Can the Old Lady Still Hunt [C]

Bloodstar lead Beechpaw out into the forest, straight towards Moonlit Creek. He crouched low so as not to scare anything away. "Alright, this is all pretty straight forward. Sink low until it hurts. Once your muscles are used to crouching like this, that pain will go away. Try to line your head, neck, shoulders, back, hips and tail all in one straight line. You especially since your tail has quite a bit of fur on it. You don't want it dragging the ground, picking up leaves and sticks and scaring things off with the noise." Truthfully, he didn't know exactly how much she knew or remembered, so he'd start with the basics but move forward quickly. If she seemed confused or unsure, he'd ask her, but she was an adult. If she didn't understand something, he trusted her to ask rather than keep it to herself.

"You want your weight as balanced as possible as you move, so try to spread it as evenly as you can across all of your paws that are on the ground. Too much weight on one paw could crack leaves or sticks beneath you that otherwise wouldn't have... and then the jig is up." Similar words from Wolfcall echoed in his head.... how he missed his father so much... He blinked to clear the memory away and refocused back to the present day.

"Alright... go catch something. I'll be here." He wanted her to get first pick of the prey in the area. He would observe her closely in case she did something wrong, but otherwise remain silent and still.

Beechpaw followed Bloodstar out towards the moonlit creek, coming to a stop as he did. She could just make out the bubbling of the creek not far off, and from the scents there was plenty of prey in the area. That would change with leafbare approaching, of course.

Bloodstar choose to go through the motions, and Beechpaw bit her tongue against an instinctive retort. She hadn't forgotten everything Wolfstar had taught her, though she reminded herself that that had been... More than a while ago.

She dropped into the crouch as instructed, determined to ignore the protesting of her limbs. It... Had been a while. But it wasn't long before some semblance of muscle memory kicked in, leaving her crouch better than that of an untrained apprentice, at least.

Beechpaw scented the air in search of prey, finally settling on a target. The squirrel was on the ground, and Beechpaw silently stalked toward it. Juniperlight had helped her adjust to navigating the territory with one eye, so she didn't stumble over roots or rocks, but this would be her first time hunting in... A long time. Definitely the first time since... Her ears flattened, and she forced her mind to the squirrel in front of her. She... Thought she was close enough. It was... Actually rather difficult to judge distance properly with one eye. The apprentice hesitated slightly, then leaped.

Her paw landed on the squirrel's tail, and that was all Beechpaw needed to bury her fangs in the creature's throat. She frowned slightly, knowing that her landing wasn't as clean as it used to be.

She'd just have to work harder, then. Turning, she buried the squirrel in a small dip in the ground, glancing briefly in the direction of her mentor before turning in search of more prey.

Beechpaw attempted to catch a squirrel for -3 sp. Catch was successful!
47 / 50 sp

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 5

Well she hadn't forgotten how to hunt, but he noticed her aim was off. He wasn't going to comment on it. She would have to adjust to her new eyesight now and no amount of pitying her or worrying about it was going to do her any good. Bloodstar nodded at her catch in approval. "Very good. I'll catch the next thing." He stretched out his legs... and an embarrassing series of popping and crackling followed. Some of his joints were mildly aching, but he wasn't about to tell Beechpaw any of that. It was no longer her concern.

He dropped into a crouch afterward and stalked silently towards the water... before making an abrupt turn and scaling a tree. After what had happened, he didn't blame Beechpaw for not wanting to hunt in the trees and he wasn't going to push her to do it. In practiced silence and ease, Bloodstar stalked out across limbs and leaped to other ones. The sight of a particularly fat rabbit caught his attention at the water. He was careful to only walk across limbs that were a similar width to his body as he approached until he was at least within a reasonable leaping distance of the rabbit on the ground.

Once he felt ready, he kicked off of the limb and aimed to drop down onto the rabbit. The creature zipped away swiftly however and he landed on open ground with a thud from his paws. Ah well. They were hardly easy to catch. He looked at Beechpaw and shrugged.

"I'm no Windclan cat, that's for sure." Not that he had a problem with that. Flighty little cowards. He stared back after the rabbit as it fled, wondering if it would actually lead him to it's burrow so he could collapse it. It never got the chance.

A fox burst from the bushes nearby and ended the rabbit's life in one smooth motion. The rabbit let out a brief, shrill cry before it was cut short. Bloodstar dropped into a crouch and made for a nearby bush swiftly.

"Fox." He whispered to Beechpaw. Well.. if they could fight it off they'd have themselves a rabbit... Beechpaw needed the practice anyway, and if things went south, he would be there to help. He nodded forward, indicating that they were going to confront it. He crept forward and got close, but stopped himself once he was within leaping distance. The fox seemed completely unaware it was being watched. He wondered if Beechpaw's hatred of foxes was still there, after one had killed Sagelight. If so, he doubted she would have a problem attacking it.

Bloodstar attempted to catch a rabbit and was Unsuccessful.
177 / 180 SP

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 7

Bloodstar seemed content enough with her kill, though Beechpaw wasn't. She was going to need to practice, that lack of depth perception was proving to be much more troublesome than she'd thought when she had only been running around the territory looking for herbs. As her father turned away in search of his own prey, Beechpaw did the same. It didn't take long to find a quail... That would go to Smokefeather if she could catch it, she decided.

Thud! Having heard the noise, her prey bolted up into the trees.

With a soft hiss, Beechpaw slid to a stop and turned, eyeing the retreating form of the rabbit that Bloodstar had apparently gone after. She said nothing in regards to the missed catch, though a sharp retort about how Skyclan wasn't Windclan was on the tip of her tongue. She never got the chance to say anything at all however, as she'd spotted the fox just as Bloodstar did.

"Wonderful." She muttered back, lip curling as she stared at the fox. Images of Sagelight and Dustpaw flashed through her mind, as well as a memory of a shaken Copperfox and bloodied Smokefeather. Her claws dug into the rocky soil and the apprentice glanced towards Bloodstar, a silent question in her gaze. They weren't going to just let the foul creature stay here without bloodshed, were they?

She needed to brush up on her fighting skills anyways. Might as well do it now. Beechpaw lunged forward, claws raking across the creature's ugly red pelt.

Beechface used Jumping Strike on Fox for -7 sp, dealing -7 damage.

Beechface
15 / 15 hp
23 / 30 sp (30 - 7)

Fox
53 / 60 hp (60 - 7)
180 / 180 sp

Bloodstar bolted after Beechpaw and kicked off of the ground. He slammed his claws into the red-furred creature as it yelped in surprise and dropped the rabbit. It didn't have time to do anything, and likely would have run off if it could have. But now Bloodstar sat atop it and began to tear mercilessly into it's flesh.

Bloodstar used Leap and Hold, dealing 10 damage and -15SP

Bloodstar
100HP / 162SP (-15SP)

Beechpaw
20HP / 23SP

Fox
Pinned Two Turns
43HP / 180SP (-10HP)

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

---

'Effect Dice' : 4

Bloodstar launched himself at the fox, and Beechface slashed at the red-furred menace with a vengeance. Foxes were always a nuisance, she wanted this one dealt with quickly and before it could do any real damage to either her or Bloodstar.

Beechface used Front Paw Strike for -7 sp, dealing -6 damage.
Beechface used Desperate Blows for -5 sp, dealing -7 damage.

Beechface
15 / 15 hp
11 / 30 sp (23 - 7 - 5)

Fox
30 / 60 hp (43 - 6 - 7)
180 / 180 sp

Bloodstar continues Leap and Hold, dealing 10 damage and -15SP

Bloodstar
100HP / 147SP (-15SP)

Fox
Pinned this turn
20HP / 180SP (-10HP)

Bloodstar continued to keep the fox pinned, though Beechpaw knew he couldn't hold it much longer. She sank her claws into its' ugly red haunches once again, making sure to stay behind the fox just in case it decided to whirl on her. She was... actually beginning to tire. When had she become so out of shape?? She hadn't tired this quickly during the battle with Windclan... Now wasn't the time to focus on that, however. They had a fox to kill.

Beechface used Front Paw Strike for -7 sp, dealing -6 damage.

Beechface might as well be KO'd
15 / 15 hp
4 / 30 sp (11 - 7)

Fox
14 / 60 hp (20 - 6)
180 / 180 sp

Bloodstar noted his apprentice getting winded and... maybe for a brief moment shot her an amused grin. Refocusing on the fox as it wiggled away from him, looking absolutely bewildered, he brought his claws viciously down onto it's head. The russet predator dropped to the ground, shuddered a few times, then went still. He honestly couldn't remember the last time it had been that easy to take down a fox.

"Beechpaw... I think you should work on your cardio." Her stamina was awful and her attacks were... unfocused and inefficient. Her lack of battle training was obvious. Still, they did just kill a fox without a scratch on either of them. All in all... a good day.

"I'm only teasing. With more training and more practice you'll learn to fight more efficiently. Don't worry about it." He grabbed the fox by the scruff and his eyes went to their prey items. She'd probably need to carry those. He'd like to start collecting more materials for his own nest now that Wolfcall's scent had faded away from the materials inside. Besides... it was time he made that nest a bit bigger. A fox pelt was just the start of making his nest more suited to his own tastes.

A thought occurred to him and he put the fox back down so he could speak.

"See if you can find where that rabbit's burrow was. I'd like you to collapse it before we go." She was tired, he knew, but if she never pushed herself then she would never recover her stamina.

Bloodstar used Upright Lock, dealing 15 damage and -20SP

Bloodstar
100HP / 127SP (-20SP)

Fox
Dead
-1HP / 180SP

"Oh, shut up." Beechpaw grumbled, he just had to point it out and rub salt in the wound, didn't he? Teasing or not, it bothered her. "Have you seen Muddythorn about your joints? You're getting up there, you know." She'd heard them pop earlier when he moved. A huff escaped her as she glanced down at the dead fox. Not a scratch on either of them, that was good. "I don't remember ever being this tired when training with Wolfstar." She admitted. Even after the battle with Windclan, she hadn't been so tired. Had that lightning strike really taken so much out of her? She needed to work on that, she'd be no use if she got so winded in such a short amount of time.

"Alright." Collapsing that burrow was a good idea. With a nod, she turned, picking up on the rabbit's scent and following it. It didn't take long to find the burrow, Skyclan's territory had always been full of them despite how infrequently rabbits showed up on the fresh kill pile. Hackled still lifted, she sniffed at the entrance, nose wrinkling. "Looks like that fox found it first. That rabbit was doomed either way." The fox was dead, and collapsing this burrow was easy enough. One less problem, though there were bound to be other entrances connected to this one.

Bloodstar stared at her feigning offense at her comment about his age. He casually stretched a hind leg again... and it sounded like someone eating a rice crispies treat. Not that Bloodstar knew what those were, but anyone reading this should! Slightly more embarrassed now, he decided he would do his own stretching in private. He muttered something mockingly under his breath, sounding very similar to what Beechpaw said.

He picked up the fox again, ready to drag it back to camp. They had a decent haul for the time being. Besides... his apprentice could probably use a moment to sit down. Hopefully she could carry the rabbit too.

Beechpaw ducked her head, smirking at the very audible popping noises with Bloodstar stretched. That would teach him to make comments.

She turned to grab both her squirrel and the rabbit that the fox had killed, following Bloodstar back towards camp. She'd bring the squirrel to Smokefeather, then pull a nest together for herself in the apprentice den... Foxdung, that was going to be rather crowded compared to the medicine den, probably more cramped too. Beechface was a fair bit larger than when she'd stayed in that den last. It would be worth it, though.