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Description
"Fine. Catch and bring me a rabbit. Alive." Rhydian could sense the disgruntled tone of Donovan's voice, as well as the growing irritation. For what reason the hunter apprentice wasn't entirely sure, but he figured he'd probably done something wrong. With this in mind, Rhydian backed off without any further questions. Though he had many, the cheetah hybrid had no intentions of pushing the old war cat any further.

The main problem the apprentice pondered as he set out with this task in mind was that of where to find a rabbit. As an apprentice he wasn't permitted to leave the city unaccompanied. The idea of an older, more experienced hunter watching him try to catch prey for the first time made Rhydian's fur crawl. No, he'd rather not put himself in that situation. Then there was the matter of rabbits within the city. Being that they more than likely belonged to someone. The apprentice knew that he wasn't allowed to take from humans, and moreover he didn't want to take from humans. Those were the only two sources of rabbits he could think of, unless there were wild rabbits running around some area of the city. Unlikely.

Rhydian was still wrestling with ideas as he wandered the city streets when his path crossed with Vinci. He knew her as another student of Donovan's school.. as well as someone he'd managed to talk to briefly on occasion without making a fool of himself or driving them away with his perceived lack of friendliness. He probably should have said Hi and How are you? first, but social grace wasn't something he possessed. Instead he started the conversation off with, "Vinci.. Donovan said he wants me to catch a rabbit without killing it."

"That's.. weird. Why wouldn't he want you to kill it?" she perked her ears in his direction, not seeming to mind his lack of a polite greeting.

"Hm.. Well hunters don't usually kill cats when we capture them.. and something about showing restraint or skill maybe.." he rattled off absentmindedly, still consumed in his prior thoughts. "Any clue where to find a rabbit that we can take?" he asked, including her as a part of the task without thinking it over. Rhydian, anti social as he was, had always considered teamwork one of the most important- if not the most important- aspect of being a successful hunter. Why wouldn't she join him on this quest. They could both complete a task for Donovan.

"Oh! I know a farm cat named Apophis. His owners have a lot of land, there's sure to be rabbits there." Oh.. farms, why hadn't he thought of that?

"Sounds like a plan."


Not much later that day Rhydian was being introduced to Apophis, a cheetah who he learned was the son of Iris, previous Silver Hunter. Being the son of such rank, the excitable young cheetah wasn't quite what he had expected. However Rhydian had dealt with worse at this point and didn't particularly mind the excess energy.

  Vinci watched as Apophis shot ahead of them, sleek brown spotted coat gleaming almost as bright as the golden collar that adorned his neck. She half thought to herself that farm life seemed to be doing the cheetah well. She'd barely seen him since she'd moved, and it was a relief to not have to worry about him anymore.

  The cheetah, quite literally, skidded to a halt atop a small incline and looked back at them. "We always see them over here, in the fields. My owner puts out vegetables for them sometimes to make them less scared of people, so they're easier to hunt."

  The hybrid gave a bemused glance towards Rhydian and moved to stand beside the pet, curiously looking out towards the hillocks and meadow land that lay beyond. She could already spot a few long, velvet ears peeking up from behind some tall grass in the far corner of the semi-hedged off area.

  "Wow. Its big, huh?"

  "Hm.." Rhydian responded, gaze following to the long ears which gave their target away. "You're sure your humans won't mind us taking a couple of them- we'll try to bring them back but.. I don't know what's going to happen.." Rhydian shifted his weight between his paws, anticipation stirring his pelt.

  Apophis shook his head and offered them an encouraging, wide smile. "Nah, they wont care. Go for it! Do you need my help?"

  "Maybe.. I've never done anything like this before?" he glanced between Apophis and Vinci. "Have either of you?" He queried, looking for any ideas or thoughts the other two may have.

  Vinci and Apophis shared a look before they answered. Vinci shook her head, and Apophis nodded. "Sort of," he expanded, "I don't really do much other then chase them though - they're really fast!"

  "Faster than you?" Rhydian tilted his head to the side inquisitively.

  "Sometimes. They can turn faster" he hummed.

  "We should just charge it," Vinci hummed, nodding as she started to move over the hill.

  Surprised at the sudden motion, Apo started to follow. "Its pretty fun. I think you guys'll like it"

  "Hmm.." Rhydian brought up the rear, "maybe.. maybe there's a way to sort of.. chase it in a specific direction?"

Over the course of the afternoon they found out that- yes in fact it is possible to herd the rabbits in a desirable direction- although not easy. After a few unsuccessful attempts at charging the rabbits, they switched over to the herding strategy. While Rhydian was somewhat the orchestrater of this plan, he still carried with him some apprehension when making suggestions. He wasn't a leader- not like his father was- what place did he have telling these cats what to do? And why were they listening to him?

That being said, after several hours of hard work under the Massilian summer sun, many rabbits chased into their dens, and subsequent bouts of Apophis trying to dig after them, the trio were tired and covered in dust. But Rhydian held in his jaws a squirming but equally exhausted rabbit. Thanking Apophis for the use of his humans' farmland and his help, the two hunters wound their way back into the city in search of Donovan.

The surprise on Donovans face at the presentation of the captured animal was subtle, but not invisible. "I... well then. Well done, both of you. What have you learned, Rhydian?"

Suddenly faced with cold feet again, Rhydian lowered his head modestly. "It was an excellent exercise in strategy.." he spoke around the fur in his mouth. "Thank you for the lesson, sir.."

Donovan gave the duo a curt nod. "Now go put that back where you found it."
(WC: 1,118 = 2 EP)
------------

Rhydian is committed to his extra curriculars as well as his standard hunter apprentice training, with more help from his new friend Vinci!
I wouldn't be surprised if he continued attending Don's classes after becoming a full fledged hunter

story was co-written by Zincwolf !!

Donovan, Vinci, Apophis (c) Zincwolf
Rhydian is mine
+5 EP for RP
+14 EP to Rhyd
+7 EP to Vinci
=330 EP is Rhydian's total

Description
"Fine. Catch and bring me a rabbit. Alive." Rhydian could sense the disgruntled tone of Donovan's voice, as well as the growing irritation. For what reason the hunter apprentice wasn't entirely sure, but he figured he'd probably done something wrong. With this in mind, Rhydian backed off without any further questions. Though he had many, the cheetah hybrid had no intentions of pushing the old war cat any further.

The main problem the apprentice pondered as he set out with this task in mind was that of where to find a rabbit. As an apprentice he wasn't permitted to leave the city unaccompanied. The idea of an older, more experienced hunter watching him try to catch prey for the first time made Rhydian's fur crawl. No, he'd rather not put himself in that situation. Then there was the matter of rabbits within the city. Being that they more than likely belonged to someone. The apprentice knew that he wasn't allowed to take from humans, and moreover he didn't want to take from humans. Those were the only two sources of rabbits he could think of, unless there were wild rabbits running around some area of the city. Unlikely.

Rhydian was still wrestling with ideas as he wandered the city streets when his path crossed with Vinci. He knew her as another student of Donovan's school.. as well as someone he'd managed to talk to briefly on occasion without making a fool of himself or driving them away with his perceived lack of friendliness. He probably should have said Hi and How are you? first, but social grace wasn't something he possessed. Instead he started the conversation off with, "Vinci.. Donovan said he wants me to catch a rabbit without killing it."

"That's.. weird. Why wouldn't he want you to kill it?" she perked her ears in his direction, not seeming to mind his lack of a polite greeting.

"Hm.. Well hunters don't usually kill cats when we capture them.. and something about showing restraint or skill maybe.." he rattled off absentmindedly, still consumed in his prior thoughts. "Any clue where to find a rabbit that we can take?" he asked, including her as a part of the task without thinking it over. Rhydian, anti social as he was, had always considered teamwork one of the most important- if not the most important- aspect of being a successful hunter. Why wouldn't she join him on this quest. They could both complete a task for Donovan.

"Oh! I know a farm cat named Apophis. His owners have a lot of land, there's sure to be rabbits there." Oh.. farms, why hadn't he thought of that?

"Sounds like a plan."


Not much later that day Rhydian was being introduced to Apophis, a cheetah who he learned was the son of Iris, previous Silver Hunter. Being the son of such rank, the excitable young cheetah wasn't quite what he had expected. However Rhydian had dealt with worse at this point and didn't particularly mind the excess energy.

  Vinci watched as Apophis shot ahead of them, sleek brown spotted coat gleaming almost as bright as the golden collar that adorned his neck. She half thought to herself that farm life seemed to be doing the cheetah well. She'd barely seen him since she'd moved, and it was a relief to not have to worry about him anymore.

  The cheetah, quite literally, skidded to a halt atop a small incline and looked back at them. "We always see them over here, in the fields. My owner puts out vegetables for them sometimes to make them less scared of people, so they're easier to hunt."

  The hybrid gave a bemused glance towards Rhydian and moved to stand beside the pet, curiously looking out towards the hillocks and meadow land that lay beyond. She could already spot a few long, velvet ears peeking up from behind some tall grass in the far corner of the semi-hedged off area.

  "Wow. Its big, huh?"

  "Hm.." Rhydian responded, gaze following to the long ears which gave their target away. "You're sure your humans won't mind us taking a couple of them- we'll try to bring them back but.. I don't know what's going to happen.." Rhydian shifted his weight between his paws, anticipation stirring his pelt.

  Apophis shook his head and offered them an encouraging, wide smile. "Nah, they wont care. Go for it! Do you need my help?"

  "Maybe.. I've never done anything like this before?" he glanced between Apophis and Vinci. "Have either of you?" He queried, looking for any ideas or thoughts the other two may have.

  Vinci and Apophis shared a look before they answered. Vinci shook her head, and Apophis nodded. "Sort of," he expanded, "I don't really do much other then chase them though - they're really fast!"

  "Faster than you?" Rhydian tilted his head to the side inquisitively.

  "Sometimes. They can turn faster" he hummed.

  "We should just charge it," Vinci hummed, nodding as she started to move over the hill.

  Surprised at the sudden motion, Apo started to follow. "Its pretty fun. I think you guys'll like it"

  "Hmm.." Rhydian brought up the rear, "maybe.. maybe there's a way to sort of.. chase it in a specific direction?"

Over the course of the afternoon they found out that- yes in fact it is possible to herd the rabbits in a desirable direction- although not easy. After a few unsuccessful attempts at charging the rabbits, they switched over to the herding strategy. While Rhydian was somewhat the orchestrater of this plan, he still carried with him some apprehension when making suggestions. He wasn't a leader- not like his father was- what place did he have telling these cats what to do? And why were they listening to him?

That being said, after several hours of hard work under the Massilian summer sun, many rabbits chased into their dens, and subsequent bouts of Apophis trying to dig after them, the trio were tired and covered in dust. But Rhydian held in his jaws a squirming but equally exhausted rabbit. Thanking Apophis for the use of his humans' farmland and his help, the two hunters wound their way back into the city in search of Donovan.

The surprise on Donovans face at the presentation of the captured animal was subtle, but not invisible. "I... well then. Well done, both of you. What have you learned, Rhydian?"

Suddenly faced with cold feet again, Rhydian lowered his head modestly. "It was an excellent exercise in strategy.." he spoke around the fur in his mouth. "Thank you for the lesson, sir.."

Donovan gave the duo a curt nod. "Now go put that back where you found it."
(WC: 1,118 = 2 EP)
------------

Rhydian is committed to his extra curriculars as well as his standard hunter apprentice training, with more help from his new friend Vinci!
I wouldn't be surprised if he continued attending Don's classes after becoming a full fledged hunter

story was co-written by Zincwolf !!

Donovan, Vinci, Apophis (c) Zincwolf
Rhydian is mine
+5 EP for RP
+14 EP to Rhyd
+7 EP to Vinci
=330 EP is Rhydian's total