[ti]Open[/ti]procrastination station

[bird]

Hunting. 

Yes, she was hunting. That was what she was doing, she'd decided, as she wandered through the forest, placing her paws carefully on the ground as she walked. She wouldn't want to fall and hurt herself, after all. 

The truth of the matter, although she preferred not to acknowledge it, was that she was doing basically nothing. She'd left camp with intent to hunt, but after one or two times of trying to catch something and failing miserably, she'd decided it was about time that she take a break and look around. The forest was beautiful, after all. Back in the twolegplace, she'd been surrounded by twoleg dens, smoke, and monsters. There was really nothing to appreciate there.

Now, here in Ivyclan? The forest was beautiful, and the trees were great for climbing. She'd learned how to climb once she'd left the twolegplace, and climbing up on the trees and watching over everything was, admittedly, a hobby of hers. She was amazingly adept at finding ways to do nothing productive, and her new membership in Ivyclan only showed just how good she was at that. 

Taking a seat next to a tree, she looked around, watching the sky through the leaves. The clouds were beautiful. Looking up at the sky almost made her wonder how her sister, Sky, was doing. They were apart now, and she didn't know what to do now that she was on her own half the time. Once she had 
friends, she was sure, she'd forget about Sky, but she had to have friends first for that to happen.

Hopefully, she'd find some friends. For now, however, she was fine with just watching the birds and the clouds and waiting for something to happen.

[Miss Tactical]

The ginger and white tom gazed at himself in the puddle, making sure his fur was well groomed. It was something he took pride in. He leaped over the puddle delicately, landing on his paws without a noise before padding out of the camp. His nose twitched as the scent of Hawkstrike tickled his nose. He recalled that she was NOT clan born, but who was he to judge. He watched from afar staying downwind making mental notes as she was hunting, and clearly failed. He smirked slightly amused with her efforts. Not everyone was perfect. He continued to follow staying in the underbrush being careful not to rustle leaves as he moved delicately being careful where he put his paws.

The she-cat paused in front of a tree, and he tilted his head ever so slightly before stepping out of hiding. "You know, if you stay downwind more, you would have caught that prey." He mewed slightly. His fluffy tail waved in the air playfully. He really meant no harm in his comment, his tone was playful as well. His whiskers twitched with amusement looking towards the sky as she did, his light blue-green eyes sparkling with amusement as well. "See anything nice up there today?" He mewed warmly. Hickorynose stopped craning his neck and focused on the forest.

"Have you adjusted well...you know to life here?" He asked. He had always been in IvyClan so he really thought nothing of it. He imagined it would be just as hard for him to adjust to being a loner, as it was for her to be a warrior. It was hard, and it would take a lot of work that was something Hickorynose was certain of.

[bird]

She looked down from the sky as Hickorynose spoke, blinking as she processed his comment. "Yeah, I probably should've stayed downwind more. I'm... not the best at this," she chuckled, her amber eyes glancing away, tail curled around her almost protectively. Honestly, she was a bit ashamed by her lack of skill at hunting. She'd love to be a better hunter, but she'd never been taught anything, just tried to learn from her own experiences. Before she'd left the twolegplace, she'd scavenged for food, and she'd never had to catch her own until recently.

Admittedly, prey was much more tasty than whatever twoleg scraps she could find in the alleyways before being chased away from the garbage by an angry twoleg or another cat, but scraps were easier to obtain. Prey was easy to find, as this forest was teeming with mice and squirrels, but it wasn't very easy to actually catch. 

"I've just been watching the birds and the clouds," she responded a bit late to his second statement, having spaced out. At his second statement, Harestrike smiled a bit. "It's been really nice to have other people to talk to! Before this, I was on my own, and believe me, it wasn't fun. I had my sister, but she isn't much of a talker." Being silent for a second and then continuing, she said, "It's hard to adjust to a life like this, but I think it was what I was meant for, even if I'm not that good at it."

[Miss Tactical]

"It's hard to adjust to a life like this, but I think it was what I was meant for, even if I'm not that good at it." Hickorynose listened tail waving. It would be hard to adjust to clan life. The patrols, the fighting, the ins and outs but it was something that it was worth, at least to him it was. His whiskers twitched formulating the right words. "Well yes...it will uhh it will take time, but...we have a lot of it don't we?" He mewed. No one truly knew how much time they had, that was something only StarClan knew, and even then....sometimes things happened but as far as he was concerned they had all the time in the world.

"You will find once your skills get better life will get easier." HE gave firm nod, yes once she mastered hunting and was providing for the clan and going on more patrols it would get easier, well at least on the skill side. There were those rough rowdies who believed non clan born cats were no good, which was a shame, every cat deserved to show their full potential, clan born or not. He swiped his tongue around his muzzle, with all the kits surely they would need prey, it would be a good time to teach the she-cat anyways.

"I can show you!... to hunt that is. It really isn't too hard. I mean...if you want to learn that is which...you should but maybe...you didn't today...well anyways offer is there if you'd like." He mewed. Hickorynose took pride in his hunting and tracking ability. He honestly thought he was ONE of the best...not necessarily THEE best but close enough. He had taught Yewshine a few tricks before her warrior assessment and she could teach Harestrike too!

[bird]

She nodded at his comments, thinking for a bit. "I'd actually really like it if you taught me to hunt. No one ever really taught me the ins and outs of it, you know? I just had to learn on my own. I was never too good at it, so actually getting lessons for it would be great!" She really didn't take pride in her ability to hunt. There was nothing there to take pride in, really. If anything, she was better at fighting. She'd learned that herself too, but she was more of a natural prodigy for that.



"I do hope it'll get easier. It's not... too hard now, but I wish I was helping the clan more! I want to be able to help. If I can't, what's the point, really?" She shrugged, pawing at the ground. A lot of her self worth was centralized around being able to help others. Harestrike simply strived to help others and to become friends with others as well as possible. If she didn't help others, there was no point to being here, really. So she had set a goal to actually get better at hunting, even though she'd kind of given up on it until Hickorynose intervened.

[Miss Tactical]

I want to be able to help. If I can't, what's the point, really?" Hickorynose nodded, he could understand why the she-cat felt the way she did but there were other things cats could do to help besides hunt. He wriggled his nose slightly, not all cats were GREAT at hunting he knew this. He dropped down into a hunters crouch staying downwind, his tail lifted making sure it didn't touch the ground. He crawled across the forest floor carefully and stood up and gave his chest a quick lick. "The basic hunting crouch!" He mewed with a nod. "Birds and rabbits are a bit more complex, but that will get you mice, shrews and voles." He mewed. That's all she really needed to know really. Sure it would be nice to have more bird hunters but perhaps that wasn't her calling.


"Don't worry if you can't get it. Hunting isn't everyone's calling. There's fighting, helping in the camp, helping the queens, helping the elders. Some become medicine cats, every cat has their place and a role. Don't fret if yours isn't hunting. There's a lot more." He mewed trying to give the she-cat advice. It wasn't easy to find your place, especially if you weren't clan born. It was hard. Hickorynose didn't have to work as hard because he was clan born, but Harestrike on the other paw would have to prove her worth, she would be judged that was for certain. He cleared his throat before nodding. "Your time to shine will come. Go ahead give it a go." He mewed nodding towards the path he just walked across.

[bird]

| harestrike |

Harestrike watched intently as Hickorynose demonstrated the hunting crouch. She'd learned this before, having had to so that she could survive on her journey from the twolegplace to the clans. That, and she'd been practicing even before that, with mice in the city. She'd even caught a bird, once. Given, that bird had a hurt wing, but she still counted it as a good catch. Despite her learning this before, though, she'd never quite learned just how to hunt like a warrior. There was never anyone to train her to hunt with the proper form, so her hunting crouch had always been awkward, out of form.

"Alright. If I'm not cut out to be a hunter, I guess I'll just try to help out around camp!" Her voice was full of confidence again, as she'd realized that there was more than just hunting to being a warrior. Of course, she'd known that there was fighting, but she hadn't realized that helping out around the camp was an option. She would definitely prefer to be a good hunter, especially because she had to prove herself to other clan cats due to her kittypet heritage, but she at least appreciated that she had options.

Nodding at Hickorynose's command, she dropped into a hunting crouch. Obviously, her form was not the best, but it was obvious that she was trying and getting it more right than she had at first. Her tail was up, and she was staying downwind. She could smell a mouse from the trees, and she crept towards it, straying from the path. It wasn't the best prey, but having something to bring back to camp would be good, wouldn't it? Maybe that would prove that she wasn't just a dumb old kittypet. So she sneaked up on it and pounced, landing on it and killing it, albeit not the most cleanly. Emerging from the trees, she had a triumphant look on her face. "Look, I got one!"

[Miss Tactical]

Hickorynose watched the she-cat carefully making mental notes. He saw her take off into the bushes and come back with a mouse. He let out a warm purr. "See there you go." Hickorynose had never had an apprentice so he really didn't have the BEST teaching techniques or really know how to teach, but it was all about learning and if Harestrike could learn from him, he could learn from her.The mouse she caught wasn't the biggest, but New-leaf Just started and prey would plump up soon. "Shuffle your paws a bit more lightly so the mouse doesn't feel your pawsteps that was nearly perfect. Just the paws and shuffling and you have it down." Squirrels rabbits and beards required a BIT more work, but that was something Harestrike would learn in time.


"I'm not much of a fighter. See Owlstar named me Hickorynose because I'm a good hunter, if she named you Harestrike you are probably fast or a good fighter maybe even something about your claws." He mewed. Each name was unique to a cats strength or personality, surely Owlstar thought something of Harestrike to give her such name. The ginger and white tom unsheathed his claws and ran towards a tree, clawing his way to a low branch. The bird was a bit more difficult, but hunting in trees was where he was most comfortable. He picked a large leaf that had formed, it was still wet from the morning dew and placed it near his paws.

"Birds are more complicated, they will hear you, there's nothing to change that." Hickorynose tossed the leaf above his head and jumped above it shifting himself so his front paws landed first and with force. He waived his tail clearly proud of his leaf bird. "The key is the light pawsteps light a mouse, and to get as close as you can. When the bird takes off you must be quick. Don't aim AT the bird but above it when you jump, and bring it down hard. This one takes practice because birds are fast." the tom mewed. However birds were the most common type of prey at this point in time. They were coming back from the thickest parts of the forest. Once the she-cat mastered both techniques she would be bringing a lot of prey home. That would show the cats who called her out for having kitty pet roots.

[bird]

| harestrike |

Harestrike set the mouse down on the ground, estatic about having caught something. This felt like the time she'd caught that injured bird. She was full of kitlike excitement, trying her best to not show it very much but failing. Tuning in to what Hickorynose was talking about, she nodded, smiling a bit. "I'll do that next time! I can't believe I actually caught something, wow." A grin was still on her face, and it shone through as she spoke, excitement leaking through her voice. She had no expectation that she'd be the greatest hunter ever, but she knew that she would, if she tried hard enough, manage to learn a thing or two about hunting from this experience.

"I think I'm a good fighter, and I am pretty fast. Of course, I don't know warrior techniques in fighting, so I might not be the best compared to some cats in this clan, but I think I'm decent, at least!" She knew that Owlstar must have thought her worthy of becoming a warrior in some way, especially because she'd been given such an interesting name. That gave her some amount of pride in herself. Her warrior name was a sign of the fact that she was worth it, that she had made it, that she deserved to be treated just as any other clan cat would be.

She watched as Hickorynose climbed up onto the tree, curious of what he might be doing. As he showed how to catch birds, she nodded, making mental notes on what he'd say. Aim above, not at. Okay. She could do that. It wasn't too hard, she was sure, to do that. Of course, she'd need practice, but she could get that practice from going out and hunting on her own. "Thanks for all the tips! I'll definitely try to use those next time I go hunting." She was very grateful that Hickorynose had taught her all this, and she'd be sure to use it to help the clan in the best way that she possibly could.

[Miss Tactical]

"Thanks for all the tips! I'll definitely try to use those next time I go hunting." Hickorynose gave a curt nod to the she-cat. "For the record, you have no one to impress but yourself, don't let the fact you aren't clan born reflect on you." He mewed firmly. Sure there would be others who would judge her until the day she retired, there would be others, like himself, who would accept her and welcome her in as one of their own. After all being in a clan meant working together, and shunning out one person was ruining a vital part of the machine. If you went into a battle with someone you didn't trust could you really win.

"I think I'm a good fighter, and I am pretty fast. Of course, I don't know warrior techniques in fighting, so I might not be the best compared to some cats in this clan, but I think I'm decent, at least!" Hickorynose twitched his whiskers in response. Sure he was decent himself but he tried not to use his claws unless absolutely necessary then there were others who wanted to use their claws every chance they got. "Sorry but fighting isn't my strongest forte I bet you and I are on the same skill level." He mewed with a slight chuckle to follow. He looked to the sky for a moment, his ginger and white tail wrapping around his paws. "Have you been shown the borders and what not yet? I could umm show you if you would like to walk with me?" He mewed warmly.