Gone Hunting[Open]

[wild]

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right

It was quiet in camp, the quiet driving her crazy. If Dapplestorm wanted quiet, she would go out to the river, or find a tree to hang out in. The camp was not supposed to be quiet. Dapplestorms green eyes scanned the camp with contempt. What she saw was usual Clan life. A cat here, a cat there, here a cat, there a cat, everywhere a cat. She majority of the cats in the camp were younger, and only a few warriors remained to guard the camp. Dapplestorm was asked to do no such thing, so she took advantage of this freedom. Unwilling to stay in the camp any longer, he got to her feet and stretched, soothing her stiff muscles in her patch of sunlight. She then licked her fluffed out fur down, giving herself a thorough wash, not wanting to leave the camp looking like a half-dead bedraggled mange-monster.

Dapplestorm padded out of camp to the outside world. How wonderful it was, though one would think Dapplestorm would be sick of the wilderness, since most of her life had been spent traveling. The weathered and emotionally bruised warrior had lost a good deal, and was surprised she was still able to appreciate life. Perhaps it was the losses that she faced that made her appreciate it. After all, each day was a gift. Dapplestorm still had a bit of difficulty actually living though, constantly drowning in the past and never embracing the future. Preferring to hunt solo, Dapplestorm did not request a hunting party. Like she could, there was hardly anyone in Camp anyway. Dapplestorm looked up to find a warrior was returning from a hunt, which was made obvious by a vole in his jaws. "Hi, Dapplestorm," he mumbled through his mouthful of fresh-kill. She meowed a greeting back, and trotted off to go hunting.

Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride..

lyrics; If Today Was Your Last Day - Nickelback

[thistle.]

A ecstatic mound of long, patched fur tumbled out of the apprentice den; dirt and dust clung to the pelt of the oblivious Spottedpaw as she yowled, "I'm ready!" to no one in particular. Who know what she was talking about anyway?
The she-cat raced to the warriors den and stuck her head in, trying to identify the brindled fur of her mentor. All the tabby bundles looked identical to her in the darkness. Brindlepelt might not even be resting at the moment. She sighed with resignment and ducked back into the sunlight. Wasn't there anyone she could hang out with? All her fellow apprentices were probably either doing chores or training.

... that gave her an idea.

The dry, parched ground gave off tiny clouds of dust whenever Spottedpaw took a step, and fallen leaves cracked under her paws. She passed the fresh-kill pile on the way toward the camp exit; she looked longingly at it, but reminded herself that there were warriors nearby and she could eat later, after she carried out her plan. The perfect plan. She'd go out and have the whole day to herself, hunting, patrolling, and practicing battles moves with an invisible friend. She wouldn't even be at camp in case she was assigned to some tedious task. And so, like the world belonged to her, she padded through the entrance with confidence.

"Mousedung!"
One minute into her plan, and she already was in the presence of another cat. She was lucky that she had avoided slamming straight into her Clan mate, but unlucky because she was in full view of her. Spottedpaw sniffed the air and placed a name on the scent. Dapplestorm.

ooc: -whacks myself-

[wild]

Dapplestorm had hardly even left the vicinity of the quiet camp when she heard a noise, and a scent wafted past her nose. She turned around and bristled her white pelt, dappled with black spots and stripes. She relaxed when she found it was only an apprentice. This apprentice was by herself, which probably wasn't safe. Not wanting to be responsible for the young Spottedpaw to get hurt, Dapplestorm padded up to her, and put on her warrior voice. She thought it sounded pompous, but it usually worked, when she was putting a younger cat in their place. "Spottedpaw, you should not be out here alone. Anything could happen to a young cat like you. Where is your mentor?"

Dapplestorm was trying her best to spend the day alone. She was unwilling to share her time, especially with a smaller cat so young. She could never really tell why she wasn't fond of younger cats; perhaps it was because she didn't want any to harmed, or lose them, and be blamed. She knew that if anything happened to Spottedpaw, she couldn't live with herself. She also couldn't bear the thought of a young ones life ending. It was unfair when a younger cat died before they even got a chance to become a warrior, or in some cases, an apprentice. She happened to have seen much of that on the journey. Death, starvation, and other horrors no cat should have to face. But it was life, it was nature, and time is never on your side.

Dapplestorm sat her rump down on the dry ground and curled her striped tail around her body, waiting for Spottedpaws response.

ooc; Stop hittin' yourself!

[thistle.]

Spottedpaw hesitated, wondering what would be a good and reasonable thing to say. Her mentor was out hunting? She was patrolling some border? They had been seperated because of some urgent warrior mission? Finally, the calico settled on, "Um... I dunno. I think she's out hunting but she could be patrolling or going on some super-secret mission." She paused for breath, and then mewed quietly, "Or she could be sleeping in her den."

The apprentice looked up at Dapplestorm with pitiful, round eyes, not knowing that she was only managing to look like a surprised old owl. Please say that I can go out with you.
"But she won't mind if I go out with someone else, I think. So I can just go out with you, right? There won't be a fox out there today, so I won't get hurt. Besides, I'm bored!" Spottedpaw finished with a dramatic sigh and plopped onto the ground in a mess of tri-colored fur.

ooc: I will if you give me a bottle of muse. x3

[wild]

Dapplestorm looked down at the younger cat, at her surprised owl look. Patrolling, hunting, or sleeping, eh? She thought over what she had heard. If Spottedpaw's mentor had gone hunting or patrolling, since her mentor didn't take her, her mentor wasn't the greatest mentor in the world. Dapplestorm always thought that mentors took their apprentices out to train whenever they got the chance. She considered why this mentor had been sleeping when there was a lot of work to do, but then, since there was a lot of work to do she could guess why one would be tired.

Dapplestorm finally concluded that she would not be hunting solo. She could understand why Spottedpaw was bored. Besides, it would be a good experience, if Dapplestorm ever had an apprentice, although she wasn't the best at explaining or teaching things. She would try though. "Alright, fine, you can come with me, but you have to do what I say," she meowed. With that, Dapplestorm had begun walking away from the bundle of fur without waiting. As she walked, Dapplestorm tried to get a scent. She found herself exaggerating as though she were trying to teach the apprentice something, or try to get her to also sniff the air and look for a scent.

ooc; I'm running out of muse too, don't worry XD

[thistle.]

The apprentice stared at the older warrior in disbelief, her ears laid back against her forehead.
I can go?! I can go?!
If she were a rocket she would've burst through the ozone layer and have enough fuel to race around the moon about ten times. Well, not exactly, but being able to get out of camp and hang out with a warrior was pretty exciting. Especially because that warrior wasn't her mentor. She hardly registered the rest of Dapplestorm's reply.

She gave a purr of delight and meowed, "Awe-some! What're you waiting for, let's go!" Spottedpaw sprang up and dashed through a couple of trees, before circling back impatiently to the slowly-padding Dapplestorm. "What are you- oh wait. We're hunting?" It felt like she was hunting all the time now, except when she was lazing around in her den or slaving away doing boring chores. Her teeth felt as if they were growing hair; she had spent so much time biting down on fluffy prey that it was disgusting. Besides, she didn't even excel in hunting at all. Unfortunately, this day looked like another day of chasing after small animals.
Spottedpaw groaned quietly under her breath but followed the other she-cat obediently, trying to avoid the season's bringings in case it alerted the rodents and birds.

Sniffing the musty air, she wondered if they'd ever be able to find so much as a mouse on this dreary, leaf-scattered, pungent-smelling afternoon.

[wild]

Dapplestorm had finally caught a scent. A mouse. She decided to test her. "Spottedpaw, how do you stalk a mouse?" she asked, not looking at her, therefore not noticing her boredom. Dapplestorm stared at the trail the mouse had left, as though it was some kind of aura that only she could see. A sigh finally caught her attention, and she she-cat looked back at the apprentice. She came plodding along, a bored look on her face. Dapplestorm frowned, and heard a soft rustle. The mouse must have gotten away. She padded up to the apprentice, putting on her warrior voice again. How annoying young cats were. Dapplestorm was now glad that she didn't have an apprentice. Although she didn't usually anger easily, she wanted this day to herself, and when one came crowding into her space she got edgy.

"If you are so bored, why don't you go back to camp?" Dapplestorm snapped, with surprising ferocity. She felt a bit of regret for snapping at the young cat. Dapplestorm had little experience with young ones, not knowing that they got bored easily. "If you want to go on patrol, ask some other warrior. I just saw a warrior go in, he might be interested. And the dawn patrol should be back soon. You can hang out with them." Dapplestorm was trying hard to get rid of the young cat, wanting the hunting grounds to herself. She worked better by herself, anyway. She glared down at Spottedpaw, waiting for a response, hoping that she didn't hurt her feelings.

[thistle.]

If Dapplestorm thought that she could make Spottedpaw too crestfallen to continue on hunting with her, she was wrong. The apprentice narrowed her yellow eyes and gave a wordless growl in the other she-cat's direction.
"I'm still going," she snapped stubbornly, her expression defiant. "I want to go on this patrol, on this part of the forest, with this warrior." 'This warrior' basically meaning Dapplestorm. She flounced ahead and meowed with a small bit of her regular cheerfulness, "An' you just see if you can stop me!"

Spottedpaw's feet made a pat-pat-pat sound on the dry earth, reminding her of the drought that was currently occuring. With leaf-bare around the corner, it couldn't get more worse. The two she-cats had to find some prey today, so the Clan would be well stocked-up before most of them had to go hungry. The only good thing about leaf-bare was that she was going to get her warrior name soon. Too bad she was unable to train much with her mentor, but perhaps Dapplestorm would assist her. Hey, what was that? A streak of grey dashed only a few mousetails from the calico's forepaws, heading toward a hole beneath a root of a tree. More on instinct than anything else, she pounced and caught the skinny rodent, now a prisoner in her claws. "Gotcha!" she crowed triumphantly, and turned her head back to Dapplestorm. "See, I can be a good hunter too!"

[Puddyluff]

"Good job, Spottedpaw. I heard you guys talking, and I think, if you're going on a hunting patrol, then I think I'd like to join. I can hunt with you." meowed Cinderheart, appearing between the trees. She was taking a walk outside the camp when she busted into these cats. She didn't want to bother them, but she wanted to join when she heard the word 'patrol'. Eyes beamed with excitement as she sat down on the cold ground. Then she began to dust the ground with her tail. "Or if you really want to go out with your mentor, that's fine by me. I didn't go out with other cats for a very long time." She sat up and stalked to a warmer place to sit. She chose a perfect spot, a place between the trees where the little dapples of light shown through. "Well?" she waited for a answer. I'm going to be patient with this young apprentice. She is still young, so I'll have to be patient. That makes more of a possibility of me getting to go with Spottedpaw and Dapplestorm, thought Cinderheart as she continued to wait for an answer to come out of Spottedpaw's mouth. She started dusting the ground again, to have something to do while waiting for either a 'yes' or a 'no'. She really didn't care, but she thought that having company while hunting was going to be more exciting, at least more fun than hunting alone. She wouldn't be able to catch much. That was only one reason why she wanted to go with this apprentice. This apprentice was stubborn, so it was best if Spottedpaw would have a mentor who is pretty calm. She took a look at Dapplestorm, and hoped she would agree.

[topaz]

The forest that surrounded her gave her a little sniff of Streamclanners around. She wasn't very eager to find out who those felines were. Stripedpelt kept on walking and walking.. She found herself following the scent of the cats. Stupid me. She thought. She formed her poker face into a smile as she met three cats. Spottedpaw, Dapplestorm and Cinderheart. She realized that they were sharing words. Actually teaching Spottpaw. Jogging up to them, she meowed in her soft voice. "You guys helping Spottedpaw with her training?" Her tabby head tilted in showing that she was baffled. In the back of her head, she thought that she might be agitating the cats. She didn't want to draw attention from them but she just wanted to find her voice. The striped she-cat took turns looking at each cat. Where was Spottedpaw's mentor?
Maybe this 'worrying' thing began to happen after Gingerpaw has gone wit ht he apprentices. Spottedpaw reminded the she-cat of her. Her mouth let out a long sigh like the wind.