quiet moonlight [c]

To be out in the territory with her mother was pure contentment. Hedgepaw's soft smile never left her face as she followed Mamma Pineblossom, sticking almost completely to her side, dogging the larger white-footed steps with their almost-identical miniature versions. Though she liked being trained by Quillsplash--he was nice enough--she would rather spend time with her mother than nearly any other cat. She took all correction humbly and eagerly. Of course her mother, the best warrior in the Clan, would know how to hunt far better than a new apprentice! Any instruction would make her that much more like Mamma. And of course, the night was gorgeous, with bright snowfall glimmering under the starlight. It would hardly be possible to feel sad at a time like this.

"Yes! I love being an apprentice," Hedgepaw purred in response to the question. "I miss playing hide-and-seek sometimes, and it can be a bit scary to worry about predators or evil rogues and things like that, but I haven't seen any of that yet. I'm just glad to be out here in the territory. It's so pretty! Just like you said, Mamma." The small apprentice pressed up against her mother's side, headbutting her shoulder affectionately. "I'm not all that good at hunting yet. But I bet I'll get better pretty fast with your help, huh? Then I can learn to spar and everything. I'll be just like you, and just like Silverhawk!"

Hedgepaw looked up at her mother with wide eyes full of wonder. She'd already known that Mamma Pine was the best and probably had been for her whole life, but catching a rabbit in the middle of a cold scary leaf-bare like that? "Whoa," she gasped. "That's awesome! They should've named you Pinerabbit or something. Wait--no, actually, Pineblossom is way prettier. But that is so impressive. I don't know if I'll ever be good enough to catch something that fast, but I hope I at least get good enough to catch some prey just for you!" Her tail waved in pure excitement at her mother's offer. "Yes! The more I learn, the better!" She couldn't stop smiling, and all of the joy was directed straight at Pineblossom. "He's kinda cold, but I bet if I got real good at hunting all of a sudden he'd be super amazed."

Hedgepaw blinked. "You've had your name changed once, Mamma? What was it before? Do you mean back when you were Pinepaw?" But her line of questioning fell away, forgotten, when Pineblossom offered advice for hunting. Restrained was a good word for Quillsplash; she could never tell exactly what he was thinking. Not like Wolf and Fern, who were weird but in a good way, or Stag who wore all of his thoughts on his face, or Silver who was just awesome and nice all the time and the coolest warrior ever. Or Mamma, who said what she thought with such eloquence that even Hedgepaw was rarely confused. But all of that wasn't too important right now, because Mamma was going to teach her tips on how to hunt.

"Your stealth is your greatest asset as a ShadowClan cat.”

Hedgepaw carefully lowered herself into the hunting crouch that Quillsplash had taught her. Paws beneath her, tail out flat and straight, ears swiveling to hear anything nearby. And--yes, she did smell something faint on the wind. It smelled like the fresh-kill pile at home. She wasn't good at telling different prey apart from each other yet, but she knew that something was there. So she cautiously crept in its direction, her full ShadowClan blood helping her step quietly on the mud and sneak invisible through the low, frosted grasses. Since she could smell it so strongly, it must have been upwind. Plus the breeze ruffled her whiskers. And there--she saw it. A small lizard on a rock, sleeping in the cold, probably waiting for the sun to rise again. She narrowed her eyes and got as close as she could before pouncing.

However, her leap wasn't accurate enough. She landed a few inches from it, paws slamming the rock hard--causing the lizard to fall off, startled, and scramble away. All she could do was watch helplessly as it vanished into the territory. "Aww," she said, disappointed. She'd thought her sneaking was pretty good. Hedgepaw trudged back to Pineblossom, trying not to feel too bad about her failure. "Sorry, Mamma. I was close but I missed."

Hedgepaw tries to catch a lizard... Failure. -3 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

In leaf-bare... How long had it been leaf-bare now? When would the seasons change? Still, Hedgepaw wasn't too hard to cheer up. Emotions came and went easily like water off the back of a RiverClan cat, but the one that always stuck around was happiness. Love for her family and her Clan. So she was content to sit back and watch her mother hunt, wide eyes taking in the sheer skill from moons upon moons of learning and practicing. Pineblossom's movements were quick and calculated. She made it look easy; stealth came to her naturally. Even though the prey ran away in the end, Hedgepaw was no less impressed. "That's okay, Mamma! I still think you're cool." A purr rumbled through her small form as she padded up to her mother, pressing her small head into the fluffy white-speckled fur of her mother's leg. "I bet you catch it most of the time, anyway. You're the best warrior ever."

Now that neither of them were actively hunting anymore, though, her questions from earlier returned. Hedgepaw looked up at Pineblossom, blinking large green eyes. "If your name got changed, does that mean mine will be changed? I know whoever Nightstar is he's not leader anymore, but what if Leopardstar changes my name? I kind of like being Hedge." She frowned slightly, but the thought faded as quickly as it came. "Mamma, when will leaf-bare go away? I don't mind the cold, but the snow has been here for a long time. I wanna see the other seasons. Which one is the best one? Are they all as long as leaf-bare? It's basically been leaf-bare since I was born." Her tail stuck up straight behind her while she spoke.