Mountain Hunt (Closed)

It was hard finding huntable areas, much more so areas that had less snow for easy traversing and hunting. Crocusfrost found that sticking closer to rock walls and under denser trees typically brought the snow levels down, it took some getting used to for Crocusfrost as she didn't struggle so much with the height of the snow like her clanmates but she had to think a little bit hard about it for her new apprentice. So she took the brunt of forging new paths and pushed the snow to the side as she walked, and while it wasn't perfect the large pawprints she left for Kestrelpaw left plenty of room to fill.

"It will be difficult in this environment for you to learn. And it will be tough for me to teach." Crocusfrost stated bluntly as she browsed the area. "One leap will have your head deep in snow, but you must be taught." She meowed, stopping underneath a tree and scooping the snow away from it to give Kestrelpaw a small clearing. "You must learn to crouch, tuck your paws under you, tail low but not dragging. Like this." Crocus seamlessly moved into her crouch, her tail and belly nearly touching the ground beneath her. "You are small and slim, not like me, so you may have an easier time than I." Straightening herself up she motioned for the young she-cat to copy her.

The austere beauty of the jagged slopes was tempered by the raw misery of the conditions.

The suffocating crush of mountain winds lashed cruelly against Kestrelpaw's soft face, a righteous bluff of continuously howling winds that seemed inescapable even in finite glimpses of minimal shelter; the delicate line of her jaw petulantly turned skyward as she made to tilt her head back, reluctantly forging after the steps carefully laid by Crocusfrost. Complaints are unbecoming of a warrior, the stern whisper that crept down the partially frozen length of her trembling nervous system took the rough-hewn shape of her father's voice, coarse and clipped and made sour with perpetual dislike, only the weak cannot find it within themselves to endure. The bleak image of her father's stern disappointment served sufficient motivation for a tightly-clinched tongue, the frost-lanced steps taken from there on bravely shivering against sharp rocks, looming snowdrifts, and vast open skies.

Was every other apprentice so truly miserable on their first outing?

Ever graceful, Kestrelpaw stood tall and with an impressive attempt at warding away the pitiful shivers as she made to listen to Crocusfrost's blunt instruction. Dark features awashed in the fine bejeweling of sticky frost, she squinted a little at the mechanical ease and precision that softened the massive molly's demonstration- seemingly effortless in a way that made her all the more nervous to imitate. Chill-numbed paws serving as the guiding grace for an awkward attempt for a first hunter's crouch, Kestrelpaw was sorely relieved that Crocusfrost had shouldered away enough snow to keep her relatively dry. Though, such fortunate little blessings ultimately did little to quell the tremble of untried and untested muscle as her brain began to parse out the unfamiliar mechanics of such a position.  

"Crocusfrost," Kestrelpaw mewed after a heartbeat of futile fidgeting in an attempt to fully right her sense of equilibrium, "how do I balance if my paws are numb?"

"Mm." Was what Crocusfrost responded with as she regarded Kestrelpaw with a soft gaze. Silence stretched as the large she-cat considered this problem. "I do not hold the wisdom of a seasoned mentor. You must forgive me. But this, I could do." Crocusfrost mewed, gentle in her tone as she approached the cold she-cat. Gently, with a large paw that might as well have dwarfed and swallowed Kestrelpaw's paw whole, lifting it before holding it firm, warming the apprentice's paw with her own. "It will not last, but let us try our best, yes?" Crocusfrost moved onto the next one once she felt that it was sufficiently warmed, although she did not move to warm the back paws.

Just then, a bird landed in the snow not too far from them. "Try for that bird. I do not care if you don't catch, just that you get the feeling of going from a crouch to a pounce." Crocus whispered, moving herself into her hunting crouch to give her apprentice a visual aid.

Silky rivulets of steaming breath whorled high and fine above the delicate ridges of Kestrelpaw's little head, a taunting web of rapidly dwindling permanence that took freedom in the winter sun; the young molly's movement to sit a little further back on her haunches was awkward and unseemly, unpracticed as she allowed Crocusfrost to warm her frost-numbed paws. Such intensive coddling would amount to little other than thoroughly chewed ears should her father, or stars forbid denmates, heard of such happening, but it was difficult for her to muster up the energy to care under such conditions. But the ragged teeth of cold wearing down upon her untried bones offered little grace in the way of effective measures of self-pity.

"Thank you," Kestrelpaw mewed, ever the delicate facade of serene mannerisms. Little mattered other than ensuring she didn't humiliate herself during this first hunt, truth be told. "It will be enough."

The sallow winter sky was marred with spindly tresses of barren branches slipping high and wan across the horizon; chill hardened earth further dappled in frigid shadows that encircled the curiously idling sparrow several paces away. It wasn't as graceful as the ending of life ought to be, all things considered. Kestrelpaw's skills lacking proper experience and refinery to make a flawless pursuit, the frost-kissed earth leaving all secondary dignified pursuit to the clumsy fumblings of a newly-realized hunter. But it was a kill, nonetheless. Kinked feathers marred the high and delicate features of Kestrelpaw's tawny-dark face as she turned to peer back at Crocusfrost, the scrawny sparrow held firmly in pristine teeth.

"'Lik tha'?" Kestrelpaw's curious question was muffled, the sharp tang of new-blood wearing upon her tongue with enough permanence to make her perpetually empty belly ache.

---

Kestrelpaw
20/20 [HP]
55/60 [SP] [-5 in SP due to hunting roll!]

[hunting dice roll for bird - SUCCESSFUL]

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 1