The "Give Everyone an Assessment!" Assessment

OoC: If this isn't everyone, then anyone can join and we'll just look the other way.

IC: "Alright, you lot. I think it's time for all of you to have an assessment. Now, I want all of you to head out and try to catch as much prey as you can. You'll be notified when it's time to stop. And remember, your mentors will be watching from afar." Falconstar gave them all a good-natured grin. "But no pressure."

Yeah, thanks, Ashpaw thought dryly. That really helps, Falconstar. "Okay," she agreed aloud. She quickly ran off onto the moor before all the good prey was taken. Opening her mouth, she scented a rabbit. The light-gray she-cat dropped down into a hunting crouch and stole forwards. The rabbit she had smelled was nibbling at some grass, unaware. Seconds before she reached it, it sat up, alarmed. Right before she got close enough to strike, the hare dashed away.
Mouse-brain! she cursed herself. She had forgotten to check which way the wind was blowing. Oh well, there was plenty more prey. She just had to not make any more stupid mistakes. She ran off again, determined to catch some rabbits.

OOC: Whoops didn't see this

IC: Lightpaw dipped his head to Falconstar and headed out, away from where Ashpaw was running. His white pelt stuck out from the green and yellow grasses of the moor, but he knew where all the good hiding spots were. He lifted his nose to the wind and opened his mouth, tasting the fresh scent of  rabbit. The tom scurried into a clump of heather and watched, eyes narrowed, as a rabbit slowly explored the area just outside of its hole. He knew it would be over if the rabbit saw him and dove into its hole; he just had to find a way to either get there first or send the prey scrambling away from its den. The wind began shifting unfavorably and Lightpaw knew that the more he stalled, the smaller his chances got. Still too far to kill it with one pounce, he bolted from his cover and sent the rabbit sprinting, fortunately, away from its hole. This was a game he could win; he just couldn't maintain it for too long. The white apprentice was hot in pursuit of the rabbit for only a few seconds when he quickly closed the gap and made a risky leap, snagging his claws on his target's hind legs. His teeth connected with its neck and he claimed his first piece of prey, licking the blood that was dripping down his chin.

Ashpaw growled in frustration at the rabbits who were escaping. She determinedly crouched down, scenting another one. This time, she was determined to make no more mistakes. She checked the wind and snuck up behind the hare. Luck was with her this time; the rabbit had not scented her yet. She crawled up to it and pounced, biting its throat and killing it instantly. She proceeded to bury it under a bush, making note of where she'd hid it. The other apprentices had probably caught twice as much by now. Scenting what she hoped was more prey, she crouched down again.

"Alright." Leafpaw said went out to find food. She kept low, making sure the wind wasn't blowing the way  to where she saw a rabbit. She crept foraward, but as she sprang, she missed and it dashed off. "Darn it..." She growled. She stalked around a bit before finding a plump sparrow. Though birds we're not her particular favorite, she jumped and got it in her claws. "Yum." She licked her lips. She set it down by Eaglethorn. "I'm gonna forget where I put it, and someone might take it." She said before running off.

By the time he'd finished burying his rabbit in a shallow dip, Lightpaw had caught the scent of another rabbit. He followed the scent trail a short ways before stopping abruptly. The hare had come into view, standing warily on its hind legs. There was no cover this time. Lightpaw stayed perfectly still, fearing that any sudden movement would startle his new target. In a blur of movement, the tom made a mad dash for the rabbit and began the chase again; he hadn't quite gotten his breath back but sprinted his fastest anyway. It took much longer to close the gap and this time it took several rapid heartbeats before he caught up to the rabbit and ended its life.

Ashpaw was right; it was a mouse she scented. And not just one mouse, a nest of them! This was a very lucky find. If she could get to the nest without the mice noticing in time, she might get at least four more pieces of fresh-kill. By tasting the wind again, the light gray she-cat found the nest's location. It was in a hole under one of the hills nearest to the ShadowClan border. She dug in with a paw and found four baby mice, along with their mother. Their father must have been out getting food for her. Ashpaw felt a tiny pang of regret as she ended all five of their lives with one swipe of a claw. Then she started digging a hole to bury the mice.

She got three of the mice buried when she heard something swooping above her. She looked up and saw a hawk plummeting down to grab her kill. Remembering long ago, before she had come to WindClan, when her brother Birchkit had been killed by a hawk, Ashpaw was blinded by fury. The hawk landed on the two remaining mice, grasping them with its talons, and Ashpaw let it. But when the hawk tried to soar back up, Ashpaw was on top of it, slashing with her claws. It fell back down again as the green-eyed apprentice killed it. "That was for Birchkit," she hissed as it collapsed on the peaty soil. Remembering that a hawk could be eaten as prey, she buried it with the three mice. She then brushed the feathers off of her fur and realized that the hawk had swiped her chest. Nothing major, just a scratch. It was bleeding lightly. Ashpaw ignored it and looked for more prey.

OOC: Longness! Sorry.

OoC; Let's just say that Breezepaw was here the whole time, yes? Thank you all~ I'm going to catch her up completely, so now I apologize for length.

IC;

Having stirred quickly from her nest in the apprentice's den, the growing she-cat had taken no time to follow Falconstar outside. The fact that she hadn't given a heads-up of todays plans made her a little more weary, seeing that she hadn't taken time to sleep longer to feel more refreshed. She had honestly stayed up late into the night, something that she now realized she shouldn't have done... Oops. Knowing that was a fault on her part, there wasn't much else she could truly do but trudge through the day being somewhat tired. How much could it affect her performance? Honestly though, that was something she honestly doubted would influence it to a major standpoint. After all, she would just wake up as she continued on, right? It would be no big deal.

Following behind her mentor, Falconstar, as things went on, the drowsiness pressing down on her young body started to (thankfully) lift. Her pace had grown quicker, and her posture slowly returned to its usual submissive stance. Keeping her body matched with Falconstar's haunches gew more and more easier as well, and when he had stopped she made sure to take a few paces back to listen to his orders. Which, truthfully, were somewhat exciting. They gave the apprentice a positive attitude, making her take note that this brought her even closer to being a warrior, and it still was made note that it was Falconstar's master decision that she could be made a warrior.

At his signal to go, the she-cat raced away rather quickly to a spot she could go to and find easy prey... The tunnels. Her strategy would be to go partially inside the caverns, and use them to her advantage to catch any rabbits hoping to seek refuge within that area. Plunging into the caverns, she already could scent the fresh trail of two or three rabbits. Turning to the techniques she had been taught, her paws carried her farther into the tunnels until she spotted the two adolescent hares. Noting that the winds weren't blowing and so she would be fine, after a quick scamper she had caught one within her jaws. Dragging it up to the surface, she placed the hare within some tall grasses that made part of their land.

Her plan had been distracted though when she saw what seemed to be a flash of grey fur scuffling through the grasses. Mice. Haunches lowered and body pressed against the ground, her instinct to hunt overriding everything else. Shifting quickly through the green foliage, her claws ended up pinning the mouse by the tail, the shriek being cut off by her paw smacking it on the head. Easy catch.

For the next two tries, she hadn't been so lucky. A squirrel had gotten away from her grasp, the rare delicasy being too hard for her claws. The other one was a large, fat hare... One being just too quick for the ability for her to catch.

The next try though, was a success. A large thrush had made its way into her claws, her hindlegs strong enough from running a lot to pounce up and snag the white bird to the ground. Which, made the apprentice happy. It gave her a grand total of three pieces of prey so far, and her goal of six was halfway there. The Clan will feed well tonight, we are doing well. She thought to herself, grinning slightly at the thought of her work feeding quite a bit of the clan.

Out of the corner of her eye, more mice seemed to appear. One looked as if it was wounded, another close to being a mother. From her observations, anyway. Both would be quick and simple catches... Which was what they mostly were. The wounded mouse still put up a bit of a fight, and the pregnant one was a bit harder to catch... But she had been able to make it weary to catch it. So, that was another two mice to the pile.

Even with three more failures, her attitude wasn't tempered. She was equal at a five loss to five catch ratio for the time being, she knew she just had one more piece of prey to catch and she would be glad with what she had.

Looking around her, the jaws of the she-cat finally parted in an attempt to scent prey. Her first catches had been so easy to spot, now this last one would surely be a challenge. Her eyes lit up with excitemet when the smell of an unknown species of bird drafted into her nostrils, and she was quickly going in pursuit of the prey. Studying for any sight of feathers, when she saw the robin hopping about and pecking at the ground, she made her move. Pouncing quickly, the squawk of a dying bird emitted into the open moors, and she watched as two or three nearby birds took flying away quickly at the sound.

Adding it to her pile, she looked around in a slight puzzlement on what she could do in able to increase the amount of prey she had, although she was rather satisfied with her catches. Three mice, two birds, and a hare.

OoC;
Just did a one-shot post.
Deal with it.

His blue eyes narrowed as he strained them, watching a hawk in the distance dive. That wasn't what caught his attention, though; it was the fact that the hawk never returned to the skies that sparked his interest. Lightpaw turned his attention back to the task set before him and padded on dutifully in search of prey. His favorite game was rabbits, and he looked for those specifically as they tended to be large and fed more than one cat in one sitting. They were fast, however, and their clawed hind legs posed a serious threat to anyone not being cautious enough. He'd already got two, and he felt a third would make for a fine day's worth of hunting and hopefully enough to pass his assessment. But he hadn't eaten that morning and most of his energy was spent. This last piece would be a challenge, albeit a challenge he was certain he could handle.

There it was: brown, slim bodied, and alert. The white tom was concealed expertly in a swath of grass, watching through slitted eyes as his last target stood to its hind legs and looked around and scanned for danger. The wind was blowing just right. He was still for a few heartbeats before he made the sudden dash, stretching his long legs to their fullest and pushing his muscles to their limit. He was fast, but this time, the hare was faster. Still tired from his previous chases, Lightpaw's blinding pace began slowing more and more until, finally, he pulled back and slowed to a trot and then a walk until he finally halted. His lungs were burning and his legs felt numb. Lightpaw, feeling somewhat dizzy, glanced around at his surroundings in hopes that his mentor had not been watching him fail his final catch. Two pieces out of three? Not a bad haul, he figured.

Ashpaw opened her mouth and scented a chaffinch. She looked around to find it and saw it on the ground, pecking at some seeds. She crouched down and went towards it. So far, so good- it seemed to suspect nothing. But as she leaped, a sharp pain hit her chest. She fell down and missed the chaffinch by a long distance as it flew away. She looked down to see that the cut on her chest was bleeding heavier. The WindClan apprentice sighed as she realized that she couldn't catch anymore prey. Oh well, at least I have three mice, a rabbit, and a hawk. She started feeling sick and decided to sit down until Falconstar called.

Falconstar went out into the moors, nodding when he'd see a mentor to let them know that it was time to end it. For himself, he went to see Breezepaw, purring at the massive amount of prey she'd caught. "Very good! You make quite the hunter." Meanwhile, Eaglethorn went to see his own apprentice. There was a slight look to his eye, but it wasn't quite certain whether it was disappointment or something else. "You did good," he gave as encouragement, nodding slightly to Lightpaw.

Ashpaw sighed with relief when she saw Wolftrot heading over, assuming it must be done. "Wolftrot, can I get something for this scratch?"

Somewhat wheezing from all of the activity she had just done, Breezepaw did her best to shove it away when Falconstar approached her. Feeling heat rise to her cheeks at his compliment, she looked at her pile of prey before stretching quickly. "T-Thank you Falconstar..." Her quiet voice responded to him, delight filling the silver she-cats eyes. Craning her neck to see what looked like another apprentice and mentor, she sighed with slight relief with the confirmation that it was over for everyone.

Wolftrot's ears pricked up when he saw the scratch on her chest. "Absolutely. That looks quite nasty." However, he cast his eye over the massive amount of prey she caught and his tail curled up in delight. "Well done! The clan will eat well tonight!

Lightpaw dipped his head respectfully in return to Eaglethorn. "Should I collect my pieces and meet the rest of the group back at camp?" He asked, still somewhat breathless. He had left his catches in shallow dips covered with loose grasses where he'd caught them so that nothing would see his kill and steal it.