NOISE IN MY HEAD [✦] stumble

[Bluepool]

It is a normal day, a normal hunting patrol. Most of it had been successful, Bluepool herself boasted a pretty good catch. It wasn't a rabbit, but the thrush she had left buried back a ways to retrieve later was still plenty plump. It would make a good meal for someone. Still, Bluepool is nothing if not ambitious and she's determined to catch one of their bigger prey items to bring back with her. That's why when a rabbit darts out of it's burrow she is quick to break out into a chase shouting "I got it!" to the rest of the patrol as she takes off, her tattered tail streaming behind her like a banner as she streaks across the moors.

She wills herself to run faster, to consume the ground under her hungry paws and catch up to her prey before it gets to a burrow or tunnel. She gains ground quickly, coming up on the creature that is desperate to get away from her. When she draws nearer she pounces, or at least she thinks she does. Her back foot catches a particularly large rock and instead of sailing through the air she lands flat on her face, dust making a cloud around her and settling into her fur. As she pushes herself to her paws with a soft groan she sees the rabbit dart into a tunnel, out of her grasp. "Hare-dung!" she curses, her tone venomous as she spits on the ground and turns away from her failed catch to head sullenly back to her patrol.

if anyone would try to meet her eyes they would find her looking away, embarrassed.

// finally getting around to my prompt!!
apprentice tag : @Juniperpaw

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[Badgermoon]

It wasn't like Bluepool to avert her gaze - but, then, it wasn't like Bluepool to make a mistake, either. Badgermoon had watched her fly across the sun-soaked earth out of the corner of his eye whilst pursuing a mouse's scent-trail, only to stop and turn in alarm as the lead warrior stumbled on a rock and landed with a thump. He paused, wondering if he should trot over and check to ensure her safety, only to think better of it: he scented no blood and the greatest injury seemed to be to her pride. The deputy waited for the dust to settle - literally and metaphorically - before meandering towards the dark-striped she-cat, his white-tipped ears flicking backwards. "Have I ever told you about the time that I got stuck in a gorse-bush?" he inquired in as casual a tone as he could muster, suppressing a sigh of mock sorrow. "A terrible sight, it was."​

 

[Juniperpaw]

If Bluepool were Juniperpaw's peer rather than his mentor, he might've laughed aloud at the sight of her glorious tumble. The instinct is there, mirth bubbling in his chest, but he wisely clamps his mouth shut. Instead, he tasks himself with picking apart everything that happened so that he might improve his hunting skills later. Aside from the stumble over a pesky rock, the lead warrior's technique was flawless, so Juniperpaw makes a mental note to be mindful of the obstacles between himself and his prey. It's one thing to stalk prey unnoticed, it's another to catch it without falling on your face. "How'd you get stuck in a bush?" Juniperpaw asked the deputy, taking the opportunity to catch his breath after nearly missing his own catch. That stupid little mouse had narrowly evaded his claws. He tries not to think about his failure because he doesn't want to ruin his good mood, but he's starting to get frustrated that he isn't as good at hunting as he is at sparring.​

 

[RATTLEHEART]

He hears Bluepool and the rabbit before he ever sees them. Generally the tunnels were far enough down that it was difficult to hear too much of what was going on above, but the steady thumping of both a rabbit frantically fleeing and Bluepool pursuing it was enough to make Rattleheart raise his head. He was expecting an abrupt stop to both when Bluepool pounced, but instead there was a sudden thud, and a silence only broken by the rabbit darting down into the tunnels. The tunneler himself wasn't fast enough to grab it, so caught off guard that his jaws closed on empty air as it went darting past him, further into the winding depths behind him. It was enough to draw a sigh from him, hoping one of the others would be able to grab it.

With his own opportunity lost, Rattleheart's curiosity drove him up and out of the tunnels, pulling himself out onto the moors and shaking dirt from his pelt. He glanced around briefly before he spotted Bluepool, unharmed save for the obvious damage to her pride. The tom may not have seen the whole incident, but he knew Bluepool was a skilled enough hunter that something had to have gone wrong for her not to grab it before it disappeared. He cleared his throat before approaching the patrol, offering the she-cat a sympathetic smile as he shook more dirt from his pelt. "When I had first joined Windclan, I would get caught in smaller tunnels all the time because I couldn't judge the size of things very accurately. Lost me a lot of good prey." Those had been some embarrassing days, often having to ask Scorchstreak for help whenever he found himself stuck.

His smile didn't falter as he admitted, sheepishly, "Rabbit managed to dart all the way past me, too." A shame, considering how good it had looked. Maybe he could venture down again and find it later, just to make sure more mouths were fed.
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[ PENNED BY EO ]​

 

[Periwinklebreeze.]

❀​❀ I FEEL SCARED AND I'M STARTING TO SINK ❀❀​
periwinklebreeze | 12 months | demi-boy | he/they | physically medium (pacifist) | mentally easy | attack in bold #ccccff

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its a strange sight, seeing bluepool stumble and miss her catch like that - a sight that makes her seem more human for one thing. Like a living breathing thing, not some perfect statue. Its strange, seeing his former mentor shy away, but he feels no shame or embarrassment, has no judgement - she'd certainly seen him do much worse. Bdgermoon mentions time spent tangled in a bush, and rattleheart a tunnel - so he can't help but join in, a pitiful attempt to cheer her up. "G-g-g-gorse? Hng... c-can't be worse than th-that t-time I g-g-got stuck in the mud," that had certainly not been his best nor brightest moment. Having to be rescued by his clanmates had been embarrassing.

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[Badgermoon]

It was unclear whether or not their stories of their own mishaps were helping soften the blow to Bluepool's pride; regardless, though, Badgermoon was enjoying the conversation and the break from exerting himself under the hot sun. The son of Juniperfrost - Juniper the second, perhaps? - asked about The Gorse Incident, and the deputy grimaced, though his expression was good-natured. "Well, you see...I was quite hungry, and there was this fantastically plump-looking blackbird. Now, usually, I don't go in much for birds, but I could just tell that this one would be nice and juicy, and it was so close...it seemed very distracted, pecking at the ground and whatnot. It was on a rock just next to this big gorse bush, but I could for sure I could clear it, all I needed to do was jump and the bird was mine." a rueful smile twisted Badgermoon's face. "Well, I jumped, but I misjudged the distance quite spectacularly...fell right into the gorse, pinned my leg against the rock...my fur got all twisted..."

He shuddered slightly at the memory of prickly thorns nipping at his flesh and tugging on his pelt. "Suffice it to say, I didn't get the blackbird." he fell silent and listened to Rattleheart's confession about getting stuck in the tunnels, lashing his inky tail a few times in a gesture of sympathy. "I can't imagine getting stuck in the tunnels. Sounds absolutely awful." then again, the prospect of spending any time in the tunnels was pretty awful, too. Periwinklebreeze brought up the time he had been stuck in a mud-puddle and Badgermoon chuckled, nodding as the memory washed over him. "I dunno...it was such a rainy newleaf, it's hard to blame you for getting trapped in the mud. I chose to jump into the bush." his golden eyes flicked over to Juniperpaw and with a nod, he declared: "The moral of these stories, then, are that everyone makes mistakes. It's okay, and it doesn't mean you can't be an excellent warrior." if that message was intended entirely for the apprentice or not, well...he wouldn't comment on it.​