"I'll go," Shieldheart answered and his eyelids fluttered shut. Inhaling through his nose, he separated the scents of the grass, Angelshine, Swordstrike, and prey. The latter was faint but present. Nose twitching, he caught the scent of a rabbit and soon after, heard a slight rustle past the she-cat. Eyes opening, he ignored whatever look his brother was probably giving him and crouched low to the ground. The long blades of grass tickled against him as he stalked by the cats with light steps. Once he was in the hunting groove, everything else faded away. In the back of his mind, he knew they would be watching him--judging him, but none of it mattered. He only had one job, and that was to kill this rabbit.

Mindful of the noise he was making, he approached his prey to the point where he could glimpse its small, furry body. It wasn't looking his way and since he was downwind, it would be an easy catch. Bringing himself even lower, his muscles tensed in anticipation and then he was lunging into the air. The rabbit's ears flicked in alarm, but it was already too late. Shieldheart landed on top of the small creature, trapping it under his chest for only an instant as he bit into its neck.

When he came back to the pair, the rabbit was dangling from his jaws; plump from Greenleaf and from what he could tell, very juicy. Even with it in his mouth, it was obvious that he was grinning. Trotting up to Angelshine, he dropped the leporid at her feet. He didn't need to say anything, his grin showed just how smug he was feeling.

Both of the males were impressed by her hunting. Her extreme focus was evident in the way she seemed to flip a switch, crouching with ease and stalking with grace. It had been a while that either of them had met anyone that could rival their own skill and passion in this area. As she came back with the squirrel in her mouth, Shieldheart felt hungry as well as relieved. She was such a good hunter, no wonder she hadn't been impressed by him presenting her the rabbit. "Good form," he grinned and then poked the squirrel with his paw.

"Yeah, that was really good," Swordstrike commented. "I guess it's my turn, huh?" Unlike them, he didn't stop to breathe in the scents. Instead, he went straight into a crouch, forcing himself as low to the ground as he could to combat his height. It was within reason to suspect that any prey would have moved further into the field from the sounds of the last two hunts. So, he crept forward with his eyes narrowed in concentration. Scents pervaded his nose, and he picked apart the one nearest him. By the time he found something, he was completely hidden from Angelshine and Shieldheart's view. There, picking through the grasses, was a young pheasant no more than three tail-lengths away from him. He brought it down to two before he readied himself and brushed his tail through the grass on propose. Playing into his trap, the bird reacted immediately, wings spreading and beginning its ascent in the blink of an eye. Swordstrike had already shot into the air, propelled by his powerful legs. His forearms were outstretched as his body twisted in midair to match the pheasant's motion, all visible to the others over the grasses.

A massive paw collided with its feathered body, sending it downward for him to land on. Stunned by its collision to the ground, Swordstrike was able to bite into its long neck before it could recover. Smiling at his work, and pleased with the show he gave them, he picked the bird up in his mouth and made his way back.

Slightly taken aback by the praise she gave Swordstrike, Shieldheart was tempted to make another jab at his brother. Yet at the same time, he was beaming at Swordstrike's catch. He couldn't help but feel proud at his successes, especially when they involved hunting. Their dad had taught them well, and no matter how much Swordy had rebelled against him, he'd obviously learned a thing or two. "Yeah, awesome job," he said, louder than Angelshine, as he walked up to meet him. "That pheasant could feed every kit in the nursery."

Swordstrike's eyes crinkled at Angelshine's praise, and then his attention turned to Shieldheart. His brow furrowed at the exaggeration and he set the bird down where he stood. "Shield, there are almost thirty kits in FallClan. We'd be lucky if it fed half a litter."

"Oh, right," Shieldheart said with a shrug, brushing off the correction like it was nothing.

Shieldheart would have been happy to dig into their prey right then and there, but he supposed they had a point. The clan had a lot of mouths to feed, and with kits showing up in Hystericstar's den on and off, out of the blue, the more they could bring back the better. But when he thought about hunting, he thought of forests, fields, and mountains. All dry. No water and no risk of falling in, even if he knew how to swim. It just wasn't the same feeling. But how could he say no to a challenge? "Ayy, what challenge? This is what we do every day, so don't worry your pretty head," he said, walking back over to Angelshine.

Swordstrike's head tilted at his brother's eagerness to fish. In truth, when their dad had taught them how to hunt, he'd barely covered fishing and neither of them had bothered with it since then. Personally, he didn't mind it and saw its worth, but just left it to cats that knew what they were doing. "Since when have you liked fishing?"

Blinking rapidly, Shieldheart's head slowly turned to him, displaying a "wtf" expression. "Dude," he whispered, "Shut up." Swordstrike licked his lips in an effort not to laugh and then nodded his head a few times. "Right, right. I'll bury these real quick and catch up with you two, okay?" he spoke to Angelshine after giving his brother one more amused glance.

"Sure," Shieldheart replied, but the she-cat was already walking away. "God, what am I doing?" he muttered under his breath. Angelshine, who he thought was just a classy lady playing hard to get, was turning out to be well, weird. She didn't bite on any of his advances which was fine, whatever. Swordstrike was an attractive guy too, so maybe she was more into him? But no, she treated his brother with just as much if not more indifference so... And now I'm gonna fish for a cat that's not even interested. He glanced over at Swordstrike, but his brother was already busy with digging out a hole, so he followed after Angelshine. "Sure," he said again as he joined her by the path.

Walking side by side down the path in silence was not as comfortable as it sounded. Shieldheart wasn't as chatty as his brother, but he still liked something to fill the air other than the sound of their footsteps crunching on the occasional leaf. She was difficult to talk to though or at least hard to read. So far, Angelshine had been very to the point--hunting to hunt--and any friendly conversation had been short-lived. Maybe she was just really shy. Glancing at the she-cat, he realized she was looking straight at him. Doing a doubletake, he shot her an inquisitive look. Hearing the sound of the river, he let out a soft breath, and turned towards it. Hopefully, she would too because he didn't know what was going on anymore.

Struck yet again by Angelshine's impassive expression, Shieldheart's confusion was visible. Yet as his mind processed the question, he straightened up a bit. "Yeah, like I said before," he said with an impetuous shrug. "But since you're so excited, I'll let you start." Regardless of the lack of excitement she had shown all night, he played it off like it had been there all along. Padding closer to the river, he sat down and waited expectantly for her to fish.

Fishing looked easy enough, Shieldheart decided as he let out a long whistle. Maybe he was a little impressed, but once the fish hit the ground by his paws, he flashed her a confident smile. "Be prepared for something amazing," he said, walking past her with his tail brushing her flank. When his back was to her, his expression morphed into a determined scowl and he settled himself at the edge of the river. Peering over the side, he noticed the dark silhouettes of small fish, but they all seemed out of reach. He inched close enough for his toes to be hanging just over the side, but the fish only darted further away. What the heck? Ears flicking, he peered down into his reflection and noticed the fish were avoiding it like the plague. Leaning back, his reflection disappeared and the fish swam back. Except now, he was in no position to reach for one. Shieldheart's tail gave one lash of annoyance as he tried to reposition himself again without looking too clueless. "Any moment now," he mouthed to her, but his eyes never left the water.

As Angelshine prodded him into a better fishing position, Shieldheart felt too embarrassed to linger on her gentle touch. Yet, he wasn't the type to stay embarrassed for long. Listening to her words, his focus went back to the hunt. She knew what she doing here, and she was right that it looked easier than what it was. If he was going to catch anything now, he'd have to listen to her advice. "Thank you," he whispered and then his eyes were lasered back on the water's shimmering surface. Everything was clearer now that his shadow was hidden, but the fish didn't come straight back. "Patience is key" echoed in his mind while he sat, waiting as long as need be.

The instant a fish swam close to where he was, he threw a paw into the water to bat it out. More slippery than he expected, the fish flew from his pad to a spot farther than he'd intended. Not wasting a second, Shieldheart pounced for the flopping creature and struggled to catch up with its unpredictable pattern. Finally, after rolling around with it, the warrior squeezed it between two paws and delivered a killing bite. "I caught it!" he shouted, panting and smiling from ear to ear as he turned to Angelshine.