ShadowClan Territory

[Exis]

Originally Posted by Lynxpaw

"Could you take the mouse?" she asked Blackpaw. She picked up the starling and vole and waited for Blackpaw.

@Mentallyunstable

"Ya sure, wanna take a nap when we get back?" he didn't think he would have to visit the Dark Forest in the day time.

[Estelle]

"ri-right" Nightpaw nodded as they started to make their way back to the clearing. She glanced around a little bit, wondering how the hunting would exactly go. It would be great if she were able to catch anything, though the chances of succeeding were rather slim. Her mind started to wander of until she suddenly heard Frostpaw's voice again, mismatched gaze turning back to him. The question left her thinking for a moment. What did she smell. Sniffing the air a few times, she did smell some things, but she was a bit unsure of what she exactly smelled. So instead, "I be-belie-ieve a bir-bird ju-ust lan-landed ov-over the-re.." the molly answered somewhat sheepishly with a gesture to the said spot. He had asked for what she smelled, but she told him what she saw. Quite the difference between the two, but she was much more certain about what her eyes caught than about what she scented... so maybe it would do? Hopefully. She wouldn't want to end up saying that she smelled a mouse but that it turns out to be a trout or so- i'd be a bit embarrassing.. althoug mice would probably the one scent she could recognise out of a million.
@bmkmb

[Confuzzled.Lynx]

Thornpaw nodded and padded back to camp with the starling and vole. Her eyes had quickly faded from pride into grief.
@Mentallyunstable

[nocturnal]

Frostpaw turned to look at Nightpaw curiously when she mentioned seeing a bird. He'd forgotten that cats couldn't instinctively determine the scent of prey and there was slight amusement the apprentices' sapphire eyes. "That also works," he said in a voice that could be matched with a nonchalant shrug. "It takes practice to memorize all the prey-scents," Frostpaw divulged, "so if you happen to scent something, feel free to mention it. It doesn't have to be complicated, either. 'There's prey somewhere in that direction,' works for me." Frostpaw shifted his gaze to the bird Nightpaw saw, then thought carefully. "Do you want to try hunting it or should I?" he asked the molly. "I might be able to give you some pointers." Or they could both go in and try to catch the bird together, although the scare-and-snatch tactic tended to work better against land creatures.

@Estelle

[Estelle]

Nightpaw glanced back to Frostpaw as he turned to her, somewhat put at ease by his words. So she wasn't completely stupid for not knowing all prey by scent- good to know. What else should she expect actually? Obviously not all who haven't been apprentices for to long just suddenly knew all prey by scent, yet for some reason the idea that they did had gotten stuck in her mind. Another thing she might have to work on.
The molly nodded to his explanation with a quiet "alri-right" and soon brought her attention back to the bird that didn't seem to have flown away yet. She was unsure of how birds were caught exactly, since they seemed to always fly away as soon as a sound came to close or so, but why actually? Maybe they were fearful? Well, either way, Nightpaw assumed that when it came to hunting birds, a good deal of sneaking and acting fast was probably involved. The thoughts kept lingering until she heard Frostpaw's voice once more, Glancing to him again as he spoke, then back to the bird and slightly at her paws, as it had the young molly pause for a short moment.
It could be nice, if not useful, to see someone else hunt first, and could give her an idea of the stance that she would need to take- althoug some pointers would defenitely be useful as well; it would probably be more logical to let Frostpaw hunt the bird, since she wouldn't even know where and how to start, yet decided that she'd leave the choice up to him "wh-which wou-ould yo-you pref-prefer?" Nightpaw asked the other apprentice as she looked back at him.
@bmkmb

[Undertaker]

@Pouncepaw @PeppermintRabbit
Beastspark trailed the scent through the territory before finally stopping beyond the outskirts that passed the Waterbarn. "It seems like they've gone to me." Beastspark meowed to the two mollies, not overly happy that he had been running around the territory for this but at least he knew that they were gone. "I'm going to head back and let Icestar know about this. You can tag along or try hunting something to bring back to the clan." He suggested, not waiting to see what either cat would do he began making his way back to the camp.

[nocturnal]

Frostpaw had been staring down the bird as he gave Nightpaw a moment to respond. The thing was small and plump, the perfect bird to make an example of. From training with Ravenpaw, Frostpaw was able to identify the tawny brown songbird as a skylark. They were one of the most common prey-animals around, although birds weren't exactly ShadowClan's specialty.

Once Nightpaw spoke, the white tom turned to her and said, "I don't mind going first." It would probably be easier for the molly to watch a successful hunt before trying it on her own. Besides, Frostpaw wasn't the best at teaching. He wasn't the best at chasing birds, either, although this time, he would be attempting to catch a songbird, not a hawk. Hopefully, there would be a practical difference between them.

"You can watch me hunt, then try on your own later. I'm not the best at dealing with birds, though. If you think of a better strategy, let me know." With that, the apprentice began closing the distance between him and the lark, but before he was close enough to startle it, he turned back to Nightpaw. "The bird is a skylark, if you want to start memorizing its scent."

Refocusing on his prey, Frostpaw took another step closer before dropping into the hunters' crouch. He willed himself to forget about everything else, only thinking about the hunt. Luckily, they were already downwind, so the soft breeze didn't carry his scent or bother the hunt at all. The bird flicked its tail and hopped around aimlessly before tilting its head and staring straight at Frostpaw. A beat and the tensing of muscles. With a warning cry, the lark launched itself into the air, but the sound was barely able to escape its throat before sharp teeth sank into its feathered neck. In a flash, Frostpaw landed softly on his paws, the skylark in his jaws hiding his prideful smirk. He set the surprisingly clean bird on the ground, then looked to Nightpaw. "How was it?" In reality, it had been one of the white apprentice's better bird hunts. Quick and simple, without any scratches on him and without the bird's feathers torn or wings broken.

@Estelle

[Madelaine]

[ @Casper; @S-oft; ]

Ebonypaw listened to her mentor and wondered if Dogpaw would listen to her. It didn't seem like she was, since they had been standing there waiting for them to respond. The fluffy black she-cat looked over at Dogpaw.

"I'll chase it over to you.", she meowed. Ebonypaw hoped that Dogpaw wouldn't screw that up or she wouldn't be too happy. Without waiting for a response the apprentice got into a neat hunters crouch. She stalked towards it, but then made herself known. The mouse tried to run away, but she slammed one of her front paws in front of it. It scattered towards Dogpaw. Ebonypaw stayed right behind it.

[RedHead]

Originally Posted by Ombre Party

Rabbithop heard the she-cat muttering to herself but he didn't mind. Though he was too far away to hear what she said, he wasn't worried. It was clear the apprentice was hard on the trail of something, and Rabbithop quickly scented a frog. You can do this! He wanted to call out, but that would both ruin her chances of hunting the frog and their tentative peace as they began to hunt. Ears perked, Rabbithop watched her with alert eyes. He broke through a small clump of ferns to see the frog hanging from her jaws, and pride sparking in her gaze, and he couldn't help but smirk. The daft furball He thought, stifling a small laugh. I'll have to remember her not to get to cocky. He thought, inwardly shaking his head while a smile lit his maw. Rabbithop padded after her as she caught the scent of another piece of prey, eyes intent as she padded forward for her next prey. Rabbithop looked up at the trees and, deciding to have a better view from above, leapt up the closest tree silently. He hopped silently and quickly from tree branch to tree branch, slowing down once he realized what Freezepaw was stalking was a squrriel. I hope I don't scare it away and ruin her hunt. He thought with a small frown, hunkering down on the branch to watch his apprentice's hunt.

The large gray-and-white molly could smell her mentor nearby, probably watching her progress, or so she assumed. But Freezepaw pushed that thought away, refocusing her mind and intent on catching this squirrel. She could spot its red furry pelt through the clump of ferns she was hiding behind, digging at the ground as if looking for something. Readying to pounce, Freezepaw waited for a moment as it continued to scuffle at the ground, before leaping forward, claws outstretched. She caught the squirrel’s tail, the creature letting out a squeal and struggling to escape. Freezepaw pulled it closer and gave it a killing bite, a bit frustrated that this kill hadn’t been as clean and smooth as her last one.

[Pluto]

Originally Posted by RedHead

The large gray-and-white molly could smell her mentor nearby, probably watching her progress, or so she assumed. But Freezepaw pushed that thought away, refocusing her mind and intent on catching this squirrel. She could spot its red furry pelt through the clump of ferns she was hiding behind, digging at the ground as if looking for something. Readying to pounce, Freezepaw waited for a moment as it continued to scuffle at the ground, before leaping forward, claws outstretched. She caught the squirrel’s tail, the creature letting out a squeal and struggling to escape. Freezepaw pulled it closer and gave it a killing bite, a bit frustrated that this kill hadn’t been as clean and smooth as her last one.

Rabbithop held is breath as she lunged and the squirrel scrabbled to get away. He let the breath go when Freezepaw finally caught it and it’s small shrieks ended. She’s done good. He thought before crawling down a little way from the tree and leaping down beside her. “Good job Freezepaw! On this last catch if you could have tried getting a little closer so the catch would’ve been easier, but overall you did well!” He purred warmly. The wry white tom looked around and breathed in a deeply, trying to scent to see if any prey was out in this area anymore. None. The squirrel must’ve alerted all the prey. He thought, stifling a sigh. He turned to Freezepaw. “Do you want to grab your prey and head back and maybe hunt a little more, or do you feel like training?” Excitement sparked in the tom’s eyes at the thought; he hadn’t sparred or trained with any cat in a long time but this would be fun if Freezepaw wanted to. They would have time to do a little before the sun was setting and they would have to head back.