Who are you again...?~private~

[Silentpaw]

This was not as easy as it seemed. Miatu huffed out an exasperated breath as yet another cat failed to understand what she meant. It was so simple back home! She could swear half of these cats were completely and utterly useless. Flicking her tail irritably, she forced herself to sit down rather than pace another lap around the clearing, her paws working circuits in the sand. With her family, she'd been allowed to chase out young foxes with only one older cat, and catch small birds of prey with only her brother, here, she wasn't even allowed to walk around the territory on her own. No, she had to be with a warrior, and she had to help the clan as best was to her ability. How on earth could she managed that if she wasn't even allowed out of camp. Getting to her paws, she shuffled them restlessly in the soft layer of snow before spotting another warrior. Without pause, she bounded straight up to him. He seemed reasonably important, but so far she'd only met the deputy Sunfish, so she assumed this was just a rather tough and important looking warrior. Maybe they have lead hunter, like back home. Or lead fighter?" The young cat shrugged mentally and bowed her head respectfully to the other, just in case he happened to be rather important. She the nodded to him and flickered her tail toward the entrance of camp before gesturing toward the dwindling fresh kill pile, clearly questioning if he might take her hunting. Here we go again. Robinstar .

[Robinstar]

Robinstar sat near the fresh kill pile, soaking up the weak rays of sun. As usual, he was alone, but he kept an eye out for Sunfish. A small sound of pattering paws caused him to turn, greeted by a small, polite seeming kitten. "Hello," he said. She didn't seem to recognize him. "I'm Robinstar." He fell silent, his face remaining expressionless as always. He was about to ask her name, when she used her tail to convey a message, or so it seemed. Could she not speak? He'd heard of mute cats, but he'd never met one before. Besides, he'd heard gossip about a kitten who was unable to speak. He frowned ever so slightly, but the expression was small and gone quickly. "You want to leave camp?"

[Silentpaw]

(She's an apprentice, but she was named by Sunfish, so that's how she doesn't recognise him.)
Miatu twitched her ears delicately and blinked up at the tom. At first, she was unsure how to react, and so she didn't really. Yet as he stated his name, she froze. How was it that her father and mother always told her to address so one higher than herself? Yes, she had to think back to went she met the leader of their little rogue gang. Tentitively, she took a step back, bowed her head to the Iceclan leader, and lowered the front portion of her body, raising her right forepaw and flicking her tail. For it seemed stupid and pointless, at least the little apprentice would look cute. That's a plus, right? Straightening up, she offered Robinstar a respectful look and waited for him to go on, her head shifting slightly to one side as she awaited for him to offer a further reaction. She noticed a partial frown, though it was so much of a flicker, that she wondered briefly if there had been anything even there. Ignoring it, she nodded in response as he spoke, once more gesturing toward the dwindling fresh kill pile to signal she wanted to hunt. Before glancing up at Robinstar hopefully.

[Robinstar]

(Ah, sorry!)

So, she was mute. That was for sure, since she continued to used gestures and movements to communicate what she was trying to say. He watched as she, strangely, lowered herself to the ground after he introduced himself as the leader. It seemed as if it was an act of respect, of submission, but he wasn't entirely sure. He nodded back, unsure of what to do or say. He couldn't ask her name, for he doubted she'd be able to use gestures to describe her name. 

When she nodded and pointed to the fresh-kill pile, he became aware that she wanted to hunt. Though he wasn't fond of the idea of having company, she seemed to want to help out the Clan. He sat there for a moment, fave unmoving. She was an apprentice, wasn't she? And there weren't any other warriors in sight that could take her. "Alright," he said after a while, climbing to his feet.

[Silentpaw]

Miatu twitched her whiskers slightly. She quite liked this Tom. He was much nicer than her gang leader, and didn't seem to demand as much. He seemed so fused by her formal greeting gesture, though he didn't say anything, and seemed to have almost a cloaking mask of little emotion. She smiled up at him, glad he seemed to understand her other gesture. She was about to state her real name, but then she realised she didn't know how to gesture it if he didn't tinder stand. Point to herself for 'mi(or me)' fake scream for 'a(ah!)' and tap on the ground twice for 'tu(two)?' No, that wouldn't work. And so, she simply left it. He seemed to pause and check for other warriors to take her hunting before offering his concent and getting to his paws. Clearly, despite his genuineness, he really didn't t want the company of a new apprentice that had so far only had a territory tour. He probably thought she didn't even know how to hunt.

Offering the Tom a gentle purr and a grateful smile, she trotted toward the entrance and out into the territory. She didn't have the sense of her hunter tonight, and the voice was still absence. She felt no eyes on her pelt other than Robinstar 's as she fell back to pace along at his shoulder, peering around curiously and tasting the air. She paused momentarily, about to find some way to signal asking where the best places to hunt were, when she caught the scent of a young snow hare. Whisking her tail, she checked her position before bounding off. She dropped into a crouch quite a lot closer and stalked toward her prey on lightly moving paws. She then paused for a split second, bunched her muscles and launched herself over it, already expecting it to go running off and knowing she wasn't fast enough to chase it. This way, it ended up running straight into her paws, confused, and she stunned it before snapping its neck and dragging it back to her leader, burying it and glancing up questioning lay, knowing there wouldn't be much more around here.

[Robinstar]

Robinstar had to admit, he wasn't too thrilled about taking such a young apprentice out hunting. He had nothing against them, but he didn't really feel up to showing her how to do things—at least, he assumed he'd have to considering she looked like she had just been given her apprentice name. But, he honestly had nothing else to do, and it would be nice to get to know some of his clanmates, mute or not. So, he stood and led her into the territory, heading into the territory. 

However, he was surprised when she dropped into a crouch (not exactly the one that warriors tended to use, making him wonder about where she was from, but it worked perfectly fine) and chased after a snow hare. A few moments later, she came back with the rabbit in her jaws. He watched as she buried it, containing his surprise on the inside as she did so. The catch wasn't perfect he assumed, considering she was so young. But then again, he wasn't so sure. "Would you like to continue?"

[Silentpaw]

The apprentice didn't even hold much pride over her catch. Okay, so yes, she had a slight smile on her face, but it was obvious in her eyes it happened to just be same old same old to her. She glanced up at her leader for further instruction, but he seemed to be mulling over something. Had she done something wrong? Was her style of hunting incorrect somehow? That was how she'd been taught, and she wasn't from around here. Duskrise hadn't taught her to hunt the clan way yet, and she doubted she'd be able to pick up the clan ways and abandon her own so easily. Besides, she found that the clan way would have caused her to lose the hare because she wasn't fast like Fireclanners. Her tact was her best method in this sense, she just wished she blend in without looking strange. At home, they used to smear their fur in green or greyish brown, depending where the hunted, and then the didn't even need to crouch and pounce, the could practically walk up to their prey so long as they were light and quiet.

At the offer to continue, she blinked slowly in slight hesitation before offering a nod. This time she followed along by Robinstar for a bit until she caught the scent of a squirrel. Glancing around, she heard it nearby, spotted its fluffy tail and crept forward. They must have neared the Treeclan border quite a bit, which was fair because they'd have good hunting most of the year thanks to so much coverage. She crept up on the squirrel as she'd been taught, but she hadn't hunted one before, so she wasn't quite sure how to catch it. Once she was nearer, she made to catch it, but it darted away. She made chase a little bit until it sprinted away and up a tree, leaving the apprentice lashing her tail at its trunk and glaring at the wavering leaves. She then cast her leader a wary glance, expecting a scolding of sorts. Her father would slash her with his claws for a sloppy catch, and if she missed prey, he'd slash her and forbid her from eating that night unless she caught enough prey for the clan. There were many days she went hungry back home, hence the reason she was so slim. After all, you flings weren't all that great at hunting cleanly wi though loosing so much as a scrap of fur from their prey.

[Robinstar]

Though Silentpaw's way of hunting was good for some things, he wasn't sure it was necessary. IceClan didn't have many rabbits, only the few that came over the FireClan border, and the cats lived mostly off of predator birds such as eagle and Hawks, fish, squirrels, water voles, and mice. He was sure her mentor would teach her how IceClanners hunted, but either way, as long as it worked, it didn't truly matter. However, he would rather have her learn the correct way, as he had when he came to IceClan. He hadn't wanted others to know he wasn't clan born.

The apprentice chased after a squirrel, but after a few moments she lost it. He continued down the path, parting his jaws slightly as the strong scent of mouse swirled around him. He flicked his tail, signaling for her to stop, and dropped down into a crouch. He stalked forward on silent paws, finding the mouse quickly enough. When he was close, the tom waited for a moment to see if the mouse would figure out that he was there. It didn't. He bunched up his haunches and pounced, one paw knocking the little creature onto its side while he bit into it's neck, making a clean cut. He buried it quickly before returning to Silentpaw.

[Silentpaw]

Miatu was surprised when he didn't punish her for loosing her prey. In fact, he hardly seemed to notice. Clearly here the youth was not expected to have the skill of an adult until assessed. Shrugging it off, she watched her leader's movement carefully. She moved off to follow him, soon picking up the scent of mouse and preparing to stalk after it instinctively. Yet a tail grazed her chest, an order to stop. She took a step back and blinked up at the Tom, confused. We're not the youngest and fittest supposed to do the hunting? Usually the adults would send the trainees off to hunt and watch them. No, here only the mentor does that. In a patrol or group like this, everyone hunts. She noted this little memory spark from what she'd noticed since her arrival, along with some other things. Including the strangeness of not being allowed to hunt and fight or even train as soon as your able.

Robinstar's crouch was strange and almost unnatural to the young feline. Yet it looked so perfect and experienced. She narrowed her eyes and watched him curiously as he stalked up to his prey, before bunching his muscles and pouncing. Efficient enough. Though not always guaranteed. She would have got every peice of prey she tried for if she was fully trained in her groups ways. Maybe with a few exceptions. Shrugging, she noted as he came to join her, and she peered at his catch with slight curiosity. He buried it on the way, and came the rest of the way to her. The apprentice kept her face serious as she gave him a slight nod, awaiting for him to lead them on. Her gaze briefly strayed toward the river, and she wished she'd completed or at least begun swimming and fishing back home before coming here. But alas, she had been to small to swim, as even her group knew of the risk she had previously had of being washed away and drowned.