basspaw training [p]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan enforcer | purrks ]
⤷ᯓ★ˎˊ˗ mid 20s | large & lean ˗ ★
~ the “devil” ~

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ ☾. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

rookfire had been meaning to get to basspaw for weeks now, too bad his roleplayer had been suffering from burnout and rp overload. anyhow, it was now time to get to know his new apprentice and finish some training before somecat decided he wasn’t doing enough again..as if it had been his fault at all the last time either. tz. some cats should look at their own work before judging others.
the sun was yet to fully crawl over the horizon line, the perfect time to get some stealth in order. he’d spotted basspaw in both climbing and battle training events so he was already well on their way to meeting requirements. missing would be hunting, stealth and one other extra bit of training. perhaps he could convince basspaw to join their namesake in the water, he’d been meaning to get more of shadowclan accustomed to swimming anyway.

given part of the clearing was still drenched in shadows, basspaw would get to grow accustomed to keeping his paws in order without the light of day which would get two important lessons out of the way at once.

”basspaw, lets get your stealth training started hmm?” the enforcer called into the apprentices den, lingering by the entrance only long enough to be certain basspaw had heard and seen him. if any other apprentices woke up, he wouldn’t care. it was late enough for more cats to file out of their dens anyway.

---

once the two reached the territory, rookfire lead them towards a half rotten tree stump close to camp. the older tom leapt onto the stump, silver eyes scanning their surroundings. ”look around, can you tell me what would alert prey or other cats of your presence?” he began with his old but pretty decent question. first basspaw would have to think of himself, then they could move onto discussing things and practicing.

[ @panchiko ]

[panchiko]

BASSPAW
—

while the guy loved his sleep, basspaw was quick to hop out of his nest at his mentor's call. he didn't care much for other cats' perceptions of him, but if there was anything he didn't want to be known as, it was a slacker. he rubbed his eyes a bit and blinked any trace of blurry sleepiness out, then quickly bounced out of the apprentices' den to follow his mentor into... somewhere.

as they walked, basspaw kept his eyes up, soaking in the scenery and paying attention to the ins and outs of the territory that they walked by. he hadn't really been given the opportunity to explore it very much — given he wasn't supposed to be out without an adult and he typically found himself in his own company — so he wanted to make sure he'd get to know it as much as possible on the trips where he did go out. maybe he could get more comfortable bugging rookfire about it soon.

the two came to a stop in front of a tree stump, and basspaw watched rookfire leap onto it. the apprentice thought it'd be fun to leap from stump to stump, if there were enough of them close to each other in the forest (though unfortunately they weren't). he just enjoyed jumping. maybe he could get the same effect with rocks, though he hadn't seen very many big ones so far.

he tilted his ear as his mentor began to talk and focused his attention on what they were actually doing. right. stealth training! what would give him away..? basspaw thought about it for a second and considered all the ways he noticed his mentor— it'd probably be easier for him to imagine all the things that gave away someone's presence if he was considering another person, rather than his own qualities, which he was very familiar with and could maybe be blind to.

“uhhh, my smell! us talking, or the sound of us walking, maybe. ”

he looked at his mentor, still thinking. rookfire had dark fur, but his white markings stuck out against the forest background. in turn, the apprentice looked at himself. he could probably blend into the shadows a bit, though his fur color might look a little janky against a green or brown background. there were dark spots all around them, though, courtesy of their territory being a huge canopied forest with long lanky trees.

“just.. how i look. i guess. if i'm not careful about it. big gray guy found in forest, don't think that's a particularly nice sight to see for squirrels.” his tone stayed lighthearted toward the end there, but he was really trying to give rookfire's question a good thought. basspaw waited for a response from his mentor, hoping he didn't look like a big dumb goof. surely not!

—
// @alec