bright new day [c]

Sometime just before dawn, Owlshade had retrieved Fennelpaw from the apprentices' den and set out into the darkness of the open moor. The moon wasn't full, but it still cast enough of a glow that their path was well lit, and it was easy to see where they were going. For the most part, Owlshade was quiet, but he did take the time to point out landmarks and important territory markers as they passed. Eventually, as the sun finally lightened the sky above the moor, Owlshade paused, encouraging Fennelpaw to do the same. They were deep within the territory, alone and very unlikely to have anyone disturb them.

"Okay," he started finally. "This is your training, so I want to go at your pace." He smiled. "Which would you like to learn, first? Hunting, or sparring?"

Owlshade nodded in approval at the apprentice's choice... he would have chosen hunting, too. In Owlshade's lifetime, he'd made a habit of avoiding violence, and if he could help it, he'd teach Fennelpaw the same. "Very good," he said kindly. "Now, I'm going to demonstrate a hunting stance. Study it, and then replicate it."

He dropped down almost to his belly, legs bent, tail straight out behind him, ears forward. Pale blue eyes met Fennelpaw's. "You want to be low, but not so low that your belly brushes the ground. If you rattle leaves, you'll scare off the prey. Same goes for your tail - straight out, but not low. This is how you sneak up on things... though we do the next part a little differently. Most clans hunt by ambushing their prey and catching it in one go. We can do that too, obviously, but our real talent is running."

Keeping his stance, Owlshade stalked forward. He was not as long and leggy as a trueborn WindClan cat, but he'd been trained just the same, and moved forward with a practiced ease. He gestured for Fennelpaw to follow him, instructing her again how to replicate his position, and together the pair moved slowly across the moor. Normally, he wouldn't do this. Owlshade was skilled enough to go at a normal pace and scan for prey, but Fennelpaw needed to build the muscles she'd be using to run, and that started with this.

Once he was satisfied she had it down, Owlshade paused, but stayed crouched. "Now... there's a rabbit, there," he flicked his tail towards the creature, slightly off in the distance. "I want you to sneak up on it... and if you feel you can catch it, I want you to try. Don't use up all your energy from the get go - they're faster, but we have more stamina. Use that to your advantage if you can't get close enough for a strike."

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Watching quietly, Owlshade observed his apprentice move off. Judging by her positioning, her stance, she was a natural hunter. He smiled. The rabbit was chased down and dispatched expertly, and as Fennelpaw brought it back to him, Owlshade nodded his approval. "That was excellent," he said gently. "It seems rabbit catching is easy for you - that's great. Birds can be tricky, though... since no matter what, we can't really chase them into the air. Leave that here," he nodded at the rabbit. "And watch me. I'll demonstrate."

Not wanting to move too far off, since there wasn't anywhere to cache the prey, Owlshade crept across the moor until he spotted a berry bush growing, and many little sparrows around it. Checking to make sure Fennelpaw was watching, he moved stealthily across the grass, waiting for the right opportunity to strike, and then leaping out as one of the little birds fluttered past him. His claws scraped the thing, pulling a few feathers, but the bird was quicker than him, and managed to escape. He returned to Fennelpaw's side emptyhanded, but with a smile on his face. "Not so easy, even for me. They'll be back, though... you can try, if you'd like."

Owlshade attempted to catch a bird and was unsuccessful.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

The pale tom's eyes followed Fennelpaw as she moved off and attempted the same thing he had. Owlshade had never really excelled at catching small birds like this. Quail, and pigeons... now those were fatter and slower than sparrows, and easier to catch. But there were none of those around right now, so that lesson would have to come later.

He sat back on his haunches, observing as she sat patiently, waiting for one to move close enough. Finally, one did, and she lashed out, missing it by a hair. Owlshade's expression remained pleasant and encouraging as she returned to him, and with a quiet chuckle, he responded, "Yes I quite agree. Not much meat, either. I prefer pigeons." He smiled at her. "I think we've sufficiently scared off all the prey around here, eh? I'll catch something on the way back, why don't we grab that rabbit and head on home."

It was bright outside now - not quite sunhigh, but by the time they got back to camp, it likely would be. Owlshade turned, padding over to offer to carry the rabbit for her, when movement caught his eye... a slithering, furry brown shape in the grass. Owlshade rolled his eyes, frowning as the weasel stood up on its hind legs and sniffed, clearly brought in by the smell of the rabbit's blood. Lowering his head, Owlshade grumbled threateningly at it, but the bold little thing didn't seem frightened at all. He turned his head to look at Fennelpaw. "That's a weasel. Not too much of a threat to a warrior, but can be a handful for apprentices, and deadly to kits. They tend to wander in when they smell a kill... and they rarely back off. So you either have to kill them, or teach them a lesson. Observe."

He lumbered forward, giving the creature one last chance to shove off, but the weasel chattered menacingly, arching its back. Owlshade didn't give it any more time to posture, he pounced, but not on the weasel - behind it. He landed just where he intended, turning and snapping the creature's tail between his teeth and yanking back, hard. The weasel tumbled head-over-tail and then came to a halt, dizzy and stunned. Owlshade turned to look at Fennelpaw. "If you want to give it a good smack, go on," he encouraged. "I imagine it won't take much more than that to send it running."

Owlshade used Tail Yank on the weasel, dealing 8 damage at the cost of 15 stamina. Weasel is stunned for this turn.

Owlshade
50/50 HP
103/120 SP

Fennelpaw
20/20 HP
54/60 SP

Weasel
13/20 HP
135/135 SP