[Fawn]

Mockingbird

39 Moons. Warrior-Queen of TreeClan

It wasn't until the following sunhigh that the rain finally began to break. The bruised, blackened clouds let in fragments of sunlight, filtering down through the trees into a wet, verdant forest.

Mockingbird wove carefully through a sparse thicket, leftover droplets of water collecting like stars on her short gray coat as she brushed plant stalks and bush limbs. Since their return from the quarantine zone, Mockingbird had divided her time between attending to Berrypaw's health when possible, and ensuring Amberpaw did not fall behind.

"I have a small challenge for you," her voice carried over the background chatter of an active greenleaf day. Many animals would be taking advantage of the additional water in the forest before the inevitable heat destroyed it. "I want to see how you've improved. Bring me one mouse, one bird, and one other animal of your choosing."

A mouse was the easiest to catch, birds were a staple of TreeClan diet, and the last animal would be a test of Amberpaw's mental state. Would the she-cat play it safe, and catch another mouse, or would she allow herself to be challenged to try something harder like a squirrel or a large bird? Mockingbird was only slightly interested in the results; so far, Amberpaw was attentive, and that had earned her some seldom-given patience by the warrior-queen.

Mockingbird thought poorly of loners over all - but the few moons spent in the nursery alongside Moonfeather and her two offspring had removed some of the harshness she felt towards them.

Not all. Only some. And, Amberpaw and Fawnpaw considered themselves Clan-cats, obviously finding an alternative lifestyle undesirable. They served their purpose as 'friends' for her offspring, to which was less a point in favor of Moonfeather's kits, and more to do with her sons' abilities to maintain the masque of normalcy.

Their mother, however...

Moonfeather had become another one of Lionstar's 'favorites', and Mockingbird began to coldly dismiss the she-cat's presence as no different and no more interesting than squirrel droppings. Her true thoughts and derisive feelings were kept locked tight behind a mask of friendliness - as if they were two cats who both wanted the same things in life. Two kindred spirits.

But Mockingbird was almost completely certain no one else wanted what she wanted.

The only other cat who had been able to appreciate her father's genius had defected, joining StoneClan to be with a she-cat. Pathetic. Golden eyes blinked away those roiling thoughts of displeasure, and Mockingbird wore a carefully constructed smile, allowing Amberpaw the opportunity to decline the challenge - or ask questions, request last-minute tips - before the test began.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

Justice - Notes: assuming they've done some hunting lessons in the past - 436 Words

[Justice]

Amberpaw

10 Moons, She-Cat, TreeClan

She'd been an attentive apprentice, doing exactly as her mentor asked of her and always pushing herself for more. She wanted to be good, she wanted to be better than the other apprentices through hard work rather than the enormous ego that Finchpaw possessed. Honestly, she preferred her mentor's offspring out of most everyone else her age. Though her brother and sister would always have her loyalty. Her mother's word was law, and Lionstar was the source of all things fluffy in the valley. But she wasn't the same as she'd been as a kit. She had something over the other apprentices, and if they crossed her she'd make sure to rat them out. Or if they tried to blame her for something, even if she had actually done it, she'd rat them out. She was smart enough to follow the rules, and if she wanted to get out she'd do it by herself. Not stupidly in a massive group where one loud mouth was bound to get them caught.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her mentor's challenge, and she flashed a grin before trotting over to the older she-cat. She wasn't so small in comparison to Mockingbird, she noted quietly. Still small, but not as much, finally putting on some muscle so she didn't look like an oversized scrawny kit. "Mouse, bird, and my choice. I got it."

The mouse was easy enough, they were stupidly predictable when it came to their movements. She brought it to sit near her mentor so she wouldn't forget where she left it then made for a tree. Climbing wasn't her strong suit, but she was better at it than her mother. She figured she'd get better the older she got, but she still slid down the tree several times before making it all the way up. Thankfully, there was a fat sparrow preening itself attentively at the end of a branch. Amberpaw hid among the thick leaf cover and waited, tail swishing in determined excitement. She could do this, Mockingbird had shown her how plenty of times by now.

She managed to catch it, but also fell out of the tree. The dead sparrow fell to the ground with a heavy thud, while Amberpaw scrambled until she got a hold of one of the branches and held tight. "Please don't let Mockingbird have seen that." She muttered as she hauled herself back onto the branch and down the tree.

She went back to her mentor with the sparrow, leaving it with the mouse.  She sat down then and looked around area, contemplating what she should get finally.  She wasn't the best yet, she knew that, but at least she could manage small prey.  What would impress her mentor?

And what a lovely night it is
To walk a moonlit field
To see the softer shades
That are by starlight now revealed
✦

Words ✦ Fawn ✦ Still messing up XD.

[Fawn]

Mockingbird

39 Moons. Warrior-Queen of TreeClan 

Mockingbird didn't bother observing Amberpaw catch a mouse. Even the most feather-headed apprentices could catch one, and Amberpaw was nowhere near 'feather-headed'. Instead, there was a sharpness that even Mockingbird could acknowledge and drudge up a measure of respect for. She thought poorly of the rest of her Clanmates, hiding the vitriolic commentary behind an amiable smile and a friendly word or two, but Amberpaw had unknowingly gone avoided the brunt of it.

Picking up the sounds of claws on bark, Mockingbird smoothly left her station and crept into the forest after the smaller she-cat. She intends to hunt in the trees. This wasn't surprising, but Mockingbird kept her gaze narrowed and critical; many a careless apprentice had fallen out of a tree and broken a limb in an effort to show off. Or they had foolishly overestimated their own skills. Whether or not Amberpaw became victim to the habitual mistakes of her peers (both past and present), remained to be seen.

Mockingbird's piercing eyes found the apprentice on a nearby bough, and she kept herself concealed in a dense array of bracken. Even if she missed, Amberpaw showed enough skill to earn a satisfactory grade from Mockingbird. It was a real challenge, taking oneself out of their comfort zone (off the ground) to pursue a target in their own natural environment. Mockingbird's preferred method of hunting was similar to this as well.

Though mice, shrew and other scuttling rodents that thought themselves safe from her claws were her choice of prey, if Mockingbird felt inclined to hunt birds - then she would do so in the trues, just like Amberpaw. There was something satisfying about destroying their sense of safety; turning their security into a falsehood that ended in feathers and blood. Mockingbird watched in silence as Amberpaw pounced upon her prey - killing or crippling it - and fell out of the tree in the process.

Mockingbird's heart broke into an uneven pace, and the stab stab stab of her pulse in her ears quickly subsided as Amberpaw managed to catch her claws onto one of the lower branches before this could end poorly. She needs to focus. At least now Mockingbird knew what they would be concentrating on for the next half-moon.

Slipping back to where the mouse had been left, Mockingbird was sitting there as if she'd never left, by the time Amberpaw collected the sparrow and brought it to her. "Good. And your final prey?" The sooty warrior listened, wearing a faint smile that was meant to express encouragement.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

Justice - Notes - 421 Words

[Justice]

Amberpaw

10 Moons, She-Cat, TreeClan

She did a quick check to make sure there weren't any chunks of bark from the tree still stuck between her claws before giving her answer. "Rabbit." She knew the creatures were bigger, some even as large as a young apprentice and better taken out by an adult, but she wanted to go big. Confidence wasn't exactly it, more like the need to challenge herself and make her mentor proud of her. Or in the least acknowledge that she wasn't totally hopeless as a huntress in training. Not that she'd ever ask Mockingbird for that acknowledgement.

Amberpaw got back to her paws and started back the way she'd come, crouching close to the ground as she found the burrow she'd spied from the tree earlier. This wasn't something she expected to be easy, but she did expect to succeed. So she waited until one of the long eared creatures came out of its den then leapt out to plop her rump on its nest so it couldn't go back in and fluffed up to hiss at it. Letting it run.

The apprentice used the tree to her advantage, digging claws into it so she could get a little higher then leap back in the path of the rabbit and hissing at it again. She did this several times back and forth until the rabbit was exhausted and had to stop running. Sparing her energy and wasting its. This one was small, an adolescent. Making it a better match for her skills. She waited to make sure it wasn't going to take off again then moved in and finally put it out of its misery before its little heart exploded or something. She wasn't cruel.

That done she waited again until it stopped twitching then picked it up by the throat and drug it back to where she'd left her other two kills. She was out of breath even though she'd done her best to limit the amount of energy she used. It was still hard to jump like that after climbing and nearly falling out of tree. "How'd I do?"

And what a lovely night it is
To walk a moonlit field
To see the softer shades
That are by starlight now revealed
✦

Words ✦ Fawn ✦ Notes

[Fawn]

Mockingbird

39 Moons. Warrior-Queen of TreeClan 

Amberpaw's method was unusual, though efficient. Mockingbird watched, at first with narrow-eyed skepticism, then thoughtfulness as Amberpaw leaped down from the tree to send the rabbit running again. The apprentice was very fortunate the rabbit did not have another tunnel nearby. How long would it have taken the young rabbit to exhaust itself to death? If alone, and with no fear of discovery, Mockingbird would have run the creature ragged—just to see. And then she would do it again the next time she hunted rabbits, to see if fear could really kill the cottonheaded little prey-animals.

The real question she wanted answered... Could it work on a cat? A young one, so driven to desperation it practically went mad with fear?

"How'd I do?"

Brought back from the darkness, Mockingbird smiled approvingly. "Well done. That was an unusual hunting style, though the end result was decent." Mockingbird looked over the three pieces of fresh kill her apprentice had caught. All in all, she had done satisfactorily. A decent huntress, by TreeClan standards. Mockingbird made sure to boost the she-cat's self-confidence—when it was deserved. "We will discuss your hunting techniques on the way home. I have a few good things to tell your mother."

Now all that was left to do was divide up the prey to carry it back to camp.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

Justice - Thread Finished! - 232 Words