The Hunt: Tigerheart/Swallowfang/Patchpaw/Softpaw

[:c a i:]

Golden eyes were filled with focus. Muscles were taut and ready to spring. Mouth opened, testing the air. Tigerheart was in full hunting mode, aware of everything around him as his senses were flooded with the scents of the forest. His hunting patrol had neared the Owl Tree now and he planned to send Patchpaw out separately from him and Swallowfang, perhaps with Softpaw, so she could show off her hunting skills. Soon the hunt would begin.

"Here." Sunlight streamed through the openings in the branches overhead and softened Tigerheart's fiery pelt to a light golden as he gazed at the huge, old tree which was home to the great owl of ThunderClan's territory. He looked over at Swallowfang first, then to Patchpaw. He examined his apprentice and decided that he would give her a while to catch as much as she could, including that vole for Flameclaw. "I want you to catch as much as possible, Patchpaw. You can go out on your own or with Softpaw if Swallowfang agrees, but we meet back here before sunhigh." He instructed.

In the meantime, he and Swallowfang could do their own hunting. That way he would be able to assess Patchpaw's progress and bring as much fresh-kill back as possible. Not bad for one morning, he thought wryly. "And don't forget that vole for my furball of a brother." He rolled his eyes amusedly. "Or I'll never hear the end of it from him." With a brief nod, he gestured for Patchpaw to get moving, waiting only to see what Swallowfang wanted to do with Softpaw.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

With eyes and ears alert and sensing for prey, Swallowfang padded alongside the rest of the patrol. Greenleaf had been good to ThunderClan so far, with the forest providing plenty of prey for the cats. Such a big forest for such a small Clan, she thought dryly. They came to the Owl Tree, always a good place to catch a couple pieces of fresh-kill. The owl would be sleeping now of course, so they wouldn't have to worry about it coming out and stealing prey from them. What a sight that would be.

"Yes, Softpaw can go with her." Swallowfang meowed. "They would each be able to learn from watching another apprentice." She didn't have to add that Patchpaw would probably learn more, being the younger apprentice. But Softpaw would already know that and try to set a good example for her. She hoped.

That left her with Tigerheart. Most of the Clan probably knew by now that hunting wasn't her strong point. She had to concentrate much more than another warrior or else she would miss her chance and pounce too early or too late. Flicking her tail, she grudgingly promised herself she would do a decent job.

[Yoko]

Patchpaw padded through her Clan's territory with her head high and a superior air about her. ThunderClan was so much better than all the other clans. Their vast foresty territory could support them well into leaf-fall. Though, she acknowledged it was due to her Clan's size, she also believed strongly that a pawfull well-fed, healthy, warriors were better off in a than three clans of starving warriors.

"Alright then," she mewed. It did not matter much if Softpaw tagged along or not. So long as he doesn't get in the way. Not that she didn't like the apprentice or would ever purposely be rude to him, but rather because she felt better when she was allowed to do things herself.

The calico apprentice slipped away from her mentor and Swallowfang and parted her jaws slightly to catch prey scent. Thrush ahead. She had plenty of practice hunting squirrels, but not so much with birds, and as she dropped into a crouch she tried to think of a way to go about catching it. Crouching was easy, her ears were low and her tail lifted slightly from the ground so as not to rustle the forest floor.

She crawled forward on her belly, so slow her heart pounded with fear that it my fly away. The plump brown bird kept pecking away. The young apprentice bundled her still growing muscles together, an intense determination glowing in her eyes. Your mine, little birdie. At last, the thrush turned to see her, but it had barely lifted from the ground when she pounced. She couldn't pin its wings down so it was only knocked over and she had to dig through feathers to bite it's neck.

That was tougher than I thought it would be, Patchpaw thought, annoyed with herself that she couldn't kill it silently as she'd seen warriors do. Who cares? I caught it at least. Thank you StarClan. She started to scrape some earth over the fresh kill. Let's see Softpaw top that! She looked around for the older apprentice.

[:c a i:]

With an undisguised expression of confidence in Patchpaw, Tigerheart flexed his shoulder muscles experimentally. No doubt his apprentice would already be well on her way to making her first kill and, though she was younger than Softpaw, would have no trouble at all in keeping up. So what if she were the younger apprentice? She had the self-belief that he too possessed and Tigerheart was unworried. Patchpaw would never show him up. Burnished eyes fixing unabashedly upon Swallowfang, Tigerheart considered for a moment.

"Well. That leaves us to get some hunting done too." He meowed, glancing up at the nesting site of the owl. "I smell squirrel." He remarked, lazily flicking his tail. The scent was quite faint; the creature was some way off. Padding with pawsteps which were simultaneously light and decisive, Tigerheart began to stalk his way through the forest, headed in a different direction to the apprentices. He had better not be out-done by his apprentice, he thought with a wry smile. No, Patchpaw was a decent hunter, but she hadn't the experience to catch as efficiently as him. Or Swallowfang. That is, if she was a good hunter... Tigerheart realised he hadn't been hunting with her in a long time and knew little of her hunting styles. Now would be the time to find out, then.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Softpaw padded quietly behind his mentor as the patrol made their way towards the Owl Tree. Dawn had broken now, and warm golden rays filtered between the thick canopy of leaves that sheltered the greenleaf forest from the sun above. The lithe tom kept his ears perked as they moved along, listening for any prey that they might encounter on the way there. The Owl Tree wasn't a terribly good place for hunting even in greenleaf, since even the dullest mouse knew better than to forage under the home of an owl, but the forest surrounding the giant oak was filled with prey. He scented several prey-scents as they walked, but none that were fresh enough to pursue. Soon they had reached the great tree and stopped to decide where they would hunt.

At Tigerheart's suggestion, Softpaw nodded and glanced at Swallowfang for confirmation before sliding deeper into the forest after the younger apprentice. Keeping his senses alert, the young tom stepped lightly over fallen leaves and around scattered twigs. He kept Patchpaw in sight for a while as they moved away from the Owl Tree, but after a few more fox-lengths he angled off and slipped through the bracken in search of his own prey. The gentle sounds of the forest filled his ears as he stalked amongst the undergrowth, but Softpaw kept himself focused, and soon the scent of mouse hit his glands. It was the most common prey in the forest, and the first an apprentice learned to catch, but that didn't make it an unworthy target. The older apprentice immediately sank into a crouch and slid fluidly over the forest floor, keeping his pawsteps light so that his prey wouldn't know that it was being hunted.

Soon the mouse came into view; the plump little creature was rooting among the leaves at the foot of a tree, completely unaware of his presence. With the ease of long practice Softpaw crept silently nearer, his soft grey pelt blending in with the neutral shades of the forest. When he had come within a couple tail-lengths of the small animal, the young tom bunched his muscles under him and leapt. He ended the mouse's life with a quick bite and padded through the trees in search of a place to bury his kill, keeping an eye out for Patchpaw as he went. He knew Swallowfang wanted him to watch her and perhaps teach her a few things, though she hadn't said as much out loud. Since hunting was his strong point, Softpaw would be happy to give his Clan mate any helpful guidance that he could offer.

[Ki]

((Thread invansion time~))

Nala liked the forest. It reminded her a bit of her first home. The one she'd lived in many moons ago with her mother and siblings. To be honest, it was the only part of the 'wild' territory she'd been near. Nala had heard somewhere that there were flat moors full of cats that could run faster than rabbits. But, like the cats that lived in this forest, Nala had never seen them. If it weren't for the scents and the scat she occasionally found when she ventured to the edge of the forest, she wouldn't believe in the cats at all. Nala swung her head round to make sure Frisbee was still behind her. She was a good deal bigger than him, since he was roughly the size of a regular cat. And Nala was certainly not the size of a regular cat. Her longer legs made it much easier for her to walk faster without using too much energy.

"The key to hunting is being silent." Nala said quietly. She was suddenly reminded of her mother, sitting in the golden grass and telling Nala and the other kits about the ways of the wild. "And remember...the nose knows." She added playfully. Nala sniffed the air and came up with nothing. The she-cat parted her jaws to taste the air. The thrill of the hunt was flowing through her. Ancient blood began to course through her veins. Her muddy green eyes sparkled with a strange happiness. The scent of a bird caught her attention and she started to pad towards it. Then suddenly the bell on her collar began to ring cheerfully, warning any prey that she was near. It also seemed to snap her out of a trance. Nala clawed irritably at her collar. "Horrid thing." she hissed.

[Kitty]

Frisbee followed after Nala through the forest - having to rush a little. She had much longer legs than his thin, scrawny-looking ones after all. The trees had a nice smell - one he didn't smell often. He didn't exactly live on the treeline. A combination of the scents of prey (he had to do a little more work to sort them out from all the others, because he wasn't used to so many scents at a time) and all the other foresty scents, like trees, moss, grass, dirt...they all joined together to form a smell that the bald cat really liked.

Combined with the fact that he was learning to hunt and that it was warm enough for him to go sweater-less, and the day couldn't seem to get any better. As he passed a pretty light purple flower, he paused beside it to inhale deeply. It wasn't like the ones in twoleg gardens - sure, those were nice, but wild flowers seemed to smell...sweeter, somehow. Maybe it was just because it was a rare thing for him, sniffing wild flowers.

The nose knows...good tip. This reminded Frisbee to inhale deeply, and he caught scent of some sort of bird just as Nala set off after it. Only to be rudely interupted by her bell. Not for the first time, Frisbee was grateful that his own collar was bell-less. Most other collars chafed badly against his neck, and it had taken them some time before they'd found this one.

"My collar doesn't have a bell." He looked around, but then remembered - again - that scenting would probably benefit him better here in the forest rather than sight. "How did you do that crouch?" The tom dropped into a crouch, skinny, hair-less body trying to match her previous position. "C'mon, please teach me how to do it?"

What was the harm in hunting here? So far no cat had challenged them, and it just made him all the more doubtful that cats lived here. Except for the occasional, foresty cat-scent he caught on the breeze.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Swallowfang set off following Tigerheart, remembering to step lightly and quietly. Her white-tipped paws fell softly on the cool grass, making it easy for her to hide any sound she made. With her yellow eyes wide and searching for any prey, her nose was alert for the scent of squirrel. They were getting closer to it; she could tell that. Soon she spotted the brown-furred animal and flicked her tail toward it in an effort to silently tell Tigerheart where it was. But she assumed he had already spotted it. In the distance she heard a strange sounding noise that broke her concentration. She looked in the direction it came from, wondering what the ringing sound could have been. Some Twoleg thing? It wasn't anything that she'd heard before. Eyes narrowed, she stalked away without a word, letting Tigerheart to the squirrel while she investigated the noise.

When she came upon the source of the noise, she burst through the bushes and saw two of the strangest looking cats she'd ever met in her life. One had a magnificent spotted coat that reminded her starkly of Specklestar, and the other... had no fur at all. But Swallowfang didn't waste time worrying about their appearances. Black fur bristling, she glared at the two strangers with a dangerous gaze. "Get out of here, kittypets."

[Ki]

Nala couldn't help but chuckle. His eagerness to learn was amusing. It reminded her of a little kit. Nala demonstrated the crouch again. "This one is for birds. It leaves you room to spring if it tries to take to the air." Nala was about to explain further, when another scent hit her nose. She raised her head and parted her jaws to be sure. Yes! Another cat! A forest cat! At the very instant she realized this the cat came into sight and spoke, fur bristling. Nala came out of her crouch and stood protectivly in front of Frisbee. Nala had never fought a cat before. But she thought she remembered seeing her mother fight. That memory was so old, so hazy however that there wasn't anything helpful or useful she could glean from it.

Nala looked over the cat. No LionClan cats. No cats that looked like her. Disappointment surged through her. They were just regular cats? Without thinking she said, "You look more like a kittypet than I do." Nala suddenly realized the mistake and winced. She didn't know how many cats were lurking about! If she got them angry, she and Frisbee were goners! But she didn't take it back. Some newfound sense of pride wouldn't let her. Nala's fur bristled a bit. Something about the possibility of battle...excited her. "We haven't taken your prey. We haven't attacked you." Nala growled in response. Her tail swished dangerously. Once again, that wild glean entered her eyes. A strange sparkle that made her somehow resemble the forest cat before them.

[Kitty]

Frisbee was just about to mimick Nala's hunting crouch - he almost had it right, he thought - when a fresh, strong catscent struck him. Why, oh why, had he not been paying more attention. He glanced up, too startled to move as Nala moved to stand in front of him.

The she-cat had a point. In comparison to Nala, the other cat looked very...normal. Like any other kittypet furious over having her garden stepped in. Except this cat had scars. He couldn't supress a snicker at the sight of the forest cat, but luckily it was quiet. "Wow, you forest cats really do look more like kittypets than I expected." Although the kittypet thing had stung a little, it was true...he was a kittypet.

But he should leave the fighting to Nala, if it came to that. He was in no way good at fighting. He'd get torn to little pieces, especially sicne he didn't have a pelt to protect his skin. A little layer of fuzz wasn't enough.

[Yoko]

Patchpaw lay crouched on her stomach. She had not seen Softpaw, but caught scent of her prize first. The vole. She licked her lips hungrily, not sprung from real hunger but rather desire to prove Flameclaw wrong!

She kept her pawsteps light, and stayed as out of sight as she could. She was less than a foxlength away when she heard a sharp ringing sound. She lifted from her crouch to see if anything dangerous was near her and the vole began to dart away. NO! She flung herself after it, chasing it through the bramble and right into a hole.

Furious over the loss of the vole, she turned and sprinted towards the source of the noise. Pelt bristling. It occured to her midway through the run that she should simply inform her mentor and stay away, but she was too proud to let whatever it was steal her prey and get away with it!

[:c a i:]

((Flameclaw, not Flametail.))

The squirrel was long gone now, so there was no point in Tigerheart keeping to the hunt. He followed Swallowfang and soon his annoyance about the lost prey was overtaken by suspicion at the appearance of what was possibly the ugliest cat he had ever seen, along with another kittypet. Immediately his lip curled in a dark snarl and his eyes glinted dangerously. This was his element; not a pair of kittypets'. There was no place for distorted creatures like that in their forest.

"You take one step further into our territory and you pay for it a hundred times over." Tigerheart's commanding voice was laced with a latent threat. His claws unsheathed and his eyes fixed upon the cat who at least owned a pelt, Tigerheart's golden pelt fluffed out and increased his already large size. He was furious at the sarky kittypet comment, for it was a ridiculous thing to say. He and Swallowfang in no way resembled the over-pampered and over-fed appearance of a kittypet. And he was even more certain that they didn't have a foul twoleg reek like these two. "You have cost us a catch already. If you wish to keep your tails, I suggest you return to your little nests immediately." Tigerheart meowed, speaking with something close to boredom. These two were no threat to them - especially since one had somehow managed to lose all his fur - but they still irritated him. "This is no place for kittypets like you.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

((Flametail was Flamepaw's name in The Fourth Apprentice, right?))

Swallowfang's mouth pulled into a confident smirk. With her and Tigerheart both here they were sure to scare the kittypets into running back to wherever they came from. The bald one looked more timid than the other, as he was hiding behind her. Swallowfang turned all of her attention to the spotted she-cat and kept her gaze firm. "So just get lost. Leave the prey to those who need it and go back to your Twolegs." She added with the same amount of ferocity as before.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

After a few moments of padding through the forest, Softpaw found a likely spot to bury his prey and quickly covered the fat mouse with a mound of loose earth. Shifting a few leaves and twigs over the pile to make it less conspicuous, the young cat looked around and started once more towards where he had last seen Patchpaw. On his way there a faint tinkle reached his ears. What was that? he wondered. It wasn't like any sound he had ever heard before. But it was followed just half a second later by a loud scuffle, and then the sound of retreating pawsteps. Recognizing Patchpaw's familiar pelt as she flashed past him toward the sound, the older apprentice leapt after her and streaked through the forest at her heels. Wherever she was heading, he wasn't going to let her go all by herself. Trees and ferns whipped by as Softpaw strode quickly through the woods toward the noise.

For a moment a clump of ferns completely blocked his view of what was ahead, but then he pushed through them and saw with surprise that there were two strange cats on their territory. Their collars marked them plainly as kittypets, but they were the strangest pair he had ever seen. Grateful to note that his mentor had already arrived to challenge them, the young tom padded over to stand by the black she-cat's side. He faced the ugly bald tom and the strange spotted she-cat without fear, though the she-cat was easily larger than him. He doubted that a kittypet would have any significant battle prowess, and besides, she didn't come close to being as big as Tigerheart. Softpaw stared directly at the two cats in challenge as Tigerheart and Swallowfang warned the two cats to leave. "ThunderClan does not allow blundering kittypets in their territory, regardless of whether they have the skill to catch any prey," he added flatly. "You have intruded into our home, and if you do not leave immediately we will make sure you take scars back to your nest with you."

[Yoko]

((OOC: Yes, Yellow. That was the reason for my error))
Patchpaw was startled by Softpaw's sudden appearance but she never broke stride. Her claws were already unsheathed as she burst through the underbrush and slid to a halt. The appearance of her enemies shocked her so that she almost did not see her mentor and Swallowfang near them.

Scowling at the bald cat and the doggish-looking one, she stalked her way to Tigerheart's side. She listened to Softpaw's threat and did not feel inclined to add to it. Her mentor and Swallowfang probably already gave the kittypet's a firm talking to. She wanted instead to concentrate on methods of attack if the kittypets were stupid enough to stand ther ground.