"Youre an adult now? teach me!"

[Luminous]

She/her - 8 moons
Short grey molly with a darker stripe and amber eyes
The collector - Heightened perception (smell) - Hulk SMASH

It was sometimes strange when someone she got used to seeing in the apprentices' den suddenly had a second part to their name that wasn't -paw. Like it happened, it was a common part of life and she didn't mind it, it just felt strange sometimes.

But. This had a really bright side to it too. You see, when someone was a warrior, Pigeonpaw was pretty sure that she was like... legally allowed to go like 'hey, train meee!' and they like had to oblige or something? Well not really, plenty of warriors still just gave her the stinkeye when she started talking about training, but a fresh warrior might still remember how important it was to train apprentices.

"Squirrelrise!" that was the nearest young warrior that she could find. "You're a warrior now, so can you teach me how to hunt?"
@furrensic

[idia]

SQUIRRELRISE
she/her. 13 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death ]

the last thing squirrelrise expected was an apprentice - pigeonpaw specifically - to come up to her asking for training. she blinks in surprise, nodding before she even has a chance to fully think about it. she hasn't done much around camp since she's become a warrior..which is disappointing, so this gives her a chance despite her doubts. she pushes away the worry that threatens to eat away at her, standing from where she'd been sitting.

"s-sure..come on." she agrees, bushy tail giving a twitch as she heads towards the camps exit. thank stars dawnstar decided groups of two can go out of camp instead of three, she thinks as she pads through the territory, yellow eyes darting around for any source of danger. eventually she slows to a stop in a relatively open and dry patch of the marshy land, turning to face pigeonpaw. okay, she just needs to remember what mistlewhisker taught her...which means she needs a pinecone! looking around, she finds a pinecone and places it to the side.

"this..." the warrior begins, dropping into a hunter's crouch, "..is a - a..hunter's crouch. try...to c-copy it.." she says.

[ @Luminous ]

[Luminous]

She/her - 8 moons
Short grey molly with a darker stripe and amber eyes
The collector - Heightened perception (smell) - Hulk SMASH

They agreed to teach her? Yay! Sometimes it took more convincing, but it was nice not to have to do that this time. Pigeonpaw happily trotted after Squirrels but tilted her head when the warrior fetched a pinecone and placed it beside her. Was that... like a good luck charm or something? Well, the apprentice wasn't one to judge on that one - she used to carry around a pebble to play with when she got bored or needed to focus better.

Alright, hunter's crouch. She vaguely remembered Shrewstep briefly showing it to her, and though it had been a while since she did it, the muscles quickly remembered what to do, and copying what Squirrels did wasn't too difficult. "Aight, got it! What next?"

@furrensic

[idia]

SQUIRRELRISE
she/her. 13 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death ]

watching pigeonpaw drop into a hunter's crouch, the russet molly stands to circle the apprentice. inspecting it, she simply gives a nod of approval before she pads back to where she was originally standing. she then places a paw on the pinecone, rolling it to the space that separated the two. she takes a few pawsteps to the side. what had mistlewhisker said? oh, right.

"when..hunting, s-stealth is..better than..s-speed. if you can..sneak up on your p-prey...you won't have to do..as much running...and will b-burn less..energy. you want..to - to try..and catch your...prey the f-first time..you leap..if po-possible." she explains, urging her flaring nerves to calm down. she's never taught someone...augh. hopefully what she's saying is making sense.

ears perked and listening for any sounds that could indicate danger, she speaks up once more, gesturing towards the pinecone. "..try s-stalking towards..the pinecone and..jumping on it." she instructs. "make sure..your muscles are loose..don't be tense..you'll be more..likely to trip over s-something."

[ @Luminous ]

[Luminous]

She/her - 8 moons
Short grey molly with a darker stripe and amber eyes
The collector - Heightened perception (smell) - Hulk SMASH

A pair of grey ears perked up the second the word "stealth" was mentioned. First the hunter's crouch which she had already been shown, and now stealth too? "I've had a stealth lesson!" she chirped. It was good too since the short sticks she had for legs didn't give her much when it came to speed.

Ah ok so this was what the pinecome was for, gotacha! Keeping Squirrels' words in mind, Pigeonpaw dropped into her crouch again and began to sneak towards her target. Now what had Throats said about sneaking? Every step you should place your paws with purpose, using the main pad, then side, then the full paw. Yeah, that was it.
Then she was close enough to the pinec- her prey! And leapt. No one had shown her the specific technique for that, she simply allowed her muscles to move according to the memories of pouncing at twitching tails or stray mossballs in the nursery.

She bounced up with the pincone in her mouth as if it were a real mouse. "Howh wash thath?"
@furrensic

[idia]

SQUIRRELRISE
she/her. 13 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]

squirrelrise watches pigeonpaw intently as the apprentice creeps towards the pinecone. she gives an approving nod before speaking up. "that was good..for a first - first try." she pauses, bushy tail giving a small twitch. "..just..er..try to - to..pounce with more..purpose. it looked..like you were t-trying to..jump on a ..mossball." she hesitantly adds on, an apologetic look on her features. oouhh, she feels evil giving criticism. it'll help pigeonpaw, though, she reassures herself, hoping that she didn't put a dent in pigeons motivation.

"let's try again. then..you can try..to catch real..p-prey, okay?" she suggests as she snags another nearby pinecone, tossing it a few pawsteps in front of the apprentice.

[ @Luminous ]

[Luminous]

She/her - 8 moons
Short grey molly with a darker stripe and amber eyes
The collector - Heightened perception (smell) - Hulk SMASH

Good.. for a first try? That would simply not due; she was deadset I'm perfecting this before her first hunting patrol. Aint no way that she wasn't gonna be able to show off when that time came.

So more purpose. Pigeonpaw's head tilted so that her ear was angled towards Squirrels, but the sharp amber eyes were still focused on her imaginary prey. Maybe if she tried like... lunging more than bouncing. Like more like an attack than a hop? Worth a shot, this was a lesson after all so better make the necessary mistakes here right?

The grey apprentice gathered herself again, this time lowering her head and chest more, and trying to spring more forward than just up, a paw slamming down on the pinecone. Then she paused and pawed the cone a few times again as if to test the motion before looking at her teacher. "Pinning it with your paw is better than going right for a bite, right? Like catching it in your claws first and only worrying about killing it after that?" Pigeonpaw glanced down again. "It feels easier at least."
@furrensic

[idia]

SQUIRRELRISE
she/her. 13 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]

squirrelrise watches as pigeonpaw leaps forward once more, this time with more focus and purpose than the first time. "m-much better..good job..!!" she hums. the apprentice is a quick learner from what she can tell, so she has no doubt that the younger will be able to successfully hunt actual prey on her first try.

"yes..that will make it harder for the..prey to es-escape." she confirms with a nod. "do you..think you can try..to c-catch real..prey? or..do you want to..to practice a bit..more?"

[ @Luminous ]

[Luminous]

She/her - 8 moons
Short grey molly with a darker stripe and amber eyes
The collector - Heightened perception (smell) - Hulk SMASH

The short apprentice seemed to grow a full mouse-length and her chest puffed up a bit at the praise. Hell yeah! And she was right about the paw-before-bite thingy too? Alright this was going pretty well for her first time.

"Oh I want to try catching something!" Pigeonpaw purred before glancing around to find some prey. "..how do I do that?" She had often noticed movement in the undergrowth when out on patrols or with her mentor, but it had always been of rodents scurrying away, and she had never tried to find one in order to catch it.
@furrensic

[idia]

SQUIRRELRISE
she/her. 13 moons. small, scarred russet molly with brown markings and yellow eyes.
[ chill of death, hulk SMASH ]

pigeonspaw's optimism is refreshing. this whole teaching thing's been easier than squirrelrise had thought it'd be, so she's glad. "part your jaws..and s-see what you can s-smell. then..follow the scent." she explains. with it being greenleaf, there's sure to be plenty of prey scurrying about the territory. with a swish of her tail, she leads the apprentice to a part of the territory with more trees and greenery. "remember..what taught..you."

[ @Luminous this is so short I'm sorry ee ]