Hunting with an Unofficial Mentor (CLOSED)

Sweetheart yawned and stretched out her legs as she padded out of the warriors' den. A sense of foreboding lay thickly in the air, and her fur bristled nervously. She forced it to lay flat, however, as she made her way to the apprentices' den.

She poked her head inside and hissed quietly, "Darkpaw, it's time to get up. Don't wake your denmates."

Darkpaw woke with a yawn. She walked out of the apprentice den and stretched. "hi sweetheart is it time?" she asked sleepily.

(OOC: Also, I'm at work, so my replies will be slow.)

"Yes, it is. Come on, let's catch RiverClan some juicy prey." Something tells me we'll need the strength... Sweetheart slipped out of the den and went to sit and wait by the entrance, grooming herself to make herself look neat and tidy.

Darkpaw smiled and awoken. She wished her mentor wasn't that busy but still she loved to learn from others. She walked to the entrance of camp where sweetheart was. "so where we going?" she asked her older friend.

"Splashwillow took me to the Beech Copse when I was an apprentice, so I feel that's the best place to go. As she said, during leaf-bare when the rivers can freeze over, we'll need to learn how to hunt on land." Sweetheart beckoned with her tail for Darkpaw to follow, and she slipped out of camp and towards their destination.

Darkpaw followed her out and to there destination. She wondered what's it was going to be like since she had never been there.

Sweetheart stopped walking and took a few moments to really take in the beauty of the scenery. Leaf-bare was her favorite time of year only because the glistening snow and ice in the sun made the ground look like it was covered in tiny little bits of Moonstone.

She turned to Darkpaw. "So, your mentor hasn't taken you out yet for hunting training? Do you know anything about it before we begin?"

She thought it over. "umm always stay down don't let it see you and have fun." she said smiling.

Sweetheart purred with amusement. "Yes, of course. But there's much more tonjimying than making sure your prey doesn't see or hear you. You also have to make sure they can't feel you on land. Mice are very sensitive, and they'll feel your pawsteps on the ground long before they smell you. With that being said, let's practice the hunter's crouch." She lowered herself, keeping her belly close to the ground, but not brushing her soft down fur against the snow. Her tail stuck out behind her. "Let me see your best hunter's crouch."

Darkpaw watched then copied what she did but her tail wouldn't stay straight and her paws where in the wrong spots. She fell over with a loud thud. "[color=#0066ff]oww."/color] she said

Sweetheart's whiskers twitched as she tried not to mrrow with laughter. "Spread out your paws a little more. You need to be able to place even amount of weight on each paw when you stalk. And keep your tail as straight as you can, but use it for balance as well. Try again."

Darkpaw did what she said and didn't fall this time. "yay I got it." she said a little to loudly.

"Great job!" Sweetheart praised with a purr. "Now let's find you something to catch. Oh, one other thing," she suddenly meowed before the apprentice could run off. "If you come across a predator, you must run back to camp as quickly as you can and try to get help. If you can't, just stay in camp and I'll do my best to fight off the predator myself."

(OOC: If we do end up running into a predator, let's make it a raccoon or owl; that'll make it much easier to fight off. XD)

Darkpaw sniffed the air and caught many scents. "what do you want me to hunt for my first kill sweetheart?" she asked the older cat.

"Let's start with a rodent." Sweetheart paused for a few moments to drink in the air's scents, then twitched her whiskers in satisfaction. "There's a vole near that tree over there. Think you can catch it?" She pointed her nose to the tree in question, where a small brown creature was scuttling around searching for food.