to bring the apprentice to the ground. She raised a paw, planting it on Larkpaw's back - gentle enough not to cause pain but hard enough to keep the apprentice from rising. "Good. Your blow was well-aimed - shoulders are a good target. An easier target than a leg and enough damage can damper what your opponent can do. Of course, you have to be mindful of their jaws if you are coming from the front...And there is more to a fight than straight damage - finding ways to control your enemies movements. Finding a way to stun them or pining them can change a tide even against cats above your skill level."

Badgermask used Experienced Steps on Larkpaw, dealing 8 damage and costing 10 stamina. Larkpaw is stunned for one turn.

Badgermask:
49/55 HP
95/110 SP (-10)

Larkpaw:
12/20 HP (-8)
48/60 SP

OOC: Now, I should explain how the stun/pin system works. Stun and pins can rob your opponent of their turns - something that can easily turn a tide. As I mentioned in my previous post, there has to be a gap between special moves. So for my next post, Badgermask would have to rely on a standard move before she would be able to pick another special move.

But if you are stunned or pinned, your turn isn't completely forfeit! You can choose to accept the pin/stun or you can use Duck-or-Twist to attempt to escape a pin or, in this case, you can use Random Recall to break this stun but both can only be used once so in longer battles, so in longer battles its important to decide if you want to save it or not. If you choose to embrace the pin, you would simply state that in place of a move that you cannot act.

So if Badgermask is stunned, I would have this at the end of my post reacting to the situation:

Badgermask is stunned for this turn.

For stuns/pins that take up two turns, that means you have to post twice before its over - which a pin which can last for either 1 or 2 turns are decided by rolling an effect dice (which is where the 'if somebody posts before you can, you should re-edit your post to readd the dice rolls before you actually post comes in). For Leap-and-Hold which is notable as the move continues for every turn its active, if you are pinned for two turns and fail to escape, it would look like this -

RPer 1: Leap-and-Hold is used.
RPer 2: Pinned.
RPer 1: Leap-and-Hold continues (damage/stamina is deducted again.)
RPer 2: Pinned
RPer 1: Pin is over, is free to use another move.

As another note - Duck-and-Twist can be used on any pin turn while Random Recall can _only_ be used on the final turn of a stun. So, because I've used a single-turn stun on you - the option is yours on if you wish to accept it or use Random Recall to escape! (Which can be followed up by another standard move in the same turn so you would still be able to get another swipe in on Badgermask!)

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

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'Effect Dice' : 6

OOC: While my wording in my post might have made it sound a tad like a pin, what I actually had used in my post was a stun so Duck-and-Twist wouldn't have been used - it would have fallen onto a use of Random Recall to escape the stun. However, you did use Duck-and-Twist correctly so we'll just run with it but the difference between a stun/pin should be noted! No matter the wording of a post, always refer to what the stated action and its effects are!

IC: Badgermask stumbled backwards in surprise as Larkpaw managed to find the strength to push free - before a proud huff escaped her. "Huh...Good escape, Larkpaw," she meowed as she studied her paw with a thoughtful expression. "Hm... I dare say you have the basics down. You aim and speed are good and you managed to recover quicker than I had expected. What else..." she mused with a flicker of her ear. It was hard to say what else to focus on in the moment. Finally, she shook her head with a faint smile on her muzzle. "I dare to say that other than refinement, you have a knack for this. Its always important to read how a battle is turning however."

She stepped forward with a wave of her tail. "If the odds are against you, there are certain things that only open up there. Quickly feigning defeat to surprise your foe, finding the strength and speed to try to deal additional damage...But in the same vein, there are openings that are only revealed as the battle near its end. Gathering your strength to try a massive blow to spur the end of the battle quicker while your opponent is exhausted. Its important to learn what different options could be opened to you and how before a battle starts - so you know how to act on the split second openings when they show themselves."

There was another pause, followed by a sigh. "Then there is the tried and true method of fleeing," she added. "Some wouldn't think highly of it - but its better to use your energy to flee and live than waste your life in a pointless battle. While cats are expected not to take the lives of others..." she drifted off, her eyes falling to the ground as visions flickered past her - of her brother and sister unmoving on the WindClan moor. Even now, she didn't understand it - what had started the back and forth that had claimed her littermates...? She shook her head, clearing her throat. "...It happens. I would not have that fate happen to you - if you are outmatched, there is no shame in fleeing even if your pride will say otherwise."