Owlpaw's Assessment

Amberclaw waited for Owlpaw on the same hill that they regularly met up for training, the green trees swayed slowly in the breeze with a tint of brown as the new season approached. "Owlpaw, I have been waiting for this day for as long as you have. Today will be your assessment!" He said with a sharp grin, "I want you to capture three pieces of prey and face whatever obstacles occur during this. I can not help you at all so ignore me throughout this." Amberclaw added impatiently, eager to see how his apprentice had grown up and his strength under the Dark Forest's rule.

Owlpaw smiled with excitement, finally, he was so close to becoming a warrior and be a step closer to fulfilling his dreams. He could already see himself as the strongest and most recognized warrior of the forest…and maybe, one day, become ShadowClan’s leader. He shuffled his paws as he awaited for his mentor’s words, to know what he would need to do to prove that he was ready.

He almost immediately felt his heart skip a beat when the assessment was made known to him…hunting. Amberclaw wouldn’t let him lie, hunting had been his weakest point since their very first training session. Owlpaw had been working really hard on trying to get better at it, and though his training had proven successful, as he could now catch pieces of prey instead of returning to the camp with empty paws, he still couldn’t help but feel nervous.

This was it, this was the time to prove to Amberclaw, his clan and the Dark Forest how strong he had become, that he was a cat worthy of a warrior name and worthy to fight at their side. He didn’t want to fail his assessment, destroying his dreams because he wasn’t good enough.

He shook his head a bit to get rid of such dark thoughts, he had no time to get distracted by something like that “Ok…let’s go!” He tried to sound confident, but some of his nervousness managed to make it to his voice, regardless of how hard he tried to hide it.

He carefully listened to the area surrounding them, as well as trying to catch the prey’s scent. This part wasn’t the one he was worried about, but the ones that followed.

OOC: Should I just post all catches or go one by one to give Amberclaw time to evaluate him?

OOC: In the past I did it all in one post but however you would like :)

Amberclaw smiled before he sunk into the forest shadows, making sure not to distract his apprentice with any unnecessary nosies. This was an extremely important day for them both.

OOC: Got it, sorry that it took me this long to post.

Owlpaw took a deep breath as he followed the scent to the closest piece of prey. His ears kept moving, trying to catch even the softest sound around him, not wanting to get surprised. He felt his heart beating quickly against his chest as quick flashbacks of his hunting training with Amberclaw interrupted his vision. He was strong and none could deny that, but what he had in surplus on that area was exactly what he lacked on agility and speed. He would need to use his head if he wanted to come out successful, as brute strength wouldn’t be enough.

His nose lead him to a small pond where a toad could be seen relaxing on the shore of the tiny body of water. This made things tricky, as he didn’t want the amphibian to jump inside the water and escape from his grasp. Using the shadows and the somewhat tall grass that surrounded the pond he got as close to it as he could without being noticed, quickly building a plan inside his head.

As quickly as he could, and predicting the toad’s instinctive reaction of trying to look for cover underwater, he pounced on the amphibian, a strong paw hitting it alongside mud and water, throwing the now slightly stunned animal to the mud surrounding the pond. Taking the chance and not caring at all about his now soaked and mud covered paw, Owlpaw rushed to where it fell and killed it with a strong bite. Toads weren’t his favorite kind of prey, but it had to count, right?

He buried the toad on a place he knew he would remember to come back for it later, allowing his nose and ears to guide him once more. It didn’t took him long enough to find a lizard still on a small log located right on one of the sunny spots that could be found here and there through the clan’s territory and he couldn’t help but thank the Dark Forest that his assessment was during Greenleaf and not during any other season, as the bigger amount of prey was definitely helping him.

Crouching, Owlpaw got closer to the sunny spot where the lizard was resting, the sticky mud under his paws not making a sound to alert the small creature of his presence. This time, instead of attacking the lizard itself, he hit the small log with enough strength to send it spinning. He knew better than just directly attack the prey that moved a lot faster than him and that also was on an advantageous position. When the log hit the ground, the animal that once had been resting on it was far too disoriented to run away in time, meeting its end between Owlpaw’s strong jaws.

Two down, one more to go.

After returning where the toad was and burying the lizard with it he resumed his quest, wondering what he would find this time. He was fairly surprised when he saw a small vole looking for food between the plants scattered across the mud. Using the wind and knowledge of the territory, he got closer and closer to the small rodent before springing into action. This time he was forced to chase the small rodent, but what at the beginning seemed to be a persecution that was doomed from the very beginning thanks to the impatience of the apprentice soon turned out to be a deadly trap. Owlpaw had been leading the rodent to a dead end, bordered by water, rocks and sticky deep mud that hindered their movements. He, however, was used to this kind of tricy terrain and didn’t took long for him to finally reach and kill the vole.

He stood still, panting heavily for a couple of seconds, that chase had taken a heavy toll on his energies, even if in the end the card hidden under his sleeved had proven to be really effective. Once he recovered his breath he picked up the vole and went to where his other two pieces of prey were located, unburying them before looking around for his mentor.

“Amberclaw? Is this enough?” Owlpaw really hoped that the answer would be a positive one.

Amberclaw was amazed at Owlpaw's strategies and advancement from when they first met. "Owlpaw you have grown up so much and you are aware that it is okay to make mistakes, therefore I am proud to say you have passed your assessment!" He purred loudly as if his voice could fill the whole forest. "Let's head back now, hopefully we can get your ceremony underway as soon as possible" He quickly added prancing back down to the camp as if he was a small kit once again.