[Fate Admin]

Cricketpaw

Dawn light was only just beginning to trickle through the cracks of the rockpile where StoneClan made their camp when Cricketpaw leapt to her paws, bits of moss flying every which way as she leapt over her brother Badgerpaw’s sleeping form and tore out from the apprentices’ den and into the main part of camp. She stood a tail length from the entrance to the apprentices’ den, shifting her weight from one side to the other as she surveyed the dim camp she called home in the hopes of spotting her mentor. She had only been apprentices to Ringtail a few days ago but she already loved being an apprentice. There was so much more freedom and she got to explore all sorts of new places. Unfortunately she didn’t see her mentor at the moment and instead, with an insistent growl from her belly, trotted over to the freshkill pile to snag a small finch for a morning meal.

She rather liked eating birds, she thought their feathers felt funny in her mouth, and funny-good not funny-bad. Sometimes they almost seemed to tickle her tummy, but she thought she might just imagine that. She bent her head to nip up quick bites and make fast work of the finch, not even sitting to eat, wanting to be ready to go at any moment if Ringtail appeared. She wanted to train, to explore, to do. Swiping her tongue over her lips she glanced around once more. Still no sign of Ringtail. Without hesitation Cricketpaw turned and raced over to the warriors’ den, leaping over sleeping forms and on occasion landing on a paw or tail as she did so, only to hear a hiss or a snarl in return until she located her mentor.

She pounced on the older cat happily, her tail waving slightly behind her in a way reminiscent of a dog, “Wake up Ringtail, I’m awake and you should be too and we have training to do and places to go and I had a yummy finch to eat this morning!” There were many growls from the now half-awake warriors telling her to shut up and couldn’t Ringtail keep better control of her apprentice? Cricketpaw was rather oblivious to all the anger being aimed at her, but without further notice to Ringtail leapt back over several warriors and shot out from the warriors’ den, toward the camp entrance, calling behind her and likely waking up the rest of the camp, “I’ll wait for you outside!!!” Cricketpaw hardly knew the definition of ‘wait’ however and if Ringtail didn’t appear soon she might find something else to occupy herself with.

[hyperbole]

Ringtail

Ringtail crouched in the rocky expanse of her clan's territory, her eyes trained on a thin rabbit that had strayed into the Boulder Field. Her body ridid, she sank even lower to the ground, tail tip twitching. The rabbit was digging around in a patch of sand, completely unaware of the she-cat as she moved out from behind the boulder that had been hiding her from view. Squaring her shoulders and bunching her muscles, she leaped, and---

“Wake up Ringtail, I’m awake and you should be too and we have training to do and places to go and I had a yummy finch to eat this morning!”

What in Starclan's name? Ringtail lifted her head, and realized that she had been dreaming. The angry growls around her told the she-cat that her apprentice had woken not just her, but half the clan! Murmuring soft apologies, the warrior slunk her way out of her den, following her apprentice slowly. Ringtail glanced at the fresh-kill pile and sighed as her stomach growled. The pile was rather low, however, so she passed it by and exited the camp, taking a few seconds to stretch on the way.

Stopping by Cricketpaw, Ringtail lashed her tail angrily. "You ate this morning already? You should hunt for the elders of the clan before you do that." Despite her anger, her voice was soft and even. "Come on. We're going to the Boulder Field to hunt. You will catch prey and take it to the elders, and then see if they have any other tasks for you. I think I remember one of them complaining of ticks, and they may need new bedding, too."

[Fate Admin]

Cricketpaw

Cricketpaw had raced around the perimeter of the rock pile in which StoneClan made their home a time or two before her mentor finally appeared and she skidded to a halt in front of her, sending dust and pebbles flying. She gazed up at her mentor with bright amber eyes even as she was scolded. Her tail waved impatiently, “I can’t hunt when I’m hungry, my belly makes all sorts of loud noises and scares everything away, and I was SUPER hungry because I hadn’t eaten since sun high yesterday. It was just a yummy little finch with lots of feathers.” She had often heard cats complaining that a certain piece of prey was more feathers than meat, but she liked feathers.

Growing tired of standing still she pranced around Ringtail as the older she-cat continued speaking. She didn’t much mind any apprentice duties, though mousebile was horrid stuff, it at least gave her something to do rather than lay around camp being bored. Fetching new moss could be fun though, rolling it up into little balls and then squishing it down into nice bedding. She loved the feeling of moss squishing under her pads. The old moss could be kind of gross, but no one cared if you played with it after you cleared it out so that was a plus. Cricketpaw was an eternal optimist but even she found it hard to find anything pleasant about working with mousebile. She’d even have to get her paws wet afterward to clean off which felt nice on hot days, but the days were growing colder now and it wasn’t so nice anymore.

Bouncing on her toes she nodded to show she’d heard Ringtail’s instructions and took off again, a black and white streak dodging around boulders. She still wasn’t a very good hunter however, it was taking a while for those boring, repetitive lessons to sink in. Racing along she scared two birds into the sky and a mouse darted back to its hole. She slowed and came to a standstill, looking around. A blackbird swooped by overhead and instinct had her leaping into the air after it, her paws wrapping around it, claws digging in as she brought it crashing down to the ground beneath her, crushing its spine in the process and killing it instantly. She stared down at the bird with wide, surprised eyes for a moment before yowling proudly and picking it up, turning to run and show Ringtail and nearly running right into her mentor. As proud and oblivious as she was, she didn’t realize that her yowl had probably scared away any other prey in the area.

She dropped the blackbird at her mentor’s paws, “Did you see Ringtail, did you see? I jumped and plucked it right out of the sky!” It was really a lucky catch for although Cricketpaw did show seem to have a lot of natural skill when it came to StoneClan’s signature high leaps, she rarely got the timing down right to actually catch anything. This blackbird was one of her more impressive catches, though she had squished it just a little. Cricketpaw was beaming with pride as she bounced from side to side.

[hyperbole]

Ringtail

Ringtail had no idea how to handle this apprentice. Cricketpaw obviously didn't respect the Warrior Code, if she was just fine with eating before hunting for the rest of the clan. Sitting down and wrapping her tail around her paws, the she-cat sighed heavily. Cricketpaw just stared up at her with those bright amber eyes, and Ringtail shook her head. "It doesn't matter if you're hungry or not, Cricketpaw. You're supposed to take care of the rest of the clan before you feed yourself!"

Moderately exasperated, Ringtail let her eyes follow after the apprentice as she pranced around, oblivious to caring about her duties. Knowing Cricketpaw she wouldn't even mind the punishment… the apprentice had an uncanny way of making even the worst tasks bearable. She'd probably play with the moss and make it some kind of game to see how quickly she could change the moss, or fetch it, or… something. Cricketpaw might possibly be the most positive-minded cat Ringtail knew, and while Ringtail admired that in the younger she-cat, it was also rather frustrating. Punishment wasn't punishment when it was fun, after all.

"Hey wai---!" Ringtail gave up as Cricketpaw dashed off again. The apprentice had nodded to show she understood her instructions, but then she was running off again! Ringtail shook her head angrily before following after her wayward apprentice at a slower pace. Jumping up onto a taller boulder, she watched the black and white streak that was Cricketpaw run across the rocks until she slowed, seeming to realize she had scared away multiple pieces of prey. Ringtail watched her apprentice carefully, and was rather startled as Cricketpaw leaped into the air after a blackbird and brought it down with a sickening crunch as the spine of the bird broke, killing it immediately. The yowl, however… unnecessary. Cricketpaw nearly crashed right into Ringtail, however, in her pride to show off her kill.

Ringtail shook her head again. "I saw," She said slowly. "But you also scared away all the other prey in the area with that yowl of yours." Ringtail couldn't deny that her apprentice had natural skill, but unless she practiced, she would remain a mediocre hunter as she was now, scaring away all the prey and missing obvious catches that could be potentially easier and feed more cats. "However, your timing was good this time. Now, follow me quietly and watch how I catch the next bird that comes along."

Jumping from the rock, Ringtail darted from boulder to boulder, using the large rocks as cover. Scanning the sky, she paused behind a smaller boulder and waited. Cricketpaw's yowl had been heard, but in the time that had passed, some birds would be coming along shortly. After a few seconds, Ringtail spotted a sparrow flying low to the ground. Shifting her weight and slowly extending her claws, the she-cat shot off like an arrow, running a fox-length or two before springing into the air and sinking her claws into the bird, dragging it to the ground and killing it with a swift bite. Turning to Cricketpaw, she removed her claws from the bird and twitched an ear back. "See how I did that? The timing of the jump, the cover behind boulders, and the balance of the run and jump? Your balance and timing is off most of the time, and you rarely use cover properly. Next bird that comes along, try to imitate the way I moved, and see how you do. Let me see the crouch now, before the bird gets here. If you do well, we'll take our catch back and have a fighting session, how does that sound?"