WALK ME HOME IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT - night training

[Flamestar]

It had been several nights since Windclan had tried to pass through their territory to launch an attack on Skyclan. The threat that Windclan could show up in their camp one night was still very strong. Flycatcher had asked her to hold a training session, and it had taken a couple days to plan, but with the help of Raccoonstripe, they had their scenario all planned out. It made sense to practice their night time skills since Windclan seemed to attack mainly during the night. Her clanmates would never be as stealthy as Shadowclanners in the shadows, but no harm came in practicing.

As the sun was beginning to disappear from the sky, Flamewhisker padded through the camp to stand near the center. She had spoken to some of the warriors about it earlier that morning, hoping to catch some of their interests. "Raccoonstripe and I will be holding a night time training session for those who are interested. We will be waiting by the exit, and we will be leaving when it is dark." she called out to anyone who was listening. She then trotted over to join the black tabby tom near the camp's exit.

// @RACCOONSTRIPE
Flamewhisker and Raccoonstripe will be taking warriors and apprentices out into the forest for a night time raid scenario. I will explain more about it in my next post, but it is very important to note that Thunderclanners are not going to be experts at night stealth, as this is something that Shadowclanners are proficient in :) ​

 

[LIGHTSTRIKE .]

❝ WE HAVE YET TO CRASH ✧°.☀ —————————————————————————————
Lightstrike had had a fairly easy day today, as far as he was concerned. In fact, he was pretty sure life had gotten easier since he'd received his warrior name. At some point, he had wondered if it really had been Nightbird's goal to kill him before he could graduate from the apprentices.

Flamewhisker called out while he lounged in the lengthening shadows of camp, the golden tom looking up curiously. A night time training session? Well, he had gotten in a nap earlier - as long as he wasn't assigned to dawn patrol, it would be fine, right? Group training could be fun.

Rising to pale paws, Lightstrike shuffled over to join the lead warriors before sitting down, flashing them a grin in greeting. "Night time, huh? Are we practicing skulking about like a ShadowClanner?" That had never really been his thing.

[penned by its_oliverr - ☀]

——————————— ☀.°✧ BUT WE STILL MAY AS WELL ENJOY IT ❞ ​

​

 

[WOLFWIND]

Wolfwind isn't afraid to show her face despite whatever newly acquired status she had. She certainly has dipped her toes into nightly hunts before– moreso before ThunderClan was her home about... How many moons ago now? Point is, she's more than out of practice. She no longer felt the need to go brushing about where her eyes could hardly be useful. She's convinced ShadowClan does it more out of necessity, than anything else. Time spent sleepin was less time huntin' for the scraps they could find. She never did quite get why they all didn't up and move...

" Think so, " Wolfwind replies, twitching her whiskers in a hello. Who knew if he saw it though, she could hardly see her own damn whiskers. " Gotta get on a similar level to go against WindClan, or somethin'. " She'd lift her head to Flamewhisker– eyes softening a bit when they catch the amber of her uncle's eye. Sometime's she had to remind herself that nothing would keep his dumb ass down. Wolfwind stretches her limbs; tries to shake the sleep out from under her eyes. " Need me to play a dasdardly ShadowClanner? I was like, uh, a beta - ShadowClanner. Lemme just put on my "Ragh, I'm so miserable. Don't get too close or my breath will knock ya dead" face. "

OOC ☽ 08.06.2023 I'LL DO THE SAME AS YOU

• OOC: —

• 

• I'LL TRY TO HOLD IT UP (SOON I HOPE OR SOON AS I'M OLD ENOUGH) WOLFWIND THUNDERCLAN LEAD WARRIOR! LITTERMATE 2 LAKEMOON; KIN TO MANY.
  —— SHE / HER, CONFUSED BY BUT NOT OPPOSED TO THE USE OF OTHERS
  —— CURRENTLY 21 MOONS OLD. AGES EVERY 1ST.
  
  FRIEND TO MANY! UPBEAT AND UPFRONT. MOVES THROUGH LIFE WITH AN UPBEAT EXTERIOR AND BRIGHT EYES. MAKE NO MISTAKE! TAKES HER JOB VERY SERIOUSLY. THERE'S IMPORTANCE IN SAFETY, RECKLESSNESS ONLY GETS YOU SO FAR. ONCE A FOOL, BUT NO LONGER

​

 

[nightbird]

an exercise of stealth, although nightbird was already rather proficient it would be a good chance for duskpaw to learn. she was not yet aware of what the goal or task may be, but it would be beneficial for the apprentice to practice in a mirrored real life scenario.

she had sought him out quickly, by the time they would return to the group lightstrike and wolfwind were chatting. something about shadowclan, bad breath, she could only catch bits and pieces. the warrior would settle towards the edge of the growing group, ears alert for further instruction by flamewhisker and raccoonstripe. in the mean time, she tilted her head down to speak to her apprentice. "starclan knows what they'll have us do, but either way you're at an advantage with your dark pelt. as long as you're quiet and alert you should do well."

---

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• @DUSKPAW
  
  
  

• 

• NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, twenty-four moons
  ⭃ nightbird is a small black smoke molly with pale silver eyes. a loner turned thunderclanner, her loyalty and drive to provide for her clan is unwavering. however, she is not known for harboring a bleeding heart, instead equipped with sarcastically fueled wit, brutal honesty, and a sharply edged tongue.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[Brackenleap]

Brackenleap could lie and say he was looking forward to more battle training, but it wasn't a habit he was fond of. He felt he had a duty to protect his clan, however, and if that meant battle training then practice fighting he would. At least at night, the temperature was cooler, even if it meant Brackenleap was trying to stifle his yawns in the same manner that Wolfwind blinked sleep from her eyes. He admired her upbeat demeanor, truthfully, and let himself relax as she joked and Lightstrike teased.

Brackenleap couldn't help but catch Nightbird's words to her apprentice and felt his anxiety spike. His light pelt was an advantage under ThunderClan's sunlight-dappled ferns but a hindrance in the pale light of the moon. Maybe he could still play off shadows? Regardless, it was foolish to worry about failing in front of his clanmates. As long as he didn't harm one of them on purpose and apologized if he did, he should be fine.​

 

[batwing]

The Dark. Well, more accurately, nighttime, where Starclan showed it's pelt and the sun was hidden. Batwing reveled during this time of night- he was, after all, just a bit more active this time of day then most. He had come when Flamewhisker had called, having heard about it that morning. His dark pelt was mottled with lights and darks, so he camouflaged quite well- some of his lighter pelted clanmates didn't, though. A glance was given to Brackenleap, ears perking. He gently bumped the other on the shoulder, offering a tiny grin before looking towards the others assembled.

He spoke, voice all kinds of amused. "This is just training, after all. It's to simulate the real thing, but it ain't the real thing." He said, shaking out his fur briefly. He had been lightly snoozing as the sun went down, but he was alert and ready now.​

​

"speech"​

 

[leopardtongue]

Leopardtongue wasn't the best cat to try to rely on at night. She couldn't see very well due to not being used to it, and on the nights where she does get used to it, she knows that the moon is what is helping her the most. The slight glow from the moon was a constant in her life when she went out, choosing to stay inside the camp and sleep on the nights that it looked like it would be covered. Of course, there wasn't always going to be the option of the moon pooling light onto the forest if there was an attack, the WindClanners and ShadowClanners both being able to see better in the dark than those that reside within the other clans. They trained for it though, or lived within the trees so dense that they had no choice than to be able to see in dimmer light.

When she had heard Flamewhisker and Raccoonstripe gathering other cats to be able to go out to train at night, Leopardtongue almost stayed in camp, but finally decided against it when she thought more about it. It was going to be tiring, but it was necessary, being able to at least be a little bit better at navigating and getting away from others in the dark, just in case.

---

[ooc]

info appearance

• "speaking" // thinking // action
  Leopardtongue - 32 moons - she/her - ThunderClan - warrior
  MEDIUM physically // MEDIUM mentally
  ​
• 
  ​

​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Though by nature every feline is at least a little coordinated in the dark, ThunderClan has no reason to skulk about under the cover of night. They fight with honor, valor, fearless. But WindClan has attacked RiverClan and SkyClan’s camps in the gloom now, and Howlingstar—though her choice had been noble—has put a target on their pelts by refusing Sootstar access to their territory. Raccoonstripe had agreed with Flamewhisker—a training session like this is the perfect opportunity to practice what SkyClan had been forced to.

“Ambush,” the tabby confirms as his Clanmates cluster near. He laughs at Wolfwind’s remark. “You’d be perfect for the job, considering the state of your breath.” He gives his niece—who is now, he is loathe to remind himself, his equal—a sardonic grin before turning to the rest of the cats. Nightbird, Leopardtongue, Brackenleap, Lightstrike, and Batwing all wait further instruction. He hums, looking at his fiery-furred counterpart, before he begins.

“There will be two camps, the ambushers and the patrol. We’ll split into two.” Effortlessly, seamlessly, he takes control, giving his more senior lead warrior a chance to organize her half. “Flamewhisker will lead the ambushing cats. I will lead the patrol. Nightbird, Duskpaw, Lightstrike, and Brackenleap, with me. Wolfwind, Batwing, and Leopardtongue, you can work on your stealth skills tonight with Flamewhisker.” He finds ‘his’ patrol’s eyes in the darkness, offering each a smile. “Well, shall we? We’ll want to get a headstart.”

He dips his head to the other cats, leading his group through the gorse tunnel and into the thick undergrowth of their forest. “We’ll need to be as quiet as they are,” he instructs them. “Listen for the snapping of twigs, branches creaking under a cat’s weight, and keep your wits about you. Imagine Sootstar is hunting us for bloodsport, if you must, but I expect each of you to take this seriously as life or death.”

Raccoonstripe forces silence onto his own running mouth, ears flicking forward. Had he heard pawsteps, or is that just the scuttle of prey in the undergrowth?

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — raccoon . raccoonstripe
  — he/him ; lead warrior of thunderclan
  — heteroflexible ; single
  — long-haired black tabby with white and dark brown eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Rai

​

 

[Flamestar]

Her naturally curious clanmates begin to gather around her and the dark stripped tom. She greets them each with a dip of her head, and she chuckles at Wolfwind's offer to play a Shadowclanner. The lead warrior ponders about explaining what they would be practicing further, but she decides to wait until they have a decently sized group around them. Her lips opened and pulled backwards as she let out. a yawn, and shook her pelt out afterwards. There was much she would give to be able to walk over to her nest and sleep instead, but this was unfortunately a necessary exercise. Her nest would still be there when she returns.

She turns her gaze to Raccoonstripe, and gave him a nod as he began to speak. He would be in charge of the patrol group, and she would have the ambushers. Her eyes would brighten, a flash of friendly competitiveness was shot his way. Even though it was just clanmates they were hunting down, she would take it just as seriously as the real thing. She waited patiently as he chose his cats, and she flashed a smile towards her patrol members. Wolfwind, Batwing, and Leopardtongue had darker shaded pelts, they would have an advantage over her. Her own pelt was significantly brighter than theirs, but it was nothing she wasn't used to...if she could hide from prey, she could hide from cats.

Raccoonstripe and his patrol leave the camp to go out into the forest, and after they leave she turns her attention to her group. "Alright, our goal is to track them down and ambush them before they know where we are. It's nothing different than what we do every day hunting, the only difference is that it is dark." she paused, trying her best to remember the nights she had spent with her mother, before joining the clan. Before the dogs had found where they had made their camp, her mother had insisted that if she had to go out into the forest, it had to be at night. She had never felt secure traveling through the forest during the night...even now it still felt unnatural. Night time walks here and there were alright, but she usually always brought a clanmate. The forest creeped her out when the sun was gone. "You won't be able to rely on sight...you need to use your ears and nose. Even though this is practice, I still expect everyone to take this seriously." she rose to her paws, and turned to walk towards the gorse tunnel. "Let's go hunt them down."

​

 

[Brackenleap]

Brackenleap listened to the instructions with perked ears and a twitching tail. Excitement joined his general nervousness and he looked forward to working with his clanmates to practice a new skill. It was almost like a game! The thought made his whiskers twitch and his paws were light as he followed his patrol leader out of camp and into the general territory.

Raccoonstripe gave good advice and Brackenleap nodded along. There was a similarity to the signs of an approaching patrol and listening for prey. But weren't they the prey of the ambushers...? The warrior wasn't given much time to think deeply about the idea as Raccoonstripe instructed the group to take this as seriously as life or death. Brackenleap blinked in alarm and glanced quickly to his patrol mates to see how they felt about that.

Well, the game - not game, training - had begun. Brackenleap took a deep breath and centered himself, concentrating on the environment around him. He knew these woods, even if they were currently cloaked in shadows and mystery. Following Racoonstripe's lead, he perked his ears and scented the air, though it was probably too soon for Flamewhisker's group to be ready for an attack just yet.

"Should we stay close together for security or move apart so if one of us gets leaped on, we don't all go down?" Brackenleap asked Raccoonstripe, trying to keep his voice low.​

 

[nightbird]

by the time she had returned her attention to the patrol, raccoonstripe was charging through an explanation. paired off onto the dark tabby's team alongside duskpaw, brackenleap, and lightstrike. hopefully the final would dig up any knowledge she had granted him, but nightbird wasn't too optimistic. she sent her former apprentice a quick glance before rising to leave camp.

the forest was dark, moonlight barely breaking through. quiet too, the only sounds being the quick shuffle of paws, soft breathing of other patrol members. raccoonstripe's voice cuts through the silence, a torn ear flicking in his direction as he gave instruction. telling everyone to remain calm and then insinuate that sootstar was brutishly hunting them down was certainly a choice, a huff of air passes through her nose in amusement.

small paws nimbly moved through the growth, landing softly with each step. they are deeper into the forest now, brackenleap piping up to ask a question. although his voice was low, there weren't many sounds to conceal it. the words felt loud amongst the subdued songs of the oaks at night. her tongue clicked disapprovingly, a pointed glare sent to the sandy warrior. they should be silent, watch for signals from the patrol leader. any unnecessary sound would jeopardize their position, result in a loss. nightbird really hated losing.

ears swiveling backwards, the lead warrior continued on quiet paws, hoping to catch hints of ones from the outlying patrol.

---

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── ooc ⋆⋅☾⋅⋆ info ──┐‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• 
  
  
  

• 

• NIGHTBIRD ✩ she/her, lead warrior of thunderclan, twenty-four moons
  ⭃ nightbird is a small black smoke molly with pale silver eyes. a loner turned thunderclanner, her loyalty and drive to provide for her clan is unwavering. however, she is not known for harboring a bleeding heart, instead equipped with sarcastically fueled wit, brutal honesty, and a sharply edged tongue.
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[batwing]

Batwing fell quiet and began listening to the two who instructed. Well, one, really, but that was okay. Batwing's green optics focused, ears perking as he digested the information. It wasn't anything unlike what he had thought was already going to happen, of course. He nodded his head quietly, picking himself up. A gentle bump against Leopardtongue, and a kind smile given. If he was serious about apologizing to her, he was going to do everything he could to prove he was changing. Friendly affection was going to have to be part of it, even if he was off-put by others touching him still. It'd be fine.

Then the two groups were splitting, Batwing watching the 'patrol' group slink off into the cover of night, low conversation slowly disappearing with them. Moonlit as it was outside, the trees split the light, and it was dim. Batwing perhaps had a small advantage- the night was his comfortable place. The place where he had gone to escape the terrors that chased him during the quiet hours of the night. It still wasn't easy to see, but it had always just been enough to navigate the branches up higher, where more of that moonlight touched. His head tipped in confirmation. "Got it." He echoed in confirmation.

Batwing pushed to his paws, his dark pelt melding into the cover of the night as they stalked out of the gorse tunnel as a group. The trees would be his angle, he thought. He was no Skyclan warrior, but he could make a mean climber. ​

​

"speech"​

 

[LIGHTSTRIKE .]

❝ WE HAVE YET TO CRASH ✧°.☀ —————————————————————————————
Nightbird strives over with Duskpaw in tow, and Lightstrike cocked a brow at them. Strange how that happened sometimes, but this time would be different. He would be in control of himself and his own decisions. He looked back to Raccoonstripe as he began to speak.

Ambush. He would be part of the party being ambushed. Teams were dished out, and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or not when Nightbird was put on his. The tom was fairly certain seeing her stupid smug face jump out at him from the shadows was haunting his dreams. He decided it was a good thing. "Sounds good to me," he commented, and flicked his tail in farewell as the patrols split up into the forest.

Raccoonstripe had said to take it as seriously as life or death, but he clearly wasn't the only one who seemed to be having a hard time getting into the mindset when he heard a vague mumble from Brackenleap nearby. Although not well, he could see the other tom's pale pelt in the darkness, and promptly reached out to prod him in clear warning. Hush.

Ultimately, Lightstrike decided to focus on his own paws and where he was stepping, head turned down to the ground and working on stepping quietly. Everyone else was listening out for their stalkers, and he trusted they would hear them first.

[penned by its_oliverr - ☀]

——————————— ☀.°✧ BUT WE STILL MAY AS WELL ENJOY IT ❞ ​

​