Shadow Path (Rainy/ OPEN)

[havok]

Stormcry

The last sliver of the sun was holding its place on the horizon, but it would be gone soon. Even as the last bit of light tried to stay, the darkness already had their clutches over the land. This was the domain of ShadowClan. Standing at the edge of the Pine woods, Stormcry watched the rays of the sun, still clawing for space in the sky, unsuccessfully, as the grey clouds of the cold north pushed it back even farther. His Winter-thickened pelt was outlined by the fading light for a brief moment, until he shifted back into the shadows, his true home. The creatures of the sun would all be hiding in their warm dens. Now, it was time for the Clan of darkness to hunt them.

That was, until he heard the abnormally loud thrashes and crashing of his rogue 'Apprentice'. He heard the screams and sounds of flight by any prey-beasts that had been nearby, now scared off by Dusk's approach. He couldn't help, but grimace in disgust. He soon wiped the expression off his face as the she-cat came into view, though he knew his disdain for her was still there. "I know you're no ShadowClan cat, but I'm sure you could atleast attempt to be a little quieter." He held no love for the former trespasser turned ally and he didn't really see why Marshflight assigned him to teach her their ways. Maybe the softer-hearted Deputy thought it would do him some good to try to cooperate with her, but to be honest, it wasn't going so well. She was worse than Warhawk when she was young. Dusk was snarky, annoying, always talking back, and just as angry at him as he was with her.

[rainy]

Dusk crept along silently, lifting her paws lightly on the soil of ShadowClan territory. Or at least she tried to... in vain. The marshy swamp-like ground was very unfamiliar to her paws. It feels like I'm sinking into this muck! she thought distastefully. ThunderClan soil is so much easier to get around on, at least it's not all soft and gooey! She hadn't hunted much on ShadowClan territory as a loner for the reason that they could easily catch her because their terrain was exceedingly overshadowed, and they thrived on their nocturnal senses. In fact, ShadowClan cats had always kind of frightened Dusk. She'd preferred the sunny lands of ThunderClan and RiverClan. But that's all over. You have to commit to life as a ShadowClanner, she told herself. And StarClan willing, she'd be a great warrior within the next moon.

This goal was proving rather difficult to achieve. Not only was her mentor as short-tempered with her as she was with him, her clumsiness that had never affected her much as she grew older came back with full force. She was used to ThunderClan, not ShadowClan; while she knew her home Clan's territory like the back of her paw, ShadowClan was unfamiliar to her. In fact, she would go out exploring it by herself and getting used to the ins and outs if not for the stupid rule that she had to be treated like an apprentice and had this one, Stormcry, as her mentor. Dusk had seen the logic of the rule when it had been imposed, but her patience had quickly worn thin.

And she tripped. Dusk fell over a large branch right into another muddy pothole and let out a little shriek. Almost instinctively she checked herself for wounds straightaway -- medicine cat intuition -- but her next thought was not of the prey she'd scared away but, Oh! My beautiful fur! She looked mournfully at her mud-splattered golden pelt and tried to lick a bit of it off but only succeeded in getting a really bad taste in her mouth and more of it into her fur. That was when she happened to look up and saw Stormcry silhouetted against the setting sun. Dusk stared in awe for a moment: this warrior, large and strong and noble, so unlike the scrawny loners she'd been with for so long who only cared about themselves. The almost-but-not-quite admiration dissipated in a second though, after he opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry if I'm not used to floundering around in this swamp," she snapped. "The territory is so much easier to navigate in--" She stopped just short of saying ThunderClan, and instead continued, "... the loner territories, you know." Then she thought she'd better not mouth off, and mewed begrudgingly, "Um, sorry for the disrespect... it's just I don't really remember how to do a good hunting stance..."

[havok]

Stormcry

He had expected a quick retort from her, he already had her pegged as someone liked to talk back, but he didn't expect her answer or her hesitation mid-sentence. Narrowing his eyes in suspiscion, he tucked it away for now, he'd call her out on it later. Though he did mutter, "Loners don't have territories, that's the point of being a loner or rogue." They didn't really have territories, though he supposed the outlands could've counted as such even though they never stayed in one place for too long. That was his main reason for not trusting her. Like any typical loner, he was sure she'd soon get bored and desert them at the worst possible time. Just like... Keeping his face from twisting in an old pain was hard, but he restrained it.

To Dusk, he said, "Well, it's not that hard-" he corrected himself, "for ShadowClanners, I guess." Walking softly and silently, just came as naturally as breathing to him, it was just there. Even in camp, if no cat wanted to make a sound, they wouldn't, as simple as that. Even the tiniest kit of his Clan knew how to stay hidden. Sighing, he look to the sky and said aloud, "StarClan, I wish Warhawk were here, she'd have more patience for you." Though the warrior he spoke of was much younger, she was eager for her own first apprentice, and had taken to Dusk a lot better than he had. Turning back to Dusk, he mewed, "Well, I guess I can remember back to when I was a kit, first learning ShadowClan's hunting tricks. Loners know how to be stealthy enough, at least as much as one of our kits and if you think this territory is boggy you haven't even tried out our Marsh yet. You know how to roll your paws right?" He needed to assess her abilities first so he could get a feel for what level she was on. Only then could he start to teach her properly.

[rainy]

Oh, so I'm a kit now? Dusk felt her hackles rising but dropped all signs of aggressiveness as soon as they came on. Wow. I've turned into quite a sensitive cat since I've been gone, huh? She used to not take everything so personally and get so defensive about stuff. Then again, loners had to do that because you never knew what kind of sociopath was lurking behind a cat's demeanor. Now she would re-learn social skills in addition to everything else since socializing was an essential part of Clan life. Though it seemed like Stormcry didn't necessarily choose her as the number one person he would associate with. Shooting a sidelong glance at him, Dusk was surprised to see a moment of emotions flash through his face. Perhaps he was remembering something painful? Nevertheless it was gone in a second and she assumed she'd been seeing things.

"I would have more patience for her too," Dusk said through grit teeth. She also found herself wishing for the company of Warhawk, who had seemed a bit less apathetic and unfriendly than her mentor. At Stormcry's words, she blanked. "Roll... my paws...? No, I don't believe I do know how."

[/b] Her ears perked at the mention of even boggier territory. "Oh, well I'll sure be looking forward to that!" she exclaimed sarcastically. Boggy terrain was definitely not her forte. Suddenly her ears perked at the light sound of a mouse rustling in nearby foliage. Dusk started to drop into the ThunderClan hunting stance, but stopped as her paws sank awkwardly, and looked profoundly confused. I seriously need to fix this.[/size][/blockquote]

[havok]

Stormcry

When she asked about rolling her paws, his jaw actually dropped. She didn't know? It can't be just a ShadowClan thing, could it? Well, ThunderClanners were almost always really noisy and RiverClanners didn't seem to care. WindClan was too busy going really fast to bother with it, so maybe it was a ShadowClan thing. Thinking about it was a little hard. He'd never really had to explain how to roll one's paws before. Leaning down to look at his paws as he walked in a tight circle, he stopped and tried to tell Dusk. "Well, you place your paws on the ground, starting from your heels then rolling your paws to the toes. Generally, in softer terrain, this dampens any sound you'd make." He wasn't quite sure how to explain other ways of stealth, it just came naturally. "As for the rest, well, just watch me and do what I do."

Stormcry started deeper into the woodlands, a shadow amongst shadows, making no sound or appearing for all to see. He spotted a finch on the ground, picking out seeds buried under the pine needles. Keeping to the shadows, which were everywhere in the pine forest, he circled around behind it, creeping slowly, and silently to his prey. The bird hopped about, searching the ground for more seeds, unaware of its doom. Within a fox-tail of the bird, he sprang, claws unsheathed. He landed on it with a sound 'thump', shearing its spine before it even knew what had happened.