A Dark Path.

[MachineGunLola 408]

Link to OOC Topic: http://mlpforums.com/topic/21302-warriors-rp/

Muddpaw yawned and stretched, waking up for the day.

The sun had just risen, and she had a full day of hunting ahead of her.

Her mentor, Lionclaw, was pushing her hard, but she didn't mind.

Working hard for her clan was what she lived for. She loved her clan and her mentor, and she would do anything for them.

She sniffed the air- it had already rained, so she would have some time before it rained again.

Muddpaw walked out of the apprentices den and padded over to Lionclaw, who was up and eating.

"Hi, Lionclaw!"

She called out happily.

"Ah, Muddpaw. Hello little one. Today you have to hunt again, and you know where to go now, right?"

He winked at her.

"Yes, I remember, Lionclaw. I will do good, I promise."

"I know you will, Muddpaw. You always do."

She ate a quick mouse, and then ran to the opening of the forest.

Ah, what a beautiful day to hunt.

Sniffing the air, she found the scent of a mouse, and it was close.

Silently she crept towards the scent, and it wasn't long before she spotted it.

It was nibbling at a seed on the floor, unaware it was being hunted.

Muddpaw crept up behind it and pounced.

It squeaked quickly- but before it could do more than that, Muddpaw had caught it in her jaw, and it was dead.

Burying it near an Oak tree, she ran along to find more food.

[Finesthour 7,287]

Ashpaw slowly opened his eyes to the small ray of light that crept through the trees of the Shadow clan. He outstretched his body along the forest ground that was his bed and mewed softly, welcoming the new day to his body. He rose to his legs and began to walk around the forest to find his meal.

[Strong Hooves 289]

The warm rays of the sun poured through the opening of the Thunderclan apprentice den. It was empty save for one young apprentice, his golden yellow and black spotted fur glowing as the sun washed over him. The warmth stirred the apprentice from his sleep, and he opened his dark green eyes as a yawn escaped him. He stretched and stood up, catching the familiar scent of another cat approach. "Cheetapaw! You still in there?" the other cat meowed, "You need to get up! You have training today!". This got Cheetahpaw moving, he hastily washed himself and jumped out of the den, giving a warm mew of greeting to the cat outside. "Sorry momma!" he said as he rubbed his head under her chin. "You need to start learning to wake up earlier without another's assistance! I won't be around forever you know" she chided, but then licked his ear soothingly. Cheetahpaw let out a quiet purr of amusement, "Okay momma. I promise. I'll see you later to tell you how training went!" he said as he bounded off toward his mentors den. Unlike the other mentors, his had a den all to herself, with a curtain of lichen to keep out the weather. This was one of the perks of being clan leader, you didn't have to share a den with all the other warriors. "Spottedstar! You awake yet?" he called in as he sat at the entrance.

[Midnightive 458]

Sandpaw awoke with sun beating down on her pelt.

She got up and stretched in her bed before getting out of the den.

It was her first day of training, she couldn’t be late.

She ran to the centre and waited for her mentor.

She spent a day hunting with him.

She’d never worked to hard in her little life, her paws throbbed with pain.

Her mentor laughed and told her that should stop soon.

But Sandpaw was not done she had to catch at lest one thing for the elders.

She nodded gracefully to her mentor and ran out the entrance.

 

* * *

 

Spottedstar gracefully got out of her bed and padded towards the young cat.

“I’m awake” she said with a calm smile.

She sat next to him and wrapped her tail gracefully around her forepaws.

“What, can I help you with?” she asked

Edited June 21, 2012 by Midnightive

[Strong Hooves 289]

Cheetahpaw lowered his head respectfully to his mentor/leader. Then looked up warmly at her "Today you said we would practice fighting, when are we gonna start?"

[Midnightive 458]

Spottedstar smiled and lowed her head.

She got up and smiled.

“Ok, I’m glad you remembered now” she meowed.

“We’ll go to the training hollow I made sure we are the only ones to use it today” she said padding lightly out the entrance.

She looked back to see if he was still following, she sat down.

“Remember, it’s important to stay light on your paws as if there was pray a whisker in front of you” her tail flicked from side to side.

“Also always thinking fast and wise, now attack me” she instructed.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Midnightive

[Aureity 3,055]

Hawkstar stared across the grassy clearing, watching the specks of life emerging from their dens. The specks that called themselves Shadowclan. There used to be so many more of us, he thought sadly, swiping his tail across the already-flattened grass, as he watched the first of the apprentices emerge, yelling playfully. Even a moon after the incident, a dark atmosphere still hung around the camp, a sort of respectful silence for the lives of all the cats that had been lost just a moon ago.

 

Expedition number seven, he thought, with a hint of irony, as he recalled the systematic way in which Nightstar had labeled the attack groups, before sending them off to battle. Hawkstar could still remember the incessant howling as if it were yesterday. Day in, day out, and never a moment of rest as Shadowclan used whatever trick that they had in their books to subdue Thunderclan and Riverclan into giving up a few tail-lengths of land. Hawkstar counted six dried bloodstains still smeared in the rocky dirt as he hastily padded towards the center of the clearing. One for each of Shadowclan that had died to satisfy Nightstar's ambitions. He shook his head sadly as each of the six names popped into his mind as if they had been standing here next to him. Dovetail, Sandfang, he thought regretfully as he slinked across the camp. Emberclaw, Eaglethorn, and Minnowlark. He stopped at the dead center of the camp, where a faded stain of blood, the largest of them all, was still splattered on the rocky soil. And Nightstar himself.

 

Which was how Hawkfire, or rather, now Hawkstar, had the duty of restoring Shadowclan to glory. He sighed and gritted his fangs.

 

~~~~~

 

Crystalpaw blinked as the first rays of dawn wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Zzz...huh?" She lazily sat up, licking her paw as her thoughts raced to keep up. There's something important that I need to do today. What is it? She blinked questioningly, before the sight of another apprentice bounding toward their mentor electrified her. "Oh no, that's right!" she yelped aloud, not even bothering to keep her thoughts inside her head anymore. "I'm late for hunting practice!" Kicking up sand and dirt in her hasty attempt to rush out of the den, she nearly tripped and fell flat on her face. I just hope my mentor won't be too mad at me for oversleeping.

[Finesthour 7,287]

(Shit bro, what happened in shadow clan?)

Ashpaw happily mewed in response to seeing Hawkstar in the center of the camp. Ashpaw slowly walked up to him and said,

"Good morning Hawkstar!"

[Aureity 3,055]

(Hawkstar's predecessor let power get to his head and decided to go a bit land-grabby. Which the other clans didn't like )

 

Hawkstar blinked, his thought process shattered by the eager young apprentice how bounding towards him.

"Oh, hello there young..." His brain scrambled frantically for a second before it found the answer. "...Ashpaw."

He wasn't sure what else to say, as he scrambled to clear his thoughts and act the way a proper leader should.

Edited June 21, 2012 by Aureity

[Finesthour 7,287]

(Ashpaw is an orphan, silly.)

Ashpaw tilted his head slightly and mewed out his amusement.

"You forgot my name, silly Hawkstar!"

[Aureity 3,055]

(Oh. Um. Awkward. HASTY EDITING SOON TO COME! )

 

Hawkfire blinked. "No, I..." Oh, who was he to be kidding. "Yes, I did. But only for a second," he sighed apologetically.

He twitched his tail slightly. "But what are you up to this fine morning, young apprentice?" he asked cheerfully, pushing the sad thoughts to the back of his mind.

[Finesthour 7,287]

Ashpaw began to circle around Hawkstar in amusement keeping his head at an angle.

"You forget my name! I knew it!"

He stopped in front of Hawk's face and said,

"Absolutely nothing. No one left food around this morning. What happened to the other apprentices?"

[Midnightive 458]

Sandpaw came back and dropped a pigeon that caught on the food pile.

She went over to the apprentice den and started licking her paws.

Oh how they ached, she got shown the boarder all the way to the four trees.

After complaining about her paw to her self, she laid down.

She was free for the rest of the day, unless her mentor had played for her to go train with other cat.

Though the thought of doing nothing was bliss for her.

[Aureity 3,055]

Hawkstar twitched his tail again. "Most of our warriors are still recovering from the, erm...incident," he said, his voice shaking a little over the last word. "We're relying on the healthy to go fetch food. Which, of course, means that apprentices such as yourselves will play a more important role in helping this clan, as well. We still need our border patrols, and it has to be warriors filling those ranks. We must look strong to the other clans. Which means..."

 

He glanced over at Ashpaw. "How good are you and the other apprentices in catching prey?"

[Finesthour 7,287]

Ashpaw tilted his head once more, but in confusion. Had his great leader already forgotten who he was.

"But... Hawkstar, I don't have a teacher yet. I'm not clanborn... no one will take me. I'm not able to hunt yet!"

[Aureity 3,055]

Hawkstar lashed his tail in irritation. "The only other option we would have is sending our apprentices to do the border patrols. And that's completely unacceptable."

 

He frowned. "Don't you know any older apprentices that can hunt? I'm sure they could take you along and show you the tricks." Soon as everyone wakes up, that is. He glared off into the distance, silently wishing his clan would hurry up.

[Finesthour 7,287]

Ashpaw kept his head at an angle, confusion apparent on his young face.

"Umm... Hawkstar, that's now how the clan works... I cannot do anything without a teacher that's job is to teach me."

[Aureity 3,055]

(Man, you're really trolling me hard )

 

Oh, for the love of...Hawkstar sighed. "In times of emergency like this, rules change to fit our needs. And right now, that need is the survi-" he stopped, seeing the blank look on the apprentice's face. You know what, forget it. "Oh, all right. I'll go ahead and mentor you," he said finally. "Now go wake up those that are still asleep, we don't have time to waste."

[Finesthour 7,287]

(BAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH)

Ashpaw then mewed out of amusement.

"You do realize that I was trying to make you do that, right?"

[Aureity 3,055]

Hawkstar rolled his eyes. "Why else would you profess to me your need for a mentor?" he asked good-naturedly.

 

More cats were poking their heads out of their dens now, walking across towards the center of the clearing towards where Hawkstar stood, their interest obviously piqued. He nodded at each cat that appeared before him. In time, I'll remember all of their names. And avoid embarrassments like what just happened now.

 

He jumped on top of the nearest high object, which turned out to be a rotting log. "Alright, Shadowclan," he called, his voice carrying over across the camp. "With many of our warriors still injured, we're short on cats to run our usual activities. It doesn't help that five of our best warriors are now watching over us from the sky, Starclan bless them," he added, causing a few bowed heads among the throng of cats.

 

"Our medicine cat Mistwing has been working as hard as she can to heal the injuries dealt to us by Thunderclan and Riverclan, but it will be some time before our injured clanmates see some recovery. To aid in the process, she has requested a few different herbs that grow near the edge of the forest here - the sooner the better.. Who will go fetch these requested ingredients for our clanmates in need?" he called, and immediately five different tails shot in the air. He smiled.

 

"Two will be enough. Oakpaw and Blackpaw, you two should report to her den as soon as you can." The two apprentices immediately leapt to their paws and raced off towards Mistwing's den.

 

"As for the border patrols," he added, turning his attention back towards the clan. "It is my wish that we look strong to our neighboring clans. They cannot see a border patrol containing mostly apprentices and a few wounded warriors, lest they take advantage of our situation. Our strongest warriors will lead the border patrols, and will continue to do so until the rest of our clan makes a full recovery. With that said...Swallowheart and Bristlethorn will lead today's border patrols," he said calmly, resting his eyes on a brown tabby she-cat and a grey-furred tom, causing them both to jump in surprise. He nodded at them. "I trust you two to make wise choices when selecting your clammates for the patrol, in order to lend an appearance of strength to them."

 

He watched as the two cats silently rose and padded among the group of cats, tapping certain ones on the shoulder and leading them towards the camp entrance. Just as Hawkstar thought, the only ones left in the camp were the apprentices, nursing queens, kits, and two of the less badly wounded warriors - Sandypelt and Reedtail.

 

"Which leaves you young apprentices to take up the duty of gathering the prey today." He saw it now, a murmur that went up amonst the cats still there. "I know," he added, silencing the murmur. "That many of you are doubtful. But we cannot ask our wounded warriors to help hunt for us, when they themselves are the ones so badly in need of our help. Apprentices, the duty lies with you to feed your clan," he said calmly, pleased to see a few determined nods from within the group. Sandlypelt and Reedtail will tag along with your hunt, and show you how it's done. But do not expect them to hunt for you, as they as still recuperating. Sandypelt, you and Reedtail will take Hazelpaw and Stonepaw on one patrol. And I'll take the other, with Mudpaw, Sunpaw, and Ashpaw." He flicked his tail. "Shadowclan is dismissed," and immediately the remaining cats jumped up and began organizing themselves for today's task.

[Finesthour 7,287]

(TL:DR, I see ashpaw down there, good enough)

 

Ashpaw nodded his head and walked up to Hawkstar.

"So when are we going to start?"

[Aureity 3,055]

(Makes long post. No one reads.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

"We're starting right now," Hawkstar replied, jumping off the log as Mudpaw and Sunpaw raced up to them. "Lets go."

He made his way through the camp's entrance, emerging a few seconds later into the densely shrouded forest that was Shadowclan's home. "Be absolutely still," he hissed to the apprentices. "And stop staring at me - every second you spend distracted is one second less you have to spot prey before it flees."

[Finesthour 7,287]

Ashpaw quietly mewed as he said,

"But a student is supposed to watch his teacher to learn. If I don't watch, how do I learn?"

[Solemn Hour 39]

Novastar's eyes opened gently as streams of sunlight showered down into the Leader's den. He opened his maw in a colossal yawn. Stretching each limb, he finally had awakened entirely and padded into the camp, the bright light blinding him for a few seconds before his eyes adjusted. Novastar's fiery pelt lit up in the daylight, giving him a nice glow. The muscular, yet slender tom seated himself beside the fresh-kill pile, grabbing a mouse and devouring it.

[Aureity 3,055]

Hawkstar smiled. "I never believed in that system," he murmured quietly. "By watching your mentor, you learn his techniques. By trying it out yourself, you learn your own." He flicked his tail at a small mouse scurrying among the thick undergrowth. "Well, let's see. One of you go catch that."

 

One of the other apprentices looked doubtful. "W-without help?"

 

"Yes, without help," said Hawkstar calmly. "Go on, I'm observing."