cinderpaws training speedrun [p]

[alec]

rookfire awoke with the faint memory of yesterdays meeting and hazelstripes hazelpaws behaviour still ghosting around his mind, perhaps it was curiosity, perhaps this was just the thing to actually make him shift her from his 'neutral' list into 'icky', additionally to the weird behaviour he had been exibiting around mossfreckle once or twice. not that he had any right to be jealous, mossfreckle barely allowed him around..well..no didnt have time to turn every word and every simple touch around in his head once over. he just had to stop overthinking and focus on what had quickly surfaced as more relevant. that being the reminder of cinderpaws training being his responsibility. after yesterdays 'first' meeting between mentor and apprentice, he'd guessed flashpaw and cinderpaw to be quite close and decided that if possible, he would aim to finish cinderpaws training in time, let them earn their warrior names together, stars know they both deserved it. mind made up mostly, white tipped paws carried the enforcer towards the apprentices den, faster than he had been able to go just a few sunrises ago and mildly happy with the progress his shoulder was making. "cinderpaw" he spoke semi quietly into the dimly lit den, the sun had crept over the horizon, bathing him in a soft orange glow, however, he was blocking the entrance, so most of the den lay in shadow right now. "we'll practice hunting today, come on"

[ took me a bit longer for this, sorry i kinda forgot yesterday. @Neptune. ]

[Neptune.]

Cinderpaw
~<>~
61/100
10 moons || she/her || ShadowClan Apprentice
small black tabby with minimal white markings and 3 legs; amber eyes
[cw: minor internalized ableism]

Sleep was never an easy thing for her, And Cinderpaw often found herself moreso dozing than actually sleep. The call of her name alerts her, and she blinks open her eyes, chin still resting on her paws, and spies Rookfire in the den's entrance. Hunting training. With a short nod, the black tabby gets to her feet and trots to follow. She'd attempted to get some hunting training in the past, but it hadn't been followed through on. That interaction honestly left her wondering if maybe no one thought she could amount to much with her deformity. Still, Rookfire had never given her any indication he felt the same way, so that, at least, was promising.

[ no worries !!! ]
[ @alec ]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan enforcer | purrks ]

as they trot along each other, dark pelts slowly soaking up some of the early morning sun, rookfire cant help but wonder if cinderpaw had advantage in stealth, he could imagine it'd be easier to blend into nature with her dark pelt, though, perhaps a muddy brown would really be the best during the day. the enforcer didnt lead them far, instead choosing one of the first clearings they come across, slowing to a walk and finally coming to a halt. "alright it has been quite a while since i did this last but-" rookfire stretched out long white tipped limbs, joints producing a quiet noise at the movement, "its pretty easy"
leg trembling slightly as he sunk into a hunters crouch, shoulder protesting at the movement and reminding him why he hadnt been doing this as much as of recent, "hunters crouch. thats the basic thing you gotta know. otherwise, keep your steps light, tail off the ground and pounce". after pouncing on a crunchy leaf he had picked as his play pretend prey, the enforcer straightened up again, rolling the injured shoulder as casually as possible. "the smaller the prey, the earlier they will hear, see, feel or smell you, so dont play games and pounce as soon as you can. as soon as you get a hold of the prey, kill it with a bite to the neck. now you try"


[ hello, hi i forgot i absolutely despise hunting and didnt feel like writing this for the past 10 days @Neptune. ]

[Neptune.]

Cinderpaw
~<>~
66/100
8 moons || she/her || ShadowClan Apprentice
small black tabby with minimal white markings and 3 legs; amber eyes

Hunting practice on a leaf. It was... probably the normal way to learn, not that Cinderpaw had any reference for such a thing. Anyway, she does as Rook shows her, rolling her shoulders before getting into an imitation of the crouch Rookfire demonstrated. It isn't perfect, in fact, it's a little off kilter and she wobbles before planting her feet more firmly, brows furrowed in concentration. Once her position feels ok, she pounces ahead and onto the leaf, sitting up straight and glancing back towards Rookfire for his verdict.

[HI THIS IS SO LATE IM SO SORRY HKDSH]
[ @alec ]

[alec]

rookfire stepped a bit closer, correcting cinderpaws stance more with hovering rather than actually touching his apprentice, because even though he didnt feel icky about a bit of contact with her, he didnt expect this to be mutual immediately. he wasnt really all that sure how to exactly correct the stance on a cat with only three legs, trying to keep in mind that they had to employ different tactics to feel stable and comfortable that one with four properly functioning legs, but the simple things like a head too tucked, or tense set shoulders he was confident enough to encourage change for. cinderpaw pounced as he had shown, obviously leaving a lot of space for improvements to be made, but this was basic hunting, and not about perfecting technique. "looks alright, with a bit of practice you'll make good competition for most warriors" he praised with a short nod. "leaves are good n all, but we are gonna do a bit of tracking and actual hunting, you follow and watch for now, then we'll switch and i'll give you feedback after" the enforcer ordered quietly before falling silent entirely, letting jaws part slightly to take in more air. a part of him was already bored, hunting had never captured his interest in all honesty, but on the other paw, he knew this was probably the only time he was gonna be hunting apart from flaying practice until his next lesson.
the first scent rook picked up was squirrel but he decided against following it, choosing to instead divert their path to round a bush to the left where he was able to pick up stale, whispy remainders of mouse scent. normally he wouldnt be that picky with what he caught, but since this was cinderpaws first lesson, it would be a great help to let her see him catch a mouse, so she could use that tactic on a mouse herself rather than seeing him catch a squirrel and then either fail to scent one or have it scurry up a tree before she got the chance to try. man he hated squirrels.
he also hated mice apparently, since the one he had scented was so damn close to the neighbouring shrub he had to surpress a defeated sigh, instead slowly lowering himself further into a hunters crouch and approaching it as far as he needed to quickly leap, paws stretched forward, and land halfway into the shrub with his right forepaw slamming down on the animals small body, stunning it for long enough to allow him to deliver a practiced killing bite.
after removing himself from the shrub, rookfire turned to face cinderpaw, mouse limp between his jaws, and give his apprentice a nod signalling her to start searching for a scent while he scratched soil over the mouse. he'd catch up no problem.

[this is a mess, im sorry. @Neptune. ]

[Neptune.]

Cinderpaw
~<>~
68/100
9 moons || she/her || ShadowClan Apprentice
small black tabby with minimal white markings and 3 legs; amber eyes

Now was the real test... watch Rookfire hunt once to see how it's done, and then try for herself. Easy, right? Well, the watching was easy, Rookfire made it look so simple, his easy grace hunting the mouse was honestly a little intimidating? Would Cinderpaw be able to achieve the same thing? She hoped so. But as her mentor indicated that it was now her turn, Cinderpaw felt what little confidence she had waning. Still, she squared her shoulders and nodded, expression set in a fierce determination that she tried very hard to feel.

Dropping down into her hunters crouch, Cinderpaw moves along the forest floor a lot more carefully than Rookfire had, only too aware that her balance was different, and overcompensating for this by moving slowly. Soon enough, the scent of vole reaches her, and Cinderpaw snaps to rapt focus, prowling closer. She waits a hair too long for her ideal pouncing window, though, and she lands just where the rodent used to be, giving chase with a quick burst of speed, [roll - 4] but she ends up coming short, the rodent disappearing down some hidden path. Frustrated, she lashes her tail behind her and sets off again, this time finding a mouse after not too long. She learned her lesson from the vole, though, and doesn't wait very long before pouncing, ending up catching the rodent with a slightly wobbly and sloppy catch, but a catch nonetheless.

[ THIS IS SO LATE IM SORRY ]
[ @alec ]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan enforcer | purrks ]

cinderpaw appeared to have understood immediately, getting to tracking right away. rook felt like her hunters crouch, though there was definitely room for improvement, already looked a bit better than at the beginning of this lesson, igniting a small flame of pride in his chest and chasing a soft smile onto his maw. rook let her chose a direction before following along, crouched down further than he would for his own hunting and making extra sure to keep his paws off anything crunchy that could disturb prey. soon enough, her movement became more coordinated, both due to getting used to the hunters crouch (or so he assumed) and because she had picked up a scent (which he was actually sure about since he could also smell it from where he was hovering a few lenghts behind). vole wasnt really what he wouldve preferred she track first since they were ridiculously small and quick (especially for that size) but he was curious to see how she'd do anyway. upon spotting the vole, rookfire twitched in place, the practiced urge to leap at the animal having to take a backseat to watching his apprentice try. the attempt was alright, though a bit too late.
rookfire stayed silent, keen on watching both her reaction (a simple lash of her tail, simple, good) and whether she would continue. which she did, this time pouncing right on time and catching a nicely sized mouse.
"good work. wanna try again or go back to camp?" angular head cocked to the side slightly in question, the enforcer attempted a neutral expression, actually not intending on pressuring her into saying she'd like to stay but offering a option. something something about letting her take responsibility and some kind of aspect of her training into her own paws.

[ @Neptune. ]