Conflicting Weather {Closed}

Morning.

The sky was rather odd that morning, one half of the sky sunny, the other sprinkled with clouds. It rather was quite interesting. Still, Breezebranch would have no time to muse over that. With two apprentices, she was much too busy for that. Rainpaw and Hailpaw would need training. Rainpaw was shy, while Hailpaw was energetic, so this would be interesting. "Rainpaw! Hailpaw! Training!" She called, waiting for the two toms to appear.

Rainpaw was hiding in his moss bed scared of the other apprentices when he heard BreezeBranch. He quickly ran out to her and hid in her fur as hailpaw came following after. 


(Love the topic title :3)

Hailpaw jumped out of his nest and ran towards Breezebranch. "I'm ready to start training! What are we going to do first? Fight a predator? Catch some prey? Oh oh maybe tree climbing?" Hailpaw jabbered excitedly. He was ready to be an apprentice. He was ready to be a warrior!

"No fighting predators yet, Hailpaw. They'd gobble you up! You're hardly more than a kit!" Breezebranch purred, looking down at Rainpaw affectionately. "Now, now, Rainpaw, how are you to learn hiding under all my fur! Why, you remind me of my own kit, Iceheart," She trilled, fondly remembering the time Iceheart-- Ice, at the time-- had hidden himself fairly well inside her white chest floof.

"Alright, let's go. We'll get nothing done sitting around here, off we go." And with that, she led both toms into the forest. Knowing this may be their first time out, she walked slow, then asked a simple question: "Let's see what you know: what's the best way to catch a mouse?"

(OOC: honestly, Breeze reminds me of a British nanny, like Mary Poppins, but more affectionate lol)

Rainpaw slightly left her fur but still stayed quite close as they walked into the forest. He knew the answer to the question as he was sorta the nerd of the apprentice den. He was too scared to say anything though so he kept quiet and let hailpaw answer.


(Shy nerd boi. He knows a lot but is too scared to say it lol)

Hailpaw jumped up. "Oh oh I know I know! Ya have to make sure the mouse is distraced and you have to be quiet!" Hailpaw meowed, hopping up and down.

"Very close, Hailpaw, though you forgot one important thing; you must always step lightly. Mice will feel your pawsteps on the ground before they scent you, so you have to balance your weight just right and tread lightly." Breezebranch informed them, praising Hailpaw for his input, as he was mostly correct.

"It's important to check the air before you stalk your prey. Why?" The molly challenged, throwing another question into the air, looking at Rainpaw and giving a tiny nod.

“A Bird could come down and take it and so you don’t over pounce and miss.” Rainpaw mewed in a whisper so only BreezeBranch could hear as he knew the signal was for his turn to answer a question. Most cats thought he couldn’t speak but no, he was just too scared to others making fun of him to speak. He looked up at BreezeBranch with a smile hoping he did alright as this was the first time he spoke to her.

Hailpaw couldn't hear what Rainpaw was saying but by the looks of it he was speaking, Is he shy or something? Wondered Hailpaw.

OOC: Hailpaw don't be rude

"While those are good points to consider, the main reason we do this is to check if we are downwind from the prey. If the wind is blowing our scents towards the prey, they'll scent you before you are in pouncing range." She explained, then blinked at Rainpaw. "However, that was smart thinking Rainpaw. Most wouldn't think to check for predators, especially not eager apprentices. And it is very smart to make sure you don't pounce too far or too short. Most times, we don't have to worry about hawks or eagles, like WindClan would, as trees shelter us. But it's always good to scent the area. I was hunting with my kits once when a fox attacked us out of nowhere, so it's always smart to be prepared."

Grinning, she decided she'd ask one final question. "Alright. Last question before we get on with hunting crouches. What's the best way to hunt a squirrel? Remember, think SkyClan."

Rainpaw was really happy to get a compliment that for a moment he completely forgot about being shy and shouted out his answer. “Climb the trees and jump from branch to branch!” He mewed loudly in excitement than realized what he did and quickly shrunk down so he blended in with the dirt floor.

"OO can we learn how to climb trees?" Hailpaw perked up after Rainpaw spoke.

Immediately, Rainpaw answered and her heart soared. "Yes! That's right! We SkyClan cats can jump so high, and our paws are very tough, that tree climbing is practically second-nature. It's best to make sure you get at least a branch higher than the squirrel, so it can't see you, and because jumping down on something is easier than jumping up on it." She purred, thrilled that Rainpaw answered-- loudly.

As Hailpaw asked a question she turned to him, green gaze filled with amusement. "Not quite yet, little one, a lesson for another time, perhaps? For now, I'd like to see what you two know about your hunter's crouch. Show me your best." She instructed, sitting down as to see what her apprentices knew.

Rainpaw smiled big as he got yet another praise. He got into his hunting crouch and even though he thought it was perfect his paws were way to wide out and his tail kept moving in excitement.

Hailpaw jumped into a crouch, his tail too low and his paws shifting around.

A purr of amusement flowed from her maw as she watched the two toms attempt to please her. "It's a great start, you two. Hailpaw, don't shuffle your paws, it'll scare away all the prey, and Rainpaw, a rabbit from WindClan territory could hear you with all the ruckus your making with your tail!" SHe informed gently, a teasing tone lacing the words.

"If you tuck in your paws, you'll leap further, and keep your tail low, but not too low; it'll stir up the leaves. Here, let me show you." As she finished her sentence, her paws moved into a hunting crouch. Front paws were close together, claws sheathed she to not crunch leaves. Her back legs were bunched, always ready to spring, but she kept her weight balance, stalking forward. Her tail was straight as an arrow behind her, low enough so you couldn't see it over her back, but high enough to stay off the ground. Her belly fur, being longed, slightly grazed the grass, but was quiet. She locked eyes with a branch, and in a heartbeat, had stealthily crept up on it. With a powerful leap, she pounced on it, landing squarely on it.

"That's a proper hunting crouch." She told them, nodding for them to do it.

Rainpaw watched in awe and right away changed his stance to matched hers. He stalked a nearby leaf and when he knew he could, he pounced landing on the leaf without making a sound.

Hailpaw watched in amazment. "WOAH you caught that leaf really good! I wanna try I wanna try! Breezebranch can i try on some prey? PLease please please please please pleeaaaassssseeee." Hailpaw rambled off.

(OOC: after a few hunting tries, probably 2-3 each, we'll call it finished and I'll get a mock battle topic up, where we'll practice, and maybe learn how to climb trees, and then we can have a topic in which they encounter a predator, just for funsies. Another for fun idea, we could do a hunting assessment, like they do in the books, and/or a border patrol. How does that sound? Do you both like the idea? Do you have any suggestions? I'm down for any ideas. I'd like a couple mentor/apprentice bonding threads too, but those aren't necessary, just there for cuteness!)

"Very good, Rainpaw!" Breezebranch trilled, impressed with how quietly he'd pounced, and how well he'd judged his distance. "That was excellence stealth," She praised, then turned her green gaze to Hailpaw, purring. "Calm down, kitten! We'll hunt, of course, but that voice of yours will scare away even the owls in ShadowClan territory! Apprentices, I swear your mouths move more than your paws. Hailpaw, more like Hailjaw, with all the moving it does." She purred, her light scolding really just amusement with a him of mentorly teaching.

"Alright, make sure you stay quiet, and tread lightly. Scent the air first; you always want to stay downwind."

After her instructions were finished, she sat down, mouth open slightly to taste the air. She lifted her ear in the direction of scruffling, laying her paw over her tail, to keep it still. Breezebranch wanted to see these two apprentices hunt, even though her paws itched to stifle the scruffling, squeaking noises she'd heard. Would they work alone, or perhaps team up?

Rainpaw smiled as BreezeBranch joked around with hailpaw. He was too scared to talk to the apprentice so when BreezeBranch turned towards sounds of prey he instantly got into the crouch and stalked the unsuspecting creature. When he was close enough to see it, he saw that it was a rabbit.

He stayed quiet and watched as the rabbit started eating and not noticing the apprentice. He shifted his weight to pounce making sure the rabbit didn’t hear him before he launched into the air. He landed directly on the creature before biting down on its neck. He picked up the limp prey and padded back to the others.

Rainpaw has...... Caught the rabbit but it was a close call!

(I love topics so sure)

The member 'FireDaisy' has done the following action : Roll Dice

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

Hailpaw bounced around.  "My turn my turn!" He perked up after Rainpaw caught the prey catching little of what Breezebranch was saying. He looked towards a squrriel and crouched down padded up slowly but quickly.

With a quick pounce he bit down on the squrriels neck and then it was dead. "I caught it I caught it!" Hailpaw said excitedly his mew muffled by the squrriel.

OOC: Mentor and apprentice bonding!

The member 'Hitsjui' has done the following action : Roll Dice

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

"Good job, you two! That rabbit will easily feed a queen and a litter of kits, and I'm positive my elderly aunt, Streamlily, will adore that squirrel!" Breezebranch purred, blinking fondly at her two apprentices. Already, they were so skilled! "We'll hunt for a bit longer, the Clan needs to eat, and then we can head back to camp, and you can show off your catches to the other apprentices." The molly decided, giving them a nod of encouragement. Only but so many cats could keep their kindness and sanity with such different apprentices.

Rainpaw nodded before bounding off to find another creature. He stopped when he caught the scent of another rabbit. He quickly got down into the crouch and stalked towards the brown creature trying not to make any sound, which he was great at. Rainpaw stayed still until he knew it was a perfect time, then he pounced aiming for the rabbit. He landed on the creature and bit down on its neck killing it quickly. He bounded back with his prize in his jaws.

Rainpaw has.......Caught the rabbit