The Newbies [CLOSED]

Vetiverwing glided easily out of her new den, habitual paws carrying her towards the apprentice's den. However, this time, it would be to rouse her new apprentice, Briarpaw. The usually calm she-cat could very easily admit to being nervous, given the fact that she had just been made a warrior and now was tasked with training an apprentice. She had hardly figured out what being a warrior now meant, and she had to pass on her teachings! Purring gently, she found the young cat she was looking for, and gently nosed her. "Briarpaw, wake up. Meet me outside of camp for training~" Her voice called, a much gentle and more motherly tone.

Once more leaving the den, the she-cat half expected to find Magpiewi-star near the entrance of camp, giving Firestar the assignment that would decide how Vetiverwing would be trained for the day. Alas, that was not what she found, and the gentle sink of grief fluttered in her heart. But no matter what, she would be strong for her own apprentice.

Briarpaw has missed her sister in the nursery, but it was exciting to be in the apprentice den. As she heard words spoken, her eyes fluttered open, and she stood up. Excitedly, she stretched out of the den, into the clearing, and spotted her mentor near the edge of camp. Bounding up to her, her maw split into a wide grin. ”Cool! What are we doing today?” asked the red she-cat.

Vetiverwing flicked her tail in greeting as her apprentice appeared. Taking a moment to think, Vetiverwing decided upon just what exactly she would be taking her apprentice to do. The first thought to her mind was battle training, but in truth, hunting would be the better decision. "Today, we'll be learning one of the most important skills: hunting. As an apprentice, one of your main duties will be to help feed the Clan." The gentle tone purred, reciting the information Firestar had told her not too long ago.

"In ShadowClan, we live in the marshes. While a lot of the other forest-dwellers will eat birds or rabbits, we have our own prey. Mice, voles, and toads are some of the most common food we have here in the territory. One major benefit to learning how to hunt is that it will make learning how to fight much, much easier." The molly continued, the information simply continuing to roll forth off her tongue. While the she-cat might have already known a lot, it was better safe than sorry to simply relay the information than question the young apprentice.

As they came to the clearing, Vetiverwing flicked her tail to signal Briarpaw to stop. Taking a moment to part her maw the scent the air, it took her a moment to pinpoint a few easy pieces of prey. Greenleaf made prey plentiful, but she wanted this to be simple. Finding a toad with the scent and seeing it not too far away, she turned to Briarpaw. "What can you smell? Anything smell familiar?"

Briarpaw had played clan so many times as a kit, usually serving as deputy. Sweetkit preferred to be leader, and that was alright with her. Really, the apprentice just wanted to fall in love on day, and have kits. But that would be ages away, nothing she should be worrying about at this age. ”Coool!” she exclaimed with a wide grin.

As Velviterwing started to spiel, she tried to listen to all of it and take it in so she would remember it for a while. Soon she was signaled to stop, and she took in a big whiff. The first scent she got was somewhat reptilian, and she realized it was a lizard. In fact, she spotted it a fox-length ahead of her. ”There’s a lizard!”

The silky tail of the she-cat flicked with pride as she turned to find the creature her apprentice had spotted. Giving a proud and swift nod, Vetiverwing purred with delight. "Good job, I hadn't even seen that one at first!" She said, her voice somewhat quiet in order to not disturb either of the pieces of prey the mollies had spotted. "Now that you've found it, I'll show you how to catch it. Some prey might make you think on the fly and change your moves a bit, but they usually are all the same."

Crouching down to the forest floor, the she-cat made herself go from lanky to what would be described as a snake-like figure. Her whiskers twitched as she kept her eyes locked on the toad she was after, taking a few gently-placed pawsteps forward. Once she was close enough she pounced, her back legs propelling her forwards and landing on top of the frog, quickly ending its life by digging her claws into its flesh. "Toads you can kill with only your claws, but mice and lizards will require a good bite to the back of the head." Her voice purred, once again quiet as to not disturb the lizard that was still visible nearby.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Briarpaw watched her mentor’s approving nod, and that made her grin grow even wider. This was better than she’d imagined! Listening with a nod of her own, she watched the pose of her mentor, trying to remember the image so she could copy it later on. As Velviterwing finished, the young moly went next, trying to stalk it in a way similar to the warrior’s. Trying to imitate the snake-like pose (with a bit of effort, but it was a bit...clunky) she sprung at the lizard, hoping to catch it.

As she succeeded (to her surprise, it wa a probably just luck), she picked it up and ran back to her mentor. ”I caught it!” she exclaimed excitedly.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Vetiverwing purred as she saw her apprentice attempt the hunters crouch. While she wasn't perfect and swift as an adder, it was more than enough for her first try. The ashen-speckled molly was proud, and there was no doubt about that. "Good job Briarpaw~" She purred, her tail swishing with delight. "You're a natural at this." The she-cat further complimented her apprentice. With a nod of her head, she set her toad down near a tree-stump, digging a small divot to place the prey in.

"We can store our catches here for now and retrieve them on our way back to camp. Are there any other bits of prey you can smell?" She quizzed, her ears flicking for the sounds of prey this time.

Briarpaw looked up at Velviteriwng happily. ”Thanks!” The apprentice hadn’t been expecting to do that on her first try, but it was so amazing that she had! Maybe she was destined to be a great hunter! Placing the lizard in the small hole beside the frog her mentor had caught, she whipped around, trying to see or smell another piece of prey she could hunt. She spotted a small rat scurrying along the marsh, and tried her hunter’s crouch again, bending back and jumping out at it, trying to land directly on top so she could catch it.

As she caught her second piece of prey of the day, she bounced back and placed it in the pile proudly.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

Nodding to her apprentice once more with delight as the she-paw caught yet another piece of prey, Vetiverwing looked around the clearing. They could easily catch more prey, but the apprentice was also still super young. She had to consider how much prey they could carry back, and considered on them stopping for now. Between the two of them, they covered their own meals along with another cat. Deciding it would be enough, Vetiverwing purred to her apprentice. "We should head back to camp and see if there are any patrols for us to go on - you've shown yourself to be quite a good hunter. But we also have to be sure to bring all this back to camp!"

Briarpaw’s stomcach rumbled. As a young kit, she had just drank her mother milk whenever she was hungry. As an older kit, she could just grab food from the prey pile when she wa s hungry. But as an apprentice, she couldn’t do that. She wasn’t top priority anymore, and although she enjoyed hunting, she also wanted to go back and eat. As Velviterwing answered her granted her silent wishes, she nodded. ”Thanks. I think hunting is really fun!” she picked up the lizard she had caught, and wondered if her mentor would carry the rest or if the apprentice would end up carrying two pieces. She looked toward the warrior questioningly.

Giving a motherly nod towards the apprentice, the she-cat picked up the other two pieces of prey, nodding for both of them to head back towards camp. Through the prey in her mouth, she said, "Toforfow, fwe fwill go faffle twraining." Her speech was a bit muffled by the kills, but it was no issue.