The Final Day {assessment--Snake}

[Speckflame]

@garter, a little late. But life got in the way and my mind is forgetful. (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻




It was sunhigh. And yet cloudy with a touch of snowfall, not to forget the biting wind at his fur. But Speckflame had promised Snakepaw today would be his assessment. And the warrior was pretty sure Snakepaw wouldn't be all for waiting another day because of how cold it was.

Speckflame had told Snakepaw that at sunhigh, when the hunting sent out at dawn finally returned, he was to meet his mentor at the camp entrance. It was the first test. To see how punctual Snakepaw would be, and to make sure he wouldn't sleep in or something. Not that Speckflame really expected someone to sleep until sunhigh... or to be late to their assessment... so maybe this little test was pointless.

But Speckflame took a deep breath. No, he wouldn't be all weird and awkward today. Sure, he felt like laying down and weeping in joy and agony because mentoring was finally over, and yet he still had to wait all day until it actually was... but Speckflame wouldn't. He wouldn't be odd. He wouldn't be confused on what to do. He wouldn't stutter.

Mentoring as so difficult though... if it was just flirting all day he'd do sooo much better....

'No! Pay attention! Remember what Mom said!' he snapped to himself. And then, while waiting patiently/impatiently for Snakepaw to arrive, Speckflame began to recite the assessment plan Firebird had given him the day before.

[Deleted]

|| don't worry about it!<3 ||

Snakepaw yawned and sat up in his nest. What time had Speckflame said to meet? Sunhigh? Or was it sunrise? He wasn't sure, and was going to go with sunhigh since it was already well past sunrise. 'I guess we'll see.' He was pretty sure today was his assessment, but it just felt like every other training session. That is, he felt tired and wanted to get the day over with.

Giving his pelt a shake, he exited the apprentices' den. The dawn patrol hadn't returned yet. 'I guess I have time.' He walked over to the prey heap and picked out a hare. 'I hope there's more freedom in warriorhood. I'm sick of trying to be good and obeying my mentor.' He thought, munching down on the prey's leg. At the sound of many pawsteps, his attention turned to the camp entrance. The dawn patrol had arrived. 'I guess that's my cue.'

He got up and looked around, trotting over to Speckflame when he found him. "Hi."

[Speckflame]

When Snakepaw began to approach, Speckflame instantly brightened. Quickly, he sharpened his stance to one more bold, more prideful. Then, he nodded to the retreating dawn patrol. "Glad you're on time. C'mon, I'll explain the tasks on the way out of camp." And he turned, leading the way out to the prairie.

When they were only thirty seconds from camp, Speckflame began to recite the order his mother Firebird had given him. "First is your hunting task. You must catch three things. Since it's Leaf-Bare, the three catches don't matter what species they are. Anything extra will be greatly appreciated for our Clanmates and will better improve your chances of passing. When the third piece of prey is finally caught, we will battle." Speckflame made sure not to mention the battle would be a surprise attack. It was also a test on Snakepaw's reflexes.

"When I think you've done good enough, we'll race back to camp. I'll explain the race specifics later. But you may start whenever."