Poking her head out of the warriors den, the small grey warrior gave the clearing a few sniffs before slipping outside. With the clan on lockdown it was going to be a bit trickier to start her new apprentice's training, but she'd give it a go seeing as they could start covering the basics of theory in camp.
Speaking of apprentices... Grey eyes spotted Slugpaw and the warrior skittered over with a small chirp of greeting.
"Hello there! Um, how would you like to start some basic training?" the molly started, giving the younger cat a crooked smile. "We're a little stuck at the moment--not being able to explore and all--but we could start practicing your hunting crouch if you'd like."
She was an apprentice! FINALLY! It had been a few days since her ceremony, but she could still hardly believe it! Of course nothing had changed in her day-to-day because of the restrictions, but that didn't stop her from being simply over the moon. It was difficult to argue with those rules when she had heard all of those cats mourning the loss of their friend. As a little white kit-er apprentice she was well-aware of the dangers that owls could bring. Her parents had always made sure to warn her. She popped out of her den, shaking her pelt. Now wasn't the time for negativity! She wanted to be on her bestest behavior so that those meanies at the meeting couldn't say she was too young ever again!
A familiar voice caught her ear, as she looked up to see MISTYHEART! Brown eyes widened and filled with joy as she heard what her mentor was saying. It was happening! It was really happening! Slugpaw was going to train! And then she would become a warrior! She would prove the meanies wrong and be super duper strong! She would probably be the strongest ever! Excitement glinted in her eyes, as her expression changed to a look of pure joy. "YES! I would love that! Tell me everything you know! Don't leave out ANYTHING! Can we learn it all today? How about tomorrow?" She bounced on her pads. Now this was the bestest day ever!
Sweet stars above, this little kit seemed to have enough energy and enthusiasm to outrun all of Windclan! Crooked smile growing on the grey warrior's face, she let out a small breath of amusement as her new apprentice bounced in front of her.
"Well um--we can certainly try to learn as much as possible today!" she hummed, glancing around the clearing before her eyes settled on an unused spot near the brambles. "Learning EVERYTHING would be a bit tricky right at the beginning; you uh... You gotta let new things soak into your head to make sure they stick properly. Usually that means learning a couple things, sleeping on em, and then practicing everyday."
"But um--why don't we shuffle over there, and we can start getting you ready to be the best hunter Thunderclan has ever seen. How does that sound?"
White paws carried the small warrior over to the empty spot before she dropped down into her own hunting crouch to demonstrate.
"Try and get yourself in this position. It's a bit tricky to balance at first, but practice makes perfect and uh... I'll help you fix any unbalanced bits."
Oh boy was Mistyheart saying a lot of words! The little white apprentice’s ears twitched as she tried her best to listen. It was just SO HARD to understand anything when it was such a pretty day! The sky was so blue, and she was about to start her training! She was so excited she thought she might explode with joy! Was that even a thing? Of course not! If it was she would be exploding right now! That would be crazy!
Her wandering mind was finally able to come to when she heard the warrior mention her becoming the best hunter in all of Thunderclan! Her chest puffed out with pride at the thought. ”I sure will! Prey will have to think twice before coming out of their dens!” She squeaked. The molly aimed a swipe at the ground before following Mistyheart to the spot her mentor had picked out.
Brown eyes studied Mistyheart for a heartbeat before a smile grew across her face. “Is it really hard? It looks super easy!” She crouched down, trying her best to mimic what she had just seen. Almost immediately she felt as though the world was crashing in on her. “When did I get so heavy!” The little molly strained against her own weight, before crumpling into a tiny calico pile. She huffed. “You were right. This is hard…” She stood to her paws, getting ready to try again.
The small grey molly gave Slugpaw a crooked grin as they picked themselves up off the clearing to try again. "You were close there! Here, uh, let me just help you with your stance..."
Gently nudging the apprentice with her paws, Mistheart pushed their feet into a more stable position before moving their tail out behind them.
"There! That--that should give you a touch more balance. Your tail is um, it's more important for hunting than you think. Let's try again!"
Dropping into her own hunting crouch again to give Slugpaw a mirror for their own, Mistheart gave them an encouraging smile as they readjusted.
As she stood, she felt Mistheart helping her fix her pose. She did it kindly, pointing out that she hadn't been using her tail as much as she should have been. The little white calico wasn't offended by any means, but she was surprised. Her legs were stretched in ways she never thought they would be. It just felt so unnatural! Was this really how it went? She's so nice! I have the best mentor EVER! I have to make her proud! Carefully, she studied the way Mistheart was standing, making sure to take extra care to see how she was putting her tail. A little pink tongue peeked out of her mouth, and she tried to get it right this time. She shifted her paws, away, and made tried to keep her tail in its proper place. "Is it like this!" Slugpaw meowed. She was still wobbling a little. Even her usually torrent of words had halted to give way to concentration. The stance was definitely far from natural, but she was standing up this time! Pride shone in her eyes already as she stared up at Mistheart. I'm learning!
"Yup! That looks much better. And the more you practice, the easier it will be to do!" the grey warrior chirped before skittering over to the walls of the camp and plucking a small leaf from the bracken. "Now um, watch me for a moment. I'm going to show you how to move from your crouch into a pounce. That's how--well, it's how we hunt prey, but we'll start by aiming for this leaf."
Placing down the bit of foliage, Mistheart scooched herself back a few tail-lengths before dropping into her own hunting crouch. One tail flick to the side. A minor wiggle for adjustments... And she pounced! Front paws landed directly on the leaf, and she turned to Slugpaw with an encouraging smile before flicking it closer towards them.
"Alright now uh, you try! Make sure to push off more with your back paws to give you the uh--the speed to jump."
"Yup! That looks much better. And the more you practice, the easier it will be to do!" the grey warrior chirped before skittering over to the walls of the camp and plucking a small leaf from the bracken. "Now um, watch me for a moment. I'm going to show you how to move from your crouch into a pounce. That's how--well, it's how we hunt prey, but we'll start by aiming for this leaf."
Placing down the bit of foliage, Mistheart scooched herself back a few tail-lengths before dropping into her own hunting crouch. One tail flick to the side. A minor wiggle for adjustments... And she pounced! Front paws landed directly on the leaf, and she turned to Slugpaw with an encouraging smile before flicking it closer towards them.
"Alright now uh, you try! Make sure to push off more with your back paws to give you the uh--the speed to jump."
Mistheart said I did good! An excited purr squeaked out of her throat. I'm learning!! She stood up happily, her expression slowly morphing from excited into one of focus. The little molly watched closely as Mistheart readied herself for a pounce. White ears pointed upwards in shock as she saw how far the warrior went. Where did she get the power to do that! She's amazing! And now she was going to get to do that too! This was too exciting! She pictured herself soaring through the air and landing on a big juicy piece of prey. Was this really what being a warrior was like? She wanted more!
Falling back into her crouch she readied herself. She took a heartbeat to adjust back into the stance that Mistheart had told her was good before. Readying her shaky muscles, the apprentice tried to mimic the wriggle her mentor had done even though she didn't know how the warrior had done it. It ended up throwing her off balance a little, but she caught herself. With a steadying breathe she bunched up all her strength and pushed off of the ground. She jumped about two paw steps forwards, before tripping on her own foot and falling on her face. "Oof!" The white molly picked herself up, shaking the dust off her pelt. She turned around to face Mistheart, with a big excited smile. "Did you see that! I completely ate it!" Giggling lightheartedly she trotted the small distance back to Mistheart. "What do you think I did wrong?" Slugpaw skidded to a halt in front of her with a little bounce.
Stifling a giggle at Slugpaw's faceplant, the small grey molly gave her apprentice a grin as they approached. So eager to learn! Well, she'd better help them along as best she could.
"Well um, reaching out for your target with your front paws to help keep you focused on your landing certainly helps," she started, dropping into her own hunting crouch once again to demonstrate. "You kinda wanna... Well, you want all of you to be in the air when you leap. Helps prevent tripping on your paws."
Mistheart gave one more example leap towards the leaf, launching off her back legs and making sure to land paw first onto the target.
"And always keep your eye on the prey! Helps to keep your um, your body going where it needs to."
Slugpaw's Training
