young enough to try [closed]

Huffing slightly, a small apprentice scrambled up the rocky path to Sunningrocks, letting out a sigh of relief as she flopped onto the warm, flat rocks. After a morning of swimming in the frigid water, Sorrelpaw found relief in the smooth, sun-baked stones. The dark gray she-cat rolled onto her back, letting the cold river water drip from fur onto the sun-baked stones. She stayed in the same position, eyes closed to skits, slight purr rumbling in her throat. Rolling onto her side, Sorrelpaw’s aqua-flecked eyes glinted briefly in the sun. She was careful not to doze off, sure ThunderClan cats would take advantage of a sleeping RiverClan apprentice if they could. Blissfully unaware of anyone else, the apprentice flopped onto her belly in a less than graceful maneuver.

With another clumsy roll onto her side, Sorrelpaw opened her blue eyes, only to see Shellpaw’s chestnut ones staring back at her. The first thing that burst from her mouth was, “Don’t you dare say I’m clumsy! I’m, uh, just... practicing... rolling! For, you know, battle moves!” Mind flitting from one thing to another, in a feeble attempt to distract her friend from her clumsy display that he’d almost certainly seen, she asked, “Wanna hunt?”

Shellpaw peered through the reeds, dabbling his slender paws in the water as minnows flittered away from the ripples he made. He wasn't really supposed to be on his own. Apparently, he was regarded as a bit of a safety hazard without a team of cats around him. He was tired of waiting for patrols to invite him. He waited for a hunting team to gather at the camp entrance before quietly slipping out with them. He broke off, heading to the river where it connected to Sunningrocks. Sitting at the waters edge, he grinned at the thought of finding a dull-pelted, nutty ThunderClan warrior to chase away. It seemed that someone else had a similar idea.

A small, dark grey she-cat lazed about on the rocks, legs kicking up unfashionably in a way that made Shellpaw snigger. He stepped into the water, wading silently as his feathery tail brushed the top of the water, until he was hopping to stay above the water. He took a deep, gentle breath before sinking under, swimming beneath the river's surface until he reached the other shore. He broke through, slinking up to Sorrelpaw, and bending down as she opened her eyes.

Shellpaw cackled at her lackluster excuse, shaking out the long pelt that stuck to his lean, lightly muscled body. She offered to hunt with him. Well, it wasn't exactly according to his plan for the day, but coming back with Sorrelpaw might spare him the scolding he was expecting. "Sure thing," he giggled. "But if that is what your battle moves look like, you better hope ThunderClan is staying home today!"

Sorrelpaw pretended to be horribly insulted, fluffing out her fur and bristling, but her twitching whiskers showed she wasn’t serious despite her best efforts to still them. “Can you do better? After this hunt, I propose a competition - one that I will win.” Fur flattening, the lean gray apprentice rested her head on the ground, staring into ThunderClan territory. “Violetbriar hasn’t taken me out, like, at all. I’m her apprentice! I should be one of her first priorities!” Standing up and shaking her coat off, she added rather dismissively, “Yes, she’s your mom... kits are all good, I guess, but you’re an apprentice. Has whoever your mentor is taken you out yet?” Sniffing, she eyed the rocks around her. “Hunting, that was what we were going to do.”

ooc: is fish okay for this hunt?

Shellpaw snickered terribly at Sorrelpaw's slightly offended reaction to his teasing. He took long, springing strides from rock to rock, landing at the water's edge where he previously emerged. He looked away at the mention of his mother, grinding his teeth methodically. Maybe he deserved a jab, for making fun of her. In any case, the thought left his head as soon as he gazed into the water, his attention span unwilling to accommodate the unpleasantness... at least for now. Was his mother really a bad mentor? As for Shellpaw's training, he was feeling rather lukewarm about it. And so, the annoyance rose up again.

"My pa is my mentor," he said. "Wolfstorm. He's real busy with deputy stuff. Guess that's why we could both get out of camp without them. They're too busy oogling each other like swans. He's gonna do battle training with me by the end of the quarter-moon, though, he promised!" Shellpaw gasped, raised a paw, and struck the water, aiming at a pike. He scooped it up next to him, struggling with it as it flopped around uselessly out of the water before gripping it at the spine, killing it.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

OOC; yep!

Sorrelpaw followed Shellpaw to the water, sitting down next to him. She huffed as he mentioned his dad. “I mean, what do deputies even do? Besides assigning patrols and mentors and stuff, they’re just regular warriors. He should have time for you.” Her ears twitched nervously as Shellpaw caught the pike. Was it bad to admit Violetbriar hadn’t taught her anything about hunting? She’d just have to watch, learn, and hope she caught the fish. Copying her denmate’s technique, the gray apprentice raised a paw over the water. The time of day made her look better than she was, shadow not casting on the water, and good posture.

Studying the water, a silvery blur raced by. Gasping in almost the exact same way Shellpaw had, Sorrelpaw thwacked her paw into the water. Her claws hit the silvery blur, and she struggled to untangle them from the scaled creature, before realizing she should probably have kept her claws in the fish to drag it out of the water. Ungracefully, she heaved the creature out of the water, squinting at it once she’d killed it. “I dunno what type of fish that is. It’s big, though. I bet even Lichenstar would be amazed!” She was exaggerating, but the fish was rather large, and it was her first catch. Brimming with pride, Sorrelpaw tossed the fish next to Shellpaw’s.

Sorrelpaw caught the fish somehow.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Sorrelpaw made a lot of sense, and Shellpaw's ears twitched with the uncomfortable frankness she dealt out. Even if it had a sharp bite at the beginning, there was something affirming in her honesty. He twisted his head silently to watch her hunt, mouth hanging open in a tiny smile as she stared with her signature, dagger-like gaze at the rippling water. Her paws snapped out in front of her, fumbling for a moment as she hauled a large fish from the water A low, warm laugh bubbled up from his belly at her scrambling, but it faded as soon as the fish hit land. Shellpaw's bright brown eyes grew to saucers. He tentatively moved forward to look over the sizable kill. His pike was long, but narrow, making the she-cat's catch the more impressive fish. Apparently, he wasn't the best fisher in the den, after all!

"Woah, Sorrelpaw!" he gasped. "You're hustlin' me! Violetbriar totally taught you how to hunt!" Shellpaw scampered back to his side of the bank, his nose landing whiskers from the surface of the river. He poised his paw next to his ear, ready to strike at any second. "Alright, you got a lucky shot. Get a load of this!"

A brown shadow flickered off to his left. He yelped, his front half lurching into the water, kicking up splashes around him. He exhaled strongly through his nose and swung both paws out in front of him, snagging the fish's side and tugging it towards him. He gripped it in his teeth and scrambled back out of the water, gasping between the mouthful of brown trout. He pitched the fish behind him, watching it flop down onto the pile they were acclimating. It wasn't very big, but it was something... and he nearly missed it! "Wooo!" he wheezed, shaking water off of his pelt. "I gotta... huff... stop chucking myself in the river... I caught it!"

Shellpaw caught the fish.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5