Hunting [Apprentice's]

Lacepaw lead the large group of apprentices out towards the fallen tree, she knew many small creatures enjoyed to nest and live here, so she decided it was worth a try. She cream coloured paws carried her to a very large, and hollow tree. She stopped, and leaped up onto the top of the branch. Maybe some of the other apprentices would want to talk for awhile up here, then hunt. After all, they did have all day. "Come on guys, lets stop here." she meowed from the top, she laid down and tucked her tail under her chin and waited for the others to come on top of the large tree along with her.

Cherrypaw blinked in the unexpected sunlight. The clouds had parted, allowing the blue sky to show through, like an endless river with puffy white rocks jutting out. She was suddenly glad she didn't have duties today as she followed Lacepaw to a large, hollowed-out tree. Judging the space between herself and the lowest branch, she gathered strength in her hindquarters and leapt, digging her claws into the rain-softened bark. Clawing her way up to the top, on a branch opposite Lacepaw's, she looked down at the ground far below, the wind swaying the branch, making her stomach lurch. The forest floor was a dizzying distance away.

Fernpaw padded up to the tree, pausing to shake the rainwater out of her fur. Gazing up at the tree, she crouched, readying herself to jump onto a low branch. She leaped, landing on the branch. From there, she jumped from branch to branch until she settled down on a limb beneath Lacepaw. She sighed, watching the tree's leaves shake in the wind.

Pastpaw watched as the she-cats clambered up the tree like squirrels. Okay, last time he checked, climbing trees were for ThunderClan cats, but now that didn't seem to be the case. Maybe it was a she-cat thing? He's only seen she-cats do it. "Uh..." He looked up at them in the branches, looking out towards StarClan knew what? But, then again, it was a fallen tree.

He shrugged and crawled into the hollowed area, seeing no prey he crawld inside, listing to the acusticks as they echoed around with each step.

The tortoiseshell she-cat screwed her eyes shut. "I... I'm hungry. I'm gonna try hunting." She lied. She managed to claw her way back down, her eyes shut the whole time, relying on just her senses to guide her. When her paws were safely on the ground, she padded off and away, where they couldn't see her. Her paws were still shaky, and she stumbled, stopping at a hollow log that was much taller than her.

Fernpaw screwed her eyes up in confusion as Cherrypaw left. Is she alright? Fernpaw wondered with a mix of concern and curiousity. She thought about going after her, but she thought again, thinking that she might want to be alone. Fernpaw was still worried about her, but she pushed the thoughts out of her mind. "Well," She sighed, stretching on the tree limb. "I'm gonna start hunting," Fernpaw clambered down the tree carefully until she reached solid ground. She sniffed around the tree, disappointed but not surprised when she didn't scent anything.

Cherrypaw moaned. She felt like she was going to be sick. Hunting will get my mind off of it. She told herself, parting her jaws to taste the air for signs of prey. Somewhere further off, she caught the scent of a mouse. But instead of the warm feeling she usually got in her stomach when she smelled the enticing scent of prey, it smelled like carrion today. Sighing, she padded around until she reached a cool, shady spot under a tree. She lapped feebly at a puddle under it, then closed her eyes. On second thought, a good rest would do me better than hunting.

Mudpaw sped through the muddy ground of Fireclan Territory, and into fallen trees. He saw once his eyes adjusted, several cats, and scented a few, too. There were a couple in a tree, one by a log, and another that he couldn't see. He was going to teach himself to pick out each individual cat's scent, so he took in the air. He smelled mouse, and cats, four, as he expected.

The ones in the tree were... Lacepaw and Fernpaw, the one by the log had to be Cherrypaw, with the whole stumbling around business, and the one that he couldn't see was, of course, Pastpaw, who smelled as if they were in the tree too, but he couldn't see them. So, of course, his nose had gotten better, but could he find Pastpaw? A cat that he couldn't see, could he hear them? He pricked his ears, and listened hard for each sound around him, sealing his eyes and holding his breath.

He heard his own heartbeat, as well as the sounds of cats moving about, and prey in the undergrowth behind him. Oh well, he could wait to find Pastpaw, there was prey to be caught. He turned silently, and immediately located a vole sitting in some brush behind him. He stepped quietly, and when he was within pouncing range, he charged forward, startling the vole, but he quickly batted it with one paw, clung on with the other, and sank his teeth deep into its neck. He scraped dirt over his prey, and headed for the tree.

He charged at the tree and sped half-way up, and just sat on a low branch. He didn't care much for the interests that were going on higher up in the tree, it's just that he was determined that he wouldn't be outclassed by a younger apprentice. His apprentice days were long-over, but he had yet to retrieve his warrior name, so he had to work twice as hard as one of the younger apprentices.

OOC: Fernpaws not in the tree anymore...not that it really matters XD.

Fernpaw gazed at the newcomer, and watched him catch the vole and climb the tree. I thought there was no prey near here! Fernpaw thought, frustrated with herself. I just need to work harder on catching scents of prey. She scented the air again, getting shocked as a buffet of wind crashed into her. Flattening her ears against her head, Fernpaw crept behind a nearby boulder to get out of the wind. After the sudden wind moved away, Fernpaw slunk out from behind the rock and climbed back up the tree, climbing until she reached a branch across from Mudpaw. "Good catch with the vole," Fernpaw complimented.

OOC: It took like 30 minutes of procrastination, with 15 minutes of forgetting to click post at the end, so yer... i didn't re-check the posts, cuz they might change again... e.e

Mudpaw turned and looked at the younger she-cat, and tilted his head at her, interrupted from his thoughts. "Oh, thanks." He meowed, and was blasted with wind as well. He drew in the scents of the area around him that had been brought right to him, and he scented many different types of prey. His mouth watered at the thought of all of the prey he could catch out here, it was barely ever used by so many cats.

"Do you smell those?" He was inferring the prey, so he could test this cat that was sitting near him, and see if they were good enough to hunt with him. His hunting style would, of course, take some getting used to for the she-cat, since they most likely, like most cats, used the opposite hunting style of himself. As many cats stalked and pounced, he looked, spotted, and chased his prey, rather than letting it get away like many cats did.

Fernpaw inhaled deeply. She smelled some of the warm scents of prey, he mouth starting to water. "Yeah..." she breathed. The gust of wind had brought scents of prey that Fernpaw hadn't scented while she was keeping her nose to the ground. "Wanna go hunting? I'd be more fun than sitting in a tree."

OOC: Your post made mine look really short XD.

OOC: That tends to happen...

"Sure, I don't see a reason why we shouldn't. I just came up here to get some prey-scent." Mudpaw meowed, and leaped down onto the ground, cleanly on his paws. He turned around, just to check that Fernpaw was following.

Fernpaw slid down the tree for a second time, landing flatly on her paws. "We're gonna go try to catch some prey," Fernpaw called to the other apprentices. She sniffed the air once more, drawing in enticing prey-scents. She trotted after Mudpaw, keeping pace well for being one of the younger apprentices.

Cherrypaw twitched her nose as she caught scent of yet another apprentice. How many apprentices are there anyways? She knew this scent... Mudpaw. And by the noise he and Fernpaw were making, she guessed that they were leaving the others to go hunting. She pinned her ears back and tried to go back to sleep.

"Step lightly when you get closer to the prey, but always stay quick, and don't hesitate. If you hesitate, then you'll never catch anything." Mudpaw meowed, and looked on ahead. There was a rabbit burrow up ahead, and around it stood three mid-sized rabbits. "This is where you have to be very sneaky, or very fast." He meowed to the she-cat, and pointed to the rabbits. "You, even as a young apprentice, probably have better stealth skills than me. Go ahead and try to sneak up on one, we'll aim at catching all three, you sneak and kill one, and in the shock, one will turn to see you, so then I can run in and take that one out. The third one will be away within moments of this happening, so I'll run after it. If this plan works, then we'll have a total of two pieces caught each, even if you only actually killed one, it will be an impressive feat. If we do end up catching these, then it'll be all the more reason for the others to work harder." He finished off his plan, and got into position, standing 1/3 of the radius around the rabbits, so he would be behind the second when Fernpaw went in for the kill. "Let's just hope that this apprentice is bright enough to get what I just said, or we'll probably come back with no catch from this easy prey." He thought to himself, before nodding to Fernpaw, showing that he was ready to go when she was.

Fernpaw nodded back, crouching down. She kept her breath quiet as she placed one paw delicatly in front of the other, moving quicker as she got closer to the rabbit she was after. Soon, she got very close to it, but one of her claws scratched on the rock, and the rabbit she was after perked it's ears up. Feeling a flash of adrenaline rush through her heart, Fernpaw pounced, remembering what Mudpaw said about not hesitating. By the time she leaped, it was starting to run away, but Fernpaw had landed, and just barley caught it by it's hind legs. Pulling it closer to her, she killed it with one swift bite to the neck.

OOC: Gotta go.

OOC: Isn't he Mudfoot now? You keep saying Mudpaw.

Riverpaw admired the speed of Fernpaw's kill. "Nice kill," she said, just as she got a whiff of vole-scent. She instinctively crouched and followed the scent around a few trees. She spotted it quickly. It was looking around in the fallen leaves, searching for food. The wind was in her favour. Riverpaw pounced like a bolt of lightning. The vole never saw her coming until it was to late. She carried it back to her friends.

OOC: Ooh, I didn't see the thread, didn't check out the camp last night XD Well, im gonna read that, and get used to the name-changes... this can happen right before he becomes a warrior, so he'll be Mudpaw here for a bit longer... e.o'

Mudpaw saw the clumsy catch, and both rabbits were running now. The first ran straight at him, so he sank his claws into its back and raked them down the rabbits body. He then jumped forward, and raced after the rabbit, his kicks throwing mud through the air. The rabbit raced on, with Mudpaw fast on its heels, he snapped at it, and caught part of its tail. He kept on, until he could see where the rabbit was going. There was a rabbit hole about ten foxlengths away, which the rabbit would, of course, rush to. He charged on, and caught up with the rabbit, the hole now only a tail-length away, he batted the rabbit forward, and it overshot the hole. The race was on again.

Mudpaw charged after the rabbit, and increased his run to a sprint, and unsheathed his claws, clinging to the rabbit's back leg. He took his other forepaw and clung to the pelt of the rabbit, finishing it with a swift bite to the neck. Their hunt had been a success, and they caught their goal. He picked up the rabbit, and brought it back to where the other two were. He dropped it next to his first catch, and let out a sigh of relief. He didn't think that this cat would understand what he meant, but they had, and that was all that counted.

"Thanks," Fernpaw mewed to Riverpaw before setting down her rabbit next to Mudpaw's. She sat down next to him, her eyes sparkling with triumph. "That was great!" She mewed, admiring Mudpaw's kills. "You did good too," She said, motioning to Riverpaw. She was definatly happier now than she was in camp. "So, should we take these back to camp?" Fernpaw questioned, picking up her rabbit in her jaws.

The breeze carried with it the scent of a wood mouse. The promise of a good meal filled her with warmth. Opening her jaws slightly, she crept towards the scent. The rustle of tiny feet against rock told her where her target was. Keeping her tail low, she pushed back and leapt forwards, landing squarely with the mouse between her paws. But before she could bite it, it scrambled out of them. "No!" She yowled involuntarily, lunging for her prey and managing to rake her claws down its back. She bit it swiftly and tore ravenously at it, letting the still-warm flavours seep onto her tongue. Mm!

ooc: let's pretend Brightpaw caught a mousey.

Brightpaw quickly scented a mouse and found it scurrying around near some tree roots, eating soggy seeds. She swiftly dispached it and brought it back to the group, dropping it beside the two rabbits.
"What a measly catch," she grumbled, wishing she had scented something bigger, like the two rabbits Mudpaw and Fernpaw had.

"Yeah, we might as well take them back to camp," agreed Riverpaw, picking up her fat vole lightly.

Phantompaw plucked his way through the undergrowth, weaving back and forth with his head down. Eerie orange eyes darted back and forth, claws unsheathed and sinking into the damp grass. Blacksnow, being the brute he was, had sent him hunting again due to his lousy catch earlier which mind you, was nonexsistent. He growled and his fur bristled. He hated being told what to do. The tom felt no hunger, however, just to ruffle his mentor's fur, he dropped into a hunter's crouch and dropped his paw down hard but silently on the creature. He didn't hesitate to gobble it down in two bites. Oh, there goes the warrior code. Phantompaw nearly laughed as he saw Blacksnow's face. He had no desire to go back to camp now. No, instead he would wander for as long as he pleased, not catching a dang single thing. He turned and bit back an angry sigh. Cherrypaw? Really? She had her nose in her paws and was... sleeping? He meowed to her, in a mocking tone. "Do you really think sleeping, in which you drool in mind you, will catch you a mouse?"

OOC: *shlaps Phantom* She ain't sleeping no more, fluff-for-brains! DX *flails*

IC: Cherrypaw stood up, tortoiseshell fur bristling. She could smell the fresh-kill on his breath. "I already caught something, thanks! And who do you think you are, my mentor? You're the one who's supposed to be hunting, but instead, you're stuffing yourself like a hedgehog!" She hissed at him, unable to keep her temper. There was something about this tom that rubbed her fur the wrong way.