Speckled Crow [c]

Almost as soon as the clan meeting had come to an end, Crowcaller led Speckledpaw out of the camp. As he'd said, there was no sense in waiting, and he was sure the newly-named apprentice was ready to get out and explore the territory, as he had been when he was that age. The one place that Crowcaller liked to hunt the most was the Owl Tree, and so he made no detours, leading Speckledpaw right in that direction.

As they walked, he glanced over, an enthusiastic smile gracing his face. "So, Specklepaw! Tell me. What do you think of the Asylum?"

Specklepaw followed his mentor out of the camp. It was so cool! He'd never been out before, and the nursery was honestly pretty boring. Even with all the other kits around, it wasn't any fun. But maybe being an apprentice would be fun! He'd get to train and do something productive.

He turned his head to his mentor, pondering the question for a second. The Asylum had been there his whole life, so he thought they were normal. But he didn't think that was the answer Crowcaller was looking for. So, he said, "I, uh, I guess that some are kinda nice and some are kinda terrifying, but, uh, I guess they're kinda cool."

The dark tabby bobbed his head in acknowledgement of the response, flicking his long tail thoughtfully. He wasn't sure that he had had a preferred answer, one way or the other, but he was surprised to find that he was pleased with the answer the apprentice had provided.

"I see, I see. Good."

The Owl Tree now loomed ahead, and Crowcaller stopped, "tell me, what do you smell?"

Specklepaw smiled a bit, hoping his mentor's reply meant he'd earned his first bit of praise from a warrior. It made him beam like a kit on the inside, but he didn't want to seem unfocused or off track or... or anything an apprentice shouldn't be. He stopped behind his mentor, slightly afraid of the tree. It wasn't just a tree, either. He heard that it housed owls that preyed on kits. He wasn't a kit anymore, but he'd just gotten out of that stage. What if the owl decided to prey on him? He shuddered.

Realizing that Crowcaller had asked him a question, probably a bit late, he hurried to scent the air and reply. Uhh... what did he smell? He smelled a... a mouse, yeah, a mouse. "I smell a mouse," he mewed, proud of himself for not stammering and saying the sentence with a bit more confidence than he usually had.

"A mouse! Okay, that's good!" Crowcaller grinned. His nostrils flared, and he drank in the scent of the mouse, too, pinpointing its general location. "Watch me," he told his apprentice. Sinking to his belly, Crowcaller moved forward, making sure to make no sound on the frigid forest floor. His ears were forward and focused, eyes wide and watchful. He heard the mouse scratching around the roots of a bush, adjusted his stance, and then pounced!

The dark tom came up from the bush with the mouse limp in his jaws, and pranced back to Specklepaw. "Did you see how I was careful, knew exactly where to put my paws as to not make sound? Here, let's find something else, and you try," Carrying the mouse along, Crowcaller moved a little further into the forest. When he spotted a squirrel, he flattened, pointing at it with his tail, and encouraging Specklepaw to go for it.

[OOC: do you know how to use the hunting system?]

(ooc: nope, was there something I was supposed to read? Also, I'm really sorry, I lost power and internet for 4 days)

Specklepaw smiled some. He did something good! He watched Crowcaller as his mentor caught the location of the mouse, then crouched and started going forward slowly. He was so quiet! The tortoiseshell tom didn't even know moving that quietly was possible. He wondered how he was doing it. He tried to focus on everything Crowcaller was doing, but he couldn't do it all at once. There wasn't enough time to see it all before he pounced and the mouse was caught.

Specklepaw watched the dead mouse's tail swing around a bit when he nodded, and a little pang of pity hit him. The mouse was innocent. He had to remind himself that the mouse would feed some cat, though, and they needed it in leaf-bare. Besides, it wasn't like they were killing for fun. So it was okay. But he still couldn't help feeling a little sad, especially since he was going to have to kill that squirrel Crowcaller pointed out. Now, how did he do this?