First Hunt [Primrosepaw]

Smokefeather led her apprentice out of camp, pawsteps light on the still-damp earth. She was still wrestling with the surprise of having been given Primrosepaw as an apprentice, but she was happy. Smokefeather only hoped that she could live up to Wolfcall's expectations of her. She'd train her daughter to the best of her abilities, but she was a bit nervous, admittedly. Partly because Primrosepaw was her first apprentice, partly because she was unsure of where to really begin, now that they were out of camp. Hunting had seemed like a good idea, but... Smokefeather's mind flashed back to her first outing as an apprentice. Sunflower had taken her to the thunderpath, then had attempted to take her hunting. The hunting had not gone particularly well.

Smokefeather shook her head to clear it, focusing her attention back on the task at hand. Bloodstrike... Bloodpaw, back then, had showed her how to properly hunt. She'd caught a squirrel on her first try, after her original quarry had been scared off by the noise of approaching cats. Smokefeather smiled softly at the memory, and gave her apprentice a considering look.

"Before we get to the creek, I need to show you the hunter's crouch. Prey runs high after a rain in greenleaf, but our prey isn't foolish and will still run if they hear, smell, or see us coming." She gently stopped her apprentice, and began to explain. "Your head, shoulders, back, hips and tail should be in a straight line, like this-" Smokefeather crouched as she explained, giving a physical demonstration as well as a verbal demonstration, hopefully it would be adequate, but Smokefeather was unsure anyways, "-and you want to be aware of what your tail is doing. Twitching it around and accidentally brushing against leaves will scare off prey quicker than you can say 'mouse.' Being off-balance is important too; trod too heavily and you'll step on a leaf or twig. It'll affect the way you jump, as well, so you need to keep your body weight centered." She paused then, and would allow her apprentice to copy her pose. "Any questions? Do you want to see me catch something before trying yourself?"

Stars, Smokefeather thought, I hope I'm doing this right.

Primrosepaw followed her Smokefeather out into the territory, excited for her first hunt. The recent rain had been gladly welcomed by everyone, probably most of all be her long-furred mother and littermates. Before they had reached their final destination, her mentor stopped, and began to explain the hunting crouch. She carefully followed the instructions, keeping her tail down and level. At Smokefeather's invitation for questions, she sat up out of the pose. "Do you see or scent the prey first? Or do you hear it?" she was starting to worry about having to visually track down prey, as she hadn't told her mentor quite how bad her sight was. "Can I watch you catch something first please?" No matter how much she may worry, she was to excited to let it get in her way.

Smokefeather nodded in approval at her daughter's demonstration. "Good." She praised the cream-pointed apprentice.

Her question was one Smokefeather should have expected. It was practical of her daughter to ask, Smokefeather had fretted when she was a kit, but did her best not to be overbearing. It was hard, sometimes. She was unsure how much vision her daughter had, and not being visually impaired herself, Smokefeather couldn't quite figure out how to handle it. She knew sheltering the apprentice would not be helpful, yet part of her wanted to do just that. Smokefeather ignored the urge, knowing Primrosepaw wouldn't thank her for it. "A bit of each, honestly. Sometimes we can spot prey from a distance, and sight helps when trying to judge the distance while going after it. You can track prey by their scent, and the noise they make is a good indicator of what direction they're in and how far they are from you if you can't see it yet. You'll learn to pick up on the differences between prey as we come across them, too. Hunting isn't a purely visual thing, not even for those with perfect eyesight in broad daylight."

She'd asked to watch, and Smokefeather would demonstrate. She just hoped that she wouldn't make an absolute fool of herself.

A soft breeze was blowing towards them, and Smokefeather caught the scent of bird on the wind. Her eyes landed on the plump creature when she turned her head, gaze searching. "I'll see if I can catch that quail, it's a few foxlengths ahead and a bit to your left. Be still." Smokefeather kept her voice quiet. She then left her daughter's side, moving into a crouch and carefully started forward.

When she was close enough, Smokefeather leapt for the bird in question. She was more than relieved that her claws caught feathers, and ended the bird with a quick blow, cutting off a squawk of alarm as she did.

Smokefeather attempted to catch a quail and was successful. 117 / 120sp (-3sp)

Smokefeather turned to her apprentice, then, bird hanging from her jaws. "Think you're ready to try?" she asked softly, "Use your senses. What scents can you pick out?" Smokefeather hoped that she could recognize the scents of prey from the fresh-kill pile. Distinguishing them from each other could be a bit tricky, and the scents were a bit different now that their prey was live, but she hoped it wouldn't be too difficult to pick up.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Primrosepaw had watched very carefully as her mother hunted, picking up on the larger movements she made, and how not even a leaf rustled as she crept forward. Soaking up every detail, she sat the stillest she had been all day. When the catch was done and buried, she eagerly nodded her head at her mother and lifted her nose to the air. "Is that .... squirrel?" she briefly recognised it from her meal the night before. As there were many similar coloured cats in her clan, she had begun to rely on scents to distinguish them, as she was unable to tell faces apart most of the time. Unfortunately, she had not memorised scents of prey yet, as it was still her first training session.

Focusing on the scent of the squirrel, she dropped into the hunting crouch they had worked on earlier. Silently creeping forward, she saw the fluffy-tailed, grey shape nibbling on a nut nearby. On light paws she got closer and closer, and then pounced.

Primrosepaw used 3 SP to catch a squirrel. Catch was unsuccessful and summoned a predator.

77/80

Suddenly, a goose ran at the cream apprentice from where it was downstream in the riverbed. The squirrel had scampered away at the commotion, and was nowhere to be found. She panicked and struck out an unsheathed forepaw, unable to defend herself in many other ways. "Mum! What should I do?" The goose was larger than her and was hissing angrily.

Primrosepaw used Front Paw Strike on goose, costing 10 SP and doing 6 damage.

Goose:
34/40 health
130/130 stamina

Primrosepaw:
20/20 health
70/80 stamina

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 10

Smokefeather dropped the bird she was carrying, watching Primrosepaw. Squirrel, yes. "Yes, that's squirrel. In time, you'll learn to memorize the different scents." She murmured encouragingly. She then took a step back to watch her daughter stalk it. Her form was good for a first attempt. With practice, she'd only improve.

That's when the goose appeared. A goose. Again. What was it with the foul creatures? Why were they even this deep in Skyclan's territory? Doubtless, she'd have a good laugh about it with Bloodstrike later, but for now her focus was on keeping her apprentice safe. That meant getting in there before it had a chance to use that wickedly sharp beak.

Smokefeather used leap and hold on Goose for 8 damage and -10sp. LAH effect dice: 1,2,3: pinned for one turn. 4,5,6: pinned for two turns.

Smokefeather:
40 / 40hp
107 / 120sp (117 - 10sp)

Goose:
-pinned for one turn-
26 / 40hp (34 - 8hp)
130 / 130sp

"Slash at the belly with your claws while I have it pinned, then be prepared to move because I can't hold onto it for long. Their wings will hurt and do a good job obscuring it's body, but their beak is very sharp and you don't want to get bit if you can avoid it." She instructed, feeling her unsheathed claws sink into feathers as she began to rake her claws down the creature's back. All things considered, outwardly Smokefeather was surprisingly calm. A goose wasn't the worst thing she'd faced, and she wasn't Sunflower. She wouldn't just leave her apprentice to fight the creature alone.

Still, a voice at the back of Smokefeather's mind worried. This was meant to be a quick hunting trip, yet had turned into battle practice with a live opponent instead. Smokefeather would be lying if she said she wasn't fearful for Primrosepaw. She did her best to keep that fear out of her voice and expression however.

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

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'Effect Dice' : 1

Primrosepaw felt her mother's outwards calmness, and listened as carefully as she could. Nodding at Smokefeather's instruction, she slashed at the goose's underside. Her fear and annoyance at loosing her prey helped her focus on what she was doing. Careful to avoid its hard beak, she continued.

Primrosepaw used Belly Rake on goose, costing 10 SP and doing 7 damage.

Goose:
19/40 HP
130/130 SP

Primrosepaw:
20/20 HP
60/80 SP

As Smokefeather had said, she could only hold it so long. After a short while, the injured goose broke free, and ran back in the direction it came, towards RiverClan territory, flapping its wings. Primrosepaw was pretty muck unscathed, only a little out of breath. She had carefully dodged the dangerous part of the goose - the beak - and followed her mentor's instructions. Luckily, the goose made so much noise and was a different colour to the forest, she had been able to track it, and her blows didn't miss.

"If you're not too tired, can we carry on hunting please? I don't want to be the only one out of my littermates who doesn't bring any prey home today, and I nearly had that squirrel." 

True to her word, Smokefeather quickly lost her grip as the goose thrashed and hissed furiously while she clawed at it from above and Primrosepaw raked it's softer underside. Thankfully the goose seemed to think better of trying to continue the fight. Still, Smokefeather didn't relax her pose until the bird was out of sight.

"Are you alright?" Smokefeather eyed her daughter, allowing some of her concern to show now that the immediate threat was gone. She hadn't planned for an impromptu introduction to combat today, but that just seemed to be how things worked for Smokefeather and first outings.

"Geese," Smokefeather gave a snort, "Your father and I were hunting when one attacked us, we were still apprentices then. They don't usually come this far into our territory." A small smile lit her face at the memory, however. It had been her first real introduction to fighting, too, and she'd asked Bloodstrike to help her train after that. Sunflower hadn't enjoyed sparring, and Smokefeather had no doubts she'd learn very little under the cowardly warrior's attempts to train his apprentice.

Still, that made her worry. How was she supposed to teach her apprentice to fight if she had trouble seeing? What if her vision became worse? Smokefeather was unsure of where to start, when it came to that. Primrosepaw's voice was a distraction from those thoughts for now, and Smokefeather brought her focus back to the apprentice.

"If you feel up to it, sure." Smokefeather said, "Let's move downstream a bit and try again." A bit shaken then, but determined. She hoped Primrosepaw held onto that determination. She turned and picked up her nearly-forgotten quail, and carefully hid it beneath the roots of a tree, scraping dirt over it.

"We'll pick this up on the way back, then." With that, she began to walk again, allowing the apprentice to easily keep pace with her.

Primrosepaw was thankful for the goose's retreat, and sat down on the slightly soft earth, listening to her mother. She nodded at her question, as she was luckily unharmed. Her mother's hatred for geese made her laugh, as she was always interested in her stories, and it was now a feeling she shared.

She kept pace with her mother as they traveled downstream. There was less prey scents now, scared by the commotion they created with the goose. Still, she kept hope for a catch. All she wanted was one piece of prey to take back to camp. But she would find it. Almost completely lost in her own thought, her mind stirred when she caught a scent. It was some kind of bird, although she was unsure what type.

As quietly as possible, she dropped into a hunting crouch. The bird itself was hard to distinguish from the brown forest floor, but the scent was strong and it sang loudly as it pecked in the ground for worms. Pinpointing its position, she leaped towards it and slammed her paws down.

Primrosepaw used 3 SP to catch a thrush. Catch was unsuccessful

74/80

Again she pounced, and again she missed. This time she blamed it on her vision, as she had leapt onto a small pile of leaves just left of the bird. It panicked and flew away, landing on a tree nearby and bursting into song again. Primrosepaw was slow to anger (unlike her littermates) but was starting to get a little annoyed. At least her first failed attempt wasn't due to her eyes' lack of focus. Worried her mother would baby her a little, she shook her pelt out and turned back to her.

"I'm fine," she said, "just misjudged it a bit. It wasn't my eyes fault, I think I just need more practice." She still wanted to bring some prey back, but she was starting to doubt that there was any prey left in the territory.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Smokefeather watched as the apprentice stalked forward and leapt, this time missing the bird. Her form was fine, but she'd aimed a bit to the side. A consequence of her vision loss?

"You will improve with practice," Smokefeather agreed, she flicked her tail, resting it gently on her apprentice's shoulder for a moment, then away again. "Most apprentices don't catch prey on their first try." Being interrupted didn't count. That happened to even experienced warriors, just as even experienced warriors could miss their prey. This was Primrosepaw's first outing into the first, her first time hunting.

"There's a sparrow on the ground, about 3 foxlengths to your right," indicating with her tail the direction the bird was in, "Try again?" She wanted her daughter to succeed, having another chance to practice her skills would be beneficial.

Primrosepaw clenched her teeth a little at her mother's help, but relaxed as she turned to see the bird. She wouldn't have done that if I was Beechpaw or Dawnpaw or Dustpaw. This caused her to scold herself - her mother was just trying to be helpful, and her advice helped her see the bird that she would have ignored otherwise.

This time, she decided to to change her method a little. Instead of pouncing as soon as possible, she crept closer and closer, and sat in the crouch, watching the sparrow and making sure she knew exactly where it was. The bird was pecking the ground, completely unaware that Primrosepaw was stalking it. Once she was happy that she knew where her prey was, she leapt towards it, claws outstretched, like she had now done several times. Her paws landed on top of feathers and, and she stretched her head out to bite it in the back of the neck. Truthfully, she had caught the tail of the bird with her claws, but was able to keep a hold of it.

Primrosepaw used 3 SP to catch a sparrow. Catch was successful!

71/80


Picking her catch up in her mouth, she trotted back to her mother and scuffed dirt over it. "I did it! I did it!," all her small doubts had disappeared, drowned by her excitement and pride in the sparrow.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6