Re: Willow's Rise
 

Wolfhive didn't seem too impressed with her performance, and Mallowpaw felt his concern as he asked her if she was alright. Mouse-brain, she scolded herself. Why did you have to collapse? "I'm fine," she said. The burning sensation in her core had eased, at least.

Wolfhive spoke again, and Mallowpaw glanced at the pile of leaves he had referred to. Disappointment swirled in her stomach; she was hoping he'd tell her to catch prey now. But she wasn't good enough for that, and Wolfhive knew it. Mushroomcloud should've trained me in this, she thought. It felt good to direct the anger inside her at someone else.

Getting into the hunters crouch again, Mallowpaw started to stalk towards the pile of leaves. The anger fuelled her determination. She would do it better this time. She would make Wolfhive proud.

The burning sensation in her stomach started again, but she tried her best to ignore it. Keeping her steps as soft as possible and her tail straight behind her, Mallowpaw advanced until she was in pouncing distance. She hoped it was pouncing distance, anyway. This was the part she was most worried about. Thinking about how she leapt around as a kit, Mallowpaw bunched her muscles, shifted her weight onto her hind legs, and pounced.

She landed on the leaf pile, skidding a little as the leaves slid. But she had done it! Part of her wanted to lay down while the burning sensation subsided, but she wanted to show she wouldn't let her lack of core strength stop her. Mallowpaw turned her gaze to Wolfhive to see his reaction. Hopefully this was the last practice she had to do before she could move on to real prey.

Re: Willow's Rise
 

Wolfhive wasn't convinced she was fine, but he wasn't going to push it too hard. If she continued to struggle he'd step in and see to it she got help from Springlight if needed, or at least rested - but for now...

She was back at it, this time focused on the leaves he directed her to. He hoped she took this well - he wasn't trying to belittle her and absolutely didn't want to discourage her; he just wanted to avoid her getting upset if she struggled with hunting live prey. Leaves wouldn't scamper off or run away if her legs gave out and she could keep trying until she was ready.

Thankfully, whatever caused her to collapse before didn't seem to stop her now. He purred as she caught the leaves - though she skidded, it was to be expected since them clumped together could be slippery. "You're a natural! Keep it up and prey won't know what hit them." Yes; right now was just leaves. But Wolfhive didn't plan on sticking to them, as long as Mallowpaw was fine, he wanted to get her hunting for real. "Take a breather if you need to, okay? There's no shame in going at your own pace." Overexertion could be bad, and Wolfhive didn't want her to hurt herself if they could avoid it. "When you're ready, I want you to sniff the air. Take in the scents around us. What do you smell?"

[ @kittycatburmise ]

Re: Willow's Rise
 

Wolfhive seemed pleased with her performance. The praise made pride swell in her chest, pride that she was finally getting somewhere. Wolfhive could see something in her. He thought she could do this.

His next words were ones of concern. "I'm okay," she told him. The burning sensation she kept feeling was short-lived, at least. And if she kept practising, if she strengthened her muscles, hopefully it would disappear entirely. And then she could hunt like the warriors she had seen catch prey so easily. She could go on hunting patrols. She could catch up with the other apprentices, shoot past them even.

Following Wolfhive's instructions, Mallowpaw opened her mouth slightly to better catch the scents. There were the usual ones, wood and moss and leaf-litter, but also something else. Its scent was slightly different to the ones on the fresh-kill pile, but it was similar enough that Mallowpaw could recognise it fairly easily. "Mouse?" she answered, the word unintentionally coming out as a question.

(Sorry about the lateness!)

Re: Willow's Rise
 

She was okay.

Wolfhive would take her word for it, and wasn't going to push the subject further unless needed. As long as she knew her own limits, things would be fine.

She caught the scent easily enough, and he nodded in approval. "Now I want you to do what we just did - same stance, track it down. Go for it when you think you're close enough, and then when you have a grip on it - bite it and kill it." He used when intentionally, because even if she missed a time or two, she would catch one.

[ @kittycatburmise ]

Re: Willow's Rise
 

She was finally hunting real prey. Finally, after four moons, she was getting somewhere.

Wolfhive gave her the instructions, and she tried to pinpoint the scent, moving slowly in the direction it was coming from. Soon enough she located it between the roots of a beech tree. Mallowpaw settled into the hunter's crouch and started to move forwards, never taking her eyes of her prey. The crouch felt as uncomfortable as ever, and her stomach burned like fire, but she couldn't afford to make a mistake. This was real prey, not a pile of leaves. If she didn't do this perfectly, it would run off, and she would have to see the disappointment on Wolfhive's face. He might make her practise on leaves again, because she wasn't ready for real prey.

Soon enough she was close enough to pounce. The mouse hadn't seen her, munching obliviously on a seed. But she needed to take action now, because sooner or later it would spot her. So tensing her muscles, anticipation filling her body, she leapt.

The mouse looked up as her shadow crossed it. It tried to flee, but Mallowpaw's front paws slammed onto its tail. It gave a high-pitched squeak that made her grip loosen in surprise, and it pulled itself out of her grasp. Lunging forwards, she sank her claws into its body before sinking her teeth into its neck. The mouse fell limp.

Mallowpaw straightened, pride filling her body as she looked down at the small body in front of her. She had caught her first prey! Mallowpaw let herself sink to her knees as the delicious smell, mixed with the metallic scent of blood, wafted towards her. She had done it. She had finally done it.

Re: Willow's Rise
 

He had stayed close, not enough to disrupt her hunt but enough to where if he was needed, intervening would be no issue. Safety was always his number one priority - who knew what dangers lurked just out of sight?

Thankfully, things went without a hitch and Wolfhive's eyes gleamed with pride at Mallowpaw. "You did it! I knew you could." He wasn't sure if it was going to be the first attempt, but it was! "Told you, you were a natural." The leaf practice - he didn't know if it actually helped or not, but he hoped it did even if just a little.

Wolfhive reached over to give her a happy bop, a purr rumbling in his throat. "Let's bury this - just a shallow hole works, we just don't want a predator finding it while we're hunting. I think you got the gist of how hunting works, now all it takes is practicing it 'til you're a pro." In his opinion, Mallowpaw wouldn't have a problem with it - she was already well on her way to mastery. (and had a better start than he ever did!)

A glance up through the trees gave him a general idea of the sun's position. "You feeling up for going 'til the sun passes overhead? See what else we can get?"

[ @kittycatburmise ]

Re: Willow's Rise
 

Taking up the magpie with the rest of their haul, Bumblestar trailed after Larkswoop. Maybe a bit of a hunting refresher was in order - she'd have to keep that in mind, maybe get on that herself or assign one of her Hornets to it.

Once they reached the outer edge of the Rise, Bumblestar inspected the area. The barriers were still in place, and the graves undisturbed. She and Jaystride's work still hadn't gone to waste. She set the prey down by the base of an oak surrounding the small clearing and settled down amongst the roots and the grass, running her tongue over her shoulder as she gave Larkswoop a look. "Rest of the hunting's up to you. Just lemme know when you're done 'n we can head back. Watch the gravesites." If anything was damaged, she'd make sure Larkswoop was the one to fix it with heavy supervision.

Re: Willow's Rise
 

Larkswoop
ThunderClan Warrior
Flock Together Tier 2, Beefed Up Tier 3, Lyrebird's Lullaby
_____________________

With a nod, Larkswoop slunk into the bushes to avoid the gravesites. She opened her jaws slightly to taste the air, immediately catching the scent of a thrush. Green eyes narrowing, the she-cat's ears swiveled around in the direction of her prey, and she easily pinpointed it.

Looking at the thrush through the bushes, Larkswoop realized that it was nice and plump - a good feeding for the kits or elders. Making sure that the thrush's scent was flowing towards her and not the other way around, the warrior slowly stalked forward, keeping her belly fur off the ground and her tail from brushing any surrounding undergrowth.

[ Larkswoop rolled a 98! - Successful Catch ]

With a soft, inaudible grunt, Larkswoop sprang forward, landing squarely on the thrush. Before it could call out in alarm, she bent her head and sank her teeth in its neck, causing the bird to go limp in between her jaws.

Burying the thrush to collect later, Larkswoop headed on deeper into the Rise, her eyes narrowed. Her tail tip twitched and the sound of a mouse nibbling on seeds beside the roots of a nearby willow tree caught the she-cat's attention. Larkswoop hid behind a patch of nearby ferns and crouched, green gaze fixed on her quarry.

[ + 1 Thrush ]

[ Larkswoop rolled a 100! - Successful Catch ]

The warrior darted from the bushes, pawsteps as light as feathers. The mouse didn't see Larkswoop behind it until it was too late, as the she-cat had scooped it up into the air and jumped, easily catching it in between her teeth. The warrior landed gracefully on all four paws, giving her plumed, feathery tail a delightful sway like a swooping lark. ( A / N: I'm sorry, but I had to lol :heartbounce: )

Unburying the thrush and grabbing hold of it, Larkswoop made her way back towards Bumblestar with both pieces of prey between her jaws.

[ + 1 Mouse ]

@dino.

Re: Willow's Rise
 

Bumblestar watched Larkswoop for no more than a few seconds before she lost sight of the warrior, and went instead to grooming out any tangles in her fur. She wanted to finish up and get these catches on the pile so that cats could eat. It was in a sorry state these days.

She looked back up as Larkswoop reappeared, and for a moment it was just awkward because the other was kind of just... looking at her and not saying anything. Bumblestar's brow furrowed. "You finished? Or..."

[ @paris ]

Re: Willow's Rise
 

Larkswoop nodded. She couldn't really speak due to the thrush and mouse in her jaws.