Watercolor Blur [c]

Stormdance had found over his moons of life that being a mentor was one of his favorite things to be. He can hardly remember how afraid he was when he was first entrusted with Woolywing as an apprentice. He was still always a little nervous, of course. He was a little nervous about most things. But that was far outweighed by the rewarding act of watching an apprentice grow into their own. He didn’t mind the recent volume of apprentices to juggle. Most of the time he’s been a mentor he’s had more than one apprentice to focus on at a time, so he was used to the feeling by now. As always, he tried to give plenty of attention to both Willowpaw and Snailpaw. Willowpaw was older and more experienced by now, close to her warrior name, and so he could set aside more time for the younger of the two.

“We’ll work on hunting land prey today,” Stormdance said to Snailpaw with a warm purr as he led the way to the beech copse. It was the best place in the territory to hunt for land prey, and the trees would help provide some shade from the blistering heat. Stormdance appreciated Greenleaf for its abundance of prey, but it was always a little hard on him heat-wise. The shade as they crossed underneath the trees was welcome. “The river is our most important food source, of course, but there are times where it’s too dangerous to fish or it freezes over in leafbare.” He rambled before looking at Snailpaw again. “This time of year, there will be plenty of prey to catch here to keep up your skills.” He smiled softly.

Stormdance smiled at Snailpaw. “First, just follow my lead.” He says. “I’ll demonstrate, and then you’ll give it a try, okay? If you have any questions, just let me know. And don’t worry about getting it right at first. Practice makes perfect after all.” He encouraged, before giving a little nod and looking forward again. Breathing in deep to search for prey scent in the air, Stormdance caught the scent of a nearby mouse.

Indicating with his tail for Snailpaw to stick close, Stormdance dropped into a hunting crouch. Making sure to stay within his apprentice’s sights, Stormdance prowled forward carefully, following the mouse’s scent until he came across it. Moving forward carefully, Stormdance leapt forward to pounce.

Stormdance attempted to catch a mouse. He failed! -3 SP

Unfortunately, the mouse caught sight of him just as he was leaping forward, and scrambled out of the way before Stormdance could catch it. Diving into a nearby burrow, Stormdance could do little more than bat at it's disappearing tail. His whiskers twitched briefly with the irritation of a failed catch, and he turned back to Snailpaw. Giving a good-natured laugh, Stormdance shook his head ruefully. "And even experienced warriors mess up sometimes." He said. "But that's still the basic idea. Give it a shot yourself, and see if you can do better than your old mentor." He gives a playful little wink and gestures with his tail for Snailpaw to give it a try of his own.

Stormdance sat back and watched Snailpaw, staying still and quiet as a statue so as not to disturb his hunt. His eyes filled with pride as Snailpaw successfully made his catch, and Stormdance made no effort to hide the purring that rumbled from his chest as Snailpaw trotted back to him. “Well done!” He purred.

Getting back to his feet, Stormdance moved and said, “Now, we bury the mouse for the time being so we can pick it back up on the way to camp. We bury it so other predators and scavangers won’t find it, and it’ll stay fresh.” Once Snailpaw had successfully buried his kill, Stormdance tapped his shoulder with his tail and moved forward. “Let’s carry on. I’m sure we’ll have a whole pile of fresh-kill when we get back,” He said with a smile.

They walked along and it wasn’t long before Stormdance caught another scent. Spotting the vole shifting through the leaves, Stormdance gave Snailpaw a little nod and indicated with his tail for him to hang back for a moment as Stormdance dropped into a hunting crouch. He approached the rodent slowly, and once more attempted to pounce. This time he does successfully land on the vole and he finishes it off quickly. He was just about to scoop up his prey and return to Snailpaw when he heard a rustling in the nearby reeds. Turning his head just in time to catch sight of a blur of brown fur before the weasel pounced and latched onto Stormdance's tail in sharp teeth. Stormdance let out a sharp hiss of pain and immediately twisted to swipe his claws across the weasel's fur.

A weasel has appeared! It used gripping bite on Stormdance, dealing -7 damage and costing -15 SP. Stormdance used Front Paw Strike on the weasel, dealing -10 damage and costing -7 SP.

Weasel
10/20 HP (-10)
120/135 (-15)

Stormdance
63/70 HP (-7)
147/160 SP (-7 +3)

Snailpaw
20/20 HP
57/60 SP