days go by [C]

Another day, another apprentice to train. Newtspring gave himself time for a long, languid stretch, rumbling as he did so before shoving himself to his paws. It was just past dawn, pale orange of early morning giving way to the cool blue of the day. The mottled tabby yawned, shaking out his pelt against the cold, and ambled over to the apprentice's den. Ducking inside, he called out, "'Ey, Wasppaw, ya ready? 'M gonna be right outside for ya, 'kay?" With that, he backed out to give his new apprentice a chance to wake up and join him.

Wasppaw wasn't used to people waking her up to other than her mother or sister. She yawns as she stretches. Groggily gets up in time as she hears soft padding away from her new den. She looked down and notices Hollypaw was still asleep, she quickly groomed herself before peeking her head outside, a look of a sleepy grump was very present on her face as she looked around the rather quiet clan as other cats also starts to wake up. Seeing Newtspring nearby she didn't hide a yawn as she padded towards him. "So, what are we going to start with?" She mumbles, her mind still waking up. Her tail drooping on the ground, she should be excited, sure. But after Hollypaw dragging her around with her and her mentor...

Hollypaw curled in her nest, snoring softly and dreaming of birds. Giant, flying birds that looked like pigeons, and her and Wasp had caught one! And then... also their mother was there, and Muddythron, and Dawnfeather...

Dawnfeather’s disappearance still worried her, even in sleep. She knew her elder sister wouldn’t leave her, even if there seemed to be no sign she wasn’t okay, and though she spoke loudly of how Dawnfeather would be back... in her heart, she quietly feared. Even her mom couldn’t soothe it, and would certainly forbid them — such young apprentices — to go out searching, even if it was all she wanted to do sometimes... And in her dream, she was speaking to the molly, but she still felt something was wrong — that Dawn was in danger. Dream-Dawnfeather only laughed, and bopped her on the nose, Silly goose Holly, I’m fine. It’s you I should be worried about, eating that giant bird you caught! Which was awesome! But Dream-Holly wouldn’t be convinced...

She muttered something to this effect, turning over in sleep, and missing Wasp rising from the nest beside her. When she would find  out, however, she was going to be very upset. Since their elder sister vanished, she’d become even more determined to protect her Wasp, especially since Slatekit hadn’t become an apprentice yet with them, for reasons Prima hadn’t spoken of. It was her and Wasp, right now, and Wasp had some very questionable influences!

It was her job! Wasp would do the same for her (in her own way!).

...however, oblivious to her sister’s departure, she slept on.

It wasn't long before the pale apprentice made her appearance, and Newtspring gave an eager wave of his tail as she surfaced from the den. "Y'barely look awake," he rumbled, a laugh chasing the warm words. "C'mon, look at least a li'l lively, would'ya? It's your first day as an apprentice! Get excited! You're about to start trainin' with SkyClan's finest." Sure, that wasn't an answer to her question, but it was true. Jerking his head towards the entrance to camp, the mottled tabby shoved off onto his paws and lead them out into the territory.

"Feel free t'look around as much as ya want. Or don't, whatever. Gonna be spendin' yer whole life here anyway, I guess. You'll have plenty'a time to see it all." He laughed again, turning over his shoulder to watch Wasppaw. "We're gonna start off with huntin'. It's what my mentor did for me, 's what I did with Driftpaw... seems t'work pretty well. 'S nice an' easy too. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it real quick." Newtspring paused, then dipped himself low into a crouch. His limbs folded under him easily, experience built into his muscles. "Think y'can do this? Or jus' model it best ya can, for now."

"Yeah well yesterday has been a rough day." She yawns, though she did take a look around, and certainly enough, she half noticed the bushes and trees she may have passed through, though to her it is still rather new as his eyes gaze up and trailed behind a little slower, her mouth slightly gaping though on noticing that she was lacking behind she quickly hid her amusement and caught back up.

"Yeah! First day... I'll try to summon up my excitement over my need for my nest." if she knew trainings was so tiring she would've not gone over with Holly. Darn my naivity. Though she did attempt to shake the sleep off her, it would be, you know, bad. If the bad impression suddenly requires her to change mentors. She does not need Holly telling her how right she is.

Though her intention turned back to Newt's stance, it was almost similar to a battle, but yet a little different, she mimics, though from her battle training it was almost too easy, though her eyes lack the frown and tiredness suddenly as she stare at Newt's stance in pure kit interest.

"L-like this? Why do we need this stance? Wouldn't the mouse still see us? We aren't exactly making ourself smaller than them..."

Hollypaw was snoring, rolling around in her nest... No... Wasp, get out of it, you can’t eat the whole bird. Stupid... As if by instinct, the dark-furred sister reached for her littermate, as if to grab her by the muzzle. But even in her dream, she was only met with cold. Mumbling, in the midst of sleep and waking, Hollypaw’s head raised, looking around blearily. It was far too cold, why was Wasp so far. Stupid.

Then she woke, staring at the foliage wall of their den.

Oh... it was just a dream. The apprentice blinked. “Wasp, you’d never guess the—“ — she yawned — “—dream I just had.”

Hollypaw wasn’t sure the response she was expecting — maybe a sleepy ‘shut up’ or ‘you talk too much, Holly’ — but then she looked to the side, and.

Wasp.

Was.

Gone.

What. Her head whipped around to the den entrance, eyes narrowing, anger sizzling to life. Newtspring.

And beneath her nose. He thought he was so clever! Maybe... just maybe, Wasp has gotten up for a walk. Or maybe their mom or their brother had gotten her, maybe she went to enjoy the morning air... but in her heart, Hollypaw couldn’t shake it. She knew. Shaking herself with a huff, Hollypaw worked herself up into an impressive snit by the time she straightened out her ruffled coat. If Ravenclaw came looking for her, Hollypaw would have to apologize later — but a real warrior wouldn’t have a problem finding her, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. Just like Hollypaw would find her sister. Who obviously wasn’t supposed to leave without her!

It was part of the sister code!

She exited her den in a brisk walk, most decidedly on the prowl (and perhaps cute, all puffed up with kitten fluff and a scowl). But if any warrior dared stop her she was going to claw their face off. She had a mission!

At Wasppaw's question, Newtspring snickered, shaking his head a little. "Well, yeah, mouse can still see us, but makes it harder for 'em. I mean, look– when 'M crouched down like this, I blend in pretty well with the leaves 'n' all. It's easier t'be quiet like this, too." He gave her a curious look, then nodded. "Looks good. You been practicin' without me?" The tabby chuckled again, tipping his head slightly. "Just make sure ya keep your balance about ya. Y'look good for just startin' out, though. It'll feel more natural with time."

Not rising from his crouch, Newtspring slipped off. "I'll show ya, the crouch works." Pulling himself forward on careful paws, he edged towards toward a particularly gnarled group of roots. A thing squirrel was perched atop them, scratching at the wood... and oblivious to the warrior's presence. Letting his paws still, he stared at it for a long moment before springing forward. Experienced claws caught the squirrel's small flank, and he gave its neck a quick nip to stop any struggle. "See?" He called as he turned towarss Wasppaw again. "If I was jus' stompin' around, it would've ran a while ago. You try, yeah? Somethin' oughta still be runnin' around."

The brush rustled behind him, and Newtspring's ear twitched. It was larger than any prey... but a deep inhale revealed there was no predators around, either. Maybe another patrol was headed their way? He gave the foliage a curious look, blinked once or twice, then when nothing popped out at him immediately, he seemed satisfy enough to pick up his squirrel and find a suitable spot to bury it.

Newtspring attempted to catch a squirrel. Catch successful! -3 SP.

ooc: don't worry about the announcement made yesterday, we'll still be using leaf-fall numbers for this topic <3

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 3

"Yeah what can I say... I'm just so excited I did a bit of self-study." She spoke with absolute sarcastic excitement. Despite that, her eyes glinted with anticipation.

She has seen many preys that other warriors brought back during her time as a kit. Though never has she sees it happen right before her eyes. It excited her, now it's her turn to supply and help her clan, and she was getting rather nervous. ' Right... make sense...." She mumbles, her eyes looking around though finding it difficult to find prey. A sigh, before she lowered herself to the ground, going onto eye level with the preys and hoping that the new change of perspective and the less visual will help her spot something.

Thank Starclan it did and it wasn't just her looking stupid. She soon hears a light flutter of feather fighting against the air, a thrush? She realized she haven't really been able to depict if there is a difference in wing beats, though with her mind distracted by the thrush. She did not at all notice her mentor's concern for another noise...

...

With a shaky inhale, she leaped at the thrush, after a rather loud struggle as the bird beats its wings trying to escape the paw of a cat. Her panick and surprise kick in fully as she tries to remember how her mentor finish the squirrel off, but with the bird constantly flustering its legs and moving it was difficult for the young cat to get her mouth on the neck. "Stop- moving- you- little-"

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 3

Hollypaw huffed, still fuming, as she stomped across the territory. Leaves crunched under her footsteps, and as she scanned the forest floor for a trail, she imagined them to be objects of her ire. Sisters who don’t let their sisters know they’re leaving. Warriors with stupid faces!

Part of her wondered... if Wasp was tired of her, and did it on purpose. Her paw hesitated, and the next leaf before her blew gently aside. But Holly brushed the doubt away, because — because, even if that were true (which it couldn’t be!), she still had to follow them! To make sure her sister’s mentor didn’t totally ruin everything, or... you know, teach her something stupid! That was her job. They took care of each other.

Even when — maybe especially — the other didn’t know better. (That mentor of hers just didn’t smell right!)

It was a little while into her walk that she caught a scent — definitely Wasp! And when she bounded forward, she glimpsed her sister’s pelt through the trees — wrestling with a bird! Instantly, a jolt of excitement ran through her, and if it weren’t for the sight of Newtspring’s face, she would’ve yowled in joy. That was a bird — like her dream! Hollypaw wondered how it felt, to have a live bird in your jaws.

(They were Holly’s favorite.)

Quickly and quietly — using all her spying skills (which were, admittedly, not very many; Holly was a straightforward cat) — the Skyclan apprentice dove behind a bush... to observe, of course. Green eyes narrowed. Well, I guess even HE had to learn how to hunt sometime. But I bet it was easy!

"Easy there, kit," Newtspring chuckled as he returned to Wasppaw's side. A deft swipe of his claws stopped the thrush's struggling, and the tom's fluffy tail swishdd as he observed the catch. "Hey, not bad! Birds're pretty hard for li'l cats to catch, 'n' that one looks pretty good. Just, uh... try not t'wrestle with it so much. Can't be fresh-kill if ya don't actually, ya'know... kill it. Just give the back of its neck a li'l bite, that'll put it out." For emphasis, he clacked his teeth together.

The foliage around them rustled again, and tufted ears twitched at the sound. "Try'n catch somethin' else, yeah? If you can try another bird, great. Maybe I'll show ya how to climb some'a the lower branches, show ya some huntin' from up there." With that, he whisked away, drifting near-aimlessly towards the cluster of bushes surrounding them.

With a little hum, he poked his nose through a cluster of leaves and thin branches. Nothing there... but there was cat-scent, and he was almost certain he'd heard something. "Hey, whoever's watchin' us, y'can come on out. I know I'm pretty 'n' all, but c'mon, I'm personable. Quit lurkin'."

Wasppaw looked up at her mentor, her eyes brightened, looking back at the bird caught in her paws her tail flicked left and right in a slow satisfied wave. "...Oh. She couldn't think of any snarky remarks, after all, it's the first time someone outside her family giving her praise, it makes her a  little embarrassed. Blooming red, she barely noticed the rustling noise until Newtspring spoke, she quickly stood back up, ears alert and focused. Being disadvantaged and downwind, she couldn't tell who it was. She was not prepared for a territory battle lesson at the moment-

The bush was, admittedly... not a great hiding spot. Or any good for watching. But by the time she selected it, it was too late.

There were too many leaves in her view, and while maybe it hid her dark coat, she could hardly hear them! So what good was it? Stubbornly, she tilted her head, trying to get one eye aligned with her best view...

...of Newtspring’s fur? No, his face. Of all the things, she huffed.

Her ears lifted anyway, straining, but Newtspring’s drawl was... irritatingly hard to hear. She could glimpse him talking though. What is he saying?! She shuffled closer. ...something about birds? But what about birds? Obviously she caught one. Duh! Does he not know what birds are, or something?

Holly tried to catch her sister’s voice — usually a lot clearer (and snarkier) — in reply. But Holly didn’t hear anything. Maybe a murmur? Isn’t she gonna sass him?!

Part of Holly wanted to grumble. She always sasses me. Why not him? He obviously deserves it! Just look at his face!

But no. She just… oh. Er. Wait. Why was he getting closer—?

Aaah! she cried internally. Don’t come this way! They’d see her! And with that Holly realized she didn’t… want Wasp to find her, ‘cause then she’d know Holly had followed, and… well, the rest wasn’t important.

But. If Wasp hadn’t woken her… Maybe she didn’t want me here. And, even if it was maybe not great, Holly didn’t want Wasp to have to admit that. (Because it was stupid!) I’m just gonna watch him, that’s all!

Not really convinced herself, Holly slunk lower. Yeah, she was just going to follow from a distance. Calmly. Definitely.

Then Newtspring spoke. Aaand... all that went out the window.

She bristled furiously, heat under her fur at being detected and being called out like that. Pretty?! she practically steamed, recoiling. You, you — you frog-brain! You’re not pretty! Feathers are pretty, you’re just — AAAH

But she wasn’t going to say anything. She wasn’t!

Even if she wanted to. Stubbornly, she just glared claws at him, hunkered down in her bush. If he knew she was there, he was gonna have to come into the bushes himself. And she’d claw him good too!