Lighten Up! [P]

[Pitou]

**Codwhisper**

@Rowan

The spotted warrior stretched as he walked out of the warrior's den. He'd been a warrior for four moons now but he felt he couldn't remember a time not feeling at home coming from the warrior's den. He didn't miss the apprentice's den one bit, and most of all he didn't miss wondering each day if his mentor would still be around camp or not. It had seemed as soon as his mentor was assigned to him, no matter how loyal a warrior, they always seemed to up and leave directly after his reassignment to them. He shook out his pelt, attempting to shake away the thoughts. With a smile he reminded himself that those were no longer his worries.

He stroked his wirey tongue over his slick pelt a few times before quickly growing bored of it and rising to his paws. The camp was sleepy and slow so far. He had to admit it was a nice change after the chaos of losing Kestrelstar, but Codwhisper didn't do well with slow or boring for long. He didn't seek the violence, but he reveled in adventure and new experiences. He wandered slowly across the camp, heading towards the entrance but not necessarily ready to leave. Going out for an adventure sounded nice, as it always did, but he'd rather go with someone. Hazelstorm seemed to always be busy these days and he hadn't seen Honeypaw in a while...a strange pain pierced his heart. Honeypaw's disappearance was as painful, if not more so, as Beetlepaw's. He swallowed the lump rising into his throat and put on a smile. Surely he could find somebody to go out with to entertain himself.

He stopped as his wandering eyes noticed an apprentice not appearing to be doing anything in particular. Spiderpaw. Codwhisper's smile broadened and he trotted over to the apprentice. "Hiya! You have any plans with your mentor today?"

[R0WAN]

: ̗̀ ❥ Spiderpaw [HE/HIM] [ @Ravensong ] ´ˎ˗

The white-furred apprentice was resting in the sun, enjoying the how quiet the camp was that day. It had been so chaotic, and Spiderpaw was grateful that he didn't have to rush place to place anymore. But, having lots of time for himself also meant that he had a lot of time to be bored. He often found himself taking more naps throughout the day, and only going out of camp to go sit by the river. He hated feeling not useful, but it wasn't like he could do much. Oaksong had only showed him around the territory before she started ignoring him, which meant that he had no clue how to hunt. It was quite embarrassing to admit, especially when one of his friends asked him to hunt with them. He started to groom his pelt when a warrior padded up to him. They seemed pretty young, unlike the other warriors that had come up to him in the past. He tilted his head at their question and shook his head.

" Nope. "

He knew they were probably going to take him out of camp or something, or perhaps scold him for sitting around and doing nothing. He didn't care either way, at least something would happen that would keep him entertained.

[Pitou]

**Codwhisper**

@Rowan

The spotted tom smiled. It crossed his mind briefly that a potential reason for the apprentice not doing anything with his mentor could be that he was also having trouble keeping around a responsible mentor, an issue that became a passionate one for Codwhisper through his own apprenticeship, but he pushed the thought away. It was just as likely that they'd just gone out yesterday and the warrior was just busy at the moment; an apprentice and mentor didn't need to be together at all times of the day. Whatever the reason, it played in codwhisper's favor. He did plenty of adventures on his own but it always seemed to be more fun when he had a buddy along with him but the warrior's just always seemed to be doing responsibility things.

"Well then sounds like you're free to come along for some fun!" Codwhisper chuckled then turned towards the entrance. He flicked his tail for the apprentice to follow, afterall he was a warrior now so the apprentice had to obey him, right? "What do you like doing? Swimming? Hunting? Exploring? Let's go see what we can find. Nothing exciting happens just aitting around camp." Confident that Spiderpaw would follow, Codwhisper trotted out of camp.

[R0WAN]

: ̗̀ ❥ Spiderpaw [HE/HIM] [ @Ravensong ] ´ˎ˗

Spiderpaw lifted himself off the ground and followed the warrior. He was glad he wasn't scolded, and that he would have time to do something throughout the day. He was very happy that he could continue his training too, but his anxieties about messing were still there. What if another incident happened and he ended up having a panic attack? The tense apprentice pulled his ears back and lowered his head. I'll just have to... uhm... take my time, I guess. Then he heard Codwhisper ask him what he likes, and he tilted his head. Well, if I just sat by the river all day, Codwhisper might think I'm a lazy bum. It'd be better for me to get some training in instead of taking that time. The last thing Spiderpaw would want would be for Codwhisper to look down on him, even if it was just because of the rank difference.

" Hunting sounds like a nice activity to do. Are you able to teach me how? "

He looked at the warrior, putting an innocent expression on his face.

[Pitou]

**Codwhisper**

@Rowan

The young warrior could nearly feel Spiderpaw's discomfort. Codwhisper slowed briefly to shake out his pelt before continuing to walk out away from the camp. He laughed, "Why so tense? It's Newleaf, we're out, life's not so serious."

He slowed thoughtfully as the apprentice answered. Hunting, Codwhisper wasn't against doing work for the clan but deciding to want to just hunt when you're given an option to do anything felt odd. He smiled and shrugged, it only just occurring to him that Spiderpaw asked him to teach him; maybe Spiderpaw was having issues with his mentor if he hadn't been taught how to hunt yet. He smiled back at his companion and nodded, "Well if that's what you really wanna do then sure, we can get some hunting in." He flicked his tail and trotted into a more dense part of the territory covered with underbrush and shaded by sparse trees.

He crouched down and looked back at Spiderpaw. "Land prey likes to hang out in areas where there's cover close by and food aplenty." He stuck his nose up into the air and soon caught the scent of a water vole. He whispered, "You can use your nose to figure out exactly where the scent is coming from, parting your lips helps bring the scent over your tongue. That scent is a water vole. Watch this." He stalked forward, getting a visual on the fluffy brown rodent. As soon as it came into view, Codwhisper stopped to gather strength into his hind legs then pushed off, pouncing through the air and landing in the creature. He trapped it in his outstretched front paws then gave it a quick bite to the back of the neck, killing it instantly.

Picking up the vole he turned back to Spiderpaw, dropping it in front of him, then sat down. "Now you wanna try? Just use your senses to find something, stalk, then pounce."

[R0WAN]

: ̗̀ ❥ Spiderpaw [HE/HIM] [ @Ravensong ] ´ˎ˗

Spiderpaw was impressed by how the warrior knew what the animal was just by the scent. He watched the warrior's movements carefully, memorizing small details that could possibly help him with his own hunting. It seemed like most of the movements were memorized by Codwhisper, and Spiderpaw hoped that someday he could memorize the movements just like his temporary mentor had. His ears perked up once his mentor had mentioned that he could try, which made him slightly nervous. What if he failed? That would be really embarrassing for him. He took some deep breaths and tried to focus on the scents around him. Hm... I can't pick up anything super close... But there is definitely something around here... He followed the scent carefully, trying his best to watch his pawsteps so he didn't trip. The long-legged apprentice then quickly lowered himself to the ground. He heard very small pawsteps nearby, and though he couldn't tell what the animal was, he assumed it was some sort of rodent. He stalked the prey for at least a minute, since it seemed to be scrambling around looking for its own food. Once he got close enough, the apprentice leaped at the prey. He was instantly brought back to a few days ago when he was trying to hunt with Streampaw, which ended with him having a mangled mouse, and he swore to himself that he wasn't going to be messing this one up. His paws landed on his prey, which ended up being another water vole, and he quickly bit down on it with all of his force. This quickly killed his prey. Spiderpaw padded back to Codwhisper, water vole in his jaws. He proud that this one was mangled like his other catches, and happily dropped it down at Codwhisper's paws.

[i tried to get this out as soon as possible asdsalkdfjasdf sorry if it isn't that good!!!!]

[Pitou]

**Codwhisper**

@Rowan

Codwhisper let his mind drift a little as the apprentice locked onto a scent and stalked its moving path. The territory was quiet and perfect. It was just another day to add to his growing memories. The pounce caught his attention and he looked after the apprentice who reappeared with a water vole hanging from his mouth. A bright smile sprang to his own mouth and he rose to his paws. "See? You're a natural!" He dug a hole large enough for both water voles and dropped his in. He angled with his paw to have Spiderpaw drop his in as well and push the dirt back over. With that prey taken care of he turned to pass his companion. "Now let me show you a little trick I picked up when I was an apprentice. I think it's a little more fun, especially when others see you do it and they give you a funny look." He brushed his way through the thicket. The frost was wearing off and the sun was growing stronger and the bushes and plants were beginning to bloom. After some searching he found what he was looking for. He plucked a red cherry from a low growing shrub then continued past it. "The two most difficult parts of this are finding the berry then finding a mouse trail." He let his nose direct him to a fresh-smelling scent trail. Following it, it stopped at a thick downed tree trunk, a small hole dug beneath the trunk. He looked back at Spiderpaw to make sure he was following then placed the cherry just outside the hole, close enough that the mouse would smell it but far enough that it'd have to emerge completely to reach it. He then placed himself behind the log and motioned for the apprentice to follow. After a few heartbeats, a small black nose peaked out from the hole. Codwhisper raised his tail to stay Spiderpaw. As the mouse hesitantly looked around then finally locked onto the cherry, Codwhisper bunched his muscles. The mouse slowly reached out, further, further. As soon as the mouse's teeth broken the cherry's skin, Codwhisper pounced and landed on the mouse's back, giving it a quick killing bite.

He looked back at Spiderpaw happily. "The way I see it, you work a little smarter and you don't have to search the entire territory for prey that's already out. This method also gives you an excuse to be out and just relax. Would you like to try it? Or you can take some more practice hunting the traditional way."

[R0WAN]

The masked apprentice slowly nodded at Codwhisper. He was in awe at this new skill that the warrior had shown him and was eager to use it. He looked around and found a plump cherry on the forest floor. Spiderpaw carefully lifted it and put it on top of a tree root. This way, a mouse would have to fully expose itself to grab it. He'd take a moment to glance at Codwhisper in case they were giving him any disapproving looks then took a few steps back. He watched in silence as, surprisingly, a bird swooped down and stood by the cherry. It made him panic, since he was going to have to be quick and very precise to catch it. After the bird had pecked at the cherry a few times, Spiderpaw was getting ready to pounce. It seemed like the whole world had gone silent, except the small noises of the bird's footsteps. Then, with a quick movement, Spiderpaw leaped up and landed on the bird. He struggled for a few moments to keep it held down, but soon he was able to bite down on it's neck and kill it. He turned at Codwhisper with his catch, searching his face for a reaction.

[sorry for such a late response!!! we can end the rp soon if you'd like @Ravensong ]