Toadpaw's assessment

Birdflight walked into the apprentice's den with an energized walk. Today, she would give her apprentice an assessment. She had told Blizzardstar that Toadpaw was ready to be tested. "Toadpaw, wake up I need you to meet me at the camp entrance quickly!" the warrior whisper shouted. She left and sat waiting where she told the tom to wait.

By now, Toadpaw was used to being woken up by his mentor. Uncurling, he stretched and yawned before proceeding to groom himself.

He had taken some time to heal from the owl ordeal, but now his left shoulder was fully back in use again. He bore a pale, long and thin scar from where the owl had clawed him, but it was normally not too visible, a fact for which he was grateful- only in the right light did it show through the short fur surrounding the scar.

Finally ready to go, he emerged from the den and looked around. It was still early morning, so there weren't too many cats out and about- this made finding his mentor particularly easy. Spotting Birdflight, the brown swirled apprentice bounded over to the calico with a few easy leaps. He was becoming more and more practiced at jumping in general. "Hi, Birdflight! So this is it, huh?" He asked this question with some excitement.

The warrior gave her apprentice a gentle smile. "Toadpaw, I have discussed this with Blizzardstar, today you'll be given your assessment. I will test you on how well you hunt. You will be observed in the shadows. I cannot help you with this unless you encounter danger. Then I'll jump in to help." She got up and beckoned the tom to follow her.

She led them to the heart of the territory. She turned around to face Toadpaw. "This is were I'll leave you and this is were you must come back to when you catch what you need. Toadpaw, you must catch four pieces of prey: Any type of bird, a squirrel, a mouse, and one of your choice which could be anything. I know you will do well. She walked a few steps away. "You may begin." she said. The warrior disappeared into the undergrowth and now hidden from sight.

OOC: You can post as many times as it takes you to catch the four prey. Do not wait for me to post. I'll check back and post when you're done.

OOC: Okay, thanks!

As Birdflight gave her instructions, Toadpaw pricked his ears up at hearing the calico she-cat mention Blizzardstar. He hadn't seen the leader since the Gathering, and was awed at hearing that his mentor had talked to the clan leader about him. Standing up a bit taller, the apprentice meowed determinedly, "I'll try, Birdflight!" For once, he was completely on game. He hoped to make Birdflight proud.

He decided to try for a squirrel first, as this was the prey he had just barely missed during his first hunting session, thanks to that large gray owl. Moving his attention onto the forest before him, he scanned the clearing. At spotting the movement of a bushy gray tail near a tree, he fell into a crouch and moved forward slowly. When he decided he was close enough, he sprang into action.

Pouncing, he landed onto the squirrel before it could even squeak and snuffed out its life with a quick bite to the throat. Satisfied, he stood there, practically glowing, for a good few heartbeats before burying the prey.

The member 'Dingorok' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

The brown swirled apprentice decided to look for a bird next. Opening his mouth and raising his head, he scented the air for a bit. After catching a whiff of what might be some feathered live prey, he turned his head and prowled to a nearby clearing among some bushes. Noting a whole flock of sparrows, he grinned to himself at his good luck but tried to contain his glee. Crouching, he inched closer before making his attempt.

With little warning, he sprang from his position within the bushes and snatched a bird from the flock, killing it quickly within his exposed claws. The rest of the birds scattered out of sight with hasty, fearful calls. Beaming, Toadpaw carried his prey to a dirt patch and buried it there, a small distance away from his original cache.

The member 'Dingorok' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Murmuring to himself, he tallied off, "So... squirrel, bird... I still have two more. A... What was it?" Sitting down, he pondered for a bit, licking the blood off of his front paws, before finally remembering. Standing up abruptly with his realization, he meowed loudly, "Oh, yeah! A mouse. Let's go find one, then."

Pricking his ears for a bit, he stood silently in the same spot, trying to listen for a mouse. Finally, he slumped a little with a huff and thought to himself, Aw, mousedung. I must have scared off the prey with my loud 'thinking'. Looking around again, he made sure to stay silent this time and thought to himself, Maybe I should check out the long grass over there, instead of just staying here. Making his way over to the thatch of grass, he padded as quietly as he could, even though that required him to move slowly.

Upon reaching the grassy patch, he pricked his ears again. After a few heartbeats, he heard some scuffling. Staying stock still, he sniffed and was rewarded by the tell-tale scent of a rodent. He smirked. So far, most of his hunting efforts had been successful. With the smirk still on his face, he crouched, ready to spring.

In a flash, he made his move and pinned the now squealing mouse with a front paw. Delivering a killing blow to the mouse, it fell silent and limp in his grasp. He puffed out his chest, proud that he was on a winning streak. Taking the body into his mouth, he sniffed his way back to the other two caches and made a third cache nearby.

The member 'Dingorok' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

The last one is my choice- I think I'll try something different, like a rabbit. Toadpaw lifted his head and sniffed his way closer to WindClan territory's direction. He did not want to venture too close- as much as he liked adventure, he was still being watched by Birdflight, and the point was to make her proud, not to make her worried, or even worse, disappointed- but he remembered Birdflight had said that WindClan was especially good for rabbit hunting.

Still far from WindClan's territory but now in a place with a decent grassy clearing, he spotted a brown rabbit nibbling at some vegetation. Keeping out of sight, the brown swirled tabby sneaked closer until the rabbit was just a couple of fox-lengths away. The rabbit finally spotted him and grew alarmed. Tensing, Toadpaw knew that it would be a matter of speed.

Just a heartbeat after the rabbit had spotted him, it abandoned its meal and sped away in the opposite direction. Hurriedly, Toadpaw jumped out of his crouch and gave chase, running as fast as he could. The rabbit ran until it met a cluster of thickly-grown bushes. Slowing down considerably, it tried to find a way out of its barrier. Toadpaw finally caught with his quarry and meowed in a panting but energized voice, "Got you!", before grabbing the rabbit's hind legs. Struggling, the rabbit squealed, which almost startled Toadpaw, but the apprentice shook himself out of it and finished the job swiftly by biting into the rabbit's soft throat. Hanging on, he waited until the rabbit finally stopped its last death throes. Satisfied, he relaxed and curled up around the rabbit's bloody carcass. His chest still heaved up and down in an attempt to catch his breath, and his muscles ached from exhaustion, but he was smiling. He was finally done, and he had a pretty perfect streak if he did say so himself.

After his break, he sat up and scanned the depths of the forest undergrowth, trying to make out the form of his hidden mentor. With the rabbit carcass still sprawled ungracefully at his feet and with blood still covering his mouth and paws, he unashamedly meowed, "Birdflight, did you see me in action?! Was I great or what?"

The member 'Dingorok' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Birdflight came out from behind her apprentice, a large and proud grin gracing her featutes. "Good job Toadpaw! I knew you'd do fantastic! Let's go back and put all your catches on the fresh kill pile. You may have the best looking prey as a reward! I'll be telling Blizzardstar you have aced the assessment." She gave a satisfied purr. The warrior was overjoyed that her apprentice had done this flawlessly. Her assessment had been similar. She hadn't missed a single one.

"Carry the rabbit with you. Let's go get the others now!" she said. The she-cat managed to unearth the other three catches. She took the bird and squirrel while she left the mouse for Toadpaw to carry. She motioned him to follow her back to camp. Today was a great day.

OOC: Good job!! Now you may sign up for a moonstone trip! :) You had done a great job!

Hearing his mentor behind him, he whirled around and blinked, a bit surprised. His surprise soon fell way to another glowing smile at her praise. "Thanks, Birdflight!" Watching the calico she-cat purr at the end of her accolades, his blue-green eyes shone with admiration. His heart beating a little faster, Toadpaw realized that he had never felt so happy at another cat's presence.

Swiping his tongue around his mouth and licking off his paws, he hastily cleaned up before picking up the rabbit and following Birdflight to the other caches. Admiring his mentor's white paws pound the ground in a graceful gait before him, he only dropped his head to add the mouse to his bundle before continuing to follow her. In this unusual state of quiet happiness, the normally boisterous apprentice followed his mentor back to the campsite.

OOC: Thanks, I'll sign up for it today! I also planted the seed for the crush here.