[Arie]

Originally Posted by Aquilex

Astralpaw spotted his mentor's tail and realize he had the lesson all wrong - he wasn't supposed to be aiding his mentor in the hunt, he was supposed to be watching! Repressing a frustrated snarl at himself, he crept around the bush until Spiritfox's entire figure was in view. The young tom took note of every detail visually noticeable on his mentor. He silently adjusted himself until he was mimicking Spiritfox's pose. He didn't intend on trying to steal the other cat's catch, but he was here to learn so he might as well learn the posture he would need to catch this bird.

Sighing, the tom knew that his apprentice hadn't understood and it now left the task up to him. Loosening his muscles slightly he crept ever closer to the cardinal. It was a pretty bird, even though it was gonna end up on a freshkill pile. Maybe he would pluck some feathers to line his own nest with. It would be good around his front leg and chest muscle. Throwing those bewildering thoughts out of his head he was in pounce distance of the bird, but that wouldn't do. He would have to be quick with both front legs and he couldn't guarantee his one frontleg would actually hit the bird fast enough. So it was jumping he would have to resort to. Get it to fly then pluck it out with his mouth. Waiting the tom made himself visible to another bird he had spotted and soon the warning calls fluttered through the forest and just as the cardinal made its flight upwards he jumped. All the tension that he had kept in his legs was released as the powerful warrior snatched the bird right out of the air with his teeth and it was dead just as he landed again. It all happened in the span of seconds but it felt longer and Spiritfox let out a relieved sigh. It had gone better than he expected by far. Walking over to where Astralpaw still sat the tom laid down the bird, "It requires strength, technique and practice to catch a bird this way. I think you might have better luck than I but you need practice. Here you got to see a rather unconventional technique that I use solely because of the lack of mobility in my front leg. You have a chance of just making the pounce and catching it before it has a chance to flutter. Do you wanna continue your hunt?"