A Day by the River (Closed Hunting Patrol)

Sweetpaw waited patiently by the camp entrance. She was told Vixenstep and Smokepaw were going to head out for a hunting patrol soon, and she wanted to get the chance to ask if she could join them as well. She wanted to practice her fishing, and she would much rather do that than practice her battle skills. She knew how important it was to fight to protect her Clan, but she would still much rather hunt to feed the cats of RiverClan -- or better yet, become a full-time queen and raise generations of kits to make the Clan stronger. Of course, she was still too young to have kits of her own, and there weren't really any toms in the camp that really caught her eye, so hunting would have to do for now.

Smokepaw yawned, blinking slowly in the sunlight that filtered through her eyelids. She got to her feet, and slowly padded out of the den. She was ready for her hunting patrol! Smokepaw went over to the entrance to meet Vixenstep, where she was pleasantly surprised to see Sweetpaw. "Hello, Sweetpaw!" Smokepaw greeted her fellow apprentice, carefully giving her chest fur a couple of nervous licks. She was normally this cautious around other cats. Then , she had an idea. "Vixenstep and I are going on a hunting patrol. Care to join us? she asked, trying to make it sound casual.

Sweetpaw blinked in a friendly manner to Smokepaw, then brightened up and stood up from her spot. "I would love to! I was about to ask if I could join, actually. Thank you very much." She politely bowed her head to her fellow apprentice.

Vixenstep yawned and opened her eyes. She blinked. Then blinked again. This wasn't the apprentices' den! She nearly panicked before remembering the day before. She wasn't Vixenpaw anymore, she was Vixenstep! Memories of yesterday flooded her mind and she sighed. Now that she was a warrior, a whole lot more responsibilities lay on her shoulders. For example, the patrol she planned to go on with Smokepaw! The gingery-brown warrior padded out of the warriors' den she now called home. "Smokepaw!" she called out, "Time to go on that patrol we planned! And if anyone else wants to join, feel free to!" Vixenstep was still a very new warrior, but she hoped at least one of her old denmates would join her.

Just at that moment, she spotted Sweetpaw and Smokepaw at the entrance. "Heya Sweetpaw! Glad you're joining us!"

"Thank you for having me," Sweetpaw meowed politely to the newly named warrior, dipping her head respectfully to her. "Where are we going to be heading today, Vixenstep?"

Smokepaw smiled at Sweetpaw, her smile widening further when Vixenstep arrived. She flicked her tail in greeting. [color=#999999]"So, are we ready to leave?"[/colour] the young apprentice asked politely.

Vixenpaw thought about it for a moment. "This is my first day as a warrior, so I think we should hunt close to camp. Otherwise, we can just see where our paws take us. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me. Whenever you're ready." Sweetpaw purred in satisfaction, her lithe tail swishing slowly behind her.

Smokepaw nodded. "Lead the way, Vixenstep." she spoke, ready to go hunt for her Clan.

Vixenstep nodded at the two younger cats and began to walk. After a while, she stopped and sniffed the air. Prey-scent was evident in this area of the territory. "All right then guys, let's hunt here. You two can split up or stay together, but don't stray too far." at that, she darted towards a bush and disappeared, leaving the two apprentices to decide how to hunt.

Sweetpaw turned to Smokepaw, her paws eagerly kneading the snow. "I'm going to find a river to fish for prey. You wanna come with me?"

"Sure, lead the way" she told Sweetpaw.

Sweetpaw padded through the thin trees until they came across a gently flowing river. The movement of the dark water had prevented any ice from forming over it, so they were sure to find something to bring back to the Clan. She could already smell the fishy scents wafting from the churning water, and her stomach growled hungrily. But she knew she had a duty to her Clan to uphold first, and there were going to be many hungry kits waiting for a cold, juicy fish to keep up their strength and stamina and prepare them for their apprentice training.

Sweetpaw crouched down next to the bubbling river and held out a ready paw, staring intensely down, lost in concentration. After several moments, she spotted a dark figure, and she lashed her white paw into the water. She pulled it back up in a split second, scooping a decent-sized fish, and she pinned it to the snowy riverbank before it could flop back into the water. She nipped it hard in the back of the neck, swiftly killing it, and she licked her lips at the succulent blood of the fresh-kill that was drawn from her killing bite. The kits were really going to enjoy it.

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 6

Vixenpaw left her two Clanmates and began to sniff around the area. She had no luck for a few minutes, then caught a scent. It was very strong, very recent. She sniffed around a bit more and found the source of the scent. An old water vole was snuffling around the reeds, probably looking for a place to rest. Most of the ground had frozen over at this point, so this rodent was as good as dead anyway. She crouched down and silently crept towards the vole, raising a paw to slash its neck open.