pafp chasing the sun | warrior assessment

[Flycatcher]

Today is the day. Roepaw's warrior assessment.

Although he and his apprentice had spoken of this day fairly recently, he can scarcely believe the time has come for her undergo her final assessment. If she succeeded, then she would join the warriors. If she failed...it would be disappointing but there would be time for her to try again. He wakes especially early in the morning to assign patrols, making sure to let Roepaw sleep in a little longer before he went looking for her. With the patrol assignments done, he heads towards the apprentice's den.

Most of the apprentices have already left by now or are waking up, so Flycatcher doesn't feel too bad about yelling this time. "Rise and shine, Roepaw!" He chimed from the entrance of the apprentice's den. He waits a moment for her to wake up and process what is happening before he continues. "The day has finally arrived. It is time for your warrior's assessment."

Again he waits, allowing for this to seep in and for Roepaw to have her own reaction before continuing. "First, I would like you to hunt. Catch a bird for me, the larger the better. Once you have done that bring your bird to the Owl Tree and wait for me there," He told her. It sounded pretty simple but Flycatcher had more up his sleeve. "Don't worry there's more to come," Flycatcher added cryptically.

As he turned to leave, he left her with one final statement. "You'd be wise to hurry. You only have until sundown."

@. Roepaw . / open for well wishers!​

 

[ROEFLAME .]

ROEPAW — break the air to feel the fall.
She had acclimated to Flycatchers usually chipper alarm in the morning, polite enough to not disturb the other sleeping apprentices.
However, this morning she is awoken to a yell.
She jumps awake, a yawn heavy on her jaws.
"Someones energetic this morning-" She grumbles as she pokes her head out from the apprentices den before the rest of her follows groggily.
She blinks residual sleep from her eyes just as her mentor begins.
It is safe to say that before the deputy can even finish, Roepaw has snapped wide awake. "Really? You mean it?" She chimes with an eager shuffle of her paws. Hazy green optics flicker between his, unable to hold a steady gaze.
He continues on, and Roepaw nods along, taking his instructions in as carefully as the apprentice was capable of.
She hides the pang of disappointment that faintly pounds at her chest, a bird? She could do that in her sleep!-
Don’t worry, there’s more to come.
She blinks with subtle relief just as the tom turns to leave.
"Bird… okay. Big bird…" she mumbles to herself before she takes off.
It’s still fairly early in the morning, where the thin frost has just begun to melt into dew, and birds chirp as they rested talons on high oak branches.
Roepaw is quick to make her way up the ravine, but comes to a slow trot as she begins on her usual hunting route, knowing Flycatcher was more than likely somewhere in a bush nearby.
She takes in a steady exhale. She was confident in her hunting, no doubt- she wasn’t even going to think of the assessment.
Her ears perk forwards and her maw parts slightly, letting the scents of the forest wash over her tongue.
She’s only lurking about for a short while before the faint sound of fluttering wings and the rustle of twigs catches her attention.
Roepaw is silent as she traverses through the blossoming undergrowth, sticking low to the ground to conceal her warm toned pelt with the soil, rather than stand out against the bright green that surrounded her.
She peers from the camouflage of the undergrowth, where she sees the brilliant black and white of a magpie.
the bigger, the better. Flycatchers words hum in her head as she examines the bird. Magpies are usually fairly large compared to her, this one would do just fine.
Still undetected, she begins to bunch her hind quarters together. Her smaller size calling for bigger leaps.
Her tail brushes against a stray fern, and it rustles.
Shit!
The bird’s head snaps, it’s eyes now wild.
Roepaw doesn’t hesitate, she takes the leap just as her prey begins to take off.
Jaws are delicate as she grasps onto a flailing wing, determined for a clean kill she wrestles it to the ground, barely able to see the back of its neck before she sinks her fangs in. The writhing comes to and end almost instantaneously, and Roepaw is unscathed.
Taking it in her grasp as well as she could, the apprentice makes quick work of her trek to Owl Tree where Flycatcher is already waiting.
Triumphantly she places her catch at her mentors paws. "Done and done!"

//idk how this turned into a whole essay
"speech"

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[Flycatcher]

As she had guessed, during her hunt Flycatcher watched her. He could have left her to hunt unsupervised, but he actually wanted to watch her, to see how she moved and stalked her prey. He watches her long enough to see her grasp the falling magpie's wing and bring it to the ground before darting off to the Owl Tree where he awaits her arrival.

Flycatcher isn't waiting long before an ear twitches at the sound of rustling nearby. He turns his head to see Roepaw approaching, magpie grasped in her mouth. With a triumphant flourish, she sets it down in front of his paws. "Excellent catch, Roepaw," Flycatcher beams, glancing from the bird, to Roepaw, and back to the bird. "Now let's see if you can keep it." He barely leaves any time for the words to sink in before he swiftly grabs the magpie and turns and runs, with the silent hope Roepaw would follow and try and chase him down. The blue tabby sets his sights on a tree and would aim to try and climb it before Roepaw got to him.​

 

[RACCOONSTRIPE]

Raccoonstripe is waiting on his own apprentices to join him when he overhears Flycatcher discussing Roepaw's warrior assessment. His ears flick -- has it been that long already? The tawny she-cat has grown to be fierce and unafraid. She'd fought SkyClan bravely at their borders during the skirmish that had killed his niece -- and he expects she will bring that same fire to her warrior duties once she receives her name.

The tabby gives Roepaw a nod and meows, "Good luck. Break a leg, and all that. Maybe we'll save you a decent spot in the warrior's den." He flicks an ear to show he's mostly joking. She's off soon, and Raccoonstripe watches Flycatcher's expression as she trots back to camp with her catch in her jaws.

Pride, pride in the good work he's done, pride in Roepaw. Raccoonstripe's dark gaze flits to the apprentice's den again. Will Wildpaw make him proud one day? Will Moonpaw? He hears a whisper of doubt in his head, and he brushes it aside. It doesn't matter. As long as they don't make him look bad, he doesn't care.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[ROEFLAME .]

ROEPAW — break the air to feel the fall.
Raccoonstripes well wishes bring out a beam from Roepaw, her own mentors praise only feeding into her ever-growing self confidence.
Now let’s see if you can keep it.
The table flips, a surprised protest barely leaving Roepaw’s lips before her mentor is off with her catch.
She takes off after him, her shorter legs giving her a steep disadvantage in this race.
She see’s him beelining for the tree and knows she won’t beat him to it from below. She veers away from his direct line, she’d need to find higher ground, with only a few heartbeats available to assess her surroundings.
She bolts upward against a slightly risen slope, built on roots and dirt, and pushes forwards, eyes tracking the flash of muted grey against the golden brown terrain.
Her higher ground is about to be abruptly cut by a fallen log, now green and washed out grey with age and moss.
She hops on top of the log, underestimating it’s slick surface, she almost slips.
Still, she decides, she’ll utilize it.
She races down, small ivory paws seeking out any dry spots they could find for better footing.
She pounces to the ground below, barely nipping at her mentors heels when he races by.
Still behind but now much closer she is able to leap towards the tree’s trunk only a heartbeat after Flycatcher.
Muscles burn against gravity as she is suddenly vertical, his brief lessons on tree climbing are struggling to bubble up to the surface of her mind in the heat of the moment, but she perseveres, damned if she wouldn’t pass this test.
Claws delicately grasp against wedges in between bark as she pushes her hind legs upwards. Whenever Flycatcher would clamber to a branch, she’d be quick to follow, though not quite as effortlessly as he.
Hiding the urge to pant from the exercise, she’d balance herself, holding her tongue as her eyes flickered between him and her catch.
Stars, tell me he’s not going to make me try and get it on a branch. Roepaw couldn’t help but think, refusing to look down despite the branch not being too far away from the ground below.
"speech"

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