This'll be difficult (Icee)

Maplecloud heaved himself out of his nest, which always seemed so prickly and uncomfortable nowadays. He wished he'd done this before the fire, and hadn't been able to do so until now. Heatherpaw, his apprentice, needed an assessment. The tom's hairless paws dragged him to the apprentices den and he called out hoarsely, "Heatherpaw.." The warrior coughed. "To the entrance." How was he supposed to do this; he could barely see and the sun burnt his skin. He was torn between the idea that if he hadn't joined Skyclan, he'd be dead, and that this probably wouldn't have happened if he hadn't.

Little did the tom know, Heatherpaw was just returning from a little venture of her own. From time to time the she-cat would sneak out of camp to explore the territory bit by bit. And today, she had seen the Thunderpath for the first time.

It was exhilarating, to say the least. The rush of wind as monster flew by, the rancid smell of tar, and the thrill of knowing one wrong move would result in her immediate death. Heatherpaw was enticed by it. And as she begrudgingly made her way back to the camp, she could only think about the dangers she would face next. The bob-tailed apprentice could not wait.

Padding up to Maplecloud, she pawed at his hairless tail with her extra-toed paws. "You finally training me, old man?" she teased and glanced at him with bright green eyes.

The tom blinked his near sightless hazel eyes, relieved that she didn't seem bothered by his flame-scarred form. Flicking his tail in response, he rolled his eyes and gave a slight grin. He stood straight and began to head out into the territory, hoping Heatherpaw was behind him, he walked as best he could through the seemingly sky-high trees. "You'll need to catch three prey," the warrior's voice at almost a whisper. "One of which, cough, must be a bird,"Maplecloud paused to drag in a couple quiet breaths. "I'll be watching, although you might hear, cough, me once in a while, I'll try to stay out of sight," To him, he thought he'd have a better chance of scaring off the prey than seeing it being caught.

Heatherpaw's hopeful expression turned into one of concern. He was coughing an awful lot. "I think you might just scare off the prey in your condition," she said with a anxious tone. But despite his sickness, she nodded and began treading through the pine covered forest, looking back every once in a while to check on her mentor.

I need to catch a bird. That shouldn't be too hard. The she-cat silently made her way through the underbrush, her mouth slightly agape to find even the smallest of scents. Overhead she could hear the loud songs of birds. Jays, thrushes, sparrows, the whole lot. But she wasn't ready just yet. Instead, she kept her nose close to the ground for any sign of grounded critters. Luckily, she caught the scent of a mouse in a short time. Following it to a small meadow, she was glad to find it sitting and mindlessly digging at the ground. A strong breeze flew by, letting the apprentice know she was upwind of the mouse. She sneaked through the small white flowers, her bobbed-tail wagging ever so slightly. A few more seconds, and she was pouncing, trapping the creature under her soft paws. Holding it there for a minute, she smiled and bent down to deliver the killing bite. "Thank you StarClan, for this beautiful catch," she whispered and buried the meadow mouse under a nearby dead pine tree.

Continuing along, she came across a group of finches, calmly nibbling on the tiny plant seeds scattered around them. I have to be able to catch one of them. She approached the charm and paused to hide in a small bush, being careful not to disturb the branches too much. After a moment of waiting, she smiled once more and leapt from her hiding place. Unfortunately she was not quick enough and the birds flew off in alarm. Another breeze flew past, ruffling her fur. I'm downwind... No wonder they got away. She sighed and kicked the ground gently before a small rustle in the bushes caught her attention. A squirrel..

He followed as quietly as possible, following more by scent that sight. Through his blurred gaze, Maplecloud could see Heatherpaw catch a small piece of prey, probably a mouse. When she left the immediate area, he approached the pile of upturned earth and sniffed. Yep, definitely mouse. "She's doing well," he thought before following again.

A flutter of wings caught his attention and he shot an unsheathed paw up on instinct. All that was between his claws was a single feather and disappointment. A scuff on the ground nearby told him that these were prey his apprentice tried to catch, but had been startled into fleeing. In his best attempt to remain undetected, the brown tom hopped into a young oak tree beside him and rested in its branches.

Heatherpaw followed the squirrel's scent to a small burrow beneath a large cedar tree. She cocked her head. Squirrels don't live in burrows, she though and stuffed her muzzle into the hole, sniffing loudly. The squirrel scent was no where to be found and was replaced by something more potent. "Is that... rabbit?" she meowed. Alarmed by her voice, a thin bunny flew out, hitting her snout as it tried to escape. The apprentice jumped in surprised but managed to collect herself quick enough to catch the rabbit before it could run off into the forest. Her breath still ragged from the adrenaline, she buried the rabbit and continued her hunt elsewhere.

She searched for signs of birds resting on the forest grounds, but to no avail. Taking a break beneath a cluster of oaks, she stared up at the canopy, watching the birds fly from branch to branch. Hopefully they would land soon. It wasn't as if she could cl- That's it! I'll climb! The tabby apprentice stood quickly and stared up at the closest branch on the smallest tree. Even though it was low, it was still too high to jump onto. The she-cat shook her head and grabbed onto the trunk with unsheathed claws. She tried pulling herself up but the pain in her claws was too much. She tried once more, with no results. Glancing back she found a straight path leading to the tree. She made some running space before charging forward, hoping the momentum would give her a better chance. Heatherpaw bolted up the trunk, clawing to land on the branch but managing to grab hold and heave herself onto it.

The pixiebob she-cat leapt onto higher branches, her legs stumbling a little less each time. She managed to find herself perched near the gathering of birds, watching them closely. She held still, waiting for one to dare to come close. A few minutes later, a plump looking thrush landed close to the apprentice, pecking the wood in search of food. Heatherpaw slowly shifted towards it, keeping her breath quiet and her movements subtle. Without disturbing the creature, she was in the clear to kill. She cleared her thoughts and stared at the thrush with intense green eyes. After exhaling, the she-cat pounced. This time she managed to catch it's wing under her paw letting her bring it back down to the tree to deliver the final blow. She smiled at the dead bird but it quickly disappeared when she heard a loud cracking. Looking back at the branch she noticed it splitting from the weight. Her eyes widened as she tried to climb to a solid branch but was too late.

Heatherpaw fell down, knocking into other branches along the way, breaking her fall slightly. She landed with an 'oof' in a pile of brambles. Her entire left side ached and her paw burned. She brought it up to her face, shocked at the sight of blood. Lots of blood. She hissed at the pain but stood anyway, keeping her bleeding paw close to her chest. She picked up the bird in her mouth and limped in the camp's direction, stopping to pick up her other two kills on the way. With no sign of Maplecloud she was intent of getting to camp before passing out.

The tom watched curiously as his apprentice attempted to climb a tree in pursuit of a flock of birds, finally making it to the top and enacting a swift kill. Satisfied with her success, he made his way down his own tree and headed back towards camp. A few minutes into the way back, Maplecloud heard a loud snap and turned in alarm at the sound of someone falling. "Did she..?" He mumbles before carefully padding towards the source of the sound. Sure enough, a branch from one of the oaks had snapped and fell, bringing Heatherpaw down, by the scent.

Blood was there, staining the ground and leaving a fresh trail through the forest. His nose to the dirt, the warrior followed it until he reached the injured she-cat. Quickly jogging over he took two of the prey from her. "You passed," he jumbled around the feathers and fur. "And now we need you patched up."