The first thing Rascal noticed about the forest was how quiet it was. All he could hear were leaves rustling in the sky high tree tops and beneath his paws. He had thought there would be something here; birds, mice, forest cats, anything really. But there was nothing. It was like everyone disappeared as soon as he arrived. The emptiness of the forest was making the forest seem even bigger. It was already bigger than he expected, and maybe it was making him a little nervous.
That didn't mean he was going to give up! He remembered what had happened before he left on his brave quest. The siamese cat that always sat on the fence, whatever his name was had said that he couldn't catch his own food! And he called Rascal a garbage eater! It might be true, but he only did it because he didn't feel like catching his own food! Yeah that was it! But now, his pride is at stake. He wasn't going to let... let... whatever his name was make fun of him! He was going to catch his food if it was the last thing he did.
That is, unless there isn't any prey to find. Where is everyone? Rascal stopped walking. Maybe he just wasn't looking hard enough. He tried listening for anything different. There didn't seem to be anything else besides the wind blowing, the trees rustling, birds tweeting, and the leaves on the-
Wait, birds tweeting?
He looked to the left. A small group of birds were converging on a berry bush not far from him. This was his chance! It was finally time to prove himself to that stupid siamese! Just imagine his face when Rascal returned from the forest with his prey in his mouth. He could almost see it...
But first, the hunt. One of the birds were poking at a berry that had fallen to the ground. It was the perfect chance for him to catch the distracted target. Not waiting another second, he charged! His paws pounded against the ground as he dashed for the bird. It wouldn't get away from him this time! With the most ferocious yowl the kitten could manage, Rascal launched himself in to the air as high as he could go, and his paws crashed down to the ground, pinning the bird to the ground... or at least he had hoped it would go so smoothly.
The birds had noticed him as soon as he started running, and were all flying away. All that he managed to catch was berry juice on his paws. "Rats," he said to himself. If all the birds in the forest were this fast, how was he supposed to catch one?
Flareheart walked out of the medicine cat den after Ravencoat admitted to not being hungry. She however was and decided it was time for her own little hunt. The fresh kill Silverstorm provided meant there wouldn't be a hunting patrol for a while and she really wanted to munch on a bird. She noticed that Mallownose had procured a thrush from somewhere, and she was immediately jealous. Stomping off in a huff, she left camp.
It wasn't long before Flareheart had found a nice group of sparrows, all in a blackberry bush. One had flown up into a nearby tree and she smiled. Just like her dream. As quickly as she could without scaring away the avian creature, she scaled the tree. It was in her sights, and, unlike her dream, there was no one around to scare off this bird.
Flareheart bunched her hind legs and waggled her bottom and pounced! Just as she leaped, she heard the loudest yowl. The bird flew away and she almost fell out of the tree. When she regained her balance, she looked around for the cat responsible so she could yell at them.
It didn't take long for Flareheart to spot the little ball of fur. At first she was going to scare off the cat, but then she really looked at it. They didn't seem much older than some of their youngest apprentices. Suddenly, rather than angry, she was curious and decided to follow the small feline as it made his way through the forest.
This was embarrassing. He wasn't going to tell anyone about how stupid he looked. All that work and all he has is berry juice. It just wasn't fair! Rascal angrily shook the juice from his paws. He wasn't going to give up that easily, though! They can't be the only birds in the forest, right? There's got to be something else, hopefully slower.
He walked on, listening for something else. It was just as silent as before, but now he knew that there was prey here if he looked long enough. He could do it, if he tried hard enough. He just had to believe in himself. "I can do it," he muttered to himself. "I'm going to catch a bird. Or a mouse. Or something! I can do it, I can do it, I can do it..."
Suddenly, something moved out of the corner of his eye. Rascal stopped muttering to himself, and looked. Something was poking out of the ground. It was a mouse! Rascal's mood brightened. He had always seen other cats catching mice in their homes, so maybe mice were easier to catch! This would be easy! The mouse was sniffing around, half way out of his hole. Rascal was right behind him. The stupid mouse would never see him coming! This was his chance!
He charged in to battle once more, his prey in his sights! With his focus on nothing but the mouse, he failed to notice just how much noise he made as he ran. Before he was even close, the mouse heard his clumsy footsteps and disappeared in to its hole, just as Rascal jumped. Before the poor kitten could realize his mistake, he was left with a face full of dirt to add to his battle scars.
Scrambling to his paws and struggling to spit out the dirt, Rascal was even more frustrated than before. As much as he hated to admit it, it was becoming clear that all of the animals in the forest were faster than he was. Even if they weren't paying attention, they seemed to jump out of the way just in time to make him look like an idiot. This hunting thing might take longer than he thought.
Flareheart chuckled as she watched the kitten below her attack yet another prey animal, and miss. She wasn't about to let him waste his energy trying. She was going to teach him how to stalk his prey like a good cat.
She scuttled down the tree trunk and jumped behind the young tom whiskers twitching with amusement.
"Hey mouse brain. You are doing it all wrong." Flareheart looked around and saw a small vole, she lowered her head and whispered to the kitten, "Watch me. A vole is about to be breakfast!"
Flareheart started moving slowly toward the rodent. She kept her ears pricked forward and her eyes on her prey with her tail lowered. Her movements allowed for no sound to be made as she stalked forward. The only time she stopped was when the small prey stuck its nose in the air to look around.
Finally Flareheart was close enough and she flicked her tail, silently hoping the kit was watching. She bunched her back legs and waggled her bottom as all great hunters do and launched herself at the vole. It noticed her and started to run, but it was too late. Her claws gripped the rodent and her teeth sealed the deal.
Flareheart went back to the kitten and dropped the kill at his feet.
"Eat up, you'll need your strength. Its your turn."
As Rascal finally thought the taste of dirt was leaving his mouth, a voice rang out behind him.
"Hey, mouse brain,"
Rascal leaped to his feet, fur bristling at all angles. He turned, and found himself facing a much larger cat. Who was she? Where did she come from? How long was she following him? How much did she see? The questions were piling up so high in his head that he couldn't figure out which one to ask first. he only managed a feeble "Wh-what? Who-" before the older cat continued speaking.
"You are doing it all wrong."
"All wrong!?" Rascal exclaimed, insulted. But as much as he hated to admit it, she just might be right. He looked down at his paws, embarrassed.
"Watch me," she continued, "A vole is about to be breakfast!"
A vole? With all that had happened, he hadn't even noticed the vole. He looked on and watched her stalk the vole, silently sneaking up on it. So that's how you catch something! Now that he knew it, sneaking up on something seemed like the obvious thing to do. Why didn't he do it sooner? Before he knew it, she had killed the vole before it had time to move. "Wow!" he exclaimed, no longer apprehensive about the cat from nowhere. "So all I have to do is sneak up on it! Looks pretty easy, now."
The cat approached him and dropped the vole in front of him. "Eat up," she said, "You'll need your strength. Its your turn."
"My turn?" he said suddenly. So soon? He had only got to see it once. Although, he did say that it looked easy now. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard with a teacher. And the vole...
He looked down at the prey before him. He had never seen one up close, let alone ate one. They had always been too fast for him to catch, but now that it was in front of him, Rascal was a little nervous. What if it didn't taste as good as he imagined? The smell wasn't bad, but who knew? Actually, now that he thought about it, the smell of the vole was pretty intoxicating. He licked his chops in anticipation. Maybe the vole wouldn't taste so bad. Slowly, he took a small mouthful of its meat, just to see how it tasted. Then he took another. And another. And yet another. Soon, there was little left besides the voles bones. Rascal licked his chops again, if only to savor the taste once more. It was the most amazing thing he had ever eaten. That's it, he thought to himself, I'm going to learn to catch my own food or starve! I'm never eating garbage again! But before I do that...
Rascal looked back up at the older cat. He had almost forgotten that she was there. Maybe he should get to know her first. "Who are you?" he asked tentatively. "Are you someone who just goes around teaching cats how to hunt?"
Flareheart flicked her tail in greeting and she turned to spot some prey for the small tom.
"I am Flareheart of Thunderclan." She replied, "I don't go around finding kits to teach to hunt, I was actually stalking a bird in that tree when you startled me." she looked up at the tree tops then back at the tom. Her tail twitched angrily as she recalled the moment.
Hmm, what have we here?" Flareheart could see a squirrel foraging around the base of a tree. It was a lot faster than the vole she had caught, but it would still be good practice if he didnt catch it. "Come over here and look this way, tell me what you see." her tail flicked in the direction of the squirrel, but not directly at it. She wanted to see how well he could spot prey.
"What can I see?" Rascal padded over to where Flareheart asked him to and looked to where her tail was pointing. Now that he was paying attention, he could hear some odd rustling at the base of a tree, and the young cat blinked in surprise as the creature poked its head out from under the leaves.
"A squirrel!" He exclaimed. Luckily, the squirrel didn't appear to hear, but Rascal was still energized by his excitement. He didn't think he'd have another chance to catch something so soon. But I probably won't be able to catch it just by running, he realized. He regretfully remembered his first few attempts at catching prey. "Now what?" he asked, turning to Flareheart for advice.
Flareheart's whiskers twitched as the young tom exclaimed at the squirrel. Then he asked what to do, and she recalled how her mentor had explained it to her.
"We are already downwind.. okay! Crouch down so it can't see you." with a gentle paw, she made some corrections to his stance. "Make sure you keep your tail down. Won't do you any good if you scare away the prey before you get close enough."
Satisfied that he had a decent chance with his body posture, she went on about his movements, "You will need to avoid anything that makes sharp noises. Twigs, dry leaves, sometimes your own squeal when you see something that looks like a snake.." she blinked, remembering her first week as an apprentice. "Forget that last one. You will see when you try it for yourself." she nodded her head towards the squirrel, silently telling him to give it a shot.
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