Training Goldenpaw

[Ravenstar]

Lynxfur sat in the center of the Stone Circle, her brown tail curled neatly around her cream colored paws. Her brown auds were pricked and alert for the coming of her apprentice, Goldenpaw. She had told him to meet her here at sun high. She had given him the start of the day to do his duties in caring for the elders, and if he finished with that he could do as he pleased for the rest of the time, until sun high that is.

Looking up at the sky, she watched a few clouds float by. They were light, fluffy, and white, very non-threatening. It was sunny and a nice day for training. It was still a little before sun high, so she wasn't worried about Goldenpaw being late, but she wished he'd hurry up so they could get started. She was starting to get really bored of waiting.

[sea]

Goldenpaw hissed as he looked to the sky, holding two mice in his jaws. He hurled himself toward the Stone Circle, his paws pounding softly in the grass. When he neared it, he sprinted faster. He broke the perimeter of the area, and said, "Sorry I'm late, Lynxfur! It won't happen again!"

His eyes were light with excitement as he dropped the mice in front of him mentor. "For after." he explained. Then, with his eyes twinkiling with mischeiviousness, he added,"If I actually live that long." He wasn't one to just follow the rules, he liked to add his suggestions and explore his options. So he just decided to be a joker today.

[Ravenstar]

Lynxfur purred amusement, "Don't worry Goldenpaw, you aren't that late. Why don't you put these," she tapped the mice with one paw, "off to the side. We don't want to trample them while we train." She waited for him to do as she had asked and come back before speaking again, to make sure he heard her and was paying attention.

"First we'll work on teaching you how the correct techniques for hunting birds. It's a lot different than hunting mice, rabbits, and snakes. All of those are on stuck on the ground with us, but birds can fly far away, out of our reach." She paused, letting what she said sink in for a moment, not that she thought Goldenpaw didn't already know birds could fly, "The most important thing, or course, is the same as with anything you're hunting. Silence. be as quiet as possible. Birds can hear worms moving around in the ground, so don't think they won't be able to hear a clumsy apprentice plodding around." She swiped his ear playfully, her claws carefully sheathed, just to be absolutely certain he was listening, "The next most important thing, when it comes to hunting birds, is speed. You've got to be fast, because once they hear you and take to the air, you can't go chasing after them like you could with other prey. It's over, they're gone, and have probably alerted all the other prey in the area that you're there. Birds are the most tricky prey to catch, but if you remember silence and speed, you should be okay."

She stood from her previous sitting position, "Watch what I do, and try to copy me," she told him. She fell flawlessly into the hunter's crouch, waited a moment, then stepped forward, light on her paws, quick and full of purpose, never hesitating once and finally pounced high into the air, spinning around mid-leap, as if catching a bird that had noticed her and had taken to flight. When she landed, both her paws were together as though she had caught something, and she was facing her apprentice once more, "I'd like you to try it now. After you have I'll give you some pointers on how to make your technique better. Don't worry about not getting it right away, it can be really tricky, so don't get too disappointed." She padded back to where he stood and sat once more, waiting for him to try it.

((I hope you don't take that as too much powerplay there, I was just saying she was waiting, cuz you'd assume an apprentice would do what his mentor said ^.^ I hope no one minds terribly!)

[sea]

((That is fine. He would have just been smiling when she teased and deep in concentration the rest. It is fine, don't worry about it.))

Goldenpaw thought it over once, making sure he had it clean in him mind. He nodded, and said seriously, "I'll try, Lynxfur."

Then he walked a ways, his paws already silent. He went in a hunters' crouch, on the tips of his paws, and stepped about 5 paces in perfect form and silence. He was still stealthy, and he leapt in the air in a good height, but when he turned his body to pretend to catch his prey, his body turned wrong.

It swung so he was plummeting to the ground to land on his back. He gritted his teeth, making sure a screech didn't come out. He hit the ground with a sickning thud, and pain peirced him. His eyes darked almost black, and he whimpered.

He took a deep breath, pain still immence. Then, very carefully he rolled onto his belly, and said in a whisper, "Well, that didn't go so swell." He looked to the direction of his mentor, unsure of her reaction. He stood, his legs vibrating uncontrollably, and slowly came to a standstill, turning to face his mentor.

[Ravenstar]

Lynxfur's eyes widened as he fell and she padded toward him, careful not to rush or seem too panicked, but still worried, "Are you alright, Goldenpaw? I'm sorry, that was probably my fault for not explaining it better.... Are you okay?" She asked again. There were times she was nervous as a mentor since Goldenpaw was her first one and she was still a fairly young warrior. She wasn't the most confident cat about her abilities to teach.

"If you want to rest a little, it's okay," she took a breath to regain some of her composure, though she was still worried about the young cat, "Maybe next time you try it, you shouldn't try twisting like I did. We'll get you there eventually, but it seems a little to hard for you quite yet. I don't want you getting hurt again." She quickly licked his forehead, as though she was his mother, "It was a good try though," she promised, stepping back, "So, would you like to rest a little, or do you think you can try again without the twisting part?"

[sea]

"No. I'm fine." he said through gritted teeth. He wasn't mad at Lynxfur, not at all, but at himself. "I can do it."

He walked the five steps once again, and went into a hunters' crouch. He was silent and almost perfect, just a tad slower because of his fall, then...

he sprang.

He jumped pretty high, and turned his body, pretending to catch it. Then he went to the ground, and his paws were together with a fake bird. He smiled at himself; he was proud of himself.

His anger of falling stupidly was still there, but the triumph covered it. He sighed a contented smile, and waited for his mentor to anwser.

[Ravenstar]

"Great! Much better," she purred, padding over to him again, "The reason for the twist is that a bird will usually fly the opposite direction of where you're heading. As you can see, it makes it harder to catch, since you have to twist around. But if you can do it right, you should catch a bird almost every time. There are some times when the twist isn't needed, and the bird will fly in a direction that makes it easier to catch, but it doesn't happen as often."

She thought for a moment, "The things you'll want to work on most are, try getting a little bit lower to the ground, it gives you a little more power when you jump so you can jump higher, and make sure to go as fast as you can, but take the wind into account. I forgot to mention that before," her brown auds twitched in slight embarrassment before she went on to explain, "If you go too fast without considering the wind, it will drag at your fur too much and make just enough noise to startle a bird. It might cost you your catch. Usually it's not a problem, but those times you do miss, it's usually because you forgot to take in the wind." She nodded briefly, then looked around, "Well... why don't you practice it a couple more times, and then we'll move on to our last subject of the day."

[sea]

Goldenpaw nodded, letting it sink in. He thought some more, being careful, and then put his thought into action.

He did it about 6 times, without asking how he did, so he could fix it. After a while, when he thought he did considerably better, he looked at her and finally inquired, "Any better?" his back felt better, though it ached when he was in a hunters' crouch for too long of a time.

He went over to his mentor before she could speak and sat lightly beside her. He liked how it was both their first time in this area; he was learning things he didn't know, and she was learning how to teach them. He enjoyed it. He liked the thrill of they were both learning together and he was teaching her as she did him.

[Ravenstar]

Lynxfur nodded as he padded over, "Yes, it's coming along nicely. It's not perfect, but there's always room for improvement, even in the most experienced warriors." She looked over at him as he sat beside her, "Would you like to take a short break and eat those mice you brought, or shall we wait until after I'm done pounding you with new information?" She purred and looked out at the land around them. The sun felt so good on her fur, soft and warm, with the occasional cooling cloud drifting over it and casting them into shade for a short periods of time. She almost felt like just laying down and taking a nap.

((ach, short post alert!!! lol)

[sea]

"Well," he said thoughtfully, "if you are just going to bore me by talking, then we could do both, but if you are going to make my die of exaustion, then we could eat, then you can kill me. That way I can know my last meal was good." he joked.

He decided he liked Lynxfur. She was nice and inviting, and she was a pretty good mentor. She was encouraging, and though she sometimes forgot stuff-everyone makes mistakes. He liked to have a mentor who wasn't a complete know-it-all. They were incilent and rude.

He smiled at his mentor. She was very pretty, he noticed. Not that he had a crush on her, he just had the weird guy-thing. ((OOC: I'm a girl, so I don't have that. ^ ^)) Then, he waited patiantly for her responce.

[Ravenstar]

Lynxfur purred, "Eating would probably be the best for us both. I don't plan on letting you off easy by just talking... I'm going to make you work," she shoved him lightly in the shoulder with her paw before standing and padding over to where he had dropped the mice, grabbing them both and padding back, dropping them. She chose one for herself and settled into the grass to eat. Goldenpaw almost felt more like a little brother to her than an apprentice. Maybe it was because she was so young and new to the whole concept of being a mentor, "The rest will probably be good for you anyway, after that fall you took." She took a bite of the mouse and glanced over at him, "When you're done, we'll start practicing some techniques to fight off hawks and eagles."

[sea]

"Aw, I was hoping I could get some sleep." He joked, thinking about sleeping while she talked. His eyes lit up at the thought of going against hawks and eagles. He thought it actually might be fun. He smiled, and voiced his thoughts, "Fighting off a eagle sounds fun..."

He looked at Lynxfur, waiting for some scolding he probably deserved. Though he knew he did, he also knew he wouldn't take it seriously. He eyed her, a mischeivious smirk forming on his happy face.

This was fun. Learning how to hunt, and fight. Maybe one day he would become one of the best warriors...or the deputy-and become a leader... He let his mind wander, starting to eat the plump mouse. This was one daydream he didn't want to wake up from.

((Brain block!! So sorry!))

[Ravenstar]

She didn't reply right away to his musing on fighting eagles, but took her time eating the rest of her mouse. She looked up at the sky again, thinking about hawks and eagles, and could see one or the other flying far off in the distance. Her pelt prickled slightly as she spotted it, but she shook herself in the slightest and her fur lay flat once more, "When you go face to talon one, then you tell me it's fun." Her tail twitched against his flank, "They're hunters, just like we are, not prey birds like robins and sparrows. They're big, some big enough to carry off small apprentices," though she wasn't just saying that to scare him. The younger and smaller apprentices were usually pretty safe, but she had heard of a couple getting carried off at times. One of the elders told her his sister got carried off by a huge eagle shortly after becoming an apprentice.

She looked over at him, "Practicing can be fun, but when you actually have to fight one, it's scary," she meowed seriously as she stood. She had only ever fought off one hawk, and it wasn't even that big compared to what some of them could get. She rested her tail tip on his shoulder lightly, her eyes softening, "I don't mean to ruin your good mood, I just want you to be aware. It's not as easy as you might think. Now, are you ready yet?" Her voice brightened a bit as she tried to get herself back to normal.

((looks fine to me ^.^))

[sea]

Goldenpaw snorted in laughter. He looked at her, and then looked at himself, "Lynxfur, look at me. Do I look small to you?" It was true. Goldenpaw was a lot bigger than most apprentices.

But then he nodded seriously. He knew she was right, after all. She wasn't stupid. She knew a lot compared to him, but he was catching up. "OK, I am learning to fight eagles," he said, taking a huge bite of the mouse, "why aren't I learning to fight cats?" he taunted. He knew she was doing good, he just liked bugging her.

He all of a sudden felt something he never had before. He was experiancing kinship. He was never close to any of his family, ever-and somehow he had made a friend of his mentor. She was kind, and caring...she understood and seemed to enjoy his company.

He looked up at her, and smiled, a true-to-Starclan-smile, and said in the most sincere and content voice he had ever voiced, "Thanks, Lynxfur. You have been a great mentor to me. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart." Then he licked her shoulder, and said in the same voice but with an edge of his usual voice, "I'm happy I got you as a mentor."

[Ravenstar]

She purred, amused, "I'll tell you why. Without energy, we can not fight, and eagles and hawks can also be caught and killed as prey, which in turn gives us the energy we need to fight. Also, eagles and hawks raid our camp more often than other cats, so it's a more useful skill to know. I'll teach you how to fight cats later, now why don't you just let me be the mentor?" She purred again, she was glad Goldenpaw was her apprentice, she had fun with him.

When he next spoke, however, she was shocked at such a heartfelt statement from the young cat, "I'm... happy I got you as an apprentice, Goldenpaw. You learn quickly and I'm sure you'll make a great warrior." She paused, looking down at him briefly, "Come on then, let's get training or we'll never get the chance to see if I'm right." Her tail rested on his flank lightly for a moment before she stepped away, feeling slightly awkward now, but touched none-the-less.