Tribe of Lunar Cove [mercats! new and open :3]

She nodded, gently nudging Flower"it'll be fine"She murmured before heading towards the camp's entrance"Just stick close to Fire and me"she slowly made her way towards shore. She kept her ears pricked, staying alert for any humans or predators. Once she saw the sand growing closer to the surface, she swam up, poking her head above the water just a bit.

well, my main thought process was that if they're not going to be able to outswim the shark, they have to fight it. and the warriors would be able to do more damage than the apprentices ^^"]

(I'm fine with whatever, Thunder will throw a fit but even he knows when you gotta do what you gotta do xD I think I read somewhere going for a sharks eyes or nose are the quickest way to deter it but I'm not 100 on that)

Fire followed the group, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that could be a danger. The warrior pulled himself onto shore when they reached the beach, shaking what little water resided on his smooth fur. He looked around carefully, almost daring a land cat to show themselves as if there were any around. He would love for some excitement, even if it meant dragging a cat into the depths of his home.

Wind slowly stepped onto the sand, taking in the warmth of the sunlight. After a moment or two, she made her way towards some tidal pools"i believe we can find some seaweed. If we head a little inland, we can find some borage and maybe chamomile"she muttered

(sorry everyone! I've been super sick these last couple of days so I've been inactive!)

Splash made a break for the surface, she could hear her heart pounding in her ears as her lungs screamed for a breath. She was glad her brother was moving with her but she was absolutely terrified. What if the warriors couldn't stop it? She tried to focus her mind, the fear was only going to make her sloppy. She couldn't help but turn to look at the shark, which was now making a break right for the apprentices. Her heart sank and she almost cried out before remembering they were under the water and that would be a big mistake.

Thunder glared at the others, using the apprentices was the last thing he wanted. Logically, it made the most sense but he would never had agreed to it if it was up to him. The tom was thankful for his speed as he swam to the side, ready to pounce on the incoming predator, his claws unsheathed. He was going to rip out its eyes before he let it touch the young cats. His eyes were fierce, now in wait for the creature to make its way to them. Star trailed behind it, it had swam past her completely as soon as it had caught sight of the much slower prey.

Fire followed behind the medicine cat and her apprentice, hoping for something entertaining to happen. He glanced at the two cats before him, would they be able to handle themselves if there was an attack? He snorted at the idea, probably not. Most cats seemed to be too soft in the tribe these days, they needed to see more battle if you asked him. Then again, no one ever did unless it was actual fighting, then Fire was one of the first cats to go to.

Wind glanced up at Fire before moving to follow her apprentice"we can set the seaweed closer to shore so we can grab it when we leave. I'll show you where the herbs we need grow, and how to gather it. It's a bit more delicate that these"she said with a soft laugh

(I want to apologize real quick, I've been having trouble responding I've been dealing with some mental health issues so I took a small break to get back to normal!)

Splash stared at her brother with wide eyes as he circled her, the she-cat dipped her head under the water slightly. Her blood practically froze as she saw the shape making its way quickly to the group. She quickly lifted her head from the water and did her best to keep calm. What if this was the end to their lives already? "Swoop?" her voice shook slightly as she called to her brother, she felt like she was drowning and she wasn't even under the water. What could the warriors do against such a massive beast?

Thunder moved forward with impressive speed, circling under the shark and digging his claws as deeply as they would go into the much larger beasts stomach. He latched on tightly with his front paws as he violently kicked with his back legs, ripping into the flesh as much as it would allow him. The shark had thick skin and Glow had already went for the eyes which was the best place so Thunder was now there to cause more mayhem on the beast. His eyes were like fire, his heart pounded in his ears as the shark began to shake more. He held on as tightly as he could, blood from the beast clouding his vision. As he held on tightly Star made her way to the sharks side as she scratched at its gills, trying to get it to turn to one side away from the apprentices.

(I think I'm going to have Star get thrown into something, no major injuries but some soreness for sure!)

---

Fire turned his attention to the medicine cat apprentice, thinking carefully before answering her question as he calmly padded forward. "there are all kinds of threats on land, but usually the biggest problem we face are land cats. There are a lot of odd creatures on land but they usually aren't near the shore. It would be good experience if we ran into one, I doubt it though it's been a long while since they dared trespass on our land." He felt his claws unsheathe at the idea of running into one of the foul creatures. If they stepped one paw on the tribes shore he would drag them into the oceans depths without a second thought. His eyes danced with venomous hatred for the land cats, he saw them as weak and weakness was a fatal flaw he had no respect for.

(Yeah! Mental health breaks are good and I'm glad you're looking after yourself!)

"I've ran into land cats a few times as an apprentice. Some are nice others less so, it mainly depends on the cat I suppose"Wind said, leaning down check a patch of borage. She carefully picked a few stems, leaving most of the plants there. Once she had a few good sized sprigs, she moved towards a chamomile patch.

(( I admit I'veen tryin' to keep myself down to 1-2 post sessions a day so I don't burn myself out so, nice and casual is such a good vibe. Even if I sometimes fall behind as a result LMAO ))

Flower / with Wind and Fire
The young vibrantly colored she-cat listened carefully to the response she was given, though she couldn't begin to hide the disappointment that the biggest threat were simply land cats. Sure they were probably dangerous, but she'd hoped to hear something a little more... exciting. The ocean was so rife with dangers of all shapes and sizes that it was hard for Flower to really appreciate the dangers of cat's that feared getting their paws wet, even if that had made the land cats fierce fighters on land. Granted, perhaps hoping for interesting threats on land was ill-fitting of a Medicine Cat's Apprentice, it wasn't as if she wanted her clanmates hurt after all. It didn't exactly help Fire's case that Wind really took the wind from under his sails, so to speak, with her own opinion on land cats.

"Huh.. I see..." she replied softly, though her loss of interest was fairly evident by her tone. Nevertheless, she WAS here to learn from Wind, not speculate land-based threats, although she felt a bit left behind by the Diligence to which Wind went about her business, Flower feeling dejectedly worthless under the circumstances. Even so, she wasn't about to throw a tantrum like some kit, and did her best to take from this trip what she could -- Paying attention to how the Medicine cat was going about collecting herbs, even if Flower didn't completely understand the methodology in doing so.

Glow / With the training group
Glow took some comfort in the swiftness all the cats had taken in wrangling the shark, definitely putting on more confident airs than he actually felt moving so aggressively on the hulking beast. Although grateful for the aid, the Shark's thrashing soon forced him to lessen his attack in favor of holding on with his claws as to prevent himself being flung off, though this did result in a repetitious hard thunk of the shark's head against his own body several times before he was finally able to maneuver his own form to hold fast and close to the smooth flesh, ultimately rotating his body in the process.
Once he'd regained some level of control, his position now favoring his back claws as weapons, his attacks resumed vigorously in a flurry of kicks at the shark's eyes until it was surely and effectively blinded or so he hoped. This did leave the tom a bit less aware of what the shark was doing as he couldn't see the way it was facing but he had his hopes his clanmates had directed the blinded foe away from the apprentice's covered.

By the time the Shark was dealt with, Glow felt a bit more battered than he particularly appreciated but he would hardly let that be known. The worst he could say for his own condition was that he was bound to have some bruising and a possibly torn fin, though a light stinging along his flank and the side of his tail told him that his fin wasn't the only thing to be nicked in the chaos but it was hardly severe enough for him to complain about, especially after going through with such a wreckless plan in the first place. It certainly wasn't anything deep enough to earn a place in his mind after the battle, likely little more than a scrap against a tooth or sharp stone.
Nevertheless, he had reached the surface, barely letting the startled apprentice's wail register initially, unaware he'd actually come up so rapidly. "Time to head back." he agreed, "You two did well today." he added softly, though hoping he wouldn't be catching Thunder's ire for that comment. Wreckless behavior was inadvisable and though it worked this time there were never promises for the future, but it was hard not to appreciate the quick thinking and bravery it took to do as the apprentices had done. As soon as the others had dipped back beneath the surface to head home, Glow followed suit, looking forward to a chance to clean himself up a bit after that skirmish.

"That may be your duty Fire, but ours is different"she said, glancing over her shoulder at him"if a cat is injured, we help them, in the tribe or not"she then crouched down to the chamomile"see her Flower, we will be taking the largest plants, as they are the oldest and it will make room for the smaller younger ones she explained

Alarm ran through Dusk as the training patrol returned. Rising to his paws, he hurried over and gave his deputy a sniff. She didn't need to say anything to let him know something had happened. Guard warriors being tired enough to collapse by the entrance told him that much. The group had also been out for longer than he'd expected. Trotting back to the common space, his gaze roamed over who was available. "Wave!" His voice was sharp, but mostly as a means to catch her attention. The she-cat turned to blink at him, unbothered. "Go fetch the medicine cats." According to others, they took a trip to the land to fetch herbs. While Dusk didn't think the shark to have followed the patrol back from the reef, nor would he expect the warriors to have even allowed it to do so, he didn't want to risk sending out a younger warrior. While others in the tribe might question Wave's abilities, Dusk knew she'd be fine.
Once the she-cat had left, he returned to the patrol. They'd managed to dragged themselves to the common space. Sniffing through the fresh kill pile, Dusk brought it over to the apprentices. Setting it down gently, he nudged it towards them. "Eat." Lowering his booming voice, he waited patiently. But neither seemed too eager to tuck in. "Come on, now. You've done a lot of swimming." After a moment, Swoop leaned down to take a mouthful, but it was clear his mind was elsewhere. While the apprentices nibbled, Dusk sniffed them over for any other signs of shock. It was common knowledge that shock underwater could easily paralyze a cat, but it could be just as bad out of the water and that's what most cats tended to forget. Deeming they'd be fine until Wind returned and could take a look at them, he left them be. Returning to where the warriors had settled, he took a spot with them. "What happened?" He murmured.

Swoop didn't need to be told twice to stay close to his mentor. The swim back felt far more tiring than he remembered the journey there. Upon their return, Glow's praise didn't sit well in Swoop's heart. He felt he hadn't done much. The warriors did all the fighting! Leaning on Splash, and feeling her lean on him, they slowly made their way to the common space. Dusk's voice sounded so far away. Soft fur brushed past them as Wave left. It took him a moment to realize their leader was speaking to them. Blinking up at the large tom, he repeated his encouragement. Eat? Looking down, he noticed the fish in front of them. Oh. Eat. As if robotically, he leaned down to take a small bite. If he were more awake, he'd definitely have felt embarrassed to feel Dusk's muzzle running along his flank. Eventually, the tom left them be and Swoop sank down to all four paws. He barely had enough energy to pull the fish closer. Glancing over, he nuzzled his sister. "Splash? You okay?"

Wind nodded"yes, that should be enough for the time being. Are you two ready to head back to camp or did you need anything else from up here?"she questioned, not wanting to make a second trip up here

Wind snapped out of it, hearing her clanmate's words We'll go right away. Thank you Wave. If you're injured, let us know and we'll try and help you too"she said as she picked up the herbs. She quickly headed towards the water. Once in, she swam as quickly as her body allowed towards camp

Wave slowly followed behind as she was all too aware of the eyes that burned with hatred like flames on her fur. She ignored him though, Fire had always been like that and like it or not they were tribemates, even he knew they were equals despite his anger towards her. She had handled all kinds of looks her life in the tribe and very few were of acceptance. She stood out even to younger cats, it was obvious she was not born under the sea like the rest of them. Although the younger generations seemed more open minded until they learned the disdain of land cats. Wave was no stranger to being an outsider, she had the respect of her leader and that was enough for her. She kept up with the pace just fine, she may not have fins but she had spent almost her whole life with her tribe and had passed the trial of the ocean at a young age.

Star glanced up at her leader, she was exhausted but her eyes held the fierce determination she always seemed to carry. "If I'm cleared I would like to go with a patrol tomorrow to make sure it has left the area." She wanted to make sure it was safe before allowing the mentors to resume any training in that area, and it was the best place to hunt in their territory so she would much rather ease her fears sooner than later.

Splash seemed to brighten up at the mention of Leaf, now settling into the comfort of their home and her chest began to swell. Of course she was going to exaggerate it a little when she told their fellow apprentice. "I bet she'll be jealous we got to see the warriors in action against a big beast like that!" Her eyes were back to their normal shine, she hadn't seen as much of the fight as she would have wanted but surely Leaf wouldn't know the difference. She glanced around looking for the other apprentice, her large tail now sliding against the ground with excitement.