Closed Thread This is on the Test

Love is just a cloudy sky as far as I can see
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Cloudflare looked fondly at Brightpaw even as he whithered away from his uncertainties. He couldn't help but see a bit of himself in the smaller tom, from his goofy exterior to just how sensitive he seemed to be inside. At least Skyeyes was a motherly and supportive she-cat who no doubt was a better dam than his own.

He aimed to give his young brother a bump on his shoulder, an affectionate gesture that he hoped would encourage. "In Green-Leaf? No way." His tail straightened slightly above his back. Chuffing thoughtfully, Cloudflare continued. "I did say rabbits before, huh? You could also find chipmunks, vole. Maybe you can even catch a bird unaware. You learn just as much from failure as you do from success."

Lowering himself, Cloudflare poised his body in a nearly perfect hunter's crouch, his stocky frame a bit bulky, but broken up by the long grass. "Tell me if you can see anything we can try and hunt."

Love is just a cloudy sky as far as I can see
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Cloudflare wore an exaugurated face of intensity, nodding with intent as Brightpaw mentioned prey not being just out in the open. It required a little more than just willing the prey into existence, but the apprentice was on the right track. Cloudflare kept to his hunter's crouch, and planned to stalk the underbrush in that same pose. Good muscle training to only move in a crawling position.

"Good instinct. There are some vole burrows near the rocks there. Let's check them out." He voiced softly. The sound of the gorge would indeed blanket the sounds the two cats would make, but it would be harder to detect sounds associated with prey. A bit of give and take, but there were other senses to rely on. It paid not to rely too havily on just one sense.

Cloudflare nodded with encouragement, giving the air a cautious sniff in case there were any unexpected guests, namely predators, but when his worries were put aside he nodded again. The only way to gain experience was to try! "You can do it, Brightpaw."

Love is just a cloudy sky as far as I can see
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A flicker of hope surged like a flame within him. Brightpaw could do it - would do it! He had every expectation, and at the same time, he understood that failure was part of learning. With the sharpness of a mentor measured with the softness of a sibling, Cloudflare watched in earnest as his pupil made his way towards the burrows with a determined scowl on his face.

Cloudflare wouldn't be idle in his teaching. This was a demonstration of more than just skill. This would be an assessment of teamwork more than anything. When all else fails you'd have to rely on your partners and clanmates. At Brightpaws approach, the older sibling slinked in the tall grass, angling his trajectory so that he'd flank the burrows on the side, each paw fall bringing him closer to the rocks and farther from the prey that Brightpaw had set his sights on.

He waited for the signal; a clear indication, a pounce, from the apprentice at the vole. While success was still in his paws, Brightpaw fumbled causing the creature to dart into the delative safety of its burrows. Cloudflare was ready to act, ears flicking to catch the scuffling of tiny pads against the earth as he roughly followed its path. It was no guarentee, but as soon as brightpaw's arm penetrated the burrow, Cloudflare jumped and landed on the vole who had escaped through a back entrance. It was the perfect set up, a fail safe measure that woudln't have been possible if Brightpaw had been out hunting alone.

With a smile, he lifted the lifeless vole in his jaws, swinging with with a purr. "An' juss like 'dat! D'eemwork! G'd job, Br'ghtpah!"

Love is just a cloudy sky as far as I can see
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The corners of his maw creased in good humor, maw purring around the shape of the lifeless creature they had managed to bring down - together. It was a shame Cloudflare hadn't any littermates growing up; he was quite taken with his half-siblings out of Skyeyes, both Brightpaw and Piperpaw and only wanted to see them glissen with success.

The vole dropped from his jaws with a soft plop into the loamy earth. "That's why you shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Brightpaw. You did well enough - those kind of mistakes, as you saw, can be out-foxed with a bit of cooperation." His gentle mentoring was sprinkled with an added purr for warm measure. He could imagine Fallkit playing with the vole's tail upon their return - and maybe he'd retell the story of its capture, as it seemed to him that it made for a heartwarming lesson.

He aimed a friendly bump against the smaller tom's shoulder as he passed, burying the small creature until a few pawfulls of dirt. "Let's see if we can find a bit more and then we can come back for this and head back. I'm sure Brightmaple, Emberback, and Barleyswipe are starting to build up their appetites."