A Bright Future

Vixenstep squeezed her eyelids together tightly before slowly opening her eyes. Squinting, she racked her brains for something to do. She could remember something... Something important... Then she remembered. Why was it that every time there was something important going on she forgot? She uncoiled her tail from around her side and stretched out her body. She rose groggily to her feet and went outside. Thank StarClan, it was still dark out. Vixenstep crouched down and stuck her face into the snow, which she was sure looked ridiculous but hey, she was awake now! She padded over to the apprentices' den, trying not to look at her friends and family she left behind in becoming a warrior. She quietly tiptoed over to where the long-furred silver apprentice was sleeping and nudged him with her nose. "Brightpaw, we're training today," she said, loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough as to not wake any other cat.

Brightpaw was asleep. His usually happy dreams of becoming the best warrior had been replaced why nightmares ever since the war announcement. This time, he was at the center of camp, by the willow tree, when cats ran into the entrance. They were covered in blood and smelled strongly of the forest and fire. ThunderClan. Brightpaw watched, helpless, as they slaughtered his entire family in front of him. They approached him from all sides as he cried silently. "No...stop.." He moaned. He tried to move, but he couldn't take a step in the direction of the bodies. Suddenly, he felt an icy cold, snowy paw nudge him. His eyes flew open and he jumped about a mile, breathing heavily. His sight blurred with sleep, he breathed in. Just RiverClan. He blinked and looked around him. His siblings were asleep and unharmed. He looked towards the entrance to the apprentice den. Vixenstep. Of course, it was just a dream. Hoping he hadn't spoken in his sleep, he licked his messy chest fur and looked back at his mentor with those oddly coloured eyes. One was shocking blue, like ice. The other was a warm amber, like fire. He slowly yawned, padding from the den, and arrived in front of his mentor. Hopefully she hadn't heard or seen his distress. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm ready to train." he tried to keep his voice level and clear of emotion.

Vixenstep smiled kind-heartedly at the odd-eyed tom. "That's quite alright, Brightpaw. We have plenty of time." The small ginger warrior began to lead the way out of camp. "Right then, she said as they walked, "I would teach you how to fish, but with the water frozen over that's not an option. So we could work on catching other kinds of animals." Vixenstep thought on this for a moment, then added, "We'll try catching birds today." She stopped and looked around. This particular part of their territory was dotted with bushes, perfect hiding places for pigeons. "Okay. Before we begin, a quick survey of the area. Do you smell any prey?" she questioned her apprentice. She herself could smell about five different prey-scents, but it was important to train Brightpaw's senses as well as ability.

Brightpaw grinned sheepishly as he followed Vixenstep out of camp. Hopefully he wold be able to become a strong warrior under his mentor's guidance. He stopped when she did, and he sniffed the area. Prey. It smelled like a bird of some kind, and here was more than one, he knew that. "I can smell prey. Is it a bird?" he replied softly, trying to keep quiet so as not to scare away any prey.

Vixenstep smiled. "Right. A bird. Which is exactly what we will be hunting today." she said quietly. "Can you pinpoint where it is? It doesn't have to be exact, just the general direction is fine." Vixenstep was sure Brightpaw could do it, but better safe than sorry.

Brightpaw thought for a moment, sniffing the air. He flicked his tail in the direction of a bush. "Is it over there?"

OOC: ack late reply ;-;

Vixenstep|s smile broadened. "Yes, well done Brightpaw!" She turned towards the bush Brightpaw pointed to and slowly began to creep forward, making sure not to touch the ground with her tail. Crouching even lower, she launched herself into the bush. Her form rocketed through a gap in the leaves. However, she got a bit tangled in the bush and by the time she freed herself the bird had gone. Embarrassed, she padded back towards Brightpaw. "Some mentor I am, huh? But you get the gist. Crouch low, make no noise with your tail and pounce when the time is right. Let's hope that you're a better bird-hunter than me!" She pointed her brown-tipped tail towards another bush. "Try that one," she suggested to her apprentice who was surely disappointed in his mentor. Hey, Vixenstep didn't ask for this. But she would at least try to teach him something... for both Brightpaw and Jaystream.

Ooc: Sorry even later reply

So the basics of hunting. Most formal hunting events such as assessments need a dice roll. The dice can be rolled through the button in the top left of the topic that says 'Post Reply'. There you type part of your reply, such as: 'Vixenstep crouched and got ready to pounce'. Then, you scroll down and press the Dices roll #1 drop-down menu. There, you choose 'Hunting Dice' and post your reply. Once the reply is posted, you will get a number and you can then edit your post according to the Hunting System topic. I.e. if you roll a 9 or under when fishing, you get to catch the fish. Sorry if this explanation was confusing! I'm terrible at explaining things.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

OOC: don’t worry, I understood that alright XD

IC:
Brightpaw watched his mentor get tangled in the bushes and held back a laugh. He had to be respectful, now. Okay, Brightpaw did wish she hadn’t messed it up, because now it made it harder to copy and get it right. Brightpaw dipped his head respectfully and turned to face the bush. He tried his hardest to copy his mentor’s stance,  crouching down low. He gazed fierce fully into the bushes, when he saw a flash of wing. He practically threw himself through the leaves. After a rather large amount of rustling, he emerged from the bush with a small bird clamped between his jaws. He gave his tail a self-satisfied flick and set it down by Vixenstep’s paws, awaiting his mentor’s next move.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

bump~