Taigaclan - The Hardy and Brave (closed down)

"Borage, Dock and, was it Yarrow? No that can't be right" Finchpaw muttered "Aha!" he exclaimed "Chervil, that's the last one" he said confidently, giving himself a few confident chest licks.

Shadowheart nodded at Finchpaws response, “good! I should’ve had you go through the medicine cabinet and determine what we need but here we are,” he mewed and continued to lead the apprentice away from the camp. “Although you know we don’t need to harvest as much of the ones closest to camp and do you remember why?” He asked Finchpaw and glanced over to him waiting for his response.

Fallingsky looked down at Sunpaw, listening to her apology. Ever since he had kits he had become soft towards kits and apprentices. They wouldn’t have forever to play with each other, so it didn’t both Fallingsky as much as it use to. “Don’t worry, your right on time,” he mewed and led the way out of camp. “Since we didn’t succeed so much on our hunting yesterday,” he paused and let out a small sigh, “we should probably hunt, it’ll be good practice for you too. Let’s head to the pine grove.” He mewed and let the way to the Pine Grove, it was a good place to hunt and they would be away from the spot from the day before.

Fallingsky smiled at Sunpaws enthusiasm, when he was an apprentice he was a lot like her. “It’s actually mine too,” he mewed to her. They approached the pine grove and he took a deep breath of the fresh air, it was good to be out finally hunting for the clan. He didn’t say a word to her and began to trot into the brush free area, crouching down so he didn’t scare any of the prey away. He decided he would check how Sunpaw was doing after he caught two pieces of prey, it would be a surprise rather than warning her like he usually does.

Sunpaw smiled when he agreed with her, glad that her opinions weren't considered odd to the older tom. She eagerly disappeared amongst the pine needles and fir trees, her mottled pelt blending with the amber hues of the dried ground beneath her. She wanted to make her mentor proud, as well as her father. The she-cat managed to catch a mouse and vole with ease, the soft ground making them easy to sneak up on. Despite her success though, she felt disappointed in their size. Unlike the plump prey she recalled from her kithood and early days of her apprenticeship, they were scrawny, all fur and bones. The feeling of them in her mouth was an unpleasant sensation that made her shudder, but the smell caused her stomach to eagerly twist and turn, begging for a bite. She fought against such urges, and buried her prey beneath the earth for later. She had promised Hareleap a great piece of prey, but she feared that she may have to break that promise. She returned to hunting, scenting another vole nearby, hoping that this one would make her previous worries be forgotten.

Darkcloud glanced to Spottedtail when Bramblepaw reacted, a mix of amusement from his apprentice's shyness and concern. He wanted Bramblepaw to become a fine, confident warrior, but she seemed to be struggling; he couldn't help but worry that she was reacting to his own anxieties. However, when the apprentice smiled, he felt his worries melt away. "Prey may be scarce right now, still hiding from the cold, so just try your best." He told her. He was sure that hungry mice and shrews would be searching for grains among the dried grass, perhaps a hare or two, but if they found nothing, he would not be surprised. "We will circle around the tundra and back up along the river. So do not lose hope, just remember what you were taught." He added gently, nodding his head to give the youngest of their group permission to start hunting. He glanced to Spottedtail, "I'm sure that we will find something, prey is probably just as hungry as we are." He purred with forced enthusiasm, trying his best to emulate Redstar.

"Er" Finchpaw said pawing at the ground "No" he said, averting his eyes he pawed at the ground, ashamed that he had forgotten

Bramblepaw nodded determinedly, hoping she could show the two cats that she had paid good attention during the hunting lessons from Darkcloud. Her amber eyes quickly scanned their surroundings and once her mentor gave her permission to go she parted from the patrol. Even though prey might be scarse right now, she had high hopes of finding a rodent in the dried grass. With her nose in the air and her ears perked up she was alert to any sound or smell coming from her next possible victim. Her fur didn't blend in as well in the golden grass; unlike her siblings'. However, it didn't make her stand out as much either with her dark stripes. Besides, she'd had succes hunting here before. She tried to push her doubts to the back of her mind while she stalked further along the tundra.

Fallingsky stalked through the forest and quickly noticed a plump gray squirrel, excitement rushing through him. It was the plumpest squirrel he was seen this season, but he ignored the excitement so he wouldn’t lose the squirrel. He kept stalking forward, waiting for a good time to pounce. Once he did pounce and grab onto the squirrel he made the killing bite, he caught his breath and picked up the squirrel. He trotted over to the bush he had been putting his prey, he set it down and decided to check on Sunpaw. He padded through the forest and noticed her stalking, he stopped walking and decided to watch her.

Shadowheart shook his head at Finchpaw, “oh Finchpaw, when in doubt think it out.” He mewed and kept trotting through the forest. “If the herbs are closest to camp, that means they are easy to get to, correct? So for example, if a cat got hurt and needed chervil, you could easily run out of the camp and collect some and be back to the injured cat in a no time. Whereas herbs that are further away and harder to collect, those are the herbs that need to be collected more.” He mewed sternly to the apprentice, he hadn’t been listening the past few training sessions and Shadowheart was growing impatient. “Now, where do we find thyme?” He mewed and glanced over to the apprentice with a serious face, waiting for his answer. Since they were headed for the Pine Grove he hoped the apprentice would give him the answer he expected.

Taking each step quietly, trying to make not a sound, or stir a single blade of dried grass, Sunpaw continued to inch closer and closer to the vole she spotted. The small creature was so close that the scent of it was making her mouth water, though she was unable to fully see if it was as plump as she hoped it was. She took a deep breath, finally able to move herself close enough to pounce. Tensing up her hindlegs, she made one powerful leap toward the creature, striking it down before giving it a killing bite. She felt her legs tremble, she had been so close to losing the vole, one wrong move and she could have ruined the hunt for both herself and her mentor. The vole was still small and stringy but better than nothing.

(I like that, if you want, Finchpaw could come across her and they would find the sign together, I wanna amp up his anxiety)

(Aight i'll rp Finchpaw seeing her, and going to help, if that's good with Dawnmist and Bumbleking of course)

(Yes, but I was going to have Finchpaw walk off to clear his head)

(Haha, that's ok)

Shadowheart nodded proudly, “yes, good answer.” He mewed as they approached closer to the pine grove. He looked over to the apprentice, “so we should find thyme and what else?” He asked him curiously, there was no way the apprentice could forget about the blackberry bushes that only grow here at the pine grove.

Fallingsky watched Sunpaw closely, she nailed each and every hunting move and nailed her hunting strategy. Once she made the kill he trotted out from behind the trees, “great catch! Your hunting is good, maybe we should do some battle training soon,” he suggested to her. She was becoming a fine hunter, and now she would need to perfect her battle techniques.

Shadowheart put his paw on his apprentices shoulder and gave him a hopeful smile, “the fact that your so worried about not messing up, shows how much you care.” He mewed and the gave him a stern look, “never doubt yourself,” he added before trotting forward. He stopped in front of a black berry bush and waited for Finchpaw to come close. “Now, we’ll start with blackberries and talk about death berries later. Blackberries well, are black as you can see.” He mewed and touched one of the blackberries and looking back to Finchpaw, “they’re not berries all year long, actually we don’t even use the berries, we use the leaves for bee stings.” He mewed gently and stepped away from the plant. “There’s a lot to learn Finchpaw, you don’t have time to doubt yourself.”