Warriors of the Plants

In Cactusclan camp 

Viperfang trotted through camp, trying to look casual as he headed for the nursery. He poked his head into the burrow. "Hey Drizzlekit com'ere i wanna show ya somethin"

Drizzlekit jumped up in excitement, putting down his frog plushy. "What?!" He said, walking quickly over to Viperfang. "Are we gonna-" His voice lowered to a whisper. "Traiiin??"

Viperfang swung his head around dramatically, looking for any wandering ears before nodding. "Yes and.."He paused for effect. "We're going outside of camp!" He grinned, canines flashing. "I figured what better wat for you to know how to hunt than to do the real thing?"

Drizzlekit gasped. "OH!" He said exitedly. "I can't wait!" Drizzlekit said, bounding up and nearly jumping on Viperfang.

Viperfang smiled at how excited Drizzlekit was, he was so eager to learn! Why wouldnt Rainstar let someone mentor him while Sheepfish was gone? He laughed and touched Drizzlekit's shoulder with his tail. "I'm glad you're excited! But," He dropped his voice "we gotta sneak out so we gotta be quiet yea?"

Drizzlekit nodded carefully, his eyes looking at a fast asleep Windwhistle. "Ok..." He said quietly. "Sneak out of dirt place?" He asked.

Viperfang nodded and poked his head out of the nursery. The camp was extra full cause of the blasted tree cats. "Hmmmm okay act normal, no ones gonna question us if we leave one at a time. So i'll go then you follow in a little bit okay?" Viperfang padded towards the dirt place.

Drizzlekit nodded, trying to be discreet. Drizzlekit paused for a second, and waited before sneaking out of the camp through dirt place.

In Cactusclan territory 

Viperfang waited for Drizzlekit. When he showed up Viperfang smiled. "Alrighty lets get goin Drizzlepaw!" He spun and took off into the territory. "I wanna teach you to hunt rodents today! Theyre a bit easier than birds" He ran towards a rocky outcropping with some shrubs, the rodents loved it there

Drizzlekit smiled at Viperfang, nodding. "Ok!" He said exitedly. "What's first?"

Viperfang stopped a bit before the rocky outcropping and turn to face Drizzlekit. "Okay show me your crouch again, youve been practicing right?"

"Of course!" Drizzlekit said, and dropped swiftly into his crouch. It was almost perfectly balanced, and his tail was hovering just above the ground.

Viperfang purred as Drizzlekit dropped into his crouch. "Excellent! Now hunting rodents is allll about stealth and speed! They have really good senses too and are very skittish. They dont wander too far from their dens so you have to be faster than them." Viperfang explained, dropping into a crouch himself. "You wanna keep yourself downwind and keep your shadow off of them until its too late." Viperfang crept towards a scrub, paws barely lifting above the sand as he prowled forward. "And when you think its right-" he leaped on the scrub, swiping at it with his paw. "You strike"

Keeping his crouch in check, Drizzlekit replicated Viperfang's pounce quickly, his eyes keeping on the bit of shrub. Sneaking up, he pounced, and landed on it, slightly unsteady. "How was that?"

Viperfang nodded at Drizzlekit. "Excellent! You're picking this up really fast Drizzlepaw. You may even be as good as me one day." He puffed his chest. "Anyways lets try the real thing!" He flicked his tail and head towards the rocky outcropping. "Keep your nose and ears open for anything." As they got closer, Viperfang dropped low and skimmed along the sand. His nose twitched at the scent of a jerboa. He flicked his tail for Drizzlekit to drop low. He pointed towards where the scent was coming from

Drizzlekit nodded quietly, his eyes pinpointing the prey. He dropped low, and sniffed the air. Drizzlekit's form was slowly creeping towards the jerboa, his eyes looking at it. Then, he stepped on a twig, and the Jerboa scampered off. Drizzlekit broke into a run, but soon gave up the chase. "Damnit!" He said, as he was walking back to Viperfang.

Viperfang touched Drizzlekit's shoulder with his tail tip as the kit walked back to him. "Its alright Drizzlepaw, your form was great. You just gotta watch where you place your paws."  He scented another rodent and dropped low. Viperfang crept forward, eyes locked on the rodent. He slipped a paw over the stick and launched himself, paws slapping down. He nipped it quickly and padded back to Drizzlekit.

Drizzlekit dusted himself off, sighing. He watched Viperfang catch the rodent, and sunk his head. "I'll never be as good as you!" He said, looking up suddenly. "I'll try though..."

Viperfang cuffed the kit's ear playfully. "Not with that attitude bud! It was your first try, go again ai believe in you!" He purred

Drizzlekit's eyes brightened at the encouragement, and he laughed softly. "I'll try!" He said enthusiastically. Trying to pinpoint some prey, he scrunched up his nose. "I can't smell any prey..." He said, voice trailing.

Viperfang lifted his head to catch the scents on the wind. "Hmmm I can't either. With all our pouncing and yelling I'm sure they've all tucked themselves back into their dens" He shrugged "Oh well, theres plenty of more territory. Do you want to try some more somewhere else?"

Drizzlekit nodded. "Sure!" He said, in an attempt to keep his voice down. "Where to next?"

Viperfang thought for a moment, tail swishing the sand back and forth. "Hmm lets head towards the cliffs, birds and rodents like to nest in the cliffside. Should be lots to pounce at." He scooped his kill up and started off towards it.

At the border between Flowerclan and Cactusclan 

Daypaw sat by the banks of the river. There the sand was mire hardened, mixed with sturdy rocks. Cattails and and other shrubs growing along the edge of the shoreline. He found a nice spot by one if the few trees that grew there. Enough days had passed, allowing Sunheart and Daypaw to continue their training regiment. Of course Bearsnap had to watch them, the tom didn’t look too excited at the thought, but he still stuck with them surprisingly.

Sunheart would pad beside Daypaw. His arm was still wrapped in cobwebs and herbs where he had been bitten by the riverside adder but he no longer had a limp

Daypaw looked around, scenting the air for any prey. He was excelling in both his combat moves as as well huntings, but Daypaw preferred to go hunt. He did always want to be an excellent hunter since kithood, and if he kept up the pace, he would achieve it.

Bearsnap watched Sunheart and Bearsnap from where he was crouched underneath the shade of a tree.

"Maybe we shouldn't be hunting so close to the river," Sunheart murmured to Daypaw looking out at the flowing water

Daypaw trotted around the cool sand. “I know. It’s just logically speaking, all the prey would gather around the water during this time. They want to stay hydrated and cooled off from the heat! So I tried making an estimated schedule of when a flock of grouse come in to drink water!” He stated, mater of factly. “In fact, if we hide in the reeds and stay quiet, we may be able to catch some!”

Sunheart cringed "Wouldn't the riverside adder feel the same way?" He murmured with a sigh turning his gaze from the river out into the desert. It was the heat of green-leaf so it was best if they hunted by the river. For Daypaw's sake but he still hadn't really recovered from getting bit by the adder

“I got adder keep.” Bearsnap called. “I’ll be loud to scare them off for you, Sunshine.”

Sunheart sighed but nodded "Thank you, Bearsnap. Hopefully we catch a few grouse before you scare all of CactusClan prey away with how loud you are," He joked

Bearsnap looked up to see the flock of birds titter away from their end of the river. They flew further off, following the river off territory. Dang it, he had been too loud. “My apologies, good sir.” Bearsnap snorted. “Looks like I already did

Sunheart would see this too. His fur bristled slightly with a sigh. He shook his head glaring at Bearsnap. He honestly questioned why the ForestClan warrior insisted on following them around.

Daypaw turned to glare at Bearsnap, frowning. “Now what?” He asked, shaking his head annoyed.

Sunheart would sat down licking his paw wiping it over his face "We can head back to camp," He suggested

Bearsnap glanced over at the water and smirked. “Really? Heading back to camp, empty pawed?” He asked, smirking. “There’s a river right here. You have so much to do with it.” 

“Oh! Like fish?” Daypaw piped up, looking excited.

Sunheart would glare at Bearsnap "I know you love hunting in that river but again, we shouldn't be hunting there. The whole war between FlowerClan??" He meowed

“But yummy fish.” Bearsnap said, wiggling his brows. “Like the one from two days ago?”

Sunheart bristled slightly "We're CactusClan cat's we don't need to know how to fish-" He grunted 

Bearsnap watched as Daypaw leaned over the river watching the fish swim past. “It would still be cool to try it won’t it? To have that fishing skill known?”

Sunheart would watch Daypaw "Daypaw. Don't do it," Sunheart warned "Don't listen to Bearsnap of all cats!"

“I’m just going to try it out? I won’t actually catch a fish!” Daypaw said earnestly. He became a liar apparently. Bearsnap showed him the ropes and as soon as Daypaw tried the hook move on his own, he managed to pull out a fair sized fish. “Um…oops..” Daypaw said sheepishly. 

Sunheart would stare at Daypaw in disbelief. "Daypaw.." he groaned in annoyance "What did I just say!" He meowed padding over beside her looking at the fish giving Bearsnap a quick glare

Daypaw quickly shoved the fish back into the river as if nothing happened. 

The sight led Bearsnap to start cackling maniacally

"Shut it! You're gonna scare the rest of the prey away!" Sunheart snapped at the larger warrior before looking back at Daypaw "Daypaw, you can't just be going into territories you shouldn't be going into, and you can't be hunting in area's you shouldn't be hunting!" He meowed sternly

Daypaw looked at his paws. “We’re still in cactusclan territory.” He said incredulously.

"That RIVER isn't part of CactusClan territory," Sunheart meowed sternly

Daypaw looked over at Flowerclan and frowned. “Technically it isn’t part of Flowerclan either…” He stated.

"Exactly, so no cat hunts in the river. Other than mouse brain over here." Sunheart meowed pointing his tail to Bearsnap

Bearsnap stuck his tongue out.

Daypaw sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Fine…but I still think it’s stupid. It’s already hard enough to hunt out here in the desert” Daypaw rambled. “Flowerclan doesn’t need the river, it has its fields and light woodland, rich with prey! We only have a few specific areas where can thoroughly hunt! The river would be very beneficial for us!”

"Well, when you're leader maybe you can talk to Harveststar about it." Sunheart grunted simply "For now I'd like to not get in a fight with anybody.."

Daypaw shuffled his paws. “It’s not like Rainstar is going to appoint me as his deputy.” He mumbled.

"Exactly," Sunheart grunted "So tradition will stay the same.." He murmured but the word 'tradition' seemed to sting him like a bee

Bearsnap frowned, pouting soon enough. “Aww Sunny, here I thought you were cool.”

Sunheart would glare at Bearsnap "I-I am cool," He huffed defensively

Bearsnap snorted, chuckling. “Yes, you are totally cool for depriving your clan of food that they need.”

Sunheart sputtered at the accusation "I'm doing no such thing!"

Bearsnap nodded. “You totally are. You actually are doing such thing. Aren’t I right, Daypaw?”

“Leave me out of this.” Daypaw piped in. 

“See,” Bearsnap said, cheekily. “He agrees.”

Sunheart glowered at Bearsnap before turning to the river. He would show Bearsnap and his stupid handsome face. He carefully croached by the water scanning for a fish. He spotted the shadow of a fish and quickly shot his paw forward but he hadn't been paying enough attention to his balance and he fell into the river quickly being submerged by the cold water it snatched away his breath and any air he had in his lungs

Bearsnap’s eyes widened as he saw Sunheart’s lovely form fall into the river again. Maybe they should actually start staying clear from the river. Bearsnap wasted no time, leaping in after him

Sunheart wasted no time in reaching the surface. His head emerging from the water as he took gasping breaths of air but with no proper training of how to swim he was paddling helplessly

Bearsnap calmly came up beside him. “Calm down.” Bearsnap said. “Stop flailing around! Just slow down your movements, you’re making it harder for yourself to stay afloat.”

Sunheart gasped "Don't tell me what to do!" He growled through gritted teeth his head submerging underneath the water again because he was making it harder for himself to stay afloat

Bearsnap rolled his eyes. “Then drown on my account!” He called over. “Look! Stop writhing around! Kick your paws slowly to propel yourself up!”

“Sunheart!” Daypaw called from the bank. He hesitated over the edge, not sure if he should go after them. It seemed like Bearsnap had it under cover

Sunheart would take whatver gasps of breaths he could. It was difficult to hear what Bearsnap was saying over the rushing water but he tried to listen to Bearsnap's instructions. He would slowly stop bobbing and have his head consistently above water

Bearsnap swam around him with ease, almost acting like a fish. “You’re getting it.” He chirped, looking proud. “Now you just have to find a rhythm. Watch how I move to my paws to help me float much easier.”

Sunheart felt his heart beat faster seeing the proud look on Bearsnap's face. He blinked snapping out of his daze "oh uh.." he would watch Bearsnap's paws trying to mimick them but a misstep in his rythem and his head was submerged underneath the water again

Bearsnap appeared beside him and let Sunheart lean on him. “You almost got it.” He said, his deep voice rumbling at their proximity.

Sunheart would gasp for hair as his head reemerged from the water. He felt his pelt heat up feeling the rumbling of Bearsnap's deep voice. He thought he might have messed his swimming and gone underneath but leaning against Bearsnap kept his head afloat.

Bearsnap’s dirt eating grin grew more genuine as he took in the fact that Sunheart was indeed floating. “Hah!” He let out, “look at you! You got it! Look at you!” Bearsnap said, chucking. When he spoke again, his voice sounded more sincere. “Look at you…”

Sunheart would stare at Bearsnap feeling his heart pound against his chest. He quickly looked away his ears red "Haha yeah! I-i'm swimming!" He meowed truimphantly

Bearsnap found himself staring. At the realization, his face burned and he coughed, looking back at Daypaw who stood at the bank looking confused

"o-okay.. i'm going to get out. This water is so cold," Sunheart awkwardly laughed slowly and carefully paddling his way to shore

Bearsnap watched him go before slowly paddling back to the shore. “So. You couldn’t catch a fish.” Bearsnap said, teasing. “But you did learn how to swim. I think that’s an achievement.”

Sunheart would drag himself out of the water and onto the sandy shore. His fur clung to his lean muscles "har har" he muttered at the comment of him failing to fish, "I'm not sure how much swimming will help me in the desert," he joked with a chuckle before shaking out the excess water from his orange pelt

Bearsnap stared at the smaller tom. 

“Well, it can help us cool off fully now.” Daypaw said. 

“What he said.” Bearsnap said, nodding. He never expected that he’d be in this position. Stuck with a know it all kid and a pretty tom who he had just taught how to swim. Who also happened to be from a different clan. This wasn’t the stone den where you could have flings and act like they were real tangible feelings.

Sunheart thought about it "Well maybe you should learn to swim. In case another flood happens," he suggested to Daypaw with a smile stepping out into the sun to dry his fur quicker

Daypaw hesitated around the bank of the river. He didn’t want to go throwing himself into the deep end of the water just yet, especially not with what happened last time.

Sunheart would watch Daypaw carefully but was worried he would watch his apprentice drown. This could be a good skill for him to have. What if something happened in CactusClan and he needed to escape to FlowerClan? He just felt better if he knew Daypaw could handle himself in deep water

Daypaw spent a while calculating the different outcomes of the situation. “So I just..kick my legs to propel myself…?” He asked cautiously

Sunheart would shrug "I'd say that's about right," He meowed but he could barely swim so he wasn't sure he was giving the best advice

Daypaw shuffled towards the edge of the water, he really didn’t want to go in. Beside him Bearsnap slid into the river with such ease, it still managed to amaze him. Daypaw tried to follow Bearsnap, but stuck to the shallow end of the river. It would be very beneficial to learn how to swim, and it would help out with fishing in the case the river did fall over to Cactusclan.

Sunheart would pad over to the edge of the river watching Daypaw

Daypaw tried to keep himself from digging his paws into the river floor, he managed to barely keep his head up, but Bearsnap was obviously expected him to move further into the river. It took all his strength not to be paralyzed by being in the water.

"You got this Daypaw!" Sunheart encouraged with a smile

Right, he got this. Daypaw got this. As he slowly forced himself to move further into the river, battling against the urge to rush back into the shore, he felt eerily calm. It was all for knowledge. He needed to know this. He needed to know what it was like to defy the river’s malice.

Bearsnap was there too, waiting nearby. The ragged tom didn’t want anymore apprentices dying on his paws. 

Daypaw began to mimic how Bearsnap moved. His paws found a rhythm and as Daypaw pushed himself off the shallow end, he found himself swimming. He was doing it! He was swimming! Look at him!

Sunheart cheered "Way to go, Daypaw!" He meowed proudly. It felt like just yesterday Daypaw was Daykit learning how to do a hunting crouch in the stone den

Daypaw giggled with delight, swimming around in circles. “I’m doing it!” He exclaimed. “I’m swimming! This is so cool! I’m like a fish! A big furry fish!”

“That sounds oddly terrifying.” Bearsnap commented, shuddering.

Sunheart laughed licking his chest "Maybe they should name you Dayfish then," He teased

Daypaw laughed boisterously. “I think Dayrunner would be a cool name for me!” He crowed, relaxing in the water

Bearsnap submerged, disappearing from the surface of the river. When he appeared again, he popped up in front of Sunheart, grabbing him and pulling him into the water.

Sunheart would blink seeing Bearsnap dissapear underneath the water. He yowled in alarm as he was grabbed and plunged back into the water. He quickly lifted his head swatting a paw at Bearsnap with a growl "Not fair!" He meowed before looking at Daypaw "Dayrunner... I like the sound of it!" He meowed with a smile

Bearsnap chuckled, and pawed Sunheart back. “Go be a fish too!” He said, splashing the ginger tom with water. “Sunfish, how cute.”

Daypaw swam in circles around them. “Sunfish! Sunfish!” He chanted, giggling. “By the power vested in me! Underneath the eyes of the Jokestar, I now call you Sunfish!”

Sunheart gave Bearsnap a look splashing water back on him before looking at Daypaw and shaking his head "Not you too!" He laughed

Daypaw splashed Sunheart as well. He found himself enjoying the time they had in the water

Sunheart laughed splashing Daypaw back "I think Dayfish really does fit you now though," He joked "I might have to talk to Rainstar,"

Daypaw gasped. Nooo, Dayfish was a terrifying name. As much as he liked the fish joke, he wanted to have something far more cool as his name. Something that represented him. And he was not an actual fish.

Sunheart would laugh splashing Daypaw again before pulling himself out of the water for a second time "Well, we definitely scared all the fish away," He meowed

Daypaw nodded, sighing. “In that case, we probably should get some real hunting in.” He said. “But we’ll have to wait cuz we need to dry off.”

Sunheart would look at Daypaw "Daypaw, sweet pea. We live in the desert, and it's the middle of green-leaf. By time we walk to another hunting spot we'll all be dry by then, even Bearsnap." He meowed

Bearsnap flicked a wave at him for just saying that, looking indignant.

Daypaw bursted out into a fit of laughter. “Okay! All right!” He said, amused. “Let’s go then!”

Sunheart smiled shaking out his pelt stepping away from the river waiting for the two others to follow

Daypaw pulled himself out the river, bounding after Bearsnap and Sunheart. He needed to get more work in, to achieve that greatness he wanted to meet.

Sunheart would smile and started padding away from the river towards a different hunting spot

Bearsnap felt drained in the heat, it made him a lit more complaint. The dry temperatures were rolling off his back in waves, making his wet scraggly fur poof up. While the others hunted, he spent some time smoothing down his pelt

Sunheart would notice Bearsnap's poofy pelt and had to hold back his laughter. He left the other tom alone as he hunted with Daypaw for the rest of the day. After his swim his orange pelt seemed to be glowing more in the sunlight as if he was a little drop of the sun on earth

Bearsnap once again caught himself staring. It was getting really distracting, the way Sunheart’s pelt glowed in the greenleaf sun. It made him look astonishing.

Sunheart would pounce on a jerboa quickly snapping it's neck holding up his prey in triumph. He turn and looked at Bearsnap feeling his pelt heat up realizing the other tom was staring at him. Was his pelt a mess? Did he have something stuck on him??

Bearsnap blinked before shaking himself. He pointedly looked away, choosing to stare at this very interesting rock, yes.

Sunheart would feel his ears burn as he looked away as well instead focusing on burying the jerboa he had caught

Daypaw flew past Sunheart. A nice lark had seen the cats and took to flew off. Daypaw threw himself on a rock, scampering over it and running to it’s edge. He then kicked himself off the rock and soared through the air, snagging the bird by its wing. When he landed, he made quick work of finishing it off, thanking Starclan for the life offered.

Bearsnap looked up, surprised. “I wasn’t aware that cactus clan hunted like that…that’s a forestclan move.” He said, furrowing his brows.

Daypaw nodded as he buried the western lark. “It is. I picked it up from watching some of your clanmates. I’ve thought about the move, what it involves and what it targets and deemed it an effective method of catching birds that tend to fly off during the hunt. Of course this move only works when you have an object of a reasonable size that can act as a ramp.” Daypaw stated.

Sunheart would listen to Daypaw rant as he scanned the area for any other prey to catch

Bearsnap blinked. “You did that..on your own? With no one to teach you..?” He asked, looking flabbergasted. It usually took forestclan apprentices a good while to master that tactic and here Daypaw and gotten it down so quickly.

Sunheart would crouch down gliding along the sand jumping on another jerboa just barely catching it. He would bite it's neck picking it up padding over to where he had buried the first jerboa

Daypaw nodded. “It took me several tries on my own. But eventually I figured it out!” He said proudly. “It’s all about animal behavior! You have to study your prey’s movements to figure out how they’ll react to any particular situation! In this case, that lark herd Sunheart catch that jerboa which means it knows there’s a predator nearby. So just as it started flying up, I rushed to the rock, predicted where the bird will fly up and them estimated my jump to that height!”

Bearsnap looked gobsmacked. He glanced at Sunheart nodding at his catch while still looking absolutely taken aback. “What…?”

Sunheart would bury the second Jerboa before shrugging with a soft smile "Sometimes I'm surprised Daypaw isn't already a warrior," He meowed

Daypaw shook his head. “I still have a lot to cover before even becoming a warrior!” He insisted. “Such as battle strategies, the ones Sunheart told are the basic foundations. Use the sun behind you when you attack to blind your opponent, approach from behind, make sure the wind blows towards you and not against you,” Daypaw said, listing off several different techniques.

Sunheart would bristle slightly "Daypaw do you think it's a good idea to be listing off battle technique's with an enemy clan warrior here?" He asked raising a brow "Once ForestClan goes back to the forest we can do more battle training," He meowed

Daypaw blinked and then looked between Bearsnap. “Oops…sorry..” He apologized, looking ashamed.

Sunheart did not need to worry because Bearsnap was still so shocked by Daypaw mastering that bird catching move, he had think about it. He tuned out the world for a good while, missing out on Sunheart and Daypaw speaking to one another

Sunheart shook his head "It's alright, sometimes I forget they're an enemy clan they've been living with us for so many moons." He chuckled "We've been hunting for a while, we should head back. Take a break," He suggested

Daypaw nodded. He went to pick up his lark and offered to carry the other jerboa, wanting to be useful. 

Bearsnap looked stoned out of his existence, staring at Daypaw as if the young cat had suddenly grown wings.

Sunheart nodded before looking at Bearsnap. "Bearsnap," He meowed noticing how out of it the larger warrior looked

Bearsnap blinked, suddenly remembering where he was and who he was with. “What…?” He asked hoarsely

"We're heading back to camp," Sunheart meowed, picking up his jerboa letting Daypaw carry his other catch

Bearsnap blinked again before nodding. “Oh. Alright then, yeah that works.” He said, still looking shocked

Daypaw bounded forward, taking point as the group headed back to the ravine side

Sunheart would pad behind Daypaw letting him take the lead