Briarsplash came bounding in, careening to a halt and making sure that Palepaw was right behind her. She'd wanted to challenge the young tom to keep up, but she certainly wasn't gonna let him accidentally be left by her and get lost. She paused for a moment, letting her breathing settle as she took a look around the evergreen forest; it was less shadowy than her Clan was used to, but it was perhaps the most prey-rich part of their territory. Besides, with the sun sinking slowly towards the lower half of the sky, long shadows could be found. It would be interesting to see how Palepaw would do with it.

She glanced down at the apprentice and waited for him to recover as well, trying to see how the run here affected him. It wasn't exactly a short distance from camp, and especially for a new apprentice, it might've been hard to scramble over all those pinecones and the uneven terrain. But good exercise nonetheless — some he'd have to get used to as he shaped up into a warrior.

After a few moments of allowing their breathing to settle, she tasted the air, getting notes of all sorts of prey about. This was late greenleaf, so the early chills of the distant leaf-bare weren't scaring away any prey yet. Without directly looking at Palepaw, she finally meowed simply, "Alright, kid... this is Dawning Woods, a newer part of our territory. Tell me what you see 'n smell."

Upon arrival at this section of territory, littered with evergreen trees, she turned to look to her patrolmates. “We’re here–now, you two youngsters, how much hunting experience do you have?”

Before they all toddled off to go hunting, she wanted to make sure that the both of them each knew what they were doing, and on top of that, she’d like for them to hunt in pairs with the apprentices, so as to make sure nothing bad happened to either of them. That was a rule that she’d lay out after finding out their experience levels, though.

[ @Mica @paedyn @Rani ]

Briarsplash fluffed out her pelt a bit as she watched the young apprentice take in the new section of the territory, obviously brighter than the other shadowy parts he'd already seen, and staring in awe at the trees. Her whiskers almost twitched in amusement at the sight... almost.

She let out a 'hmph' and a nod of acknowledgement as Palepaw stated the prey he smelled; good. He at least had a decent nose on him. Briarsplash flicked her tail towards the nearest scent, where she could see a sparrow not too far away pecking at a bush, perhaps looking for berries. To the side of them was a lizard scuttling among some stones, and the rustle in some undergrowth indicated the direction of where the mouse was.

"You're exactly right. Good nose... that's the first part of hunting. Now, the next part is deciding which prey, and how you're going to do it..." She narrowed her eyes, assessing the prey he'd listed.

The bird was perhaps the closest, but those creatures were flittery; one step too hard and they'd be in the sky in a moment. And trying to get close enough to the bush without rustling it would be a challenge. Lizards were fun to catch, and this one was in the open and exposed on the stones, but they were very quick on their feet and hard to get a good grip on. And mice... their senses were very sharp and attuned, besides being a little hard to spot and grab with how small and quick they were. Any way, it'd be a challenge... she decided to give him the choice. Her gaze flicked back to Palepaw, looking both challenging and yet intrigued to see what he'd do.

"Hmmm... your choice," she mewed in her raspier tone, eyes glinting in the afternoon light. "Let's see how good your instincts are. But I will give you this first: mice will often sense and hear you before anything else. Lizards, more so feeling and smelling you. And birds... it can vary, but mostly seeing you. Although with any of them, one misstep can cost you the catch — which isn't as bad in early leaf-fall here, but in leaf-bare... each catch counts. You'd do well to put that into practice from the start."

She sat back on her haunches, curling her plumed tail over her paws, waiting to see what he'd do by instinct... then she could correct later.

[ @goodacacia - tag bc idk if the quote worked and ahhh SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY </3 had a busy weekend aha :quivering: ]

The dark-furred warrior gave a nod to Pondpaw, and then to Bleedingpaw as he spoke. She had noted that he had lagged behind a tad during their trek out here, but she made sure to keep an eye on him so as to see nothing bad happened to the kid.

“Right, no better place to gain more experience than right here and now.” Midnightpath agreed with Hillstrider, giving him a brief nod of appreciation for his words. With a flick of her tail towards Pondpaw and Hillstrider, she gave them a quiet acknowledgement of them being paired together for this patrol before she turned to Bleedingpaw.

“You’re with me, then. I want you to stay in my sight on this patrol, don’t wander too far, alright?” A pause before she continued, offering the young one a smile. She did not want him thinking that she didn’t believe in him, she wanted to ensure that he knew she wanted him to be safe. “You go on ahead and try to catch something, I’ll be just behind you to keep an eye on you.”

Briarsplash watched silently from a distance, just a tad impressed. Well, almost. The 'paw had a little more instincts than she'd anticipated; either that, or the bird was just completely oblivious to the pale-coated creature slinking somewhat unceremoniously through the grass. He actually managed to snag it, but the sparrow was already gone, flapping rapidly through the air with a terrified squawk.

The Enforcer padded over, letting out a huff as she considered his form. "...You got alright instincts, kid. But your movements were too hasty, a bit sloppy. Of course, you haven't learned yet so to be expected — but ya did better than I thought, really," she grunted, a bit bluntly (but almost an indirect compliment of sorts. Hard to tell with her).

She instructed him to drop back into his hunting crouch, slowly circling his form with narrowed eyes. Using her fluffy tail, she tapped on his shoulders and haunches as she spoke, instructing him. "Drop low, putting all your weight in your haunches. It'll make your steps lighter. You wanna work on being able to glide across the ground almost soundlessly — like a shadow."

Briar stepped back to demonstrate; she dropped herself low, her fluffy belly just barely brushing the forest floor. Despite her stocky size, she managed pretty well, almost gliding across the grass with light steps with practiced ease. She wasn't the greatest hunter when compared with her battle skills (grace and stealth was never her forte), but she wasn't half-bad either. Especially after rigorously training to prove herself once she'd joined the Clan young.

The Enforcer then sat up, turning to face Palepaw. "Let me see you try that out. Oh, and next time you snag your claws on a bird... best thing to do is immediately slam it down to the ground to stun it, then go for the kill," she added with a slight smirk on her maw, one of her sharp teeth poking out. "Y'can't give 'em a chance to fly away."

"Not too low..."

Briarsplash snorted a bit as she padded back over to the young apprentice, ushering him to raise up and stop putting his rear in the air. "You're gonna throw yourself off balance if you're dragging along the floor. Makes you walk awkwardly. And loosen up a bit... you wanna be firm, but being too tight will make you walk stiff and make that much more noise."

The Enforcer demonstrated the hunter's crouch again so he could see, flicking her tail to show how low and loose she was while still being controlled. She put her paw here and her tail there, trying to ease his form into the proper technique.

"It takes practice... so I wanna see ya doing it a lot," she rasped, giving him a firm nod. "Practice all the time, even when you're not training. Then you'll do it without even thinking."

That's what had done it for her; hours of practice, desperate to prove herself... not that she'd exactly advise the staying-up-late aspect of it that made her lose some sleep, but definitely encouraging the aspiring tom to make it his goal to get it down. That's how real and good warriors were made. That's how an outsider like her could become an Enforcer; the thought made her heart burn with a mixture of pride and determination.

"Once you got it..." She pointed her muzzle over to the lizard, curling her lip a bit in anticipation; it was still sunning on the rocks they'd seen earlier, nearby enough to be seen but not close enough to want to run away from the hunters yet. "I wanna see you use it on that lizard. Careful... they're slippery and get startled by the slightest sound. Remember, silent... like a shadow."

Briarsplash let out a long sigh, shaking her head. Palepaw had been close; so close to the point where his miss was almost frustrating to her, on his behalf. She fluffed out her pelt and padded over, giving a grunt and wrinkling her nose at the wriggly tail left behind.

"Huh, yeah... I guess some lizards can do that. Sorta forgot about that," she huffed, pawing it for a moment with a shudder. Ew. The Enforcer glanced down at the despairing apprentice, letting out another gusty sigh. "Look, ya almost had it... just gotta be quicker goin' for the kill. Or you can stun it. And maybe your jump was a little poorly timed. But, uh... guess it's hard to add too much onto that when the darn critter can shed its tail as a last resort," she grunted, something like flat but dark humor in her tone.

Keeping down her annoyance down (her annoyance being less about Palepaw himself since this was his first session, and more about the circumstances), Briarsplash took in a deep breath and tasted the air again. Okay, their training had caused a bit of a ruckus and caused a lot of the prey to scamper off. But she was determined to at least try one more time to get him his first catch... she didn't want to bring an apprentice (especially one that wasn't hers!) back to camp empty-pawed. It would make her look like she didn't properly train him at all, wouldn't it?

And then... a whiff of a mouse. Perhaps that same mouse from earlier? Smirking a bit, the warrior motioned silently with her plumed tail, a silent signal to show where it was at. She leaned forward and quietly murmured, "Okay, look... I'm gonna scare the thing so it runs straight into your claws. You just gotta react quick enough to catch it. So maybe we'll at least get you somethin' to take home. C'mon... 'n don't let it get away," she added with a warning edge to her tone — not too seriously of a warning, but enough to let the apprentice know that she expected (or at least wanted) results.

Making a wide loop around, Briarsplash positioned herself just behind the bush that the mouse was scurrying in. She waited, looking at Palepaw to make sure he was alert and ready; once he was, she suddenly lashed out her paw, striking a branch of the bush and making the entire thing shake.

The mouse squeaked and darted out with wide, round eyes; in its mad dash of panic, it was careening straight towards the awaiting Palepaw. All he had to do... was not mess up.

Briarsplash watched with bated breath as the mouse careened for the apprentice... and at once, something like an annoyed groan left her as it quickly dodged his claws. She was just about to grumble about how he'd even let that go when it had literally gone right into his paws—

But then, Palepaw surprised her. Eyes widening a bit in pleased surprise, the Enforcer watched as the apprentice quickly reacted and tossed the little creature into the air before biting its neck. She grinned, one of her sharp teeth poking out of her lip, letting out a huff of relieved satisfaction.

"Finally!" She muttered exasperatedly, then quickly cleared her throat and straightened up. "I mean, uh... good work," she grumbled; she may not be the most graceful of cats, but bullying apprentices wasn't exactly her style. Even if she felt like she was gonna start ripping her fur out if this little guy didn't catch anything (especially for selfish pride reasons, though she wouldn't admit that, of course).

Briarsplash padded over and nudged the mouse, confirming it was dead. She flicked her plumed tail and nodded. "Your first catch, eh? Not entirely a solo one, but hey... we'll count it as somethin'," she mused. Even if it hadn't been entirely on his own, Briar knew well the thrill of catching something in your own claws for the first time. "Now we won't go home empty-pawed."

She narrowed her eyes and gazed around; their rustling had certainly chased away all the prey by now, and likely would be scattered farther out. And besides, her patience had been worn thin, despite her best efforts to keep it reasonable since this was a brand-new apprentice she was dealing with.

"Alright, kid... looks like we've scared away just about anything else we might find. Let's get you back before your mentor starts worryin' that I lost ya," she grunted, shaking out her pelt. "In the meantime, I wanna see you practicing any chance you get, y'hear me?" Her voice was stern, not anticipating any sort of answer other than a 'yes ma'am'. Thank the stars they at least had a mouse to bring back — even if she'd sort of cheesed it, her brief training session had still paid off, right?

With a flick of her tail, she managed a small grin, one last little test for the young 'paw. "C'mon... 'n don't drop your prize," she said in her raspy meow before leading the way back to camp; just like before, she started with a trot and then broke out into a run (still not too fast for the sake of his little legs, but enough that we was likely going to be sore tomorrow. He'd have to get rid of that kit-fluff softness sometime, right?).

Midnightpath prowled behind the young tom, although she stayed mindful so as to not frighten away any possible catches for the apprentice. The catches themselves were messy, but effective nevertheless. It was almost amusing. A dedicated kid, that one, even with what he may struggle with. Good traits for a warrior to have, in her humble opinion.

Her nose twitched at a familiar scent–a mouse? Yeah, definitely. Noting her current location as well as Bleedingpaw’s, she diverted from their trek together to track down the little bugger. Stalking along the forest floor, with her entire body level with the ground below, her green eyes finally landing on her prey. Jaws parting for a moment, she steadied herself on her paws before she pounced, landing with one of her paws pressing the mouse’s tail to the ground. Quick to put it out of it’s misery, she nipped at the back of it’s neck, causing a satisfying crack to follow.

Thank you, Starclan. Her green eyes shifted up to the sky for a moment before she continued. Burying the mouse in a shallow hole to return to later, she headed off again, this time tracking down the scent of a squirrel–unfortunately, it was just about to make it’s way up a tree when she had found it. Still, dedicated as ever, she slowly crept close until she noted the twitch of the squirrel’s ears. Wuhoh. She bunched up the muscles in her hind paws and sprang upward, one paw lifted to smack the squirrel down from where it had begun climbing the trunk of a tree. Down it went with a quiet thump, and Midnightpath came crashing down just over top of it, clamping her jaws down over it’s neck until she heard the familiar little snap.

After retrieving her mouse, she returned to where she had left Bleedingpaw, which wasn’t very far at all. “Lovely job, c’mon then, let’s head back to meet up with the other two, shall we?”

Not leaving much time for the apprentice to answer her rhetorical question, she already began leading him back to where they had last seen the other half of their patrol.

[ @Mica @paedyn @Rani - we’ve got an extension to the 28th, thank you for the reminder though, and also please bump before skipping post order :heartbounce: ]

The sharp cries from Bleedingpaw had Midnightpath reeling from where she had been ahead of him, dropping her catches to instead swerve around to come to the kid's aid. She paused in her tracks, however, lips that had been curled into a snarl slowly returning to where they usually rest, upon realising that it was just a bat.

“Bleedingpaw, let me just—oomph!” A paw to the face was what she received, so she stepped back with her head tipped to the side, face drooping with an almost weary frown. In an almost comical manner, she watched the tousle between the tom and the bat, seeing as she couldn't quite wedge her way in between them and the bat posed not much harm other than some loud shrieking. When the whole debacle finally came to an end, she suppressed a sigh as best as she could.

“Mhm, Pondpaw is right, a bat. Apologies, I would have helped but I just got a face full of paw.” She sidled up beside the young tom, hoping that her immediate presence would offer him a bit of comfort, though she did nothing more. Touch and comfort was not one of her strengths, if at all.

And then, as if to top it off, a little family of snakes had been spotted. Delightful. She opted not to step too close herself, flicking her tail gently towards the direction of their camp. “How's about we head home before we run into any more trouble? Make sure you have all of your catches. Hillstrider, take up the rear, please?”

Picking up her catches off of the ground where she had dropped them, she lashed her tail to signify that she was heading off, and began to lead her patrol back to camp.

It was silent as a mass of muscle and fur broke away from the shadows, stepping forward. Dawnstar had slowed her pace after reaching the towering spruce trees that dotted the woods. As she hadn't located where all the snakes were nesting, she remained alert listening for any rustling of leaves ahead of her.

Rotton leaves resembled a carpet and sank unpleasantly underneath her paws. They smelt of mushrooms and wet wood, making her nose twitch. It simply reminded her that leaf fall was slowly setting in. If she left the snakes alone, they'd probably go away as it was getting too cold for them to remain out. However, the rats wouldn't. She could at least make use of the snakes while they were still around, they might save them a few bites from rats.

Dawnstar halted her patrol behind some thick undergrowth, able to see the main path, yet still out of sight. Dawnstar wasn't sure if the rats would turn tail and retreat if they spotted the patrols before they reached the woods. Her muscles stiffened as she heard the snakes slithering up ahead looks like they just avoided stepping on a nest of them.

"Rookfire, settle somewhere close, but out of the way." She told the medicine cat softly. She checked that she had all her cats with her before looking across to see if she could spot her mate's green eye among the foliage with her patrol. They had to wait until Briarsplash and her patrol arrived to trigger the snakes and the rats.