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Post by Twilidramon on Jul 5, 2014 17:05:45 GMT -5
Squirrelstar followed behind him, her paws instinctively knowing the best places to walk. She encouraged Alderpaw gruffly, letting him know when he was placing a paw wrong. Her fur itched with irritation - couldn't he move faster?
She sighed.
It seemed like it had taken forever, but soon enough both she and Alderpaw were on sturdy ground again.
"How are you faring?" she asked. "Any stones in your pads?"
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Post by sparky on Jul 5, 2014 18:28:48 GMT -5
"I don't think so," Alderpaw meowed. "I don't feel any at least. And I'm feeling ok, a bit tired."
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Post by Twilidramon on Jul 5, 2014 19:12:02 GMT -5
Squirrelstar nodded. "Very well," she mewed.
She led the way onward, through the remains of the path. Gradually, the drop disappeared and the area opened up, wider and wider, until a great expanse of territory was before them. Stones jutted out here and there, and rocky mountain paths trailed like snakes between them, but here was the bulk of MountainClan territory - more vast than anything a cat could think of.
"This is our territory," Squirrelstar told Alderpaw. "What you see before you is where you and I will do most of our hunting. There are other paths to other places, but those are for when you're a little sturdier on your paws. What can you smell?"
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Post by sparky on Jul 5, 2014 21:31:34 GMT -5
After taking a few seconds to admire MountainClan's territory, Alderpaw opened his mouth, breathing in the mountain air and trying to distinguish the different prey scents around him. His mouth watering at a familiar scent, he looked excitedly at Squirrelstar.
"Shre! I smell shrew!" He meowed.
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Post by Twilidramon on Jul 6, 2014 9:10:36 GMT -5
Squirrelstar nodded. "Small things like to scurry around in the cracks in the rocks," she told him. "Sometimes you cannot even smell it. You have to be quick - some of these cracks lead to little caverns only prey can scuttle through... or snakes. They've led to snakes before."
She opened her jaws and scented the shrew. Raising her tail, she ordered Alderpaw to stay put as she crept forward. Her smaller size, disciplined crouch, and practiced nose made sure the shrew didn't sense her coming. It was hiding within a shallow crack, sheltering from the sun.
Squirrelstar acted fast, her paw darting into the crack like a snake. She felt the fur in her claws, and she scooped out the fresh-kill.
"This is no hunting patrol," she decided, nudging the shrew. "Have some."
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Post by sparky on Jul 6, 2014 10:35:55 GMT -5
"Okay, thanks!" Alderpaw sat next to his mentor, happy to get some food and have a few moments rest. He quickly gulped down several bites of the shrew.
"That was such a great catch!" He said, his mouth still full of fresh-kill. "I can't wait till I can do that!"
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Post by Twilidramon on Jul 6, 2014 19:02:19 GMT -5
Squirrelstar took the remains of the shrew for herself. "You'll soon know every prey-hole and hidden stream in this territory," she told him. "It's important that you do; this land is not forgiving, even for warriors my age."
She got to her paws and stretched. The sun was beginning to beat down on her back, and she narrowed her eyes at the shining light. "Let's make for the FlameClan border once you're done eating. It's not far."
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Post by sparky on Jul 6, 2014 20:28:10 GMT -5
Alderpaw immediately jumped up, clumsily swallowing the last bit of shrew. "I'm ready now! Let's go!" Although he was normally calm, the idea of seeing the border of another clan excited him beyond belief.
"Which way do we go?"
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Post by Twilidramon on Jul 6, 2014 21:28:09 GMT -5
Squirrelstar blinked. She respected his eagerness, but it was getting a little irritating. Perhaps she hadn't been around too many chipper cats in her lifetime? She didn't know.
"This way," she meowed.
Squirrelstar led the way down a passage that led towards where the sun dipped below the mountain peaks. The path was not as walled-off as the last, and there wasn't a deep gorge to one side either. It was safer, but a cat could still slip. "Watch your paws - the path is at a decline here, and some places can be steep."
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Post by sparky on Jul 7, 2014 14:37:32 GMT -5
Alderpaw nodded, serious once again. As he followed Squirrelstar down the passage, noting that his one wasn't as difficult to walk as some of the others had been. Letting his mind wander off, Alderpaw wondered what the Flameclan border was going to be like. As he focused more on his daydream then the path, he didn't notice the uneven ground that his mentor had easily avoided. As he walked over it, his paws slid out from under him. Alderpaw let out a yowl of surprise as he began to fall forward.
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