The Maple Forest

Jaydust followed several steps behind his leader, his tail swaying gracefully behind. His steps slowed when he tasted the scent of deer, the smell making his mouth water. The male briefly glanced back at Angus, and he frowned. "Can he take down a deer with us? He doesn't seem built for it." The thought weighed on his mind, but he didn't speak the words as to not offend the quite playful dog. "Hmm." He looked back at Rosestar. "How do you want to organize this?" He spoke to her softly, mindful as to not disturb any prey in the area. Really though, what he was asking was what did they want to do with Angus? Jaydust flickered his ears and waited for a response.

Lifting his head curiously at the scent of deer, the young setter froze instinctively, trying to determine where the scent was coming from. Unable to pinpoint it exactly, he dropped his head back down to cast for more scents, absently keeping an eye and ear on his leader and the other older wolf for any instructions. He knew what his instincts wanted him to do, but he didn't know how to channel that yet, and so he tried his best to not bound around following the scents he could smell oh so clearly. Hopefully some training with his mentor would help with that issue, so he'd be able to help more. The finding the prey probably wasn't going to be much of an issue for him, he had an almost obsession with following scents, but the chasing and bringing down of prey would be a harder thing to tackle. Luckily he was just young, so he wasn't too worried yet. Rosestar would be such a good mentor, yes. She'd be able to teach him everything he needed to know to help his new family to survive.

Trotting as quietly as he could after his mentor, Angus listened closely, trying to contain his eagerness at least until they had something to take back home. He really didn't want to scare the prey away before the others had a chance to catch something. Casting around for a scent, he soon found what he was pretty sure was a rabbit and settled down to follow it, slowing as the scent got stronger. Remembering what she'd said, he made sure to keep him rump down this time, trying to take advantage of the cover that he could find. Freezing when the rabbit moved, he crouched as low as he could get before pouncing and widely missing. Not fast enough to chase after the rabbit, he sat with a sigh, curling his tail around his paws a little. Thinking over how he'd stalked the rabbit, he couldn't quite work out what he'd done wrong, so he threw a glance over at his mentor. “I thought I did it right,” he said softly, hoping that maybe she knew what he'd done wrong.

Jaydust listened to his leader's response and nodded. Rosestar then went on to mentor Angus, and the brute turned away from them trotting deeper into the woods. Going after smaller game wouldn't be a disappointment, as he was quite fond of hunting by himself. Hearing the presence of more pawsteps behind him, he glanced sideways, seeing that the dark apprentice had finally made his appearance. Jaydust said nothing and loped on. He then slowed down, taking in keenly the scents that the forest had to offer. He scented squirrel nearby, but as Blackpaw left him to head towards that direction, Jay figured he would just leave the smaller wolf to it.
Instead, the male focused on the other smells that laced the air. "Deer, Rabbit, more squirrel, pheasant." The pheasant might be something worth going after. Jaydust stopped his padding and turned his head, sensitive to the scent of the large bird. "Pheasant feathers could be used in a nest too. Or as a pretty gift.." The thought of giving a pretty pheasant feather to a certain she-wolf made his fur grow warm.
Catching wind of the bird's aura, the dark male made his way forward, carefully padding through the thick undergrowth. It was hard to be silent in such brush, but he managed as best he could. The trail grew stronger, and he slowed his paws, ears attentive to any sound. There was a soft scratching of leaves, one that could only be made by a bird. Jay listened closely, relying on his hearing and sense of smell rather then his sight. Beyond the bushes ahead he could partly see the creature, foraging around in some grass. The wolf crouched down, moving at an achingly slow speed forward. He knew that birds were more startled by sight and sound rather then scent, so he kept his pawsteps as light as he could.
Bunching his muscles, Jaydust leaped forward, crashing through the bracken as he hurtled towards the pheasant. The bird let out a cry of fear and took off, but it was to be in vain. It had barely gotten another 3 feet from where it stood before large paws crashed down on it. Powerful fangs closed on the bird's thin neck, quickly ending the life and putting it out of it's misery.
Jaydust then sat up, holding the now limp creature in his jaws. A bit of pride coursed through him, as a pheasant was quite a catch, especially for smaller game. He then turned and headed back towards the others, dragging his prize along with him.

Coalpaw padded around near the ferns and began to look for some marigold or some tansy, since her supply was rather low. As she smelled the air for herbs, she caught Rosestar's scent and attempted to follow it. Once she was close to her leader, Coalpaw crouched in a clump of ferns and watched.

Giving Blackpaw a wary glance, Angus trotted off, his nose glued to the ground while he tried to find something else to hunt. He didn't really mind failing a hunt, it just meant that there was more that he had to learn before he could reliably take things down. Finding the scent of another rabbit, he crouched and slunk up, making sure that he was downwind of it. Settling in the long grass, he watched it carefully, trying to fix his mistakes from last time. Aiming more carefully, he bounded out at it and landed on it this time. Killing it easily, he wagged his tail in glee and headed back to the group with his kill, adding it to the decent pile they were collecting. He was learning, and getting better, and it was enjoyable. As he waited with them, the wind changed slightly, and he sniffed at it, scenting a newcomer. He wasn't sure he knew this scent, but there was a trace of the general Thunderclan scent that he was beginning to recognise on them, so obviously they weren't a threat. Wondering who it was, he gave Rosestar a curious glance, wondering if she'd know.

Coalpaw stood and approached her leader, flattening her ears respectfully as she did so. "He... Doesn't know that I'm out here. I just needed to speak to you about..." The young apprentice hesitated. "I want to ne a warrior." Anxiously the black and gray apprentice watched her leader and waited for the answer.

Watching the newcomer curiously, Angus wagged his tail in greeting, staying quiet as the two wolves spoke. It was strange to him that she wanted to stop being a medicine wolf apprentice, but he wasn't going to offer his opinion. He was still a relative newcomer to the clan, and he wanted to get a better footing before potentially offending anyone. Flicking his gaze to his mentor when she spoke to him, he nodded and picked up the rabbit he'd caught before trotting off back to the camp. He was insanely curious about why the other apprentice wanted to change paths, but he supposed he'd find that out eventually. Right now, he needed to get the rabbit back to camp and find Mustangspirit for some reason.

The dark brute had trotted back to Rosestar and Angus, carrying the pheasant in his jaws. Blackpaw reappeared again, this time holding a rabbit. "Well done," he told the apprentice simply, realizing that Blackpaw would've had to be very fast to make such a catch. The two wolves then met up with the rest of the hunting patrol. Jaydust wasn't very surprised when Angus hadn't been able to catch anything, but he said nothing about it. The dog was still a new apprentice, and had little experience in clan ways, so it made sense that he wouldn't be a good hunter at first.
Jaydust then turned his head as he caught the scent of another wolf. "Coalpaw?" He wondered, watching as the dark she-wolf made an appearance. "What's she doing here?" Rosestar voiced his own questions, and Jay was very surprised as the she-wolf expressed her own concerns, saying that she didn't want to train to be a Medicine Wolf anymore. The male felt rather awkward and out of place, and he listened as Rosestar dismissed Angus, the more absent-minded dog probably not realizing the gravity of the situation. "This isn't for me and Blackpaw to hear either," he decided, glancing sideways to the apprentice. Setting the pheasant briefly, he turned to the smaller male. "C'mon, lets head back to camp too." He woofed more quietly to him, picking up his catch and beginning to head back in the direction of home.
~Thunderclan Camp~

Coalpaw pondered her leader's question and finally said, "I think I just want... No, need a change of pace. Medicine to me will always be somethimg i have an interest in, but I don't want to do it for the rest of my life." Hoping her leader would understand, the black and gray fae flicked her ear nervously.