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Post by lizardfoot on Sept 19, 2015 13:11:23 GMT -6
The early morning sun cast a pinkish gray hue over the rocks and rough brush that lined the landscape, dark shadows stretching out behind them like the splotches and stripes of a tabby. One dark shape, however, was not a shadow at all, but rather a lean black-furred wildcat. Her ears were swiveled forward and eyes narrowed in concentration as she focused in on the scrawny shape of a lizard.
Sootpaw licked her lips in anticipation. It was unusual for lizards to be out this early, and, well they weren’t her favorite prey, it still was better than nothing. Sneaking a few steps forward, at last she saw it fit to pounce forward at her target. The lizard made a feeble dart, but it soon found itself in the jaws of its hunter, dead.
Sootpaw raised her head proudly with her kill clamped between her jaws. Her elation promptly faded as she realized the other cats hunting with her stood nowhere in sight. Her ears flattened in irritation: sure, she had been going pretty fast, but couldn’t those mouse-brains keep up with her? Growling to herself, she trotted back a little ways.
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Post by Jay on Sept 19, 2015 13:33:37 GMT -6
Wrenpaw's pelt crawled with anxiety. Dovepaw was back at camp, probably still asleep. Wrenpaw wished she was with her. Instead she was here, on a hunting patrol, all alone.
Well, not all alone. Sootpaw was here, and so were their mentors. But it wasn't the same. Wrenpaw had rarely been apart from Dovepaw. She didn't like it, not at all.
And hunting was hard. It was hard, and it was important, and Wrenpaw was terrified. There was no Dovepaw to give her encouragement, to tell her she could do it, even if she thought she couldn't.
Her mentor said the same thing, of course, but it always meant so much more coming from her sister.
Wrenpaw shook herself out of her thoughts. Could you be more whiny? she thought angrily, and padded forward. Sootpaw has disappeared awhile ago. She had no trouble hunting. She knew exactly what to do.
There was a morning wind blowing. Surely there'd be some scent in it. She put her nose up and sniffed hard. Nothing but the earthy scent of CliffClan territory. No- wait- There. It was faint, but there was something there. It smelled like feathers.
She crouched, fluffy belly pressed to the ground. At least her pelt blended well with the oranges of the earth. She crept forward and.. there! A bird. Not one Wrenpaw recognized, but there were a lot of birds she still had no names for. It was gray, and busily pecking at one of the scarce plants on the cliffs.
She could do this. It was right there, just in front of her, and the wind was blowing towards her, so it had no chance of scenting her. She stepped forward, hopeful, but the moment she had tensed to leap, something startled it. Wrenpaw watched, mournful, as the little gray bird flapped away.
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Post by lizardfoot on Sept 19, 2015 14:49:55 GMT -6
Sootpaw considered calling out to the other apprentice she was supposed to be with. She could have if she wanted, having scraped some dry earth over her prey a while back, but with all the mouse-brained stories about huge killer dogs or whatever, she decided not to give her clan-mate a heart attack. That would be fun to explain.
As it turns out, Wrenpaw wasn’t terribly lost, as Sootpaw realized as she poked her head out from behind a boulder. The other apprentice clearly hadn’t noticed her and seemed to be stalking prey, Sootpaw observed. Wrenpaw’s warm, reddish fur made her almost disappear into the equally rust-colored scenery, that lucky fur-ball. Sootpaw hadn’t interacted with the apprentice much and always thought her to be one of those shy cats afraid of their own shadows.
Not looking exactly where she was going, Sootpaw suddenly slipped a bit on the sheer rock face. She was okay, of course, with thick paw-pads protecting her from the rough ground, but her stumble had sent a pebble or two tumbling down with a sharp click-clack. Sootpaw noticed, restraining a hiss. Apparently, the bird Wrenpaw had been stalking noticed too, and flew away with a quick flap. Oops. Well, Wrenpaw probably wasn’t going to catch it anyways with that form, Sootpaw admonished. Besides, Sootpaw herself had already caught a lizard, right?
Sootpaw opted to wait a few more heartbeats before making herself known.
“Hey, Wrenpaw!” Sootpaw jaunted out, approaching the smaller she-cat. “Any luck with prey? Or something else…” She theatrically looked over her shoulder, as if scared. “Y’know, like, those big bad wolves?”
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Post by Jay on Sept 20, 2015 5:54:13 GMT -6
Wrenpaw had no idea what to do now. The logical course of action was to turn around and try again, but she felt crushed, still watching where the bird had disappeared to, though it was long gone.
She was trying to muster up the courage to keep going when Sootpaw called out. Wrenpaw flinched out of habit. She didn't really know Sootpaw, but from seeing her around camp, it seemed as though the older apprentice was gruff and forceful, not at all like someone Wrenpaw was comfortable around, sadly.
"Um," she mumbled, her head turned bashfully away. "No.. No, nothing. Th-those are just a rumor anyway," she added. "It's probably nothing." She hoped, anyway. "Did.. did you manage to catch anything?" she asked, reminded again of her pitiful miss. The trip wouldn't be a complete waste if Sootpaw had had more luck.
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Post by lizardfoot on Sept 20, 2015 12:24:53 GMT -6
Sootpaw shrugged in response, only vaguely taking note of Wrenpaw's obvious discomfort. Typical.
"Fair enough, they probably are just a story to keep kits from sneaking away. Still though, you never know. It'd be something to try and fight one. At least, you won't need to worry about them with me around."
Of course, Sootpaw was just riling the other she-cat up, but she couldn't deny there was something a little exciting about taking down a big foe. They couldn't be much bigger than gray-furred foxes, could they? Sootpaw gave her head a little shake, trying to eliminate the mouse-brained idea. She didn't need to prove anything, it just sounded like a pain.
"Yeah, I caught a lizard a ways ahead. Or was it two lizards? They're even more foolish than birds so who knows? Maybe even you could catch one."
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Post by Jay on Sept 20, 2015 13:13:40 GMT -6
"You won't have to worry with me around." That was true. Sootpaw was big and strong. There was probably nothing she couldn't handle. It made Wrenpaw feel better, just a little.
Then Sootpaw had to say that and it chilled whatever warmth she had started to feel toward the older apprentice. "O-oh," she mewed in a tiny voice. "Maybe." But probably not. That's what Sootpaw had meant, she knew. Just another clanmate who thought her useless.
They were right, of course, but it still hurt.
"I guess I could just help you carry them back," she suggested, trying to scrounge whatever use she could have. "I-if you catch too much, I mean."
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Post by lizardfoot on Sept 20, 2015 13:39:21 GMT -6
Sootpaw did feel a little twinge of guilt at the smaller cat's suden downcast mood, but quickly stomped out the feeling. It's not like she couldn't go cry on her sister's shoulder later, right? She opted not to aknowledge the twinge of jelousy as she whipped around.
"Sure, whatever. It's not like we're supposed to be back anytime soon, anyways." Sootpaw sniffed at the air, half-heartedly wondering where their lazy mentor was. Probably back at camp.
"C'mon." She gestured with a flick of her tail.
The sun climbed higher into the sky, the pinks and grays of dawn eaten up by brighter shades of blue. Sootpaw narrowed her eyes. Daytime wasn't her favorite, but lizards and snakes would be waking up soon. Maybe if they where lucky, they'd even find a stray rabbit!
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Post by Jay on Sept 20, 2015 14:45:46 GMT -6
"Okay," Wrenpaw mewed, still quiet, and followed obediently after Sootpaw. Her tail dragged in the dust, something she'd regret later. It'd take ages to wash out, even with Dovepaw's help.
Admittedly, she sulked a little. Just for the moment, to get it out of her system. She waited until the sun had peeked fully over the horizon, and then she sucked it up and tried to be as useful as possible.
Maybe she could redeem herself. Maybe even enough to impress Sootpaw, or at least have something of her own to bring back to camp. She could dream, right?
Their walking took them further into the Hills. BY now the wind had picked up, and the noise that had given the area its name had started. It was a mild blessing: the sound could cover up accidental noises clumsy cats made, and Wrenpaw needed all the help she could get.
Lucky, too: There was another bird ahead, the same sort Wrenpaw had missed earlier. She was tempted to try again, but she couldn't face failure again. "You should try and get it," she whispered to Sootpaw instead.
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Post by lizardfoot on Sept 20, 2015 17:49:30 GMT -6
Sootpaw fluffed up her fur as it got ruffled by the wind. Well, at least the wind would potentially help chase away the heat, even if it did get sunny later on. Not that it was particularly hot this time of the year.
Sootpaw's ears pricked up at Wrenpaw's soft mew. She, too, had noticed the little gray-brown form of the bird, hopping in front of them.
"Sure, easy." Sootpaw mewed, giving a sniff. Bird sounded good right about now.
She wasted no time in crouching low to the ground, so her dark belly fur just barely brushed the dusty earth. Sootpaw paced slowly a few steps. Wrenpaw wasn't exactly a harsh or intimidating presence or anything, but Sootpaw could still feel her eyes boring into her back.
Sootpaw sucked in a breath and dashed forward, perhaps a bit too soon, apparently, as the bird spotted her rabbit-lengths away. Sootpaw wasn't fast enough and with an easy flutter, the bird took to the air. A hiss escaped Sootpaw and she gave a great leap, but the gray bird seemed to just barely escape her outstretched claws and fly to safety. The black cat, on the other hand, landed hard on four paws, red-hot frustration making the fur on her spine spike up.
Sootpaw took a second to catch her breath before remembering the other apprentice was with her. She gave Wrenpaw a glare, as if daring her to say something, before turning away with an angry lash of her tail. Suddenly her pride of catching that measly lizard a while back evaporated like dew under the hot sun.
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Post by Jay on Sept 21, 2015 9:22:39 GMT -6
Wrenpaw watched very carefully, studying the way Sootpaw crouched and stalked the bird. You can do it, she encouraged silently, hopeful. She took great pride in others accomplishments, perhaps a little more than she should.
But then Sootpaw missed. Wrenpaw felt so bad for her; Sootpaw probably took failure just as hard as Wrenpaw did.
Sootpaw turned back to Wrenpaw and glared at her, but she only flinched a little. "We still have time," she mewed as encouragement. "It's only just past dawn."
Sootpaw missing had done a little bit of good for Wrenpaw's self-esteem and image of her fellow apprentice, oddly enough. She wasn't as infallible as she had seemed, and it made the ruddy apprentice feel better.
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Post by lizardfoot on Sept 24, 2015 22:37:58 GMT -6
(Sorry I had a busy week!)
Sootpaw upheld her angry glare for a few more heartbeats before turning away with a halfhearted grunt.
"Yeah, sure whatever." She decided.
Padding a little onwards, Sootpaw thought she saw a hint of pity in Wrenpaw's eyes and felt an uncomfortable feeling writhing in her stomach. Pity? From Wrenpaw? Coming from a cat like her, that was laughable to Sootpaw, but also it just said how embarrassing her one failure was. She was a mouse-brain, wasn't she?
I'm not a mouse-brain! Sootpaw insisted to herself, suddenly picking up the pace.
"Hurry up!" She barked the words over her shoulder, "Why don't you try and catch something this time?"
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Post by Jay on Sept 25, 2015 10:17:42 GMT -6
Sootpaw's legs were longer than hers, so Wrenpaw had the barest bit of difficulty keeping up. "Okay," Wrenpaw mewed at what was practically an order, panting slightly.
She felt a little bad. Sootpaw was obviously angry, and Wrenpaw didn't know what to say to help her, if anything. If she tried to say she understood, she doubted Sootpaw would take it well. The other cat just seemed so wound up.
So instead of saying anything, she turned her attention to trying to catch something, anything. A tiny little mouse would work, even. Just something.
Or a little vole. It was so small, scrabbling at the base of a stringy little plant. Wrenpaw didn't wait; she dropped down, pressing her belly to the cliff ground. She paused, adjusting nervously, lifting her belly off the ground just a little so her fur didn't make any noise. She moved forward, just a little, ears laid back in nervousness. She couldn't miss this.
She leapt forward just as it looked up and saw her. She had to take two little jumps to catch it, but her paw slammed down onto it, stunning it, and a bite killed it.
She felt just as stunned as it had before death. One of her first successful catches, and just as surprising as the others had been.
It felt.. good. Her whiskers trembled, and she turned, slowly, to face Sootpaw, her head low. She felt very shy suddenly.
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Post by lizardfoot on Sept 26, 2015 21:45:59 GMT -6
Sootpaw crouched, resting, as she watched the other apprentice through her own narrowed eyes. She caught her breath as Wrenpaw got an uncharacteristically determined look in her eye: maybe she wasn't just a useless ball of fluff. Of course Sootpaw had seen a cat's stalking a million times, whether it was a warrior mentor demonstrating during training or a clanmate during an actual hunt, there was something satisfying about the final result.
Not to say Sootpw wasn't still grouchy at her previous attempt, but she couldn't muster up much resentment at the almost awestruck gaze that Wrenpaw had for a second.
"Whoo, finally!" Sootpaw got up, stretching her lean shoulders with a yawn, "And you didn't think you had it in you, mouse-brain."
Sootpaw contemplated giving her a playful cuff over her ear, but knowing the other apprentice, she'd probably be so startled that her jaws would drop the precious prey they held, sending it tumbling to Starclan-knew-where for some mangy fox to eat.
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Post by Jay on Sept 27, 2015 1:37:34 GMT -6
"Thank you," Wrenpaw whispered. It wasn't really a compliment persay, but she decided to take it as one. Her fur felt very warm suddenly.
Carefully, she scraped earth out beside the little bush and buried the vole shallowly to retrieve later.
"Where should we go next?" she asked Sootpaw, padding on light paws over to the other apprentice. She wanted to see if she could catch two pieces of fresh-kill today.
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Post by lizardfoot on Sept 28, 2015 7:23:19 GMT -6
Sootpaw twisted her ears, raking her mind for a place to go. They'd left camp, walked a little ways, where else to?
"I dunno, This way looks exciting." She deadpanned. She trotted a little ways before the ground started to incline underneath her paws, the stone rubbing against her rough paw pads. Up ahead the cliff jutted out more sharply, as cliffs tended to do in their territory. Scraggly grass clung to its many ledges and crags.
Sootpaw did an experimental scramble a little ways up until her paws rested on a ledge a rabbit-hop or two off of the ground.
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