playground (c)

Recently, Mottlerose had granted her an apprentice; a molly by the name of Flurrypaw. Thistlemask was slightly unsure as to why she had been given an apprentice that was actually older than herself, but appreciated the trust that clearly existed to do such a thing. Regardless of the age difference, the warrior was determined to do what she could to help out the apprentice, feeling for her a little due to the loss of a mentor, much like she had lost Stoatstar as hers.

Pausing outside the den she had occupied for moons, Thistlemask called softly, "Flurrypaw? It's Thistlemask. Let's go hunting," It was a spur of the moment decision to go hunting; figuring that it would help her gauge where her previous mentor had left off and what blanks she would need to help fill in.

Paws tucked comfortably beneath her, Flurrypaw had not felt the lull of sleep. Throughout the night, she'd heard every little noise and woken, just when she had almost entered a spell of slumber. Why? Only the stars know... the molly thought.

After what felt like moons of shifting spots, the voice of a clanmate was calling for her. It wasn't often that it happened, so she was rather glad to be involved in clan life again. To be fair, she might've been involved sooner if she had the initiative. Easily springing up onto her paws, Flurrypaw followed after Thistlemask. "Hunting sounds great! Where are we headed?" Was that too enthusiastic? Shrugging it off, the apprentice shook out her coat, getting rid of the few leaves that had snagged in it from the night. Thistlemask was not a cat the molly was very familiar with. Young, she could see, but based on appearances she couldn't tell much more. She had a feeling, however, that they shared a lot in common and would soon become fast friends.

The immediate excitement displayed by Flurrypaw was enough to make her whiskers twitch in a mix of interest and amusement, wondering how often her previous mentor- or well, anyone- actually spoke to her with how quickly she had met Thistlemask's call. As the apprentice joined her, the molly's eyes widened, recognising her as one of the RiverClan cats that joined around the same time as her and Achelois, oh-so many moons ago.

Internally she shook it off, managing a friendly smiling at the cream-coated molly before her, still struggling with conversation a little. "We're going to Owl Tree. Owl's sleep during the day, so I figure we'll be fine." With that, she strode out of camp toward the high-reaching oak tree, wondering what skills an apprentice like Flurrypaw would still be missing. Perhaps she's just taking her time - like you did? Satisfied with her thoughts, Thistlemask stayed wordless for the remainder of the trek, the duo arriving as the sun sat in the centre of the sky.

Turning to face the apprentice, her back to the magnificent tree, she cleared her throat. "I may be totally off here, but have you... been taught how to hunt on ThunderClan territory? I really don't know what Thrushnose or Stoatstar got to teach you before they..." She trailed off, but it wasn't hard to figure out what word was implied at the end of the sentence. "I uh, I know I had to relearn when I joined, even though I already knew how to hunt as a rogue. The terrain here is definitely tricky for an outsider, that's for sure!" Her statement felt a little awkward and forced, but some amount of sincerity was existent.

She knew that her expression was lacking a sense of sadness in response to her mentor's implications and decided not to focus on it. However, the tense feeling of awkwardness was suffocating. Flurrypaw could tell that Thistlemask was trying, but it felt like her duty to ease this... unspoken barrier.

"Thistlemask." she started, her usual boldness giving her a reassuring push, "Don't talk to me like I'm an apprentice. " The rough tone of voice gave her well-meaning words a scalding burn, she realized. "I mean- Think of me as a friend! I've always observed you around camp... I've had a brief conversation with your sister once or twice, so we're definitely not strangers. " the fluffy molly quickly added.

"Just... don't make this weird." she finally concluded, her piercing yellow gaze staring at the molly.

After a pause of understanding, Flurrypaw answered the warrior's question, her words direct and straight to the point. "In my opinion, I've adjusted well to Thunderclan territory, since I've never really excelled in Riverclan's hunting methods. In fact, I think I do better here. Not that great at hunting in general though. Mintpool hunts better than I do, even with her lucky paw, if that gives you the picture. I think I'm not stealthy enough. "

A grin had slowly formed on her maw. It had been a while since anyone other than her family had made her smile this way.

The tone that was used grated against her ears a little, the not all particularly harsh words leaving her feeling quite embarrassed, something evident in the way she slowly directed her gaze at the ground. Flurrypaw continued to speak however, and the mention of her sister made her head immediately dart up, interest and slight confusion in her eyes; before she remembered that her reclusive behaviour upon joining the clan had meant she hadn't always sat directly in Achelois' shadow.

A friend? Her thoughts circled back as the apprentice spoke of her hunting abilities and her sister's, and she couldn't stop the way her eyes narrowed slightly at it. Declaring herself a friend so fast felt intensely unnatural, early moons spent under Klaus' teaching still lingering in her inability to immediately trust things like this to be well-intentioned. The calico relaxed her features, settling the bubbling apprehension.

The silence had stretched out a little while the warrior had been in thought, but she looked more relaxed as she finally spoke. "You're right, and I'm sorry. I think it just feels a bit... odd to be a mentor, when I haven't exactly been here all that long. And especially to you, who is at this point probably better acquainted with our territory than I am!" Thistlemask sharply blew air out of her nose in amusement.

"I'll be real, with your coat colour, I don't think stealth in the forest is ever going to be possible. Unless there's fresh snow, in which case... Maybe?" It was a weak attempt at a joke, but an attempt nonetheless.

"Regardless, I do think we should at least try to catch something while we're out here. I'm sure Mottlerose wouldn't particularly love if we went back to camp without anything to show for a 'hunting trip'. You go out that way," The molly gestured with her tail towards the left side of the tree, "I'll head the other, and we can meet back in the middle with our catches. Good luck!"

With that Thistlemask took off, body held slightly off the ground, the feathery plumes of her tail brushing against vibrant green grass. The thick trunk produced equally large roots, and she kept careful watch for any movement within them, the tail of a squirrel immediately sticking out. Carefully remaining downwind, the warrior crept forward, ready to leap forward at a moment's notice. All her attention had been focused on the squirrel, and her normally silent steps betrayed her as a twig crunched underpaw and the squirrel took off without hesitation. Sighing, she hoped her 'less stealthy' companion was having more luck, and tried to catch the scent of anything else.

Thistlemask attempted to catch a squirrel! She was unsuccessful.
40/40HP
97/100SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Nodding in agreement, "Good luck to you too-" Flurrypaw responded before getting a move on. The many tangled roots of the Owl Tree proved to be an obstacle, though one that she could still manage to maneuver around. With dappled sunlight peeking through the rustling leaves hanging from above, the molly's searching gaze quickly spotted a shrew scrabbling to climb over a particularly large root. Immediately all her senses were directed towards her target and she carefully positioned herself ever so slowly. Being a bundle of white fur, Flurrypaw had found being perfectly still was her best bet at being stealthy. Keeping movement to a minimum, she waited and pounced.

Agile and light on its feet, the shrew darted beneath her right before she landed. Fishes! With a frustrated exhale, she got back onto her paws and hoped the scuffle did not scare away the prey.

Flurrypaw attempted to catch a shrew, but she was unsuccessful.

Flurrypaw
20/20 HP
57/60 SP (-3)

Thistlemask
40/40 HP
97/100 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

She shook herself off from the failed catch, determined to bring something back for her clan, a slight worry of a dwindling fresh-kill pile always in the back of her mind. Luckily for the calico, there was an abundance of prey in the area, and she was able to catch sight of a vole, taking a deep breath before deciding to stalk it some more. It remained clueless as Thistlemask drew herself forward on softly placed paws, eyes darting between the prey and the path in front, hyper aware of anything that might alert her presence. A gentle breeze stirred the leaves high above, sending one rapidly cascading down in front of the vole, drawing its attention and providing the molly with an easy catch.

The warrior quickened her pace and closed the gap, closing her paws over the rodent and dealing a quick killing bite, satisfaction warming her body like a breath of fresh air. She was incredibly grateful that she lucked out with this one and would at least have something to show-- even if it was a little small. Stars, I really hope Flurrypaw is doing much better than this.

Thistlemask is attempting to catch a vole. She was successful!

Thistlemask:
40/40HP
94/100SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Moving on from her failed catch, she scanned her surroundings once more. Ears alert for another noise, a bright flash of russet fur caught her attention. A squirrel! Not too shabby either... she thought, positioning herself yet again for her second hunting attempt. Slowly she inched forward, fighting to keep her breathing inaudible. When the squirrel paused to sniff at the tree root, she took the chance and leaped.

To her joy, claws snagged fur and finished it off with a nip to the neck. Thank the stars I caught at least one thing... I'm sure Thistlemask has caught three by now though. Fresh kill safely in her jaws, she circled the tree to find her mentor.

Flurrypaw attempted to catch a squirrel. It was a success!

Flurrypaw
20/20 HP
54/60 SP (-3)

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5