Hunting

[Dragon]

Snowpaw jumped onto the rock face to get a good view of the surrounding area. It has been a month, but he still had yet to gain the proper mentor. The Clan has been short of cats for some time, so he wasn't mad about it.

He heard a scratching noise nearby and perked up his ears to listen closer. The scent of vole reached his nostrils. Silently he crept across the rock face till he saw the vole in view.

Then he pounced, giving the vole the death blow. The Clan could use the vole back at the camp, but he would need to hunt some more here in the mountains before he was done.

[karoia]

"Good job!" Came a cheerful voice from a short distance away.

Graypatch was standing on a ledge just a tail length above Snowpaw. His green eyes were bright with pleasure from watching the apprentice capture the prey so easily. It was too bad Rainstar felt Graystripe was not quite ready for an apprentice, even with the shortage of Clan members.

"Keep that up and you'll become a Warrior without a mentor!" Graypatch joked. He oftened joked, and he was known for being a little too laid-back at times and somewhat lazy, but he did what he had to for the Clan and was as loyal as any other cat.

The gray and white cat leapt off the cliff ledge casually. It was natural to be jumping around the mountains without hardly any care. He had been roaming this huge rock since he was a kit, so his home was easy to explore of course.

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[Dragon]

Snowpaw turned towards the voice to see Graypatch and purred at his complement. He dropped the vole on the ground and lifted his tail in greeting to the warrior.

"Maybe I will be a warrior before I have a mentor," Snowpaw said, "I'm going to be the best hunter for the Clan." He pounced on the dead vole and almost knocked it off the cliff. Snowpaw brushed at his hyperiness that almost caused him to lose his prey.

[karoia]

Graypatch laughed, "As good as you may be as an apprentice, it's not proper to become a Warrior without proper training from a mentor. They will have a lot to teach you, and it will make you an ever better hunter!"

Graypatch watched the prey almost slip off the mountainside, but said nothing. He was rather laid back with younger cats and didn't feel the need to scold them over such things. Most cats in MountainClan were that way. Not like the other Clans he had met at Gatherings... thank StarClan they usually left the mountains alone to bicker amongst themselves. MountainClan disliked conflict, and Graypatch epecially. That was why he loved his isolated mountain home so much.

[/size]

[Dragon]

Snowpaw looked down at his paws since he couldn't look at the warrior. "I guess, why do you think it's taking so long to give me a mentor?" he asked.

Snowpaw felt calm up on the cliff so high up like all the Mountain Clan cats do. The wind was nice here to him, even if it was leaf bare. Sometimes he wondered even how the other Clans live without the mountains, but he knew that every cat was different.

[karoia]

Graypatch smiled at the apprentice, "Rainstar is a bit stressed about our current numbers and situation. She has to make sure there is a Warrior suitable enough to mentor you. She is busy..."

Graypatch trailed off. He wasn't really sure if there were any other reasons. He remembered the days when apprentices were given mentors right away. It wasn't the same now with Rainstar. Graypatch didn't have anything against the Leader, for she led very well. It was just, sometimes she seemed to ignore the general Warrior Code. Or maybe it was just him.

Of course he wouldn't voice those thoughts outloud. He didn't even tell Brighteyes, his sister, what he thought about Rainstar. It was not worth the risk of falsely becoming known as a traitor.

[/size]

[Dragon]

Snowpaw gave him a glance in understanding. "I guess so... I wonder why we are short of cats now, before I was born we had so many from the stories the elders told me," Snowpaw said.

He trusted Rainstar to give him a mentor soon, but he didn't want to wait too long. Snowpaw wanted to do his best for his clan and now they needed more warriors than ever.

"I guess I should hunt some more," Snowpaw said.

[karoia]

Graypatch looked away momentarily. The numbers of MountainClan were very small compared to before, and part of it was because of harsh weather and whatnot... but the real reason was unknown to most of the younger cats. Even younger Warriors.

"It happens, unfortunately." Graypatch said. He brightened up afterwards, not wanting to dwell on the past. "Anyway yes, you should hunt! I can accompany you, if you don't mind an old cat like me hanging around."

[/size]

[Dragon]

"I don't mind for an old elder like you to hunt with me," Snowpaw joked. He jumped down from the cliff and made his way over to another cliff nearby in search of more prey. The scents were weak even with the wind coming towards him.

[karoia]

Graypatch laughed at the apprentice, "Old elder like me? You better start respecting me more, then!" He joked back. The larger tom started forward, scenting the air with a rosey pink nose.

"Hmm." He frowned, "Worse than usual. This is usually a good spot with all the cracks and crevices for prey to hide in..." Graypatch looked around. "It's as if they were scared off the mountains!"

[/size]

[» &Göldιê™; «]

<sub>The wind whipped around the outside of the crevice the small golden tabby crouched in. She shivered a little, but she had been living in the mountains for quite a while and knew herself better than to think she was overly cold. But that was just the point; she had lived alone since she was small, and since her father, Silvermoon, had been murdered, her teachings had been cut off short. He called her his Goldkit, so the name sort of stuck. She knew as well as anyone would that if she were in a clan, she would be the right age for a mentor, but she didn't have a clan. Goldkit was all alone.

Her ears twitched when she heard the vocals of other cats rising above the normal low sound of the wind whipping across the crevice's surface. She felt nervous about other cats; she had become somewhat antisocial since she had lived alone so long. But her outgoing nature got the better of her instincts, and she exited the small crevice, following her nose to tell her where the other cats had been. She stepped lightly and tried to make sure they didn't hear her before she was ready to be heard, but remaining undetected, unfortunately, was harder than would be expected.

She was standing upwind of the two, so of course, she knew, they would have scented her. She crept low towards then, not in a hunter's crouch, just cautiously, keeping her center of gravity low to the ground. When she got within earshot of the two, she heard the last of a sentence. "Scared off the mountains!" She was very curious. "I-I'm Goldkit," She said, unused to even hearing her own voice.</sub>

[karoia]

Graypatch paused and turned around instantly. He saw the small cat who looked about the same age as Snowpaw and eyed her with confusion.

"Goldkit?" The tom questioned, tilting his head, "Who exactly are you? I mean, I realize your name but... how did you get a Clan name?"

[/size]

[» &Göldιê™; «]

_{"Um..." Goldkit stared blankly for a moment. "My father was Silvermoon... He named me..." She trailed off, struggling to remember. She didn't think about her past much. "I don't know exactly. I think he used to be in a clan." The wind whipped around her, and she twitched her ears as the wind seemed to tickle the fur at the end of them. She groomed herself nervously.}

[karoia]

Graypatch thought for a moment. Silvermoon? Why did that sound familiar?

"Why are you up here on these moutains?" Graypatch asked, changing the subject. "It's dangerous here if you don't know what you're doing." He warned, taking a few slow steps towards the golden coloured she-cat.

[/size]

[» &Göldιê™; «]

_{Goldkit stayed put. "I'm... not the evil kind of loner, I just don't have a home." She sat up and looked down at her paws sadly. "I'm lucky to have caught enough food to keep myself alive. It's very cold up here, and I should know, because I was born here." She fervently licked a paw, and stopped herself. If I don't quit grooming out of nervousness I'm going to groom off all of my pelt! She chided herself.}