flickering remnants [p]

[redshiftreign]

this takes place about 3-4 months ago, prior to shadowclan's move and restrictions.

grousepaw had spent the morning lolled quietly on a stone, basking in the occasional ray of sunlight that penetrated this deep in the ravine. the days were getting warmer, longer, and the sun burned hotter down on his short and eclectic pelt. he learnt that he loved the warmer months, finding them a scarce comfort.

it was no longer morning, however, and fenneldrop had agreed to take him out and teach him the basics of hunting. so much for training with his mentor. he was ninety-nine percent sure that his current mentor was looking for the soonest opportunity to dump him off on some other warrior. play stupid games, win stupid prizes. grouse wasn't gonna let anyone play 'tough love' with him. it just wasn't gonna work.

shrugging his broad, still filling out shoulders, he trailed after the warrior. "so, what's the plan?"

@narcissus

[narcissus]

fenneldrop

"Mainly?" Fenneldrop picked her way over a fallen branch, flicking her pale tail. "You catch something and kill it." She cleared her throat and peered into the mire's dense forest. The shadows were growing longer as the sun traveled the sky. "Or, well, I'm gonna teach you to," she amended with a nod. She picked somewhere to halt and turned to study Grousepaw. "How 'bout you show me your hunting crouch?" she asked, gesturing at him with a jerk of her head.

@redshiftreign

[redshiftreign]

"huh." grousepaw replied, trotting alongside the warrior. "that's simple."

simple as it can be, at least. grouse lifted his head to study fenneldrop at the command. it was phrased as a question, at least. yeah, he decided i'll show ya my crouch.

grouse dropped low, wiggling his haunches as his tail swayed, heavy paws planted on the ground as he crept forward. "how's this?"


@narcissus

[narcissus]

fenneldrop

her gaze flicked over his form. seemed good enough. the cat had big paws, she noted belatedly. he'd probably grow to be bigger than her. though she supposed she'd have to wait and see if he rivaled even Dawnstar in size or not.

she nodded again. "that's good," she replied, walking in a circle around him to make sure she wasn't missing something.

satisfied, she moved on. "i assume you probably already know what prey smells like. i mean, you eat it every day. rodents are more...musky. birds have a cleaner scent. lizards and toads smell grassy. maybe a bit humid, too," she went over leisurely. "common sense, and so on."

she glanced over the forest carefully, calculating. "you're gonna find more rodents and lizards right now." Fenneldrop looked back at Grousepaw and gave him a faint smile. "go ahead and see if you can track anything, yeah? keep your steps light and your tail just off the ground. both those prey-types can hear well, so don't let 'em."

@redshiftreign

[redshiftreign]

grousepaw puffed up at the praise, standing to his full height (which, admittedly, was already rather tall and broad, certain to fill out into a large warrior in the coming moons) and jogging after fenneldrop.

he grunted in acknowledgement at the description of the scents, jaw parted slightly to take in his surroundings. he glanced around. he was really bad about stepping heavy sometimes, as if he wasn't thinking. still, at the reminder he straightened himself up and walked in longer, more purposed steps that served well to silence.

when a particular scent of grassy wetness caught his attention, he dropped low and kept his belly and tail off the ground. being as brightly coloured as he was was a hinderance in its own right, that and being already warrior-sized. he reminded himself to move quiet and precise, and fall like a thunderbolt.

[grousepaw rolled an 11 with disadvantage; success]

springing forwards, his paws came down on the toad, feeling the textured little creature squish under paw as he brought his head down instinctually to nip at its head to deliver a killing bite. proudly collecting up his bounty, he turned to fenneldrop.

"an' how's that?"
@narcissus

[narcissus]

fenneldrop

she sat back and watched over the apprentice, keeping an eye peeled for any dangers in the forest while he hunted. she doubted there would be - this area wasn't typically known for predators. but it's good to be dubious.

when Grousepaw returned, Fenneldrop smiled brightly and congratulated him. "well done!" she rose to her paws again and trekked the short distance over to the apprentice. "nice toad," she remarked, content.

the warrior surveyed the sky briefly and decided she had time for a small lecture. "if you're ever out huntin' alone, you're gonna need to know how to cache prey so you don't have to stop at one catch." with a paw, she nudged a small patch of overturned loam. "normally, you make a small divot in the earth and pile maybe a bit of dirt - not completely burying the fresh-kill - and some leaves or grasses on top. so other animals don't get your food while you're out. make sense?" she finished explaining.

@redshiftreign