[Fawn]

Lionstar

The crown is getting heavy
But they've written my name in the stars

Lionstar's mobility had returned, after a half-moon of taking it easy. The tom had not been injured badly in the fox attack (compared to other leaders, at least), but he had still limped home with a nasty bite to his left leg. Falconstorm had patched him up, but he'd been favoring that leg until he was certain it could take his weight again.

The seasons wouldn't wait for him to recover; by the time Lionstar stepped out of his den on a cool, gray-tinted morning, the bright leaves of leaf-fall were turning brown, limp and forgotten, at the base of each tree. StarClan, where had the time gone? Exchanging a nod with his deputy, he skirted the fresh kill pile and entered the gaping wooden mouth of TreeClan's main camp; it was coolest near the entrance, but the further inside he went, the less noticeable the chill became.

He found the apprentices' den, thickly lined with moss in anticipation for the coming snowfall. He breathed in the scents - both faded memories and the scent he associated with his three kits (how could any father forget?) - tugging a smile onto Lionstar's muzzle. There was a touch of gray along his jaw, these days. "Ivypaw, wake up. You have a hunting assessment."

At once, Brackenpaw's head raised from his nest, and even in the dimness of the den, Lionstar could see the eager expression written all over the young tom's face. "Just Ivypaw, today." Stepping closer to his kits, Lionstar gently licked Lilypaw's ear, trying not to dwell on the horrors of last season. Brackenpaw huffed, then resettled in his nest with his back to Lionstar and the others.

He's so competitive, Lionstar shook his head, stepping back to give Ivypaw some room to wake up. StarClan help us if he doesn't grow out of that.

I've been building up all these kingdoms for so long
It's good to be king

93 Moons || TreeClan || 303 Words || @zen @poptart (Lilypaw mention!)

Leaf-fall 27 The clouds are gone from the sky and the sun weakly warms the land.

[Deleted]

Curled up in the apprentices' den beside Lilypaw, Ivypaw twitched in her sleep. She ran through a dark pine forest, NightClan's forest, leading a patrol. But it wasn't to attack NightClan. She was NightClan. Her paws were sure in the darkness of deep night as she raced over pine strewn ground hidden in deep shadow. She knew this territory, every mouselength of it etched upon her heart. Soon they came to the deer path, and with a smug glance back at her companions, she crossed the border. Her patrol fanned out, giving each other space to hunt in TreeClan's territory. She was just relishing a well made catch of her own when the familiar scent of Lionstar invaded her dream, and suddenly it was smothering her.

Her paws scrabbled in the moss as she jerked awake even as her father called her name. She panted as the feeling of all the breath leaving her body, being unable to draw any back in, slowly faded. It took her a moment to notice Brackenpaw was awake as well, but thankfully he turned away when Lionstar told him the assessment today was only for her. Assessment. Assessment!

In a heartbeat her strange nightmare was forgotten and she was on her paws, casting a smug glance so very similar to the one in her dreams at her brother. But she knew better than to say anything with Lionstar standing there. Besides, she didn't want to upset Lilypaw by starting anything with the furbrain. Instead she stepped from her nest to brush against her father's thick pelt affectionately, turning her focus to the task ahead of her, impatient to begin, “Where do you want me to hunt?” Her bright amber gaze glittered as her paws worked the moss beneath her in anticipation, “The branch trail? How many TreeClan cats can say they've had their hunting assessment on another Clan's territory?” Her tail waved behind her eagerly.

Fawn

[Fawn]

Lionstar

The crown is getting heavy
But they've written my name in the stars

Lionstar chuckled. "You can hunt in the branch trail after your warrior ceremony. Today, I have two spots in mind. First, the shallow marsh, and then the open woods near LightningClan's border." Lionstar swept her along head of him, giving her a goodnatured push with his tail towards the camp exit. The marsh was closer to NightClan terrain than anything TreeClan preferred, which made it the ideal place for a hunting assessment. The difference between an average hunter and a strong hunter was their ability to adapt to different surroundings. Lionstar himself wasn't fond of damp, marshy paws, but he had hunted there on several occasions--many times catching frogs for Ivypaw.

Lionstar's claws gripped an old bough laid over a creek that had branched off from the Sparkling Brook. The earth around it was still uneven and rough, pawprints evident where the branch had been pushed into place. It was a little small for thr muscular gokden tom, but it became a test of balance, not the bough's strength.

Lionstar stepped calmly onto the other side, watching Ivypaw follow suit. With the weather turning cold, he - and every cat in the Clan - wanted to limit contact with water as much as possible while leafbare was practically here.

Slowing, Lionstar indicated for Ivypaw to go on ahead of him. His eyes briefly softened, picturing the tiny ball of fluff nestled up against Honeysong, though the cat he was looking at now was nearly fully mature. Stars, if he could just borrow a few extra seasons... let them be kits a little longer... Seeing her here now made him nostalgic for the days when he would poke his head into the nursery, bringing them prey and stories and all the affection he could muster for the family he almost didn't have.

"Stay out of the branch trail." He reminded, soft eye firming up with sternness. But his smile remained. "Good luck, Ivypaw. I'll be watching." She wouldn't see him, but he would be close.

The scent of the shallow marsh was already tickling his nose with that damp earthy scent of peat and wet grass. Lionstar waited, counting out his age in moons before he would follow.

I've been building up all these kingdoms for so long
It's good to be king

93 Moons || TreeClan || 364 Words || @zen

[Deleted]

Ears flicking back in disappointment as Lionstar shot down her great idea, Ivypaw snorted, tail flicking behind her. The shallow marsh and the open woods. Her ears flicked back again briefly. She hated the open woods. It was too... well... open. The canopy of trees overhead grew too sparse and there was barely any undergrowth, just some of that dumb tall grass from LightningClan's territory that rustled constantly and got tangled in her long fur. Hunting there was a pain.

She padded out of the apprentices' den as her father ushered her ahead, but he quickly took the lead, leading them first toward the shallow marsh. She remained quiet, mentally preparing for the task ahead. This wasn't just going to be a test of how much prey she could bring back. Her father would be watching her technique too. Every catch had to be perfect. But that wouldn't be too hard. Her tail flicked, dismissing any momentary concern or self consciousness that had tried to creep in on her. She was going to be the best warrior, the best leader ever, she had nothing to fear from a silly hunting assessment. It was just one stepping stone of many to a greater future.

At last Lionstar turned back to her, warning her again off the branch trail, and her amber gaze flicked petulantly away, her tail twitching again. But at the reminder that he would be watching her, she supposed she would have to obey. Trying to sneak off to the branch trail when she'd specifically been told not to during an assessment would hardly bode well for her. Instead she lifted her chin, promising, “I'll make you proud.” And then she turned and stalked away, the ground under her paws growing damp as she made her way further into the little marshy area TreeClan claimed. But the shallow marsh had never bothered her the way it had bothered so many of her Clanmates, with all their complaints of damp, muddy paws.

During greenleaf, the shallow marsh had been her favorite place. The muddy ground was cool underpaw, and during the hotter days she didn't even mind wading into the shallow pools a little. The dampness was less attractive now that the days were turning toward leafbare, and she certainly wasn't going to do any wading today, but being here felt natural. Of course it would, it was TreeClan territory. She shook her head clear of the silly thoughts buzzing around inside and parted her jaws, drawing in the moist, peaty scent, and the wet, sharp tang of frog hit the roof of her mouth.

Her mouth watered at the thought and she paused to pinpoint the creature's location. Frogs would start hibernating soon. This might be one of her last chances to catch one before leafbare set in. At the edge of one of the pools she spotted one, hunkering down and creeping forward slowly. If it saw her all it would need was one quick leap and it would be gone in the water nearly lapping at its backside. It didn't even look like it had its eyes open, but Ivypaw wasn't going to risk missing this catch. But the chill of the day must have slowed the creature down and with a well aimed pounce she had ended its life, tail waving behind her happily. Not very many of her Clanmates liked frog, she could likely count on enjoying this, one of the last of the season, herself later.

Taking the frog to a nearby tree, she half buried it in the damp earth to come back for it later and stalked off to find her next prey, briefly wondering how long her father wanted her to hunt here before moving on to the open woods. Would he show himself when he wanted her to move or was she just supposed to make her own decision on it? Mousedung, she should have asked. She supposed she would try for another catch or two and if he didn't show himself by then she would just move on and get the stupid open woods out of the way.

Fawn - If you want you can reference him watching her catch something else and miss something else in your post and then either direct her to the open woods or I'll take her there myself next post?

[Fawn]

Lionstar

The crown is getting heavy
But they've written my name in the stars

Ivypaw hunted well. Though he observed with the intent to study technique, posture and efficiency - all valuable traits a TreeClan warrior would do well to have - he could not fully suppress the surge of pride. She had gone from a kit to this strong young warrior so fast... He couldn't let himself get foggy-eyed. Shaking away these distracting, memory-muddled thoughts, Lionstar followed at a cautious distance, exercising stealth. The croaking of frogs and the occasional wet plop of water masked any sounds of his presence, and he was able to watch as she caught and carefully buried the frog.

The assessment continued. Ivypaw brought down a finch, picking out the gray-brown body amidst a backdrop of other grays and browns and greens. He nodded, satisfied to see her able to hunt a variety of prey though Ivypaw missed her chance to catch a squirrel. The nimble creature had scuttled up the tree in the twitch of a whisker, leaving the apprentice empty-pawed. Lionstar stepped from the bracken, greeting her with another one of his curt nods - as though they were simply Clanmates, not father and daughter - before providing further instructions.

"Head to the Open Woods. The assessment ends at sunhigh. Then we will collect your prey and return to camp."

It was an additional trek to return to the shallow marsh to retrieve her finch and frog, then double back towards TreeClan's camp, but Lionstar didn't want her assessment interrupted. He could bring the fresh kill back to camp while she relocated to their border with LightningClan - but that ran the risk of missing Ivypaw's hunting. Sprucefur and Whiteclaw were in that area as an additional set of eyes for this final test, but Lionstar preferred to see it all himself.

Remaining as neutral as he reasonably could, Lionstar flicked his tail, gesturing for Ivypaw to move on. Though his expression gave away nothing, in his mind he was already thinking of warrior names. Something strong that would embody who she truly was. It did not need to be showy. It did not need to pay homage to any of his ancestors or TreeClan's past leaders. Ivypaw was her own cat.

He'd find a name that suited her.

I've been building up all these kingdoms for so long
It's good to be king

93 Moons || TreeClan || 367 Words || @zen

[Deleted]

Stupid squirrel, Ivypaw thought acidically as the creature chittered taunts down at her from the safety of high branches, her tail lashing once behind her. She had half a mind to climb after it and give chase even if just to harass the thing for daring to taunt her, but a slight rustle to the undergrowth alerted her to Lionstar's presence and she turned as he revealed himself. Her pelt flushed hot, knowing without a doubt he'd seen her fail to catch the dumb creature, but his expression gave no indication as to what he thought or felt about her assessment thus far. He simply told her move on and that they would collect the prey she had caught after the assessment came to an end. She nodded and forced away the embarrassment of her failure, glad Brackenpaw wasn't here to see it at least. The assessment wasn't over yet. She had plenty of time to redeem herself. She'd catch a squirrel by the open woods, show him she could, that miss had just been a fluke.


Turning, she made for the open woods at a steady pace, caring less about stealth until she neared her destination and slowed, placing her paws more carefully as she took stock of her surroundings, jaws parted for the first hints of prey scent. The undergrowth began to thin, the trees grew further apart, and Ivypaw slowed to a methodical stalking pace, ears flicking at the slightest noises, assessing sounds and scents as she stuck to what undergrowth was available the closer she got to the border. With an annoyed thought, she turned back in toward the forest as LightningClan scent was brought to her on the breeze. If she got too close to the border she’d risk chasing something over it, and she was sure Lionstar wouldn’t be pleased to see that. But she also didn’t plan to give up on a chase just because of a stupid scent line. If she needed a few paces into another Clan’s territory to complete a kill, she’d do it, and LightningClan could just get over themselves if they had a problem with it.

Still, best to avoid it during her assessment. Her whiskers twitched with amusement and anticipation, wondering if she could beat Brackenpaw to her warrior name. Her mentor was the deputy, of course her training was better, of course she’d be ready sooner. She could just see the look on her brother’s face…. A flutter of black wings brought her thoughts to a stop and she paused, one paw raised, as a blackbird hopped around at the base of a tree, scratching at the earth in search of its own prey. Her ears flicked back in annoyance as she assessed the distance between them and the lack of foliage for cover. There was nothing but to take it slow and get as close as she could before it noticed her, and hope she was close enough to make the catch. Her pale pelt hardly lent any sort of camouflage, either.

This was going to try her patience. She considered leaving the bird be, moving on to easier prey… but this was an assessment. She wasn’t going to pass this up. If she caught the bird, it would be a decently impressive catch, enough to maybe make her father overlook the missed squirrel earlier. She moved forward at an achingly slow pace, careful pawstep by careful pawstep, amber gaze flicking between the terrain between them, making note of anything that might move or make noise were she to step on it, and the bird still scratching away for its meal. When it finally looked up, she stilled completely, tense, ready to move if she had to. It was too far away. She knew it was, she had to get closer before she’d have a chance to catch it. But that wouldn’t stop her from trying.

After a long several moments, it went back to scratching, and after a few moments more, she moved forward again. How do LightningClan and StoneClan ever catch enough prey without cover to hide in? she thought irritably. Closer, closer… the bird looked up again and she hesitated when she should have leapt, something she realized too late as the bird beat its wings, rising, and she raced forward and made an attempt anyway, already knowing it was lost. Her paws met air as she leapt after it, she felt the wind from the frantic downbeat of wings, and then it was gone and calling a warning cry. “Foxdung!” she cursed, staring after the black form retreating higher into the sky. If she’d just reacted a heartbeat sooner….

With a lash of her tail, she turned, stalking farther along the border. The blackbird’s cry would have warned the prey in that area to hide. Too late, she wondered again if it would have been a smarter choice to pass up the bird. Two failures in a row. Her tail lashed again. She had to catch her next one. It was luck when the scent of squirrel reached her, and this time she was more determined than ever to catch it. It was in the process of burying a cache of nuts for leafbare and she wondered if it was young, because it had a decent distance to go to any of the nearby trees. Perfect conditions. There was no way she was missing this one.

Swiping her tongue over her muzzle as she glanced at the sky, the squirrel dead at her paws, her tail flicked with some concern. It was nearly sunhigh. Did she have enough time to make one more catch? Burying the squirrel, she padded on, pausing as she came across the fresh scent trail of a rabbit, following it until… she stopped at the LightningClan border, tail lashing in frustration. Apparently it had crossed over. She couldn’t very well justify tracking it further. Annoyed at the waste of time, she turned back, casting an annoyed look back over the border, as if it was LightningClan’s fault the rabbit had chosen to enter their territory, and made her way back to her squirrel. She definitely didn’t have time now.

Fawn

[Fawn]

Lionstar

The crown is getting heavy
But they've written my name in the stars

A blackbird's alarm call pierced the solitude of Ivypaw's hunting assessment. Lionstar had watched, keen, as she hesitated when she should have pounced, her legs strong enough to carry her right on top of the bird if only her timing had been better. Did she lose confidence, after the squirrel's escape? Or had she always hesitated with birds? It begged the question of whether her earlier catch of the finch was lucky, or if Ivypaw's missed blackbird was just bad luck.

He trusted Gorsetail's reports of their training sessions, and had seen Ivypaw return on several occasions with all kinds of prey - usually frogs - birds included. So he accepted that it was the former.

It was clear from Ivypaw's posture and reactions that she disliked hunting in the Open Woods. It was hardly Lionstar's favorite hunting ground either - but that was precisely why he'd picked it. The Open Woods was a challenge, and some TreeClan cats tended to stick with what they were used to rather than test the limits of their skills.

Admittedly, he'd prefer it if they didn't test the limits during prey-scarce seasons, but he respected those that tried.

Lionstar sat at the base of a thin sycamore, moss soft under paw as he observed her track down a squirrel. Revenge for that earlier miss? The golden tom's whiskers twitched, amusement coloring his eyes even as the light of sunhigh glinted off of his coat. He had given up on staying hidden for this last hunt; there was no point, and so few places for a large cat like him to hide, he didn't want to miss something because he was too busy trying to be inconspicuous.

Ivypaw paused near the border, and Lionstar chose then to approach.
"The assessment's over, Ivypaw." His voice rumbled, warm and strong and undaunted by the chilly leaf-fall wind. The Clan leader gave her ear a lick. "We'll see what leafbare brings to TreeClan." It was a cryptic sort of reply, but one he knew she could interpret good things from.

If she had failed her assessment, he would have hinted at as much. But Ivypaw hadn't failed; she'd done very well and caught a variety of prey in a variety of landscapes. Lionstar nodded approvingly. "Let's go collect your prey and return to camp. Bring the squirrel to the queens and the finch to Falconstorm."

Lionstar smiled. "I think they'll appreciate it."

He gazed at his almost-warrior of a daughter, unable to see her as 'just another warrior'. He held TreeClan lives in high regard, but Lionstar would've seriously distrusted anyone who told him a father could not view his kits any differently. They had a close bond of kinship that ran deeper than the role of Clanmate. He would give his life for anyone in this Clan, that went without saying.

But this cat before him... This was his daughter. A product of him and Honeysong and a little mercy from StarClan thrown in. He would always feel this way about Ivypaw, Brackenpaw and Lilypaw. No matter the title they held. No matter how hard he tried to be impartial.

As they walked back to collect her prey, Lionstar had to stop himself from purring aloud.

Ivyclaw.

I've been building up all these kingdoms for so long
It's good to be king

93 Moons || TreeClan || 527 Words || @zen (Done?)