Under Blue Skies (Bluebird/Gouldian)

With his bright amber eyes focused intently on his mentor, Murkpaw was quick to stop as the blue-grey warrior halted. A small smile found it's way to his face as she started speaking up, excited to get to training finally. He knew he probably wouldn't do well with whatever she tried to teach, but he would probably get at least a little bit better. Listening intently as his mentor spoke, he offered a small nod at the end of her sentence.

As the older cat hopped up onto the stone, the red-brown tabby tom pushed himself forward a half-step. She kept talking, though the apprentice drifted into the back of his mind, the she-cat's talking only on the periphery of his attention. He thought more on how he could move through the grass, though nothing immediately leapt to his mind. After a moment, he noticed that his mentor had stopped talking, and he had to think back to what she had said so he could reply. It took him a moment longer than it should have to reply, and all he gave was a small nod and an "Alright." before he turned to move away.

It was only after Murkpaw had moved about a rabbit-hop away that he realized he should be crouching, moving as gracefully and silently as he could through the grass. With Bluebird on top of that rock, she would easily be able to see all of the grass moving, and any cat could hear the rustle nearby. The realization was followed by a halt in all of his movements, his concentration switching to his breathing. A deep breath or two always helped him think about what he should do and how he should do it. With his eyes closed, he took a deep breath, trying to picture a way he could get closer to the rock without being noticed.

After his deep breath, he opened his eyes and dropped into a vaguely sloppy hunter's crouch. Once in that position, he adjusted himself, going lower than he usually would when trying to hunt, hoping to move the top of the grass less if he only brushed by the bottom halves. The stance wasn't great, but he wasn't sure how else he could move through the grass without getting noticed, so he pushed forward once more.

And as soon as he'd started moving to make his way back to the rock, he noticed the next problem. He couldn't see through the grass from this low, so all he had to work with was the scent. While he could get close with just scent, he had no way of knowing which way Bluebird was looking, which meant he couldn't aim to catch her from behind or the side. All the tom could do was get close and hope he was going to be close. Even so, he pushed on, making his way in a half circle towards the side of the rock.

The grass parted a fair bit as he traveled through it, making his movements relatively easy to notice, even though he moved quieter than he usually did. It didn't take long for him to get near enough that he could feasibly leap at the rock, and the warrior, and get a hit in. After a moment of readying himself, he bunched himself closer to the ground, then leapt, flinging himself towards the jutting rock.