[ti]Private[/ti]The Fawn, The Finch & The Forest

[Storm]

Finchtuft
IvyClan | Warrior | She-Cat | 49 Moons | Heterosexual

A ball of long calico fur shifted in the early morning chill as Finchtuft stirred awake in her den.  The warrior groaned up onto her paws, her old injury aching angrily in the cold as it always did.  Her transparent whiskers twitched as she had the thought that maybe some training would take her mind off her paw.  The she-cat padded over to the apprentice den and coed as softly as her loud voice would allow, "Fawnpaw, Fawnpaw!" Her 'whisper' without doubt woke her apprentice and all of the other fine young cats, but Finchtuft wouldn't let that bother her.  She pranced a few steps away and greeted the quiet cat with a cheesy grin.  She didn't give the cat long to fully wake before she jumped right into her plans for the day.  

"SO, I'm thinking we have a go at a hunt?  Whatcha' think? Ya?"  She nodded along with her quick words and began to move before the apprentice even had a chance to respond.  Finchtuft lifted each of her big paws in turn and gave them a shake to wake up her joints, her back arched momentarily in a stretch as she spread her toes and sunk her claws into the cold beneath her paw pads for a second. "You oughta' warm up too, otherwise you'll end up with a mousebrained foot like mine is every once in a while!" She mewed, blinking expectantly at Fawnpaw.  Finchtuft wouldn't wait long for the young cat.  They had a bit of a walk ahead of them and she wanted the cat to have plenty of time to attempt bringing home some fresh kill.  

Once she thought Fawnpaw was ready Finchtuft pivoted quickly and took off with a spring in her step, "Come along..." she called back over her shoulder as she marched to the forest. 

[Dragon]

Fawnpaw lay curled in her nest she shared with her brother. Their shared nest helped keep them warm in this cold season. The only problem with sharing a nest was the other could always feel when you got up no matter how hard you tried not to wake them up. But this morning she needn't worry about trying not to wake Deerpaw up for her mentor did that for her. Fawnpaw, Fawnpaw! She groaned and her mentor's loud voice and slowly stretched in her nest. "See you later Deerpaw good luck with your training." The two siblings nuzzled each other then Fawnpaw padded out of the apprentice's den and stood before her mentor. She gave a small smile of greeting. You would think after being an apprentice for six moons she would learn to talk more but she just didn't unless she had to. But Finchtuft talked for her most of the time and that was fine.

At the mention of going hunting that morning Fawnpaws ears pricked up and she began to prance excitedly. She quickly gave a nod of her head to let her mentor know that she was happy with that decision. When Finchtuft began to warm up she did the same. Given each leg and paw a shake and stretching each limb to make sure she was nice and limber for the hunt. It was something she had learned from her new mentor.

Once they were both done with warming up Finchtuft took off and Fawnpaw quickly took off after her staying right at her side just a tail length behind so her mentor could lead the way. Fawnpaw wondered where they would be going to hunt. She hoped she managed to catch something for her clan. Food was scarce during the season of Leaf-bare and any freshkill brought back was needed and appreciated by the clan.

[Storm]

Finchtuft
IvyClan | Warrior | She-Cat | 49 Moons | Heterosexual

The she-cat picked her paws up dramatically as she crunched through the layer of snow.  Finchtuft chatted casually to Fawnpaw as they walked, carrying most of the conversation for the apprentice.  She slowed her pace as the forest grew more dense.  The calico let her maw part and she tasted the cold air for prey.  Nothing yet.  She padded along quietly now, allowing her big paws to move slowly and absorb the noise of her approach.  She wandered on with her apprentice in tow for a while before she paused to catch the smell she was searching for. 

Her ears parked to listen before she turned to Fawnpaw.  The temperature burned her throat and she blew out a breath of a hot white cloud as she spoke,  "You want to try and show me what you've learned so far?" Finchtuft mewed with her hushed tone again, "You don't have to feel too much pressure, you know prey is difficult to come by right now, but you could give it your best shot to impress your awesome mentor."  The warrior gestured with an open paw for Fawnpaw to take the lead.  Her blue eyes held on the young cat as she offered some advice, "Try to scent out any prey like I did, tell me if you notice anything." 

[Dragon]

Fawnpaw followed as quietly as she could doing her absolute best not to make a sound as she walked through the snow at her mentor's side. From time to time she would open her mouth and check for a cent when Finchtuft did. When they finally stopped and her mentor asked her to show what she had learned so far she swallowed nervously and gave a nod of her head. "Ok," She took a couple careful steps forward until she was ahead of her mentor then stopped and opened her mouth looking for any scent of prey. At the same time, her ears twitched as she listened for any sound of pray. It took her only a moment before she recognized the scent of a mouse. She turned to look at her mentor and gave her tail a silent flick towards the bush she thought the mouse might be hiding under.

Without waiting for permission she crouched down and began to slowly and as quietly as possible stalk towards the bush. As she drew closer she spotted the mouse nibbling on something what, she couldn't tell for it had it's back to her. Fawnpaw paused and held her breath she was only a cats leap away from it. The mouse still hadn't noticed her. Bringing her rear quarters she bunched her muscles and then leaped landing almost perfectly on top of the mouse in the bush. She sank her claws into its flesh and then gave a nip to its spine killing it. Now that her prey was killed she could feel several thorns from the bush prickling her skin but she ignored it as she backed up and out of it with the mouse hanging from her jaws.

[Storm]

Finchtuft
IvyClan | Warrior | She-Cat | 49 Moons | Heterosexual

The calico watched carefully, giving her apprentice a nod of approval to her recognizing the scent in the air.  The young cat didn't give Finchtuft enough time to get a warning out though. The warrior flinched as the she-cat dove into the thorns, but at least she managed to finish what she intended to do.  "Well... Uhh," She sputtered out uncertainly, "that's a clean kill."  Finchtuft congratulated her apprentice as she shuffled awkwardly into the sharp bushes.  She wasn't really sure how to comfort Fawnpaw, but she knew she needed to get the cat out of the thorns.  "Be still!" she yapped, but Fawnpaw had already started backing out to get free.  The stocky she-cat scooted back as well letting her apprentice get free.

"It's great to bring something home and all, but not at your own risk.  Next time don't rush too much, take the time to survey your surroundings.  You may even be able to determine your preys escape route if you do that too."  Her tone was firm, she really didn't know any softer way to get the information across.  The stocky feline dipped her head and started to pick any thorns free that had grabbed into Fawnpaws pelt, she hopped the quiet cat wouldn't fuss about the pricks too much then she'd have to drag her to the medicine cats den.  Honestly, Finchtuft should take her own words to heart as well though.  She was rash and quick to act on her instinct, maybe that was something she had unknowingly passed on as a mentor.  "You okay?" she mumbled through the apprentices fur as she fumbled to place one of the last thorns between her teeth.  

[Dragon]

Fawnpaw hung her head knowing she had probably disappointed her mentor by leaping into the bush as she had. She went to shake her pelt but Finchtuft told her to be still so she complied. She hung her head as Finchtuft began the lecture she knew was coming.

"It's great to bring something home and all, but not at your own risk. Next time don't rush too much, take the time to survey your surroundings. You may even be able to determine your preys escape route if you do that too."

But didn't their clan need the prey? Especially this time of year? Even if it cost her a bit of fur at least she was bringing food back right? Oh... an escape route? She hadn't thought about that... "But..." Fawnpaw whispered then looked up at Finchtuft. "What if it escaped while I tried to figure all that out?" She asked in a soft almost whisper-like voice. She felt her mentor slowly pull one thorn after another from her pelt. Every time she felt one being pulled out she winced but other than that she remained still and quiet. When her mentor asked if she was ok she gave a small nod then gave herself a good shake feeling a little better after all the thorns were out. Her pelt still stung where they had dug into her skin in a couple spots but she would be fine and didn't want to stop hunting because of some thorns.

[Storm]

Finchtuft
IvyClan | Warrior | She-Cat | 49 Moons | Heterosexual

The calico's blue eyes held on her apprentice, her ears forward to listen to the soft voice questioning her.  The she-cat gave a quick nod.  The young cat was still worried about being quick to the kill, but at least she was thinking ahead now.  "That's true, you don't want to give your prey too long to catch your scent.  Strong hunters and good warriors stalk their prey quietly and clever though.  You'll get used to checking your surroundings regularly with time, but you'll need to be extra aware until you get used to it.  Say, what if a snake was hunting the same mouse you were and you didn't even know until its venom was under your skin? What good are you to IvyClan if you go off and join StarClan early?"  Her face flashed with concern, she knew her words seemed harsh as she nitpicked on the apprentice's successful kill.

She shifted away from the constant corrections.  "Keep your head up Fawnpaw, like I said you made the kill and that's great.  Do you have any other questions or are you ready to try again?"  Without waiting for her response she dipped her head to pick up Fawnpaw's freshkill.  Her fluffy stubbed tail wiggled for the apprentice to go on ahead again.  This time she'd have to try and find the prey on her own and navigate to it.  Finchtuft was quite impressed already with her apprentice's improvements, she was curious if the cat would find success again.  

[Dragon]

Fawnpaw looked down at the ground as her mentor told her what she should and shouldn't do. Finchtuft then started talking about a snake and going to Starclan she squeaked and began to shake with fear her eyes growing wide. She whimpered softly and drew her body closer to the ground. Fawnpaw wanted to take off and run to camp and never look back. When her mentor asked for any questions she just shook her head. No, she had no questions she just wanted to leave and go back to camp. Seeing her mentor signal her forward she swallowed nervously and headed off in search of something else to bring back to camp.


(I don't appreciate the way your training my cat by scaring them to death. And she did find that mouse all by herself. I'm gonna end this thread she's a warrior now.)