[Marigoldwhisper]

 

Originally Posted by bambi

{ new format is a wip.. have this one for a moment }

Fawnpaw
she / they : riverclan paw : 10 moons
— @Marigoldwhisper : Owltalon

The apprentice took a deep breath, her paws dragging herself onwards to trail after Owltalon. She stiffened at the mention of going further into the territory, but forced herself to move onwards. She didn’t want to be a coward. Or look like one. No way! Blue eyes looked down curiously to see what her mentor was doing before she started looking at her own paws and waggling leaves that stuck to her paw pads off.

The hills? Hm. And then Owltalon started to chuckle. She didn’t really find that funny. Maybe it was leader humour. Yeah. After all, her mentor had lived longer then she ever did. Eh. Fawnpaw stopped abruptly as they reached the place, her eyes glancing around.

She watched curiously as Owlstar stiffened, before sighing and looking around quietly. Alright. Hopefully the steps weren’t as muddled up as they were mentally for her. She took a very cautious step, feeling the winds direction gingerly and beginning her sniffing. Great. There was already a scent carried by the wind. Well, the scent smelled like.. er.. mouse. What if it wasn’t a mouse? Eh. But, the chittering gave it away easily. Ah. The stinky very wet rain stench hit her nose. The black apprentice lowered herself to the ground, making sure she didn’t feel any leaves rustling under her belly before she dashed off.

Fawnpaw froze suddenly, her hind legs aching to leap up as she caught sight of the mouse’s pink ears. Alright. She wanted to take a few silent steps forwards, but she knew that she would have gave it all away, especially with such clumsy paws. The apprentice stiffened, drifting forwards with focused blue eyes and perked ears. Stun it. That was one thing that rung in her mind. Now she just needed to do it.

Quietly and carefully, she proceeded, with her hind legs wiggling and pupils dilating. Right. Now. With her hind legs propelling herself off, she landed close, darting after the mouse. The mouse obviously caught on of what was happening, probably running for its life. Well. She didn’t care. Carefully yet with force, Fawnpaw threw a hard blow to its side quickly. Ah. Did that work? Well.

The mouse seemed to stay still on the ground for a few split seconds, before scrambling up and letting out a squeal. Eurgh! Did Owltalon tell her about the other sounds [in this case, the squealing] that they gave before? With sheathed paws, Fawnpaw dashed after, throwing out another paw to the now slowed mouse’s hind legs before giving a sharp bite to its neck.

She had done it. Had she? Woah. She had. Right.. Maybe she could go back to the tree so she wouldn’t get lost finding one of her catches far from here. Yeah. Fawnpaw quietly followed a leaf-laced path back, digging a small ish hole for the mouse and burying it. Okayy. Now. What’s next. Hm. The apprentice swerved through a different path, sniffing around for a smell. Ah! A scent. But this one was different. Ack.

It smelt like... ehhhh... sticks. More like.. uh.. a tree. Wait. Was she just smelling a tree? No. It had to be something else. Ah! A bird? She had no clue as to why those smells would’ve stuck onto the bird, but hey! Maybe she could finish quickly? Nah, maybe it was better taking her time. Fawnpaw warily took low again to the ground, following the scent trail quietly.

There it was. A small bird pecking at the ground. Great. Maybe it would be distracted pecking the ground. Okay! Good. Fawnpaw stiffened as she felt the wind going the wrong direction. Dangit. She had to act quickly. With silence, the black cat sped after the bird, who had abandoned its pecking and was beginning its take off. She batted at its wings, but was unfortunately too slow to attack it down. Geez. Maybe she should stick to mice, despite how much she hated chasing after them. Alright.

Fawnpaw walked around for a few heartbeats, sticking low to the ground as another scent trail of mouse came up. This time the wind went past her. Nice. The apprentice darted after the mouse , which had unknowingly turned and scavenged near Fawnpaw , adrenaline rushing through her paws. She grimaced, before making a hard blow near the mouse’s head. And it seemed to.. ack.. die from that same blow. Okay. Nice.. sort of.

Walking back to the same tree, she dug up the other mouse and glanced at her mentor. She had done it. Not instantly. But she learnt something : she shouldn’t really chase after birds. Where did that come from anyways? Maybe Lionsbeach. Looked like a gull. Hm. But why would it come here? Anyways. Back to Owltalon. Would she have been proud of her? ”Have I done better?” she mews, her blue eyes looking at the two pieces of prey before her.

`~Owltalon
She, Her\Deputy\47 moons\Riverclan
"Are you listening, star child?"

Purrks: Agatha Kitty [ACTIVE] Killer Aptitude (T2) [INACTIVE]


- - -

The tabby watched curiously as Fawnpaw raced through multicoloured leaves. Her good eye narrowed, but it wasn't hard to keep track of her black pelt when it was surrounded by bursts of orange and dreary greens. Her two catches were impressive, and Owltalon was rather pleased with the quick progress. Of course, there was always more learning to do, but speed and agility wasn't something a cat could learn in one day.

As her apprentice approached with her kill, the deputy grinned, white teeth flashing as she pulled back her torn lips. "Ah, good catch chap." she purred softly, not really wanting to alert anything that might be sticking around in the undergrowth.

"As fer them birds," her eye glanced up to a tree not far from them, watching as colors spilled from leaves like a kaleidoscope in the shade. "The important thing is ta sneak up on 'em. Not only are they loud, but they're fast. At first, killin' a bird is gonna be messy. Lots a feathers, a startling amount a blood, but it'll be worth it."

Suddenly, the bulky tabby stood, shaking leaves off her hind legs and rear, however a few bits of debris clung to her pelt stubbornly. She made no attempt to groom it out, it didn't bother her all that much. "Got some advice though. For birds, aim fer the tail n' wings. If those are severed, they cain't fly away. Take that prey 'wit cha, eh?" her hulking frame suddenly weaved past Fawnpaw, lifting her nose to the air. The deputy didn't say anything, just pushed through a sea of crunchy leaves.

"If ya wanna know where we're goin', ya can always smell." there was always something distinct and sharp about bodies of water, like the feeling anycat would get once rain was about to hit. As the deputy walked, the trees became fewer and fewer as the air, while still crisp, held a faint moisture. Then the crash of water against the bank became audible fox lengths before she even reached the river.

The deputy sat down at the bank, one eye glaring at the waters. She looked over her shoulder, hoping Fawnpaw caught up. "Hope ya like water, we're swimming." Owltalon had assessed it on her walk here. She knew if Fawnpaw fell in, Owltalon would have no complications getting her back to the bank, but she wanted her apprentice to be confident in her ability to swim before they hunted any fish.

"Paws in the water, c'mon." Owltalon instructed, her voice carrying a level of discomfort. Owltalon didn't exactly like swimming. She could do it, but it often made her feel tremendously heavy afterwards. She placed her own paws at the edge of the bank, allowing water to rush past matted fur. A few fishes paused to observe, small silver minnows, but for the most part, they completely ignored her presence, like she was just another big rock. "Slowly inch yerself inta the water, ya don't get nothin' rushin'."

After she spoke, Owltalon slipped into the river, pumping her paws rhythmically to keep herself upright. She could feel her tail grace the rocky bottom, expected given how shallow the water was here. She had no intention of going farther down stream until Fawnpaw could keep her eyes open beneath waves.

"Once ya get in, I'll grab ya by the scruff. Ya ain't gonna drown. Make sure ya keep yerself moving, but don't exhaust yerself. Ya don't need ta flair around ta keep yerself swimmin', but move yer paws accordingly." What a wonderful explanation... Well, hopefully it made sense when she actually got in.