ThunderClan Territory

[Arie]

Originally Posted by RedHead

Flintspirit let out a small shrug and a quiet huff of laughter, ears flattening in a small amount of embarrassment. "Well... like I said you don't have to do that, I was just putting the idea in the air if you knew some way to do it. If not it's perfectly okay.... I just wanted to give you a couple options, plus even if you can't do it, it's good to know about some different hunting techniques, just for your own reference." Flintspirit then fell quiet as he heard the squirrel after a moment as well, tail-tip twitching slightly. At Doepaw's question, he gave a nod. "Yep. I'm going to let you try to go after it. Hunt it how you want just... don't follow it up the tree." It was mostly a lighthearted joke, but he supposed it could be advice too. Not that Flintspirit thought that Doepaw would follow the squirrel up the tree, but it never hurt to give advice. "I'll be watching." The tom meowed quietly, before padding away a few fox-lengths until he could spot the squirrel. The tom crouched down with his paws underneath him, flattening his ears so he was hidden in the thick undergrowth. Having settled himself, he awaited for Doepaw to make the catch.

{ Doetraining }

So she would have to be able to hunt this herself, with no help... Doepaw wasn't exactly a bad hunter, she had pretty much gotten down hunting most land prey. The blind molly found them easier most of the time as she wouldn't have to judge most distances and would instead be able to creep up on their position she found by listening to their scattering feet. But now it would be up to her. And since Flintspirit was going to be watching her... she wanted to make her mentor proud. Hunting was something she was good at. She could do this. So sliding into a crouch she perked her ears forward, pausing with every step. She wanted to be able to catch it without any issues, being extremely wary of its claws after her talk with Myrtlepaw. She just had to go get it, and crunch its neck. And hopefully not chase it up the tree. But maybe, maybe she could? Could she do it? She knew how to climb and considering she was going to be chasing something else maybe the birds wouldn't bother her so much. She was thinking too much. Finally being close enough to smell the creature she crept forward before punching with her front paws and narrowly missing. But this damned creature was not getting away from her, and so she pushed off with her hind legs and grabbed the squirrel's neck and crunch. She had however not really paid attention and was now... in the tree. She'd followed it up the trunk automatically, her legs working on their own without a second thought and just scaling it fast. It had felt just like... normal hunting. But now she was stuck up here. Gripping the trunk with her claws she stuck her head out from the leaves and waved the squirrel around. "I caught it!" came out, a muffled triumphant laugh. "But... i'm stuck now!"

[Shadowsight]

Originally Posted by Lynxpaw

"Yes please" Leopardpaw replied.

"Ok. You hunt under this tree, and I'll go over there." Shadowsight instructed.

She went over to the next tree and waited for prey.

[Arie]

Originally Posted by Socks

As Ploverspot explained, they came to realize that the tom seemed to have lived a fairly normal life in ShadowClan and they let their mind wander to how things would have been if Ploverspot hadn’t run into their mother all those moons ago. They were glad they had made that connection, though, because otherwise, they’d probably never meet. As shocked as Softbriar had been they preferred this to never knowing they had this brother. If they had to list what they knew about the tom at this moment, it would be a rather small list. Besides the basics, they had known of his apprentice and now his arthritis, but… nothing else. It made them frown some, they knew more about mere acquaintances. “Take as many breaks as you need, I don’t mean to push you at all.” Growing up, they hadn’t been that interested in any ShadowClan politics. It wasn’t until they’d become a warrior that they started paying attention but even then it was only minimal knowledge but they had enough to understand the issues. “I don’t mind hearing all I can about your past, it makes things less… awkward to know you better.” It was a rather strange situation, to have to introduce yourself to your own sibling, but they had gotten past the strangeness at this point. “When I was younger, I was rather easy-going, much more than I am now. I often hated doing what I was told. It took until I was a warrior to start really taking things seriously. Thinking about it, I was probably a really annoying kid.” They chuckled but it sounded more like a sigh, they didn’t much like how they were when they were younger, they usually preferred to ignore all that. “I was indecisive and self-indulgent. But then, I had people looking up to me and I realized the responsibility I had to my clan.” Much like Ploverspot, they spoke rather simply about the past. Not giving many in-depth details, they didn’t need to explain every bit of detail from their past. “That was a while ago, I’ve been trying to be active in the clan and make my mark, which I guess now I have. When I was younger I never really wished to be deputy or leader or anything but I glad I am now. Everything that’s happened recently and even further in the past in ThunderClan is rather frustrating, I want the chance to fix things.” They offered up a grin towards the similarly grey tom, as well as helping the clanmates they’d known their whole life, they wanted to make ThunderClan a place Ploverspot and Myrtlepaw would be nothing but glad to have come to. “Heh, now I guess I’m blabbering on, too.”

"Blabbering on seems to be a trait in the family then," Ploverspot let out a soft, almost quiet laugh. It was strange... having a sibling, someone, to just... be relaxed around and laugh with. Shadowclan to him, despite growing up had always seemed cold. But maybe it was because of who he was and not the clan he was in? He didn't know but it would do no good on dwelling on the what ifs and maybes from the past. Hindsight was hindsight and well, he couldn't exactly blame anyone for something that happened seasons ago. Shaking out his fur, he felt the slightly awkward silence return. It was strange all of this. Despite having talked with Softbriar once... it had after all only been once. And that was a forced meeting, arranged seemingly without either of their knowledge by their mother. And regarding their mother... This was possibly a topic that they could at least not feel particular awkward talking about. "Mum... As she looked any different to you lately?" He didn't know how else should start this off with, but it was common knowledge that she-cat was getting older and older. Considering Ploverspot himself was at an age where he could retire from old age... their mother was much older. "She seems to determined to work the life out of herself. For mistakes she committed so many seasons ago." His tail twitched, he was quite unhappy with Shadedpath's outlook to her own mistakes, but he could however see where she was coming from, everyone could. "However, it does seem she has been struggling with some pain lately. Basic observation gives you that insight. I did tell Lionwhisker to keep an eye out for her as well, but I think... at least the two of us might be able to put in a shared effort to tell her that... this is not the right way for her to go out. Working herself to death doesn't exactly make up for the crimes she according to herself, committed. It would also be great... if she at least was understood by more of the clan." He let out a soft snort at that. "She is getting old, joints are hurting, pain is clear. She isn't as young as she used to be, and despite no one - and this also stands for me - wanting to be treated like an invalid... she's just in a higher risk than young warriors." He didn't exactly know where he was going with this. But he wanted at least to give it a go, to try to get their mother to retire before she burnt out fully.

[Socks]

[ @Queenie ]

After Softbriar had guaranteed that there were no problems with the patrols, they led Eveningpaw directly to the Rougeland Woods. The forest became more thick and lush as they entered the area, even with the territory recovering it was still not up to its previous glory. They weren't surprised that there were lingering scents of rouges where they stopped in the woods, they didn't worry too much about it. As long as they didn't come face-to-face with any hostile cats they wouldn't worry too much. Rouges would eventually come to realize ThunderClan had claimed the territory, they hoped.
"Some of the most important aspects of hunting are scent, sight, and silence." They might as well get straight into the lesson, as Duskstar had explained they could really use the prey right now so the sooner Eveningpaw could catch her own the better. "We use scent to track down our prey and detect how the wind is flowing. We keep our eyes on the prey once we've found it and look for any obstacles in our way when stalking. We stay silent so we know where the prey is but it doesn't know where we are." As they spoke they sniffed the air for prey, the best way to learn was by practice so they wanted to find some easy rodents. "You remember that hunter's crouch, right?"

[Confuzzled.Lynx]

Originally Posted by Shadowsight

"Ok. You hunt under this tree, and I'll go over there." Shadowsight instructed.

She went over to the next tree and waited for prey.

Leopardpaw nodded and scented the air for any trace of prey.

[Shadowsight]

Originally Posted by Lynxpaw

Leopardpaw nodded and scented the air for any trace of prey.

Shadowsight managed to catch a squirrel and a mouse before scenting a crow. After she had caught it, she went to see how Leopardpaw was doing.

[dino.]

[ @Beau ]

To be completely honest, Buckbranch hadn't been expecting Cormorantpaw to sniff out the mouse on his first try, so he was pleasantly surprised when that turned out to be the case. With an approving nod, he dropped his voice low and murmured, "Good. Try to catch it, now. Remember to step lightly - mice can easily feel the vibrations of your pawsteps."

[dionysus]

[ @Slushie ]

Cormorantpaw nodded to Buckbranch but didn’t answer, taking time heart the mention of stepping lightly and equating that to speaking lightly as well- or not speaking at all. He sniffed the air again to try to get a good lock on the mouse’s location and slowly crept forward. Unfortunately, he’s misjudged exactly where the scent was coming from and he got a bit too close to the mouse before realizing where it stood. The mouse was alerted to his presence and dashed off before Cormorantpaw could react and his last ditch effort to leap at the mouse ended with a pawful of dust.

“Sorry, Buckbranch,” he mewed as he looked back at the tortoiseshell tom.

[dino.]

[ @Beau ]

That was exactly what Buckbranch had been expecting. Mice were hard creatures to catch. He flicked his tail at Cormorantpaw sympathetically. "It's all right. I don't think anyone manages to catch anything on their first try. I know I certainly didn't."
He trotted up to Cormorantpaw and gave the young tom an affectionate nuzzle to the ear before drawing back. "Try again, and then we'll head back after a few more attempts, okay? This place gets even more dangerous when it's dark."

[dionysus]

[ @Slushie ]

Buckbranch’s assurances made Cormorantpaw feel better and the young tom gave his mentor a smile. Cormorantpaw nodded and scented the air again, not smelling anything at first. Then, the same smell tickled his nose again and he realized that another mouse was nearby. The young tom nodded in that direction and crept forward. This time, he pinpointed the location and saw it with his eyes, but misjudged the jump. He landed a paw step off and the mouse escaped again.

“Fox dung!”

His voice raised slightly as he cursed and he kicked the dust before turning to look at Buckbranch with a frustrated expression.