Taught by the best to be the best [P]

***Dolomedes*** · #1 August 1st, 2024, 12:22 PM

Muddypaw
"Shadowclan's self-proclaimed Hound!"
| He/they | ShC Apprentice | Moons: 5| Purrks: none |

|| Mentor(s): Dawnstar @/Undertaker

Header base by Catnap-s on DA
Design by @/Chickadee

***Dolomedes*** · #2 August 1st, 2024, 12:30 PM

Muddypaw

It’s been a couple days since his apprentice ceremony and he had yet to really see his leader… though that was probably because she was plenty busy and also because Muddypaw has been all over the place recently. Doing this or that! But today was the day that Dawnstar and them will begin some actual officially official lessons! He had already received a couple tips and tricks here and there. Swimming lessons from Rookflame… a kind of lesson for hunting by Butterflystripe… but that wasn’t like a full lesson or anything. He had some work to do basically but he had a start! He hoped that he would be able to head to the territory today, and maybe do some battle practice? Or maybe hunting or stealth? The apprentice hummed to himself as he thought about what the day may bring as he padded over to the leader’s den. He stopped right outside and called out into the den, in the hops that Dawnstar was in to answer.

“Hey Dawnstar, it’s Muddypaw! I was wondering if we could start some training?” There we go! That was simple enough. It would’ve been rude to walk right in right? So waiting outside was the proper option? Yes, that makes sense. Amber eyes shifted from the darkness of the den and out towards the exit of the camp, a glint of curiosity and excitement in them. “Can we do a territory tour?” Though Muddypaw would be happy to do whatever it is that Dawnstar thinks they should do but a territory tour was usually where people started right? Can’t be a very good warrior without knowing you’re own home.

[ @Undertaker - Dawnstar ]
[ What do you mean, this is totally not super late :sweats: ]

***Undertaker*** · #3 August 5th, 2024, 04:22 PM

@Oliver - Muddypaw
Dawnstar was sleeping or rather dozing as her ears jerked to attention at the paw steps drawing closer to her den. The cat was polite or smart enough to stay outside of her den. Once Muddypaw's question reached her ears and registered in her brain, her eyelids peeled open slowly. She was somewhat behind on his training, which wasn't her fault but she still felt responsible for it.

Muddypaw could always seek out others to take care of some of his training. Blindly relying on your mentor for every lesson is ridiculous if you ask her. Sleepysunrise had sought out additional training hence how she managed to make it to warrior so quickly. Usually, it was a clan effort to train these furballs anyway.

The hulking she-cat pushed aside the lichen that covered her den and padded out into the opening. She stretched out her front paws and bent her torso down to stretch. The she-cat peered at Muddypaw silently after she shook out her pelt.

"Come on, we'll see about getting some hunting and stealth lessons in while I show you around." Dawnstar padded past the apprentice and down the hill into the territory, entering Dawning Woods. This land was significantly brighter than ShadowClan's regular territory. The lack of pine trees allowed more sunlight to shine, the earth was much greener thanks to that light. It still bugged her eyes, but she had gotten used to it.

"This is the Dawning Woods a replacement for the Icy Heartlands we lost to twolegs." Dawnstar paused beside a moss-covered trunk. She hasn't tried climbing these trees. She assumed they wouldn't be any harder than climbing prickle pine trees. Maybe she'll add that to the lesson today, or later. She wanted to see if she could scale one of these giants so she might train him too. Dawnstar wanted to push this apprentice to his limit but not to the point of injuring him.

Hunting and stealth went paw in paw depending on what you were hunting. "There is plenty of prey here so let's work on hunting." She turned her head side to side until she located a thick brown stick a few fox lengths ahead. "Drop into a crouch, and stalk towards that stick over there, show me how you pounce." Most mentors did the copycat lessons where they'd show their apprentices and then make them mimic them. So many assumed it was the only way to train a cat, which was foolish.

Some cats were natural at certain things or followed their instincts better than others. All cats knew how to crouch, stalk, and pounce instinctually, tactics learned from playfighting or trying to catch tails in the nursery. She didn't see the need to show Muddypaw. She'll correct whatever she saw as wrong, but she always favored the learn-by-experience approach more than anything.

***Dolomedes*** · #4 August 11th, 2024, 05:41 PM

Muddypaw
"Shadowclan's self-proclaimed Hound!"
| He/they | ShC Apprentice | Moons: 5| Purrks: none |

Muddypaw grinned and followed after the leader as her words processed in his head. Hunting and stealth and a territory tour all in one go! That was crazy but he certainly didn't mind! The sooner that they got all of that part all of the neccessary basics of everything down then he could get going on more advanced lessons and also like tracking down all sorts of other things that he could learn! Like.. swimming with Rookfire that he taught them not too long ago with a group of cats. That had been... interesting. He certainly wouldn't be going out of his way for more swimming but he saw how it could be good to know. "Sounds like a plan!"

This was crazy! It was only his second time leaving camp, but it was just as cool as it was last time and he took the time to really look around and commit to memory each space and landmark that was shown to him carefully. The first spot they made it too was Dawning Woods... The Icy Heartlands? He heard the name before but he's never been or seen it... well he hasn't seen any of the old territory, he was too small to ever go out yet and then they all moved. He almost feels sad for missing out on it, but he preferred to be in the present.

OH! He blinked owlishly for a moment before giving a small nod and then dropped into the crouch that he had shown off to Butterflystripe not too long ago. The warrior had told Muddypaw that it looked great so he simply did the same thing. Though what he didn't know was that it was in fact wrong, he was leaning heavily on his front paws and it would be awkward to switch into a pounce from the stiff positioning of his limbs, Butterflystripe had just been too nervous to properly give feedback.

Dull, amber eyes shifted from his mentor to the stick as he began to move forward, over all his crawling wasn't bad... not that it was a particularly difficult skill, though it would be smoother if his crouch was better. Then eventually, he felt close enough to the stick and jumped for it. His pounce was probably the best that he had, learned from spending countless days in the nursery simply jumping at fluttering pine needles and leaves as they fell to the ground or sat harmlessly where Muddypaw decided to play. He slammed his paws on the stick. Then they stood up and glanced back at Dawnstar, eager to hear what the older feline had to say. "How was that?"

[ @Undertaker - Dawnstar ]
Header base by Catnap-s on DA
Design by @/Chickadee

***Undertaker*** · #5 August 12th, 2024, 08:33 PM

@Oliver - Muddypaw
Dawnstar's tail quietly smacked stray leaves hanging off some vine while watching Muddypaw drop into a hunting crouch. The apprentice wasn't her usual sort of personality-wise, she'd always prefer those stoic obedient types like Sleepysunrise and Roanpaw, but Muddypaw was proving to be a decent apprentice despite his more positive nature.

He followed directions well, his curiosity not compelling him away from paying attention to lessons. His crouch wasn't bad, she had seen much worse. At least he wasn't lopsided, but he had too much weight on his front paws. She was surprised he could set his paws down quietly with the uneven weight distribution. Not to mention wasn't that uncomfortable? She could imagine that if he continued as he was with no correction he'd have problems with his joints the further he aged.

He was a bit on the slow side as he stalked, but for hunting that was preferred as he wanted to creep up on his target. His pounce was great and probably his best aspect, but even that could work. As Muddypaw turned to her after landing square on the stick, she slowly blinked her eyes.

"Not bad, Muddypaw. You're putting too much weight on your front paws when you should be placing it on your haunches when crouching though. I can't imagine that feels good, and you lose power in your pounce." Dawnstar rose, dropped into a nearly identical crouch the apprentice had been using, and leaned forward to place more weight on her front paws. Immediately she noticed her balance was completely thrown off, it felt similar to how she felt if she was leaning too far to one side or the other.

"Yuck, I have no idea how you managed to pounce or stalk like this." She hissed, quickly fixing her crouch. "Your balance is thrown too far forward, your movements are stiffer, and I question your capability to leap like this." She growled and continued without waiting for an answer.

"Try again, this time with less weight on your front paws. If you're not comfortable before you leap, wiggle your hindquarters a tad to ground yourself. Try using more force when you come down onto the stick this time, I want to see if you can break it." Dawnstar stood back up and rolled her shoulders. Her eyes focused on his tail and paw placement this time, neither had seemed off the first time but she hadn't been watching either.