Out and About [closed]

Sitting beneath the protective shelter of a clump of overhanging foliage, Elmcloud's dark gaze kept fixating on the Elder's den several tail-lengths away. Poppysong had been quite ill for several sunrises now, but now that he had been given control of another apprentice's training, he could no longer spend the majority of his time caring for his mother. Letting out a heavy sigh, the ruddy tom watched his steaming breath quickly dissipate into the chilly air as he continued to gaze at the well sheltered Elder's den, occasionally fidgeting. The thought of leaving camp during a time like this made him feel anxious and ill beyond belief, but he knew that he needed to attend to Tigerpaw's training more than ever now.

OOC: Sorry, late reply...

IC:Tigerpaw's eyelids flickered open to reveal bright yellow eyes. Sunlight filtered through the entrance of the apprentice's den, dimly lighting the enclosed space. The brown apprentice did not move although she had awakened, enjoying the soft warmth of her mossy nest. For a moment, she longed to be able to lie there for the rest of the day rather than go out into the cold. Elmcloud. Her mentor's name echoed in her mind. With a sigh, she slowly got to her paws, giving her pelt a few swipes with her tongue to make herself look presentable. The chill of leafbare hit her right in the face as she stepped out of her den. The apprentice almost turned around right then, but the familiar red pelt of a tom caught her eye before she could. Elmcloud was seated beneath some vegetation, his gaze in the direction of the Elder's den. Quietly, Tigerpaw padded up to him. As she did, she also glanced at the Elder's den,
wondering why her mentor was looking at it. There did not seem to be anything eye-catching about it. "Good morning, Elmcloud." She said in a soft voice, "Are we going to be doing something today?"

ooc) don't worry about it!

"Good morning Tigerpaw." Elmcloud rumbled, voice heavy with a slightly harsh edge, likely due to the fact that he hadn't properly spoken in quite some time. Dragging his gaze away from the well-sheltered Elder's den, the ruddy tom twisted around slightly to get a proper glance at the young she-cat who stood before him. Trying to keep the desolate gleam carefully concealed within his gaze, his ear thoughtfully twitched at Tigerpaw's question. "We're...we're going hunting. I know the weather's quite poor, but I'm quite certain we will fare just fine." Elmcloud rumbled, stiffly rising to his paws and starting off towards the camp's entrance, his tail hanging low as he tried to maintain an even pace.

OOC: Sorry for the late reply again. I've had no time for roleplaying recently, but I'll try to be more active.

Tigerpaw trotted after her mentor, happy to be going on a hunting patrol. It had been a while since she had learned to hunt, and she was eager to put what she had learned to use. The edge in her mentor's voice did not miss her. As she gazed at him, she noticed that the warrior did not look very well. A slight prick of worry stabbed at her, but she did not say anything. He was probably fine.

Brushing through the snow-laden territory, Elmcloud's paws quickly grew numb as he forged a path for Tigerpaw to follow through. Although it felt nice to get away from the camp and the constant stench of illness, the lingering anxiety knotted ever tighter. What if something happened while he was away? Swallowing down the bile, he turned to gaze at Tigerpaw as a small clearing slowly came into view, "How much do you know about hunting? Did your parents ever teach you anything?"

OOC: Since you said it was okay to start on an intermediate level for Tigerpaw, I went ahead and made it so that Elmcloud taught her some hunting and fighting basics even though we didn't do that. If that's troublesome, I can change it so that some anonymous cat taught her.

IC: Tigerpaw shivered in the cold. It would be nice to have long fur, especially because it was leafbare. She'd watched some of her longer-furred clanmates in camp, and the cold definitely bothered them a lot less than it bothered her. Although she was excited to be going on a patrol with her mentor, a part of her wished for it to be over soon so she could return to the warm apprentice's den. As she walked, threading through the path Elmcloud had made for her, she never took her eyes off his red-brown pelt. She was careful not to get left behind. Before long, she could see a small clearing before them. When Elmcloud turned to ask her a question, she blinked once before answering, "I... know the basics of hunting. Foxhunter also taught me some tricks from the Tribe."

ooc) that's cool!

"That's good to hear. Stoneteller taught me several old tricks from the Tribe, but that was quite some time ago." Elmcloud mewed, easily clearing a snow-laden log that blocked the majority of their path. Although it had been countless moons since had had last interacted with his biological father, he could still clearly recall one of the few times he had spent time with the tom. The thought of Stoneteller only made him feel a confusing mixture of fondness and anger. Sifting through a ring of brittle undergrowth that poked and prodded at the glossy fur of his spine, leaving soft, barely visible furrows in his darkly colored fur. Leaving a trail of neat pawprints in his wake, Elmcloud paused for a heartbeat to observe the snow-dusted trees that lined the small clearing that the pair of SkyClanners now stood in.

"These trees are old and quite sturdy- meaning they're good for climbing and we don't need to worry about most of the branches breaking under our weight." Elmcloud finally mewed, his numb paws feeling awkward and heavy as he slowly strode up to the widest of the trees. Craning his neck back to observe the low-hanging branches above him, the ruddy tom's gaze screwed up as he was forced to look up at the harsh white light of the day. "We can start with a bit of practice in the trees. We're more likely to find prey up there anyways." Elmcloud called, gesturing for Tigerpaw to come closer as he circled the broad base of the tree trunk.

OOC: mobile post

IC: Tigerpaw gazed at Elmcloud with surprise when he mentioned the Tribe. "Stone... Teller? Who is that?" She asked. Did Elmcloud have a relative from the Tribe as well? If Stoneteller was a cat's name, it certainly was a weird one. Her heart was filled with curiosity towards these strange cats that she had heard so much about and had a connection with. What kind of lives did the Tribe cats live? At Elmcloud's beckoning, Tigerpaw stepped forward. Warily, she eyed the tree. She remembered Blossompaw telling her about the time she had fallen off a tree and almost died. In leafbare, the branches would be especially slippery. She hoped that the same thing would not happen to her.

Catching sight of the wary expression upon Tigerpaw's face as she eyed the tree, Elmcloud could hardly blame her. He could still recall the first time he had fallen from a tree, and nearly tore down every branch in his path in the process, and it wasn't something he was entirely fond of. "So long as you climb slowly and test each branch before stepping onto it with your full weight, I doubt you'll have any problems." He offered before rearing up onto his hindlegs and scaling the first few tail-lengths with ease. Taking care to ensure that Tigerpaw wasn't showered in the brittle bark that his claws likely gouged up, the Warrior took several heartbeats to think over the younger she-cat's question as he clawed his way up to a low-hanging branch. The first branch that laid in their path was wide and well-worn, providing evidence that cats often used it as a starting point whenever they scaled this tree.

Pulling himself up onto the wide branch with a slight puff of effort, Elmcloud easily spun around on the broad branch before leaning down to gaze at Tigerpaw, peering down at the little tabby with attentive eyes. Although climbing had eased some of the brooding, foul-thoughts that still clung to him, thinking too much of Stoneteller made him feel more awkward than anything else. "Stoneteller was the last leader of the Tribe- he guided them down from the mountains and to our Clans a few moons before I was born to save them from a famine. Despite the fact that he was Leader of the Tribe, he also served as their main Medicine Cat for a majority of the time. He was...also my father." Elmcloud called down, tone going lame as he hesitantly added the last part.

Elmcloud's words did not really reassure Tigerpaw, but there was nothing she could do about it. The striped apprentice watched her mentor go first, splinters of bark raining down as he ascended. At first, she thought that he would ignore her question, but he did not. Her ears perked up as she absorbed all that Elmcloud told her. She did not know to say in response, especially the last part about Stoneteller being Elmcloud's dad, so she also did not say anything immediately. Digging her claws into the tree trunk, she began to climb. It felt awkward doing so when her paws were numb with the  cold, but soon she had reached the branch that Elmcloud was perched on. With a final burst of effort, she hauled herself up unto the branch. "He must have been a great leader." Her words came out sounding rather lame, but it was the only thing she could think of, and it felt wrong not to say anything when her mentor had said so much.

"I suppose he was." Elmcloud shrugged slightly in return, watching intently as Tigerpaw clawed her way up alongside him. "For now, we'll just stay lower in the trees. It's much too cold for us to try to go up any higher in the trees." He mewed, carefully picking his way past the younger she-cat, his claws firmly gripping at the sleek branch underpaw as he edged his way out towards the edge of the branch. After a heartbeat of careful observation, he dropped into a neat crouch before leaping into the neighboring branch, which hardly swayed under his weight. "Don't worry about jumping across, both of these branches are pretty firm." He called, scooting back several paces so that Tigerpaw had room to jump after him, "We can try a bit of hunting in the trees, if you'd like?"

Tigerpaw felt a tingle of gratefulness when Elmcloud mentioned not going any higher in the trees. While not particularly afraid of heights, she still did not like being in a position where she could potentially fall to her death the moment she was careless. She took care not to show her relief on her face, however. To Tigerpaw, that would be weakness, and if there was one thing she hated, it was being weak. Trying not to think too much about it, she jumped after Elmcloud. For a moment, she felt light, gliding through the air. Then her paws slammed into the branch and she was standing beside Elmcloud again. Woah. These branches are pretty firm. It made jumping around in the trees feel much safer. "Sure..." She mewed when Elmcloud mentioned hunting in the trees. She had never done it before, now was as good a time as any to learn.

Gazing intently as Tigerpaw easily followed him into the neighboring branch, Elmcloud spun around once more and began to carefully pick his way across the smooth, well-worn branch. Inching closer to the lightly swaying branch, he paused for a moment as he caught wind of a familiar, mouth-watering scent. Flicking his tail to gesture for Tigerpaw to move closer, he crouched down among the bristling, barren twigs that bloomed from the branch that the pair stood on.

"Just about a tail-length over, in the next tree, there's a squirrel. Remember how you've practiced your stalking and leaping? This is a perfect opportunity. Take a moment to prepare yourself, and then try to jump into the next tree after it." Elmcloud whispered, lifting a nimble paw to point out the bushy tail of the squirrel that happened to be foraging in the next tree.

Tigerpaw crept along the branch until she had reached her mentor. The branch swayed only slightly, but she still kept her claws out in a firm grip on the bark. As soon as she got close enough, the rich, savory smell of squirrel flooded her nostrils. She glanced at Elmcloud, but there was no doubt that her mentor had scented it as well. Her line of sight followed the direction his paw was pointed in. It took her a moment, but then a flash of movement against bark caught her attention. She narrowed her eyes as she caught sight of the squirrel. "Got it." She whispered as softly as possible. Slowly but surely, she edged closer to the end of the branch she was standing on. She could feel the bouncing of the branch beneath her paws increase as she did so, and it made her heart beat even faster. When she felt she had gone as far as she could, she stopped. For a moment, she stared at the branch she was aiming for, then she leaped. There was the same feeling of flying as before, and then she had landed in the other tree. The apprentice staggered at first, but she quickly regained her balance. Her target the squirrel tried to run, but it was not fast enough. Tigerpaw seized it in her claws and delivered the killing blow. Picking it up with her mouth, she turned around to face Elmcloud. Hunting in the trees was a exhilarating but perilous venture. None of the other clans did it, and it made her proud to be a SkyClan cat.

The member 'Transient Days' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 7