The Basics [c]

Her apprentices were transitioning to their lives as warriors, and as such, it was time for the learning cycle to continue. Her mate had trusted her with yet another apprentice, Beetlepaw. With the Dark Forest no longer keeping everyone under a close eye, and the fact that she wasn't a queen, Mottlerose promised to do better with teaching this next apprentice. So, as such, she had poked her head into the apprentice's den. "Beetlepaw? Meet me at the entrance to camp, alright?" She'd gotten rather good at only waking the cat she was speaking to, and her small frame still made maneuvering the apprentice's den rather simple.

Once her apprentice would arrive at the entrance to camp, her tail would twitch with enthusiasm. "We're going to go out and do some hunting today, maybe even some battling if we run into a predator. You never know, honestly." She mused, standing to signal for her apprentice to follow.

Beetlepaw blinked sleepily at her mentor's voice, reluctantly dragging herself from her nest with a yawn. Hunting was alright, she supposed, but at the moment sleeping until sunhigh sounded so much more appealing. With one last regretful look at the comfy moss and the sleeping bodies of her denmates (lucky), she joined Mottlerose at the camp entrance.

"I'm ready!" She mewed, trying to force at least a small amount of enthusiasm into her voice despite the early hour.

With her apprentice at her side, they went out into the territory. It was a rather nice day, though there certainly were some clouds in the sky that seemed to threaten them with rain. Mottlerose shook her head as she studied them, hoping at the very least, their training session wouldn't be disrupted by nature soaking them wet. If they did, though, it would simply provide for a good training session. After all, being able to hunt in any weather was important. Rain, sun, wind, snow... No matter what it was, clan life went on.

Once they had successfully trudged out far enough into the territory, Mottlerose signaled for the two of them to stop. She wasn't much of one for making small-talk on the travel out somewhere, it just simply wasn't something she felt a need to do. Turning to face her apprentice, she gave the signature tilt of her head as she spoke. "I know you learn rather quickly, so I won't waste time rambling too much." She decided, her gaze wondering to the side as she sniffed the air.

A squirrel easily came into her senses, and so she turned towards its scent. "Hunting prey, for us, is a lot about being able to get close enough to pounce. If you listen to your paws, we can be quite noisy, as the forest has a lot to step on. So, as long as you're careful about where you place your paws, you can easily get close enough to grab your prey. Actually catching it? Pure instinct." She explained. Perhaps it was a little bit ramble-y, but she wanted to make sure Beetlepaw knew everything about hunting. It was crucial.

So she crouched, stalking towards the very squirrel she had identified. It seemed to be extremely focused on the fallen tree nut that it was chewing on, and easily, the tortoiseshell was practically right behind it within a heartbeat. Her whiskers twitched, and with very little effort, she pounced, ending its life with a clean, swift blow to its neck. She picked up her catch and carried it back to where Beetlepaw was at, setting it down. "So long as they don't notice you, you'll always get the catch. See if there's any prey around you can catch." She gave a confident nod. After all, as much as Beetlepaw tried to hide it, Mottlerose understood that there was a confidence to the apprentice. She'd let her use that to her advantage.


Mottlerose attempted to catch a squirrel. Success!
137/140 SP (-3)

The member 'Kitty' has done the following action : Dice roll

---

'Hunting Dice' : 1

Once they'd gotten out into the territory, Beetlepaw began to feel a bit more tolerant of being deprived of her sleep. The weather was just lovely, the beaming sun countered by a lazy breeze that ruffled her fur and brought just the slightest scent of rain. She didn't even mind listening to Mottlerose explain the proper hunting technique, watching diligently as her mentor caught a squirrel with ease. Though she'd would never admit it, Beetlepaw knew she had some learning to do if she was ever going to be a warrior. It seemed a bit tedious, but maybe if she did well enough with hunting they could skip right to the fun part: battle training. After all, how was she going to strike fear into the hearts of her enemies if all she knew how to do was catch squirrels?

Before long, she recognized the mouthwatering scent of a sparrow, immediately crouching low to the ground in an attempt to mimic her mentor's posture. As per Mottleose's instructions, Beetlepaw crept forward, trying to set her paws down as lightly as possible. Once she was close enough, she squared her haunches and pounced, only instead of landing on her prey, as Mottlerose had done, she fell to the ground with a thump, forced to watch as the sparrow flew out of reach. Hissing in annoyance, she turned to see a vine tendril wrapped around her hind paw. She kicked at the troublesome plant, freeing her leg and righting herself with one last glare in the direction the bird had gone.

"Whatever, sparrows are stupid birds anyways. I'll get it next time." She grumbled, so cross with herself that she didn't have the energy to keep up any sort of pretense.

Beetlepaw attempted to catch a sparrow! The catch was unsuccessful

57/60 SP (-3)

The member 'zenpaii' has done the following action : Dice roll

---

'Hunting Dice' : 7

Mottlerose studied her apprentice as she sought to go after the bird. Everything about her form was actually near perfection. Beetlepaw placed her steps carefully in order not to make a sound, and even had lept towards it with quite a bit of silence. However, even then, the prey got away. It was an unfortunate circumstance that just simply... happened. Mottlerose herself even knew that she sometimes lost prey. Birds were especially slippery creatures, so for her to get so close and have it escape at the last moment? There was promise there.

It was only a little bit difficult to see her apprentice wrapped around the vine, but she kept her face friendly. It wasn't something that concerned her that Beetlepaw seemed to be frustrated - it was certainly frustrating. To have the pressure on yourself to perform great, only to have it be the outcome you didn't want after getting so close? Mottlerose understood. So instead, she looked to her apprentice with an expectant gaze. "Bad luck can happen, especially with birds. I trust you can catch something, though, so why don't you try again?" Mottlerose tilted her head, encouraging her apprentice to try once more.

"Okay, I'll try." Beetlepaw replied, immediately focusing her senses in on the forest around her once more. She could do it this time, she was sure of it. Before long, she heard the telltale sounds of a mouse digging around in the undergrowth for food. She crept toward it, trying to put her past failure out of her mind. Soon enough, it was barely a fox-length from her whiskers, close enough for her to pounce. She hesitated for just a moment, doubtful thoughts creeping into her mind before she dismissed them with the tiniest shake of her head. Tensing her muscles, she struck and... yes! She landed squarely on top of the mouse, pinning it to the ground and giving it a neat bite to the back of the neck. She carried her prey to Mottlerose, unable to hide the prideful gleam in her eyes.

Beetlepaw attempted to catch a mouse. The catch was successful.

The member 'zenpaii' has done the following action : Dice roll

---

'Hunting Dice' : 1

Catching prey was something that Mottlerose knew for a fact just took time, and attempts. She studied her apprentice as she followed her instructions, glad that the she-cat was ready to make another attempt. It was a swift success, and a grin spread across the tortoiseshell warrior's face. "Good job, Beetlepaw!" She complimented, signaling for her apprentice to then place it with the catch that the warrior herself had caught. "Remember that whenever you hunt, and you'll do just fine. You're really good at it, like a true Thunderclan warrior." She praised, clearly proud in what her apprentice was able to accomplish. Why wouldn't she be? After all, her apprentice had done well.

"I won't make you catch any other prey today. Let's instead work on some battle skills now, alright? We can warm up a bit, then I can show you some moves that are unique to us in Thunderclan." Mottlerose nodded, having them move just a little bit away from where their prey was located. It wouldn't be fun for them if they ended up training on top of their catches, ruining them as meals for either themselves of their clanmates. "Come stand across from me. I'll take a defensive stance, and with your claws sheated, try to hit me where you think my weakest point is." She instructed. Mottlerose wanted to know just what it was that her apprentice knew before instructing, and took a defensive stance, ready for her apprentice.

Beetlepaw was practically jumping for joy at the mention of battle training. Finally! She stood across from her mentor, studying Mottlerose's stance quizzically. Weakest point, eh?

She seems to have her weight balanced pretty well, so it would probably be difficult to make an impact if I just went for one of her legs. Maybe if I knock her over...?

With the strategy cemented in her mind, Beetlepaw leaped at Mottlerose, slamming her paws into the molly's shoulders to knock her to the ground.

Beetlepaw used Jumping Strike, costing 9 [6+3] dmg and -7 stamina
20/20 HP
47/60 SP (-7)

Mottlerose
51/60 HP (-9)
137/140 SP