Flint Shaped Tulips [Closed]

Flintshard sat at the base of the Jaggedrock, tail curled around his paws as he watched his Clanmates go around their duties. The patrols for the day had been sent out, there wasn't anything to focus on and thus no need for the deputy to remain in the camp. He pushed himself to his paws, sparing a glance down at his scarred leg. Despite it being nearly healed, hunting had been an issue more than anything. He supposed he had never been the most talented hunter - his large size was a disadvantage in that regards but it was...Annoying. It was something he needed to work on and so with a soft huff, he turned and padded toward the entrance of the camp. A solo hunt would do him good - practice and make sure that he was actually able to catch things but the sound of hurrying paws caught his ear, causing him to slow down as he glanced over his shoulder to see who was approaching.

Having been dying to get out of camp, the sight of Flintshard leaving sent butterflies through Tulippaw's chest. Maybe this would finally be her chance to get out of camp again, and with the deputy, what an opportunity! Thornstar, though a good mentor, seemed to always be busy with one thing or the other, and so hopefully the older tom would let her tag along.

"Flintshard!" the bright-eyed apprentice hollered as she bounded up to the deputy. "I'm coming with you!" she mewed with a wide smile. Tulippaw wasn't one to "ask" and her not going with him wasn't an option, even if he tried to say otherwise.

He blinked as he recognized the shape of Tulippaw approaching, his mother's apprentice. He opened his mouth to ask what she needed...Before she had cut him off with a rather straight-forward reply that she was going with him. His mouth hung open for a few heartbeats, about to push that he wanted to hunt alone before he stopped himself and sighed. He...Had a feeling that Tulippaw's training was being slacked, things had been busy with Thornstar and he had already helped the training of her other apprentice. "Fine. But don't get under my paws," he relented as he turned and continued out of the camp and slowly swirved his path to head toward the Pine Grove.

Giving the deputy a firm nod of acknowledgement, Tulippaw followed the tom out of the camp, making sure to keep a kit-length's distance between them. Tulippaw, although much younger than some of the clan's warrior's, she knew that she was already an exceptional hunter and couldn't wait to show the deputy her skills that she'd been working on. "So where are we going?" she piped up behind Flintshard, her ears perked up out of curiosity.

"Pine Grove," Flintshard responded simply, not bothering to say any more then that until they finally reached the clearing. As the duo stepped into the area, he finally paused to glance back at the apprentice. "Don't wander far, call out if you run into anything dangerous." With that, he turned and headed off on his own, tasting the air until he spotted a lone squirrel digging at a pile of snow at the base of a tree. He dropped into a crouch, stalking forward but a cracking sound with one of his foot-falls caused the squirrel to race away. He paused, glancing down at his paws as he shifted the snow around his foot to see that he had stumbled on a piece of frozen marsh - unseen ice that had cracked beneath his weight as he hadn't prepared himself to try to tread lightly on it. He huffed as he glanced back at the tree that the squirrel had raced up, before he turned to try to seek out something else to catch.

Giving a firm nod of acknowledgement, Tulippaw trotted away from where the deputy had left her. Opening her maw, the she-cat soon scented nearby prey, and crouching down, she stalked through the frosted underbrush to soon spot a vole nibbling on some roots. Getting closer and closer with ever step, Tulippaw kept low and waited until just the right moment...

Pouncing out from her hiding spot, she landed squarely on the vole and finished it off with a swift bite to the nape. Not a bad start to her hunting, if she did say so herself.

Tulippaw attempted to catch a vole, and was... successful. -5 SP

Tulippaw
HP: 20/20
SP: 75/80

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 6

Flintshard carefully stalked through the trees, sticking to the outskirts of the clearing as he carefully sought something else to catch. Every once in a while his gaze would fall toward his scarred leg, silently hoping that it wouldn't prove a problem. It shouldn't be, Mothglow had stated that it was nearly fully healed but he couldn't deny the sometimes flicker of pain that lingered, but he wasn't sure if that was all in his mind or not... There was a slight flicker of movement that caused him to halt, one paw in the air as he saw the gray body of a mouse skirting around some roots. He slowly started to shift forward, paw steps careful - this time accounting for any ice that could be below the snow - until he drew close enough and made his leap.

With skill that he had almost thought he had forgotten, he landed on the mouse and quickly ended its life. He stared down at it, blinking before a sigh escaped him and he picked it up. That...That was a start. Hunting had been so poor for the tom lately, the simple catch was quite a relief. Hunting had never been his strong suit, he knew for a fact that Sparkfire was better at it then him but to have returned nearly emptied paw on every hunting trip he had gone out...Perhaps things would return to normal soon enough. He turned and padded away, scouring for a spot to hide his catch so that he could continue - and catch more of luck was truly on his side tonight.

Spotting another piece of prey, this time a squirrel, Tulippaw crouched down, stalking the unsuspecting rodent for a few moments before striking, once again making a successful catch. Part of her wanted to hunt more, but she also wanted to head back before her jaws got so full that she couldn't carry her prey back to camp.

Making her way back to where she'd left Flintshard, the she-cat waited for his return, eager to get back and show everyone what she'd caught. She would certainly be the best warrior the forest had ever seen, she was sure of it!

With the mouse stored nearby, Flintshard took a moment to scour the landscape for at least one more attempt - one catch was at least something but more would further the sign of his progress, that he was recovering. His whiskers twitched as he caught sight of an odd spot of dull green among the whiteness, a frog that sat there unmoving. He crouched down, slowly approaching but the frog didn't make any movement - it body shifted sightly with breath and life but...It seemed the coldness had frozen it in place, perhaps literally. Deciding to take the opportunity, he leapt forward and ended the frog's life easily. He gently picked it up, lips curling ever so slightly at how cold it was despite being so freshly dead, heading back to where he had hidden the mouse before he gathered both and returned to the clearing proper.

There, Tulippaw waited for him. His ear flickered in acknowledgement as he headed toward her, gaze falling to the vole and the mouse that laid at her paws. He came to a halt, studying the catches for a few heartbeats before he gave a nod of his head at the sight. Perhaps he could have said words of praise but he didn't feel it was needed - and his mouth was full with his own catches. He flickered his tail for her to follow, leading her back to the camp. Tulippaw had shown promise...But more importantly to him, he had shown promise. He had wanted to go out to prove that he could hunt, that his leg was nearly fully healed and wouldn't hold him back any further...And his two catches settled that doubt within him.

Of course, the company of Tulippaw had been unexpected and perhaps a little bit of a bother at first as he hadn't desired it but...Four catches was better than two and he did suppose it was important to keep an eye on the training of the apprentices - mostly when Thornstar hadn't been able to be that active of a mentor lately with her own business going on. He was sure that soon enough Tulippaw would be able to gain her warrior name and be a promising warrior... And of course, Tulippaw hadn't gotten underpaw. She had listened and hadn't bother to show off her 'talent' or skills. She had done what was requested and nothing more...And well, Flintshard could respect that.

He didn't like the company still, but at least it was something.

OOC: Ennnnnnd of topic~