Hunting [closed]

Henpaw stretched, feeling her muscles protest faintly. She had a plan for today. Sure, she was a medicine cat, but last time she checked, the Code didn’t say nothing about medicine cats hunting. They had enough herbs. Besides, she needed to sink her claws into fur. She couldn’t do that with herbs, unfortunately.

Glancing around the camp to see who was free, her eyes caught a familiar grey-white pelt. “Ashfall!” She greeted with a wave of her tail. “You up for some huntin? Not herbs- I want to stretch my legs!” She really did hope Ashfall could come- if she ran into a predator by herself, that could hurt, and she wasn’t feeling on top of her game today. Hunting should help. Besides, Ashfall was awesome. That much was easy for anycat to see. Henpaw still admired Ashfall for her actions during the battle. She was pure awesomeness. Anycat who said otherwise would face her claws.

Ashfall had been journeying to and fro all morning, reinforcing her nest with new moss and grass. It was a simple, if not boring, chore, but she'd rather do it now than wait and be uncomfortable when her nest fell apart in the middle of the night. She had nearly finished when she heard a vaguely familiar voice. Turning, she saw that it was Henpaw. One of Tawnyflare's and Fawnstep's kits. That meant she was kin, and Ashfall was always happy to help out her family. "Hey, Henpaw, sure we can go hunting, give me one moment." Placing the finishing touches on her nest, she waved her fluffy tail for Henpaw to follow.

Ashfall lead them out of camp, hobbling along on her limp. When she wanted to go faster, she just picked up the paw, but old habits died hard, and she rathered limping on four paws than on three anyway. "So, how's medicine cat life treating you? I'm sure it must be interesting. I would bet that Smallbean sure appreciates having help." The warrior made some attempts at small talk, instead of complete silence. Her tone was polite as she kept on the lookout for prey, turning her head in a scanning motion so she could see the entire horizon, instead of her now usual two-thirds.

“It’s good,” Henpaw waved her tail vaguely. “Smallbean’s nice. I can’t stand being cooped up in that den all day, though. I haven’t hunted in far too long. I mean, herb hunting is nice, but there’s no adrenaline.” A rustling in the grass to her left made her freeze, slowly turning towards the sound. With a murmur to Ashfall, she stalked into the tall grass, operating off of sound and smell. A rabbit, by the scent. She was getting close.

There. Between the fronds she could see a flash of brown fur. Keeping close to the ground, she snuck closer…and closer… with a yowl, she burst out of the grass, teeth sinking into the rabbit’s neck. A few moments later, it was dead. Henpaw picked it up and trotted back to Ashfall with a smile. She laid the rabbit down and scraped some dirt over it. “You up for a huntin’ contest? Gotta keep skills sharp, eh?” She was a medicine cat, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t good at hunting. Contests made hunting all that more fun. Hopefully Ashfall would agree.

Henpaw tried to catch a rabbit. Catch was successful!

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Ashfall gave Henpaw a shrug. "Some prefer to be cats of action, rather than wait around or be patient. Thankfully, both should make good medicine cats." A sound made her freeze, and she watched carefully as Henpaw went after the source of it. From what it smelled like, it was a rabbit. A well-hidden one too, she hadn't seen it as she watched the grasses. She listened to a rustling, then a yowl (of what Ashfall assumed was triumph, she scented no predators currently), then pawsteps coming back to her. A rabbit was limp in Henpaw's jaws, and a faint smile appeared on Ashfall's face.

"Well done." She said this with some pride, it was good to see that their future medicine cat would have some hunting skills. "A hunting contest doesn't sound like a terrible idea. We can go first to three, if you'd like. With a twist though, we need to catch something that's not a hare or rabbit. Bring some variety to the fresh-kill pile hm?" After listening to any changes to the rules, or confirmation, that Henpaw had indicated, Ashfall limped away to find some prey.

After a little walking, Ashfall scented a bird. A grouse, to be exact, and while not common, weren't rare either. She sunk low into the grasses, an excited glint in her eye. It was nice to be hunting more often now. With that, came more experience hunting in her own unique way. Lifting up her odd paw, Ashfall had to perform little hops with her good front paw to stalk forward. It worked though, maybe the tall grass concealing her did most of the work. Once she was within range, she lifted up and sprinted, leaping with claws outstretched. The grouse stood no chance, and died when she brought her paws down on its neck. Quickly burying it, she lifted her head, looking for her next prey.

Ashfall caught a bird!

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

“Sounds good,” Henpaw purred, the light of competition in her eyes. “You’re going down, Ashfall!” As Ashfall headed off, Henpaw sniffed around for prey scent. She’d better back up her brag. Nothing. Hmm. A slight commotion from Ashfall’s direction showed that she’d caught something. Henpaw had better hurry.

She rose onto her haunches, scanning the grass for prey. Any prey, really, but she did want to catch something impressive. A flutter of wings caught her eye. A small flock of birds had touched down and were poking around for food. Henpaw slid into her hunting crouch and stalked forwards until the birds were within leaping distance. Suddenly she exploded into the air, snagging a bird on the wing just as it took off. Pinning it to the ground, she ended its life quickly. Henpaw picked it up and hurried back to where her rabbit was buried. She had to hurry- Ashfall might’ve caught her prey by now. And, of course, Henpaw wanted to win.

Henpaw attempted to catch a bird! Catch was successful

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Ashfall was on the hunt again, this time searching for a rabbit that had strayed from its burrow. She hid herself in the tall grass, playing the waiting game as to not scare anything away. It also served as a short break for her paws, she'd get used to it all eventually, but all the hobbling around made the joint hurt. Finally, she scented a rabbit. It was close, she could hear the scrabbling of paws in the grass. Sinking low, she began her approach, parting the grasses where she went.

When she was close enough to get eyesight of the prey, she broke into a sprint, giving chase to the rabbit. It was a short chase, she was an experienced hunter at this point, and was able to gain and then pounce. The rabbit stood no chance and died to her claws. Burying it quickly, she moved on. That was two, one to go. She didn't care if she beat Henpaw or not, but the incentive to improve her skills certainly helped.

Ashfall caught a rabbit!

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Henpaw lifted her head to scent the air. Rabbit, somewhere close… she stalked towards the smell, but ended up startling the rabbit out of the grass (she was pretty startled, too). Giving a yowl of frustration, she took after it, paws pounding the ground as she let loose with the speed of a true WindClan cat. Tawnyflare might’ve been weak, but her blood was not. The wind whistled in Henpaw’s ears as she gained on the rabbit, the light of victory already beginning to shine in her eyes.

With a few last strides, she closed the distance between herself and the panicked creature. She was almost there, almost there… and it dove into a nearby tunnel. Unhesitatingly, Henpaw dove after it. A few seconds passed before she emerged with it hanging from her jaws. A true catch of a true WindClan cat. She padded back to where she’d left her other pieces of prey. Calling out to Ashfall might scare the prey she was stalking, so Henpaw waited by her catches, pleased. She might be a medicine cat, but she could hold her own with the best in the Clan! Well, at hunting, at least. If Ashfall’s wounds had completely healed, she’d ask for a spar between the two of them, but Ashfall seemed to still be getting used to her missing eye and useless paw. Well… maybe she’d still ask for a spar. Ashfall did have to hone her fighting skills again, after all. She wouldn’t pressure her, though. Just ask, and only ask if she looked up to it.

Henpaw attempted to catch a rabbit, catch was successful

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Ashfall wasted no time scenting another piece of prey. It sure was plentiful, it had been a wonderful Greenleaf. Another grouse walking around in the grasses, no doubt looking for its own meal. This would be her last catch necessary, though she was unsure as to if Henpaw had already won. She'd see if she caught this, she supposed. Stalking right up to the bird, she leaped, but her leap did not hit its mark. Monocular vision would do that to a cat, and the grouse quickly flew away after a bit of squawking. Her claws dug into the ground for a moment before she turned to find Henpaw, it was time to see what she had caught.

Ashfall followed Henpaw's scent to where she was sitting, and noted her prey on the ground. Three, she had won. "Well done Henpaw, I only got two. At this rate, you might end up better than some warriors." Ashfall grabbed her own prey and added them to Henpaw's. "So, ready to head back to camp?" The warrior looked to where the sun was, there was still plenty of daylight left. Though she didn't know if Henpaw was needed back at camp.

Ashfall failed to catch the bird!

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Henpaw’s ears turned bright red at Ashfall’s unexpected praise. Gosh, she hadn’t expected that… it meant a lot to her, really. Ashfall had only caught two pieces of prey, though, and Henpaw didn’t feel like asking her to spar if she’d missed a rabbit. After all, she didn’t want to hurt Ashfall on accident-like.

“Gee, thanks Ashfall. Yeah, we’d better head back to camp. Every time I’m away from camp somecatgets hurt.” The calico picked up her prey and set a brisk pace back to camp. It was nice that she’d been able to interact with Ashfall, who was just awesome. Hopefully the grey she-cat could learn swiftly how to work around her lost eye and useless paw. Henpaw would always be up for helping her if need be.