We Belong With The River [c]

Owlshriek was a patient cat. Usually, he got up at the crack of dawn or even earlier, spending the early morning to avoid the heat, and catching prey right as they awoke that morning. But, today, he waited much longer, till the sun rose overhead. Stormpaw just became an apprentice, so he didn't expect the young cat to be up very early. Though, that was going to change eventually. Owlshriek would make sure the apprentice was always awake for when patrols were handed out when he became a warrior.

For now though. Owlshriek sat in the shade of a tree, yellow eyes trained on the apprentices' den. Today was the first day of training, and they had plenty to cover by nightfall.

Stormpaw woke up a bit bleary-eyed and groggy. However, when he registered the sun streaming through the entrance to the apprentices den, he was quick to hop to his feet with an anxious jolt. He hadn’t meant to sleep in so late, but he spent the night trying to get settled in his new den while filled with a mixture of anxiety and excitement. He hopped to his feet, gave himself a quick groom so his bedhead wasn’t quite as bad, and then trotted out of the den.

He looked around, spotting Owlshriek quickly enough. He hurried over and as soon as he was in earshot, he said, “I’m sorry for sleeping in so late. I hope you weren’t waiting too long.” He sat down in front of Owlshriek. His first day of training to be a warrior. He hoped he wouldn’t mess it up.

Owlshriek shook his head. "It's not a problem." He assured his apprentice with a tilt of his head. "You are a day out of the nursery, it would be unreasonable to expect you up right away." The tom offered Stormpaw an amused twitch of his whiskers. "Though, expect early mornings. I like getting out of camp just as the prey is waking up."

Giving a nod, the warrior led the way out of camp, leading the way toward the bubbling noise of the river. As he walked, the tom explained what directions held enemy clan territories, and the sort of smells to keep an eye out for. But, soon enough, they arrived at the river. "How much do you remember about our first conversation?" Owlshriek asked, leading Stormpaw down to the shoreline, picking a part of the river with an easy slope and a slow flow.

Stormpaw relaxed after Owlshriek confirmed that he was not in trouble. He nodded at Owlshriek’s words and then perked up, more than happy to follow his mentor out of the Riverclan camp.

He looked around with wide eyes as they strolled about, listening intently to Owlshriek’s words about the territory. He opened his mouth and breathed in all the new scents, enjoying all the sights as they walked around, his big blue eyes sparkling with curiosity and excitement. He doesn’t say much as they traverse the territory, caught up in the wonder of it all.

As they reached the river, Stormpaw’s eyes widened in excitement as he took in the river itself. The sound of the rushing water made excitement trickle in Stormpaw’s veins. He looked up at Owlshriek, and thought for a moment to make sure he was remembering correctly before responding, “I remember that you have to be wary of your shadow when catching fish, and to watch the amount of noise you make so you don’t scare them off.” He recited.

Owlshriek gave Stormpaw an encouraging nod. "That's correct. I'm impressed you remember." He purred, proud his little mock training had worked. "Would you like to see a real example, or would you like to try it on your own?" If he remembered properly, Stormpaw caught on pretty quick. It would be interesting to see how much playing as a kit turned into hunting when they are older. Yellow eyes flicked across towards the river, seeing a shadow of a fish swim its way upstream. Slow, and unsuspecting. With a quick to the corner of his mouth, the tom simply nodded his head in the direction of the fish.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

The mentor gave his apprentice an encouraging nod and stepped aside, just further down the river than the tom. Poppyshine had mentioned falling in as an apprentice, and it was the last thing Owlshriek wanted for Stormpaw. But, just in case the worst happened, the warrior would be there to scoop up the little tom. Thankfully though! The apprentice was able to scoop up the fish with ease! Owlshriek wanted to give a whoop of pride but knew better than to do that--lest they scare off the rest of the prey nearby. Instead, the tom bounded over and touched his nose to Stormpaw's head. "You certainly did. And on your first try as well!" The warrior couldn't help the rare purr in his throat. "All the fish better fear you now. RiverClan's best hunter is at paw."

Giving the apprentice a paw on the head, he ducked down and picked up the fish by its tail. "Lemme' show ya' how to bury--" He managed to say through a mouthful of a fish fin. The dark warrior stepped away from the rocky shore to the soft dirt of their land. Owlshriek dropped the fish and quickly dug a small hole for the fish. Not deep by any means, but-- "If you cover it correctly, no other predator will sniff it out and get a free meal of your hard work." Nodding towards the fish and the hole Owlshriek took a step back. "Why don't you preserve it, and we can go look at the other borders? We will come back for it after."

Owlshriek jutted his nose towards the forest behind them. "The river around here is our border to ThunderClan. They tend to like to cross over and take up space in the Sunningrocks up ahead." With a swish of his fluffy tail, the tom pointed upriver from where they were. "The scents of the other clans will eventually become familiar to you, though you won't smell ShadowClan until your first gathering. We do not share borders with them." In fact, Owlshriek hadn't even seen a ShadowClan cat before. An odd fact to be sure, as a cat his age normally had been to a number of gatherings.

"I'll show you the gorge, then the border of SkyClan, that will allow us to come back to get your catch." Offering the tom a nod, he set off. The warrior set a swift pace, hoping to help with the apprentice's stamina. Not that he had much worry. Stormpaw was already a reliable apprentice.