With a purr of gratitude, Shadepaw bounded out of the makeshift camp and down the rocky slopes to the openness beyond. She was used to the terrain by now, though Coyotegrin did not need to know about her horrendous hunting venture with Fuzzpaw. Maybe this time she would actually catch something. Already she felt more centered away from the uneasy haze of ShadowClan scent. The leaf-bare wind made her paws tingle with energy. She wanted to bolt off into nowhere, race the wind for a bit, squeeze the ache of homesickness from her chest. But instead, she scented the wind as instructed. Just as Coyotegrin said, it wasn’t long before the prey scent settled on her tongue, heavy and warm. She waited for a few long heartbeats, statue still amid the stubby grass. She noticed a flash of brown pelt in the grass and dropped easily into a crouch.
She had caught a rabbit before in the disastrous hunt with the fox, and she had stalked her unsuspecting littermates enough in the moons long past that it came easily. She crept forward, a predator’s patience in each careful paw step. The pebbles were hard to avoid, but the hare was distracted enough by its meal, maybe she wouldn’t even have to give chase-
Her tail lashed, distracted by the anticipation of the kill, and brushed along the grass. Fox-dung. Rookie mistake. She didn't even wait for the hare to take off, she knew the game was up.
Shadepaw bolted after the hare, long legs covering the ground in easy strides. The leaf-bare wind stings, yanks her whiskers back, but the apprentice was uncaring, hyperfocused on the drag of her breath, the hare tearing across the rough landscape. She didn’t mind the rocks that scraped her pads or the grass that wedged itself between her claws, there was nothing but the hammer of her heart, the thrill of the chase. She was a long shadow against the grass, gaining ground, and with a powerful push of her haunches, the apprentice launched herself at the hare, claws outstretched and glinting.
Her claws sunk into the hare's soft sides as she dragged it back toward her. A sharp spark of satisfaction bounced off her ribs. She grabbed it by the soft throat, pulse feathering quick and panicked under her teeth until she killed it. She bounded back to her mentor, the hare dangling from her jaws like a trophy, tail aloft in victory. She dropped the hare, a smile that was all bloodied teeth and satisfaction on her face. Easy as skinning a Thunderclanner. She purred.
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Shadepaw//Windclan Apprentice
- Apprentice--->Warrior:
2 weeks (Saturday Dec 17)
Hunt
Fight
Gathering
Moonstone