Looking For Hollypaw

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame made his way to the river, rain falling over him like a great waterfall. I hate water. he growled in his head. He padded up to the bank and leaned his head in, taking a few licks of the brown water, vile tasting and awful. "Ugh." he wrinkled his lips into a snarl. He smacked the fast moving water with his paw, claws unsheated and all. He turned around and scented the air. Just my luck. Come out looking for Hollypaw and get a bad tongueful of mud. He thought. It wasn't that he had something against Hollypaw, he just wasn't having a good season is all.

[Naruto]

Hollypaw watched her mentor, eyes narrowed to slits. What does he want? To yell at me some more? she thought angrily, flexing her claws. She was sitting on a low branch of a tree just above Thrushflame, her tail waving lazily.

[Goldenstorm]

As he scented the humid air, he caught her smell. He looked up, catching Hollypaw's tail waving in the air with his dull hazel eyes. "Do you plan on coming down any time soon?" he asked her, his anger worn down by the rain.

[Naruto]

"Do you plan on training me anytime soon?" Hollypaw retorted, narrowing her eyes. Jeez. This cat just plan rubbed her fur the wrong way. He didn't train her, he yelled at her more than he saw her, and he was just plain irritating.

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame growled. "If you got down I might consider it." He narrowed his eyes back at her defiantly, she had no place to be talking back to him. He was a warrior. A seasoned warrior and she just an apprentice fresh from the Nursery.

[Naruto]

"Oh really?" Hollypaw stood on the branch, balancing expertly. She'd taught herself to climb after someone- she cast a glare at Thrushflame- didn't teach her how to. She leaped down, landing neatly on all four paws. "There I'm down. Happy?" she asked with a hiss.

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame glared at her, "Not really." he turned to the river. "I'm going to teach you how to pick out scents." he growled unhappily.

[Naruto]

Hollypaw stalked up to stand a few tail-lengths away from her mentor, casting him a small sideways glare. "Yes. And how do I do that?" she asked in a mock-polite tone.

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame looked at her, "That's what I'm here for." he growled at her sarcasim. He looked down at the river, seeing a few mossy rocks. He picked off the moss of the rocks, close to the bank in a shallow area and threw them on the ground. He went back to the tree Hollypaw was on, bounded up it easily and grabbed an egg in his jaws from a nest that wasn't too far away from where she was standing and he took some of the actual nest in his claws. Judging the heigt from the limb where he stood and the soggy ground below, he estimated about 5 fox-lengths. He jumped, gracefully landing on his paws as they heavily pounded onto the mud. His heavy frame added to his weight. He took the egg and the nesting material and laid them next to the moss. He sniffed the air. Perfect. He went over to a struggling bush and took the tuft of fur he had scented to earlier, it probably belonged to an otter. Then he sniffed it again, no it was a cat. Definately cat. He sniffed a bit harder, taking a moment to savor the scent. Yeah, it was a cat. FireClan, it was Hollypaw's. I thought she smelled a little funny. he joked in his head, remembering how he thought it was a tuft of otter fur. He laid it next to the moss. He looked over to Hollypaw, "Sit in front of this pile and close your eyes, don't look at anything that's in here." he instructed, standing over his pile of random things.

[Naruto]

"Okay.." Hollypaw grumbled, sitting so she couldn't see the pile. Then she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and concentrating.

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame nodded. He looked down at his pile and took a bit of moss on his paw. He lifted his paw back up and wiped it over Hollypaw's muzzle and nose. Then he put his paw down moved the pile quickly behind a boulder, leaving the egg behind. He came back and picked up the egg. "What do you smell?" he asked.

[Naruto]

She wrinkled her nose as some wet, scruffy thing was wiped over her nose, leaving behind the scent of moss and rain. Hollypaw concentrated again, relaxing and taking a deep breath. "Um... Moss?" she said, smelling something else but unable to identify it.

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame rolled his eyes, "Not the moss fur-ball, what do you smell beyond the moss. What's in my jaws?" he hissed at her, a mumble through the egg.

[Naruto]

Hollypaw growled and stretched her senses further, smelling a soft scent of bird. But it smelled strange. Something she hardly ever smelled. "An egg?"

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame was slightly taken back, slightly. "Good. Took you long enough." he turned away and put the egg with the rest of the pile and grabbed the nest straw. He went back and sat a good fox-length away from her, "What is this?" he asked, the straw in his paw.

[Naruto]

Hollypaw took another deep breath, the moss-scent from before fading away. Slowly. She didn't open her eyes, though she was tempted to. Grass? "Is it... Grass? Dried grass?"

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame shook his head, "No. Try again." he looked down at the straw for a brief moment, just to make sure it was actually straw.

[Naruto]

Hollypaw concentrated again. There's prey-scent on it... she thought, exhaling. "Straw?"

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame nodded. "Right. What type of prey has scented on this piece of straw?" he asked.

[Naruto]

Hollypaw smiled. This one was easy. "Bird." she mewed, her tail twitching. She knew it had to be bird. The scent of feathers was all over the straw!

[Goldenstorm]

"Right." Thrushflame agreed. "If this scent carries bird, and there's no straw found here then it's evident that this bird has migrated from WindClan. If it came from WindClan then we can also tell that it left for better prey, which means we are currently stronger than the moorland cats." he looked at the she-cat, "Understand?"

[Naruto]

Hollypaw opened her eyes. "Yeah." If they were stronger than WindClan, didn't that mean they could attack them and win? Or at least try to invade?

[Goldenstorm]

Thrushflame almost showed his fangs, "Keep your eyes shut!" he growled at her.

[Naruto]

"Oops!" She closed her eyes again tightly, not daring to peek again.

[Goldenstorm]

Teh tom nodded, he turned back around and put the straw in his fangs, he went back to his stock-pile and dropped the grass there. Then he sighed, Just one piece left. He picked the fur up delicately with his jaws and sat in front of Hollypaw, putting the fur in between his claws. "What's this?"

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