The Assessment

[Cloud of Diamonds]

OOC: So, the cats in this are as follows: Cedarstar and Shrewpaw, Crowclaw and Palepaw, Tigertail and Swiftpaw, and (hopefully) Sootpaw and Gingerstripe.

Basically, the mentors follow the apprentices out of sight and watch them hunt. Contrary to popular belief, this does not always herald a cat becoming a warrior, though it can. The only cat becoming a warrior after this is Palepaw, and no this is not favoritism. Rixy doesn't want Swiftpaw to be a warrior, and Sootpaw and Shrewpaw are too young. So for them this is exactly that: assessing. Seeing what they're good at and noting what they're not good at so the mentors can help them approve.

BIC: Ah, the day had finally come. He had carefully selected apprentices for the assessent - Palepaw, Sootpaw, Swiftpaw, and his own Shrewpaw. Though he was reluctant to admit it, he liked the little brown tabby who so resembled his father. In a strange way, his apprentice made Cedarstar long for a son of his own. Not yet, though. One day, when he and Gingerstripe were ready.

And he would do well to stop daydreaming and address the group in front of him on the grassy turf just outside camp.

"Mentors and apprentices of MeadowClan, we are gathered here today to uphold the noble and useful tradition of assessing. Each of you apprentices will be watched by your mentors as you use your skills to catch as much prey as you can. Mentors, your duty is to follow your apprentice out of sight, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. You will all return to this spot at sundown, no matter what has transpired during the assessment, no exceptions. Each mentor will report to me on their apprentice. Tigertail and Crowclaw, you will have the difficult decision of judging whether your apprentices are ready to be made warriors. Be sound and precise in your watching."

He paused for a moment, then addressed the four young cats specifically. "You four will go off first, and we will follow after. Remember, you are forbidden to speak to your mentors during the assessment, just as they are forbidden to give you advice.Any breakers of this rule will be soundly punished. Dismissed."

The shaggy tabby watched with cool brown-yellow eyes as the gray tabby, the brown tabby, the light-colored spotted she-cat, and the black and white she-cat padded off into the vast expanse of grass.

[[ hardyrex ]]

Sootpaw just wished his heart would explode already so he could hear Cedarstar better. He was so nervous about his assessment, seeing as it was his first one, but it was a great way to prove his was worthy of being the deputy's son. Now, if Cedarstar would just stop blabbing about rules everyone already knew, they could get the show started. Blah blah blah, no talking, blah blah... Dismissed! Finally! He headed in a different part of MeadowClan than the other apprentices. He couldn't always depend on his Clanmates being there and had to shower Gingerstripe that he was ready to survive on his own. Besides, the others would just be an annoying distraction than from the important task at paw. That's was the last thing Sootpaw needed. What he did need now was a clearing-like place in the tall grass so he could snatch some mice easily. Rabbitstep had taught him yesterday that mice were much easier to catch because you didn't have to move as much grass while you stalked toward a mouse. This would make him look like a smart Warrior who could figure out solutions to problems. Of course, he had to thank his dad.

Finding a good place to start, he opened his mouth to drink the scents of the air. Faint scents of MeadowClanners.... rabbits.... grass.... more grass.... Aha! It smelled like a mouse was just a couple of tail lengths to the right. Sootpaw carefully hunched down, straining his ears for the slightest sound of the mouse scurrying around. About one and a half tail lengths in front of him. Seven kit-steps, get ready to pounce... Bam! Sootpaw missed the mouse by a cat hair, but manged to recover in time to smack it with his paw and daze it long enough to deliver the killing blow. It was a messy kill, but a kill never-the-less. The tom's eyes scanned the surrounding grass. Had Gingerstripe found him in time and saw?

ooc; Even if I did say Sootpaw went out on his own, someone could have followed him anyway.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Anxiety wasn't the word for it. More like gut-wrenching nausea that made it difficult to walk, let alone hunt. Maybe she was exaggerating a bit. It did feel good to be out, despite how crazy she still thought living in a wide freaking open meadow was. Vulnerable to the slightest thing. Okay, she was exaggerating again. Hyperbole helped her relax, in a weird sort of way.

If you made things seem silly by over-imagining them, they were less threatening. In theory.

Crowclaw wouldn't really hurt her. In theory.

She could pass this. In theory - she should really stop thinking that and get on with trying to hunt. Mouse-brain, she silently cursed herself, as she warily looked around.

The fresh air smelled good, and there seemed to be no sign of predators. Her paws were slightly damp from the remaining dew on the grass as she padded lightly toward the clump of trees, where she always felt the most relaxed. Even with the thought of a certain black warrior on her mind.

Yellow eyes closed, she paused and strained her grayish ears, her mouth open and her nose alert for any odors that would hint at the presence of something to add to the fresh-kill pile. Nothing fresh here...still in the same position, she carefully stepped forward, walking slowly until - aha!

Robin.

Uh-oh. She cringed, hoping it didn't show too much. She hated bird-hunting - how on earth did you catch something that flew? She'd done it before, but...at least you had half a chance with ground prey if it realized you were there; but if a bird noticed you, you were out of luck. Well, might as well try. Carefully lowering herself to the ground (she'd opened her eyes) the slinking apprentice spotted the avian after a few seconds of searching - it was hopping around next to an oak tree at the edge of the clump of woods, about a tree-length off. Biting back a groan, she took a deep breath and prayed to StarClan for luck as she crept toward it.

[Crowzerplorodon]

Blah blah blah blah blah blah.

That's all both Shrewpaw and Tigertail heard as they listened to Cedarstar, tails swishing in sync against the grassy ground. Neither of them cared too much about the details. They both knew what they had to do: catch stuff and watch someone catch stuff. Easy tasks, and neither of them were worried about doing things right. So the moment their leader stopped speaking, Tigertail turned to wink at Shrewpaw, then shooed the apprentice off before sitting back to wait for his own apprentice to go. He'd follow when it was time to.

Shrewpaw trotted through the grass like he owned the place. Having matured well, Shrewpaw had near perfect control over his muscles, though he was cocky and often did things he thought he could do, but honestly had no hope of ever doing. The grass swept by his semi-long fur like a familiar friend, and the young tom couldn't help a sudden overwhelming feeling of peace. Strolling along, letting the wind and ground shape his path. Wonderful.

But the time for appreciation like that was definitely not now.

His nose soon caught the scent of a field mouse and Shrewpaw was off, crouched in the grass as he slunk through the territory and following his senses to the pitiful creature. He could see it in a few minutes, the small, brown creature nibbling on a sunflower seed. His ears twitched (his only movement) before Shrewpaw leaped, his body forming a perfect arc as he landed with skill on the ground, not an inch missed.

Of course, that was all in his mind. In reality, Shrewpaw had made a huge blunder and misestimated the difference. He was too cocky to notice until the mouse bolted through his paws, taking off at a lightning pace which the apprentice soon matched. Not dwelling on his screw up, Shrewpaw dashed off after his prey, paws slamming down on the frail body and killing the rodent instantly.

Not a beautiful catch, and definitely a sloppy one. But a catch was a catch, right?

[Cloud of Diamonds]

OOC: Because Rixy has informed me that she is too busy to participate, and Amber is gone, the turn cycle for the assessment will be something along these lines:

The apprentices (Sootpaw, Palepaw, and Shrewpaw) will each post twice more, with fairly decent-length posts about what they're doing.

But before they do, the mentors need to post. Because of Swiftpaw's dropout, Crow can stop playing Tigertail if he wants.

It doesn't matter in what order the watching mentors (Cedarstar and Crowclaw) post, but it does matter when and where because Gingerstripe, Sootpaw's mentor is not participating but we're pretending she is and of course Tigertail's unneeded.

So basically Slug and I need to post, and then I'll post again determining who does what after that.

Cloud out!

[Slug]

Crowclaw watched, silent in the bushes as Palepaw crept after the bird. His maw curled with dark mirth, pleased with his apprentice's form and balance. She was doing well-- so far. But one wrong move, and the robin would fly away. It was an easy catch for Crowclaw, but he was a warrior and had long, strong legs. Birds and rabbits were easy.

But Palepaw wasn't him, unfortunately. Nor did she have his dashing good looks. However, in which she lacked she made up with practice and determination. Her first catch, a bird? Priceless. If she made this, he would make sure to strut his apprentice's skill.

After all, he was the one who mentored her. Though there was only room for one Crowclaw around here, his motto was learn from the best, be the best! Or, well, second best. Crowclaw was the best hunter of MeadowClan, he was sure of it.

Which was why Palepaw was second best-- if she caught the robin by this moon, that is.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Cedarstar had kept a vigilant eye on his departing apprentice, (wondering why Tigertail had winked at him) though of course he'd spared the others a glance as well. Shrewpaw seemed confident - perhaps too confident for an apprentice of his tender moons. The leader had tried his best to be firm and reasonable with the little brown tom, but he knew it would take moons to sink in - even he, an accomplished leader, had had difficulty listening to sense in his early apprentice days.

Speaking of reason, he should be following him by now. Beginning to pad in the direction Rabbitstep's son had left in, he was fairly certain that his earth-toned pelt would disguise him fairly well against the tan-and-green terrain of his territory.

He looked around again, spotting the black pelt of Crowclaw, the gray tabby fur of Sootpaw, Palepaw's distinctive spots...aha! Sniffing the air as well to make sure he wasn't mistaken, he caught a fresh whiff of a certain apprentice.

Within a minute he was only a tree-length or so from the amber-eyed tom, crouched low in the grass as he watched with strong curiosity and expectation. He had arrived in time to notice that the little cat was stalking a field mouse - his form wasn't bad, although he needed to keep his tail more still and make his strides longer.

But that was apparently the least of his worries. The big tom watched with a mental groan as the cocky mouse-brain launched himself just too far and the tiny creature zipped off. Oh, StarClan preserve - but wait! He had caught it, after all. He was lucky, though, and usually wouldn't be. The first time Cedarstar had made that mistake, the mouse had shot right into its burrow and he'd been given a short but stern lecture by Elkstar about over-enthusiasm.

He would still give the same lecture to Shrewpaw as a warning - but still give him mild approval later on his mouse. Still, he needed to catch at least one more piece of prey for Cedarstar to make a full judgment on him.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

OOC: Okay, now that Slug and I have posted, the 3 appentices (Shrew, Soot and Pale) need to post. Doesn't matter in what order.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Anxiety coursed through her veins as the gray and cream apprentice crept closer to the small avian. Was Crowclaw watching her now? Was he displeased? Annoyed? Planning to punish her? Would he - no, no! She couldn't think about the possible horrors in wait. She had to focus on this bird. Watch the robin, mouse-brain, she scolded herself. Luckily it was still hopping about, oblivious. The MeadowClanner had crossed about a third of the tree-length gap that been between her and the brown and red bird.

Close to the grass-swathed ground, she made her pawsteps long and light, speeding up just a little. She held her breath as the robin flitted upward - but then came back down only a tail-length or two from the tree it had been next to. It was hard for her not to let out a sigh of a relief, and she fervently thanked StarClan.

Her yellow eyes were glued to its feathered shape as her ears pricked and her black-tufted tail twitched, barely enough to disturb the grass. She hesitated over a vital decision - move faster and risk making a noise that would alert her prey, or stay at the same pace and risk it leaving anyway? Was it better to be consistent or daring, and which would look better?

Though part of her regretted it, she picked daring. This wasn't a time to hesitate, after all. She was an apprentice who needed to prove herself to become a warrior.

Lengthening her strides, (although stirring the grass slightly) the slender MeadowClanner padded quickly, although at a controlled pace, to the robin. It still didn't flee, but it was hopping about like a flea on a rabbit, mouse dung. She breathed deeply, prayed to her ancestors one last time, squinted her yellow eyes as she aimed, and ran for a pace or two, leaping at the robin as it finally took flight, just managing to latch one flailing paw into its back as she thumped down to the ground (on her tail, ouch) and gasped for breath, dispatching the weakly fluttering bird with a slit to its neck from her other paw.

Thank StarClan, she wouldn't die tonight.

[[ hardyrex ]]

Another mouse had been added to his make-shift kill-pile. Sootpaw knew he could catch them easily. A bird was pecking nearby, but there was no way he could get one of those. At least, he wasn't willing to try, because he had his mind set on another prize. A rabbit. Rabbits were the life of MeadowClan, and if the gray tabby could catch one, the whole Clan would have to be impressed by his effort. All Sootpaw had to do was find one, run it down, and bam! One dead rabbit. He'd been watching one for a while now as it nibbled on the grass. His legs were getting stiff from staying hidden, but he couldn't help but worry about missing it. He'd look stupid for trying to get it when he couldn't.
Now, or never. Sootpaw shot out towards the rabbit, skidding to the right as it also shot away. His paws were having a hard time getting traction; he almost slid on his side. The rabbit seemed to zig-zag around, taunting him.
Sootpaw didn't stand a chance.
The rabbit took a hard left and disappeared into a hole; Sootpaw took his own hard left but ended up tripping over his own feet and landing on his side, hard. The wind was knocked out of him and he layed there for a moment, gasping for breath. His lungs and legs were burning for crouching and then suddenly shooting off.
Rabbits were now his least favorite animal. Ever.