all of your appealing (closed)

Had the kits really grown old enough to be apprenticed? The little mewling scraps of skin they found by the Thunderpath... old enough to walk and talk and hunt and fight. And she was mentoring one of them. Appledapple felt decidedly odd as she led Reedpaw through the territory to her favorite hunting spot. She'd been a mentor before. But being a mother? And a mentor at the same time? The strange dichotomy of her newly-forced role was almost enough to crack the loving facade. She wasn't a good mother. She didn't lavish love and care on her kits. But... she didn't hate them, either. There was a strange mix of affection and self-loathing she had for the little furballs. Her new apprentice was no exception. Speaking of whom.... The tortoiseshell turned her attention back to her cheerful young companion. "Are you ready to learn to hunt, Reedpaw?" she asked him, putting on the little, fanged smile she used with her adopted kits.

Reedpaw bounded happily behind his mentor as she led him to... somewhere. as she turned around, he nearly crashed into her but his many moons of intense dodging cats during his hyper moments let him stop himself. "Of course! How do I do it?" He said, blue eyes sparkling with excitement. he dropped into a crouch as an example, though his tail was too high up and his legs too far out.

Despite herself, Appledapple smiled a little wider. His enthusiasm reminded her of herself with... Minkstar. Right. Her mentor was dead. She had almost forgotten. The fangs showed in her mouth a little less and her eyes grew distant for a moment-- but she shook it off. Now was not the time to dwell on that. Reedpaw was enthusiastic to hunt, which was good! ThunderClan needed the extra paws to catch more prey. And it was her job to teach him. "Well, first you have to find the prey," she told him, a bit conspiratorially. "Sometimes you see the prey, when there's a lot of it, but in leaf-bare prey is pretty scarce. So you need to use your nose." She sniffed the air lightly, seeing if there was any trace of another animal in this tree-lined hollow where she'd caught so many squirrels and mice before. To be sure, there were several traces, and even places where a little furry thing might be hiding under the snowy bushes. "What do you smell, Reedpaw?"

For a second, Reedpaw thought he saw a distant look in his mother's eyes but it was gone so fast he was sure he had imagined it. he opened his mouth to scent the air as his mother requested. the air had little promise, but he felt sure he smelled vole.

"Vole?" He answered, a bit uncertain.

Appledapple nodded, feeling slightly warm as she saw the tom succeed. Pride. That feeling is called pride, and you've rarely felt it for another cat before because everyone else is so mouse-brained. These kits, though... they're all right. "Yes," she told him simply. "There is a vole here somewhere. When you get better at hunting, you can pinpoint the area where the prey is, and then you can track it. Here, let me show you the hunting position." The tortoiseshell dropped down to a crouch, leveling her thin tail flat behind her like she'd been taught at his age. So low to the ground, she was barely visible to prey in the undergrowth, but Reedpaw could see her just fine. "You want to be like this. It'll make you harder to see, and much more stealthy."

Reedpaw nodded and tried copying his mother’s stance. He lifted his tail so that it wouldn’t drag on the ground and slid his paws over the frozen ground to reduce noise. “Like this?” He chirped, his eyes searching for the vole that he knew was close by.

"Very close," Appledapple said, giving an approving nod. "You want to bunch up your hind legs a little more, because that's where the strength for pouncing comes from. You'll want to stalk forward, quietly, and then when you see your prey, put all your strength into your hind legs and use them to spring you forward." She demonstrated, showing how her hindquarters bunched up tight like a loaded spring. "Now, I'll let you try to catch the vole first." It was refreshing, to be out hunting and teaching again. She wasn't the best of mentors, but to be helping ThunderClan in this way was satisfying. And her adopted son was... not bad.

Reedpaw bunched up his hind legs a bit more as instructed. Looking around, he soon caught side of the vole nibbling at the root of a tree. He cautiously stalked closer to the hole until he was a fox length away. He forced his tail to remain still despite the excitement that coursed through him. He narrowed his eyes and leaped.

His paws knocked the vole to its side. The tom landed some what clumsily, giving the vole time to recover and scurry away. He watched the vole's shadow disappear under the cover of some brambles. this was why no one liked him. why couldn't he do just one simple thing right? tears pricked at the corners of his pale blue eyes. he starred at the ground, waiting for Appledapple's scolding.

The member 'Copperbeans' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Unsurprisingly, the apprentice's first try was imperfect. Appledapple had not necessarily been expecting him to succeed. However, his form was nearly perfect. All he needed was some more practice. "That was close!" she commented, moving closer to him and feeling vague surprise at how upset he seemed. Right. Remember your own apprentice days. A single failure meant the world. "You did better than my first time," she continued with a laugh, recalling her faceplant forward when her tail was knocked off balance. "There's very little to correct. Just your aim, and that will get better with practice. You can't count uncaught prey-- it's more productive for the Clan if you spend your time hunting, not beating yourself up for missing one catch."

That said, her ear pricked, and she heard a mouse scurrying behind the undergrowth to the side of the clearing. "Let me see if I can catch something really quick, then it will be your turn again." Hurriedly she dropped into her practiced hunting crouch, stalked forward until she caught sight of the little brown rodent, bunched up her hind legs, and pounced. However, as she pounced, she brushed against the undergrowth where her prey was hiding. The mouse saw her and darted away. She shook out her fur, sighed-- remembered Reedpaw was watching-- and laughed. "See, even I fail sometimes. Now, can you smell any other prey around?"

Appledapple tried to catch a mouse and was unsuccessful. -7 SP

The member 'Ash' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 6

Reedpaw was surprised when Appledapple complimented him instead. he blinked as she gave him a piece of advice. is it because I'm your apprentice now, that you start to care for me? or is it because I've finally gotten your approval? he couldn't help but wonder.

he got to his paws and looked around for any signs of prey. a slight blur caught his eye and he whipped around to face a bramble thicket. carefully, he placed one paw after another as he neared to the shaking bush. he was about to pounce when his tail suddenly caught in some of the thicket. he leaped but was pulled back by the tangles, and landing on the ground with a yelp. he scrambled to his paws in time to see a small shrew scurry away.

his ears flattened in disappointment. why did Starclan give him such long fur? and with such odd patterns that would never camouflage him in anything. he lashed his tail angrily at the thought and glared at the tail that had caught in the brambles.

The member 'Copperbeans' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Appledapple winced as her apprentice's tail got a little bit caught in the thicket. "Unfortunate. If you want, you can try holding your tail up a little higher, to get it more out-of-the-way." She shook her pelt out and began scanning for prey again. "We're going to stay here till we at least catch something, though. That's always how I go about hunting, no matter how much the snow makes me miss my catches."

Speaking of which... there was a small bird hopping around a low-hanging branch on the other side. Slowly, a bit more cautiously this time, Appledapple dropped into her hunting crouch and approached. There were very few birds around this time of year. However, any prey was good prey.\

And the bird fluttered up into the trees immediately once she approached. "Fox-dung," she muttered. "I can't wait until newleaf."

Appledapple tried to catch a bird, but was unsuccessful. -7 SP

The member 'Ash' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 7