.freedom.from.camp.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"You coming?" Crystalrose called over her shoulder, skidding to a graceful halt in the forest. Glancing up, the pale sunlight could barely penetrate the thick layer of trees surrounding her. The trees were what gave this type of landscape the dubbance of the name "forest".

Waiting patiently, she enjoyed listening to the sounds of the forest surrounding her. In a far off, hidden place, a bird was tucked away on a branch, its beak open and a song issuing from its mouth. She listened, not wanting to start hunting quite yet while Maplestar hadn't quite caught up.

[Battooth]

Maplestar rushed after Crystalrose, laughing as he went. "C'mon Twistedpaw! Are we gonna let her beat us?" He skidded to a halt as he nearly ran over Crystalrose. He skidded past her, then turned and laughed at his own foolishness. "Sorry about that," he meowed, touching her ear with his nose. He sat and waited for Twistedpaw.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Of course. It's all right," Crystalrose responded lightly, a purr of amusement playing in her throat. "I guess we can deposit our prey here," she mewed quickly, before she turned and raced after a mouse she heard scuttling about in the bushes. Pouncing, she took the life of the creature swiftly and easily. Picking up the mouse in her mouth, trying to ignore its sweet scent that made her mouth water, she dropped it at Maplestar's paws. "Shall we begin?" she asked.

Not waiting for an answer, she padded away and went to go look for more prey. Spotting a rabbit, she dropped gracefully into a hunter's crouch, putting her weight onto her haunches. As soon as she was within range of the bouncy creature, she leaped up. The rabbit turned and looked at her with the look of utmost horror on its face, but she quickly took the rabbit out of its misery by making it fresh-kill. Picking up the rabbit, she began dragging it to the clearing, her maw beginning to ache slightly from pulling the fresh-kill.

[Agii♫]

"No!" he giggled after Maplestar, large clumsy paws scrabbling against the soft soil and small pebbles beneath him. Bright sapphire eyes glazed around excitedly, a near magnanimous air prickling his deep blue-gray coat with pride. He was hunting with the leader! The real leader of EarthClan, the best Clan known to all cats! Well, aside StarClan. Mentally, he apologized to them for being so boastful and prideful about it.

Running a small tongue across his hungry lips, the small apprentice staggered up to the syrup-hued tom, halting at his heels and watching in awe as the graceful she-cat took down a mouse and a rabbit in a matter of mere moments upon his arriving. As she dragged the creature back to Maplestar's paws, Twistedpaw let his mandible open slightly, releasing a delightful purr. "C-Can I hunt... like y-y-you, Cr-crystalros-se?" he asked, great eyes glinting with adoration of her litheful and sleek movements.

[Battooth]

Maplestar watched as Crystalrose caught a mouse, then a rabbit with incredible ease and purred, giving her ear a quick lick of appreciation. "Nice catches," he meowed, then stalked into the bushes to let Crystalrose answer Twistedpaw. Maplestar stalked slowly through the dense trees and bushes, his body low and his tail flicking back and forth barely brushing the leaves. Maplestar slowed to a stop as he caught sight of a strange looking bird pecking around on the ground. He recognized it quickly as a mother hen- not the messy kind Twolegs kept just out of Clan cat reach, but the brown speckled ones, with a small crest on their foreheads. Maplestar ran his tongue over his jaws as he looked at the hen. It would easily feed a queen or two. He gathered himself and moved forward slowly, staying low and more importantly quiet. He snuck within two fox lengths then burst from his hiding spot.

A flurry of feathers surrounded him as Maplestar latched onto one of the hen's wings, dragging her down to earth as she tried to fly away. He reached up with his paw and smacked her back down to the ground and ended her life in a second. He looked around, pleased with himself. Where there was a hen, there might be chicks, if it wasn't too late in the year. He sniffed the ground near where the hen had been pecking and followed her scent to a small bush. The tabby leader poked his head inside and sniffed. Not a chick was left in the hen's nest. They must have grown, Maplestar thought. Oh well. He still had the mother, and that was what mattered.

Maplestar padded back, snatched up the hen and brought it back to where he had left Crystalrose and Twistedpaw, depositing the hen on top of the mouse and rabbit. He grinned at the two and sat down to wash a bit of blood off a claw, then stood again.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

"Of course. Why not?" Crystalrose responded, flicking the apprentice's ears with her tail lightly, amusement glinting in her warm gaze as she looked affectionately at the apprentice. He reminded her rather of a young and hyper kit, all bouncy and eager to do this and that.

"I can teach you how to improve your hunting skills," Crystalrose mewed to Twistedpaw. "And if you're given to me as an apprentice, I can help you even more. I'll make sure you bring down a lot of fresh-kill to make even the most doubtful cats respect you!" she added, attempting to be encouraging.

Glancing around, she saw Maplestar return, a bit of blood staining his claws. She looked for his fresh-kill and found it easily. How strange. A hen in the forest. Well, no matter. It was probably some escaped bird from the Twoleg place. "That's an interesting piece of fresh-kill you caught," she mewed to Maplestar, impressed with his hunting skills. Well, he /had/ to have good hunting skills, since after all, he /was/ the leader of a Clan - her Clan.

[Agii♫]

"Oh, yes, yes!" he yipped, long tail lashing out in abrupt excitement. He was going to be a great warrior! A warrior that others would look upon and respect him, seeing that he didn't need all four paws to bring in a good amount of fresh-kill. Truly, he had already brought in a squirrel, but that was merely enough to feed one cat--he wanted something big! And if not, a great amount; prized and graced upon with the size of his huntings.

With an anxious scuttle, Twistedpaw limped off hurriedly, jaws wide open to let in the sweet scents of the prey that lingered around the forest. Bright sapphire eyes wide open, he skirted the terrain before him, eying every piece of foliage that undulated in the breeze before him, caressing his thin blue-gray coat. Whiskers twitching, the apprentice soon found the lulling scent of a bird--the scent was dusty and filled with the essence of plumage.

Dropping in a crouch, he pulled his weight off of his left forepaw, letting it touch the soil softly, pressurizing the rest of his body as evenly as he could. Jaws closed, ears erect, Twistedpaw watched the large-breasted robin poke around the pebbles for any scraps of nutrition it might find. Running his tongue across his lips silently, the tom steadied himself, rolling his thick, however weak, shoulder blades backwards. Arching his spine, he released himself, leaping high in to the air and swinging his hind paws in to the air as he spread his forepaws out, the appearance in mid-air looking like he was embracing the winds. The robin, having seen him in the air, crouched low to the ground before exploding upwards, flying right towards his left paw. His ultimate weakness.

Twistedpaw landed, paws cupping the earth. With curious and hopeful eyes, he slowly opened his paws, however was immediately discouraged when he found nothing but a large, speckled pebble beneath his paws.

[Battooth]

Having stalked quietly after Twistedpaw to see how the apprentice was doing, Maplestar padded towards the younger cat after his attempt at catching a bird. "Nice try," Maplestar meowed encouragingly. "Don't worry about it. You'll catch one soon, and probably be the best hunter in the Clan, what with those big ears. I bet you can hear things in other territories. You'll give Battooth a run for his fresh-kill!" Maplestar thought for a moment. Twistedpaw didn't have a mentor. The tabby leader thought for a moment. No. Twistedpaw would have a mentor. I'll be his mentor, Maplestar decided. He realized that Twistedpaw's- well, Twistedpaw's paw was a bit of a problem, but with his help, the EarthClan leader was sure he would be an awesome warrior in no time. His speech problem wouldn't affect anything about his training. It was just that paw. "Twistedpaw, I'm going to have you come to the Gathering," Maplestar meowed. "And you will be going as my apprentice. What do you think of that?" The tabby tom put together that he would bring to the Gathering. Twistedpaw, Crystalrose, Ivorywing, Battooth, Hailwind, and Moonpelt. That would be a nice sized group.

[>>BLACKiE! ]}]

Crystalrose gave a startled glance in Maplestar's direction. After a while, though, hope began flowing within her. It appeared that Maplestar had faith in Twistedpaw, despite his disfigured paw. She mentally breathed a sigh of relief, although she wasn't sure why she had ever doubted that Maplestar believed in Twistedpaw in the first place. Giving an approving nod of Maplestar's choice, she turned and padded off into the forest, wanting to catch some more fresh-kill before their hunting patrol was terminated.

The coolness and the silence of the forest around her gave her the ability to think clearly - unlike Camp in which many cats were packed into the same dens, which were often hot and stuffy, to sleep. Breathing in the fresh air thankfully, she paused for a moment to drink in the scents of fresh-kill surrounding her, all of them hidding in different nooks and crannies of the forest.

A flicker of movement awoke her from her her trance-like state. A rabbit was bouncing around - rather stupidly, she thought. Stalking it and making it fresh-kill was easy enough. Dragging it back to where they all were meeting, she padded along quickly, for the rabbit was beginning to feel rather heavy within her maw.

((-MOVING CRYSTALROSE FOR THE GATHERING-))

[Agii♫]

(( Moved Twistedpaw to GATHERING, will have him reply to this there))