The Claw Games 3: Automatic

R1 | Night 3

No cats have died yet today - but will that change now that night has fallen?

~~~

Lavendernose woke up feeling completely refreshed. She'd already eaten today, but decided to prepare for tomorrow by hunting. She successfully caught a small prey and kept it in her inventory.

Ravenwillow was doing pretty good, and decided that getting some rest would be the best thing to do tonight. He curled up at the base of a tree and gradually dozed off. 

Troutdip struck out exploring the Twolegplace once more in hopes of finding something to treat his scratches. This time, he was extremely lucky - he found medium herbs! He used some of them to heal himself, and kept what was left as small herbs.

Stonewave had been unsuccessful in his quest for water and was starting to lose hope. He was having trouble thinking past the fuzziness in his mouth, and it didn't help that he hadn't eaten today either. He stumbled to a stop and lied down, his eyes slipping closed as he fell into a sleep that he wouldn't wake up from. Stonewave perished from dehydration.

A wolf howls. Stonewave is dead!

Russetflame wasn't faring any better than Stonewave - she was faring worse, actually. She'd had no water or food in days, not to mention the awful injuries that she hadn't been able to treat. Russetflame curled up, feeling miserable, and hid her muzzle under her paws. Blackness took over her vision. Ressuetflame perished from starvation and dehydration. 

A wolf howls. Russetflame is dead! 

Nectarsting was doing well in regards to her needs, and she figured that some others might not be doing as well. Might as well try to get her hits in while she could, right? Tracking had worked for her once before, so she decided to give it another shot. She even caught the scent of the same tribute she'd tracked down before. Nectarsting crept northwest up to Fourtrees, following Lavendernose's scent. It wasn't long before she found her and jumped out in a surprise attack. Nectarsting scored Lavendernose's muzzle with her claws then jumped back defensively. Lavendernose let out a shriek that startled both of them, and the two she-cats ran away from each other, Nectarsting heading west and Lavendernose running northeast. 

Sunsetpelt decided that if ze couldn't find any prey to eat to ease zir ravenous hunger, ze would just steal some from someone else. Ze sniffed around for a tribute to track down. There was one scent that seemed fairly close, so ze followed it with quiet pawsteps.

Dawn'slash woke up after sleeping through the whole day feeling a bit groggy, but otherwise alright. She had the same idea as Nectarsting and Sunsetpelt - it was time for some action in this arena. Dawn'slash shook off the lingering sleepiness and flexed her reinforced claws before checking around for any other tributes' scents. She found one and followed it, and hadn't gone very far before getting startled by her chosen victim running right into her while fleeing from another fight. Dawn'slash lashed out at Lavendernose with her claws and doubled down on the fresh scratches already marring Lavendernose's face. Lavendernose turned tail and tried to run, but Dawn'slash was too quick for her, and pounced on the fleeing she-cat. Lavendernose writhed underneath her and managed to kick out and catch Dawn'slash twice with her back claws, but then Dawn'slash reared back and slashed Lavendernose fatally across the chest. Dawn'slash stepped back and watched as the blood and life seeped out of Lavendernose's body. 

A wolf howls. Lavendernose is dead! 

Dawn'slash took the small prey and small herbs from the fallen tribute. Her inventory was full, but that didn't matter, because she could use these right away. Dawn'slash ate the small prey and treated some of the scratches that Lavendernose had given her using the small herbs.  

Snowpatch was really in need of some prey, so she spent the night hunting. By the end of the night, she'd managed to catch a small prey, and gobbled it down. It wasn't enough to fill her belly, but it took the edge off her hunger. 

Cloverskip was tired and frustrated after not being able to catch anything after a whole day of hunting, so he decided to take a rest. He curled up in a clump of reeds and quickly dropped off to sleep. However, he was later woken up by Sunsetpelt pouncing on him! Cloverskip tried to get away, but Sunsetpelt already had him in zir grip. It was a fairly one-sided fight. Sunsetpelt had the strength and skill to easily overpower the tom, and Cloverskip could only bite down once on zir paw before perishing under Sunsetpelt's claws. 

A wolf howls. Cloverskip is dead! 

Pineclaw was still hungry, so he kept hunting into the night. However, the shadows weren't very helpful for detecting prey. It also didn't help that his hunt was interrupted by Nectarsting running by and scaring away the one mouse he'd managed to track down. Angry, Pineclaw chased after Nectarsting, and unlike the prey, he managed to catch her. Unlike the battle between Cloverskip and Sunsetpelt, this one was more evenly matched. Nectarsting whirled around and struck at Pineclaw's head, then winced as Pineclaw surged forward and bit her ear. From there it turned into a wrestling match, with each of them trading blows once before Nectarsting managed to pin down Pineclaw and bite down on his throat, taking his life. 

A wolf howls. Pineclaw is dead! 

Nectarsting took the small herbs that Pineclaw had been carrying and used them to treat her bleeding ear.

Sharpwhisper knew he'd need to find water soon, so he kept traveling throughout the night.  He went northwest, then turned back south when he found the corner of the arena, keeping an eye out for any sign of water. However, he was in the Highstones area now, and there was no water to be seen. 

Duskstone woke up feeling ravenous and spent the night hunting. Unfortunately, he rather sucked at hunting, poor guy, and the rabbit he was chasing got away from him. 

Waspthorn was pretty satisfied with himself at the moment, not needing for prey or water or herbs. He stretched out and let himself fall asleep. 

~~~

Lots of wolves out tonight, it seems... the night is now over. There were 5 deaths this chapter.

It could be a trick of the light, or the dehydration and hunger finally getting to the tributes, but the stars seem to arrange themselves to form the image of the recently deceased.

Stonewave

Russetflame

Lavendernose

Cloverskip

Pineclaw