[Zero]

Originally Posted by Hexict

With her gaze glued to the water, the silver and grey molly hadn't noticed the proud look on Royalwatcher's gaze as she caught her first fish in the starry river. It wasn't her first catch ever, but it was the first that her mentor had seen. The apprentice was striving for that proud look that had lasted for a heatbeat and which she had missed. Instead Mistpaw made sure all her focus was on the drock. But she couldn't help her curious instincts at the sound of the tom going in for a fish not too longer after she had, causing her pale orbs to shoot towards him and watched carefully as he missed the initial target of his strike, but had enough luck to accidentally catch another. Mistpaw gave a small laugh at this and flicked her tail as he declared that his next one would beat her own catches. "Oh I'm sure you can - you were able to catch one with a move like that, it's almost as if your eyes were closed," her tease was friendly, proving it with a pleasant grin. Closing her eyes for a moment she let the it all sink in. It was like nothing could go wrong here and all of her worries and bad memories were being deteriorated and now traveled down the perfect river before her. This was one of the reasons why she loved these visits; it was so peaceful and she could get away from everything in the waking world- plus, the orange tabby was good company. Why can't things ever be like this back home? Mist questioned silently, though it felt like this question seemed to scream itself at her constantly. Why is everything so complicated?

Her pale blue orbs flashed opened upon remembering that she was in the middle of a little hunting competition with Roaylwatcher. Mistpaw lashed her tail and leaned forward as silver scales flared from the stunning river. Her silvery paw raised and orbs narrowed, patiently - or not so much- waiting for the prey to make it's way to the apprentice, holding her position until it was an appropriate point for her to strike. The glaring scales made the fish appear large, and she knew that this would be a prey to be proud of if she could catch it. The molly didn't even think of Royalwatcher who might be watching or even the other fish in the river and let herself focus completely on the single soon-to-be fresh-kill. Diving down, her paw seemed to misjudge where the fish had been. Instantly fearing that she had missed Mistpaw found it a relief when the fish panicked and happened to burst forward - right into her claws. Mist gave a visible sigh of alleviation when she flung it up and killed it with a single bite. It was then that she realized how she had misjudged the fish's position: the glaring light from it's beaming scales and the already shimmering water had formed some light around it, which the light looked to be part of the fish when it in fact wasn't. Her initial blow was on the light - luckily the fish had been too panicked to think straight and had landed right where she had original thought it was. Menaing that the fish was actually pretty small, and very dissatisfying after her believes of it being large. She wondered what Royalwatcher would say now if he had noticed, similar to how she had teased him for his lucky catch after the mess up. Mist' face was painted a pinkish color by embarrassment, but tried her best to pretend that it was all part of her plan.

(Oh my, friend, you are seriously trying to kill me now XD)

Royalwatcher set his tiny fish to the side, pausing as he was mesmorized by it speckled red, silver, and black side. He remembered the first time he had caught a fish. His father, Quillwing, had been his StarClan mentor after he had died. He vividly remembered the proud look on Quillwing's face after he had killed a fish not much bigger than this; he had been proud of Royal as both his mentor and father. He could guess that it had mirrored his own look of proudness he had had moments ago. However, the memory was tinted with sadness when afterwards Royalpaw had wondered about Rivalpaw, and how at just the mention of him, Quillwing quickly changed the subject. Snapping back to reality at Mistpaw's mew, Royalwatcher let out a nervous chuckle even when his whole body went hot with embarrassment, tinging any exposed skin a light pink. However, he knew that Mist was just teasing him, especially when she cast him a pleasant grin at the end of the statement. "Oh just you wait, youngin'" He meowed, determination coating his ton. "I'm just warming up." And it was true, that had been his practice shot, he was fairly certain he'd get one next time.

Royalwatcher forced himself to stop watching Mistpaw with pride as she continued to hunt, knowing he didn't have time if he was going to win. He turned his gaze to the swirling water, pin-pointing a bigger fish near him. The fish slowly inched forward into paws-reach as the warrior sat there in complete and utter silence and stillness, barely breathing. He let out the breath slowly as he prepared to strike, his eyes narrowing. With a small lunge, his paw flashed out, striking his target right on. With a graceful swing, he flipped the scaly creature out of it's home in a large arch. When it hit the ground beside him, he pounced on it eagarly, killing it swiftly. It certainly wasn't the largest fish he had ever caught, but it was quite bigger than his last catch. "Haha!" He laughed, his eyes wide with excitement. His heart beat widely in his chest, and silently, Royalwatcher realized that this was the most fun he'd had in long time. "Look at this!" He picked the fish up, his jaw almost instantly beginning to ache with it's weight.