ripples [closed]

Making the decision to mentor his son just felt right. When his first litter had happened, he already had an apprentice and wanted to distribute them. Now Adderpaw was on a different path life, training to be a medicine cat. His family ha grown so much. Soon, his first litter would be warriors. Wolfstorm would get to watch their warrior ceremonies with such pride. Now, it was time to get Shellpaw. He had just finished giving out the patrol assignments, and the dawn patrol had left. Walking towards his youngest son, he nudged him to get the apprentice’s attention. ”Hey. Wanna go out for a little bit of training?” asked the deputy with a grin. He was nearly certain on the answer.

It was funny, the way kits fantasized about being an apprentice. But Wolfstorm missed those days, sometimes. Being able to just play games, without a care. It was nice. But so wa a growing older, getting responsible lites, and starting a family. It was all just a cycle. A long path that only led to one option. Death was inevitable. That’s what made life so special, and you just had to live in the moment, live a good life. That’s all that matters, in the end.

Shellpaw meandered aimlessly around camp. He had been foiled in his attempt to harass the queens, caught by a warrior with his ant-infested moss clumps before he could sneak in and create chaos. He scuffed at the dirt, grumbling, until a dark shadow crossed the space between his paws, and Wolfstorm nudged him into alertness. "Please!" the slender tom whined, leaping immediately to his paws and making a beeline for the edge of camp.

The young apprentice's body was thickening as the last of his kithood left him. Tough, lean muscles shifted underneath a thick coat of glossy fur, as was typical for RiverClan cats. He was nearer to a warrior's size than a six moon old kit's, which was a fact he was not particularly ready to reckon with. Still, his strength and skill were growing... even if out of proportion to his emotional maturity. He glanced into a puddle as he walked beside his father, grinning at the sight of his tall, preened ears.

Shellpaw’s enthusiastic response made him grin. ”Ok, if you’re sure...” Wolfstorm teased, before beckoning his son with a flick of his tail. As they walked, he couldn’t help but notice how big his son had gotten recently. His kitten fluff had faded, leaving a strong, sturdy looking tom. It filled the deputy with a mix of pride and sadness, knowing that his little son wasn’t so little anymore. But Shellpaw was turning into a fine apprentice, and his father had no doubt he would be a fine warrior.

As they reached the river, he scanned it with his eyes quickly, making sure there wasn’t a trap. When he and his mate had been apprentices, Violetbriar had gotten stuck in a Twoleg trap in the river. The memory was traumatic, and he didn’t want to experience anything similar. After scouting and making sure it was alright, he turned to his son. ”Show me what you got!”

Shellpaw approached the river's edge, watching the water with hyperactive eyes, darting like minnows from one edge of his paw's reach to the other. He had done quite a lot of fishing lately, between outings with Sorrelpaw and various warriors lending their paws to wrangle the wily apprentice. He had to prove to his father how well he could hunt. Maybe, just maybe, he'd prove himself ready to be a warrior.

Nothing. Nothing yet. Wait, something! ... No, it was nothing. The water was eerily still as he watched the depths, light dancing on the slow-moving liquid. Then, he saw a large shadow, distorted by the ripples, but large nonetheless. It a fish, and it was swimming very deep. He'd have to dive to reach it. He flashed Wolfstorm a cheeky grin as he sprung out into the water, sinking slowly to the bottom in pursuit of the fish. As he paddled deeper and deeper, he felt pressure in his ears, and as he exhaled the last of his breath, he latched a lucky paw on the huge, wriggling fish. He struggled with it as he kicked off the bottom of the river and paddled up, chasing the sunlight that peeked through the waves.

Shellpaw emerged with the brown fish in his jaws, head swinging as it flopped in his mouth. He swam to the bank once more, dropping the catch at his father's paws. He shook out his dripping coat and swallowed a few long breaths as he fell backward on the sand. "Whew!" he gasped. "I told you I was good at this!"

Shellpaw successfully caught a fish.

The member 'Grizz' has done the following action : Roll Dice

---

'Hunting Dice' : 4

Wolfstorm watched with a smile as his son attempted to catch a fish. All of his children were special to him, of course, but Shellpaw was younger, and they hadn’t been together as much. Maybe that’s why he wanted to be a good mentor, to show his youngest son how much he loved him. As the apprnetice produced a fish, he beamed with pride. ”Nice job! When I was your age I wasn’t to good at hunting, but I did learn how to get a cat out of a Twoleg trap. Did I ever tell you about that?” he asked. It was quite a story.

Turning his attention to fishing, he waited for a flash of scales to meet his eye. When he spotted the silvery swimming creature, he leaned over, casting his shadow backwards. As it’s shiny scales surfaced, above the water, he sprung at it, trying to catch it in his claws. Ashe caught it, he smirked. ”Guess this old deputy can still catch a fish!” he chuckled.

The member 'Deer' has done the following action : Roll Dice

---

'Hunting Dice' : 3

ooc: do you want to spawn a predator now?

Shellpaw nodded absentmindedly at his father's praise. A twoleg trap, though? That was cool. The young apprentice whipped around, mouth agape. "You're lying!" he gasped. "Really? But I thought that twoleg traps were escape-proof! Tell me!!" His feathery tail swung back and forth excitedly, paws tip-tapping. A little glint caught his attention on the river behind him, and his mind shifted to the shimmering of little scales. "Uh, hold that thought!" he said quickly, running to the river's edge once more and scooping the little fish with a paw.

The dace was sent soaring through the air by Shellpaw's ears, and he followed it to the sandy bank where it landed, nipping its spine with hyperactive quickness. "Sorry, sorry!" he hummed, pushing the dace against the pile he and his father made. "I'll listen now. What did the trap look like? Who got stuck in it? How did you get them out?!"

Shellpaw caught the fish.

The member 'Grizz' has done the following action : Roll Dice

---

'Hunting Dice' : 6

ooc: yeah sure!

Wolfstorm chuckled softly, watching as Shellpaw excitedly bounced around. After his son had caught the fish, the deputy started to tell the tale. ”Well, it was when your mom and I were both apprentices. Our mentor (we had the same mentor) took us out hunting. We were fishing in the river when   her leg got stuck. Me and Willowshade kept trying to pry her out, and your mom was wiggling to try to get out. Softcloud was passing by then, the Windclan medicine cat, and she helped us out and fixed up Violetbriar’s leg. It was pretty injured for a while, though. So make sure you don’t get stuck in one!” he teased at the end. Even though it had been extremely frightening at the time, it made for a heck of a story.

The eagle had been watching silently from above. Maybe he could carry off the smaller cat? Anyways, they were in his hunting spot, and they were taking all the fish. Finally, when they weren’t looking, he swept down, eyes locked on Shellpaw. With a loud caw, he scratched the apprentice’s back with his talons.

Wolfstorm heard the loud noise and whipped around, letting out a surprised hiss. As it struck his son, he growled, and clawed back at it with his paws, trying to bat it away.

An Eagle has attacked! It used Talons or Fangs on Shellpaw, dealing 8 damage.
Wolfstorm used Claws and Teeth on the Eagle, dealing 8 [4+4] damage.

Wolfstorm
40/40 HP

Eagle
32/40 (-8) HP

Shellpaw
[i] 22/30 (-8) HP

The member 'Deer' has done the following action : Roll Dice

---

'Battle Dice' : 4

Shellpaw's muddy eyes grew to spheres as he listened, entirely fixated on Wolfstorm's story. He had been there when Violetbriar nearly lost her paw? Incredible! His long tail swished back and forth behind him as he leaped to his paws. "I'm gonna do something cool before I'm a warrior," he announced. "I promise! It'll be so brave and awesome, they'll make me a warrior the next sundown. Betcha anything it'll happen!"

A high pitched screech made Shellpaw's heart come alive, hackles raising just as something struck him in the side and nearly lifted him off the ground. The tom instinctively yelped and thrashed. A pair of enormous wings beat around his ears, louder than any sound he had ever heard. Wolfstorm's body collided with the enormous bird, which subsequently dropped the appprentice for long enough that the pain registered in his mind. Blood trickled from the wounds on his side, and they lit a fire in his skin which spread to his entire flank. He stumbled on his paws for only a second longer, before remembering his battle training. He yowled as he ran at the eagle, wrapping his claws around it and desperately trying to yank it down with him. His grip was more solid than he anticipated it being, and with a devilish grin he pulled it backward, hauling the flapping creature closer to the ground.

Shellpaw used Grapple on the Eagle. [2 + 6]

Shellpaw
22/30 HP

Eagle
24/40 HP (-8)

Wolfstorm
40/40 HP

The member 'Grizz' has done the following action : Roll Dice

---

'Battle Dice' : 6

Wolfstorm chuckled with amusement. ”I’m sure you will. Just don’t get too banged up, please. Your mother would probably be pretty worried.” he light-heartedly smacked his tail on Shellpaw’s flank, enough for him to feel it, but not hard enough for it to be painful. Just a bit of teasing. The owl’s attack came soon after, and the coincidence of it coming after that conversation they were having was pretty strange. The deputy watched with pride as his son tackled the owl onto the ground, pinning it there.

With an encouraging nod, he clawed at the owl again, as it was pushed against the ground by the apprentice. Even though they hadn’t been looking for a fight, they made a pretty good team. They could take the predator on, and make it fly back home. The strength of them combined could easily overpower it. And this would be some good practice for the learning apprentice.

The owl was stuck under their grasp, and as much as it wriggled it couldn’t escape.

Wolfstorm used Claws and Teeth, dealing 5 [4 + 1] damage!

Wolfstorm
40/40 HP

Owl
19/40 (-5) HP

Shellpaw
22/30 HP

The member 'Deer' has done the following action : Roll Dice

---

'Battle Dice' : 1

( roll for the owl )

The member 'Deer' has done the following action : Roll Dice

---

'Battle Dice' : 3

Shellpaw continued to clamor on top of the eagle, feeling thrashed as the blood throbbed in his ears. He tried to remember some inkling of his training, of how to twist and duck and tumble, but he was guided by the terror of wanting to survive. He dug in, struggling to keep his footing as his much stronger father kept the bird from escaping.

Shellpaw continued to grapple.

Shellpaw
22/30 HP

Eagle
17/40 (-2) HP

Wolfstorm
40/40 HP

(ack I be dumb sorry about the owl/eagle thing)

Wolfstorm knew that Shellpaw was starting to struggle, and that his son wouldn’t be able to do this for a lot longer. As he got ready to thrash the eagle again, it flapped out of the grasp of the two Riverclanners, flying away. The deputy turned back to his apprentice. ”Bet he won’t be back for a while!” Growing more serious, he asked, ”Are you alright? We can stop at the medicine den when we get back.” The training had gone weong, but it had been good practice for Shellpaw, in a way.

The eagle fled!