ϟ ThunderClan ϟ The Fierce and Caring ϟ |☾ ☼ ϟ ≈ ☁| ϟ

Willowsong tilted her head, attempting to hide her amusement. "Maybe, but mice are fast. You'd have much better luck catching a bird like that than prey that can run along the ground. Not every pounce is going to be perfect prey is never going to sit still for you like a leaf will. Slamming your paw out like that was quick thinking, which is exactly what you need to hunt. Birds will take flight mid-leap, you may need to try and hook their wings, squirrels will bound away and you will have to do your best to chase them. Some prey run so fast you just have to let them go. Hunting is a game of luck and practice. Would you like to try once more before I test your scenting skills?" 

Mistpaw dipped her head, backing away until she chose to start circling Ghostscreech. She did so until she decided he might've let his guard down, flicking her whiskers as she rushed forward, leaping into the air to pounce on his back.

Pebblepaw shook his head. "I think I can practice this with Mistpaw later-- maybe we'll be able to catch something together. Is there something in particular that you'd like me to scent?"

Willowsong stood up and walked closer to her apprentice, scenting the air to see what all was nearby. She shook her head, wrapping her tail around her paws as she settled in front of him. "No, just tell me whatever prey scents you can identify in the air right now. Once you get to know our clanmates a bit better we'll work on your tracking and identifying other cats."

Willowsong smiled, "You've got a strong nose, I don't know much about herbs so I'll take your word about the dock, but the only prey you didn't mention was a squirrel that passed by here. It's scent is very faint now so I'm not surprised you missed it." She got to her paws, looking at Pebblepaw expectantly, "How about we try and go catch that blackbird together?"

Pebblepaw eagerly nodded. "Yes-- I'd like that, Willowsong."

Off of Ghostscreech's back, Mistpaw quickly rolled over to be on her paws, charging immediately forward to batter his face with sheathed claws.

Flamesky nudged Brokenwing before taking another bit of the squirrel, "Oh come on, you don't want to be crammed in a nest with me and four kits? I'm sure we'd get along just fine." he snickered quietly. "I am glad we have Squirreltail and Blizzardstorm to look to if we need any help. Not that I think we will but it'll be nice to know we're not alone in this." he mewed genuinely.

Pebblepaw nodded and crept down lo, paws steady and tail off the ground. He pulled his haunches in and then leapt forward, claws extended as her pierced the wings of the bird, half-crushing it in the process. He nipped down on its neck until it grew still. An unclean kill, but a first kill nonetheless. He dropped the bird in front of Willowsong, beaming. "My first prey!" he purred, licking blood from his claws.

Pebblepaw picked up the bird and gave her a quick nod. Mistpaw is going to be so proud of me-- and whichever member of the Clan eats this is going to be happy to have it!

Pebblepaw buried the bird as instructed and then bounced alongside of his mentor, paws full of energy.

Pebblepaw looked over the two warriors that Willowsong had named and did his best to committ them to memory. Frostmoon is the spiky-furred white one, he said to himself, with the blue eyes and black patch. Sunthroat is the older warrior... black with a golden throat. Easy enough.

Aspenfall let out a breath. Peachdapple was right, as she usually was, but it still hurt to hear. "I pray that one day my faith rivals yours." he responded. He partly wondered if Slatesight would be here for him when the day came, or if he retained his faith in StarClan at all. "You truly are one of ThunderClan's guiding lights. I'll be trusting you until I can't anymore."

Yarrowcloud sat quietly in the shade of the trees, watching the Sandy Hollow with his good eye turned towards Blizzardstorm and Silentflare. His chest fluttered, warmth in his veins as he watched his younger brother showcase the advanced move for all the apprentices. Yarrowcloud knew that he and Silentflare had never been able to be close, and it was perhaps the greatest ache in the elder's heart. Wrenflight had destroyed that chance before he died. Yarrowcloud knew that he could at least have the solace of loving his younger brother from afar.

Beyond that, watching the training session brought a rush of memory to him. It was shocking, just how much everything had changed. Lightningstar was beside him now, yet the leader's age was prevalent. Yarrowcloud wondered if any of the other cats here, besides Sunthroat, could recall a time before Lightningstar's leadership, before the devastation of Adderclan, before Yarrowcloud had been struck by a monster, and mauled by rouges until his body had given out. He remembered, he remembered it so, so well.


"Sandy Hollow! I know it's in the name, but I didn't expect it to actually be this... sandy!" Yarrowpaw scampered around the training grounds with excited paws, a whirlwind of energy coming from the new apprentice. He had waited so many moons in the nursery for this day, and it was finally here! Yarrowpaw rounded the hollow before skidding to a halt back in front of his mentor. "Lightningfur, do you think the sand was already here, or did a bunch of cats dig all this up or something?"

"I think that you've reached your limit on questions for the day." Lightningfur had scolded then, though it hardly seemed to phase the young tom. Yarrowpaw was already crouching low, a clumsy crouch enriched with his sheer willpower and drive to start learning how to fight like a true Warrior.

"I'm ready to learn how to do a Jump and Pin! I saw Brackenshade doing it, and Peachpaw said that she's going to get it on her first try!"

"Peachpaw should remember that the Jump and Pin is an advanced move, and Brackenshade was demonstrating for the older apprentices." Lightningfur reminded. "She was just allowed to watch because she's his apprentice. If either of you can pull it off now, I'd say that's a Starclan sent miracle."

"That's exactly what we are!" Yarrowpaw giggled, suddenly bolting back into a run around the hollow, before facing his mentor and dipping back into his clumsy crouch. He had a large body and paws, his entire kithood. It made him look funny when he crouched, though the tom only cared about one thing. He was going to impress Lightningfur! "So can we do the Jump and Pin? Pleeeease?"

"We can do the basic crouch, and go from there." Lightningfur decided, his voice stern, yet Yarrowpaw smiled at the hint of amusement he could hear from the young Warrior's voice.

"And then the Jump and Pin, right?"

"No."

"Aww!"


Yarrowcloud's mind burst back to the present, the memory filling him with both happiness and sadness. He looked once at Lightningstar, missing the rich colors of his pelt and the bright spark in his eyes from when he had first touched noses with him. Seeing the new apprentices watch the advanced move with such intent, the same way he and Peachdapple had watched Warriors long lost from moons ago, it was all so... striking. Impactful. He turned to look back at Blizzardstorm and Silentflare, a small bubble of humor rising in him as he felt a desire to critique their forms, just as Lightningstar once had when he had taught Yarrowcloud this move moons later in his apprenticeship. He didn't speak though, just watching the session fondly.

Willowsong nodded, pointing her tail in the direction of Sootpaw. “Just be mindful of where you’re stepping. We don’t want to disrupt Sootpaw’s chance of catching the bird by crunching on a rouge stick.”

Sootpaw had started after the bird he was tracking when Willowsong and Pebblepaw had returned, dropping into the hunting crouch Magpiewing had shown him for stalking birds. He came to a stop once he reached the place where a dove was pecking at the ground, searching for seeds. Sootpaw waited until the dove had its back turned to him before he carefully moved out from the bushes and inched closer before pouncing on it and quickly biting down on its neck, killing it quickly. Purring lightly, Sootpaw sat up with the dove in his jaws, turning to face Frostmoon and Pebblepaw. He set the bird down and said a quick thanks to StarClan for the prey.

Ghostscreech had rolled back to his paws once he had dislodged Mistpaw from his back, moving his face out of the way after she had managed to land a couple of blows on it. She adjusts quickly. That’s good. He thought to himself, analyzing her movements carefully. She certainly has potential. Ghostscreech took a quick step to the side and lashed out a paw, aiming to sweep Mistpaw’s feet out from under her.

Sunthroat gave a nod in greeting to Willowsong before he turned to the other apprentices, “Alright, anyone else find any prey scents?” He prompted.

Brokenwing laughed, giving Flamesky a nudge in return. “I certainly wouldn’t mind it, but I don’t think Squirreltail and Tawnyfur would like you taking up space in the nursery.” She purred.