strike one, you're out [closed patrol]

Simply put, Sunpaw was bored, and a bored Sunpaw was a dangerous thing indeed. Well, at least she had her favorite activity to fall back on - sneaking around and causing trouble. Though today it was only the former, despite her love of both activities. She hadn't noticed any other apprentices leaving camp on their own as of the last few days, but thought nothing of it - maybe they were just too busy with training or something. She slowly made her approach to the camp entrance, something she had done a pawful of times before. Step carefully, try not to draw attention, and hope that luck was on her side and no warriors were looking this way for the moment.

Unfortunately for Sunpaw, luck was in fact not on her side.

The moment Sunpaw wasn't looking, was the same moment that Sedgestrike was returning to camp. When he spotted her, he stopped. Then stepped to the side of the entrance where she wouldn't see him. He stood there, patiently, and waited until she had reached the edge of the entrance to deliberately step out in front of the young she-cat. His own daughters were rambuncious troublemakers, and he was well accustomed by now to the ways of errant kits.

"Going somewhere?" He meowed, tone calm as he loomed over the smaller apprentice. The black specks of his coat seemed all the darker with the sun glowing down behind him as he stared down the apprentice with a stern green gaze. "I suppose bringing up the rules is useless to an unruly apprentice such as you. Clearly, you need better training." His tail flicked sharply at the statement. His tone sharpening, becoming dangerous as he stepped out of being in front of her, to standing firmly behind her. Cutting off her chance to run back to the nest.

"Go on then. Show me what you can do."

"S-sedgestrike!" Sunpaw half-squeaked, because unruly apprentice or not she still possessed a healthy sense of fear. But she had to at least put up a front of confidence! Showing weakness was a sign of... Well, weakness. "Rules?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "What about them?" Rules were made to be broken, after all.

"What I can do...?" she ventured a moment later, unsure of what exactly was being asked of her. Did he expect her to fight him or something? She wouldn't hurt a Clanmate! Well, not intentionally, anyway... Accidents happened sometimes, after all, but it was never anything she did directly. Just... Aftereffects, sometimes.

But maybe he had something else in mind. Some kind of impossible task she could never actually complete. Or hunting, which, on second thought, was far more likely. Still, the thought of having to impress him somehow, regardless of the method, was pretty intimidating. But whether she realized it or not, accidents had consequences, and it was time to face them, ready or not.

Sedgestrike stared down at the apprentice for several seconds. Then, without warning he cuffed her on the head with a heavy sheathed paw.
"I know you're not a stupid kit." He meowed firmly. "Skyclan blooded kits have sense." He shoved her roughly, towards the base of a tree. "Get climbing!" He ordered without letting up an whisker.

It wasn't until she finally climbed the tree that he left her back to scale it behind her, then gestured at the branches ahead of them.
"I expect you to make it to the creek." He ordered, before the sun moves more than a mouse length. He glanced up at the sky. A mouse length was not a lot of time. A warrior would struggle if they lost their way at all, but as he stared down at the apprentice his tail flicked again. He expected her to know how to leap the trees. How to get there the fastest. Surely, her mentor hadn't neglected that.

Ow! Had he just cuffed her? Like she was just some stupid kit? Scrambling up the tree she was shoved towards, as much to escape him momentarily as to obey, she barely spared a thought to his blood comment. Just because she didn't know where she was born didn't make her any less a SkyClan cat! The trees were her home, no matter what anyone else had to say about it, and she could navigate them just fine, thank you.

She wasn't quite as careless as she would have been otherwise, the fact that Sedgestrike was watching her burned into her mind, and she was moving more cautiously than she normally would. However, a problem presented itself: she was far too focused on not falling and proving the warrior's assumptions about her correct, rather than moving quickly. She was under stress, after all, how was she expected to be at her best? Still, moving as quickly as she dared to (which wasn't all that quick), she made her way to the creek. She just hoped it was the right one - what if there were two, or three, and she was expected to tell them apart? After the tree-shoving, she wouldn't actually put it past him.

The slow pace of the journey aggrivated Sedgestrike. There was a clear lack of training that was becoming increasingly evident. That, or she was just clumsy footed. Though he didn't witness a single fall, so that was something worth noting. It wasn't much though.

He scoffed as they reached the creek in at least double the time he said. He leapt to the branch where Sunpaw was and looked down at her.
"You failed." He meowed dryly. "I hope your tracking makes up for that. Otherwise I might have to have a word with your mentor." He gestured sharply towards a higher branch. "Now, get up there and hunt a bird." He ordered, waiting to watch with a critical eye. This would show him if she was simply clumsy or too slow for her own good.

If she couldn't be fast for him, she'd stand no chance in a battle or in a hunt.

He wanted her to catch a bird? She would show him a bird, alright. The best bird he'd ever see! Her eyes wandered the trees for a moment, before catching sight of something just over... There. It was flitting about a few of the lower branches. A lark, almost blending into the trees if she wasn't paying attention. Alright, time to try her best to forget about the judgmental warrior watching her every move, as difficult as it was. Reckless, that was the way to go right now.

It was time for her to be herself, recklessness and all, since playing it safe hadn't done her any favors. She leapt from branch to branch as quickly as she could, nearly falling only once, and approaching her bird. At a neighboring tree to the one it was flitting about on, she prepared to pounce. One last leap, and the bird was beneath her paws, its life ended with a single bite. Lifting it in her jaws, she made her way back to Sedgestrike, staring at him with mild curiosity.

The member 'High Priestess Holly' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

Sedgestrike watched with mild approval as the she-cat did successfully take down a lark. Her paws seemed a little clumsy, but as he thought about it, her approach was at least correct. Was it simply a lack of practice? That was easily remedied. When she looked back at him, he nodded slowly, once. Yet he didn't move from his branch, instead he looked pointedly downwards as he heard the bushes beneath him move.

A soft thump, followed by the brush of fur indicated a rabbit was slowly climbing out from the bushes and towards the creek. Likely for a drink. He flicked his tail sharply down towards it. A clear gesture for her to make a go for it. Though it would be very difficult. She'd have to get down the tree without being seen, catch the rabbit off guard and possibly outrun it. A nearly impossible ask.

Yet a Skyclan cat should be able to do exactly that. He had full confidence in the thought.

A rabbit? Did he think she was some kind of WindClan cat or something? Actually, that might explain a few things. Still, if he expected her to catch that rabbit, she had to try. Confidence. That had made all the difference in catching the lark, hadn't it? She set it down carefully, doing her best to disturb nothing at all, and began attempting to navigate the trees. She couldn't just be reckless this time and hope it worked, after all - the rabbit was much closer, and would likely spook more easily.

Slow and careful were not words to describe Sunpaw, but she was trying anyway. And, to an extent, succeeding. At least, the rabbit didn't seem to notice her descent. She almost naturally fell into a hunting crouch once she reached the ground, sneaking around the side of the tree. That was the end of her good fortune, however, as she had apparently made just a little too much noise, and the rabbit ran. She tried to give chase, but it was too fast for her to catch up to.

The member 'High Priestess Holly' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

For a moment, he thought she had this. He leaned forward on the branch to watch as the rabbit was obscured, then suddenly took off. The apprentice made a tiny effort, but nowhere near enough to catch it. With a growl, he leapt down from the tree.

"What was that!?" He hissed. "You didn't even give it a proper chase!" He stalked over towards her. To all the world, it looked for a moment like he would cuff her again, but at the last moment he reigned himself back. Got himself under control as he stared down the apprentice. "Your form in the trees is clumsy." He criticised firmly. "Until I say stop, I want you to leap around this clearing from tree to tree. No breaks. Get moving." He ordered, then he did reach out to cuff her at any hesitation.

Sunpaw leapt back, once more rushing to scale the nearest tree as a temporary escape. She was an apprentice, wasn't she supposed to be learning and making mistakes? The world wouldn't end because she couldn't catch a rabbit, for StarClan's sake. Still, she felt that she should do what the older, more experienced, somewhat scary warrior told her, so she started leaping from branch to branch, trying to ignore how ridiculous she felt.

"This is stupid," she muttered to herself, wondering what she was supposed to take away from this entire situation. She was supposed to learn something, right? Because she felt like she had learned how to make herself look ridiculous, and not much else.

Sedgestrike watched the apprentice leap with firm gaze. Once she had passed the same spot nearly two dozen times he made his way up into the branches. Without telling her to stop, he joined her. Careful to mind his pace and shift his landings so they wouldn't jostle the branches she was on too much.

"Next time you're hunting, you need to actually try" He growled at her. "If a rabbit runs, you chase it. It may have tripped in the undergrowth. The fact that it's fast should never deter you." His green eyes turned to glare at her. "Now, I expect you to hunt, and catch one more prey item before we leave this clearing. Do you understand?" He asked as he stopped leaping and waited patiently for Sunpaw to catch up to his words. He stood still on his branch and surveyed her once more. He'd get her to hunt and run properly, even if it took them until dusk.

Sunpaw groaned, finally stopping to survey the area again. Sedgestrike wasn't even her mentor, yet here she was. Still, she was learning something, she supposed. A rustle in the grass below caught her attention, and she spotted another rabbit. Did she dare try again, after her supposedly-disastrous display? It barely took her a moment's thought to decide, because of course she had to redeem herself. This time, however, she did even worse-- Somehow, she scared it off without even descending the tree all the way.