catch me if you can! [closed]

The sunshine was beating down openly on the WindClan camp. The sky was a cloudless blue, and none of the usual morning fog or wind was present on the moors. The sunlight irritated Rainpaw just enough for him to open his eyes, and he turned away slightly, shielding the brightness from his eyes. Blinking blearily, the apprentice wondered why he was in this unfamiliar den... and then the events of the past day came back to him, and a faint smile came to his maw as he remembered he was now an apprentice. Which meant training. The fluffy gray tomcat sat up and stretched, trotting outside of the den, eyes searching for Heronfeather. He began to groom his sleep-ruffled pelt with short licks, ears pricked to make sure his mentor wouldn't sneak up on him.

A few minutes later, still no sign of Heronfeather. It was likely she was still sleeping-- it was still early. The gray apprentice hesitated for a moment, then carefully poked his head into her den, ducking past the curled-up bodies until he reached her. He tapped her flank gently with her tail, aware of how weird it felt giving the gesture to an older cat. Slightly sheepishly, Rainpaw stood next to Heronfeather awkwardly, standing frozen in place until she woke up. "Heronfeather? Is it time for... Can you take me out to train? Um, if you want to wait, that's fine, but just- tell me. Sorry for waking you up!" The last part was added as a sort of embarrassed afterthought, and the gray apprentice whisked his tail anxiously as he waited for her response.

A sleepy groan left her gently parted lips as a tail brushed against her, and her eyes slowly blinked open to the small form of Rainpaw, sheepishly asking when they're meant to go out. She gazed out past the new apprentice to see the sky a vivid shade of blue, a vibrancy only matched by the clearest and calmed of water. Her olive eyes travelled to look at the small kit nestled into her side, eyes full of unadulterated love and affection. "I"m sorry for sleeping in, it's been a long night," she spoke softly and with a gentle chuckle, disentangling Yewkit from her, but used a paw to scrunch some warm moss around his sleeping form. Ushering her new apprentice out of the den, she gave her adopted son a soft lick in between the ears before following Rainpaw out, stretching each paw in turn before turning to groom the fur on her shoulders as she thought about where to take the apprentice on his first day. Hopefully it's not as disastrous as my first day out, whiskers twitching in a slightly worried gesture as she remembered how battered her and Brindlestar - Brindleface at the time - had ended up.

"Seeing as it's such lovely weather, I don't see why we can't go and explore the territory!" Heronfeather purred, chocolate features turning to gaze up at the sky as she attempted to gauge how much time they'd have out together before she'd have to be back to join another patrol, and organise several more. "Have you had anything to eat just yet? I know I sure haven't, and it's important to keep your strength up in hot weather. The sun has the tendency to leech everything out of you before you know it," her voice was soft as she strode to the fresh-kill pile, taking a small mouse for herself, fighting off a crinkle of her nose as she noticed it was just slightly stale. Finishing it in a few bites, she waited for her apprentice to finish before making her way out of the camp, tail swishing behind her. "Come, come!" the mottled she-cat exclaimed in excitement, casting a look back at Rainpaw to make sure he was still following.

The expanse of the moor stretched out in front of them, springy green grass only being interrupted by heather, gorse and wildflowers, although if you looked far enough the trees marking territories of other clans became visible. A delighted shiver went through her paws and fur, it wasn't often she had the opportunity to truly just peruse WindClan's territory, she was secretly probably enjoying this more than her apprentice. "Alright, today we're going to meet our neighbours: RiverClan and ShadowClan. If you're up for it, after that we can practice hunting. It's a long trek around the territory for a new apprentice such as yourself, but I'm confident you can make it," Heronfeather purred with a grin, setting off at a reasonable pace, grateful that her short legs gave her an insight into how the younger members must feel keeping up with fully-grown warriors.

Rainpaw carefully picked out a fresh mouse after noticing Heronfeather's stale one and gulped it up, stomach twisting with nerves that he tried not to show. As they headed out of the camp entrance, he nodded and peered at the territory for the first time. His eyes widened, feeling like they had to stretch to take in. WindClan was so lucky to live on the moor. Trotting after Heronfeather, he tried to commit everything to memory, but his determination fizzled down as he resolved to just enjoy the view. There would be ample opportunity to memorize things later. And if not... he'd sneak out at night or something.

Heronfeather purred as she took clear notice of the excitement and awe of his surroundings, it was familiar to the molly as she often found herself dazzled by the sheer expanse and beauty of the Greenleaf moor. She picked up her pace, head tilted slightly as the deputy tried to find a scent trail of prey, the fresh hint of rabbit hitting her nose. "Sorry, I know I said we'd explore the territory but I have the perfect teaching opportunity right now," she explained, hoping to not let the tom down by changing her mind to do hunting first. Although, in his paws, she knew she wouldn't have minded. "Alright, I want you to stay here, and watch what I do. When I come back, I want you to tell me what I did, and then demonstrate. Okay?" It was completely rhetoric as she sped off, alabaster paws gliding across the ground as she speedily made her way to the fluffy pile of white, sticking out like a sore thumb.

Instinctively she stuck her tail up, finding the direction of the wind flow by the way it pulled the fur on her tail. Adjusting herself according, she kept her pawsteps light but fast as she neared on her prey, before breaking into a sprint as it caught sight of her. Her short legs kept up rather fast with the rabbit's own, and within a few heartbeats she had landed on its back, delivering a quick bite to its neck and ending its life. Grabbing the scruff in her mouth, she dragged it into a nearby gorse bush to conceal it from predators and made her way back to Sorrelpaw. "Alright, I know that was a little fast, but there's really not much to it. Once you explain what I did, you can demonstrate how to do it, and then I'll let you try catch your own piece of prey once you do that. Sound good?"

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

Heronfeather shouldn't have been sorry. This was all training, and hunting was a large part of training. Rainpaw nodded as Heronfeather listed the things in order that they'd be working, and he faced her, green gaze intent on her technique. He gave a firm nod and supplied a quiet, "Sounds good," letting her glide across the moor like a bird. He didn't immediately recognize why her tail lifted up, but his eyes widened in admiration as he realized the reason for this when she adjusted herself with the wind. He tried to focus on her sprinting technique, but there wasn't much technique to it, just... well, sprinting. At least they both had short legs -- only at the moment for Rainpaw. He was still in his lanky young apprentice phase, but was looking more like an actual adult cat every day. As Heronfeather came back, he nodded admirably, with an enthusiastic "Yes!"

So he had to demonstrate now. Forcing back a swallow that constricted his neck, Rainpaw coughed a few times. Pressure was the absolute worst, with Heronfeather not only being his mentor but also the deputy. There wasn't any stalking to be done, he realized, as he'd heard the forest Clans and ShadowClan did. Just sprinting, which was... easy enough to demonstrate, but would be more impressive if he lined himself up with the wind like Heronfeather had done. She had gone into the wind... Why? It would slow her speed... but also make it harder for the rabbit to detect her. Raising his fluffy tail, the gray apprentice side-eyed Heronfeather for a moment as the wind tugged at his delicate fur. Lowering his tail once he knew what direction the wind was, Rainpaw sprinted off, trying to keep a low profile while also maintaining a solid sprint. No point in running if your prey saw you, after all. He glanced back as he felt himself pulling away from his mentor and wheeled around, loping back towards Heronfeather. "Um. Was that good? I tried to do the, uh, tail thing... it pulled out a bunch of my fur, though." In time, his long hair would develop the resistance it needed. Right now, Rainpaw's fur was more similar to that of a kit's rather than a warrior's. "Actual rabbits now?"

She purred with pride, for his first time out of camp he was picking up on everything incredibly quickly and she was proud to be a mentor to such a naturally skilled cat. As he queried about hunting real rabbits she nodded and motioned with her tail for him to go one way. "I'll be here to watch, you go on ahead and try to find something to catch. Good luck!" she instructed, but the molly really had no intention of sitting still. Heronfeather waited for the apprentice to duck off before she did herself, nose raised high to the sky as she attempted to look for a piece of prey herself. Maybe she could nap a bird, that'd make the kits excited.

As if the ancestors above had heard her, she caught wind of a shrew, and narrowed her eyes as she spotted it hopping around nearby. Keeping her pawsteps light and fast, she quietly cursed the brightness of her pelt against the green tones surrounding her, and extended her claws in anticipation. Her long tail swished on the grass behind her, and she gathered up her haunches as she prepared to leap and land on the bird. Unfortunately for her, she crinkled on the grass and the bird was alerted to her presence, shooting up heartbeats before she was ready. Cursing everything, she sprang high into the air, gripping the bird in her claws and landing on her shoulder, the breath being momentarily knocked out of her. Her landing had killed the bird, and she stood and stretched out her shoulder, glad to find no immediate sharp pains she should be worried about. That could've been bad, she mused, collecting the bird in her maw and padding with a faint wisp of a limp, a dull throb making its presence known. Hopefully Rainpaw is a little bit smarter than you are, the molly thought to herself, waiting for his return.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Rainpaw's feathery tail lifted up and he began to scent for rabbits, hares, or any other prey to be found. He and Heronfeather were beginning to alert the prey in the area. All he could scent was a hare, growing staler, which meant it had to be drifting away. His fur began to prickle as he followed the trail, nose to the ground. But he'd never been a good tracker, and it was with his eyes that he glimpsed the leggy brown creature, slowly hopping over a flat part of the moor. The gray apprentice contemplated his options for a moment. Stalking would be useless: he hadn't learned the technique, and it was a completely open, flat part of the moor. Flat-out sprinting after the hare would be his best option, he decided, and set out to do that.

As he aligned with the wind, his tail lowered. Rainpaw built up the speed he needed for a few paces and started to sprint, green eyes intent on his target. The hare's large, sensitive ears heard the thrumming of paws upon the ground and began to dart away. It was either old or disabled in some way, because it was limping. Within a minute, the fluffy apprentice ran it down. One of his running paws caught the hare's legs. Predator and prey alike fell to the ground in a tangled mess. With the resilience of youth, it was easy enough for Rainpaw to spring to his paws, rounding on the hare again. It was still struggling on the ground, legs flailing in the air. Rainpaw nipped giving the hare on the back of the neck. He wasn't prepared for strong legs to kick back at him as a reflex and shied away, hissing at the scratches his face would bear for a few sunrises. His nose twitched. The hare had been limping. What did that mean? It still smelled like a normal hare. He'd have to ask Heronfeather if it mattered.

Mentally shrugging, Rainpaw grasped the hare in his teeth and nodded to Heronfeather as he returned. He spat the hare out and looked at the bird she held in her mouth. "Either that bird wandered into your paws or you went hunting," he said, pawing his own hare. "A-Anyway, this hare was limping. It was the only reason I caught it, and it still put up a fight. I didn't know they kicked so much." His tail brushed the ground as he peered back in the general direction of the camp. An ear perked up and his head tilted in an obvious question: go back now, or keep hunting?

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5