Go the Distance [SHC EVENT]

[Pitou]

**Sunsetpaw**

Sunsetpaw dropped her bird in front of Elmshadow and turned quickly to stalked away into the undergrowth, attempting to lose her bright pelt among the shadows. Her first goal was to lose everybody else then she'd circle back around to see who she could sneak up on. The first cat she saw as she came back around was the tabby pelt of Pineclaw. She wasn't sure how her odds faired going up against a warrior, especially in her weakened state but if she could manage to sneak up on him well enough then she could get away with a quick bite without ever having to actually fight.

**Elmahadow**

@GoldenDays

Elmshadow gather the birds and turned to trot away through the trees towards the group's last stop. He was stopped when he heard his name called out from above. He glance up and saw Oakpaw in a tree. Sighing, he rolled his eyes and set down the gathered birds. Climbing was not a strength of his as his missing tail made balance that much more complicated, though he'd learned how to compensate for it over the moons. Oakpaw didn't seem too far up though and trying to talk the apprentice down was going to waste far more of his time than just dragging him down. So Elmshadow ran up the tree, digging his claws into the bark. Stopping beside Oakpaw he moved to sink his teeth into the apprentice's scruff. "Keep your claws sheathed and your paws under you."

[IcarusUntamed]

@Ravensong

~Oak’paw~

Oak’Paw watched as the warrior made his way up the tree, clinging to the branch for dear life, as his ear pinned flat against his head. he kept his gaze locked on Elm’shadow as he prayed to starclan the branch didn’t break. His tail flicked nervously as the tabby felt Elm’shadows teeth grab hold of his scruff. It was a weird feeling that instinctively made him go limp.

The apprentice unsheathed his claws slowly, scared that if he did he would fall, but he knew to trust the warrior, no clan cat would put a clanmate in danger so he had no reason to worry, but that didn’t help his nerves. “I’m scared, what if I fall?”he mewed, he sounded like a kit, a warrior wouldn’t get stuck! Any apprentice his age should know how to get down from a tree! He should have figured out a way down on his own.

[Pitou]

**Elmshadow**

@GoldenDays

The large tom wasn't quite tall enough to fully lift the apprentice off his paws, though he wouldn't have cared to anyway. He couldn't help the thought that Oakpaw was far too old to be getting retrieved from a tree like a kit. Without a second thought, ignoring Oakpaw's worries, Elmshadow attempted to pull the young tom off the branch and let the weight lead him towards the ground. Unless Oakpaw did something stupid like cling onto the branch, Elmshadow would be able to land heavily on the ground below, softening the apprentice's landing with his grip on his scruff.

[Ian]

The second Elmshadow finished his instructions Badgerscar was off. His dark tabby pelt helped him blend into the shadows as he silently stalked his prey. He had decided to go for one of two targets, either Centipedepaw or Hornetpaw, depending on how they acted. The former was Ivynsake's apprentice and also deaf, so hopefully she had been teaching him how to get around that disadvantage. Badgerscar had taught Ivysnake, so therefor Centipedepaw must become a great warrior too.

Keeping low to the ground and using the undergrowth for cover he waited to see what the two apprentices would do. It amused him slightly to see how exhausted they were (no, he wasn't going to mention how he was feeling tired himself thank you very much) even if he had once been in that position under the harsh teachings of Grimhound.

@xath

[Orion]

|| Centipedepaw and Hornetpaw ||

The brothers unconsciously leaned against one another as Elmshadow began to speak, preparing themselves for whatever exhausting task the dark tom dreamed up next... but at the mention of a game, identical evil grins tweaked their muzzles. Tag, eh? Centipedepaw and Hornetpaw could get down with some tag; they'd practiced stalking one another since their eyes had opened—the chance to test the skills they'd forged while playing sounded like an excellent opportunity.

Hornet swatted his brother with his long tail, keeping his signs subtle and small so as not to draw attention to their silent conversation. "Lucky jerk, with your stubby tail. If someone gets you, you're not my brother anymore."

Centipede winked a deep amber eye. "Don't worry. I won't go down easy." He finished his sentence with a firm thump of his forepaws. The deaf tom had been figuring out ways to work around his lack of hearing his entire life—he couldn't wait to show his peers that he wasn't some low-hanging fruit for them to sharpen their claws on...

|| Centipedepaw | @Rippleshade ||

The siblings parted ways, weaving into the undergrowth like serpents on the hunt. While Hornetpaw chose dense coverage and thickly shaded areas, Centipedepaw opted for a path with more openness and taller plants. Without his hearing, the ash-colored apprentice relied heavily on his keen vision and sensitive attunement to vibrations that passed along the ground. With Hornetpaw, Centipede had learned to pay attention to shadows and sudden movements—but watching others train had taught the boy to observe the lay of the land and how it changed when cats disturbed it. The shiver of a leaf or a bent blade of grass could give away someone's position just as easily as a glimpse of fur... so long as Centipedepaw knew where to cast his gaze.

The pale-faced lad held himself low to the earth as he walked, making himself a smaller target. His bobbed tail pressed tight to his haunches. As annoying as it was, Centipedepaw knew that somebody was bound to take advantage of his deafness for this challenge; it was only a matter of time before—

A slither of shadow in his peripheral vision. Centipedepaw froze and craned his head to peer over his shoulder—in time to see Cactuspelt leaping for his hindquarters.

The warrior crashed into him, sending the apprentice off his paws and skidding forward over the dirt. As she was bigger than him, he struggled to roll out from under her or defend himself from her attack; his muscles ached as he scrabbled at her weight, trying twisting his hips out of her range and attempting to keep her in his visual field. A fierce hiss leaked from between his fangs. Cactuspelt could likely overpower him if she chose—but if he could trap her in a dance, him diving at her tail while she dived at his, perhaps he could find an opening!

|| Hornetpaw | @NinjaBloss ||

To say that Hornetpaw was worried about Centipedepaw would be an understatement. The smoky tom would murder him if Hornet ever admitted it, yet the rusty ginger boy couldn't help but feel his stomach twist into knots whenever he and Centipedepaw separated. It wasn't that Hornet didn't have faith in his brother... Hornet would lash out like his namesake at anybody that dared declare that Centipedepaw was less worthy of warrior-dom simply because he was without hearing. He just... hated the thought of Centipedepaw failing. Of Centipede getting bested by another apprentice, or a warrior with a chip on their shoulder. If another apprentice fell short of their training, they'd—at worst—get a stern talking to, and told to work harder on their skills. But if Centipedepaw failed at something... Hornetpaw could hear the derision now. A single lapse on his brother's part was "proof" that Centipedepaw wasn't cut out for battle. Some cats would take any excuse they could get their claws on to put him down.

It made him freaking angry!

Hornetpaw struggled to keep his anxiety controlled, teeth gritted and flame-colored hackles fizzling up his spine. Thinking about what might happen to Centipedepaw wouldn't help anything; he needed to focus on his own part in this game—or risk getting jumped like an idiot.

His lithe form sifted through grass and brambles, utilizing the mottled shadows to his advantage. Under direct sunlight his fur would gleam too brightly—too exposed and obvious in ShadowClan's territory—so he must remain focused on stealth. Slow, quiet breaths. Careful, deliberate pawsteps. Hornetpaw wanted nothing more than to curl up in his nest and sleep, which is what he'd do immediately upon returning to camp...

A chill dragged its talons along his back. Hornetpaw paused, heart thumping hard in his chest, ears and eyes straining to discern the direction of the threat without also giving himself away. Was he being paranoid, or was someone watching him?

[Glitch_Candle]

@xath
~Cactuspelt~
Cactuspelt hadn't known what she was getting into. She couldn't do this! She was a terrible fighter! Maybe out of some miracle she could pull something off, get one cat out. She ran quickly across, nimbly dodging all of Centipedepaw's attempts on biting her leg/tail, but she was struggling to do the same to Centipede. She finally got an opening, an attempted to chomp down. She missed. Of course she did. It wasn't even close. She picked herself up and brushed it off. "Try, try again," she thought in her head. They repeated this for a minute, and Cactuspelt was getting tired, but the apprentice seemed to have no signs of exhaustion. One last opening! She saw the leg, and reached for it, attempting to bite it.

[Ian]

Badgerscar decided to go after Hornetpaw since Cactuspelt had decided to attack Centipedepaw. His paws glided over the ground silently as he stuck to the shadows, his many moons of practice making it practically second nature. The second the apprentice froze so did Badgerscar. Hornetpaw had good instincts, but freezing like that would only let the pursuer know they had been sensed and give them time to come up with a plan.

The large tabby waited for a few heartbeats in the hopes that Hornetpaw would relax slightly and let down his guard and then he sprung. His forepaws were outstretched as he attempted to grab the smaller tom by the haunches to keep him place while he bit the tail. Badgerscar kept his own tail wrapped tightly around a hindleg in case of any retaliation.

@xath

[Pitou]

**Sunsetpaw**

@SuspiciousMindz

The golden apprentice took in deep and slow breaths, keeping herself downwind from the warrior while also making sure she stayed out of sight and behind him. She couldn't linger the rest of the night. Her muscles screamed and her paws were sore, her exhaustion was settling in painfully, but she needed to get this. She swallowed and stalked forward silently, keeping the tabby warrior in her sights. At the last moment, she paused to gather her strength into her legs then leapt, paws outstretched towards the warrior's hind end as she aimed her open jaws for his tail.

[Hopeless]

Ahh I forgot this was still going

~ Owlfeather ~
@NinjaBloss I know this is hella late, so it's not your fault if you don't respond in time //

A simple enough game, not really useful but sharpening the stalking skills at least. She gazed around to search for a good cat to go for. And after a bit of thinking chose Badgerscar. He was an annoying cat, and while she had no personal problems with him, she might as well go for him. He seemed to be busy with another cat, so why not use the opening?
She slipped away in another direction, before circling back, crouched down low in the undergrowth as to remain unseen, and began to stalk the large tom, quiet as a mouse.



~Nettlepaw~

The next task was something she hadn't really expected, and Nettlepaw was already yawning due to the lateness and intensiveness of the night's training. Anyway she just needed to bite someone's tail. Yeah, just someone. Her tired eyes followed Owlfeather as the warrior seemed to stalk after Badgerscar. Maybe she could just go for her aunt? Owlfeather had always praised her when she mixed in more cunning in her actions, so she hopefully wouldn't mind this little trick.

She waited until Owlfeather was focused on Badgerscar, so she crouched down and began to stalk after her aunt.

[Pitou]

**Elmshadow**

After falling behind dealing with Oakpaw getting stuck in a tree, Elmshadow hurried through the forest, retracing their steps to stop at all of the stashes of prey. He collected everything he could carry and headed back to camp. Ideally, everybody would be getting back to camp around this time. He pushed through the entrance and dropped the gathered prey from the excursion on the freshkill pile before turning. He noticed Badgerscar, Owlfeather, Cactuspelt, Sunsetpaw, Centipedepaw, Hornetpaw, and Nettlepaw. Oakpaw had gotten stuck in a tree during the bird catching task but he didn't know where the apprentice had ended up after he got him out, and Pineclaw disappeared again after catching his bird. He'd been prepared to forgive both Oakpaw's overall incompetence and Pineclaw's slowness on the egg task until both failed to participate in the final task. Badgerscar and Owlfeather had the turnout he'd expected of the more senior warriors. Cactuspelt was rather disappointing but she was consistent and, at least from this, dependable as a member of the clan. Nettlepaw kept up and had shown an ability to follow orders and learn easily. Sunsetpaw was keeping up despite her relatively recent brush with starvation. Centipedepaw and Hornetpaw would be interesting to keep an eye on. The duo seemed to have a lot of drive and potential.

His green gaze scanned the camp for the other cats he was going to have to track down. The good news was he would have plenty of cats to make up three full patrols, the bad news was there were that many cats who had failed to follow through on a commitment they had made. In any case, he turned to the remaining cats who had made it through the night with him. The sun was growing stronger and beginning to touch within the Shadowclan camp. "Sunsetpaw, Centipedepaw, Hornetpaw, Nettlepaw. Go rest, you've done well." The group all looked dead on their paws; they deserved the day of rest. He had no plans to ask anything of Badgerscar or Cactuspelt and doubted Owlfeather had plans to either as she too had spent the night out with them all. As for Elmshadow, he knew his day was not yet over. He had a group of cats who needed rousting. Oakpaw, Pineclaw, Brackenfire, Strikefur, Crowblaze, Webfoot, Morningflower, and Whiterose had all disappeared too soon and Elmshadow could only assume they'd returned to camp and would now be responsible for some early morning extra patrols.

[Event has ended. Feel free to finish up or not, make a final post or not. Nothing further is needed ^^]

 

@Hopeless @NinjaBloss @xath @Rippleshade