REALITY CHECK // hunting fail

[DRAYDEN CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]I'LL RUN IN CIRCLES 'TILL I CRASH ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

With his promotion to Gladiator, Drayden thought that being a bit more... productive would be much more beneficial to him. He was grateful that Rhinestonestar gave him a chance of course, and it made him feel better about his disfigurement, but the fact remained that he wasn't able to do things as well as his clanmates due to the limping he naturally had.

So with that, Drayden set off on his own, determined to actually do something for himself for once and went off towards the beach. Seagulls were there often and they seemed like they were pretty easy prey to catch, and so the cub set his sights on one of them, trying to stay hidden in the sparse grass as much as possible. Once he was ready, Drayden exploded from his hiding spot, going at full speed at the flock of birds and leaping up to try and catch one. However, he lost his footing in the sand and tumbled, his fur getting covered in sand and the seagulls crying out and flying off.

Drayden huffed from his landing spot, gritting his teeth as he watched them fly off.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[rhosmari]

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I DON'T CARE WHO I MIGHT HURT ALONG THE WAY, I'M FUCKING SINKING

The long snouted canine had been resting in the warming sands when he heard something. His short ears twitched before his head turned to see someone crouched in the sparse grass. Blinking always the disgruntled teen would push himself to sit up and frankly he had to wonder what the other was doing right now. He had no imagining with his sleepy mind that the snow leopard was about to charge headlong into a bunch of seagulls to catch one. But when it did happen his eyes widened and he couldn't help but burst out laughing at the scene and subsequent missing of the flapping birds. Pushing his tall frame to stand he would try and stifle his giggling. "Who just runs at birds? I mean granted it was a nice try but really...." It was so much different from his own style of hunting birds.

And he couldn't help but think of how inferior he thought the attempt was to his own. But he had trained almost mercilessly to get it down and be able to snag them from the air. His two toned eyes watched the seagulls as they raced off before they landed in a bunch not too far away. He lifted a paw and motioned carelessly. "You should try again. Maybe this time get a little bit closer to them."

SAUVIGNON - 11 MONTHS - PALM GLADES

[sup]© tikki[/sup]

[DRAYDEN CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]I'LL RUN IN CIRCLES 'TILL I CRASH ! — ｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Oh, great. As if this situation wasn't already embarassing enough. As Sauvignon came closer, Drayden pushed himself up, forcing himself not to shake his fur - though the temptation to shower Sauvignon with sand was definitely there. "Bold of you to assume I was ever taught how to do anything." He huffed, glaring at the canine as he spoke. He held his disfigured paw close to his body, a movement that was almost practically an instinct at this point.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[WINTERHYMNS P.]

Winterhymns had no difficulty in hunting birds but hardly anyone ever saw him doing such, he supposed with his given rank it would be a lot harder to do things privately or rather he need to be more public to his people. It was still an odd situation and worry gnawed at his belly, the sound of screeching seagulls and laughter had made his ears twitch during his walk along the beach, a subtle frown on his maw as he stood there in silence. Winnie would approach the two teens with a soft smile slowly forming itself onto his maw as he greeted the both of them "Hello there," He glanced to the side realizing the flock of seagulls that were there only to turn back to the two boys "Bird catching? It can be rather difficult but once you get the hand of it, it's rather impressive."

Winnie was a humble man but there was times where he liked to show off every now and then as a treat. A soft chuckle left him at that thought only for his eyes to fixate themselves onto the grouped avians once more only to say with a light nod "Are you going to attempt it again, Drayden?" His gaze was gentle when he glanced back over to the snow leopard, a warm smile still present on his maw. He flicked his tail motioning for the boy to come closer, the legate nodded slowly "Just watch what I do but you'll be the one to catch one. Sound good? I'm sure you'll catch the most plump one from the batch." Encouragement and teaching, those were key when someone was trying something new.

If Drayden had come over, Win would lower his body into a hunters crouch with tail not touching the ground as he began to take careful steps forward. He paused in his steps with his ears twitching slightly and the legate took more cautious pawsteps making sure to hide from the birds sight and keeping away from where they could possibly catch his sent. He paused glancing over at the snow leopard as he would nod "Now, you're going to stalk forward and once you're close enough. That's when you pounce forward." Winnie said with a smile still present on his maw, the legate only wanted what was best for his people. That's what a king did.

[DRAYDEN CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]I'LL RUN IN CIRCLES 'TILL I CRASH ! — , PALM GLADES, 8 MONTHS]｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Honestly, Drayden was rather surprised to see Winterhymns come out and seem to specifically take time out of his day to help teach him how to hunt. It was nice and Drayden certainly appreciated it, but the cub couldn't help but wonder if the new Legate had better things to do. "I, um. I can try again," If you want me to. He pushed away adding that last bit, coming to stand next to Win as the Legate started teaching him. He watched Win get into a hunter's crouch and shuffled around some to attempt to mimic Winterhymns. He was certainly a little bit off balance though and had a lot of trouble following after Win, his natural limping preventing him to gain proper balance.

"Are you sure I can even hunt properly?" The words came out faster than he thought, without him having a chance to even stop himself from saying it. Drayden flattened his ears at his words, cursing himself for letting him voice his worries out loud.[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]

[WINTERHYMNS P.]

The legate seemed pleased for Drayden to follow him, he knew that it could often be frustrating to hunt only to fail a few times over and over again. Some people gave up and storm off angry but Drayden had not that gave Winnie confidence that the cub would make a name for himself within the world or in Palm Glades alone. A soft smile forming on his maw as the boy was crouched beside him but what the cub said next made his smile falter in the slightest, Win turned his gaze away from the seagulls only to look at the gladiator with lavender kissed eyes knowing that the boy was speaking his worries. Win let out a soft sigh before shaking his head slowly "Of course. I believe and know you can. You just need practice," There was a pause as he let his belly touch the cool ground underneath him as looking out to the avians that were still together in a flock before continuing to speak "Everyone learns and succeeds in their own time. Why... My brother struggled doing anything when he lost one of his legs, he got a prosthetic and it took time for him to get accustomed to the change... But he prevailed and you know what? He was the best damn knight there was within my kingdom."

His gaze was soft as he continued with a slow nod "And I'm sure that you'll be great too. You just need practice and to believe in yourself." His folded ears twitched momentarily before perking up ever so slightly, he nodded over to the seagulls "Now... Go forth brave knight." It was playful but Winnie was genuine in how he spoke, he truly believed that Drayden would be an amazing hunter if he put all of his self doubt to the side.

[DRAYDEN CIPHER.]

[glow=white,1,400]I'LL RUN IN CIRCLES 'TILL I CRASH ! — , PALM GLADES, 8 MONTHS]｡+ﾟ.[/glow]

Drayden hadn't expected a whole ass speech, let alone being amped up like Winterhymns was doing. At the mention of Win's own brother losing his leg and still was 'the best damn knight in the kingdom', the snow leopard's eyes seemed to light up and when Win demanded that he go forth and be a brave knight, Drayden visibly got more confident. Maybe for only the time being, but it was still enough to get the cub to puff his chest out and wriggle his haunches, trying to shift to mimic Winterhymn's crouch better.

"Okay. I can do this." The cub mumbled to himself, focusing on the seagulls now and flattening his ears to try and hide better. He slowly crept forward, his heart pounding in his chest from his nervousness, before he pounced - he felt feathers under his paws and flesh for a brief moment, but he hadn't hooked his claws in nor bit down on his catch in time. Still, the cub didn't seem as dejected as before and looked over at Winterhymns with wide eyes and pricked ears, ignoring the screeching and fluttering of birds behind him. "I almost had one!"[glow=COLOR,1,400] ━ ✧*:･ﾟ[/glow]