digging in the dirt [open]

It was time for hunting. After a good day's rest, it was finally nighttime, the prime time for ShadowClan cats to stretch their paws and hunt for fresh-kill. Magpiewing let out a short yawn as he left his nest, calling for warriors and apprentices alike to join him for the first hunt of the night.

He made his way outside of the camp, patiently cleaning his fur while he waited for his clanmates to join him.

With a yawn and a stretch, Ratpaw slinked through the brambles of ShadowClan camp to join Magpiewing. The rat-like apprentice nodded at the deputy.

Stormeye munched unenthusiastically at her mouse. She couldn't sleep, and had been sitting, alone in her thoughts since sunset. She glanced up from her half eaten mouse as Ratpaw padded up to the entrance to join Magpiewing. They were probably going hunting. She might as well join them since she had nothing better to do. Stormeye sat up, letting out a quick stretch, and padded over to the cats gathered at the entrance. "Mind if I join you? I can't think of anything else I should do."

"Good morning, Stormeye." Ratpaw meowed with another yawn. "Did you sleep well?"

"Ugh, nope. Stayed awake all night, but somehow I have enough energy for hunting." She glanced towards the entrance, paws itching to dig her claws into warm fresh kill. "You?"

Scorchpaw laid curled up in his nest, unable to sleep during sunset. As he heard the deputy call for warriors and apprentices to join him to hunt, he sighed and got up. Stretching his legs out, he figured if he couldn't sleep, then he may as well hunt for the clan. He saw that Stormeye and Ratpaw were with Magpiewing already. Scorchpaw padded over with a raised tail. "Hey, Ratpaw, Stormeye." he greeted the other two before looking towards the deputy and dipping his head, "Magpiewing."

Trotting over to the ever growing patrol with his head high and tail lashing back and forth, Alfalfatuft wasn't a cat to necessarily want to do work of any kind, but he was itching to get out of the stuffy camp.

"What's up vole-brains," he sneered his crude greeting at the apprentices who'd decided they'd wanted to leave camp as well. "I hope you kits don't plan on getting in our way, I wouldn't want any-cat getting hurt," he jabbed, showing his pearly white teeth, his eyes narrowed. If there was one thing he loved, it was being a nuisance.

Bramblepaw blinked awake from his nest, watching as several apprentices and even several warriors began padding out of the camp. Was it time for patrols already? Jumping up in fear of being late, the apprentice scrambled out of the apprentice's den and followed after the group. "Wait for me!" He called out.

The deputy chuckled to himself. These apprentices were so well behaved. Stormeye, despite being a little unorganized, carried an air of respect herself. Alfalfatuft, now he was a pawful.

Magpiewing stood tall, walking towards the cocky warrior and staring him down before leading the group into the frozen marshes. "While you apprentices are here to learn proper hunting techniques, I hope Alfalfatuft can learn proper etiquette. Maybe you all can help him with that," he purred, jabbing at the tom's aggressive attitude. He padded along, tail swishing back and forth as he led them to a part of the territory he knew would have some sort of prey hopping around.

She scowled. Alfalfatuft was joining, he was always a nuisance. "Good morning Alfalfatuft, you seem in a good mood this morning, have a nice sleep?"

If Ratpaw could roll his eyes any further into the back of his skull, he would have done it. Alfafa... Aflalfa..? However you said this arrogant toms name, he didn't want anything to do with him.

As he followed fairly close behind Magpiewing, Ratpaw wondered what they could even hope to catch in this cold Leafbare.

Letting out a huff at Magpiewing's much necessary jab back at him, Alfalfatuft gave his pelt a shake as if shaking off the bad vibes that his clanmates greeted him with. Of course, he knew he deserved it, but oh well.

Following the patrol out of camp, he looked down to Ratpaw for no more than a split second before turning his gaze back towards the path ahead. "I did actually, seeing as though I'm lucky enough to have the comfiest nest in all of the forest," he chuckled jeeringly, his head and tail high, per usual.

Stormeye padded along with the rest of the patrol, mouth open to draw in the warm, fresh prey scents. She fluffed up her fur against the biting wind that blew through the pines, thanking Starclan that she had a thick enough coat to keep out the cold.

Hunting? He was so excited! Bramblepaw couldnt keep the bounce out of his paws as he followed the group deeper into the territory, listening in on everyone speaking at Alfalfatuft. The comfiest nest in the forest? That sounded so nice. He couldnt wait to join the warrior's den.

Magpiewing paused, opening his mouth to the winds, searching for any scents nearby. A few inviting smells stood out, faint, but he knew they couldn't be far off.

"Let's stop here. Apprentices, see if you can smell anything. Make sure to open your mouth for those peskier, more faint scents. Stormeye, Alfalfatuft, if you can demonstrate the proper hunting technique and show us all your process for catching prey. After that, follow a warrior and chase any promising scents you can find. We're here to bring as much home as we can. I'll be watching from afar as this is training."

ooc; be free my children

Stormeye nodded to the deputy, excited to show the apprentices her hunting techniques. She opened her mouth, drawing in air over her glands and trying to pick out the fresh, tantalizing prey scents from the thick smells of the forest.

After a moment of standing stock still, a twitch in the bushes caught her eye. She slid into the hunters crouch and padded on silent paws over to the brambles. She was concentrating so hard on keeping her tail still that she didn't notice a twig snapping under her paw. A grey blur darted out from under the bushes, racing away toward the thicker undergrowth. "Oh no you don't." Stormeye growled under her breath and sped off after it. She rounded a corner and pounced, grasping the mouse in her claws. With a swift bite to the neck, it's squeak of terror was cut short. Sending a quick prayer of thanks to Starclan for the prey, she trotted back to her clanmates gathered in the clearing.

ooc;
Sorry to cut in. Please keep in mind that we should be using the hunting system for this topic if you want to use it to fulfill the requirement. Feel free to ignore the system if you do not need it.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me a PM so we don't clog up the topic. If you need an example, I'm happy to give one.

ooc: ik i chose the wrong die.. pretend it's a hunting die and i rolled 7 ;;; i've been up for almost 24 hours

Ratpaw took this time to go next, crouching low to the ground and opening his mouth to catch the scent better. Ugh... A toad. Actually the worst type of prey besides frogs and sickly rats.

He launched himself in the toads direction, landing squarely on top of it and giving it a swift and killing bite. An uncharacteristic smirk grossed his muzzle for a fleeting second before his expression returned to his normal eternally annoyed mug. "Was that alright, Magpiewing?"

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

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'Prey Dice' : 8

Letting out a sigh at Magpiewing's "orders," Alfalfatuft crouched down. Great StarClan how he hated hunting, it was just so... tedious. Keeping his tail low, the plump, fluffy tom crept forward towards a rock as if it were a mouse, and waiting a few moments, he pounced, landing squarely on the inanimate object. Standing up and giving his fur a shake, he turned to look back at the apprentices. "Easy enough, now let's go," he mewed blandly before he padded away from the deputy and Stormeye.