Let's Do This [c]

It had been quite awhile since Bloodstrike had had an apprentice, but all of the other warriors were busy and had their own apprentices to train. He wasn't one to double up a mentor unless there were absolutely no other options. He had eaten a small bird, hardly enough to fill his stomach, before gathering Rabbitpaw and setting out towards the creek. "Okay, we're going to start off with hunting. As with anything, you need the proper form to do so. I'll demonstrate and you can copy when you feel ready." The leaf-fall leaves crunched under his feet fairly loudly and he frowned. This was definitely going to prove to be difficult for the apprentice. If she did manage it however, she would be an excellent hunter.

Bloodstrike spread his weight across his paws evenly and slunk down into a low crouch. His body was in a perfectly straight line as he stalked forward. Even the loudest of leaves were muted under his giant pawsteps. "Crouch low enough that it aches in your legs. That's how you know you're doing it right. Your muscles will develop as you practice and the pain will go away. Keep your head, neck, shoulders, back and tail in a straight line. If your tail is too low it could brush up against a stick or a leaf and make noise. Watch your pacing. Don't get too excited and move too fast or the prey will notice you. Don't be too cautious either. The longer you take to get to your target, the more likely you are to be noticed. I know it's a lot right now, but take it one step at a time."

He paused a moment to let her drink the information in before he continued. "This is how cats hunt on the ground, but we are Skyclan cats. We specialize in hunting in the trees. We'll get to that eventually, just focus on ground hunting for now." He spotted a few prey items around, mostly birds and squirrels, but he was going to let Rabbitpaw pick her own target. He nodded towards the creek and lowered his voice. "Give it a try when you feel confident. I'll be close by."

As any newly named apprentice would be, Rabbitpaw was thrilled to start her training, and she did not have long to wait, either. After a quick meal, Bloodstrike took her out, and Rabbitpaw looked at all the scenery with wonder. There was so much outside of camp, it was amazing! Being out here was so awesome! Everything was so awesome!

Until it wasn't so awesome. Bloodstrike started out with a simple demonstration, and that was fine. And then came the long, boring lecture. She could barely even keep up with what he was saying, and eventually she just stopped trying. Instead, she found there was a really pretty butterfly floating around, and she enjoyed watching it. It was much more interesting then whatever her mentor was going on about.

Then the large tom completely stopped talking. It was just for a moment, but enough to give her a scare. Then he mentioned how later on they will hunt in the trees and yada yada yada, and then she was on her way. She already had her prey.

She started out with the stance Bloodstrike demonstrated, but it felt so stiff, and her muscles were aching. "Are you sure this is right? I don't like this."

So now she decided she was going to do things her own way. Every kit knew a basic crouch, and she liked that one a lot better. The way she knew it, it was a lot loser, her tail hanging freely. And so she got up close to her target, the same butterfly she had seen before. She had never been able to catch one of those things before, so today would be the day!

With a leap, she found herself on top of the winged insect, and joy lit her eyes. Carrying it by the wing, Rabbitpaw brought it back to her mentor. "Look! I did it!"

Rabbitpaw has attempted to catch a butterfly! Catch was successful! -3 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Bloodstrike said nothing as she complained about how the hunting crouch felt. If she was looking for sympathy, she was looking at the wrong tom. He'd endured it, as well as countless apprentices after him. He continued to only observe as she dropped her stance. It might serve her for now, but after a few times of catching sticks and leaves with her tail she'd figure it out. As she snatched a butterfly out of the air, he pondered on how to handle this. A part of him wanted to act as if she had done absolutely nothing, and if she had been one of his offspring, he might have done just that. He reminded himself however that she was not born from a long lineage of true Skyclan cats. He'd cut her some slack for now.

"You've caught bird bait." He said simply. He gave her one shallow approving nod. "Put it by the creek and hide. I'm sure something will come for it. Let's see how long it takes and if you can catch something a cat can eat." It wasn't the harsh rebuttal other cats in the clan may have given her, but it was far from true praise.

Bloodstrike would sit there and continue to watch her until she caught something that could feed the clan.

As Bloodstrike spoke, Rabbitpaw's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "B-bird bait?! For something to come for it?! B-but I wanted to bring it back to show Dawnfeather and Dandelionpaw! It is so pretty, I thought they would like it! Don't you like it?" Why did Bloodstrike choose to take her on himself if he was going to be no fun? He was being not awesome, and she didn't like it.

Well, she refused to use the butterfly as bait, so she buried it like she would any fresh kill. Dawnfeather would appreciate it, at least. And since Bloodstrike clearly wanted a bird, she might as well catch one of those too. Make the tom happy. The way he looked, it scared her to think what he would be like mad.

Stalking up to a pheasant the boring way, Rabbitpaw basically mimicked her mentor (with minimal mocking as well, trying to make herself look a bit big and grumpy, just because she could, in a way that didn't entirely mess up the stance. Just add some humor!)

Getting close behind it, Rabbitpaw sprang, landing on top of the bird, now desperately flapping. With a quick nip to the neck, it was over, and she was dragging it towards her mentor. "What about that? Was that good?"

Rabbitpaw attempted to catch a pheasant. Attempt was successful! -3 SP and probably some of Bloodstrike's sanity.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Bloodstrike watched, quirked an eyebrow at her burying the butterfly, but said nothing. She was turned away from him while she stalked forward... and he most certainly noticed the mocking. His lips twitched as an amused chuckle bubbled up inside of him, but he kept absolutely silent while she hunted. I can play this game... The nub of his tail twitched mischievously, but until she caught the pheasant he made no other movements.

He gave a satisfactory nod at the bird... and then his face went from statue stoic to the most exaggerated, girlish expression he could possibly muster, given he had a nasty tear in his lip and the broad head of a mature male cat.

"I know it's not as pretty as the butterfly but it'll feed the clan!" He even tried to make his voice higher pitched. Honestly... it sounded like a wounded animal, but that didn't stop him. Bloodstrike abruptly turned back towards camp, picking his paws up way higher than he normally would and pranced forward.

Yes Rabbitpaw.... you were the one being mocked now. Though same as her, Bloodstrike was doing it more for a laugh than anything. He knew his she-cat voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard at best. She wanted to play that game... well... play that game they shall!

"Can you carry the butterfly and your pheasant?" His eyes were widened and his face mockingly full of wonder at the world around him. "If not, I'll carry the butterfly! I promise I'll be careful! I won't tear the wings!" He might have added a few dramatic swings of his head and a tiny bit of swish in his hips.

Dear Starclan... if the rest of the clan could see me now...