Hunting for... Herbs? [Closed]

Becoming an apprentice had been, quite exciting to say the least. Her moons in the nursery were at an end and life was filled with so much more promise now than was capable with three solid walls and some beds of moss. There were so many more things to do. Although there was the excitement of leaving her previously perception of the world, the new role also came with new tasks. A good portion of the tabby's time was spent caring for the elders. It was not exciting or really enjoyable, but it was part of being an apprentice. So, even when it was disheartening she would press on.

Today, something better was happening. This was a patrol day! Cloverleaf was too busy to go out herself and had been assigned different patrols but she would still be under the care of great warriors. Ones she had not met before. She sat down just inside the gorse tunnel, so close it just barely snagged her pretty fur. Her paws were tucked underneath her tail and she waited patiently for the others to arrive. In a matter of minutes, they would be racing through the territory catching as much as they could carry. For now, her pretty green eyes simply danced around the camp and above, taking in the beauty of the day.

Pricklepaw strode out of the apprentices' den, fluffing up his fur, breathing in the late morning air. The days when Snowdrop had nothing planned for him were the best days, because he got to pick his own patrols without that crabby she-cat breathing down his neck. It was a beautiful day! His moss-green eyes were alight with the pleasure of the sunlight down his back as he strolled across the center of camp, sparing a glance for the fresh-kill pile before deciding to go out hunting first. He saw a relatively newer apprentice- Chervilpaw?- sitting by the entrance, apparently ready for a patrol. Well, it would be nice to get to know someone new! Shaking out his pelt so that he looked better, and bigger, he sat down by her, a slight smile on his face. "Waiting for someone?" he grinned easily.

The little she-cat looked like a kit in comparison to Blizzardshine and Artemis' massive son. Although he was imposing, it took a second for her to realize another cat had joined her at the entrance. As soon as he settled down and his cool words tickled the tufts of fur on her ears, her brilliant eyes snapped over too him. For a moment, Chervilpaw just looked at him before realization dawned on her and she leaped up onto her feet, "You must be the warrior I was waiting for! My mentor told me I was supposed to join this patrol!" Her excited words were delicate and softer than the average cat but filled with a surprising amount of passion and fire. The young apprentice smiled up at him as if she wasn't staring up at a much larger cat, as if they were eye level.

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and flicked her tail lightly against his cheek in a preemptive show of affection for her unknown clanmate. She spared him a glance over her shoulder as she easily slid through the tunnel and into the forest, "Come on! We don't want to waste any sunlight. Its a beautiful day for hunting." It briefly dawned on her that she had no idea how to hunt. Because of her mentor's busyness and struggling with a bought of sickness, the she-cat had done very few things outside the camp walls within her few sunsets as an apprentice. However, that barely slowed the spring in her step as she bounded down the ravine. Trotting along ahead of Pricklepaw for a moment, she slowed considering it might be best to follow the warrior in charge of the patrol, "What did you say your name was? I feel like I've seen you before, but I don't know your name."

As she smiled at him, Pricklepaw smiled back, noticing how pretty her eyes were- until what she'd said caught up with him. But- I'm not a warrior? He sat for a moment, stunned, as she began racing off into the forest. Because of his size, Chervilpaw obviously thought that he was a warrior. But he wasn't. How would he deal with this? Well, he thought as he followed her out of camp, it's too late to tell her I'm an apprentice now. As he ran to catch up with her, his mind raced as to what he would do when he got there. Blank, nothing. When she asked him what his name was, he panicked. "Uh, Pricklepounce!" Fox-dung. That's a stupid name. Well, again, he just had to continue with what he'd started. There was no choice. "Because... uh... I caught ten rabbits on my first day as apprentice," he finished lamely, wondering belatedly why he hadn't just corrected the she-cat.

There was a light breeze that sent a slight chill down her spine. However, passing back into a ray of the bright day's sun, Chervilpaw let out a low purr. Her eyes half-closed for a moment until there was a presence at her side once again. Green eyes blinked open to settle on Pricklepaw's bewildered face. With her excited and wondering mind, she missed the fact that he seemed to trip over his words and simply responded with a sweet smile. Flicking his coat once again as the young apprentice continued on past the ravine, Chervilpaw meowed, "Pricklepounce. That's a fun name. And ten rabbits! Wow! You'll have to show me how to be as good of a hunter as you someday." If it weren't for the zealous push behind her words, they likely would have drowned under the sounds of the forest. But each sentence seemed as sweet as honey. Her eyes shone with excitement about being in the presence of such a phenomenal warrior.

The little tabby's paws picked over the drying undergrowth with soft crunches. Because of her lightweight frame, it was not much noise and so she wrote it off. That and the fact that Chervilpaw hadn't the faintest clue on how to hunt. There was the murmur of the stream that ran through the territory. Her ears flicked at the sound and without hesitation, the apprentice headed towards the new sound. She simply had to discover it. Thoughts of following the patrol leader vanished instantly and her steps carried her in a new direction. Through the undergrowth that was just ahead, Chervilpaw saw a flash of silver. In a rush of excitement, she bunched her hindleg muscles and leaped forward at the prospect of a catch. Where there had been a fish moments earlier was merely frigid water. Sounds of splashing water rose into the air as she floundered in the water before finding her footing. It took a moment to regain her balance as the weight of the water now drug her down. She quickly trotted back to Pricklepaw and shook out her coat, spraying him with many droplets of the stream water.

"I supposed that isn't how you hunt..." She spoke, grinning at the massive tom with a sheepish smile across her maw.

The member 'Tommy Rippedseau' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Pricklepaw let out an inaudible sigh of relief that, somehow, the she-cat didn't notice his lie. However, that just made him feel more guilty. Whatever one said about the tom, he did have a moral code, and this lie was making him uncomfortable. He'd just have to live with it, however. Chervilpaw's smile was making him feel something really warm inside, and he didn't want her to stop smiling when she learned that he was just an apprentice. So he puffed out his chest and continued.

However, a smile blossomed on his own face as the other apprentice tried to catch a fish, of all things. Naturally, she didn't succeed, but it was a good try anyways. "What do you think we are, RiverClanners?" he laughed good-naturedly, watching the water stream off of her pretty tabby fur. "You'd be even more of a legend than me if you managed to catch a fish as an apprentice- or at all, really! Usually, we catch mice or birds or voles. Sometimes we’ll get lucky- or skilled, like me- and catch a rabbit. We don’t eat frogs and lizards like ShadowClan, or fish like RiverClan. Here, watch and learn how a ThunderClanner hunts.”

After scenting the air for a few seconds, Pricklepaw almost immediately caught sight of a squirrel. He dropped carefully into a hunting crouch, glancing over at Chervilpaw to see if she noticed what he was doing. His fluffy tail lay out flat and motionless behind him, like that stick-in-the-mud Snowdrop had told him. He crept forwards, one paw after the other, making sure to stay downwind of the small prey animal. When he was close enough, he gathered all of his strength into his hind legs, winding up, and then leapt forward towards the squirrel, claws outstretched. He caught it, of course, and swiftly ended its life. After silently thanking StarClan, he buried the fresh-kill under a bush and turned to the she-cat. "Your turn, Chervilpaw," he meowed, nodding towards the forest. "Just do what I did."

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

"A Riverclanner! No way!" She protested, letting out a soft laugh at his remark. As the fluffy tom spoke, she only mulled over his words for a moment. Although she caught the part about being a legend. Chervilpaw wanted to impress the great rabbit hunter, didn't she? And there was no better way than to catch a fish then. Her mind was made up instantly. Before she could move, however, Pricklepounce was demonstrating Thunderclan hunting techniques--real ones. Her eyes brightened and she managed to focus long enough to watch his impressive skill. There was no wonder he had become a warrior. Leopardstar was a leader of great character and selecting the best warriors was only one way he displayed his brilliance. Chervilpaw was sure of that.

Her eyes blinked for only a split second and then she was glued on Pricklepounce. The silence of his pawsteps was wonderful. Bounding towards him with light steps, she was happy to find that she could easily avoid the crunchy leaves and manage similar moments. When she was close enough, the apprentice stopped merely a whisker's length from his nose tip and straightened up, "That was impressive and all, but if I am going to prove myself a truly great warrior, I clearly much catch a fish!" She turned back to the little creek, this time considering the silence he had displayed, and flicked her tail across his maw while turning. Despite her fleeting patience, Chervilpaw managed to wait for a moment at the water's edge before diving into the shallows after another slippery, silver body. This time her paws caught it but the creature still managed to wriggle away and return to its previous path.

Crestfallen, the new apprentice turned back to the patrol leader with a discontented expression. Another failed attempt. Perhaps she was not the great hunter after all. This time her paws were slower as she returned to the warrior. With a quick exhalation of breath, Chervilpaw gave into defeat, "I guess we will do it your way after all." Her bright green gaze was more subdued before and tinged with hints of dissatisfaction. At this point, it was obvious that Chervilpaw had never learned to scent either. This was, after all, her first time outside of camp. She glanced around for a few moments before setting off in a very sight dependant method of searching for prey, one that certainly proved not to be fruitful.

The member 'Tommy Rippedseau' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Pricklepaw stifled a slight laugh as the she-cat bounded off to try and catch a fish again. Maybe bragging so much hadn't been a good idea... oh well. Her determination was admirable. He walked up in slight concern after she went off into the forest, noticing that she was only looking for prey with her eyes. Hadn't her mentor taught her anything? "Chervilpaw," he began gently, "you can't just look around the forest and hope to find prey. There are other ways of searching that are much more reliable. Sniff the air around you, and you can find just about anything you need." He inhaled deeply, reading all the scents that were coming to him from the light breeze. He was a relatively new apprentice himself, but even he knew this. "You've eaten different prey before, right? So just taste the wind, and see if you can taste any of the prey you recognize. Mice are earthy, and voles are more musky. Rabbits kind of taste more grassy, and squirrels have a nutty sort of flavor- and scent. Try it, and you can probably find a lot more than you know." He kept up what he was doing for a while, then noticed a small mouse rooting around in the grass not too far away. "Do you smell anything?" he probed, hoping that she would be able to find it.

"Oh." She breathed simply, mulling briefly over the fact that the warrior did have a point. Previously, the new apprentice had no idea about how to hunt in the slightest. But Pricklepounce was teaching her so much! Her little red-tinged, brown nose up into the wind. With a slight parting of her maw, Chervilpaw was shocked by all the things she could immediately smell. His pointers helped her to decipher the hints of the squirrel the older cat had just caught along with mice and many other things she recalled from having tried them within the camp walls. Green eyes blinked in surprise. With just the simple action the world became so much bigger. With a glance from the side of her gaze as she smiled up at Pricklepounce, the she-cat meowed, "There is so much! My mentor hasn't taken me out yet... I had no idea."

With a twitch of her nose, she noticed there was a fresher scent. For a moment, Chervilpaw could not recall the name. It seemed to evade her. Until her eyes rested on the prickly tom, the very one who had managed to catch several rabbits when he was merely an apprentice. Rabbit. Her eyes glistened as she faced the direction the scent was coming from. This was her moment. No more attempting to catch fish, at least not today. Now was the time to show Pricklepounce he was not the only one who could catch a rabbit! Modeling the catch she had witnessed only moments earlier, Chervilpaw followed her nose towards the source of the smell until she could see it. A massive brown creature was just ahead through a thicket of dying undergrowth. One pawstep after another drew her closer. It was just about as big as she was but the petite she-cat did not slow her step.

There was a soft rustling as her tail tip just slightly brushed up against something behind her. The rabbit's head shot up and as it prepared to bolt, she bunched up her powerful hindlegs, the very same that hinted at her Skyclan heritage. And she was on it. Her claws sunk in deep to the fur and flesh. The creature panicked and thrashed wildly, almost dazing her. This would be far from a clean catch. When she finally got her bearings and remembered what to do, Chervilpaw lashed out with glistening white teeth and sunk them deep into the throat of the rabbit. It cried out before the light died from its eyes and it became as still as the squirrel. Panting heavily, the she-cat stepped off to the side and began the process of dragging it back to the tom. Her stare dared him to help her with the arduous task. This was her catch.

"Suppose they'll call me Chervilpounce now?" She said smoothly after dropping the large piece of prey at his feet. Her tail and chin were held high with pride. Finally, she was a real apprentice now.

The member 'Joker Rippedseau' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 4