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Post by Fawn on Jul 7, 2019 23:51:28 GMT -5
Kestrelclaw 30 Moons - Tom - StoneClan Yesterday had been so unbearably hot, Kestrelclaw and his new apprentice Dawnpaw had been unable to leave camp until it was almost evening. Even then the rocks had been too hot for the enthusiastic kitten, whose exuberance couldn't protect his delicate, kitten-soft pads from the stones that radiated heat. Kestrelclaw, afraid to push Dawnpaw too hard too soon, had been forced to cut their territory tour short.
Yep. His first time out as a mentor had ended in... less than an hour. Kestrelclaw's ears had burned when he'd trotted back to camp with Dawnpaw behind him, promising adamently that tomorrow would be better. When he'd woke up that morning, determination filled every fiber of Kestrelclaw's being - he had to make good on his word. He liked Dawnpaw, the young male was eager to learn and eager to explore his new world. And as it turned out, his own mother Duskflower had been the one to do most of the raising of Petalrain's litter.
In a way, it felt like he was looking after a little brother.
With the rosy-orange whiskers of dawn beginning to change the colors of StoneClan's camp, Kestrelclaw stretched each limb quickly, rotating his neck upon his stout shoulders until he heard a few satisfying pops of tension. Then he went to the apprentices' den, peering in at the sleeping forms. Rather than be assaulted by old memories of being Kestrelpaw, of the days when he still had Eagletalon in his life -- the young warrior felt only a growing sense of duty and focus.
He couldn't let Dawnpaw down.
"Wake up, Dawnpaw. It's time to see the rest of the territory!" All of it, this time. They would be walking quite a ways this morning, and Kestrelclaw had already mentally planned out their route, making sure not to go too long without water, especially for Dawnpaw. It would be the tom's first experience with being active on an empty stomach.
StoneClan kits were well fed and well loved. Dawnpaw would have to get used to not being able to go to the fresh kill pile whenever he wanted. Priorities had shifted. All kits one day went from being pampered to being in service to the Clan, pampering the next generation and so on. Laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can. |
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| I will not be like a bird bred in a cage, I thought, too dull to fly even when the door stands open. |
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INVENTORY
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Post by Ginger on Jul 9, 2019 22:12:13 GMT -5
The night had been a rather sleepless one for Dawnpaw. He had been so incredibly excited at Kestrelclaw's promise of a longer day out on the territory that he had found it quite difficult to keep still for long enough to fall asleep. Short and spaced out naps had been the majority of the tabby tom's night, but even his lack of sleep couldn't stop him from being as excited as ever as his mentor gently spoke to him to get him up.
Quick as a hare, Dawnpaw shot up from his "sleeping position" and chased his mentor out of the den. The naive apprentice made to go to the fresh-kill pile for a snack, but he noticed quickly that Kestrelclaw was going in the complete opposite direction, already towards the entrance of the camp. Already training me to protect the clan! How cool! Despite his stomach rumbling ever so softly, Dawnpaw happily bounced alongside his mentor, excitement temporarily satiating him.
"What cool things are we going to see today?" Dawnpaw had been picturing all of the possible sights all night, such as cats of different clans, prey to feed the clan, or even the cool landmarks that made Stoneclan stand out. There were so many things that Dawnpaw was so excited to see that he probably would have squealed with enjoyment at the sight of a leaf blowing in the wind.
Today, I become more than just one cat. Today, I become Stoneclan. Despite his excitement to see everything, Dawnpaw really felt the most ready to become an asset to his clan; someone who could be trusted to help others in times of struggle. And he knew that Kestrelclaw would get him to that as efficiently as possible. The tabby apprentice couldn't help but smile as he trod alongside his mentor, ready to see the sights and learn the ways of Stoneclan.
313 words Fawn |
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Post by Fawn on Jul 15, 2019 20:37:28 GMT -5
Kestrelclaw 30 Moons - Tom - StoneClan "Do you remember the barren scrublands from yesterday?" Kestrelclaw made sure of his footing as he spoke over his shoulder to the excitable Dawnpaw. "We're going past that to the LightningClan border, and from there we'll make a big circle around StoneClan territory. It's a pretty serious journey," Kestrelclaw smiled, eying up his apprentice's young face. He still had his kitten fluff. "Are you up for it? If at any point you need to rest, tell me. A good warrior knows his limits."
As they walked, Kestrelclaw spoke intermittently about certain landmarks - though the dryness of the greenleaf heat on his tongue soon had his throat parched. There was a soft rasp when he spoke now. As comfortable and at home in their sparsely-vegitated terrain as a sand snake, Kestrelclaw's pads were tough and seemingly impervious to the sharp bits of rock and root they occasionally stepped over. "These are the Sun Stones," a stout tail - a bit shorter than the average cat's - swept to indicate the wide, flat, sun-warmed rocks separating LightningClan from StoneClan.
"I know there's a lot to look at," LightningClan territory included, thought Kestrelclaw. "But be mindful of your paws. Have you seen a snake before? It's long as a cat's tail, thin and covered in a scaly hide, like some of the lizards on the fresh kill pile. They're very fast, and some can kill a cat with just one bite."
The sandy ticked tom paused, adding with a soft smile. "I don't mean to scare you, I just want you to be prepared."
Help others, and if you can't help them at least don't hurt them. |
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| I will not be like a bird bred in a cage, I thought, too dull to fly even when the door stands open. |
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INVENTORY
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Post by Ginger on Jul 16, 2019 21:14:38 GMT -5
Dawnpaw reminisced on the previous day's journey to the barren scrublands. It had seemed rather far. But now they were going even farther? The young apprentice quickly realized he was not a cat with a great stamina, but he wouldn't let Kestrelclaw know that. He would keep pushing so he could be the best for his clan.
"I'm up for anything!" Dawnpaw jumped straight up landing loudly on his paws with his posture erect. "I'm going to be the greatest warrior Stoneclan has ever seen!" Golden eyes widened as the apprentice realized he had just told his mentor, a warrior, that he would be the best warrior ever. "Er, I mean...besides you!" Nailed it.
Despite his desire to be the greatest warrior, Dawnpaw started to notice the pain of the long walk in the bottoms of his paws as rocks jabbed into them intermittently. However, the strong-willed apprentice did everything he could to ignore it, his pain only slightly given away by the smallest of winces every time he stepped on another sharp rock.
The pain slowly spread from his paws to his limbs, sore from walking for so long. On top of the pain, a strange discomfort arose in Dawnpaw's throat. Every time he swallowed, it felt as if it were contracting. No matter how many times he licked his lips, they remained dry as the ground they walked on.
Soon, Kestrelclaw stopped and beckoned with his tail to the Sun Stones. Dawnpaw looked on in awe. There were so many rocks, each flat and large. The apprentice walked up to one and placed his hurting right paw on it, only to wince as heat seared through it. He quickly put his paw down and looked to the other side of the stones to Lightningclan. It was so different. The land almost immediately flattened, covered in grasslands rather than rock. How odd. "Are Lightningclan cats as fast as lightning?"
At his mentor's warning, Dawnpaw almost immediately looked to his paws, praying to Starclan that there wasn't a "snake" trying to eat him. The coast was clear. Looking back up at Kestrelclaw, Dawnpaw smiled through the pain. "If I catch a snake, can we eat it?" His enthusiasm for adventure could not be curbed.
375 words Fawn |
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Post by Fawn on Jul 21, 2019 11:14:21 GMT -5
30 Moons StoneClan Tom Kestrelclaw "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't harm them." -Dalai Lama Kestrelclaw smiled, suppressing a soft, melancholic laugh. Dawnpaw's personality was like rain out here in the desert, and Kestrelclaw felt refreshed by it. "I'm not the greatest warrior in StoneClan. That cat was my father, Eagletalon." As he spoke, the tom's voice seemed to shrink, becoming quieter and more intimate as if he were wading briefly through memories and trying not to frighten them away. Kestrelclaw glanced at his young pupil. "He died last greenleaf gathering, protecting everyone from a fox attack. He was a real hero."
I hope I can be even half as great as Eagletalon was. Or Hawkstar. Their aging Clan leader was an uncle to him, as important to Kestrelclaw as kin. No doubt Hawkstar looked upon him with a friendly, benign gaze, but Kestrelclaw couldn't help feeling pressure in the big tom's presence.
Eagletalon had left behind big, deep pawprints to fill, and Kestrelclaw wasn't convinced his paws were the right ones to fill it. But for his father's sake, he had to try.
"They'd like you to believe that, but no - they're only a little faster than the average StoneClan cat." Kestrelclaw walked across the sun stones, taking in the view on the other side of the border. A hot breeze ruffled the fur along his neck and spine, and Kestrelclaw lifted his jaw, letting it stream through his whiskers. "StoneClan cats are tough and built like rocks," he grinned, tapping Dawnpaw's flank with his tail. "Don't be too surprised if running isn't your favorite activity. It's all LightningClan cats do, run after rabbits."
As if on cue, Kestrelclaw's attention snapped onto a shape in the far distance, a sleek tabby and white cat in hot pursuit of an even smaller brown shape. They were an impressive pair - the prey running for it's life, and the hunter, running for its Clan. Kestrelclaw's ear flicked in mild disappointment as the pair disappeared into a heavy section of tall grasses, the end of the chase obscured from view.
A dark shape above the moorlands wheeled away. Kestrelclaw frowned slightly, but let his gaze rest upon Dawnpaw again. He chuckled. "Yes, you can eat snake. It's not that bad, actually."[/b] |
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| I will not be like a bird bred in a cage, I thought, too dull to fly even when the door stands open. |
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INVENTORY
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Post by Ginger on Jul 25, 2019 22:59:41 GMT -5
Eagletalon. The name itself suggested strength, wit, and majesty. Dawnpaw could only imagine the likes of such a warrior. He noticed that Kestrelclaw's tone had changed when speaking of his deceased father, softening with every word. It must have been really difficult for his mentor to talk about his father. The young apprentice, in his own way, understood. By no means had Dawnpaw lost a parent, but he had heard many stories of his grandmother, Dawnblossom, who had also died in a fox attack. He had always looked up to her, both figuratively and literally, often looking up to the sky to try and spot which of the many brilliant stars was the soul of his deceased grandmother. Would she have loved me more than my mother does?
The sight of the Lightningclan cat shooting away on the other side of the border snapped Dawnpaw out of his thoughts. Yes, the cat was fast, but, to the tabby tom's disappointment, was nowhere near as quick as lightning. It was reassuring to hear from Kestrelclaw that the cats of Stoneclan were tough. Dawnpaw puffed out his chest, trying to seem as big as a boulder. "I bet we are the toughest clan in the valley!"
Tough clans can only become strong through hard labors, however, as the apprentice would soon learn.
At the sight of Kestrelclaw's quick frown, Dawnpaw turned to look at whatever it was that his mentor was looking at, all the while picturing himself eating a snake. Gross.
What was it that his mentor had been concernedly looking at? Dawnpaw scrutinized the area, not spotting anything. It was only as the shadow hovered over Dawnpaw that he looked up and widened his eyes in fear. "Is that what I think it is?"
294 words Fawn |
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Post by Fawn on Jul 31, 2019 15:12:01 GMT -5
30 Moons StoneClan Tom Kestrelclaw "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't harm them." -Dalai Lama ”Yes,” said the warrior slowly, letting the word drag out for a heartbeat as he studied the bird overhead. It was either a small raptor, or it was too far away to properly identify. Kestrelclaw’s stance widened and his shoulders squared as he took up placement beside Dawnpaw. The young tom would make an easy target, too wet behind the ears to possibly outrun or fight off an eagle. Kestrelclaw sent a silent prayer to StarClan for a peaceful outing, but nudged Dawnpaw along anyway.
”You’ll learn how to fight off large birds in battle training. It’s complicated and dangerous. It takes a lot of practice.” Kestrelclaw mewed, gaze flicking from the short scrubland to the sky once more. His gut tightened. Where was the bird?
Like a giant paw blotting out the sun, a shadow filled up the space they were standing in. It happened so fast that Kestrelclaw felt the wind rake his fur the wrong way, the gust no doubt from the wings of the bird as it tested their reflexes. ”Move,” he barked, nudging Dawnpaw more insistently. They had a bold raptor on their paws, and that was only going to spell trouble - or injury. ”Get into the nearest shrub or find a ledge to crawl under.”
The shadow passed over them again, and Kestrelclaw openly hissed, hoping the bird could hear the warning in his voice. Stay away. It won’t end well for you. He would defend Dawnpaw with his life if that’s what it took. The shadow passed over a third time and Kestrelclaw’s pulse quickened, surprise and dread dawning on him as he realized there were two birds instead of one. This time when he looked up, he saw the rapid swoop of a young eagle - talons outstretched - plummeting straight for Dawnpaw.
Kestrelclaw lunged, throwing his body over Dawnpaw’s just in time to feel the searing rake of claws over the taut muscle and ticked fur along his back. Kestrelclaw gasped, fire pulsing from the cuts, but he didn’t stagger. Didn’t weaken. ”Move!” He ordered a second time, stepping back to give the apprentice room to run. ”I’ll distract them. Just get to cover.”
StarClan help me, thought Kestrelclaw. If they both took a dive at him or Dawnpaw, Kestrelclaw wasn’t sure he had the strength or the speed to stop them.
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| I will not be like a bird bred in a cage, I thought, too dull to fly even when the door stands open. |
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INVENTORY
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Post by Ginger on Aug 2, 2019 17:22:39 GMT -5
Dawnpaw couldn't help himself from continuing to glance at the sky as he and his mentor walked along. He bristled with excitement at the idea of learning to fight big birds in the sky. Maybe one day he could ride one so that he could fly high in the sky!
The bouncing apprentice was so caught up in his daydreams of riding raptors that he didn't even notice the danger lurking behind. He was suddenly ripped out of his imaginations by Kestrelclaw's urgent order, telling Dawnpaw to move and hide under a shrub. Confused, the apprentice looked to whatever it was Kestrelclaw was looking at, only to widen his eyes in fear as he saw a raptor plummeting towards him.
Everything happened so fast. Kestrelclaw leaped over him, shielding the young apprentice from the bird's outstretched talons. Hot red liquid dripped down onto the frightened tabby's flank -- coming directly from his mentor's flank. Dawnpaw began to shake in fear. This danger was real.
At Kestrelclaw's second and more strained order, Dawnpaw shot out from under his mentor's belly towards a nearby shrub, diving under it as soon as he got within reach. He was safe. The apprentice breathed a sigh of relief, only to quickly inhale again. The raptors showed no sign of leaving, and Kestrelclaw was not looking good. Blood was bubbling from long claw marks on his back, and he looked like he was in a lot of pain. I have to help him!
He was no warrior. By Starclan, he wasn't even much of a fighter yet. But if there was anything that Dawnpaw was and always would be, it was courageous. Peeking up at the sky, Dawnpaw saw that the two raptors were preparing themselves to come down once again, their sights set on Kestrelclaw. As they began to dive, the tabby tom shot out from the shrub towards where his mentor was. "Kestrelclaw!"
As one of the birds neared Kestrelclaw, Dawnpaw clumsily leaped towards it, using his bodyweight to knock the raptor away from his mentor. Bird and cat tumbled along the rocks, both trying to get at the other. Pain shot all throughout Dawnpaw's body as he was hit time and time again, both by the terrain he was rolling on and the raptor he was entangled with. "Help!" he cried out as loudly as he could before dodging the raptor's sharp beak. The beak narrowly missed his head, but instead lodged into Dawnpaw's back leg, and the young tabby reared and howled in pain before re-orienting on the bird and digging his teeth into the back of its neck. The wrong side to go at, yes, but the inexperienced tom had no idea where the killing bite needed to be placed.
Helpless confusion pulsed throughout the tabby's body, at a loss for how none of his hits were killing the bird. And with every passing moment, he could feel his strength exiting his body with his blood through the multiple wounds he had sustained.
501 words Fawn |
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Post by Fawn on Aug 2, 2019 18:00:07 GMT -5
30 Moons StoneClan Tom Kestrelclaw "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't harm them." -Dalai Lama "Dawnpaw no!" Kestrelclaw had watched, helpless, as his apprentice - formerly safe under the shrubs - dart out from his hiding place to fling his small body at one of the diving eagles. Dawnpaw's shriek of pain pierced him deeper than any raptor's talon; Kestrelclaw's heart roared, so much blood rushing into every inch of his body that when the second raptor blocked his view of Dawnpaw, Kestrelclaw battered it away as though it were no bigger than a ball of moss.
Kestrelclaw scattered droplets of crimson into the dusty earth under paw, staining the tan rocks a muddy red as he charged ahead. "I'm coming! Just hold on!" Dawnpaw was valiantly trying to fight off the young eagle he was entangled with, but there were multiple puncture wounds and scratches on Dawnpaw's kitten-soft hide; Kestrelclaw's stomach twisted in fury. He hissed, claws stinging him as the second eagle made another passing snatch - but Kestrelclaw ignored it, his focus only on Dawnpaw.
No matter what happened, Dawnpaw had to be safe. He couldn't let the tom's bright young life slip away, especially not for so absurd a reason as to protect him. I'm the mentor, Kestrelclaw agonized, hating himself for not moving quicker. If anyone is going to die here, it has to be me. He couldn't let Dawnpaw's light burn out. Not now. Not ever.
Kestrelclaw threw himself into the tangle of 'paw and eagle, stomping down on one wing to pin the bird as he came at the creature's neck from the other side. His whiskers brushed Dawnpaw's, the apprentice's fear scent clogging every pore, and he had a second to hiss "let go!" before Kestrelclaw wrenched the eagle hard, trying to detangle it from the hapless kitten. The eagle screeched, this time higher pitched and with greater distress - the dying sound enough to fortunately drive off the second.
Eagles were not pack hunters. There was no loyalty among them, and the young eagle would not stop to help its nestmate now that the battle swung out of its favor.
Kestrelclaw dug on, choking on the taste of bloody feathers, but he didn't dare unclamp his jaws until the eagle was absolutely still beneath him. Panting, Kestrelclaw staggered away from the feathered corpse. "Are - you - alright?" He spoke between the rough rise and fall of his chest, his eyes widen with fear and worry. |
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| I will not be like a bird bred in a cage, I thought, too dull to fly even when the door stands open. |
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INVENTORY
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Post by Ginger on Aug 5, 2019 15:17:05 GMT -5
Almost as quickly as everything had happened, it stopped. Dawnpaw felt the eagle rip away from him, feeling sharp pricks as talons unhooked from his fur. The tabby tom fell to the ground and lay there, unable to find the strength to stand.
The dying screeches of the eagle he had attacked pervaded through the air, making Dawnpaw wince ever so slightly. It was not a sound he liked to hear, especially when he was in so much pain.
Everything felt hot. His fur felt hot, his head felt hot, and spots all over his body were on fire. It was the most pain he had ever experienced. The young tom attempted with all of his might to pick his head up and look to Kestrelclaw, but he couldn't. Not yet. Giving up, he rolled his head back and felt everything begin to go dark until...
"Are - you - alright?"
Those three words from his mentor pulled him out of the darkness, and Dawnpaw focused with all of his might on looking at his mentor with his eyes. He would not lose this battle.
"Kestrelclaw," he sputtered. "We beat it!" Dawnpaw couldn't bear seeing how upset his mentor was. His weak words were an attempt to spark some happiness into his mentor's eyes, but even Dawnpaw was struggling to keep his voice peppy. His words were slurred, and he had a very weak grasp on his consciousness.
The blinding hot pain had not disappeared. It was not long before the apprentice would lose the battle to stay conscious. "You saved me," was all he could muster before his eyes rolled back into his head and he lost sight of the world around him.
282 words Fawn notes: still haven't decided what his big ultimate injury will be. for now, assume he's covered in blood and it's hard to tell where the source is other than his leg. |
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