moorland race - pt 2! [apprentices and up]

[Mica]

Hawkfur
WindClan
he/him | 48 moons
[Russet tabby with tuxedo markings and sky-blue eyes]
Purrks: Flock Together T3
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Hawkfur kept a good pace throughout the last obstacle, and he was pulling ahead. His legs burned, but it was a familiar and welcome ache that he had missed after being cooped up in camp for so long.

The flat stretch of unadulterated land loomed in its mundane glory, and Hawkfur wondered what the next obstacle was going to be. That was, until he felt the pitter of smaller animals and heard shouts of confusion behind him. He twisted to glance over his shoulder and made a noise of disbelief when he saw a hoard of rabbits bounding towards the group. How in StarClan had she managed that??? Hawkfur kept going, keeping his focus on the path ahead. As rabbits began hopping at the edge of his vision, he unleashed a low growl of warning, hoping to scare the rabbits away from him and off to the side. Any time one got too close for comfort, the red tom snapped his teeth at them. After all, they were still prey.

[Alchemist Kitsune]

| Snowybreeze |
Heightened Perception [Smell] - Active | Rapid Recovery - Active | The Collector - Inactive

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To state that the colossal tom had been chaotically inelegant at the second challenge was... putting it mildly. Stars above, he knew he would lose, but he didn't think he would be quite this bad when he'd set out to do this. It seemed his massive paws kept finding ways to submerge themselves into the many holes littering the place, even when they didn't fit - the magic behind that baffled him every time he struggled to pull his paws back out - and forcibly making his nose meet the ground beneath him far too many times to count. At this point, the quiet warrior wasn't certain how many cats were ahead of him now. He assumed all of them, but it was really... rather... difficult... to tell... At least with all those stars floating around his head right now.

Giving his head a mighty shake that sent his mane flying everywhere until it was a giant ball of fluff around his neck, Snowybreeze struggled to concentrate, finally reaching the end of the second challenge without any further injury... And even his nose seemed to be hurting less as time moved on. He was fine. Everything was fine. He just... had to catch up. Carefully. And preferably without any more falls. StarClan help him...

Heavy paws thudding hard on the ground, the gentle giant soon caught up to the cats before him, sky blue eyes lighting up. He was of course not sure how many cats - if any, he assumed none - were behind him... but then... there was an oddly loud thumping sound behind him, wasn't there? Pausing in his confusion, knowing there was no way this many cats were behind him, the white furred tom tilted his head, his curiosity slowly shifting, morphing into pure dread as he saw what could only be described as The Wall of Rabbit Vengeance coming for them all. In earnest, he had no idea how Bravebird had managed this. There was no way she had somehow orchestrated all of these rabbits to come together like this? Right? Oh... Oh dear. They were looking mighty close. Eep! Help! That's it! He was out of here! Now if only he could avoid any more tripping on his own fur, he might just make it out of this alive. Why, oh why had he thought joining this race was a good idea?!

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[Estelle]

It seemed that her technique had worked well enough, easily bringing her across the holed land - if a bit more exerted - onto what appeared to be an open stretch of land. While the continuous jumping and evading had served to making her leg feel a bit stiff, if uncomfortable, Silverpaw wouldn't allow it slow her down... At least, not if she got to decide. Huffing, she picked up the pace, when a sudden piter patter sounded behind her. Her ears flicked, briefly confused, and as she made the mistake (or perhaps in this case, better choice) to briefly glance behind her, she was taken aback to see an undeniably large group of rabbits hot on everyone's paws! Shaking away the initial surprise, momentarily wondering how Bravebird had managed to rally this many rabbits in such little time, she decided she best try to keep up her pace - and not only to avoid falling behind, but also as to avoid being trampled by the furry animals. That ... Would not be favourable. Setting her eyes ahead of her, an ear focused on the sound behind her, Silverpaw hurried forth hoping that her stiff leg and overall stamina would allow her to avoid these little animals.

[Alchemist Kitsune]

| Dapplebreeze |
Agatha Kitty - Active | Silver Tongue - Active | Beefed Up [Tier 1] - Inactive

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Admitting faults did not come easy to the former queen. Not when it came to skills she was so openly proud of. Her ability to skirt about WindClan's domain was one of them, her legs carrying the very power of the wind with them. Even in this new territory she had found herself at ease once she had begun to dutiful take care of the tasks appointed to her. Once she had been healed from her previous illness. And yet here, now, as she felt her leg drop into a hole as she kept running, pulling on a muscle in a way she was quite certain was not meant to be pulled, she winced, as much for her lack of attention as for the pain, knowing full well this could have been avoided if she had only been more wary of her surroundings.

Very little could distract Dapplebreeze when she had a goal set. She had raised multiple litters. At this point, she was a master of having her eyes focused on various things at once. Yet the sight of her grandson falling not once... not twice... but countless times into her daughter's expertly laid trap was too much for even her to ignore. Mismatched ears flattened as she struggled to straighten herself up, flinching only slightly as she placed her paw on the ground. A part of her knew she should get out of the race. That it could get worse. Her pride was quick to shut that logical thinking down, however, and with a grimace she continued, making a point of no longer looking in the ungraceful tom's direction for the remainder of this challenge.

There was honest relief once she was out of the hole fields, and running through the burning pain on her paw, she raised a brow in surprise. Had Bravebird allowed them a reprieve? A moment to merely run without worry or care? The patched she-cat didn't have time to ponder on this as she heard many a footstep behind her, a small eep catching her attention as well. Allowing herself to take a second's rest, the warrior looked back, her paw in the air as she noticed the hoard of rabbits running towards them. Well... this was most certainly different. And straight forward... Forget outrunning these rabbits on her paw. She needed to take a little detour to the side of the path if she wished to avoid any further injury. Hopefully she would be able to do just that and catch up to those who had surpassed her during her moment's weakness.

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[Katiethewolfchild]

Once Bearpelt managed to pass the holes, fortunately without any holes tripping her up she continued running. She was confused when she didn't see any obstacles. Where was the obstacle? After all wasn't this supposed to be a obstacle race? Then she heard the pitter-patter of little feet. Looking back to see what it was she saw rabbits? First what kind of obstacles were rabbits and second how on earth had Bravebird organized a rabbit stampede in the first place? She had thought that mud was a weird obstacle but rabbits were stranger. Much much stranger. She kept running, speeding up to avoid being ran over by rabbits.

After passing the holes Birdpaw continued running quickly. When she didn't see any obstacles she was confused at first but soon just shrugged and assumed that maybe they were being giving a break this round or the warrior had forgotten to add a obstacle for this round, slowing down some so she could catch her breath. Then she heard little feet pitter-pattering. Looking behind her, as she was wondering what that sound was she saw RABBITS!?!!?! That was really really really really really silly! Rabbits were prey or/and friends not obstacles! What had the silly warrior being thinking?!?!?!?! She sped up as much as she could, cause even if the rabbits were prey or/and little animals friends there were a lot of them.

Caterpillarpaw was relieved when she managed to pass the holes despite her blindness. Speeding up now that she had passed the holes she was confused when the next round didn't seem to have any obstacles. Then she heard something. Was that little feet pitter-pattering? Confused, the blind apprentice turned around so that she could get a better scent. When she did so she smelled... rabbits? Was this a rabbit stampede or something like that? She sped up even more to avoid the rabbits, as she was pretty sure it was a rabbit stampede or something very similar because that was the only thing that made even a little sense.

Once Swanpaw got past the holes she sped up a bit, but not too much, as she didn't want to get out of breath too quickly. At first she was confused when there didn't seem to be an obstacle? Where was the obstacle? Wasn't every round supposed to have one? Then she heard the pitter-pattering of little feet. Turning around to check what the sound was she saw and smelled rabbits?!?! Was this a rabbit stampede? If it was and she though it was it was one strange obstacle. She sped of as much as she could in order to avoid the rabbits. (All have over 50 words, but you can check if you want too)

[Collieheart]

Sweetpaw
( small brown tabby she-cat with white paws and bright blue eyes )
★ WindClan Apprentice ★ she/her ★ 9 moons ★
friendly • hard-working • enthusiastic

Sweetpaw felt her heart in her throat as she managed to make it past the holes. She grinned wildly, thoroughly enjoying herself.

The next stretch came up, seemingly empty of obstacles. She decided not to question it. Instead, she pushed herself to run faster, trying to get ahead. She started at the odd sound, and a glance over her shoulder showed her the stampede. She managed a gasp of laughter at the absurdity, and tucked her head down, claws unsheathed to get a grip in the ground as she tried to run faster than she could ever remember doing.

[Watermeloon]

Beastpaw was a blur against the moorland, streaking past the tall grasses or whatever, and bypassing bunny warrens. Finally, the coast was clear, and she could run her heart out. Her paws thrummed on the sproingy earth, and her sparse fur was pulled back by the wind. She was unstoppable. Tears inexplicably formed in her eyes, streaming out of her blue hues relentlessly. Beastie didn't bother stopping them. Let them run as she ran from her inward issues. It didn't matter anymore. Paws drummed the ground somewhere behind her, more than the number of contestants'. The minute apprentice chanced a look over her shoulder. Rabbits. Dozens of them, pouring down the moorland slopes like a tidal wave. How in StarClan...?! Somehow Bravebird had organised a contingent of bunnies to chase after the racegoers. The rabbits wouldn't hurt her right? They were friends, after all. Beastpaw quickened her flashing pace anyway, leaping over a warren as panic overtook her... Just as a rabbit shot out of it, bowling her to the ground. Instinctively, her claws shot out, and a searing sensation erupted from her jaw. The 'paw cried out in pain, releasing the wild-eyed rabbit that had kicked her in the face. Through the hurt, she staggered into a loping run, pain and tears half-blinding her.

[Flock Together: Activated]

Beastpaw finally remembered her relationship with the buns. They were almost upon her now, and despite the fact she knew they wouldn't harm her again, not intentionally, she sped up, eager to outpace her fellow contenders. She had to win. She just had to. Beastpaw's jaw throbbed like crazy, and blood dribbled from her maw, but she tamped her hurt down, buried it far below. Just finish the race first. Worry about everything else later.

[MockingRabbit]

Brightpaw
She/her 9 Moons

Brightpaw's feeling of elation at making it past the holes was somewhat dampened by the reality that she had tripped very un-gracefully over one of them, and her pelt was now covered in even more dirt. Life just wasn't fair.

Anyways, it was behind here now -literally,- and ahead was a plane... plane. There was nothing on it. Maybe there were more holes? Disguised ones? No, there was nothing here. Something still seemed wrong though... It took her a moment to realise that there were way too many sets of paws thumping the ground. She looked over her shoulder and discovered that the fear of being trampled by pray was actually real, and that she might just possess it. She picked up her pace, terror bushing up her tail. She knew that they were probably more scared of her than she of them, but she was still just an apprentice, and a few of those rabbits were quite large. Now I know what it feels like to be prey, she though. StarClan save me!

[Dark]

Firestorm

Ultimate Predator: Inactive | Burn Baby Burn | Monkey’s Paw
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Firestorm was just better, after all, who else but her could fly through the second obstacle the was that she did? No one, that’s who. As the future leader of WindClan, she had to lead by example, and the example in this instance was leaving everyone in her dust. Like c’mon, she’s been trying to tell everyone she’s the fastest in the clan for moons now, and did they believe her? Mm… probably not, but that didn’t matter! They were about to find out!

Next up was… nothing…? It was just a clear stretch of moorland. Oh this was going to be easy. Running along without a care in the world, her ears perked at what sounded like thunder behind her. Daring to look behind, she saw a hoard of rabbits running after her. How in StarClan’s name had Bravebird managed to set this up? Or, don’t tell her! This was retribution for all of the rabbits she hunted before!?

”BIRDIE!!” The orange tabby yelled, trying to get her little limbs moving quicker ”YOU’VE LOST YOUR DAMN MIND, INNIT!?” Okay, maybe Lightningstorm’s potty mouth was rubbing off on her a little bit, but that didn’t matter. Right now, she just needed to focus on avoiding getting hunted by what was supposed to be food.