Waterless Hunting (Aspenfur/Minnowpaw)

Though she’d never admit it out loud, Minnowpaw was grateful that Aspenfur had slowed down enough so that she could keep up without half-running the way she had been when they left camp.

She eyed the field suspiciously as she followed her mentor. The apprentice recalled someone saying that twolegs sometimes came by, but she couldn’t see or scent any, and she trusted the warrior to not lead her into danger intentionally. Still, there was that thrill of excitement, of being in a place she rarely ventured, tickling her stomach. If there was one thing Minnowpaw couldn’t possible turn down, it was an adventure.

“What do you scent? And how would you track it?” Aspenfur’s voice broke into her thoughts, and she blinked, remembering the task at hand. With her paws planted firmly on the ground next to where her mentor stood, silver tabby raised her dark pink nose into the air with an almost regal air about her, as if showing off. Not that she didn’t appreciate the attention.

At first she couldn’t scent anything, but Minnowpaw wasn’t going to say that. Instead she wrinkled her nose, as if that would help her pick out the scents that Aspenfur wanted her to find. A slight breeze blew and Minnowpaw felt flooded with relief- she picked up one or two scents, and that was plenty enough for her.

“Um, I smell… Mouse? Yeah, mouse.” She said, quick correcting her tone. Her jaws parted slightly. “And I think I would… “ Great StarClan, Minnowpaw hated being so uncertain. “I would… stay low, so it doesn’t see me?” She offered, biting down on her tongue as soon as the statement had left her mouth.

Minnowpaw nodded at her mentor’s words. Yes, that made perfect sense. She made a mental note to take size of prey into account- crouch when they’re tall, prowl when they’re short. She vaguely wondered if the same could be applied to battling; after all, there were some big cats out there. But this wasn’t battle training, it was hunting training.

She shook her head, bringing herself back to reality, and stared at Aspenfur’s form as the she-cat demonstrated stalking. Low shoulders, light steps, tail above the grass. It seemed easy enough, Minnowpaw thought to herself. She just had to keep quiet enough to actually catch a mouse.

“Like this?” She said, quickly mimicking the pose her mentor had just been holding heartbeats ago. Low shoulders, high tail, nose low to the ground- the only thing that was uncomfortable was the grass tickling her stomach, and the apprentice grit her sharp teeth in an attempt to ignore it. Cautiously, she tried taking a few steps forward. The first was a little too heavy and the grass rustled under her paw noisily; her eyes narrowed with concentration. The second was a bit quieter. “I wonder if WindClan cats are super quiet,” she thought aloud, “Since their whole territory is nothing but grass. Or do they not hunt mice?” Oops, she was supposed to be keeping quiet. Minnowpaw’s tail flicked in annoyance as she mentally berated herself. This was going to be harder than she initially thought.

Minnowpaw’s ears swiveled to catch Aspenfur’s words; the apprentice didn’t want to move from her stalking position. She was going to get this right, for StarClan’s sake. She wasn’t going to let some lousy mouse beat her, no matter what!

Her expression grew serious as she concentrated. Hips and like ShadowClan, she thought, feeling her mentor’s long tail brush her. She widened her stance slightly, leaning forward more. Minnowpaw rocked back and forth on her paws, feeling out the weight distribution: it felt pretty even.

With a triumphant grin and her ears pulled back, she took another few steps forward. The grass still rustled, but quieter now. She wasn’t as good as Aspenfur, nor did she except to be, but Minnowpaw was still pretty happy with her small success. Maybe now the warrior would let her go hunt some real mice; she wanted to be able to catch at least one to show her mother.

But before she could ask, another question arose in her mind. “If mice can feel my pawsteps, should I pounce on them? Like this.” Minnowpaw pushed off with her powerful hind legs, landing a couple of tail-lengths away. Swimming in the river had toned her legs, and she was now quickly realizing the advantages that held. The silver she-cat spun back around to face her mentor, tail waving in the air happily. “How was that?” She remembered to whisper this time, lest she scare all the mice in the field away. Minnowpaw would be annoyed if that happened; then she wouldn’t be able to practice her new technique on real prey.

Minnowpaw held her head high as Aspenfur praised her. Once more she was reminded of what a great mentor she had; she’d be sure to brag about what a great training session she had when they returned to the camp. Even better, she’d have the prey to prove it… If all went well.

“…watch out for snakes. They like to hunt mice as much as we do,” Aspenfur reminded her. Minnowpaw nodded. In her mind she was confident that she could take on a snake in a flurry of claws and teeth, but in her heart she worried about being bitten, and in the end she decided it would be best to avoid them if at all possible.

“You watch out for snakes too,” Minnowpaw said, trying to regain some confidence, puffing her chest up. C’mon, she told herself silently, you can do this. With that last thought in mind, the tabby she-cat pushed her way through the taller grass, and Aspenfur disappeared behind her. At least, Minnowpaw figured she disappeared. After all, the warrior said she’d be watching.

She briefly caught the scent of a mouse and her head whipped in the direction it came from, to her left. Minnowpaw dropped into a stalk and crept forward, eyes trained on the rodent just a couple of fox lengths away. Her claws unsheathed, the pointed tips digging into the earth slightly with every step. She was only a few tail lengths away now; Minnowpaw stopped, preparing herself to leap. Just a few more heartbeats and…

Mouse dung! She thought, as the mouse took off. The apprentice leapt after it but missed, and her would-have prey disappeared into a hole in the ground. Minnowpaw had to bite on her tongue to keep herself from yelling at herself. Keep your head, her mother used to scold her when she was a kit, and she went over the familiar saying in her mind until she was a little more calm. So she missed her first catch; not a huge deal. She’d find another mouse.

This time the she-cat slunk around until she finally came across another scent trail. This mouse was closer, and better yet, she was downwind from it. Rocking forward so that her weight was even again, Minnowpaw pounced on the mouse, catching its fur with her claws. Instinct made her bite down on its throat, and her brown-furred prey went limp. “At this rate, they’ll be calling me Minnowleap,” she whispered to herself proudly. Minnowpaw hoped her mentor was watching; though she couldn’t see the she-cat.

Minnowpaw whipped around when she heard her mentor’s voice, but there was nothing but tall grass to be found in any direction. Her long tail waved back and forth behind her. There were two possibilities: Either her mentor was playing a game with her, or she was trying to distract her from her hunting. But Aspenfur didn’t seem the kind to do the latter; at least, Minnowpaw certainly hoped not. But there was one way to find out.

Her hazel eyes scanned the area as she turned in a circle where she stood. There wasn’t even a rustle of grass to give Minnowpaw as a clue to where the older warrior was hiding. The apprentice’s dark nose twitched as she scented the air. She could smell RiverClan, the familiar scents of camp, close by, but she couldn’t tell in which direction.

“How about Minnowstream, then?” She half called, turning in place once more. If her mentor responded, that would give her the clue she needed to find the warrior. It was a good thing this wasn’t her assessment, Minnowpaw thought to herself.

She padded forward a few paces, figuring that the sound of voices would have scared off all the mice. But no- she just caught a whiff of the rodent. Minnowpaw’s body lowered as she crept closer. She could forego her mentor’s game for a mouse, if just for a few heartbeats. Aspenfur would understand.

The silver tabby pushed through the grass and came nose to nose with the mouse in question. Its brown form quivered and squeaked almost comically before it tried to scurry away in the opposite direction. The she-cat’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh no you don’t!” Minnowpaw leapt without hesitation, barely catching it with her claws. She silenced it quickly before sitting up, proud that she hadn’t let this one escape like the first. Now, back to finding her mentor… Her ears swiveled, taking in the sounds around her. She couldn’t stay silent forever!

“Hey!”

Minnowpaw whipped around once more searching for her mentor. All thoughts of catching more mice vanished as she swiped back at the tall grass with no result. It was nearly sunhigh anyway, and she had caught a couple pieces of prey; it was better than none at all. All right, Minnowpaw thought to herself, where to begin? Aspenfur never responded to her earlier inquiry, so that option was out. Time to devise a new plan. The apprentice concentrated. She could always come up with new ideas for exploring and adventuring, so why not a strategy? It was the same principles, right?

What do warriors in battle do…? Scent usually helped, but Aspenfur was from the same clan and that made that harder to pick out on their own territory. Minnowpaw’s ears were already swiveling back and forth, gathering as much sound as they could, once again with little progress.

Maybe she could take a chance by leaping randomly into the grass; if she got close, she’d hear the warrior moving away. The silver she-cat was prepared to pounce on a particularly dense patch of grass when she stopped. The apprentice realized that she was at the disadvantage; the grass was level with her hazel eyes. But if she back tracked to where the grass was shorter, she’d be able to see her mentor. Great StarClan, why did it take her so long to think of that?

 Minnowpaw sprinted for the shorter grass and, upon reaching it, spun quickly. “I’m not retreating!” She called back to the field, determined not to look cowardly in the slightest. She puffed her chest up for emphasis on that point. “I know you’re in there, Aspenfur!” Somewhere, she added to herself silently, but she wasn't about to let her mentor know of her uncertainty.

Minnowpaw’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the grass, looking for any hint of the warrior. “Come on, I know you’re in there!” She muttered under her breath, slightly frustrated with herself. If this didn’t work out the way she planned… Well, she was running out of ideas quickly. Her tail flicked back and forth and her paws kneaded the soft ground impatiently. Why was it so hard to find one single cat?

The apprentice was about to venture back into the grass and resume her previous plan- a plan she didn’t have much faith in to begin with-  when movement on the right side of the field caught her eye. Grey ears and tail tip poking out of the grass… That was her mentor! With a wide grin on her face, she bounded through the grass towards the spot where she had spotted Aspenfur. “I saw you Aspenfur!” Minnowpaw called with just a hint of laughter in her voice. She’d find the warrior for sure now!

 Her sleek form parted the grass as she padded through, wondering if she’d be able to find her prey in all the dense brush. But the apprentice half shrugged to herself. It ought to smell like mouse, just more like the ones in the fresh-kill pile and not running away. Besides, Aspenfur said she was going to be watching, so Minnowpaw knew the older she-cat would be able to help her as well.

Her nose twitched. The scent of RiverClan was stronger now, and Minnowpaw refocused on the task at hand. “C’mon, Aspenfur, I know you’re here somewhere,” she said to herself, waiting for the warrior to reveal herself. The short she-cat felt like she had been wandering in circles, which wasn't surprising in the least.