Burnt Sycamore

First topic message reminder :

Apprentices come to train here to practice attacking and killing prey. Many times of prey can be found here including moose, deer, elk, muskrats, snakes, lizard, and raccoons. There is a large burnt sycamore in this territory, which was struck by lightning long ago. It is a dead tree, now, but was clearly large and lush at one time.

Honeysplash giggled at his light kiss and felt her ears grow hot. her brown gaze watched him endearingly and she nuzzled him back welcoming his presence. she ran her tongue over his ear and said "a wonderful morning it is indeed" her moistened black nose inhaled apaches familiar scent,one of theearth and the grass. she said in a gentle quiet tone "what should we name our pups? i was thinking perhaps after gemstones that we have found" she waited for her mates reply. her knowledgeable mind thinking of all of the possible looks for their pups.

"That is a wonderful idea." He agreed, giving her belly a gentle brush with his chin, "They will be as strong and radiant as the very stones we have found, how many do you want?" He was curious if Honey would rather a smaller family or a larger one, personally Apache would love to have a large family but it was always the choice of the mother that really counted, she was the one that did most of the work after all.

(Short. >>)

Honeysplash thought then replied in her sweet tones "four i think, not to big not to small" she smiled tilting her head "how many do you want Apache?". her brown fur shone with lighter tones as she lay down beside her mate. she flicked her ears in silent laughter as she said "how are we going to tell owlscreech" her voice was wry as she spoke of her prickly brother.

He leaned back his eyes gazing up at the blooming blossoms. "Ten, although perhaps not all at once, I want a large family who will love and support one another." He answered, giving Honey's ear a lick. He remembered his own family, they had never been able to get along and he hoped that his children would be able to overcome the differences that kept him and his brothers apart. At the mention of Owlscreech Apache fell silent as he remembered how he had told Honey that she was barren. He would certainly be surprised by the news that she was indeed able to have children. The warrior knew that he would have to bare a lot of hostilities from the medicine wolf for taking Honey as a mate, but he did not care. Although over protective Owlscreech had no right to say with Honeyslapsh could or couldn't do, she was an adult and capable of making her own choices. He may not like it but he'd have to deal with it. As for how he would react toward Apache, well, that would be handled by the leaders. The male was more then willing to prove that he was worthy to be his love's lover, but such things were never approved and so Shadestar and Graystar would have to settle thing. he was confident that they'd be in his favor, after all this was love! Through their devotion to one another they became couple bound together for the span of time, and through that bond came pups who would carry on the life blood of the clan.

A small smile curved his lips. "We better make sure we're near a group of warriors when we tell him, they'll need to hold him back from trying to kill. A leader might help as well." What he said was all in jest, Owlscreech was a medicine wolf now, he would be rusty and unable to contend with a seasoned wolf such as himself. Even so he knew violence was not the answer.

Honeysplash giggled and said "we will have to spread them out, im not sure how many pups i have but i should probbaly see owlscreech for herbs so that our pups will be healthy" she stuck her nose to his and stood stretching. her belly having a slight bulge. she blinked feeling one kick and smiled with pride. "i felt one move" she said her voice alight with the mystery and wonder that is pups.

He gave a smile. "I was shown various herbs when I was younger, I liked to sneak into the medicine den and listen to the old medicine wolves help others. If old Owly won't play nice we could always ask another medicine wolf, I'm sure they'd love to help pups always seem to make other wolves happy and excited." Although everything was said in a light hearted manner Apache had run through a plan in his mind if Owl was so dumb enough to hold this against his sister and refuse to help. He knew the medicine wolves were not bound by the Warrior Code like the other members of the clan, they freely shared herbs and information with one another never telling their leaders what they learned. He was sure they'd help, all they had to do was describe the herb, where it was found, what it did, and how much to give her and he'd take care of the rest. But he didn't see owlscreech being so cruel, he may be a grouch but he was completely loyal to his sister.

His ears perked and his heart leaped when Honey said one of them moved, instantly he was on his feet beside her eying her belly his tail swaying body shaking like an excited pup. Gentle he touched his nose to her belly to see if he could feel the pup move, he waited there for only a few moment before the babe kicked again. He quickly drew back a large grin upon his face. "That one will be strong one, my are they lively!" he exclaimed not knowing if it was a son or daughter but equally excited and awed by the whole thing. Fear did seep into his heart, fear of being a good father, of not being able to help Honeysplash in anyway he could. He pushed it away knowing that he had the support of the clans and the experienced fathers and mothers to guide him if he ever felt inadequate; plus he had honey.

Honeysplash laughed and said "im sure one of them will have your personality and bug shadestar to his or her hearts content" her eyes sparkled and she said "then when they are three moons old we could take them out of camp on an excursion to where we hid the gems and show them what they were named for" the ideas spilt out of the brown faes mouth. she turned and gently pushed her head into the side of APaches neck. Her tail waved a little, her eyes twinkled and she said in his ear, her breath tickling his ear hair "i know that you will be the worlds best Father Apache" her light brown eyes shone with affection for the gentle brute. He was her Fellow knowledge seeker, wanting to learn about the world around them. She looked up at the trees noticing how they grew leaves but others kept theirs all year. she would have to investigate that out later.

he gave a hearty laugh to the idea, he wasn't so sure he wanted a little him running around the world seemed to be rather fed up with the original, it'd probably have a heart attack if another one appeared. "That would be a wonderful idea." he agreed, giving her ear a tender lick. "I'm sure they'd love to see them." He leaned into her touched, comforted by her words. She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. "And you will be the best mother our pups could ever hope for." He replied in low loving tones. His eyes met her's before following them up to the trees, he had also noticed how some trees kept their leave while other did not. Over the months he had been alone he had observed how some trees hibernated like the some animals while other remained await, he had also watched a small cluster of trees awaken on a warm week and bud then have their flowers die as a frigid chill swept in during the night, two of the trees had managed to regrow a few leaves while the smaller had died. This had shown him the importance of the leaves in a tree's survival and had enforced his idea that the trees fell into some sort of sleep when the cold came or else they'd die from the loss of their leaves. How and why this all happened he did not know for he was not gifted with such scientific knowledge.

Honeysplash had observed the trees enough to know that the flowers helped them reproduce, she had stuck her tongue in flowers to taste the nectar and deduced that the trees were clever to lure in bees and birds to spread their seeds. she smiled at apache and touched her nose to his ear. she blinked in suprise as another kick she smiled one of their pups was a real fighter. she sighed and moved so she was on her side leaning against apachewind. A smile curled up her muzzle as she wondered what Shadestar would say. Her brown eyes began to close as the smells of newleaf new life were blown up. the smell of the growing leaves and flowers made her smile. she gave a contented sigh and rested her head on his back. "i love you apachewind" she said softly. Never one for emotional things saying that she loved him was a big step for the brown fae.

Matrixpaw would wander into the area quietly, his muscles tense and nose low to the ground. He feels his heartrate quicken at the stress of being alone in a new place. He found the burnt sycamore and silently walked over to it, curling up against it and trembling.

The fae and her apprentice arrived pretty fast. The she-wolf slowly stepped in the area. Luna hated this place. It only reminded her of Bluestorm's death. She also disliked coming here but she had to show it to her apprentice Duskpaw. It was well known that here was most of Stormclan's pray. The warrior turned to the young pupil and smiled even though her eyes pretty much showed the disgust she felt about this place. "Well this is the Burnt Sycamore. Here you can find almost every kind of pray, starting with hears to deers."

Duskpaw and her mentor pad through the forest; the trees full with new leaves, the soft leaf covered ground, the occasional rays of sun that drifted through the trees. She liked it here, it seemed like a good place to lose herself in thought. Lunalight stops in front of a large tree, whose bark is scared with burns, and frowns at it. Duskpaw looks at her mentor for a moment, sensing the anger coming off of her like waves but decides not to pry into her feelings and instead turns towards the tree, gaping at its height. Duskpaw turns back to her mentor as she tells her about the excellent hunting here. “When do I get to start hunting?” she asks with a wag of her tail; she couldn’t wait to bring back her first kill to the camp.

The she-wolf glanced at her pupil, paying attention to her question. "Well.." she started. "After the tour I will show you some techniques and movements, which you can use when you hunt. I also plan to pay a huge attention to your battle skills, because they are really important thing in your training." the fae explained without circumlocution. The warrior rised her muzzle up and sniffed the air carefully. She caught a scent of a hare on few metres away from them. "Sniff the air carefully and tell me if you smell something interesting."  Luna said as she smiled to the young one.

She smiles brightly as her mentor mentions fighting, she couldn’t wait! As Lunalight tells her to sniff the airs, Duskpaw lifts her head, breathing in the warm new-leaf air and tries to discern the different scents. She could smell burnt wood still coming off of the burnt sycamore, she could smell the rich earth beneath her feet, but there was another scent she couldn’t name but it made her mouth water. “Oh! it’s a hare! I remember the other warriors bringing it into the camp!” she barks loudly. Upon her outburst, she hears scuttling and then silence; I must have scared the hare away, she thinks, drooping her tail and frowning at herself.

Lunalight watched carefully her apprentice. She watched how the young fae lifted her head and took a deep breath. This was an important lesson for the young wolf. She had to learn the scents of the pray and the scent of the territory. The warrior was impressed when Duskpaw caught the scent of the hare. "Very good, Duskpaw." the fae said as she smiled. Her ears twitched as she heard the scuttling followed by silence. Luna also noticed her apprentice's face after realizing she scared the small creature away. 
"C'mon we have big territory to explore." Luna said with warm tone. With a single flick of her tail, the warrior continued to the river.

~The River~

Duskpaw instantly perks her ears and smiles as her mentor encourages her, that wasn’t the only hare in the forest, she thinks to herself. Shaking out her fur Duskpaw pads happily after her mentor, wondering where they were going next.

Darkclaw walked into the clearing and looked up at the giant tree. He sighed and sat down. He also hated this place as well as Lunalight. Bluestorm had been one of the only wolves to ever be kind to him, and the only one that he could relate to. But he had been killed by the twolegs when he scared them off. The warrior had died a valiant death, but it was a death nonetheless, and Darkclaw hated the twolegs for taking away his only friend.

Darkclaw didn't even turn to Redpaw as the apprentice arrived and spoke. "I no longer smell anything here, but the dark and evil smells of blood and death." He said, his voice still hollow and without feeling. It is so much worse then anyone could possibly imagine." His red eyes stared toward the tree, but he was not really focusing on it. After a long moment of silence, the warrior stood up and faced his apprentice. "This is the Burnt Sycamore. As you know, StormClan was formed by RiverClan and ShadowClan joining together. The Burnt Sycamore used to be in ShadowClan territory, but now serves as one of the best hunting spots for StormClan." He stopped talking and sniffed the air. He caught the scent of a squirrel, then said, "See if you can smell anything besides this giant burnt tree." The new mentor sat down and waited for his apprentice to scent the air, and tell him what he smelled.

Darkclaw took another sniff to make sure the apprentice was right, then nodded. "Good," he said in different tone. This one was low. He stood up. "So, now you've seen the Burnt Sycamore," he said. "We will be heading to the river now. Another one of StormClan's best hunting spots." The black warrior began slowly toward the river, but stopped and looked at the giant tree one more time, before continuing on.

~The River~

Redpaw sighed. "I've already been there..." He shook his head and stood up. Following Darkclaw to the river.

Luna arrived here pretty fast. She stopped for a second waiting for her son. While that, the brown coated fae lifted her muzzle and sniffed the air. She caught the fading scent of two of her clanmates, one of it was Redpaw's, but she also caught the scent of deer herd and it was strong. The warrior took few steps forward when her ears suddenly twitched and she turned left. She saw the herd and looked carefully in it, spotting a roedeer with her young ones.

Redpaw trotted beside his mother in the brush. He stared silently at the grazing herd. He lowered his head and whispered to his mother. "What do we do now?"

The brown fae flicked her tail as she watched the chosen prey carefully. "You see that roedeer over there, she is not close to the herd. We will get as close as we can trying to circle her and then we attack." the warrior explained to the young apprentice. Luna looked at Redpaw with her silver-grey eyes waiting to see his reaction.