In Full Bloom (Tagged)

[Heron]

It was quieter than usual. The sun was set high and the winds were blowing furiously; a clear signal that it was just after mid-day. Prey on the low side of the hill were waiting; eating, unsuspecting. They were not aware -- even after all this time -- that this was a graveyard for them, and that bigger things lurked where they could not see. A predator with incredible patience mounted herself on the top of the hill, watching the abundant meadow which the hill overlooked. Without a care, a silver-furred rabbit raced into the meadow, its nose pressed firmly against the lush grass it grazed. Every now and then it would stop to give the area a scan, and then busy itself with only twitching ears. For the predator, it was time.  The long-legged cat broke into a hurried trot, melting into a race as it leaped down into the meadow, claws ready to strike the rabbit. The rabbit, now clearly in danger, bolted for the safety of the trees. The pursuer, however, was a WhisperClan cat; one particularly great at catching rabbits. It was her favorite thing to do, for rabbits were just like she; relying on vibration rather than sound. Instead of the typical noise, this cat heard the annoying hmmm hmm ef ef hm ef in her left ear as she raced after her prey.


WhisperClan could not be outran, and with a wicked leap she bounded and outstretched her body, claws digging into the back of the rabbit. Pushed against the ground it began to struggle, but a quick bite to the neck silenced it. The cat licked her lips, admiring the size of her prey. Her chest heaved up and down, excitement flowing through her veins. Her mouth watered for it right there and then, but this was far too large to eat for herself. It would be better giving to the kits and queens. She decided at once. Blood flowing, she had trouble hearing around her, and hadn't been paying attention. When she looked up, she realized that with her rabbit chase she had scared off every single prey in the meadow. Sadly, this hunting spot would likely stay empty until the small prey began to forget what happened here.


She picked up her rabbit in her jaws and allowed the scent to fill her tongue. Her blood rush had sent her in a dizzy, and it was annoying to have to focus past the rabbit to understand what was going on. She was deaf in her left ear, and the right was anything but perfect. Thankful she was deep in clan territory, if a cat snuck up on her, it would probably be a friend and not a foe. She head back up the hill and started to make way back through the territory, limp rabbit dragging its long feet in front of her.


Word count: 483
@xblackx 

[Deleted]

Scents and sounds of the forest wafted around Stormfang. The large warrior stalked silently across the forest floor, his brow set into a stern, almost angry, position, and his large paws touching the ground with just the softest noise. Fast-paced wind rushed noisily through the leaves on the trees above, causing an eery, yet natural, sound of high pitched whistling and a low pitched roar.

Having given his attempt at hunting for the day, the golden warrior made his way to the few places were he'd buried his kill. There was no rush in his step, no eagerness to return back to camp, where he would have little to do, other than bring food to the queens, kits, and elders. While it did not bother him to aid the young and the old of his clan, and he did genuinely enjoy doing it, these greenleaf moons were prosperous and full of prey. Many other warriors - and apprentices - tasked themselves thusly each day, and Stormfang knew that the queens and elders would already be swimming in prey that they would not cram into their bellies. Often he found himself ordered by the WhisperClan deputy, Thrushleap, to take spoiled prey away from camp, so as not to taint the rest. Greenleaf was generous, to say the least. Reaching one of the two hiding places where he'd stashed his kill, he dipped his head under the low-hanging branches on a bush, flattening his large ears to avoid catching them, and began to paw the leaves and bracken away, uncovering a small vole nestled underneath.

Without notice, he heard a shuffling movement, just beyond the bush, and out of instinct, the tom crouched low and listened closely. Was it. . . a dragging motion he heard? The tabby tom concluded it could not be overly dangerous, unless what he heard was a fox or a badger, although that was unlikely, for the strong, familiar scent of WhisperClan tickled his olfactory glands. Shock struck him, very briefly, as it dawned on him that it was his apprentice's scent. Echopaw. She'd been born with deafness in her left ear, and from what Stormfang has assessed on their very few training sessions, was that her right ear was not working properly either. Training was slow, a fact that he was not fond to admit, for she had to focus much of her attention elsewhere, and often Stormfang found he was repeating himself to be sure she had heard.

Knowing that it may take her by surprise if he approached her from behind, he took a sidelong route on the right of her and stated her name, loud, hoping she would hear him, "Echopaw."

Words: 444
Tag: Heron
OOC: Would you prefer I tag you with each reply? Nice start by the way!

[Heron]

The young apprentice kept walking, her mouth watering around the plump rabbit. It took great skill for her to be able to focus on her surroundings and not think to herself as she walked alone. There were so many things running through her mind, yet they had to be halted, for a lapse in attention could cost her own life. In her own territory, she was unlikely to suffer such extremities, however. Instead, she had to watch out for other apprentices and warriors, and possibly foxes. Echopaw was a shy cat, and easily flustered. One could imagine the humiliation when one day she stumbled into a training session, having mistaken the vibrations in the air for something else. She had babbled and apologized, and it seemed as though she continued to hear the story of how she "interrupted" the other's apprentices chances at proving they were ready for their warrior ceremony (friends when you're deaf isn't easy). Bashful as she was, and polite, Echopaw had been quick to apologize. Her nose could only go so far with scent; even now, it was especially hard to focus.

So she was surprised when she heard her name as clear as she could. She turned, mouth full of rabbit, and saw at once who had been calling out to her; one of the few to understand to approach her from the right side. She shuffled closer and felt a little strange. Part of her had been avoiding her own mentor, Stormfang. Deaf as she was, she could still read expressions. And his weren't the best, especially when they were training. He had patience with her, but she felt guilty. She could tell he didn't always enjoy it. They had a few training sessions and yet Echopaw was already nine moons old; at this rate, she'd likely be initiated right into the elder den. She greeted him shyly with an ear flick, setting the large rabbit down on the ground between them. She wasn't one for talking, but instead of having him question her, she began right away: "I've been hunting." She explained. Her voice was fine; a soft voice with a bit of an effort edge, as though she was simply guessing how loud her voice should be. Speaking was always natural, her voice as close as it could be if she wasn't hard of hearing, and her mother had always helped her with her tones. She liked to speak only when she had something to say, or in the presence of less than two cats.

With the rabbit gone, she tasted his strong, WhisperClan scent and felt somewhat comforted by it. "but I'm done now, if you'd like to train..."

Word count: 450
ooc: No need, unless I don't reply for a couple of days & Oh thank you!! I quite like Echopaw.


@xblackx

[Deleted]

Stormfang's hazel eyes watched the small she-cat, while she took several seconds to assess the noise around her, and the tom was pleased when she turned his way. Before she had turned, a large rabbit dropped from her jaws onto the ground. That had been why she hadn't noticed his presence earlier. Her scent sense was strong - stronger than most - for the overcompensation where her ears failed her. but, if she had a big hunk of prey wafting straight into her nostils, well, most smells would be masked. Stormfang worried about his apprentice sometimes, although he would never admit that fact outright. but he did, nonetheless, fearing that she would walk into danger unknowingly, and her reactions would be delayed, causing her chances of injury to increase. And she liked being by herself, it seemed. He could not recall a time when Echopaw had played with other apprentices, or sparred, or even talked, for that matter. She spoke with him, but he was certain that was because she was required to, and even then, she was either skittish of him, or paying attention to something else. No matter.

He bore a wry smile when she immediately explained herself to him, as if he was going to be angry with her. Her prey suggested that she was doing well in the hunting portion of training. Maybe she was doing fairly well after all, if she could hunt on her own, now.

Nodding his head to her and flicking his tail tip in the direction of the squat bush he had buried his prey beneath, he urged her to stash hers accordingly, "Come. Hide your prey from passersby." He said, padding silently to where his was, waiting for her. "We can try our luck with a bit of swimming today." The volume of his voice was always elevated around her. He wasn't sure if he was helping, or looking like a mousebrain.

Words: 320
OOC: Hey sorry that took forever, my muse disappeared! )':

[Heron]

ooc; That's okay!

Echopaw watched her mentor sheepishly, as though he were about to scold her for being absent from camp for so long. To her mild surprise he looked rather pleased or even relieved, and she obediently picked up her rabbit. She dragged it over to where he had showed her, noticing that there was prey already stashed there. It must be his, she realized, and at once she picked her head back up and was ready to go. Her ears flicked in response to his words: swimming? She would be the first to admit that swimming was not something she was rather eager to try, and for the most part WhisperClan were not swimmers.

Just like the fast, swift skill of being able to propel herself in flight she shared their disinterest with any sort of water. She was rather shocked that there was ANY cat that could fathom getting their fur wet. The young apprentice knew all too well that cats in SunsetClan and StormClan truly enjoyed the water and had mastered it. Would she be like them? She looked at Stormfang, her expression clearly giving away her reluctance, but she said nothing. She instinctively gave her chest a nervous lick, and her tail as well twitched with anxiety. The she-cat sniffed the air as a daily check of anything unusual, but came up short. Stormfang's sweet WhisperClan scent was filling her nostrils, and she waited for him to show her the way; silently praying to StarClan that he wasn't all that great at swimming, either.

[Deleted]

The large tom watched Echopaw closely, a habit he had learned over the last three moons. She didn't speak, or make much noise, so he assessed her by observing carefully. She simply set her prey down and listened to his suggestion. While he was not a good swimmer by any means, it would do her well to at least try to learn. Very few cats of WhisperClan were any good at swimming, and there wasn't much water on their territory anyway - only small streams and ponds for drinking water. The the two would have to travel outside of WhisperClan territoy to reach the river. Perhaps he might even be able to reinforce topics about boundary lines and loner and rogue territory. It would be a good refresher.

"We will need to travel to the river for this lesson," His tail flicked subtly, "We'll need to skirt the other clan's borders." His tone was businesslike and short.

[Heron]

Echopaw eyed him skeptically, then flicked her ears up in surprise. Leave the territory? She felt a surge of excitement through her veins, but kept herself cool and compassed. Her whiskers twitched at his short, business-like response. WhisperClan was a bit away from the river, and that meant they would likely have to surpass StormClan, and through the wide fields that loners and rogues often stumbled through. She felt a small chill run through her, now. The gross rogue cats that often traveled together like clans-- except they were ruled by physical violence and blood thirst. Of course, not all of them, but Echopaw did not admire them one bit. She felt as though she and Stormfang would be fine if challenged, but her worst nightmare would be her own mentor getting into trouble because she was hard of hearing.

She nodded in response to him and flicked her tail, showing she was excited to leave the territory with him. She sniffed the air and began making way away out of Whisper territory, keeping steady pace with her mentor as to show she wasn't about to take off sprinting. Her step had some pep to it, her light fur still looking wind blown from her morning sprint chasing rabbits. She opened her jaw as she walked, inhaling the scents of the clan and prey, allowing her to taste if there were any foreign scents she should be aware of. There was, of course, nothing, but she began to wonder how heavy the scents were going to be outside of camp.

Echopaw looked at Stormfang, noticing how his build was larger than hers, and also realizing that he couldn't be that great of a swimmer. She knew he had been named for his ability to fight well, and she immediately grew sheepish at the thought that she was simply average at fighting. She had sharp claws and a long, lean body for running and hunting; fighting was more than likely to be fueled by her emotions rather than brute strength. Not many WhisperClan cats could swim very well, if at all, and so she looked at Stormfang and wondered whether or not he would be getting into the water or just coaching her. Instead of deliberating on what would happen, she decided to ask. "Do you swim well?" She wondered, clear and concise.

[Deleted]

After noting her gesture of acceptance - she was a very quiet apprentice, as opposed to others he'd had, who seemed to jabber on and on - he continued onward and feel into his usual stalking prance. Stormfang had learned her small implications of consent, upset, reluctance, joy, and several other emotions since being paired with her at her apprenticeship ceremony. The warrior had even admitted to himself that she had taught him a small thing or two about socializing - something Stormfang was horrible at.

In order to keep his mind from wandering, and in an attempt to be a better mentor, the large tom kept a peripheral eye on the slender she-cat. Smiling inwardly to himself, he observed that she was monitoring her surrounding via scent and he caught glimpse of her small jaw parting to better judge the scents of the landscape. She was learning, and while she might be a little slower than a hearing-abled cat, she did well and was persistent. In that moment Stormfang felt a rush of pride - in himself for teaching her and in her for her learning and hard-work. She was be a warrior yet.

As they continued, his mind wandering again, he thought of swimming and of his time with his own mentor. Swimming was a terrible lesson, but it must be taught nevertheless. WhisperClan cats were nine times out of ten very poor swimmers, and he grudgingly acknowledged that it was still an important aspect of training. By this time the duo had reached the edge of trees lining WhisperClan territory and would be crossing over into rogue lands. They were in the northeast corner, and it was inappropriate to travel through StormClan land. At Echopaw's question, the tome twitched his ears and said in a somewhat sheepish tone, "I'm. . . okay at swimming. Not the worst I suppose." he paused briefly, then added, "We will be passing into non-Clan land now. We should have no problems but stay on your toes regardless." There was no need for a skirmish on a simple training day.

[OOC: Wow I'm a crappy friend. Sorry Heron. . . I didn't mean to start a plot with you and then just bail. So sorry ): Do you want to have them meet a rogue kitty on the way? I have one, otherwise it can be a simple training thread. Whatever you want!]
Heron

[Heron]

[ It's okay! I understand things get busy and whatnot. You can do either one, a rogue would be cool because Echopaw's a bit afraid of rogues. but if you only want to RP one cat, we can just do a simple training thread!]

Echopaw's whiskers twitched as she listened to him. She almost laughed at his sheepish tone, but figured it would be best to play modest. After all, Whisperclan were runners, not swimmers. It was a common thing, but nothing Stormfang should feel embarrassed or bashful about. Before she could reply, she nodded as he explained that they would be leaving clan territory. The pads of her paws tingled and she willed herself to remain calm and collected. Truthfully, she had nervousness and excitement radiating through her bloodstream.

Echopaw very silently slipped onto the other side of Stormfang. She stepped closer to her mentor so that her pelt was nearly touching his, her body laying low to the floor as she walked beside him. She had now allowed her good ear, her right one, to be open against the world around them. To her immediate left, where she was deaf, Stormfang walked. It would be smarter to move this way, and the way she did so was almost instinctual. She knew that if she allowed their left side to be exposed, she would likely not realize danger if it appeared; and who wanted to get themselves and their mentor attacked on a training day? Not Echopaw.

She was quiet as she followed alongside her mentor, concentrating her mind on the area around them. Strong scents passed her tongue as her jaw hung loose, and she shivered. It was painfully clear that they were no longer protected by their clan's borders, vulnerable to being exposed. She hoped that there would be no hostile passerby's now that it was a hot, plentiful greenleaf. During leaf-fall and leafbare, perhaps they were likely to strike out of hunger and desperation. but with greenleaf, Echopaw could only hope that any cats they saw would be kind.