| Sprucepaw |
Kitty Softpaws - Active | Ultimate Predator - Active | Agatha Kitty - Active
Fudge blinked at his mentor's words, silent gratitude laced in the action. He was definitely feeling it. The need for luck. Yet that was not the thing the young apprentice was grateful for. He was thankful for the faith in him. To know that The Boulder placed any in him, believed that he could do this... it was perhaps overly optimistic, but a morale boost all the same. And he needed that. As much as he outwardly preferred to not display his weaknesses, he was terrified. What had begun as a question to seek knowledge on how to gain some higher levels of freedom in this place had turned into a test for his life. This was not how he thought his day would turn, and it scared him more than he cared to admit. There was some comfort as well... in knowing that it was not just Angry who would be judging his every move. Perhaps The Boulder would be able to convince rage incarnate that he was worth showing some modicum of mercy to.
Without a word, the former kittypet moved on, his pace brisk but silent, his senses more alert than he'd ever had them before. It always perplexed him, just how different the world looked whenever he bothered paying attention. How the bend of a dried branch told him the story of a recently passing squirrel. How pecked over and dug up snow let him know there had been birds feeding there. These were all traces on the ground, however, and not good enough. The chocolate point wanted to live through this. Simple, basic hunting would not do. He needed to wow them. Show them he was just at home in the trees as he was at camp. And so after testing his footing up the bark of a tree, the young tom climbed with ease.
This oak had not been chosen at random. There had been a method to Fudge's decision for this tree. It was close. Awfully close to another in which his ears had heard the chirpings of not one, but two squirrels nibbling at their stored food in the relative safety of their perches. High above the reach of any predator that tried to sneak up on them from below. Which meant only one thing. He would have to become a hawk and strike at them from above.
It was a dangerous game he was playing at. A lot could go wrong here if he wasn't paying attention. If he wasn't focused. He could fall to his doom. Miss both squirrels entirely if he wasn't quiet enough. Had gone through all this with nothing to show for it. True, it displayed his climbing skills, but what good were those if he had nothing to offer for them? The long haired tom assumed not very, at least as far as Angry would be concerned. He couldn't see the thunder's head being overly impressed with climbing prowess alone that was not able to be adapted to day to day circumstances, no matter how enjoyable said climbing could be. She simply didn't strike him as a cat who cared much about the likes and dislikes of her clanmates, simply how useful they would be to her in the grand scheme of things.
With this in mind, Fudge remained quiet as he kept his attention divided. One eye on the chittering squirrels and another on his landings, jumping from branch to branch as he gained the required height to put his plan into action. It was through this observation he noticed there was a reasoning for the squirrels positioning as they ate, the bottom one occasionally glancing to the ground underneath them, the top sniffing as it stared skyward. The actions were repeated at intervals, with nibbling on the seeds and nuts they had acquired during seasons past taking most of their time. It took him some studying, but the pattern was quickly discerned, and with whiskers twitching, the dark brown tom almost slithered down a branch, waiting for the opportune moment to- Now!
The bottommost squirrel's eyes cast downward, dark limbs jumped, the Havana Brown mix little more than a blur as he flew from one oak to the next, his maw on the upper squirrel's neck so quickly it died in an instant, unable to cry out towards its companion. Without much preamble the apprentice let it go, allowing gravity to do half his job for him as the squirrel fell to the snow below, the small thud only serving to further distract the squirrel below until it was too late. A squeak of terror escaped the creature when it realized what had happened. Who had fallen. But it was too late. Silent paws had landed on it, fangs silencing the half formed cry of surprise before it could scare away the rest of the forest's prey.
Whiskers twitching, pleased with his catch, Fudge climbed down, jumping from branch to branch towards his first squirrel. He was unsure how much more he would have to catch before The Boulder would be satisfied with his performance, but he wasn't foolish enough to leave his prey out in the open until that time came. Landing just as silently upon the snow as he had been up in tree's many limbs, emeralds hues studied the ground, realizing he would have to dig through snow and dirt alike. The white substance did not seem to be as light and fluffy as most days. He had no idea if it would melt or not, but he wasn't willing to take the chance. Not today, in any case.
[+2 Squirrels]
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dino. [Bumblestar] | @
Rani [Mudhound]
| I am happy to have Spruce continue hunting, but I didn't want him to just have an even bigger post of him hunting a ton of critters without any chance at anyone having any say in between each hunt, so broke it down here before continuing. Hope that's alright! 
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