Patience, Young Grasshopper [c]

Sootwhisker poked his head into the apprentice den, nudging Grasspaw awake.

"Wake up, Grasspaw. We've got training to do. Grab a bite to eat and then meet me by the camp entrance."

For their first training session, he'd planned on taking Grasspaw hunting. He remembered his first time out of camp with Nightstalker, his determination to do his best for his clan. Today would be no different. He refused to let the mange-pelts occupying the Shadowclan camp deter him from his duties.

He sat down near the entrance, grooming his long gray fur as he waited.

The moment Grasspaw heard her name, she was on all fours and stumbling towards the mouth of the den, still half-asleep. She was so eager to begin that it took until she was squinting in the pale morning light before she actually registered Sootwhisker's words. Food first, then training. She yawned mightily, shaking her head to try and clear the sleep-fog from her brain, and cast a glance towards the kill pile. With a frown, she glanced between it, and the camp entrance, and then waved a paw dismissively at the food before darting over to meet Sootwhisper.

"I'm ready!" she told him, practically bouncing on her paws.

He nodded as she approached, though he didn't fail to notice her dismissal of the food.

"Alright. Today we'll be working on hunting. One of the most important things you can do as a warrior is feeding your clan, especially those who can't hunt for themselves." He said, leading the way out of camp.


As they trekked across the frozen ground, the early morning sunlight began to grow stronger as it broke through the dense pine trees, though it did little to quell the stiff breeze that ruffled their fur. When they had reached what he thought to be an acceptable place to start, he stopped, turning to Grasspaw.

"Let's start here. Why don't you see if you can find some prey? You must use all your senses, but your nose and ears will be particularly helpful. Though the scents of the forest may seem muddled together at first, if you focus you can easily differentiate them from one another."

Grasspaw didn't have a particular interest in feeding cats who couldn't feed themselves, but she figured saying so would probably earn her a cuff around the ears - or worse, an early end to the training session.... so Sootwhisker's comment drew only a flick of the ginger she-cat's ear. She followed him, trying to memorize the path they were taking, just in case, and when he stopped, she did too, looking up at her mentor expectantly.

At his instruction, Grasspaw tilted her head, nostrils flaring to bring in the scents. All at once, now that she was paying attention, they flooded in, almost overwhelming. The ginger she-cat shook her head and sneezed. "There's so many," she said quietly, more to herself, than to him. "I don't know how... vole!"

That one was familiar, and it was her favorite. Every time somecat dropped a vole on to the fresh-kill pile, Grasspaw was the first to snatch it away... but this time, maybe she could catch it herself. Instinctively, she sank into a crouch. It was awkward and amateur, but she straightened up as she crept forward, following the scent that she had managed to single out. It led her to a patch of tall grass, and there just on the outside she spied the little creature. She froze. Now what? She could call out to Sootwhisker, and risk scaring the vole away, or... she could just go for it. Choosing the latter, Grasspaw darted forward and tried to scoop the furry nugget into the air... "Yaaaah!" ...only to promptly get her rear leg tangled in a root. Her momentum carried her forward as the unexpected resistance stalled her progress, and with a snap, the root tore, but the damage had been done. Grasspaw tumbled tail-over-head and landed very ungracefully in a dip filled with shallow, melting snow.

Groaning, she watched the rodent scamper off, and she could have sworn she heard it giggle. With a growl, Grasspaw leaped to her paws and pursued! "Get back here!" She rushed through the tall grass after it, breaking through with another curse on her lips, but before she could even attempt to spot the vole again, something furry slammed into her side. Grasspaw yelped, fighting to stay on her paws as the whatever-it-was sank its teeth into her ear.

Grasspaw attempted to catch a vole and failed.
Weasel used Gripping Bite on Grasspaw.

Grasspaw:
13/20 HP (-7)
55/60 SP (-5)

Weasel:
20/20 HP
120/135 SP (-15)

The member 'JJ' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

As Grasspaw identified the scent, Sootwhisker watched silently. Should he have shown her how to do the crouch first? She seemed to be figuring it out just fine, but maybe it would have been better if he'd demonstrated. Her form could use some work, but he admired her confidence nonetheless.

He'd been so worried about what he should've done differently that he didn't even see the root, internally cringing when Grasspaw tumbled over it. Ouch.. that had to smart. The vole was gone now, and as he moved to give some words of encouragement, whatever mentors usually said when their apprentices missed, he caught a flash of brown fur at the edge of his vision. He saw the gleam of round black eyes and sharp teeth, immediately unsheathing his claws to face the weasel.

"Grasspaw, watch ou-" He was cut off as the creature barreled into Grasspaw. He leaped forward, gripping the weasel's tail between his teeth and yanking hard.

Sootwhisker used Tail Yank [Stun], costing -7 dmg and -15 sp
Weasel is stunned for one turn

Sootwhisker:
65/80 SP [-15]
30/30 HP

Weasel:
120/135 SP
13/20 HP

The writhing furry snake that had her by the ear was relentless. She could hear its ferocious growl-chatter as it held her, thankful that it had gotten near the base where it was mostly a mouthful of fur, and not the top where it would rip and tear easily. That would be awful - her first real hunt, and she comes home with a mangled ear? No siree. Grasspaw whined in pain, confused at what exactly to do until she heard thundering pawsteps behind her and Sootwhisker came to her rescue. Her mentor grabbed the little beast by the tail and yanked, pulling it free from her ear... which hurt, but for the time being she was too occupied with vengeance to pay it any mind. How dare this little menace ruin her hunt?

The weasel smacked the ground hard when Sootwhisker finally let go of its tail, and it was on its feet almost instantly, but the thing was clearly dazed, and that gave Grasspaw the opportunity she needed to rush in, yowling a war-cry before sinking her teeth into its back.

Grasspaw used Snap on the weasel, dealing 6 damage. Weasel is stunned for this turn.

Grasspaw:
13/20 HP
48/60 SP (-7)

Sootwhisker
30/30 HP
65/80 SP

Weasel:
7/20 HP (-6)
120/135 SP

Sootwhisker growled in annoyance at the pesky creature he released its tail from his grip. As if they didn't have enough to worry about without predators thinking they could make an easy snack out of them. How rude. As Grasspaw attacked the weasel from behind he swiped a paw across its face, unsheathed claws raking through its flesh. The two of them took on the oversized rodent easily, and he was certain it would think twice before messing with Shadowclan cats again.

Sootwhisker used Front Paw Strike, dealing -7 dmg and costing -7 stamina

Sootwhisker:
30/30 HP
58/80 SP (-7)

Grasspaw:
13/20 HP
48/60 SP

Weasel:
0/20 HP (-7)
120/135 SP

As she tore into the weasel, shaking her head back and forth like an angry dog, Sootwhisker jumped in to join her. His larger, much more powerful claws swiped across its face, and though it gave one feeble attempt at escape, its small body gave out and it went limp. Grasspaw shook it another time for good measure, and then dragged its body as she pranced in a half-circle around Sootwhisker before dropping it.

"Did you SEE that? It came out of the bushes like RAWRAWRAWR and slammed into me and then you yanked it off and we went SLASH, POP, GRRR-" she dramatically hopped around, taking faux swipes with each enunciation, finally falling on to her haunches and panting heavily. "That was awesome!"

The weasel is dead. Grasspaw and Sootwhisker have won.

Sootwhisker couldn't help his amusement at Grasspaw's enthusiasm, especially now that they were no longer in danger.

"You fought well for someone's who's never been in a battle, I know you'll be a great warrior one day. Let's get back to camp and have Basilbloom look at that bite, and we can try the hunting again another day."

"Aww, but I wanted to keep going!" Grasspaw pouted. She gave the weasel a long, loathing look before turning back to her mentor and reluctantly following him as he moved away. She was quiet as they walked a while, sulking at her interrupted hunt... but fortune favored her on this night, and as the two of them moved through the wetlands on their way home, Grasspaw put her paw down in a tiny puddle... and the ground beneath her moved. A frog!

It bounced away as she reeled back, and the momentary surprise wasn't enough to stop her from leaping forward after it. Her claws scraped the ground as it leaped again just before she nabbed it, and then again, to the side, as she tried a third time. With a huff, she landed in a chest-deep puddle, the frog successfully evading capture. This time. Dripping, Grasspaw pulled herself from the puddle and shook her body, fur sticking out wildly in all directions. She turned to Sootwhisker and gave a scowl - not at him, but in general, and then stomped off in the direction of camp.

The member 'JJ' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 9