daylight headed west (c)

An apprentice... an apprentice. Flutterpetal wasn't quite sure where to begin. His last apprentice, Snowpaw, had been Hawkheart's apprentice first. There had been a quiet sadness in her voice he had never quite been able to dissuade. And now, he hadn't seen her in what must have been a moon or two. Eaglepaw, on the other paw, had just recently left the nursery. He was driven with an innocent excitement that Flutterpetal himself had once been driven by, though the smaller tom was a bit louder than he'd ever been. But what to do? How could he be to this apprentice what Whisperear had been to him?

The feat did not seem impossible, now that Whisperear had--miraculously--returned from their capture. However, filling such big pawsteps was an intimidating thought. Flutterpetal decided they should probably start with a tour of the territory and some hunting practice, and just take it from there. He'd told Eaglepaw a few minutes ago to meet him by the entrance of camp so they could head out. The air was bitingly cold, and the grass beneath their paws iced over with frost. But it wasn't like they could just sleep through leaf-bare; rabbits were out there somewhere, no matter what the weather, and so WindClan cats would be too.... so would he and Eaglepaw. His apprentice. His apprentice. He tried to swallow back the anxiety that clogged his throat as he waited. He'd just have to try his best to be good enough.

Eaglepaw was so excited. This was his first day out of camp. His new mentor was flutterpetal and from what he limitedly knew of the warrior, he was great. Still accompanying this excitement was a little nervousness too. Would his mentor like him. Would he be able to do what flutter asked?

He pushed these what ifs aside best he could. He took a deep breath and puffed out his chest trying to get ready and pumped up for this. He was confident and at times even overconfident, but he was also super ready to learn from flutterpetal.


He practically skipped over to where his mentor had said to meet and stood by his side. He grinned happily up at him. “I can’t wait to learn from you.” he purred eagerly with wide eyes. He jumped forward a bit pretending to pounce on a rabbit in front of them. He stayed right next to his mentor side thought.

When Eaglepaw arrived, Flutterpetal smiled. The young tom seemed excited to be out on the territory. It had been a long time ago that he himself had been a fresh apprentice, bouncing around Whisperear in a similar manner. Well... he would just have to do his best. "I figured that we could go out and explore the territory a bit, and maybe try hunting for the first time," he meowed warmly. "Just follow me. Even in leaf-bare, the moors are one of my favorite places."

He beckoned the apprentice with a wave of his tail, then set off through the brush-covered entrance of camp and out into the territory. Breathing in the fresh breeze that chilled his lungs with every inhale, he found himself sighing in quiet pleasure. Even with everything... the territory was still home. It may have been full of Twoleg traps hiding like predators stalking prey, and there may have been a few gashes in the land from the earth-shaking, but no matter what, he was a WindClan cat. The moors were his. Slightly frosted grass crunched beneath their paws as they trekked out, and Flutterpetal had to resist the urge to break into a sprint. However, as much as he loved running, he needed to take it slow for Eaglepaw's first time out. He wouldn't want to lose his apprentice. Instead, he led the tom to one of the many hilltops, from which they could look out and see the territory's rolling fields and long, waving grasses. "Well? What do you think?"

Eaglepaw eagerly trotted right behind his mentor letting Flutterpetal lead the way out of camp and show him around the vast windclan territory. His eyes went wide looking around all over. "woa... its amazing. I had no idea our land was this... big" he said admiring it as he stood atop the hill with his mentor.

Eaglepaw was taking it all in this being his first time out of camp ever and the hills and waving grass felt and looked like they went on forever. He was amazed by it and it clearly showed on his happy face.

"heh... How do you not get lost out here?" he asked with a little laugh and with a newfound respect and amazement for his mentor. He let some time pass just to take in how great it was to be out here with his mentor. All his life he had looked forward to getting to be an apprentice and all his life he tried to guess at what it would be like but none of those guesses even came close to how great he felt right now.

He smiled widely up at Flutterpetal feeling so energized and motivated now.
Flutter asked what he thought of all this
"I think its amazing! And that you are the best mentor ever Flutterpetal!" he purred walking a little around the hilltop to look out in all directions.

"It feels like you could run your whole life and still be in this sea of grass" he giggled pawing at the crusty frosted ground.

He glanced back upward at his mentor, he was glad he got Flutterpetal as his mentor. He seemed really cool and happy with himself too. "So, What's your favorite thing to do out here? he asked curiously

"when you dont have to be hunting that is

Flutterpetal flicked an ear, feeling somewhat bashful at the young apprentice's high praise. Eaglepaw hardly knew him. It's just the innocence of a new apprentice; I still need to be a good mentor if I want to prove myself. Still, the eager attitude was encouraging, especially since he seemed to be as enamored with WindClan's territory as Flutterpetal himself was. "It's easy to get lost at first," he answered. "But there are some landmarks which I'll show you later--such as the Lone Stump--from which you can always find your way. Once you explore more and get to know the territory, you'll feel like you could tell any blade of grass apart from another."

He considered the other question a moment before answering. "Well... there's two things I like to do. The first is running. Like you said, it feels like you could run forever. All WindClan cats are born with a love of the moors, and the feeling of the breeze in your fur is unlike anything else. I really like running. But I think my favorite thing is to go looking for flowers." He smiled, thinking of the colorful blossoms that would hopefully sprout soon in newleaf... his first ever newleaf. "Of course, there aren't many flowers right now, since it's so cold. But my favorite place out here has lots of them. I'll show you later, after the more important things."

Eaglepaw nodded with a grin looking out at the vast landscape again. He understood now why they had to stay in camp as kits. But with Flutterpetal by his side he felt like they could do anything. He totally would be happy to pick flowers with him too.

"Hey Flutter?" he asked happily.

"You wanna run right now? Together?" he asked hopefully. It would mean the world to him if he got to do the things that his mentor liked right by his side.

Eaglepaw is much less competitive than Daisy ever was so this would just be a for fun thing and not at all a race.

"Then maybe you can show me the hunting stuff? Maybe we can team up and catch a super big rabbit for mom" he purred thinking about how cool it would be to chase a rabbit and somehow work together with Flutterpetal to surround it or something, but he had no idea if thats how it actually worked, right now he was just boiling with excitment and eagerness.

Flutterpetal hadn't been expecting the offer. He blinked slowly, light green eyes contemplating Eaglepaw's excited, wide-open face. When was the last time he ran? Just for fun? It... hadn't been for a while. Even though the moors were crusted over with frost, it was still the same territory that he knew and loved. Things had just been so difficult lately, he hadn't taken the time to do such things. A cloud of worry had been hanging over him since the incident at Fourtrees. And yet... the idea, accompanied by Eaglepaw's guileless grin, made his paws start to itch. Why not? Why shouldn't he run? Doing what his apprentice wanted would make him a good mentor, right?

"...Okay," Flutterpetal agreed, feeling a light smile come to his face. "Let's do it. Let's run. Then I'll show you how to hunt. Try to keep up, okay?" Without another word, he propelled himself forward, eager black feet pressing just enough on the ground to keep him going. Down the hill he sprinted, keeping an ear pointed behind him to listen for his apprentice, but mostly allowing himself to relish the sudden thrill caused by the wind in his fur. One thing remained constant, no matter how many cats the stars took away from him. He was WindClan. Though the breeze was cold, it became him, and the ground beneath his feet existed solely to keep him from flying. But with the speed he traversed across the long grasses, and the amount of time all four paws were off the ground, he may as well have been flying. His mind went blank as he ran, but it was not a bad thing. He simply allowed himself to be.

Eventually, he slowed to a stop--not because he had to stop running, since he felt like he could go on forever, but because he was not alone. Eaglepaw was somewhere behind him. Flutterpetal allowed himself to touch ground once more, feeling the weight of his own body return to his feet, then looked around for Eaglepaw. He hadn't lost him, had he? A momentary fear pieced his heart. I'd be a pretty bad mentor if I lost my apprentice like that.

Eaglepaw purred as Flutterpetal had agreed to the idea. His mentor was so cool!

Flutterpetal took off amazingly quickly and Eaglepaw did his best to keep up with his mentor.

A little ways down the slope, Eaglepaw spotted a clump of snow that was bigger than the surrounding area that was all still just frost. It was hidden by the shade of the back of the hill and so it still managed to be nice amount of snow there.

Grinning he ran for it and when he got to it, leaped out onto his belly letting his momentum glide over the snow on his belly. OHH this was coldddd but it was so fun too! "AHH look im sliding!!! he called as he screamed down the hill.

At the bottom he leapt back up to his four paws and shook the snow out of his fur sending snowflakes flying as he ran back over to his mentor as fast as he could leaving a little cloud of puffy snow falling behind where he went.

When he reached his mentors side he panted a little but noticed that Flutter was not even close to out of breath. "That was the most funnest bestest thing ever!" he cheered bouncing all around.

Of all the coy litter, he was certainly the cheerleader one who belived they could do anything they set their minds too and was the hopelessly optimistic and cheery one.

He knew that Flutter had to show him some hunting stuff too and he didnt want to distract his mentor TOO much, he wanted to be a good apprentice for him and so after he had calmed down and caught his breath back he looked up to Flutter once more, "ok ok... right, you wanna show me some hunting stuff?" he asked eagerly wide eyed as ever.

"ohhh I know!! Ok...Ok, what if you catch me? Like I will pretend to be the rabbit right? and you like will show me all the stuff and just practice it right? and then like you will pretend to catch me that way I can sorta see what to do?" he asked getting all the more excited about this.

He had no idea if that was a good idea or not but it seemed like a fun idea and if it wasn't, he was sure that his mentor had an even bester idea in mind. (bester isnt a word but it is to Eaglepaw)

Thankfully, Eaglepaw wasn't lost. Though definitely far slower than Flutterpetal, the apprentice came dashing up behind him, shaking and gasping for breath from the exertion but no worse for wear. Yep--he's a WindClan cat, all right. I guess any kit of Shrikestar's would have to be. The fluffy black tom shook out his pelt a bit self-consciously at the praise, but smiled anyway. It was nice to just allow himself to run like that. He should do it more. Well... if he had the time, anyway. For now he was supposed to be a mentor.

Right. I was going to teach him about hunting. What am I doing, getting so distracted?

This was tough to get used to. But Flutterpetal nodded at his apprentice. "Yeah, I want to show you. I think the easiest way is probably just to demonstrate, and then let you try. Okay?" He squared his shoulders and went to a nearby rise in the ground--not quite tall enough to be a hill. "First things first, it's always good to start from a vantage point. You can see more if you're up a little higher." He sniffed the air, testing it. Even in leaf-bare, there ought to be a few hares in this area. Sure enough.... "Then you look for a rabbit with your eyes, or with your nose. Or both. For example, even though I don't see it yet, I smell hare. You should know the smell because you've eaten one before. You'll get better at picking it up."

After scanning the frost-white fields for a few more moments, his eyes eventually caught on a blurry light brown shape. There it was. "Then once you find it... you try to get closer. Not too close, but as well as you can. Make sure that you're downwind, not upwind--meaning that the wind is blowing towards you instead of away--so that it doesn't catch your scent and notice you. And try to be quiet. Once I get close enough, I'll try and chase it to catch it. Watch and see how I do it, okay?" Flutterpetal let out a breath, hoping to clear his nerves. He'd hunted a hundred times before. Just because an apprentice (his apprentice) was watching didn't mean he'd suddenly get all shaky about it and fail. Right?

Well, no more time to think about it. Time to do it. Flutterpetal did just as he had described, dropping slightly lower beneath the waving grasses and padding forward quietly. The thin layer of snow on the fields helped cushion his paw pads as he crept forward, only the black tips of his ears visible above the grass, pointed toward the hare that was now growing closer and closer. It hadn't caught sight of him yet, it seemed. Once he deemed himself close enough--barely able to see the long whiskers on its muzzle, but not so close that he could reach it without a quick sprint--he sprang forward.

His paws hadn't failed him. His hunting timing was great. The only problem was that just as he began to run toward the rabbit, a circling hawk had the same idea. It must not have seen him, because as it swooped and he began to dash toward the rabbit, their paths collided. Sharp talons sliced through the top of his head from a glancing blow above. Hissing at the sudden pain, Flutterpetal instinctively retaliated, lashing out with claws to swipe a few feathers off of the intruder. The rabbit, terrified by two predators converging on it, managed to scurry away in the chaos. Hare-dung. Not only do I have to fight this, but Eaglepaw's nearby too. I need to keep him safe. This was even worse than when he'd gone out with Adderdawn. "Stay back, Eaglepaw!" he called out, keeping his eyes trained on the circling hawk, which seemed to be contemplating its next move. "Birds like this can carry away apprentices!"

Flutterpetal rolled a 10... summoning a hawk!
Hawk used Talon Strike, dealing 7 damage and costing 10 stamina.
Flutterpetal used Front Paw Strike, dealing 8 damage and costing 7 stamina.

Flutterpetal:
43/50 HP
113/120 SP

Hawk:
32/40 HP
115/125 SP

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 10

Eaglepaw nodded as flutterpetal explained the idea of hunting to him. He grinned happily and gave a playful nod and purr when flutterpetal was gonna show him how to do it. Wow! A live demonstration from a warrior?! And not any warrior, the bestest mentor in the whole wide forest!

He followed flutterpetal to the top of the hill to get the vantage as he talked about and he waited there watching as flutterpetal crept up on the rabbit. Eaglepaw was so focused on trying to watch his mentors technique that he hadn’t seen the hawk closing in either until the two collided and began fighting. His eyes widened in complete shock as his mentors head was attacked by talons.

Flutter! he squealed in fear. That was his mentor! And he was in trouble! He bounded forward his heart twisting with a wild mix of feelings he couldn’t describe. Mostly just worry for his mentor, friend and clanmate.

He slowed slightly… flutterpetal was ordering him to back off?? Why would he do that when his mentor was being hurt?

He hesitated … he didn’t wanna be carried off by this bird but the thought of losing his mentor or having flutterpetal seriously injured also wasn’t an option.

He loved his mentor, and he wouldn’t leave him even if it meant risking his own life. Flutterpetal would do the same for him he was certain and what kind of friend or clanmate would he be to leave flutterpetal alone right now when he needed him most.


He ignored the orders and leapt up at the bird striking out at it.

I’m not gonna leave you

Eaglepaw uses front paw strike for 5 dmg and 7 sp

Flutterpetal:
43/50 HP
113/120 SP

Hawk:
27/40 HP
115/125 SP

Eaglepaw
20/20 hp
53/60 sp