Cattail Pond

[panchiko]

blink blink. blink.. blink? w...well that was sorta intimidating? but he liked that spirit! he reached over to poke eelpaw back every time the apprentice poked him. “i agree to all terms and conditions and rules and regulations ya might want me to abide by or whatever! who would want to leave? i would never do ya dirty like that.” dayheart gave eelpaw a small smile, hoping that was convinced eel enough that he wasn’t going to leave. was asking people to never leave customary? was dayheart supposed to start doing it? maybe he would. that way, he’d never get abandoned! or at least, that was how it was supposed to work, right? that sounded like a cool idea. eelpaw was a genius. as of now, though, not many cats had abandoned him, so he figured he didn’t need to start requiring people never to leave just yet. but.. eelpaw. who’d hurt the poor kiddo? they had to have been abandoned at least one too many times to start telling everyone not to leave. the warrior aimed to give eel a few pats on the head.

“i won’t leave! i won’t leave. i won’t leave,” dayheart reassured. “promise!”

okay! hunting! hunting was fun, they could do hunting! aaaaaa… how did hunting work again? he paused, malfunctioning for a few seconds before his memory finished Loading™. “okay! are ya ready, eelie? eel-ey? eelee.. yeah! are ya ready?” eelee. that was a fun nickname if he did say so himself. “you’ll do great!” ...if dayheart could figure out how to teach them properly. it was just Say Hi → Show Them The Hunters’ Crouch → Have Them Do The Hunters’ Crouch → Have Them Hunt.. right? even then, though, there were other things that factored into hunting, like upwind, downwind, not making noise.. and then there was also fishing. having them do the hunters' crouch correctly was also a whole other thing. eep. well, dayheart had gotten himself into this. he was going to make sure eelee learned well! and, of course, had fun. the fun was the most important part; the fun was the funnest part. there would be some learning… but mostly fun.

// @Arie <3

[Ziera]

// @StealthWarrior

Stormtalon padded along the rim of Cattail pond, turning back over his shoulder to make sure Bluepaw still followed. She was there. For the most part, he’d been quiet on the journey, but now that they arrived, Storm thought he might test his apprentice’s ability to distinguish scents.

“The territory markers might be overwhelming at first,” Stormtalon said, his voice level and expression neutral. “But soon you’ll be able to tell them apart. I want you to try now. What are the most prominent scents here, Bluepaw? Tell me.”

[Ziera]

// @Yellow Caballero

Stormtalon all but forgot about the encounter with Sootpaw when he settled in his spot near clumps of cattails, where many warrios took their aprentices swimming for their first time. He curled over the surface of a smooth rock several fox-lengths away from the pond, one which afforded him the best view of Starpelt's majesty. The stone contained warmth from that day's sun--which made it even better.

Darkness inched deliciously closer and closer, and Storm felt prickles of anticipation under his pelt. He thought of how amazing it would be, watching beautiful streaks of light whiz across a blushing sky. There were few places Stormtalon could truly savor the meaning of relaxation; this spot was one of them.

[Arie]

-- @hope --

This cat was strange. Really strange. But for some reason they... somewhat liked him. Mr.Crazy seemed... tolerable? Just... a bit over excited and Eelpaw didn't exactly know how to handle that. And then the pats. Eelpaw tolerated them because they were nice but also because it would feel wrong to say no. It wouldn't be... correct. Like... it would be mean to stay stop wouldn't it? So they simply said nothing and just put up with the pats by flickering their ears back and forth as they proceeded to stare up at Mr.Crazy. They didn't have many questions, many demands outside of the fact that Mr. Crazy could not leave them and to Eelpaw it didn't seem like an entirely unreasonable rule. "You sure you won't leave?" They had to be sure. And no way would they blink often. Their blinks were already slow and Eelpaw made sure to slow down even further so their blinks had even further between them. Mr. Crazy could not leave. Okay. They were ready to learn. "Will you teaching me something now? maybe?"

[Starfall]

Sleepypaw
@hope

The Apprentice hadn't even checked to see if his mentor was with him as he left the camp. His eyes held no light as he padded onwards. He'd catch as much fish as he could and return to camp. Head was pounding, it was agonizing. Paws were numb and his throat was tight. Father was back. Yet there was still no signs of his siblings...and to be frank he didn't really wish to speak with his father. Annoyed with him, angry with him. He left him behind...and he hadn't really seen Dayheart in a while either. That was probably his own fault, for dissapearing, and for ignoring those around him.

The grey feline continued his swift pace, steady and strong. He needed to get better at hiding his displeasure, anger. It would be best to come off as neutral...maybe even...possibly like his mentor? Air-headed. The tom seemed to have multiple connections. Head felt as though it was squeezing itself over and over again. Deep pain. He hadn't even realized they were at the destination until his paw sunk unto one of the more shallow ponds.

Moment's passed as he simply looked down at the pond, ears quivering. Finally the Apprentice swiveled his head. A soft smile plastered on his face. "Have any fishing tricks?"

[panchiko]

“sleepppy!” dayheart smiled at the wonderful sight of sleepy. “hi sleeeeepy!” it’d been a while since he’d seen sleepypaw! he quickly rushed out of camp behind the apprentice, a bit surprised at the grayish cat’s pace compared to his own leisurely one. maybe it was just because dayheart was being a bit slow — he’d missed sleepy! walking slowly would give him a chance to chill with the tuxedo tabby mix, but that would mean the patrol would take longer and that wouldn’t be too nice — so the calico sped up his walking.

“m! yeA!” dayheart exclaimed, thinking for a moment. “well, like, ya sit next to the water n all, n try to make sure your shadow ain’t on the water. have ya ever swatted a leaf? or flicked away a rock? well, it’s kinda like the same motion!! y’know? you just sorta.. scoop your paw into the water if you see a fishy in there and then bAM. ya got yourself a fish! and, like, you can time it so your paw goes in a few seconds early but not too early so that the fish ends up walkin’ into your paw and you can just swISH your paw up and then ya got yourself another fish!”

okay, so maybe that was a set of steps more so than just a few tricks. oops. “ya kinda just, y’know, sit like this, or something like it,” — he shifted his body so it wasn’t casting any reflections on the water — “and look for the fishies - you might just see a little sliver of a fishy or maybe just see them makin’ splashes in the water - and go swish swoosh scoop and then bite it!”

“ya know, i’m sure you’ll be a good fish-getter!” fish-getter. he was pretty sure that wasn’t what it was called, but he couldn’t think of the right word off the top of his head, so fish-getter was the word he was going to use. dayheart watched the water with his own green eyes, slipping his paw into the pond when he caught sight of a little gray blur in the water. he used his paw as a hook to scoop it out before giving it a little killing bite, feeling bad about killing the pretty fishy. it was for a good cause, though!

// @Spoopy Star

[panchiko]

was he.. not trustworthy? he hoped eel trusted him! “i’m sure! promise! is there, like, a way you want me to prove it to you, or like?? because i can prove i won’t leave! i just don’t know how i’d prove that except for me, like, being here right now and not being away!” he hoped his word was good enough for eelpaw to be able to trust that he wasn’t going to leave. dayheart wouldn’t abandon eel like that, even though he wasn’t sure he could even call it ‘abandon’ considering eelpaw didn’t seem all too excited to meet him and ‘abandon’ gave the impression that they were friends. were they friends? dayheart considered eelee a friend, but did eelee consider him a friend? he couldn’t tell, considering eelpaw barely trusted him not to leave.

“uhhHH yea! okay so the basic thingy is the hunters’ crouch, which helps ya, like, hunt the prey, y’know? you just like sorta drop to the ground but preferably not in a fall-y way because that would hurt and it’s not supposed to hurt! ya just bend your front and hind leggies so it helps you keep your body low! and then as long as you keep your tail above the floor but not too high up, you should be good!” dayheart wasn’t sure how to explain the whole thingy, but he’d tried his best! maybe an example would help? hrm. the warrior dropped into his hunters’ crouch after a minute of contemplating it, hoping that the visual would make what he was saying more clear.

“and then you just sorta slither n walk forward towards the prey n put all your weight into your hind leggies and juMP onto it. and bam. bite it. in the neck. and you’re done!” that was.. close enough to how it worked, right? he hoped eelee would be able to make do with that info.

// @Arie

[Pepperkins]

Amberflight
[OPEN]

A quick swish of a tail held high reflected against the glassy surface of the pond as the molly apporached, the fish darting off in all directions as she tapped the water softly with a paw. Letting off a small purr of amusement, Amberflight seated herself by the edge of the water, sighing as she looked off blankly into the distance. She had no reason to be out here, just getting some "fresh air" from the busy life of a warrior. Looking down at her reflection, a slight frown formed on her face before disappearing. It looked strange, unnatural to her, like a patch of fur missing on a perfectly plump mouse.

She had no idea why emotions were such a marvel to her, she swore she had experienced them as a kid. It was as if over time, she just stopped feeling all together. It wasn't as if she didn't want to express herself, she couldn't. It felt wrong, as if she were expressing a part of herself no one was meant to see. Not only that, but her understanding of them was very limited. She didn't get body language, facial expressions. She knew what they were, she just couldn't comprehend them. She had lost all knowledge of emotions at some point in her life and it seemed impossible to get them back.

Instead, she chose to shut everyone out. Can't feel if you have no reason to. She took to studying, trying to understand how to feel again. To no avail though, it only made her more confused. Why was that cat crying? Because their kits died during birth? Well you just saved yourself a life of annoying pests, why is that sad? She couldn't understand how any of the emotions she used to experience as a little kit and a short while into her apprenticeship were useful now. She even became numb to pain. One can only get a thorn in their paw or grab a few scratches from a raid but so many times before they become used to it. That's exactly what she did it seemed.

All the knowledge she could know about every cat she knows, and no way to know how to feel about it. Should she be proud? Excited? Perhaps a little afraid? Studying a cat as soon as you meet them is a little weird, she knows at least a few cat's had to have at least been weirded out by it. But she didn't and that's what she knew for certain. That, and that no matter what it took, she was going to figure out how to experience emotions again.

Amberflight's head lifted from her expressionless gaze into the pond as her ears caught sound of a leaf shifting somewhere close by. She parted her jaw slightly, but the scent of the fish overpowered whatever it was. "Whoever that is, you might as well come out. You aren't doing a very good job at making little noise," she called out, not specifically in any direction, just generally as she returned her eye sight to the water, watching the fish swim around peacefully. It was almost calming.

[JusticeRabbit]

Spottedpaw peeked out then atood out.
@Pepperkins

[ophelia]

@Pepperkins
Silverpool slipped out of the reeds gently with a purr of laughter, "Well that's what I get for trying to sneak up on somecat I suppose. You were in very deep thought," she observed, coming to sit beside Amberflight at the pond's edge and dipping her tail in the water lazily. "What were you looking at?" She tilted her head at the pond, not seeing anything but green algae and little minnows.