CAN'T HOLD NO GRUDGES ✦ CATCH

[DOEBLAZE]

The day's hearty drizzle is an interloper on her plans—the daybreak's mist that had greeted her, alongside @cloudypaw~ and @PRIMROSE., had given way to a cool rain just in time for them to be halfway through the territory. Her white - dipped muzzle curves into a thin line of irritation as the rain beats a quiet tune against the torn backs of her ears, but she does not turn back. Doeblaze motions with her brief tail for her apprentices to flank her as she weaves the three of them carefully between the trees, doing her best to keep them at least partially shielded beneath the fans of needles. Still, by the time she catches a prey - scent in the drizzle, her thick fur is damp and fluffy with humidity, tufts of lilac hanging in her eyes until she flicks them away.

" You two, stay down here, " she orders the pair with a soft one - eyed blink that counters her words' quick practicality. " Hunting in the rain is a valuable skill. Leaf - bare's coming up and we won't have the luxury of staying in when the weather's bad for much longer, " Doeblaze explains, flicking both ears to dislodge the fat beads of rain trickling uncomfortably down them. That settled, she nods to her apprentices and crouches, pushing herself off the ground.

Her claws lodge carefully in the damp bark of the stout pine despite its dampness, and she makes quick work of pulling herself up it, following what her nose is telling her—filtered through the mist of rain, the ozonic open - sky notes of a bird feathered over the baser smell of meat, of prey. Her haunches tug together as she pulls herself up onto a steady branch, claws curving cautiously into the rain - slicked wood as she squints into the grey drizzle. There—black feathers, a heavy bill tucked down against the rain—a crow with its broad wings folded to its side. Her eyebrows raise; second only to that colorful creature from a few sunrises ago and genuine birds of prey, this is one of the larger birds she's seen.

She takes a lungful of petrichor to clear her head; sureness in her own paws is essential when rain sluices over the bark and her paws, rendering her perch slippery. One deep exhale into the rain and she's off, darting from branch to branch, sending miniature storms of rain down with each shake of needles as she jumps—this branch to that one, then another. For once, her mind is as empty and shining as the river on a windless day, nothing but hot - blooded instinct, paws feeling like velvet beneath her as she prepares for the final leap—

—and she makes it handily, seizing the squawking bird with both paws and her fangs. It's bigger up close, bigger than she is, but her jaws close around its thick neck with a telltale crunch as its windpipe gives way satisfyingly under her teeth. The force of her limbs nearly sends her over the yawning edge—but her claws cling instinctually to the bark and she rights herself as the crow gives a last twitch. Winded and happy, she clambers down the slick trunk, the bird thumping against her white chest and dragging comically on the ground, all but dwarfing the small warrior as she pads back over to her apprentices.

" Not every hunt'll be like that, " she mrrows around the bird's neck to her apprentices ( and anyone else who happens to be around ). Adrenaline ripples powerfully through her veins, a clear and almost pleasant awareness of how many risks she'd taken to secure the large bird. Her raspy voice is tinged with amusement as she adds, " I should hope so for the sake of my pelt, at least. It's white enough already. "

OOC : —

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[cloudypaw~]

𓆝 . ° ✦Cloudypaw was perfectly content staying on the ground. He was never very good with judging how high things were, or how far away they were. Nor was he overly graceful. A potentially deadly combo high up in a tree. So really, he liked to stay down. The rain made him feel heavy and uncomfortable. His pelt was thick, even if not very long, and it felt like it took hours for him to dry. Nonetheless he followed, looking around to see if anything caught his eye. It didn't. Like usual. His slow learning was really starting to get to him. What if he was just stupid? Whatever, he could do stuff.

He watched as Doeblaze caught the crow, such skilled precision and poise. He wasn't exactly sure how she expected him to be able to do that someday. He barely wanted to get into a tree, let alone leaping through to catch a bird nearly as big as he was. He didn't think too hard about it though. "That was great!" he chirped.

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ooc Information

• ooc: —
• 

  CLOUDYPAW — HE/THEY ･ 9 MOONS ･ APPRENTICE ･ PENNED BY TWITCHTAIL

  lanky and tall light brown tabby with high white and green eyes. Big ol' himbo.

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[FIGFEATHER]

Hunkered low to the ground, Figfeather's eyes shoot upwards into the canopy as Doeblaze leapt from branch to branch. Raindrops plunge onto her face from the impact of heavy-paws, Figfeather blinks them from her eyes before resuming to watch the hunt. She finds herself impressed by the tabby's agility and control as Doeblaze secures the bird around her jaws, her claws anchoring her to the arm of the pine tree.

Figfeather rises to her paws and curls the tip of her tail, beckoning @Daisypaw to shadow her.

"Good job." She echoes Cloudypaw's praise with a smile of her own, head reared upwards to watch the tattered she-cat descend from the trunk of the tree. "I can only imagine how slippery the branches are with all this rain... I'm impressed you kept yourself hanging on the last few heartbeats of that hunt." She meows, trying to remember what such a feat felt like.

Her climbing days were long gone now, she hardly remembered what it felt like. All she recalls is the thrill and the drumming of her heart. On this rainy day Figfeather decides not to feel sorrow for her lost art, she's made do by living vicariously through warriors such as Doeblaze. When watching her she almost remembered the wind in her fur, what it felt like to soar.

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