Ripplepelt padded quietly through RiverClan territory, heading towards Sleepy Thicket. Ghost stories or no ghost stories, prey was prey. If anything, the hunting was easier here. Prey in this part of the territory seemed a little less frightened of them since cats were so reluctant to hunt here, though that might've been her imagination. She opened her mouth to let the scents of the territory wash over her.

"It seems like the sun has brought some prey out as well," she murmured, scenting more prey than she'd been growing used to. Ripplepelt dropped into a crouch, zeroing in on a shrew snuffling around on the ground for bugs.

[roll to catch: 19]

Ripplepelt darted forward low to the ground, wasting no time in catching her prey. She quickly kicked some earth over it, looking around for something else to catch.

"Have you done much hunting?" she asked Mistypaw, keeping her ears pricked for prey as she spoke. "I'm more of a fish-catching cat myself, but I can certainly teach you the basics if you need."

"Refresher it is," Ripplepelt mewed, dropping back into a crouch to demonstrate. "Drop nice and low to the ground, tail sticking straight ahead. Since we're hunting mice and the like, we need to keep our paw steps light so our prey doesn't feel us approaching. Put your weight on your haunches so your paws have no impact on the forest floor."

Ripplepelt smelt the air again, the scent of mouse hitting her. "I can smell a mouse close by - why don't you give it a try?" she suggested, sitting down to watch Mistypaw's attempt.

"You did well to get a hold of it after it had already spotted you! Next time, try snagging it with your claws so it has less chance to wriggle away," she suggested. "Then you can either lean down to bite it while it's trapped, or pull it up to your mouth."

"When you can, it's always good to keep downwind of prey too," she mewed, sniffing for something else to catch. "Even if you're being quiet, sometimes they'll catch your scent and bolt. I'll demonstrate again. Your crouch was good, so this time focus on my pounce."

She stilled, smelling a squirrel. Her tail twitched uncertainly. She hadn't caught a squirrel in moons - they were much for suited for the climbers of ThunderClan.

[roll to catch (disadvantage): 16 20]

Well, prey was prey. She watched it carefully, extra aware of her steps - the last thing she wanted was to scare the thing up the tree trunk. Once she was close enough, she leapt towards it, claws outstretched. One brief scramble and hard bite down later, she buried it not far from the last catch, giving thanks to StarClan for her good luck.

"I wasn't sure I was going to catch that," she admitted, sitting back down to let Mistypaw have another try. "Hopefully we can find another mouse or vole for you - they're much better training. Do you smell anything?"

"Perfect," Ripplepelt rumbled. "Why don't you give it another go? Watch out for fallen leaves beneath your paws - the crunch from stepping on one could scare your vole away."

She settled comfortably to watch Mistypaw's attempt, eyes narrowing in pleasure at the sun hitting her pelt. How fortunate they were to have a day of sunshine before leaf-bare was in full swing! It was certainly making the training much easier.