more more ! (p)

[Fadingnight]

(( yeah I had zero ideas for a creative title haha ;; @thegreatlion ))

Fadingnight had been up well, all night. She was more of a nocturnal feline and preferred the cover of darkness so she decided that she wouldn't even sleep before the next phase of training, hunting. At this point in time there was about an hour before light would first reach the sky and Fadingnight wanted to get out of the camp right away. If they got out in the territory right as the animals were first getting up, all groggy from their night rest they would be easier to catch.

So with that the silver warrior trotted over to her apprentice mewing, "Lionpaw, I know it's early but time for hunt training."

(( rip my muse ))

[Deleted]

Lionpaw awoke with a startled yelp. His fur fluffed out, mind still half-stuck in his nightmare, he hopped off his moss-bed to face his attacker, teeth bared. Get away, I am the best warrior in this forest and I will... end... Wait. He blinked dumbly. The true features of the intruder came into focus, and his eyes widened, fur heating up in embarrassment. "H-hey, Fadingnight." 

He coughed. Thank the stars he hadn't tried to attack her or something. "So, hunting training, huh? That sounds pretty swell, I can't wait, I'm gonna go get something to eat and then we go train okay?" Towards the end of his blabbering his words began to join together, but he paid it no mind, trotting out of the Apprentice's Den to the fresh-kill pile as quickly as he could without breaking into a sprint. 

[Fadingnight]

What a dream he must've been having, Fadingnight thought to herself; feeling the heat radiating from the apprentice as he brushed past her and trotted quickly over to the freshkill pile. She had to admit, he was definitely one of her most entertaining apprentices yet. Maybe Fireclan wasn't so bad after all.

Fadingnight soon followed the tom, at a much slower pace of course. She wasn't embarrassed or in a hurry at all for that matter; and it was too early for her to feel any hunger pangs yet. So instead of joining Lionpaw for a meal she sat down across from him and cleaned the remaining debris from her fur while she talked, "So, today would you rather start right off with rabbits, or try smaller prey again?" His original attempt at capturing a vole had been messy but successful, and she figured she'd give him the option if he wanted to try again right away.

[Deleted]

As soon as he reached the fresh-kill pile, he grabbed out a plump mouse and stuck into it like it was his last meal, trying to focus on anything other than his own stewing embarrassment. He could hardly remember what the dream was anymore, just that he---Nope, just eat. Have your delicious meal, become strong or whatever, no need to think right now.

It was only when Fadingnight sat down across from him that he slowed down his pace. By the time she got around to asking him a question, it had already been reduced down to it's bones, with only slight scraps of meat still hanging off. After a moment, he looked back up to his mentor. His tail flicked. "I think I'll start off straight away with the rabbits. I think I'm capable of catching bigger prey, now." His tone, for once, wasn't loud or dripping with arrogance, just neutral.

[Fadingnight]

She nodded at her apprentice's answer, rabbit hunting is what she had originally been planning so that had worked out well in the long run; and it didn't take long for Lionpaw to wolf down his breakfast so they could get on the move quickly. So with that knowledge Fadingnight got her paws again, finishing off a last tweak to her fur by pressing down some chest fuzz. Immediately afterwards she turned towards the camp exit and with a flick of her tail beckoned the tom to follow.

time skip

Today she had brought him out to dandelion hill again, her eyes again fixated on the skies. "Remember," Fadingnight began, shooting a quick glance back at Lionpaw. "This is hawk territory, so we just need to keep an eye out and we'll be fine. Duck down in the tall grass when I say to do so, if I say to do so."

Sighing as the two reached a lone tree on the hill she took shelter underneath it, from the shade and from the birds of prey. "Now tell me, part your jaws, what do you smell?"

[Deleted]

It was only once Fadingnight had stood up that he realized something; he hadn't even groomed himself. Not a single lick. Ugh, I probably have moss and dust all over me from that dream, He thought begrudgingly, standing up shaking his pelt down for a solid three seconds. He didn't have much time to spare, unfortunately, so for now, he'd just have to hunt looking like an unruly kit. What a great start to the day.

~~

So, it seemed he was practicing to hunt in Dandelion Hill today. To be fair, it did look like a place that rabbits freely flocked to. His ears turned to Fadingight, taking in her warning, as Lionpaw kept darting his eyes between the sky and the ground - despite his best efforts, he'd still managed to get pollen on his paws. Once they reached the tree, Lionpaw briefly stretched his legs out, feeling a modicum of relief at the coverage. Not that a tree would do much to stop a hungry hawk, but it was better than nothing.

He opened his jaws at the question like Fadingnight said, sniffing at the air. "Uh, I can sm--" He was interrupted by a sneeze, causing pollen to fly through the air in front of him. Shaking his head, he tried again. "I can smell the flowers, obviously. Grass, a bit of dew... oh, I think I can smell some rabbit too! Over there." He pointed to the left with his paw, grinning.

[Fadingnight]

Fadingnight's nose crinkled as soon as the much younger tom sneezed. For one, sneezing had always irked her for some weird reason; and two, if there was any prey nearby Lionpaw had surely scared it off. Sighing she shook the pollen from her whiskers and mewed, "Yes, it may take some time but soon you'll be able to pinpoint specific prey out from other distracting smells almost instantly. I've been around so long its become second nature."

Concluding her statement the silver she-cat continued forward in the direction of which her apprentice had motioned, her jaw hanging open and drinking in every scent around her; ears perked high and twitching this way and that. Gradually the scent grew stronger, and luckily enough they had been far enough away from the rabbit that the sound of Lionpaw's sneeze hadn't reached it. Dropping into a crouch she motioned for Lionpaw to do the same then crept forward.

"Now, the trick here is to either face the giant rodent head on," She started, pausing to assess her surroundings, "or be extremely quiet and get close enough to be able to deliver a swift killing blow."

There was plenty of cover around them, lots of tall grasses that would all but cease to exist come winter. "So, creep around behind the rabbit, use the tall grass for cover and don't make a sound. Go for the back of the neck. I'll be right here in case you screw up."

(( college is killing me bro ))

[Deleted]

((understandable lmao, college is a lot more important than a cat site))

The golden apprentice was trying to flick the stray pieces of pollen off his whiskers by shaking his head, and then bringing up a pollen-covered paw to swipe it away. "Blegh," He said to himself, before turning his face towards Fadingnight. "Uh. That sounds great. Hopefully I'll get that hang of that soon."

Ugh, it was useless trying to get rid of the pollen. It didn't even stand out that much on his pelt anyway, even Fadingnight's fur--okay, wow, he needed to stop. Trying to wrangle his discordant thoughts into more relevant things like hunting, he wordlessly followed behind Fadingnight. He opened his jaw too, taking in the scents, noticing how potent the smell of rabbit was becoming. His mouth watered.

Soon, the rabbit was close. Dropping into a slightly shabbier crouch of his own, his ears twitched towards his mentor at her words. The situation felt so tense, so serious, but if he were able to, he'd probably be whooping in excitement over the fact that he was going to learn how to hunt. Properly. "Alright, I hear you. I'm not gonna screw up, though," He whispered back, slightly cocky.

Now the pressure was on. Lionpaw slowly, carefully, and quietly placed his paws down, walking around the prone rabbit like it was some sort of game. At one point, he very narrowly avoided stepping on a small twig (how did that even get there?!), and gulped, keeping his tail low. Don't panic. After what felt like an agonizing amount of crawling, he finally reached the rabbit's backside. A second passed. The wind shifted and the rabbit twitched. Lionpaw leaped onto the beast with unsheathed claws, holding it down and closing his jaws down on it's neck.

[Fadingnight]

Fadingnight stood her ground, creeping forward until she was about a fox length or so away from the rabbit; making sure she continuously adjusted her position just the slightest bit as the wind gradually changed. This was her apprentice's first rabbit hunt, she didn't want to be the reason the hunt tanked. Plus... if she trained Lionpaw poorly it would reflect even more on her, this being her first Fireclan apprentice. If she flunked or lost this apprentice to another warrior she would never live it down. So, with that thought planted firmly in her noggin she watched even more anxiously; part of her even wanted to pray to Cloudclan this turned out well.

Luckily enough it did, at seemingly the last minute the golden tom had managed to deliver a swift kill. Thank Cloudclan. Sighing she stood up, stepping calmly now from the tall grass and stopping just before Lionpaw's kill. "Congratulations." She purred, her eyes surprisingly showing a slight twinge of pride when normally they would reflect nothing. "I see your crouch is improving."

The silver warrior then took a seat where she was originally standing, licking a forepaw and bringing it over her muzzle. "Next, would you rather try cave hunting out... or birds?" Birds were Fadingnight's personal favorite because she could use her own talent for jumping, but it was up to her apprentice now. "But of course we'll rest first, we have the whole day and I know you're itching to clean yourself up."


(( my brain is fried, hows school for you? (((adds tiny weird small talk during rpg)))))