Hunting, anyone? (Full!)

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Harewhisker lifted his head up to the fresh air, closing his eyes to slits as the wind blew against them, carrying countless scents. The sun was high in sky-a sign it was midday- yet the heat was bearable. It still was not the hottest part of the day. He could tell that later on, it would likely get warmer as time went by.

The brown tom didn't want to waste time daydreaming. He was the head of this patrol, and it was his responsibility to see they caught enough prey to feed the Clan. He lowed his keen nose to the ground, and his eyes narrowed at a familiar, yet out of place scent. They were close to the old badger set. Harewhisker remembered seeing some of the kits brought back to camp earlier that morning. Apparently, they had snuck out of camp and gotten themselves trapped in the badger set. Their scent still lingered, and the warrior's sharp nose picked it up. He wondered if the others could smell the kits' scent.

He glanced at the few cats that had joined him. They hadn't caught anything yet, and he had hoped there would be prey around this area. Now they just had to keep an alert lookout for rabbits. That shouldn't be hard, right? "Keep your eyes open," he instructed. "I smell rabbits nearby."

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Rowanclaw padded quietly behind the patrol leader, keeping his senses open for the good and the bad alike. The badger sett had been abandoned for moons now, but it didn't pay to dismiss an enemy as potent as the badger. On top of that, Twolegs sometimes ventured onto the moor from their nest at the edge of WindClan territory, riding large, swift-footed animals. The brown tabby tom knew that while a prepared cat was relatively safe, there was no shortage of danger anywhere in the four territories.

Lifting his head, the small warrior opened his jaw's at Harewhisker's remark and scented the air. The smell of rabbit drifted into his scent glands... It was fresh. "I think it's coming from the right," Rowanclaw said after a moment, turning his head in that direction and stalking a few paces. The scent didn't weaken: he was on the right trail. Flicking his tail in affirmation, he slid lower to the ground and crept towards the source of the smell. Through the tall grass, he could see the lean brown shape of a rabbit. He stepped closer: the rabbit tensed. For a moment their eyes locked, then the rabbit bolted and Rowanclaw sprang from his position, hot on its heels as the small creature bounded across the grasslands.

[chaos]

It was only just one of the few hunting patrols that the brown and white apprentice had been sent on. Not many, usually because he doesn't exactly "hunt," more like taking a peaceful stroll around the territory. Briarpaw had been sincerely interested in a very odd-looking beetle, and was sniffing it curiously, poking a paw at it as well. It fluttered, spread it's wing and flew off, startling the young tom. His head turned around at the two older warriors in the party, including Harewhisker, and his own mentor, Rowanclaw.

Briarpaw blinked and he too, engulfed the wonderful scent of rabbit as it filled his mouth. Preparing to spring, he stopped himself in his tracks when Rowanclaw beat him to it. His paws itched to follow him to see if his mentor had succeeded in slaying his quarry. His eyes looked up hesitantly to Harewhisker, who was considerabley taller. " Are we going to follow him?" Asked the apprentice, and looked back towards the direction Rowanclaw had disappeared. His tail twitched in anticipation, twitching his nose to pick up any other detectable scents to go in search of.

[:c a i:]

"Mmm... He'll get it." Featherheart meowed, vaguely watching Rowanclaw chase after the rabbit. She grinned brightly at Briarpaw, her slender frame lit up by her usual good spirits. She jogged on the spot, jumping about energetically, eager to find her own piece of prey to chase. Her paws were just itching to get moving. "We'll leave him to it." She glanced over at Harewhisker, wishing the wind would ease up just a tiny bit. It was quite hard to tell where the various scents were coming from.

"Hey, Briarpaw, over there." She gestured over in the other direction from where Rowanclaw had dashed off to. "Can you smell that?" She might as well give the apprentice a little test, seeing as Rowanclaw was occupied at the moment. She had detected another particularly strong scent of rabbit coming from a patch of dry grass. Well, Briarpaw would have to be able to smell it. She wondered whether he could catch it, or whether she ought to chase it herself whilst the chance was there.

[chaos]

Briarpaw gave a slight nod, twisting his head to follow Featherheart pad off somewhere else. He inteded to at least catch something. The tom just hated going back to camp empty-pawed. He prodded the dirt with his white paws, giving them a brownish tint. At the moment where he was about to go off on his own, he stopped at Featherheart's call. He padded over to the she-cat, looking around the grassland with those pale eyes.

" I don't smell anyth-" Briarpaw stopped himself short and opened his jaws to take in the faint scent of rabbit. Being younger and less experienced, his taste buds weren't as accurate as a warriors. " Over there!" He pointed his nose close to straight ahead of him. Imediately he crouched low to the ground. His white and brown coat had a hard time blending in with his surroundings, but with luck, Briarpaw came close enough to catch sight of the rabbit. Only a few more pawsteps and.. The rabbit twitched his nose, and turned it's cute gray head straight at Briarpaw. The cat sprang and the rabbit turned tail and ran towards the safety of it's burrow. Briarpaw felt that he was quicker, and caught up with it no sweat. He tried batting it's strong back legs, attempting to trip it. Success! The rabbit fumbled on the ground where Briarpaw, being no bigger than the rabbit itself, straddled the thing, biting it at it's neck.

[:c a i:]

Featherheart smiled in amusement as her decision was made for her. Briarpaw managed to catch the scent she had pointed out for him, and she was pleased to see him take the initiative and give chase. It wouldn't matter too much if he didn't catch it, for it was good practice in any case, but it would be much better if he did. There were always hungry mouths in camp.

She followed swiftly, a couple of fox-lengths behind, allowing the apprentice to do his best. Excellent. She watched Briarpaw succesfully trip the little creature and make the catch. That was a good chase which he had carried out, and she was impressed he had caught it so easily. After all, he was quite small himself. Featherheart jogged over to him again, beaming.

"Well done, Briarpaw." She laughed. "That was a great catch." She turned around to look for Harewhisker, and also to see if Rowanclaw was back. She was sure Briarpaw would want to tell his mentor about his catch, so she hoped that the other warrior would have hurried up with his own chase. Although, she supposed, it would be rather embarrassing for Rowanclaw if he hadn't caught his rabbit when Briarpaw had managed to catch one himself.

[chaos]

Briarpaw felt a wave of relief when his prey finally fell limp. He felt the quick and repetitive heartbeat slow to nothing. He let out his breath that he'd been holding since he began his chase. He arose to his paws and looked at Featherheart, who he'd guess has been following him further back. " I did it! I did it!" The young tom mewed, muffled by the rabbit's limp fur. He pranced around his kill, tail up, thrilled of his catch. He leaped clear across it, landing on his paws, lowered his head. " Look at that! Briarpaw, Master of Hunting!" The small cat ran over to the leg of the rabbit, and clamped it good and tight in his jaws. " Come on, let's go and tell Rowanclaw."

For as excited as he was, he instantly felt doubt when he couldn't drag the rabbit back to where the others were. Briarpaw stopped, and thought of a different approach. Instead, he went to the right of it, and tried to pick it up in his jaws. It was, much more heavier than a simple fieldmouse. The young apprentice turned his head towards Featherheart and smiled beffore padding back the way he'd came.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Harewhisker watched with mild amusement as Briarpaw attemted to catch the rabbit. His own paw twitched with eagerness to go after it, but he stayed still, allowing the apprentice a try. Briarpaw was only a moon into his training, and honestly, the warrior didn't expect him to make the catch. Because of this asumption, when Briarpaw managed to catch the rabbit it caused his eyes to widen. "Nice catch," he meowed, doubtful he would be heard over Featherheart's cheerful voice. He decided not to say anything else, there was little need to.

"Hold on, slow down," He said, watching Briarpaw attempt to pick up his catch. "Rowanclaw will be back soon. Don't go too far." He padded closer to the apprentice, prepared to follow him so he didn't get separated from the group.

ooc- Bleh, short post. I didn't know what to write so it's pretty boring.

[chaos]

Briarpaw carried the rabbit only a few pawsteps before he dropped it with a quiet thud, and looked at Harewhisker. " Fiiine.." He muttered, a little annoyed. He really wanted Rowanclaw to see his catch, but Harewhisker was right, he knew that his mentor would return shortly. Instead, he found interest in a dragonfly, and began to bat his forepaws at it to pass the time. This would be probably the second, maybe third time that he'd gone out on a hunting patrol and would have actually brought back some food. Briarpaw didn't really care much for it though. He just liked to be out of camp and away from all of the madness.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

The lean brown shape of the rabbit flashed nimbly in front of Rowanclaw, with the tabby warrior only scant tail-lengths behind. Whether or not he could catch up with the animal before it reached its warren was what this chase hinged on. Either him or the rabbit would have to slip up soon, and whoever did first would be the loser of this battle. Just ahead of him, a thick tussock of grass cloaked a small dip in the ground. The rabbit hopped quickly through and stumbled on the uneven ground on the other side. Within moments, Rowanclaw had caught up and was fastening his jaws on its small, furry neck. A quick bite home and the spinal cord was severed: the tabby warrior stood up with his catch and turned to make his way back to the patrol.

As he approached the spot where he had left the other two warriors and his apprentice, lifting his head high to keep the rabbit from dragging on the ground, he was surprised and impressed to see that while he had been away, his apprentice had caught a rabbit of his own. "Way to go, Briarpaw," Roawnclaw said proudly, dropping his rabbit for a moment so that he could speak. "That's an impressive catch for an apprentice as young as you."

[chaos]

Briarpaw smiled as Rowanclaw praised him for his catch. He turned to look at his quarry, lying utterly still in the flattened grass. It was true that the young apprentice was proud of himself, and that it is the first of many catches that he has yet to make. He padded over to the rabbit and looked at it quizzically. " We bury it now, so no foxes or badgers or something find it, right?" Briarpaw looked up, directing his question towards Rowanclaw. Without getting an answer, he began to prod the dirt with an unsheathed paw.