Living Lands

Rimepaw's eyes grew into saucers as the gorse thinned into huge swaths of tall grass that covered the moors. The grass was almost strawlike at this cold time of year, but it still blew gently in the wind, making the flat stretches of land almost look as if they were breathing. The apprentice blinked, wide eyes taking in the beautiful sight of the territory that WindClan was known for. "It's beautiful," he commented to his mentor, glancing over to Spiderspark.

Today, Rimepaw would be taught one of the most important skills a warrior could learn: hunting. Feeding and providing for the Clan was one of the most essential duties of a warrior, and the dutiful apprentice was excited to be one step closer to being able to contribute to his Clan. "What are we gonna hunt today, Spiderspark?"

Brisk wind blew the moor, stirring the stalks of gorse left and right. His own fur swayed with the wind as it rose and fell with each breath of the moor. Yellow-orange eyes blinked lazily as they swept over the landscape, eventually turning enough to land on his young apprentice. Rimepaw. His chest swelled with pride, mostly in himself, as he gazed upon the other tom. He, Spiderspark, had been given - no, trusted! - with an apprentice at the mere age of 24 moons. Stars, he really was one of the best warriors in Windclan. The gray and black tom shifted his paws as Rimepaw turned it him.

"Well, yes. You're in Windclan, Rimepaw. The most stunning territory - filled, of course, with equally stunning toms and she-cats." Spiderspark remarked to his apprentice. He nearly winked - but saved himself with a forceful blink that hopefully went unnoticed by the awe-struck Rimepaw.

Hunting! Spiderspark grinned at his apprentice. "I'll just tell you now. Here in Windclan - it's mostly rabbits, mice, voles and the occasional bird." his tail gestured to the moor ahead as he spoke. With the flat lands, it was near impossible to catch anything else. "But to catch anything, you need speed. And that's the first of many lessons." Spiderspark mewed. He braced his paws against the ground.

"Let's see your form. How about we race to.. that bush?" He indicated a bush far off to the right. "Don't worry - I'll give you a headstart."

If Rimepaw had noticed Spiderspark's wink-blink, he did not make it known, although he did cock his head a little at his mentor's words, unsure of the relevance of the attractiveness of the WindClan cats. The apprentice nodded at the list of prey, committing them to memory, trying to think of the individual traits of each animal that would influence how he would have to catch them.

Rimepaw frowned. He'd never really thought about how fast he ran before, but it had never really been of import to him as a kit. "Okay," he replied, an edge of uncertainty to his voice, and eyed the bush that was his target, crouching a little before taking off. Rimepaw was longer than most at his age, his limbs bordering on gangly, and while his gait was a tad awkward, he was a lot faster than you would expect thanks to his long strides. He focused on running as best he could, but he had a feeling he would not beat his mentor just on the grounds of experience.

To be fair, Spiderspark had tried his best to give Rimepaw a grand head-start. His apprentice, despite the awkward nature of his limbs and the occasional stumble when he walked, was far faster than Spiderspark had assumed him to be. The warrior watched carefully as the apprentice bolted for the bush. His form was fairly efficient - especially for an apprentice his age - what with his long spidery legs.

Spiderspark's own paws itched with the desire to run, so he could not stop himself from sprinting after the young apprentice after mere heart-beats of observation. This mentor gig was far from easy. Patience nor observation were in his skillset.

The warrior flew past his apprentice, as was to be expected, but Rimepaw was uncomfortably close behind him as they finished. Spiderspark's eyes were alight with energy as the intensity of the run caught up to him. He acknowledged Rimepaw with a flick of his ear as he opened his maw. "Now that's some Windclan speed!" he exclaimed. He grinned at his apprentice teasingly. "Well, you were more at a Thunderclan level - but you'll be a true moor runner soon enough."

Spiderspark inhaled deeply to refill his lungs with air. His tail-tip twitched in interest as a sea of smells washed over him. Scents were strong here - the wind was in their favor today. Second lesson of the day inbound. "Let's test your nose." he suggested. "What can you scent from your surroundings?"

The apprentice was surprised to only be about a tail length or two behind his mentor as he reached the bush. He beamed with pride at the praise, not expecting to already be at a decent level of speed. He nodded at his mentor's instructions, opening his mouth slightly to let more air into his nose and mouth and trying to discern what he smelled. There was a lot to decipher, but he could feel the wind blowing in their direction, bringing smells with the air.

"I can smell.. vole the most strongly, and rabbit, but it's relatively faint," he meowed. "And.. something vaguely fishy... is that RiverClan smell carried by the wind?" Rimepaw cocked his head, surprised that scents actually carried this far, but after the running they'd done they were probably not too far from the border.

The twitch of grass against the current of the wind caught Rimepaw's eye. He dropped to a stalk instinctually, creeping downwind of the vole he'd smelled earlier, tail twitching as he prepared to pounce on the creature. The apprentice frowned as the vole scuttled out from beneath his paws and into a hole in the earth. He padded further away, heading for the rabbit he'd smelled earlier, and soon enough he saw its fluffy tail sticking out from some tall grass. He leaped for the rabbit, hoping he was fast enough this time.

His claws sunk into the rabbit's hide, and he quickly nipped the back of it's neck to kill it swiftly, just as he'd seen Spiderspark do on patrols before. "I did it!" he cheered, grinning at his mentor.

The member 'Asher' has done the following action : Roll Dice

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Spiderspark acknowledged Rimepaw's answers with a considerate but slow nod of his head. A vole, yes. The scent was more than strong, it was nearly overwhelming. It seemed this would become more than a simple scent lesson, afterall. He scanned the terrain for the prey, but his eyes were not keen enough to distinguish anything from the swaying stalks surrounding them. The mentor focused instead on Rimepaw's conclusions as he drew upon the air again.He huffed in agreement. Rabbit was a smell that the wind was bound to carry. The scent was everywhere in Windclan at this point.

But the fishy smell? Spiderspark had to inhale again to detect the hints of Riverclan as his apprentice did. He grinned. "Huh. That is the old Fishclan." he murmured. The tom looked at Rimepaw quizzically. "Can you imagine having the smell of dead fish attached to your pelt?" he inquired. He shivered just at the thought. "Just yuck." he shook out his pelt. Thank the stars for the lovely scent of the moors. It was, in Spiderspark's experience, far more attractive anyways.

Spiderspark jumped to his paws as his apprentice dropped into a crouch. He nearly groaned aloud - they didn't have time for such games, afterall - but then he saw the vole. Though, the warrior was not surprised as the prey disappeared into the undergrowth. Rimepaw moved too slowly, he needed to rely more on his speed then his stealth. Spiderspark's maw opened to tell Rimepaw just that when the strangest thing occured.

Somehow his apprentice caught something. His eyes widened in surprise as he assessed the situation again. "Lucky, but consider me impressed." he conceded with a shrug. Spiderspark raised his head to scent the air again. Another rabbit. He honestly wasn't surprised. "Try again, but this time don't thrash your tail about." he meowed.

The member 'puddlesdog' has done the following action : Roll Dice

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'Prey Dice' : 2

Rimepaw nodded, stalking towards the further scent of more rabbit. He focused on keeping his tail just to a twitch as he readied himself to leap.

The apprentice caught the rabbit between his claws, delivering a killing blow as the rest of his body came down upon the smaller mammal. He could feel his chest swelling with pride; he was already pretty good at this hunting thing. Rabbits, at least, seemed to be relatively easy to catch. "The moors seem pretty active for leafbare," Rimepaw commented. "Although, it's been a little warmer," he conceded. "Do you want to keep going or should we take what we have back to camp?"

The member 'Asher' has done the following action : Roll Dice

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'Hunting Dice' : 3