[Owl]

Originally Posted by Ryder

The youth did not expect to get everything right on the first try, after only watching from a distance when he was a kitten, so he wasn’t surprised when his crouch needed some work here and there. He listened intently as she rose to her paws and went over to him to fix his mistakes. Firstly, Shadepaw felt her tail poke his upper stomach, commenting that he was leaning forward too much and that he needed to put more force against his hind legs - this would help him when leaping forward and going a farther distance in the process. The youth nodded to her instructions and slowly shifted his weight back ever so gently to where he was resting against his hind legs more in the process. He gave a small, embarrassed smile, only picturing him landing on his face when he would attempt to hunt. Shadepaw wouldn’t want to mess up that badly on his first day. Her next advice was his tense front limbs, which meant he needed to relax in order for a clean, swift spring. He bit his tongue, knowing that he shouldn’t be so nervous and stop messing up this much. “No, it wasn’t that bad. I’m doing fine, I am doing fine.” He told himself, motivating his body and soul alike that he will succeed and not let his doubt overtake him. Flaxkit believed in him and that would motivate him to improve. Throughout his younger moons, other cats teased him constantly. “You’ll never be a real warrior, ratface!” They would sneer, “Your own parents didn’t even want you.”

With Tinyfawn coming into view in front of him, the black-furred apprentice snapped out of his self-doubting haze and looked to the older feline with full attention once more. He listened to her talk about her own experiences when she was his age, landing on her face when not doing a hunter’s crouch correctly. For a moment, he noticed a clouded emotion come to her gaze, but he did not draw attention to it, knowing that it wasn’t his place to dwell in his teacher’s personal memories and thoughts. Shadepaw watched as she demonstrates how a hunter’s crouch should be done, which made him marvel in her improvement from what she told him only moments before. “She learned from her mistakes and so can you.” A small voice in the back of his head told him, making the tomcat nod and grow eager to improve and not doubt his abilities so harshly like before. The apprentice’s eyes widened as Tinyfawn neatly leapt over him with grace and swiftness, landing in the grass behind him, which made the male turn his head to look back at her. “Hopefully I can be that clean and swift when it comes to my own leaps..” Shadepaw thought, his ears twitching to the chirping of birds flying over their heads in the forest.

Tinyfawn purred in amusement at the young apprentice's expression. She walked over to him once more. "If there is one thing you need to keep in mind, failing is only half the battle to succeeding. You can't except to succeed if you don't allow yourself to fail. With failures, comes improvements, and things you can perfect. Never doubt your ability and don't ever give up." She meowed wisely as she sat down curling her tail over her paws. "Now that you know the proper way to get yourself into a hunters crouch. Practice it a few times, when you have perfected it or you think you are ready." She paused, shifting herself into a better position. "I want you to leap over me." She wasn't a small she-cat, Tinyfawn was rather tall in size but lean. For her to ask him to leap over her was definitely a challenge but she knew he could do it. It would be important for him to leap great distances and heights if he expects to be a great SkyClan warrior. SkyClan warriors dwell and hunt in the trees not often on the ground like ThunderClan cats.