Bonepaw's Hunting Assessment (Closed)

The large dark tom stretched out his limbs. He looked around with a curious gaze as his eyes fell on Bonepaw. He tilted his head for a moment, assessing the tom. It was long past time for the black and white tom to be a warrior... yet he was missing something. It occured to him abruptly. His hunting assessment. His mentor hadn't taken him yet, he had been busy... Marshstorm frowned and stood. It was time to amend that.

He padded forward and paused next to him.
"Bonepaw, I believe it's time for your assessment." He mewed calmly, then gestured towards the camp entrance as he began to lead the way.

They walked along for awhile until he was satisfied they were far enough from any hunting parties to avoid running into them.
"Alright Bonepaw, I want you to catch one mouse, and one bird or squirrel." He mewed firmly, settling down to sit in the middle of the clearing. "Remember, I will be watching you to judge your speed, effieciency and technique." he nodded, his tail flicked in dismissal. "You have until sunset."

Bonepaw’s head raised rather slowly when he hears the words of the deputy, smiling at him calmly with drowsy eyes as he listened, even if he had to bite his tongue to keep in a small groan. He had managed to escape Dustcloud’s assessment, but he now knew he was foolish to believe he wouldn’t need to so the same with Marshstorm. Now it was too late anyways, and he knew better than to argue with the deputy himself, at least this was just a hunting task and he wasn’t being sent to cause even more tensions and unnecessary bloodshed at the borders to prove his worth. If anything, he guessed hunting was one of the very few things he agreed with on the warrior path, as it was something they did to survive and not to cause harm. He couldn’t help but wonder if Marshstorm would allow him to take his catches to his mother.

She just had a new litter. While he was still a bit on edge about her new mate, as he would never be able to see any other tom as his father, knowing he had little siblings to love and protect gave him back some of his long lost motivation.

With a quick stretch he got up and followed Marshstorm, not even needed to watch where he was going as he basically sleep-walked behind him. He had spent a long time wandering around the territory, memorizing the position of each tree, each rock, each bush…his paws carried him with the silence of an hunting owl, and even if he wasn’t looking where he was placing them he not once bumped into a tree or tripped over a loose pebble…that didn’t took away the fact that when Marshtorm stopped he did accidentally bumped into him, causing him to take a step back and shake his head as he opened his eyes. Moving creatures were harder to avoid than memorized stationary objects.

“Mouse, bird and squirrel. Got it…” He didn’t really wait for the deputy to walk away before starting the search, usually he would like to take his time while hunting, but with the deputy watching his every move he guessed that some nice walks between catches were out of the question, so the fastest he got his done the better.

He opened his mouth to catch the scent of any nearby prey, ears moving carefully to pick up any sound that would give him better clues to where they could be located.

As it was to be expected, mice were abundant in the forest, so it didn’t took him long to catch the scent of one. After detecting the origin of the scent and minding the wind direction, he got into a crouching position and carefully started to walk forward. The mouse was eating berries from a nearby bramble bush, under other circumstances he probably would’ve thought it twice before hitting, but at the time he just wanted this to be over with.

Using the thick undergrowth in his favor, he approached the rodent as much as he could before darting out. In a heartbeat or two the mouse was hanging limp from his jaws and he was wincing lightly, since the speed of his attack and the proximity to the brambles had caused him to scratch his nose with the thorns, as it could be seen by a couple small scarlet drops that were forming near its tip. With a sigh he decided to bury the mouse right under the brambles, guessing any predator would think it twice before trying to dig it back up should they find it as he searched for the rest of the prey.

His next task, a squirrel. He found himself having to walk a bit further away from the place to find one, having to lick some blood droplets off his nose until it stopped bleeding from the scratches to find one. The position was rather inconvenient, as it was on a somewhat open area burying something. That didn't stop him from stalking it, using a similar technique as before. However, this time he darted forward on what appeared to be before time, causing the rodent to dash towards the nearest tree.

With a smirk, Bonepaw used his strong back-legs to jump towards said tree, landing right in front of the squirrel and turning around before the small animal could process what had just happened. Cutting off its escape and giving it a quick death between its jaws. He just nodded to himself before walking back to where he had buried the mouse and, after making sure the first piece of prey was still there, he placed the squirrel right next to it.

He was about to go looking for Marshstorm to have this assessment over with when the soft sound of a bird’s song. He looked up to the branches of a nearby tree where a small yet bright colored bird sang its song. His mind raced to the small kits in the nursery cuddling against his mother, memories of his own days as kit when colorful feathers always caused him and his littermates to smile, at least for him, gathering and playing with those colorful soft items was such an indescribable joy.

Without thinking he walked towards the tree and, much unlike any ThunderClan warrior would, jumped on it and started to climb.

He knew of his ancestry, his strong legs and hooked claws showing the pure ancient SkyClan blood that ran through his veins, the strong warrior genes from her mother overpowering those of his former rogue father. He wasn’t ashamed of it like many would think, and instead took pride on such an ancient link, and because of this he had purposefully taught himself the ways of such clan in desires to know more about himself. It was surprising how easy it was for him to learn the abilities of their neighboring clan, it was almost like if those were abilities that had always been deep within him, sleeping until he decided to wake them. True, he would never be able to compare to the fully trained warriors of SkyClan, but he didn’t mind.

He used hit tail to balance himself on the branch as soon as he reached it, stalking the bird before dashing forward. As it was to be expected, the bird instantly tried to fly away, and as an answer he used his powerful back legs to jump. He closed his jaws around the colorful body of the bird in midair, feeling its life fade away instantly. He looked before him and got his claws ready to land on the next nearby branch, belonging to a tree next to the one he had just climbed, he felt his claws hook into it…and then slip.

Never being trained to hunt on trees, all he knew completely self-taught, he had miscalculated the size and proximity of the branch. He, however, didn’t allow himself to panic and focused on the approaching trunk of the tree instead of the quickly approaching ground, an as soon as he could he dug his claws deep in it, causing long scratch marks on it before he hit the ground. The hit still hurt, but besides sore claws and a couple bumps and bruises from the fall, he was completely fine. He had managed to decelerate just enough to keep the fall from causing him any serious damage…he would still be sore for a day or two though…

He still got the bird though…a nice meal for his mom and colorful feathers to brighten up his younger siblings’ day. Worth it.

The member 'Ink King' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Hunting Dice' : 5, 2, 1

Marshstorm held back a chuckle at Bonepaw's expression as he explained what the assessment would be. Since his mate had their litter of kits, they had both been preoccupied, but he knew the tom could do it. He waited for him to leave the clearing, he thought about how to follow silently. He was older, which meant he was more seasoned. That meant too that he was more likely to notice things amiss or sounds that carried on for too long. He may be a master stalker, but a young sharp-eared cat could catch anything.

After Bonepaw left, he shadowed him slowly. Taking great care to not touch branches or leaves he could avoid while he watched the apprentice with bright amber eyes. The tom's approach to a mouse was admirable. His catch a certain and good one. With a nod, he resumed his shadowing, thrown off slightly when Bonepaw leapt up the trunk of a tree. It was a skill he admired. Marshstorm's paws were too big and his limbs a little too clumsy to climb a tree with such bold precision. Bonepaw's ThunderClan blood truly shone as he delivered the squirrel back to the ground to bury it. His tail twitched slightly behind him.

Perhaps it wasn't too late for him to get to grips with climbing trees... he glanced at his paws, then back to where Bonepaw was. Within a blink, the young tom had dissappeared back on the hunt, and Marshstorm was left to follow from a farther distance. Because of the distance, he didn't see the bird until white fur flashed above his vision. The jump he made was a great one, even if his landing missed. For a moment, his body turned to rush over and catch the falling tom, but Bonepaw didn't need the help. A rush of relief filled his chest, and he slowly padded back towards the clearing to wait for the apprentice.

When Bonepaw arrived, Marshstorm nodded his approval immediately.
"You have truly become an excellent hunter." He meowed, a smile on his muzzle "Your mother must be very proud of you. You've passed your assessment with great ease today, and now, you are free to do as you wish with your kills." He concluded, standing up with a gesture towards the camp. Bonepaw had done all the work of catching the prey, and to Marshstorm, that meant that he could share it with whoever he wished. It was greenleaf after all, with more than enough prey for queens and kin alike. He had a slight suspicion that Bonepaw would be thinking of his own family, and the dark tabby tom wouldn't get in the way. "It won't be long before you're a warrior." He commented as he turned towards camp. "What a warrior you will be as well."