[Captain]

Originally Posted by Constellation

''Thank you,'' Noirepaw purred, but kept her eyes on the prize. The prize that was in front of her. Soon enough the prize that will be in her jaws if she followed her steps correctly. Truly, Noirepaw was excited about this. She forgot all about the early dawn, because now she was fully awake. She was ready to complete this next step, to earn some praise for her work. The she cat flicked her ears, and she drew them back, giving off a sheepish grin. ''Sorry--the excitement though,'' She felt a chill go down her at the slight scolding. Perhaps, she had been a little too loud. It was something she couldn't handle when she felt her heart beating a million times a second. Just from simple excitement that was. So, she nodded towards her mentor, and she gingerly began to walk around. Once, she stopped to breathe in a sharp breath of the air around her, then she slinked into the darkness.

Her black pelt could be excellent camouflage at night, but since it were morning, she would have to do her best. She lowered herself to the ground, keeping her muzzle in the air in the air to detect any scent of the prey she was after. A shrew. She was sniffing for a shrew, hoping to find it, and bring it back without any problems. But, there was always something. When her heart beat irregularly because she was nervous. Noirepaw was a nervous little thing--yet, she was confident. It was a conflicting thing to be both. She would always remain nervous until the deed was done. If succeeded? She would be proud of herself. If not? Expect sudden heartache. It was a simple thing. Any cat in a clan could do it. Noirepaw knew Sproutwhisker could do it since he's been in Riverclan for so long. So, no doubt she could do it.

There, it go! Her head swiveled upwards, catching note of the rodent as he ruffled around within the fallen leaves. Noirepaw moved forward--slightly. She didn't want to scare it, and as Sproutwhisker had told her--Keep quiet, keep low. She had to keep low. She had to move with much silence if this were to be successful. The shrew didn't seem to notice her, so she kept moving forward. Her yellow eyes the only thing that was glowing. It wasn't that hard, was it? To catch the simple little thing? Noirepaw knew she was the predator, and the shrew was the prey. She was much bigger than it, and with that in mind, she lunged forward. Though, she were unlucky. The shrew immediately ran off, going into a small hole. Noirepaw stomped her paw, displeased. ''What did I do wrong?'' She groaned, scrunching her nose. She kept low to the ground. She was quiet. She doubt anything could hear her light movements. Then, the heartache came, and the she cat felt that she was ready to burst. Turning back, she glanced towards her mentor. She couldn't come back with empty jaws. ''I can't allow him to see that I failed. I need to get this shrew.'' She whispered, and lashed her tail to the side, and she walked off a bit. There were nearby shrubs, and she hid herself within the brambles as she awaited for the food to come back out.

Silently, she waited. Silently, she became agitated. She couldn't stay out for long waiting for this, but she also couldn't go back to her mentor and tell him, I tried but I failed. It got away. With her body low to the ground, and her eyes peered ahead at the small hole that the rodent probably called home. Her ears flicked upwards at the sound of rustling, and she prepared herself for another chase. ''I can't just go after it this time. I got to be smart about this.'' She whispered, and slowly started to reveal herself to the small rodent. It was a good thing that it was turned, not noticing her. Her scent was clear. Another thing she had to worry about. With her body close to the ground, she stalked forward, her eyes never leaving the small critter.

How do I even attack this thing? She wanted to tilt her head for a moment, feeling her thoughts start to worry. Should I just wing it? She stopped. Why did she stop? Noirepaw breathed softly, and she felt her paws planted to the ground. She felt her heartbeat rising again, and she began to want to recoil. She couldn't do this. She wasn't ready. In fact, she felt scared now. She waited for her prey--and now that it came, she was backing out?

Unsheathe your claws.

Noirepaw looked down, seeing the soft fur that surrounded her paws, and she flexed them to reveal her sharp talons.

Latch onto your kill.

The she cat unconsciously licked her sharp fangs. That was what she remembered. And, that's what she will apply to this lesson. ''You can do this, Noirey.'' She breathed once again, and allowed her body to become one with the ground, and she moved forward. One quick flash. One swift movement. That's all it had to be, and so she done it. She lunged towards the prey, latching her claws onto the critter, and she watched it squirm around. She was complete astonishment--surprise. ''I did it.'' She whispered, breathlessly. She forgot for a moment that she left the small thing alive. She was ecstatic. She was ready to run back to her mentor with the brightest smile plastered on her face. ''Oh, yeah!'' She giggled lightly, and bent her head down to give a gentle snap of the rodent. Even with prey, the she cat was gentle. She was the benevolent type that hated violent. Any type of violence and pain.

Afterwards she picked up her prize, with her tail high, she trotted back to her mentor, and she dropped her prey at his paw, looking away bashfully.

Sproutwhisker smiled, seeing how focused she was into the lesson and he still felt proud towards his apprentice. “It’s alright, I understand that this means a lot to you.” He mentioned when she apologized for being too loud, but honestly, he wasn’t angry or frustrated with her, just wanted to offer future advice that will aid her in the near future. The black-furred tom watched her nod to him and then go off to proceed with the next step of the hunt. A gentle smile rested on the tom-cat’s face as he heaved himself to his paws and walked off to watch Noirepaw from a respectable distance as she went through with his instructions. He had faith in her and knew that she had the potential to become an honorable hunter like any other cat could. If he, once a mere kittypet, could become a warrior that knew almost everything about the clans and how they worked, could do it, he had no doubt in his mind that she could succeed in this lesson. His tail swished behind him as he scanned around for her with his icy blue-hued gaze, it took him awhile to spot her within the area, which was good, it meant she was doing well at keeping hidden - even with her darkened pelt against the green undergrowth of the forest. The warrior could see her low to the ground, barely visible from his view as she readied herself into her stance.

His ears then perked at the sound of her lunging forward into the fallen, scattered leaves and then show displeasure. He immediately knew that she had missed her chance and he pondered for a moment on his apprentice’s mistake. “She must’ve lunged too soon, should’ve gotten closer to her catch..” Sproutwhisker thought and then he saw her glance at him, to which he gave her a low nod, silently telling her to try again. He knew that she could do it, not everyone aced it on the first try. He could see how determined she was, how focused not to fail for him. His whiskers twitched as he continued to observe Noirepaw, seeing her slowly begin to try another time and a small smile slid onto his muzzle, seeing her and the determination in her actions. Sproutwhisker saw her leapt forward again and he immediately lifted his gaze, rather eager to see the outcome of her second attempt.

There was a moment of silence and he waited there in the grass for her return, resting on his haunches now, wondering to himself for a moment or two before his gaze flickered up from his paws to see Noirepaw return to him, a sense of pride and excitement in her stance, with her tail held high and a smile on her maw as the limp shrew was latched between her jaws. Sproutwhisker watched as she laid the piece of prey before him, looking away shyly, which made a warming smile come onto his face. The warrior extended forward and touched his nose to her forehead in a proud action. “Excellent work, Noirepaw.” The warrior praised her, knowing how much this must mean to her, “Your first catch ever on your own.” He remarked, looking down at her with a proud smile, “You never gave up and I could see how determined and focused you were, even when you didn’t catch it on your first lunge.” Sproutwhisker was truly proud of her. “I’m so proud of you, my apprentice - you have done well for today’s lesson. You deserve to bring this catch back to camp and show all of Riverclan that you are now an official hunter - feeding hungry mouths of your clan.” He said, making this a proud moment for her.

The black-furred male purred with a smile, “Once again, I am proud of you, Noirepaw, and to have you as my apprentice.” He knew that it was a lot to say, but this was the first time he had ever trained someone and seen such success in another. This was a wonderful moment for both Sproutwhisker and Noirepaw to share as teacher and student.