@Rani
She arches her back and drags her claws through the dirt as she gets up. Pain flares up in the back of her neck, but she ignores it. The Clan leader had slept strangely or something since there was a kink in her neck. No matter how she tries to remove it, it's been there for the last few days and occasionally annoys her. Her tail whips through the air behind her as her cool amber orbs roam the clearing for a particular pretty kitty.

It's been some time since she's been personally asked for an assessment. These days, she usually leaves the assessment to her enforcers or warriors. As much as she loved to check whether her up-and-coming warriors were actually fit for the rank, she had too much on her paws to tend to every assessment. She's loosened her control a tad, and it seems to be going well enough. ShadowClan's been having new warriors made every moon for a little while now. It was difficult to say whether those warriors would have passed if assessed by her.

Bleedingpaw's recent revelations regarding betrayal left her with a new mini-shadow. Even though she was glad he wasn't as unstable since their chat, Dawnstar hadn't expected she'd find the little furball out of the corner of her eye nearly everywhere she went in camp. Her newest parasite. She wasn't sure if he was watching and remaining nearby cause he was needy, or he doubted her and was waiting for the inevitable moment she turned on him. The latter would have rubbed her fur the wrong way if she didn't understand him as well as she did. She was guessing it was the former, though.

He was very much like Sleepysunrise was (and still is) as an apprentice, eager to please. She found no reason to fault them as Dawnstar had been the same with Icestar. Only, whereas she worked her tail off for a scrape of recognition that more often than not did not come since it was expected of her, she was not as interested in dangling praise to see how high they'd be willing to jump for it. She had already tried the manipulation tactics on her first few adopted furballs, and they came back to bite her in the tail.

So now she was simply going to try and go through the more affectionate, supportive route, and see if she got different results. Which meant following her instincts more often than not, they've grown more maternal since having a litter of her own, which she still wasn't sure how it worked. Being an actual mom was an oddity to her, still, she was mostly winging it and hoping for the best here.

Small bones pop and snap within her neck as she tilts her head. A tattered ear turns to listen to Bleedingpaw as he comments on his extra training. Seriously, he was another version of Sleepysunrise as an apprentice. Dawnstar hadn't had all the extra lessons available as an apprentice, she'd learned swimming, fishing, and climbing as a leader. She should see about picking up on more herbs in time, as well, and she could use the extra medical training.

"Not necessary, but if you wanna show off, feel free. I have some free time." She couldn't promise she was the best to assess him in those categories, but she knew what it was like learning all this extra stuff and waiting for someone to pat you on the back for it.

@Rani - Bleedingpaw
She flickers her tail tip thoughtfully while listening to Bleedingpaw. It made sense that he had some basic medical knowledge, considering how clumsy he was. He still wobbled, but aside from that time in her den, she rarely saw him fall. He hasn't bled much since... hmm, she might have to think about a more fitting name once he earns his warrior name.

"Go ahead," She approves with a nod. Her eyes trail him as she drops down into a long stretch, forcing unwanted tension out of her muscles. She dug her claws into the soft mud below as it leeched up what little heat she held in her pads. Dawnstar wasn't in any mood to follow him into the water; she could swim, but didn't like it. Her fur wasn't sleek like a riverclan cat's, her pelt soaked up water, which helped on a hot day, but made swimming a real pain.

Bleedingpaw didn't seem to have the same problem. He swam like a fish, perhaps he should have been taken into RiverClan instead of ShadowClan. The leader strained her ears to hear over the wildlife, but it was hard to detect his movement in the water. He didn't splash or flail around like others, reinforcing her former thought. Well, too late now, he was ShadowClan through and through.

The prey he caught wasn't ShadowClan's typical prey. It was one of those hard-shelled creature cats see now and then around the territory. She wouldn't call them common, but not uncommon either. Turtles. She's never eaten one. Once they got into the water, they were hard to catch and Dawnstar had yet to figure out how to break open their shells. Perhaps she'd take the one Bleedingpaw caught as a gift. She could see if they were worth catching or if she found another favorite prey to eat.

Her paws roll a small pinecone between them while she observes the apprentice as he briefly plays with the dead turtle before burying it and setting off. He doesn't go far, so she doesn't have to move much as he wanders along the river. Her pinecone is left behind as she watches him freeze and turn his head towards a bush. Her head follows as she sees the bush rustle. She parts her maw and tastes the air, but she smells no predators around.

Bleedingpaw wasn't stupid enough to hunt something that could kill him, right? Her muscles stiffen as what looks like a small beaver comes flying out of the shrubs. It was a Muskrat, prey, but not something commonly hunted in ShadowClan. Anything with the word rat is expected to have a rather nasty bite. Despite its size, Bleedingpaw dispatched it without too much trouble. Still, she reminded herself to hunt for bites and ship him off to Sleepysunrise after this.

As Bleedingpaw moves further from the river, Dawnstar tenses her muscles underneath and evergreen and leaps upwards, hooking her claws into the tough bark. She climbs the massive tree till she finds a sturdy enough branch to hold her weight and sits on the limb. It's not difficult to locate Bleedingpaw again, his pelt doesn't exactly blend in seamlessly with his surroundings. He's hunting something new.

Confusion brightens her amber eyes as he grabs a rock and manages to hit a snake. He catches the snake after stunning it, but Dawnstar finds the way he catches it quite displeasing. She knew cats had different techniques and whatnot when it comes to hunting. The main goal was to catch the prey; how it was done should be that big of a deal, at least not to her. But it didn't mean she had to like it.

The rest of his hunt was rather lackluster. She wouldn't blame him for the bird, those were tricky. The squirrel he had been hunting she watched escape up a tree, which made her wonder if he knew how to climb, but then thought sticking a cat with balancing issues in a tree was asking for trouble. The ambushing of the mouse was a bit of overkill, but it caught more prey for the clan.

As he collected his prey and returned, Dawnstar stayed on her perch, doing one more quick scan of the territory, and then climbed out of her tree. She landed heavily on the forest floor and slipped into the shadows, winding her way through the trunks and foliage until Bleedingpaw's pretty pelt greeted her gaze as she pushed through some ferns.

"Not bad," Dawnstar strolls over to get a closer look at the catches.

"You caught more than you lost, and the muskrat was quite surprised, but you handled yourself well enough. Your hunting technique with the snake was interesting to say the least." Her huge claws hook into the crevices of the turtle shell as she batters at it lightly.

"The turtle's new, I've never seen anyone catch one personally." She'd have to mess around with that later. "I'd say you pass. You get bitten by the overgrown rat?"

Hearing the logic behind the decision eased some of her concerns with his snake-hunting methods; it made sense. She didn't like it, but to each their own. So long as her clanmates caught and brought home prey for the clan, she wouldn't make a fuss about how it was done. She also hadn't put much thought into his wobbly nature either. Honestly, she thought grabbing a rock and chucking it would be more difficult than simply pouncing on it, but since he was less likely to get bit while keeping his distance, it worked.

Her tattered ears were rammed straight when the turtle was brought up. Its belly? She walked over to the dead creature again and went to inspect it. Her claws slide into the holes where the heads and legs extend, but she is a bit lost on how he feels the belly relax until he mentions the gap. The leader's long black claw slipped further out of its sheath as she found the gap he spoke about. Intriguing.

"You can fiddle around with this one. We'll have to go turtle hunting. You can show me how to break open the shell." Despite the leader's age and experience, she was never shy regarding her curiosity and willingness to learn from others, regardless of their age and rank. She'd have the chance to bond with her little shadow, too.

Uh, she had already forgotten he said he had taken an extra lesson regarding herbs. So a visit to the medicine cat would be unnecessary. All this reminded me of is that she needed to take some extra medicine lessons.

"Wonderful, get your prey hidden, and we can start the combat. You've done satisfactorily enough to pass your hunting portion." She tells Bleedingpaw as she turns away. Her amber eyes scanned their surrounding; this should be good enough for a combat ground.

"We'll spar with claws unsheathed, though the same rules apply in a regular spar," Dawnstar says when she turns back around, no vital spots and severe damage. The leader leans down into a loose but comfortable fighting stance. Her swaying tail stills as she relaxes the tension in her muscles.

"You're not fighting to beat me, impress me." She reminds him before allowing him to make the first move. It was unlikely he'd get a chance in the first place to attack first, not with that wobbly, he'd be a target until he showed the other cats in the clan that he was more than that.