ShadowClan Territory

[Moon Lily]

Raventuft walked briskly through the territory, still grumbling from his argument. I'll show Icestar... He growled. He dodged falling pine needles as they showered from above, then set off towards a good hunting sight. As he approached a rather large pine tree, he crouched as a mouse scuttled past, trying to aim for a nut. He crouched, eyeing it. In his anger and thought, his pounce missed. Instead, the mouse got away with its own prey- the nut. He cursed himself, then tried again on a squirrel. He managed to nab that.

As he approached camp once more, he came with his scrawny squirrwl, and a cardinal. Hopefully they would be of Icestar's liking.

[BEAR.]

Falconpaw listened, shuffling his legs apart so he could lower himself to a crouch with his paws. How did Hailstorm make it look so comfortable? He was far from it with how his belly fur and tail were both nearly flattened against the top of the frozen sheet of ice.

"Like.. this?" @Casper

[pidgeon]

Originally Posted by BILL.

Falconpaw listened, shuffling his legs apart so he could lower himself to a crouch with his paws. How did Hailstorm make it look so comfortable? He was far from it with how his belly fur and tail were both nearly flattened against the top of the frozen sheet of ice.

"Like.. this?" @Casper

"Almost," Hailstorm commented, standing up to observe his posture. "Remember, your belly and tail should not touch the ground. If they do, the prey will hear you rustling about and flee before you get a chance to pounce. Try walking forward like that to get used to it. Paws light, tail straight out." She stood back to observe, ready to offer guidance if he got confused.

[BEAR.]

Ah, shoot.

Falconpaw tried to pull himself up, eliminating the pressure of his fur being against the ground. One down.. what else?

Tail straight out.. check. Paws light. Go forward.

Falconpaw moved forward, doing his best to maintain his fixed posture as his paws crunched through the snow.
@Casper

[pidgeon]

@BILL.

Hailstorm watched with interest as her apprentice padded forward, snow crunching under his paws.

"I know it's hard in the snow, but you must do your best to make as little noise as possible," She commented, then taking a few steps back.

"Now, let's get right to it. Find that scent again, and this time, go after it using that crouch. I'll be watching from a little ways behind--I wouldn't want to scare off your catch." The gray warrior was a firm believer in learning by experience.

[BEAR.]

Hmm....

How did he step lighter? That was a confusing concept for Falconpaw. The snow was crunchy with every step!

Ears flattening back, he narrowed his eyes and took a few more steps forward. He tried to be lighter, but it was probably more helpful that some of the snow drifts were softer in nature-- the noise was significantly reduced once he was out of the older layers.

"Alright." He took a few more steps to test himself, before he scented the air. Where did the scent go? Swiveling his head, he breathed in the air until he thought he caught a whiff of it-- and then he was on the move.

Step by step, he slithered across the forest floor in his attempt to track this mysterious creature. .. Until something caught his eye, a motionless lump that was partially coated in snow and frost, stranded on a rock. Was that.. a frog?

Eyes widening, he left his crouch to pad over to the frozen frog and jab it with his paw. "Have you seen this before? I didn't--" rats, "--did not know they could freeze. Is it dead?"

@Casper

[pidgeon]

@BILL.

Hailstorm padded forward carefully from where she'd been hiding and keeping watch. At Falconpaw's observation, she looked at where he was gesturing. It was indeed a frog, frozen solid.

"What in...Well, would you look at that!" Her blue eyes lit up with fascination. "I don't know where frogs go during leaf-bare, but I guess this one must not have gone there soon enough. It may be frozen, but I bet we can still eat it. Come on, let's dig it up and put it somewhere safe for now."

The warrior began pawing at the ice that surrounded the little morsel. Not much of a meal, but the clan couldn't afford to be picky this time of year.

[BEAR.]

"Where are we going to put it?" Falconpaw joined Hailstorm in trying to dig the frog out of the snow, cracking the shell of ice that kept it in place and releasing it from the rock. "Will it not get lost if we try to bury it in the snow?"
@Casper

[pidgeon]

@BILL.

"If we keep it somewhere we'll remember, we won't lose it. Usually we could bury it anywhere and be able to find it by scent, but this little thing is so coated in ice that it would be hard to smell." Hailstorm commented, thinking out loud. She decided on placing it at the base of a nearby tree, tucked against one of the prominent roots. She lifted her nose to scent the air. There was a faint scent of bird--It must be the one Falconpaw had initially scented.

"Now, check for scents again. Once you catch a whiff of something, go ahead and stalk after it." She backed off once more to keep watch.

[RuinsNight]

(broken-spacebar-so-that's-why-I-do-dashes)
Cavehowl-licks-her-muscular-shoulders-flattening-the-fur-her-fluffy-tail-curled-around-her-neatly-and-her-fur-was-well-groomed-for-once-her-fur-usually-was-extremely-messy