Waking up from a light sleep, Shadow tentatively parted her eyelids, to the jarring brightness of noon. She did a swift, small motion in her shoulders, repeating the same thing for her hips and paws. Her body instantly felt lighter with the stiffness of inactivity relieved from it. Glancing around, a twinge of confusion founded her for a second before she came to the conclusion she had unknowingly and unwillingly given herself up to exhaustion while taking her typical walk, through the shadows, her way of transportation, through the territory. Shadow hesitantly rose a bit, her paws in some position of a crouch while still keeping low near the floor. She wasn't quite sure of what to do but continue her stroll, so she slowly rose up. Careful not to make her presence known, she padded silently. Her footsteps made no noise, her breaths hardly making sounds as though they were not there. The tail of this female stood carefully, no twitching or movement. Instead, it lay back, relaxed in mid-air. Shadow, unaware of it's position or place, padded step by step, her figure trotting on light feet in the darkness of the territory.
Matter-of-factly, she could see as well in the dark as in the day. It made no difference to her, other than the fact that sometimes things were too dark for even her to make out. Shadow padded carelessly now, still soundless, and stopped. Her ear twitched, her nose and whiskers copying, and she now stood fully alert. Her eyes darted from place to place, and she dropped into a crouch. More specifically, a hunters' crouch. The sound of the nibbling of teeth, of the small sound of a movement, the slight twitch of a whisker. She could hear it all, faintly, but still there. Shadow had not practiced hunting lately, even less eaten a catch, but she now felt the tingling sensation. Her senses grew better, her eyes improving sight, paws improving speed, nose improving scents. This happened to her, as she believed to every other cat (though she might be wrong), whenever she was hunting or battling. Her senses had done this since she had been a helpless, careless kitten playing games with her littermates. She had learned to make use of it, and now she stood, fully alert with senses attentive and vigilant for the scurrying of tiny mouse paws.
As she heard a twitch, just a small, slight twitch in the undergrowth she had turned her back on, she turned around. Her eyes searched for any other signs of movement or life, and she felt emanations of fear and scents of anxiety radiating off of something. Her orbs finally rested on a small, lightly-colored brownish tail. It twitched a second and a third time, then stopped. Shadow walked towards it carefully, wary of the little prey, and continued padding towards it with a lack of confidence. Mentally, she gave herself a miniature peptalk. You can do this! You're not a bad hunter! Help your clanmates! These thoughts of encouragement weren't processed inside of her mind as much, but they gave her the motivation and strength she needed. She leaped quietly on the miniscule yet plump prey, her fall a bit less silent, and her paws slipped. She quickly wrapped her paws around it and made of it fresh-kill before settling down on the undergrowth. Her heart pumped in her chest, blocking out many sounds because of it's noisiness, but it did not yet cover the feeling that was sprouting inside of her. She was proud. Proud of herself for believing. Proud of herself for trying. Proud of herself for doing. Proud of herself for succeeding.