Hunts On {open for anyone}

[elementals]

Stormrunner trotted easily through the forest. Not much was awake. The first rays of sun weren't even spilling through the trees. His tail twitched in the anticipation of the hunt. His paws sunk slightly into the damp earth underfoot. There were patches of snow dotted everywhere, some were deep, others barely a paws width. Stormrunner felt good; today was going to be a good day. He could just feel it.

His eyes scoured his surroundings, looking for any sign of prey. Stormrunner wasn't hoping for a large kill, but he also wasn't searching for a small one. A bird would be suffice in his eyes.

After a while, Stormrunner stopped and sniffed the air. Something was nearby. The hunt was on. There was another scent in the air, another RiverClan cat. He didn't know quite what to think about this. It might have been considered an intrusion, but he knew more cats could bring down a large kill, or even cause a successful hunt. Stormrunner waited for the other cat to show itself.

[Mouseyfire]

Waterpaw padded through the snow, happy than usual. More like the way he should be. Was. He sighed. skipping past a clump of snow. He shouldn't let Badger's disappearance get to him so much, it was just......he missed him so much. He snorted angrily in his head. There he was, making excuses. What do you expect? He'd been a loner, after all. Spotting a mouse, he leaped at it, catching it in his jaws before it could run. He froze, his head turned towards the cat. He'd jumped straight into Stormrunner's path. Hi he squeaked, the same tone that kits often use when they've gotten into trouble and don't want to admit it.

[elementals]

Stormrunner spied a mouse, and before the other cat could arrive, he crouched. He had been expecting the cat to appear from behind him or from around a tree, walking, or at least seeming that they knew he was in the same area. That was not the case however. An apprentice by the looks of him jumped out of no where and took his prize. Stormrunner hardened his gaze slightly, letting the apprentice know his was in the wrong.

When the apprentice turned and spoke to him, Stormrunner recognized the apprentice as Waterpaw. The cat's tone suggested he knew he had done something wrong, but didn't want to admit it so Stormrunner glared at the apprentice for a bit, not speaking. He then cocked his head to one side and spoke to Waterpaw.

"Good catch Waterpaw. However, you should have not stolen the kill from me. But as you seem the better hunter, I think that it is only appropriate that you help me catch my own kill to bring back," Stormrunner said, still slightly angry. If the apprentice refused, he would bring up a certain stolen kill at a certain apprentice's ceremony. "Hide your kill thats a good cat, and we shall go."

[Mouseyfire]

The apprentice hung his head, shame burning his pelt. Sorry, Stormrunner, he mumbled quietly, scraping dirt over his fresh-kill to hide it. Pay more attention, mousebrain! he scolded himself. Shaking his pelt, he stood up,his blue eyes sparkling. Though he didn't like the way Stormrunner acted like he was a kit, he was slightly honored that he wanted to hunt with him, an surprised that the elder warrior would still want him around after what he'd done. Heflicked his tail, as if asking the calico if they should continue the hunt, though he didn't say anything out loud.

[elementals]

When Waterpaw's tail twitch in what seemed to be anticipation, Stormrunner smiled inside. "At least he's eager. His mentor must be pretty glad to have him as an apprentice," Stormrunner thought. He nodded his head at the apprentice after he had finished covering his kill. He motioned with his head for Waterpaw to follow. Stormrunner then moved off at an easy, yet quiet trot. He was looking for something larger, something along the lines of a squirrel or magpie. Anything slightly larger would suffice; it had been his intentions all along.

After a couple metres, Stormrunner stopped to make sure Waterpaw was following. He took this time to sniff the air. Still there was nothing around.

"My minds seemed to have escaped me Waterpaw," Stormrunner said quietly. "I am wondering who your mentor is, yet I cannot seem to recal a name."

[Mousefire]

The apprentice frowned, smelling the air again. Where was all the prey?! Leafbare wasn't anywhere near (ooc: correct if wrong), so why were all the animals hiding? When he heard Stormrunner's question, he paused, trying to figure out what to say. Your mind hasn't escaped you, he said carefully, turning his head and fixing his water-blue eyes on the cat for a second. I never really got one. Splash was suppose to be my temporary mentor, but.... He looked away, unable to finish. The truth was, he wasn't even sure if Splash was still alive or not. And if he was, he certainly never said hi to him(except at his ceremony), much less ever given him a lesson. What he knew was only thanks to Snowpetal and Badger...... His heart swelling with loss, Waterpaw quickly shut off the thought, returning back to the hunt. Smelling a slight waft of grouse, he stalked towards it, waiting to see it's plump feather's come into sight.

ooc: grouse IS a bird, right?

[elementals]

{{{OOC: Yes, a grouse is a bird, and I really don't know how seasons run on this site, so I'm assuming Leafbare has just pased. I've based the prey on the Hazel Grouse (click me) as it is smaller than its cousins and lives in the kind of environment we are hunting in.}}}

Stormrunner nodded his head in understanding when Waterpaw didn't finish his sentence. It seemed to trouble the apprentice a bit so Stormrunner didn't press the matter. Even if he had, the warrior wouldn't have been able to finish his sentence; Waterpaw sniffed the air, then headed off in another direction withour even a glance at Stormrunner. He sniffed the air, slightly confused as to why the apprentice just walked off. There was grouse scent in the air.

Storm runner drooled at the scent. Now that's a good catch to bring back Stormrunner thought. However, he knew that those birds were shy and easily startled, proving to be harder kills. He had already seen Waterpaw make a mistake, as the apprentice beelined it to where the scent was coming from. Stormrunner couldn't call out to Waterpaw, as it would give away their presence, so the warrior stalked off in his own direction. He followed the apprentice, but kept a couple metres in between them, so if Waterpaw spooked the grouse, it might fly closer to him, allowing himself to catch his prey.

I'm going to have to talk to him about that when this hunt is done Stormrunner thought, as he melted into the forest, almost becoming invisible.

[Mousefire]

The second Waterpaw spotted the grouse, he crouched, getting ready to spring. But he was far too late. The grouse quickly let out an alarm call, preparing to fly away. Caught off guard, the apprentice leaped as it was taking off, his claws outstretched. The grouse faltered in the air as Waterpaw's claws hooked onto it. But he had misjudged his jump, and only snagged it's wing, plummeting to the ground empty-pawed. Mousedung! he spat, watching it flap away with it's injured wing dangling down. It would be easy to catch, except by now it was too far away to catch easily. Waterpaw lashed his angrily, before looking around to see if he could find any other prey.

[elementals]

Just as Stormrunner had expected, the apprentice did try to catch the grouse. He had kept an eye on him as the warrior had run in the direction of the grouse as well. Stormrunner knew how to stay hidden, and he expected that Waterpaw didn't know he was close, watching his actions. It occured to Stormrunner that this kit had really no idea of stealth, and how to stay hidden in the forest. It had been his mentor that had taught Stormrunner about stealth, even though he was not required to. This extra training had delayed Stormrunner from becoming a warrior, which he had been bothered by at the time. However, now the tom didn't mind at all, and looking back, he realized that his mentor had been one of the best. His mentor hadn't settled for second best, and he wouldn't let anything go or anyone interfere.

As the the tom ran parallel to Waterpaw, he realized that he had been very much like the apprentice when he was his age. Stormrunner thought about cutting Waterpaw some slack, but he also knew that no one learned through apathy, so he would teach the apprentice a lesson he wasn't going to forget. Stormrunner knew the way to do it to, as the method had been used on him by his mentor back in the day.

When they approached the prey, Stromrunner stopped. He tested the air, and was thankful that it still came towards him. However, that advantage wasn't going to help as he heard Waterpaw crash through the forest, like the untrained apprentice that he was. Stormrunner rolled his eyes, then continued on with a longer stride, so he would eat up the distance that had grown between them, but also so her could stay as quiet as possible. When Stormrunner heard the grouse call out in alarm, the warrior quickened his pace, and charged. He only just saw Waterpaw falling, but he knew he could guess, correctly, what had happened.

Moving quickly, he ran after the barely injured grouse. It was limply flying, so the apprentice probably only took out a couple feathers. However, the grouse was also flying low, struggling to gain altitude, so Water must have taken out some flight feathers. He streaked past Waterpaw in a full on sprint. The distance between hunter and prey quickly shortened, and timing his jump just right, he launched himself onto the back of the grouse, bringing it down. He tore at its back with his back claws when they had landed, and clamped his jaw around its back. When Stormrunner knew the grouse was dead, he started dragging his kill back to camp.

When the distance between Waterpaw and him had been halved, he dropped his prey suddenly, and charged at the apprentice, hissing and hardening his gaze. Stormrunner had no intentions of harming Waterpaw, but he made it seem that way. He was going to make Waterpaw learn someway, and this was what his mentor had done to him when he had done some major wrongs. All his intentions were to make Waterpaw either shrink back in submittance or to flee in fear. Either would prove that Waterpaw knew who was leader of this expedition, then Stormrunner would return for his kill, then he would walk back to camp.