Do Frost and Rain Mix? [For Coon]

Rainstorm teetered on the edge of his paws, his yellow-green eyes staring at his reflection in the cold water. The river ran rather smoothly, streaming down through the territory, marking the border between ThunderClan and RiverClan. He was rather bored, waiting for his apprentice arrive. The sun was already past it's height, slowly descending through the blue and white sky. Sunhigh, he had said. Be there by Sunhigh or there were going to be penalties. Maybe his apprentice was a masochist, the way she delayed their first patrol together.

The young warrior gave a deep sigh. At least he didn't have wait in the freezing snow anymore.

The white tabby she-cat raced through the territory, and skidded to a halt in front of her mentor. Who was also apart of her family. He was related to her mother Ivyfall. She hoped that Rainstorm wouldn't be to mad with her, but she was sort of tired from her secret training during the night. "Sorry!" She said to her mentor.

Rainstorm scoffed. "I told you not to be late. I'm raising your quota for today. Instead of three, you'll catch five pieces of prey. Now let's go. We're behind schedule." There would be no going easy on this apprentice, even if she was his niece. "If you do well enough I might cut the border patrol from our schedule," he added with a slight smirk before heading down along the river and taking a slight turn into the reeds.

Frostpaw let out a small huff, but she didn't protest. She was fine with it. She would prove to him that she could do anything thrown her way. She may be small but she was strong, at least that is what she was being trained for, at night anyway. The white tabby remained silent as she followed behind her mentor.

The warrior had been expecting some sort of opposing whine from the she-cat. Most apprentices would be frustrated, even angry at such an outrageous command. Rainstorm's eyes narrowed to slits as he looked his apprentice over. She seemed adamant on fulfilling his requirements. At least she had a sense of duty.

Rainstorm continued along, leading a brisk pace. He barely opened his mouth before a strong scent cross his path and he abruptly stopped. Opening his mouth a bit wider, he breathed in the smell. Water vole. It was easy enough to catch, not as fast as other critters that ran about.

"Do you smell that?" the tom whispered, leaning in towards Frostpaw.

Frostpaw paused when her mentor had paused. When he asked her if she smelled something. She opened her mouth taking in the scents. What she smelled was something like what she got out of the fresh kill pile. So she thought it was some piece of prey that they ate. As for answering his question, she nodded. "Yes.." She said in a soft voice, being quite so she wouldn't disturb that something if it was near by.

"It's a vole," the light brown warrior stated. He crouched down into a hunting position and froze in place, being extra careful not to move. "Crouch down as low as you can. Your belly fur should barely touch the ground. Keep your pawsteps light and make sure to watch where you walk. If you make a sound, you'll have yourself a chase. It's a pain, but if you're fast enough, you might be able to catch it," Rainstorm instructed, his mouth close to her ear. If he raised his voice too much, both of them would lose this chance.

"Do exactly as I said, and go catch the vole. Make sure you're close enough to pounce, but don't get too close and scare it off. If you can, hide yourself before pouncing. Now go."

Frostpaw listened as Rainstorm spoke. She kept note of everything he told her, and nodded when he gave her a command. Though she didn't know how he expected her to catch something on her first try. Dropping low the apprentice crept forward, making sure nothing was disturbing anything, not was making any loud noises. She saw the vole casually sitting there eating some seeds. She bunched up her muscles and sprang forward, grasping the piece of prey, and swiftly killing it. It wasn't the best killing job but it would do. She felt some pride for catching it, but she wasn't going to let it get too high for Rainstorm would probably find something wrong.

Rainstorm was impressed. Rather impressed. Her movement and execution was well performed, although he could see the blood oozing out of it's body, as well as on her fangs, but he could ignore that for her first time.

"Well done. Tip for the future, snap it's neck instead of biting into it's flesh. You won't make a mess that way, and there won't be any chance of it's blood becoming infected between the time you kill it and take it back home."

Was that a small praise in there? She wasn't expecting that. She was glad she got a praise, but it didn't last long for him to give her a tip. It was a useful tip, she took it into account. She nodded in response not sure what to do with the vole she just caught, it would probably go to waste by the time they got back due to the blood, and what not. Her blue eyes looked up to him in a questioning manner, hoping he would figure out what she was trying to ask.

It was painfully obvious to him that her glance over was a plea for help. Rainstorm sighed and lashed his tail around. He knew she was a young apprentice, but had she never heard about what to do? Surely his sister would have explained the process. Padding up to her, he dug at the ground with his paw until a small hole appeared. "Keep digging until it's big enough for your recently caught prey, and then bury it. When we're done, we'll pick it up on our way back to camp. Burying it will keep other creatures from taking it, and keep us from having to carry it during our hunt. It also preserves the body longer, so we don't have a rotting piece of prey to bring back," he meowed, pulling his paw back and flicking away the dirt. The brown tom stepped back, letting his apprentice continue the process.

Relief filled her that he gave her the answer as to what she was supposed to do. Without another word she continued to dig the whole until it was big enough. She placed the prey she just caught into the hole, and then covered it again. She looked up at her mentor once again. "Thanks." She said to him, and then waited on instructions again, and to where they were going next.

Rainstorm gave a swift nod in reply.

"Now it's your turn to find your next catch. Use your nose and track a scent until you find something. If you can't catch any smells with your nose, open your mouth slightly. It will enhance the smells so you can find something you might not find normally. I'll be following behind if you need any help, but I expect you to do this some time today," the warrior instructed, his chest puffing out slightly.

Frostpaw nodded in response. She walked away from Rainstorm without glance back to him. She could do this on her own, and she would prove that to him. Once she was a decent distance away she opened her mouth to scent for anything in the area. She could smell something. It smelled slightly different than the water vole she caught earlier. She walked carefully until she could clearly tell it was in the area. Dropping low to the ground, she repeated what she was shown earlier. She moved forward carefully and then pounced on the unsuspecting mouse, swiftly killing it, like she was taught. She looked around for a moment, and then dug the hole for the creature, put it in, and then covered it once again. She sat down and patiently waited on Rainstorm to appear again.

The warrior was alarmed at how quickly she picked up the techniques. Most cats took some time to learn and perfect it, but not Frostpaw. Rainstorm smiled. She had killing in her blood.

Emerging from his spot in the reeds, he gave her a big smile. "Great job. I couldn't have done it better myself," he praised, his yellow-green eyes plastered to the small grave. Ivyfall would be so proud to hear her daughter had the same skills as her.

"Now do it again. Remember, you're quota is five. Two is good for a beginner, but it doesn't seem like I'm training any regular beginner."