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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
"Voles are fast, Hornetpaw." Minkvenom's head popped out from underneath a frosty fern, her muzzle stretched with a confident smile. "They're our prey, they have to be!" She padded out, careful not to disturb her cover and leave trace of where she had been.
"But that's all part of the challenge. And while we can't change how fast the vole runs, we can change how well we hunt." Minkvenom nodded back to the big paw prints, the broken twig, and the disturbed leaves. "You've made a start, and now you've got a base idea of what to expect you can became better! -Just not the best, considering I'm still out here." The mentor just had to add that in at the end, gazing off to the side as she relished in thoughts of her own successes.
"Alright, before we find anymore prey I want you to sneak up to that fern I came from, but-" Minkvenom turned around and plucked a stray blade of grass from the ground. She would have preferred to pick a leaf from a plant, but Leaf-Bare only provided so much. "-you have to balance this piece off grass on your nose the whole way!"
( @sleepyyjax - I am so sorry!!! I thought I replied to this ages ago and was waiting for a response, but I must have imagined it!!)
Hmph. She pouted, listening to Minkvenom's ramble. Yeah right - she was fast! And she had to be faster than most normal voles. That vole had to have been an extra fast one, it just had to! Minkvenom probably didn't see just how fast it went. Otherwise, if it was just a normal-speed vole, that would mean she's already doing a bad job and - and that would be - well - her thoughts were interrupted as she tuned back into what her mentor was saying. Sneak up on a fern? Easy! That's all she spent her time doing, sneaking up on mossballs and ferns and the like. Ugh, what a pointless task, but at least she could show Minkvenom that she was actually very very good at this, and that really was an unnaturally fast vole.
But - what? Balance - wh- no. No way! "How would that -" She huffed. "I don't know how balancing grass would help me hunt." The paw grumbled, but still extended her nose, waiting for the grass to be placed upon it. Despite her complaints, she knew there was probably no way of getting out of this. She'd just have to show Minkvenom how she was ThunderClan's greatest pouncer, and how she totally-definitely didn't need to do something like this.
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
Minkvenom gave an amused huff. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought she was teaching herself! Only difference is that the mentor believed she was the best apprentice before she was the best warrior, with any of her actual failures overshadowed by her rather average amount of successes. It was incredible how blinding pride could be.
"Don't think about how it'll help you hunt, just think about getting that blade to that fern for now." She meowed, placing the blade of grass on Hornetpaw's nose. It was an attempt to get her apprentice's attention away from her grumbling and onto the task at hand, but honestly, Minkvenom would have done the same thing when she was a paw.
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
Minkvenom gave an amused huff. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought she was teaching herself! Only difference is that the mentor believed she was the best apprentice before she was the best warrior, with any of her actual failures overshadowed by her rather average amount of successes. It was incredible how blinding pride could be.
"Don't think about how it'll help you hunt, just think about getting that blade to that fern for now." She meowed, placing the blade of grass on Hornetpaw's nose. It was an attempt to get her apprentice's attention away from her grumbling and onto the task at hand, but honestly, Minkvenom would have done the same thing when she was a paw.
She grumbled, before getting into the task at paw. Okay, just stalk and pounce with s bit of grass on your nose, can't be too hard -hahha- right? Urgh - it tickled! She held in a sneeze, and crouched down into an okay-ish hunter's crouch. Okay, one paw at a time. She lifted a paw slowly, wobbling as she tried to stay as still as possible - tilting to one side, then the other when she noticed the grass was about to fall. That was one pawstep down... Onto the next. Another one, and she didn't wobble about quite as much. Another and another... After a decent few, she was finding it far easier to take a step without wobbling. She was stepping on twigs, sure, but she was too focused on the grass to notice. Now, she was close enough to pounce. She readied up, lowering herself even closer to the floor. [D20 - 10+ for a hit] [Rolled: 18]
1... 2... Go! The 'paw sprung forward, grass flying off her nose as soon as she entered the air, and landed with her claws in the bunch of ferns (and a face full of fern). She stumbled a little, struggling to regain balance after landing, but a couple awkward steps, and she was back up. She turned round, grinning at Minkvenom, "Good??" She called. It had to be right?
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
"Very good!" Minkvenom mewed with delight. Watching someone else improve so much actually put a smile on the mentor's face, even if she still knew the apprentice wasn't the best (Though, that was an impossible task to achieve while Minkvenom claimed that spot). "Much better than before! Nice work Hornetpaw."
The black molly padded over to the side, purposefully avoiding the untouched area in-between them. "Now, try and do the same thing back over to me, but this time..." she turned around and sat her tailless hind on the ground. "... you have to be quiet. Quiet enough that I don't hear you. Take your time for this first try, don't rush, and if you make any noise, I'll react like prey would."
She lifted up a paw and began casually grooming her head, acting as if she had no idea the apprentice was there.
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
"Very good!" Minkvenom mewed with delight. Watching someone else improve so much actually put a smile on the mentor's face, even if she still knew the apprentice wasn't the best (Though, that was an impossible task to achieve while Minkvenom claimed that spot). "Much better than before! Nice work Hornetpaw."
The black molly padded over to the side, purposefully avoiding the untouched area in-between them. "Now, try and do the same thing back over to me, but this time..." she turned around and sat her tailless hind on the ground. "... you have to be quiet. Quiet enough that I don't hear you. Take your time for this first try, don't rush, and if you make any noise, I'll react like prey would."
She lifted up a paw and began casually grooming her head, acting as if she had no idea the apprentice was there.
YES! One win. She knew she'd get it right in the end (lies). Well, now for another challenge. She crouched back dow, carefully placing paw after paw. It was a little easier after dealing with that whole grass situation, but it still wasn't easy. Oh! And her paw went straight onto a crunchy leaf. Darn. The 'paws head flicked up, checking if Minvenom had noticed the noise.
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
At first she didn't hear Hornetpaw at all, and was almost going to look back to see if she'd moved but a 'crunch!' soon removed her doubts.
The mentor's ear twitched, and she stopped licking her paw, tilting her head to the side. It was turned so that only the edge of her black muzzle was visible, but not her eyes. She held that pose for an achingly long few moments... before she wrapped a tongue along her muzzle and turned head back away, continuing to groom herself.
Prey made errors like warriors all the same. Some prey would run away at that first sound, but others would mistake it for the sounds of the forest. Minkvenom was pretending to be that prey this time, but another error would be Hornet's last for this exercise.
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
At first she didn't hear Hornetpaw at all, and was almost going to look back to see if she'd moved but a 'crunch!' soon removed her doubts.
The mentor's ear twitched, and she stopped licking her paw, tilting her head to the side. It was turned so that only the edge of her black muzzle was visible, but not her eyes. She held that pose for an achingly long few moments... before she wrapped a tongue along her muzzle and turned head back away, continuing to groom herself.
Prey made errors like warriors all the same. Some prey would run away at that first sound, but others would mistake it for the sounds of the forest. Minkvenom was pretending to be that prey this time, but another error would be Hornet's last for this exercise.
Okay! So far so good, Minkvenom hadn't run away yet. Now she could keep going.
[rolling D20 - rolled: 19!]
She continued creeping onward, paying extra attention to where she was placing her paws. Oops - she almost went toppling over for a second! But, she regained her balance, and focused her attention back on Minkvenom. Now, time to pounce! She went cascading through the air toward her mentor - probably best not to bite...
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
If there were any mistakes in Hornetpaw's movements Minkvenom hadn't heard it. The only thing she caught wind of was the apprentice's pounce, but by the time the mentor turned her head it was already too late.
The black molly let herself be knocked down to the ground by the paw, upholding her role as unsuspecting prey. And, though her act was convincing, there was no denying that Minkvenom herself felt as though she had genuinely been caught off guard. It was as unwelcome as it was brief, but she found that falling to the ground was a more skilled reaction rather than a failed dodge. A reaction that she would quickly convince herself was fully intentional, due to her incredible thinking skills.
"Good stalk Hornetpaw! If I was a vole, I would've never seen it coming." She mewed, totally not referring to herself (at least not consciously). The warrior pushed herself back up and shook off her long fur, spraying cold water everywhere. "It'll take some time to get better, but I think now you could give hunting some real prey another shot."
Minkvenom sat down and raised her nose in the air, "Go on! See if you can find anything."(Rolled a 2) She couldn't smell anything yet...
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
If there were any mistakes in Hornetpaw's movements Minkvenom hadn't heard it. The only thing she caught wind of was the apprentice's pounce, but by the time the mentor turned her head it was already too late.
The black molly let herself be knocked down to the ground by the paw, upholding her role as unsuspecting prey. And, though her act was convincing, there was no denying that Minkvenom herself felt as though she had genuinely been caught off guard. It was as unwelcome as it was brief, but she found that falling to the ground was a more skilled reaction rather than a failed dodge. A reaction that she would quickly convince herself was fully intentional, due to her incredible thinking skills.
"Good stalk Hornetpaw! If I was a vole, I would've never seen it coming." She mewed, totally not referring to herself (at least not consciously). The warrior pushed herself back up and shook off her long fur, spraying cold water everywhere. "It'll take some time to get better, but I think now you could give hunting some real prey another shot."
Minkvenom sat down and raised her nose in the air, "Go on! See if you can find anything."(Rolled a 2) She couldn't smell anything yet...
Haha! Yes! Point proven. She was good at this (if you ignore all the time she'd just spent learning). and now they were going to hunt real prey again - finally! She raised her nose to the air, attempting to get a wiff of anything. All the scents of the forest were overwhelming, but they were becoming a little easier to understand every time she took a trip out of camp. [Rolled: 12] There was definitely prey nearby, but it all smelt like a big mush. She shook her head. "I smell prey, but I don't know what kind of prey - or where it is." She admitted, a little disheartened.
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Minkvenom || She/Her || Reliable, Prideful, Boastful || Header made by the awesome newo!
"Well, only the most skilled warrior could get that first try," Minkvenom purred vainly, "but it's not going to be easy every-time, so we'll see what the problem might be for now. Try..." She cocked her head at Hornetpaw, attempting to figure out what she was missing. "... opening your maw! Sometimes your nose doesn't catch all the scent properly if it's faint."
(Rolled an 11) The mentor could smell what she was smelling now, but couldn't quite figure out what it was either.
Re: Hornet Training Thread !! /ᐠ - ˕ -マ
