On that day, she joined the patrol out of sheer out of spite. Hunting patrols had become second nature, and where once she fumbled and struggled, she finally found her stride in the hunt. And honestly, after the last moon or so she wanted the entertainment of Snakefang fumbling if she was going to tag along and make herself useful until Sealdawn's training thing. She padded along at Tickfrost's side the whole way there, but made sure to check on Cloudberrypaw too. In spite of everything, it was nice to spend time with her friends.
Though as the group settled off in the pocosin, Snakefang was quick to try and take control of the situation. Stoatpaw had to scoff under her breath; even if Wolfpack decided he was one of the three in charge of this whole thing, she would rather be caught trespassing by Riverclan again than be caught dead following any of his instructions.
She began to walk off from the group, turning for a moment to talk again with Cloudberry, only to watch Snake utterly fumble a squirrel. Without even trying to stifile her laugh, she rolled her eyes as she walked ahead.
"Better luck next time Snake, I'm sure of it." Voice dripping with sarcasm as she followed her nose for something off in the distance.
It was bigger than she expected, some plump-looking rabbit that looked far too pristine for the pocosin, maybe it had wandered in from the moors? Stoatpaw didn't care; if she could catch this thing, it would be a great catch to bring back home. She had stalked some lengths away from the rest of the patrol, not able to trust the rest of them not to scare the rabbit while she tried to creep up on the thing. At a permanent disadvantage made hunting in groups was frustrating, but Sablestar told her she needed to work in groups more, and she wasn't about to let him down now.
Narrowing her eyes, crouching low, she tracked the thing with slitted eyes and gritted teeth. The thing made the deathly mistake of turning its back on her, that moment of vulnerability giving her the perfect opportunity to strike, and she damn well took it. Springing forward, with unstheathed claws extended and teeth bared, she dug her claws into the pristine coat of the squirming body.
Clamping her jaws around the neck of the thing, it managed to slip out from under her claws, raking them through their own pelt but freeing up their own legs. As Stoatpaw steadied herself and bit down on the thing's throat, it managed to kick a clawed paw into her face with a dying swing, catching her face as it finally went limp in her jaws.
The thing being promptly dropped as she winced in pain, thankfully already dead as it hit the ground, Stoatpaw could feel the stinging pain on the side of her face. Bringing up a paw to smudge her cheek, a smear of blood marked her paw.
"Damn it...." She muttered, under her breath, smeering it more into her cheek.
"Just rabbit's blood, not my own, they don't have to know." She shook her head and cleared her throat, picking up the limp form of the rabbit and returning to the group with her visage unchanged. If she whined about a small scratch, then it would make her seem weak.
But even as she dropped the rabbit, a smile stretched across her maw, seeing Cloudberrypaw's catch.
"Oh, hey! Good job, Cloudberry!" Stoatpaw purred warmly; she always found pride in her friends' success. Her of all cats had more than earned her way to where she was as an apprentice and deserved every ounce of pride - unlike
some cats.
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Rolled a 15 -> Caught a rabbit sucessfully!
Flipped a coin -> Heads (Gets kicked by rabbit)
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Stoatpaw
✦—Shadowclan apprentice | 11 Moons
✦—She/Her
✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK, PAWSPEAK
✦—A slender white cat with faint lilac markings and blue eyes.
#96d5f1/#50BBF0
⤷ Written by Phoenix
