A Vulture’s Shadow

[occultation]

Shadowfur looked sternly at Vulturefang. He hoped this tom would take his training seriously. Not just for Vulturefang’s sake, but for Shadowfur’s. He really needed and wanted to recover his reputation. A new light had been lit in him, but it could be extinguished if things went poorly.

“What do you know?” he asked. “Hunting? Fighting?”

( If you can give me an OOC rundown of what Vulture does and doesn’t know, that would be great )

( @Leafí )

 

Hunting Lesson: Complete
Battle Training: Not done
Territory tour: Not done
Clan lore + warrior code: Not done

[elaif]

:*: Vulture'fang:*:

Blinking lazily, he gave the question a half hearted thought. Well he knew how to do both of those things... But how well? " Well Big guy, I'm absolutely capable of both hunting and fighting," he responded " But I won't even lie to ya, I'm not the best hunter out there ... And I sure as hell don't fight like a 'warrior'." Giving the tom a nonchalant look, he flicked the tip of his ragged tail. " So a refresh on just about everything should do."

// @Cherry~ \\

( The main thing is hunting, but some battle skill is also welcome. OH, he isn't the brightest when it comes to clan life, so a run down of how the clans work would be swell (: )

[occultation]

Shadowfur nodded. This cat’s attitude would take some getting used to, but he’d figure it out. He had to do well with this one, so if he had to make some concessions he would. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to make too many.

“We can start with a simple hunting assessment,” he rumbled in response. “Come with me out into the territory, and we’ll get started. That will help me determine what you do and don’t know about effective hunting technique.”

Wasting no time, Shadowfur strode purposefully out of camp. His tail was held confidently above himself for the first time since Hailpaw’s death.

( @Leafí )

[elaif]

:*:Vulture'fang:*:

Grunting in response, Vulture'fang made his way after his 'mentor'.
The further they went from camp the more he recognized the territory. Although he hadn't lived here, he had trespassed enough times to get the gist of the surrounding areas. And with that in the back of his mind he let a small smirk slid across his features. He wasn't sure if that was the best thing to tell to one of his fellow clanners so decided to keep the musings to himself.
After what seemed like an eternity of walking, he groaned and stopped in his tracks. " Ight pal, I think we've walked far enough. " giving an exaggerated sigh he plopped down on the ground. " Like honestly Shade'face are ya trying to walk my legs off? "
Vulture'fang silently hoped that this intrusion of authority bothered the other tom in some way. And yes, he was a bit tired of walking, but that of course wasn't the main reason. He wanted to test on how far this cats authority went. He wanted to know what bothered his new buddy. And what better time to find these things out than now?

// @Cherry~ \\

[occultation]

Shadowfur’s lips curled back in a snarl as his new apprentice protested the amount of walking they were doing. Was this cat serious? They’d only been walking for a short while and he was already tired?

“I didn’t know Dawnstar started letting kittypets into our Clan,” he snarled. “And for the final time, my name is Shadowfur, not Shadeface. I am your mentor, and I expect to be treated as such. I am not your equal, and I will not be until you’ve proven your worth as a ShadowClan warrior. If you call me Shadeface again, you’ll be on tick duty for the next half moon.”

The huge black warrior unsheathed his claws during his rant. He was very familiar with the often violent ways that ShadowClan cats punished one another. He was by no means above using those tactics to whip Vulturefang into shape, but he wanted to give the cat a chance. “Now get your ass up and come along.”

( @Leafí )

[elaif]

:*:Vulture'fang:*:

Vulture'fang wished he could be surprised by his outburst, but he admittedly expected it. This guy snapped rather easily, again not surprising. Feeling slightly annoyed but mostly amused, the former rouge had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Did this idiot expect to take him seriously? Well if he did he couldn't of been more wrong. But instead of letting those feelings show he decided to mask the snarky emotions with a look of fluster. His expression was of course fake, but it was more than enough to fool someone. But was it enough to fool Shade'face? He hadn't a clue.
"Jeez no need to get your fur in a bunch pal.." he coughed a bit and looked down to hide any remaining amusement left in his eyes. " I guess you clanners can't take a joke- heh- well sorry in advance... Shadow'fur." he let the apology leave his mouth sounding sincere, but his mind thought the exact opposite.
Returning to his paws the tom rolled his massive shoulders and dipped his head at the other. "Where to now, boss?"

// @Cherry~ \\

[occultation]

Shadowfur narrowed his eyes at the other tom. He could sense that there was some sort of displeasure there; whether it was annoyance or disappointment, Shadowfur couldn’t tell. Then again, he wasn’t sure he entirely cared.

To ensure that he and Vulturefang were on the correct paw, he said, “Remember that I am not here to be your friend. I am here to be your mentor. If you truly want to be a ShadowClan warrior, you’ll remember that.”

Swinging his head around to look deeper into the thick forest, he mused for a few moments over whether he wanted to go further. Eventually, he decided that perhaps this would be good enough… to start a test from. It was a good chance for him to test Vulturefang a little.

“Alright,” he grumbled. “I want you to go deeper into the forest and show me how you hunt. I don’t care what you catch, just that you try to catch something. Keep trying until I either stop you or you catch something.” He decided not to tell Vulturefang that he’d be observing. He wanted a true glimpse of this cat’s skills. “Go.”

( @Leafí )

[elaif]

:*: Vulture'fang:*:

Without saying another word, Vulture'fang dipped into the undergrowth.
Although hunting was one of the most useful skills- especially if one was to live out in the wild- he had never been remarkable at it. His sense of smell had always seemed to fail in comparison to others. And this, of course, left it difficult to pinpoint any living creature with an unremarkable scent. So he had found other ways to hunt/scavenge. One of which was using the sense of hearing.
Having a somewhat clear idea of what he was doing, he slunk forward into the shadows, ears pricked and scanning for the slightest noise. He managed to block out any familiar noise such as the wind in the trees, and his all to familiar rattling breath.
Stopping in his tracks, he listened once more, this time managing to make out a disturbance in the fallen leaves. Turning his attention to the increasing volume, his eyes adjusted to the gloom. Just a couple of tails-lenghts ahead of him stood a black bird busily tearing away at a rotten carcass of some small rodent.
Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to strike, Vulture'fang crouched silently to the ground and slowly made his way towards the target. After a few cautious steps he decided he was close enough. Bunching his muscles, he launched forward. Vulture'fang had planned on catching the bird with his paws, but unfortunately, he had over shot the jump and ended catching the bird underneath his stomach. Not only did this catch the bird off guard, it managed to do the same to him. And it took the tom a good moment to realize he did catch it... But not the way he originally planned to.
Getting back on his paws, he gazed at the squashed piece of prey. Well.... At least he caught the dang thing, albeit, not skilfully but he got the job done none the less.
Flicking his gaze back into the undergrowth growth, he sheepishly waited for his mentor to turn up.

// @Cherry~ \\
( srry for the wait! )

[occultation]

Shadowfur gave Vulturefang a thirty second head start before heading after him. Tasting the air, the black tom quickly picked Vulturefang’s scent up. He slunk through the pine forest, eventually sighting the other cat in a stalking position.

Shadowfur crept around Vulturefang in a wide circle, staying at least several tail-lengths away from him the whole time. He slipped into a clump of wet ferns, knowing they’d help mask his scent if a breeze picked up. Narrowing his eyes, he studied Vulturefang’s technique.

It seemed his apprentice had caught sight of a crow picking at a dead rodent. Shadowfur watched as Vulturefang’s hind legs tightened, the cat clearly preparing for a leap. A moment later, that’s indeed what he did.

Unfortunately, he overshot the jump. Fortunately, not by much. The cat landed on top of the bird, squashing it under his weight. Vulturefang looked surprised, and took a moment to gather his bearings.

Shadowfur stifled a laugh. His whiskers twitched furiously in amusement. Well, Vulturefang could at least manage to hunt! He’d caught quite a good piece of prey, too. A crow would be enough to feed a couple cats. Before stepping out into the open, Shadowfur wiped any trace of amusement from his face. His face quickly returned to its typical stoic, stern expression.

The black warrior slid from the ferns and padded over to Vulturefang. He glanced down at the dead bird, its back clearly broken from the weight of the warrior that squashed it. “That was one way to hunt,” Shadowfur said. “Larger prey like this is valuable to a Clan.” That was the closest thing to praise that Vulturefang would get right now.

The black tom turned his gaze back on his apprentice. “You overshot your jump. You’ll have to work on learning the appropriate amount of power to put into your hind legs, in order to land the jump appropriately.”

Shadowfur pointed toward the clump of ferns he’d hidden in with his tail. “I want you to use those ferns to practice. I’ll have you jump at them from different distances. Start by leaping at it from five tail-lengths. That’s about the distance you seemed to be from this crow.”

( @Leafí )

[elaif]

:*:Vulture'fang:*:

Seemingly satisfied with the half praise from Shade'face, Vulture'fang trotted over to the spot that he'd been ordered to. Once again he dipped into a crouch, allowing to first stretch out his front legs." Alright pal, just don't be to surprised when I perfectly nail that bush. What you saw a bit ago was just a warm up... Ima about to go into god mod-" his twisted claws momentarily raked at the dirt before slowing drawing his paws back under his upper body. Rolling his hefty shoulders he took a moment to calculate the distance. He was more than determined to get this correct, and patience seemed to be the key. Vulture'fang made sure his weight was evenly distributed before he committed to the jump.
After another heartbeat or two, the tom sprung forward. This time he managed to properly make the distance, but unfortunately didn't stick the landing as well. The fern had entangled his paws causing him to tumble forward and bash his chin off the ground.
Letting out an audible grunt he slowly arose. Norrmally this 'stunt' would've damped his pride, but in this scenario he had technically completed task successfully.... Soooo this was an absolute win! " See! I told ya Shadefa- uh, I mean Shadow'fur... It will only get better from here!" He remarked, while lifting a paw to rub at his aching jaw. Vulture'fang winced, "So what now cheif? "

// @Cherry~ \\