finding our way back home, step by step (closed)

Thank the moons Ambersun was healthy when she got separated.

It had been a day since she and Brackenpaw saw the rest of SkyClan flee. The tree between them and the one Sunfire scurried up had branches that were either too brittle to cross or too low to avoid the wolves' jaws (of all the trees, it had to have been the one separating them from the rest of SkyClan that they couldn't treehop through), which forced them to wait it out until the wolves left, then quickly make a break for it once the wolves were gone.

Now, they had to make it back alone. That's an oxymoron. The two of us have to make it back together.

She did feel alone at times, though. It made sense, since Brackenpaw wasn't exactly keen on picking her up whenever she felt down.

Sighing, the ginger she-cat continued scanning the area. Every snowy step was freezing cold, a shiver scurrying down Ambersun's spine every time her paw pressed on it. She saw SkyClan run this way, but there wasn't a single sign of it. No broken branches, no scraps of fur, no dead bodies on the ground. The last one was more of a relief, especially since it meant Brackenpaw's siblings were probably alive, but she was still worried that somehow, they were going the wrong direc-

"Paw prints!" she mewed, dashing over to the trail a few fox-lengths ahead of them. Yep, those were cat prints. Lots and lots of cat prints, overlapped on one another. "This must be SkyClan - actually, it might be all the clans. They're probably trying to go back home!" She smiled eagerly at Brackenpaw. "To go hunting, we should mark a spot where we can meet up in a decent amount of time. If everything goes right, we can make it back to the clans before we even reach the territories. How does that sound?" Brackenpaw was difficult to reason with, but there were moments where he did listen to her - even if it meant throwing deathly insults her way.

(ooc: thinking we could turn this into a hunting topic if that's okay with you!)

Trudging several mouse-lengths behind Ambersun was the ever irritated Brackenpaw. The apprentice's head hung low, and his tail dragged through the snow. Despite having never caught the illness amongst the clans, he felt miserable. It had been days since the wolves attacked, and he had risked his life for his clan and family, but it had been pointless. Ambersun had interfered, and Brackenpaw had no way of kniwing if his siblings had survived. Being stuck with Ambersun for the past few days had been torture, if he had a list of cats he wanted to be stuck with, she would be at the bottom. Their journey had been far from pleasant and Brackenpaw's sharp tongue and short temper had only made it worse despite Ambersun's attempts at being civil. The brindled tom had very few kind words for the young she-cat.

The sound of Ambersun's irritating meow pulled Brackenpaw from his his poisonous thoughts about her. At the mention of SkyClan, his ears pricked and he eagerly bound forward - a little too eagerly for his linking considering his feeling towards Ambersun - and stuck his nose in to investigate her discovery. This was the first sign of the clans they'd seen, most evidence had been covered by the thick snow. This was one of the main reason's Brackenpaw was stuck with Ambersun, he was certain he could handle himself, but he'd never been past the mountain range that bordered the lake. The lake was all he knew, and so this whole area was unfamiliar to him, on the other paw Ambersun had taken the journey to the lakes when the famine had started, and so she knew the way. Brackenpaw had not had the luxury of choice, either he could stay stuck between the home he never knew and the home he couldn't return to, or he could suck up his pride and put up with Ambersun a little longer. Much to his annoyance, the latter was the better option. As soon as they were reunited with SkyClan, Brackenpaw had every intention of never looking in her direction again, let alone speaking to her.

When Brackenpaw inhaled the scent of the tracks, it was unsurprisingly quite stale. He had hoped to make out the scents of his family, but he couldn't. If there was that tell tale scent of pine amongst the overwhelming stench of fish, rotting leaves, dirt and rabbit, Brackenpaw couldn't tell. His stomach dropped, as he still had no confirmation that they had survived the horrific night. Who knew if they had met the same fate as Lionstripe. The thought of his gruesome death made bile rise in Brackenpaw's throat as the violent images came to the forefront of his mind. The scent blood, the sound of bones cracking, and then the sight of his body broken and mutilated beyond recognition. And still Brackenpaw had jumped into the fray against the wolves. He didn't have a choice, and even now as he inspected the tracks, and grumbled internally about Ambersun's lingering presence and grating voice, he would have still risked it all.

Ambersun seemed to think they would be bale to catch up with the clans soon, how she knew that the brindled apprentice couldn't figure out, but it filled him with dread and excitement. Finally he would get some answers. His spirits had been lifted ever so slightly, and he turned his attentions from the paw prints to the warrior before him. "That might be one of the few ideas you've had that isn't completely mouse-brained." replied Brackenpaw offering Ambersun the nicest words he could muster "Unfortunately I don't know this territory at all, so I still have to stick with you while we hunt. I don't plan on getting lost before I can find out if my family survived."

Ambersun really didn't expect Brackenpaw to suggest sticking by her. That was the easiest option, sure, but she thought the brindled tom wouldn't want to do that after... their rocky start. Maybe he's got a clearer head on his paws than I first thought. "Sounds good," she said, giving Brackenpaw a curt nod. "I think we'll need to get off the path the Clans took to hunt, though. Doubt birds and squirrels would be hanging around a place with a hundred paw prints." The clans were far, far away by now, but maybe if they kept on moving in (approximately) the right direction they could still get back home.

Noticing a patch of woods roughly in the direction of the paw prints, the ginger she-cat padded towards it. They needed to catch some prey to keep up strength, maybe even find some traveling herbs to help save the precious amount of prey they would need to make up the distance. It's a long journey. We'll at worst make it back when the clans arrive in Highstones.

It wasn't the most confident thought she had, unfortunately.

Arriving at the forest, Ambersun turned to Brackenpaw. "This looks like a good spot," she said. "Let's go find some prey." She wasn't planning on giving him tips on hunting - since Brackenpaw was almost a warrior anyways - so Ambersun began tasting the air for any prey scents.

A mouse?

Fine, she'd go catch it. Something was better than nothing, after all. Crouching down, the ginger she-cat began silently stepping towards the wind, the mouse scent still strong. As she got closer, she was able to get a visual: laying in the snowy grass, curled up in a ball, trying to stay warm. Slowly making her way towards it, Ambersun scanned the area. Were there any predators around that could catch it - or her? She didn't see any, so she continued moving slowly towards the rodent.

Once she was close enough, Ambersun pounced. The wind from her pelt drifted her scent upward, causing the mouse to react a lot faster than she expected. Thankfully, Ambersun was able to adjust mid-flight and nab the little rascal in her hind paw. Thank you, StarClan, for letting me catch this. Bending down to nip the neck of the still-squirming mouse, Ambersun picked it up with her maw, before searching for Brackenpaw's brindled pelt. Please don't tell me he's off chasing a wolf again. He probably wasn't - it was obvious he attacked the wolf in the first place to protect his siblings - but Ambersun was worried that he got in some sort of trouble.

Ambersun attempted to catch (and caught) a mouse, costing 5 stamina.

Ambersun:
HP: 40/40
SP: 95/100

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Brackenpaw followed Ambersun, tail dragging in the snow behind him. His blue gaze lingered on the pawprints, he didn't want to leave them, not when it meant he was closer to his family. If they were still alive that was. Ambersun's logic was sound unfortunately, there would be no prey here. As they walked further away, but still parallel to the tracks, Brackenpaw alertly scanned for signs of prey, but it was pretty bleak, not to mention cold, on the mountain path. His breath condensed before him in the freezing air, and the tom puffed out his coat.

He didn't try and talk to Ambersun, he didn't have much to say. Plus, she already knew exactly how he felt about her, there was no point wasting his breath or energy on her. Not when he had to conserve it for their journey, and just tolerating her presence. The deep snow, eventually gave way to a small wooded area, Ambersun seemed to think this area would bring them luck, but Brackenpaw hadn't found any signs himself. He watched her sceptically, an eyebrow raised as she slunk off into the undergrowth. It wasn't long before she returned, a mouse between her jaws. "Is that all there is here?" he meowed with a pout, still making little attempt to contribute to their hunt.

Out of the corner of his eye, Brackenpaw saw a flash of blue. The tom's body shifted into action as the blue bird flitted through the trees. Watch this, Ambersun. He shimmied up the trunk of the tree the bird was resting on, and pounced before the creature had time to realise the danger it was in. Brackenpaw leaped down, his paws sinking into the snow with the impact of the landing. A smug grin was plastered on his maw as he returned to Ambersun. "Think you can do better?" he meowed cockily.

Brackenpaw used - 5 SP hunting

Brackenpaw

20/20 HP
55/60 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

"You take what you find." Ambersun understood why Brackenpaw was... not enthused by only a mouse. If it made him feel better, she was planning on taking the smaller share of prey, just because apprentices died. "It's at least better than catching nothing."

"Nice," Ambersun grinned, smirking at Brackenpaw's catch. It was easy to see he took pride in his craft, and he caught birds like the best of warriors. I really hope his attack on the wolf doesn't hold him back for too long.

Brackenpaw's next suggestion lit a spark in Ambversun. "Is that a challenge?" she poked, an excited smirk growing. "'Cause you're on!" The light ginger she-cat caught a small scent of a bird from above them, before bounding up the tree to nab it off the branch.

In her haste, though, she made a lot more noise than she intended, causing the bird to take off before she could launch safely. Ambersun threw a wild paw at the bird, which thankfully knocked it away from its predetermined flight, allowing the ginger she-cat to catch it cleanly in her jaws. Still mid-air and quite a few fox-lengths from the ground, Ambersun instinctively adjusted her body to land perfectly on her paws. "Now try and beat that," she panted, nipping the neck of the sparrow. Immediately after, the realization hit that maybe challenging Brackenpaw to beat jumping from five or six fox-lengths in the air wasn't the best idea. He hunts like a warrior, she told herself. He won't do something stupid. Not when he has his siblings to go back to.

She had a hard time convincing herself, though.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

"Would it be anything else?" retorted Brackenpaw, watching Ambersun. The she-cat heartily excepted his challenge, and was quick to begin pursing her next prey item. Ambersun wasn't particularly silent Brackenpaw noted, but she was extremely nimble and agile. Not to mention adaptable. Even Brackenpaw could admit her catch was impressive, as he stared enviously opened mouthed as she adjusted and twisted mid fall, securing not only a perfect catch, but a perfect landing as well. He was stunned. Still as the older cat's eyes met his Brackenpaw was quick to resume his cold demeanour towards her. "It was alright I suppose." he said with a nonchalant shrug despite the rising heat he felt prickling.

Before Ambersun could reply, the apprentice held up a striped paw for silence. His ears swivelled, and silently he stalked forwards, honing in on the minute scratches he could see. Something was burrowing nearby, or trembling in fear knowing the great Brackenpaw approached. His whiskers twitched as he felt the vibrations, and with each tentative step closer everything around the young tom seemed to slow. He was practically on top of his ctach, it just lied somewhere beneath the snow, where the tool he relied on most wouldn't be able to help him. His lip curled back slightly, but Brackenpaw kept his focus. The tom froze.

And then he jumped a good fox length into the air before crashing back down paws first in a flurry of snow and ice.

When the cloud of white dispersed Brackenpaw was empty pawed, a scowl on his face. He had definitely made a fool of himself, and he was sure the pile of snow on his head was quite amusing to Ambersun, the mole that she was. With a grumble, the tom shook out his pelt as he passed by Ambersun in a strop, hoping to shake the snow off onto her instead. It was 2-1, but hopefully she wouldn't have any more luck. That's all it was. Luck. The tom let out a snort of hot air that became a misty plume as it condensed. Ambersun was lucky, but luck always ran out.

Brackenpaw failed at catching a vole

20/20 HP
50/60 SP (-5 SP)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6