Hunting Patrol for Orchidpaw (closed)

Making his way into the apprentice den, Daisyflame found Orchidpaw's pelt among the other bundles of sleeping apprentice's and gently prodded the younger tom's side. "Orchirdpaw, wake up," the tom mewed softly. Tonight, he'd take his new apprentice on a hunting patrol to teach him the basics of how to hunt as a ShadowClan cat.

Orchidpaw’s blue eye slid open, then his yellow one, at his mentor’s gentle wake-up call. He was so tired. What he wouldn’t give to turn back time and catch up on sleep in the nursery next to Minnowcall as a kit. He yawned and rolled over, then fell back asleep.

(OOC: He’s not gonna make training easy XD)

Waiting by the camp entrance for longer than he'd ever had to wait on an apprentice, Daisyflame stood up. Where in the world was Orchidpaw? Making his way back into the apprentice den, the warrior let out a sigh at the sight of his sleeping apprentice. "Orchidpaw. Wake, up," he hissed, using a large paw to rock the apprentice back and forth.

"Mnn--! Yeah, yeah, 'm gettin' up," Orchidpaw drowsily said, though once Daisyflame ceased his shaking he fell back asleep once again.

His brother Poppypaw, who was now awake and shaking moss from his bushy ginger fur, glared down at his sleepy littermate. Honestly, how could he not be super eager to learn how to be a ShadowClan warrior? Better yet, how could he ignore direct orders given to him by his mentor? He gave Orchidpaw's nose a sharp nip, making his yelp and shoot up to a sit.

"Ow! Poppypaw, what was that for?" the blueish-gray tom growled, rubbing his nose with a paw.

"Well, I had to get you up somehow!" Poppypaw retorted. "Go train with Daisyflame while I train with Froststone, and then we can have some lunch together and spend time with Sparkkit. Go on, you lazy furball!" Despite his frustrated nagging, the ginger-and-white tom still gave his brother an affectionate shove with his shoulder as he slipped out past Daisyflame to find his mentor.

Orchidpaw huffed, a small smile spreading across his muzzle despite himself as he watched his beloved brother run off. Turning to Daisyflame, he yawned and stretched, not bothering to groom his sleep-flattened side or pick specks of moss out of his short pelt. "Alright, guess I'm up now. Let's go."

Watching as Poppypaw pried Orchidpaw out of his slumber, Daisyflame let out a chuckle. Oh what fun those two must have together. Glad the the apprentice was finally up, the two of them made their way out of the camp and into the marshy territory. Trotting at a steady pace, the two of them were headed in the direction of the center of the territory where they would do some hunting training before actually hunting.

Arriving at their first destination, Daisyflame came to a halt. "So, what can you tell me about hunting?" the ginger and white tom mewed, curious if his apprentice had any prior knowledge of the matter.

Yawning at least three more times along the way, Orchidpaw looked up sleepily at his mentor when he asked his question. It didn’t take him long to remember what Froststone had taught him and Poppypaw when they were kits. He answered casually, ”Most important rule’s not to let the prey know you’re there. Stalk silently and slowly to maintain balance, and stay downwind of prey. Visualize the pounce and where you’ll land before doin’ it, then take out the prey’s life quickly. Give StarClan thanks for it.” Yeah, that sounded about right. He was more than certain Froststone hadn’t gone over everything there was to know about hunting as they were kits, but at least those were all the basics.

Listening to the apprentice, he nodded his head in agreement at what Orchidpaw told him, impressed by his prior knowledge. "Very good," Daisyflame mewed and crouched down into his hunter's stance, his ears and tail low. "When stalking prey, make sure you also keep your tail from twitching around, for any movement could mean one less fed belly," the warrior warned and then stood up. "Now you try," he mewed, looking to his apprentice.

Orchidpaw nodded and began sniffing around for any prey, struggling to hone in on different scents instead of taking in all of them at once. Finally, he caught whiff of something warm and alive, and he dropped down into a hunter's crouch. This had been his first attempt at a crouch, and he already felt rather awkward and uncomfortable for not being used to the position, but he still did his best to stalk forward as slowly and as silently as possible towards the scent of the creature that was hiding behind a clump of mushrooms. Once he deemed himself close enough, he pounced, but his hind paws slipped on the piney floor and he flopped into the smelly fungi. The alarmed cry of a crow sounded right in front of him, the creature he had been stalking, and even though Orchidpaw tried lashing out his claws at it, the bird quickly took flight and continued its loud caws, alerting the forest of the predators' presence.

The blueish-gray apprentice stumbled up to his paws and shook out his fur of the smelly, sticky mushrooms and huffed moodily as he stalked back to his mentor. So much for being able to catch anything on his first attempt. Poppypaw had been able to catch a lizard on his first try, and he wanted to have been able to catch something his first time around, too.

The member 'Yoshachu Scorchachu' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Effect Dice' : 5

Waiting a few moments, Daisyflame followed his apprentice through the brush, staying a good distance away in hopes of not scaring away any possible prey. Watching the younger tom fail at his first attempt, he knew it must've been a disappointment for Orchidpaw, but not every apprentice was so lucky to get a piece of prey on their first try.

"Good try," the warrior mewed with a smile, emerging from the brush that he was hiding behind. "Try distributing your weight between your forelegs and hind legs so that you can get a more powerful pounce," Daisyflame commented.

Orchidpaw gave a frustrated huff and nodded. He was only half-listening to his mentor's advice. He didn't want to keep trying only to keep failing. What was the point of that? He'd just be scaring off all the prey that more successful hunters could catch.

Still, he wanted to appease his mentor, at least so that they could move on to something else so he could retire to the apprentices' den to sleep. He began searching for prey once again, and soon enough he found something white bobbing around in the undergrowth. He crouched down again and began to stalk forward, but unfortunately for him the creature he was trying to catch had been a rabbit. It seemed to spot him when it turned its head sideways and it raced off. Orchidpaw tried chasing after it, but he quickly lost it when it fled into a burrow. With a defeated groan, he collapsed on his side by the burrow and closed his eyes. "I give up..."

The member 'Yoshachu Spookachu' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

Watching the apprentice once more, Daisyflame knew what it felt like to not catch prey and gave a comforting purr. "Don't give up," he mewed with a frown, nodding his head back and forth. "No ShadowClan cat is good at catching rabbits, so don't beat yourself up about it," the warrior chuckled. "Just try again. I bet you'll have better luck this time."

Orchidpaw gave an irritable flick of his tail and reluctantly rose up to his paws again. He was getting really sick and tired of not being able to catch anything. But he had to try; after all, his caught prey could very well be the one that'll feed Poppypaw or Sparkpaw.

Resuming his search for more prey once again, he found a mouse. He was told that mice are the easiest prey to possibly catch in ShadowClan territory next to frogs and toads. If he messed this one up, what kind of warrior could he possibly be? Crouching down, he stalked towards it once again, and when he was close enough he pounced.

He was absolutely surprised to feel not empty pine needles underpaw, but a squirming warm body. He had caught the mouse! He noticed it was beginning to slip out of his grip, though. He couldn't let it get away! Digging his claws into it to keep it still, he bent down and bit the back of its neck to kill it. A rush of happiness surged through him, and he grinned, then looked up at his mentor, his heterochromic eyes glimmering with joy that he had finally caught something.

The member 'Yoshachu Spookachu' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5