Make sure to congratulate Versailles on their promotion from c-mod in training to fully fledged chat moderator! They've worked very hard, and we can't wait to see where they go from here!
— Fawnpaw smiled softly, partly from relief but also from pride as she nodded. Whiskers twitching while she felt the breeze, the apprentice shuddered feeling Owlstars tap. Her mentor was right - she needed to be faster. She cringed at the thought of breaking an innocent animals bones. After all, it was prey though.Fawnpaw twitched uneasily at the thought of using force.
“..Huh? What they smelt like?Uhh.. really, really wet rain, if you understand what I mean.”she answered meekly.
`~Owlstar
She, Her\Deputy\47 moons\Riverclan
"Are you listening, star child?"
Owltalon took note of how her apprentice winced, saving the reaction into her mental library. Not all cats liked the heat of battle or the force that came with intentional harm. That was okay. Fawnpaw had her own strengths, Owltalon would just have to build on them.
The tabby gave a chuckle. "Wet rain, eh? Now tell me chap, what do I smell like?" she prompted. Likely like fish, maybe earth. Whatever clung to her matted pelt usually stayed their for a long time, so even the metallic undertone of blood was likely to be noticed.
"Fer sharp turns n' fast movements, use yer tail. It helps ya balance, just like any animal, which is why ya aim fer that when ya wanna slow anythin' down. Either that 'er give 'em a good smack." she gave a flick of her ear. "But, ya did pretty well chap. If ya can at least catch two pieces a prey, we can move onta battle." Maybe she was rushing things, perhaps, but battle and hunting went paw and paw, bouncing off one another in a twined art of killing.
. . . Fawnpaw flicked an ear keenly. “Err. Fish, to be exact,” she mewed, her nose scrunching up at the smell of her mentors fur. She kneaded her paws on the ground quietly, ears straining to take in every bit of information. Use your tail for sharp turns and fast movements, they reminded themselves, tail neatly wrapped around the apprentice as she nodded.
.. Giving a small teethy smile at the praise, she sat up, a little bit more confident. Two pieces and then battle. Just two pieces of prey. Feathery tail lightly touching the forest ground, her paws steadied herself. “I’m.. I’m ready.” Atleast.. I think I’m ready.
__________________
blackbird singing in the dead of night
take these broken wings and learn to fly
. . . Fawnpaw flicked an ear keenly. “Err. Fish, to be exact,” she mewed, her nose scrunching up at the smell of her mentors fur. She kneaded her paws on the ground quietly, ears straining to take in every bit of information. Use your tail for sharp turns and fast movements, they reminded themselves, tail neatly wrapped around the apprentice as she nodded.
.. Giving a small teethy smile at the praise, she sat up, a little bit more confident. Two pieces and then battle. Just two pieces of prey. Feathery tail lightly touching the forest ground, her paws steadied herself. “I’m.. I’m ready.” Atleast.. I think I’m ready.
`~Owlstar
She, Her\Deputy\47 moons\Riverclan
"Are you listening, star child?"
The deputy nodded with a small smile. "Al'ight. C'mon, oughta go deeper inta territory. When ya hunt, ya should keep movin'," Owltalon began as she trotted on, stopping every step or so to shake leaves from her paws. "That way, ya shouldn't be able to scare off prey. Once yer presence is known, those critters run fer the hills I tell ya." she chuckled to herself, stopping at a large tree.
The deputy looked up and blinked her amber eye at it before turning her head to look at Fawnpaw. She sat at the base of the tree and looked on expectingly, her bulky body suddenly deathly still. If she wanted to observe and not disrupt, she had to be as unmovable as a rock. That wasn't to say she wouldn't snatch up any unfortunate prey that scrambled near her paws, but she'd be as still as needed.
{ 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.
__________________
blackbird singing in the dead of night
take these broken wings and learn to fly