Cattail Pond

[Arie]

-- @hope --

This cat... this cat kept confusing Eelpaw and Eelpaw did not appreciate it but they didn't dare say anything borderlining negative because... because then Dayheart would stop sobbing and what they disliked more than being confused was a sobbing cat. Because despite being confused you could still be useful, but if you were like sad... you were only sad. There was not 'im sad but useful.' no you were fully sad and you were not something in between. And that was why Eelpaw disliked it. Ever since their time with Ms./Mr, 'I-cant-pronounce-your-name' they had learned that they had to be productive or they would be a failure to their clan... and so they were doing their best to be productive and useful.

Wait. So rocks for like... looking pretty? But... but weren't rocks pretty where they were already?Weren't they like pretty in nature? As of that day, Eelpaw decided they were never going to move any rocks from where they originally where. Not even if they really wanted to hit someone, then they could pick up the rock and then return it to its original place after. That sounded like a good idea and Eelpaw grinned as they came to that great conclusion.

"But... I can't teach you. I'm the apprentice you're the mentor, how am I meant to teach you when you're the one meant to teach me?" They were so confused and Mr. Crazy were NOT being a help and they almost just wanted to go back to camp, but that wouldn't do either. How do you teach someone to be sane? "I don't think sanity can be taught Mr.Crazy, I just think its something you're born with." But then again where should Eelpaw know such a thing from? They didn't know! So they were simply just guessing and bluffing like everyone did. That was another useful skill!

Okay, so focus because now came all the answers that Eelpaw had been wanting far too long for. So outside of the crouch which was really important for land hunting of course, there was walk silent was it?and then be aware of the wind. Okay. They got it! They got it! Eelpaw could do it! "Can we go try it now? I want to see if I'm a good hunter."

[gs29513]

She was going to go in circles? But what if she didn't want to get all dizzy? But he must have done it, so maybe it was different in water? Maybe you couldn't get dizzy in water? That must be it! Not bothering(as usual) to go about things intelligently, Rushpaw picked an assumption, and was going with it for the ride, or at least until she was fairly forcibly proved wrong. Which she might be soon, as she began to spin, trying and largely failing to use her tail to steer. To her it was more of a limp bit of fur than a useful appendage, but she swished it about as she turned, more to see if it would manifest any usefulness than anything. Which it did to some extent, pulling whatever side she swung it to dip into the water, turning her. But she had to paddle with one side more than the other to turn anyway. And here, another of her assumed rules proved wrong, as they often did, her head beginning to spin after no more than 5 rounds, causing her to need to stop, paddling straight for a moment before doing EXACTLY what she had been told not to do, which was a fairly common occurrence, so she might have expected it. But she hadn't, and now her foot was stuck in the crook of an underwater branch, not pulling her down exactly, since it lodged in her normal stroke, but keeping her in place. After a bit of tugging that got her just about nowhere, she raised her voice, a bit embarrassed to admit her stuckness, but knowing that she needed help, and actually making a rational decision. Gingerfrost? I have been attacked by a tree! Rushpaw squealed, giving one more tug, just in case. @Estelle

[Estelle]

Perhaps he should've worded that last instruction a bit more clearly, as it definitely seemed like Rushpaw didn't quite understand. She was going to get dizzy only turning in circles like that, but Gingerfrost decided to not say anything right away. He wanted to see if the apprentice would take a moment to think before continuing what she was doing. And clearly, she did not. the young warrior sigh but still didn't pull her out. She had made the decent decision of going straight for a bit (instead of just continuing the circles which, quite frankly, would've possibly just exasperated the warrior). He kept an careful eye on her nonetheless though, in case something were to go wrong within her state of dizziness.
And again, it did. He couldn't quite tell what was exactly happening, but it didn't seem okay considering that miss cannonball was in only one place, doing.. Something. He narrowed his eyes to try to get a better look, and just as he was going to ask the apprentice what she was doing, Rushpaw spoke. Hadn't he just warned her about it? He exhaled deeply. Oh well, accidents happened.

Now, there were two ways he could deal with this: either he went in himself and got her unstuck, or, he could try letting Rushpaw unstuck herself. He chose the later, though kept ready to jump in in case something went wrong. Flicking his tail, he started explaining "look into the water and try to see how your paw is stuck exactly. If you are unable to do that, try feeling. Do not stop swimming however, and do not submerge your head in the water either." he would consider ending the lesson right then and there if she'd put her head below water "If you can, try removing your paw in the direction of an opening you might see-- in case you can't, then you might have to push a branch aside to you free yourself" he narrowed his eyes slightly and made sure she would be able to hear him clearly "If it's proving to be difficult, or you feel the tree shift-- anything like that-- let me know and I'll free you" he couldn't take to much of a risk.

[ @gs29513 ]

[gs29513]

Oh! Gingerfrost was going to tell her how to get out! She liked that idea! And he would not have to come in, which was probably good, because Rushpaw was guessing that he did not want to get wet on a cold day. Trying very hard and partially succeeding in listening to instructions, she heard him say to look into the water, which she took as shove her face in and look around underwater. Thankfully for the continuation of the swimming lesson however, just as her eyelashes brushed the water she heard the call "Don't put your head in". And while that directly contradicted his first statement(At least her strange interpretation of it) Rushpaw was not up for the complex thinking involved, instead choosing to obey directives as they came.

The next one being to move her paw in the direction of an opening, which she did indeed see, down under a fork in a tree that had ended up upside down, meaning she would have to make her leg go down before it could go up. Not that she wasn't already paddling. Kicking down as hard as she could, Rushpaw felt her paw catch before sliding out, pushing away from the snaggle and back towards Gingerfrost, her eyes happy as she called I got away! I was WAY to tough for the tree! I beat it up! Or at least, that was what she was telling herself, mostly to feel better about getting captured in the first place. Which WAS fairly embarrassing, considering her was an inanimate object with no brain, although she did have very little brain, so maybe it did even out. @Estelle

[panchiko]

dayheart thought for a second. eelpaw brought up a good point, sort of. “but i’m not your mentor so i can be your fake apprentice, but it’s not really fake but i’m not really your apprentice so i guess it’s?? sort of fake?? but it’s not like the bad fake. i’m just not an actual apprentice, but i’m learning under you which sort of makes me an apprentice, but that makes me an apprentice under you but a warrior in all other aspects. and because i’m both a warrior and your unofficial apprentice i can still teach you stuff because i’m a warrior. i don’t.. really know what i'm saying anymore but oh well.” there was also the most important part: “plus you already agreed to it so you can’t back out now-! unless you really really want to because i’m not going to like,,, stop you, since that would be mean. but it’d be nice if you honored the agreement! :)”

sanity.. was something you were born with? well, yes, probably, but dayheart had already thought of that. before talking, he realized the irony of eelpaw’s sentence - ‘i don’t think sanity can be taught, mr. crazy.’ sanity and mr. crazy were in the same sentence; he was trying to learn how to be more sane when his nickname was based off of.. a synonym for insanity. ah. he wasn’t really starting on a high note, now was he?

“well, if sanity is something you’re born with, then that means that smartness is also something you’re born with, but that logic doesn’t make sense because you can increase your smartness. that would mean, like, in theory, you can increase your sanity, right?? somethin’ like that? not that i would know, though. you’re the sane and smart one, so i guess if you say it’s something you have to be born with then you’re right! i can still try to increase my sanity and smarts, though — got nothin’ to lose, y’know.”

dayheart was just chilling. there was not much else to occupy his free time and he couldn’t really lose anything from taking smart and sane lessons, so it seemed like a good enough idea to him! he wasn’t really sure if eelpaw was just trying to get out of it because they didn’t want to and hadn’t fully realized what they were agreeing to, but if so, dayheart felt bad. he hoped that wasn’t the case! eelee was free to say no and … completely break the contract they’d made. that didn’t sound like a great option either, but eelee could do whatever they wanted! he didn’t want to pressure them!

“oh! yeah! sure! go for it! you got this, eelee!” dayheart stood back and prepared himself to watch however this played out, mentally cheering them on. woo!

// @Arie

[Estelle]

Gingerfrost kept careful watch as the small event played out in front of him.. And luckily all went well. He gave a nod to Rushpaw, indicating she'd done good. He wasn't quite sure what to think of the apprentice's excited speaking- nor what to do- so he simply watched, meowing a small "you did" once she finished. "And you did good asking for help when you needed it, getting stuck like that can happen even to the best swimmers" Gingerfrost felt he had to point that out. He was well aware some cats are either to prideful or embarrassed to do so which, depending on the situation, could have less than good consequences. There was nothing wrong with what happened to Rushpaw.

He paused for a few heartbeats, thinking, then moved on "If you think you're up for it, try swimming back and forth three time from that little tree to the rock over there" he waved his tail towards the two. The tree was fairly close to where him and Rushpaw were, whereas the rock was a little further away, but within sight and decently easy to reach "unless you'd rather stop right now, we will likely end the lesson once you've finished the back and forth's. Being tired and swimming do not go well together" and even if she didn't feel tired, he wasn't going to take any chances. Then he was silent again, for short moment only as a deep sight followed "and I suppose," he started a bit reluctantly "I could take you another time after this to cover diving" he finished in audible muttered, though surprisingly actually willing to so "but only if you show me that you have no trouble swimming and steering" he finished with his condition, then looked back at Rushpaw; if she would do them, she could start doing the swimming laps as soon as he had finished speaking.

[ @gs29513 ]

[gs29513]

Ok, so it wasn't bad to get stuck. Especially if you beat up the tree and got out! She could beat up ALL the trees! And then she would be so very very good! It would be her mission to beat up all trees! About to paddle back over and continue her self-assigned mission, Rushpaw stopped as Gingerfrost instructed her to swim from a tree, to a rock and back again three times. She could do that! Or at least, she was pretty sure she could! She wasn't that tired, and although the water was a bit cold she had largely gotten used to that by now, her body working overtime to produce heat. So she paddled over to the tree, digging her claws deep into the bark before pushing off, paddling strongly for the rock, which now looked quite a bit farther away than it had at first glance. Still, she made it to the rock quickly, turning her body so it was parallel to the rock before using her hind paws to kick off it, heading back toward the tree with strong strokes.
As she swam, she kept an ear cocked towards Gingerfrost, listening as he muttered. ...something about another diving? Was he also going to teach her diving? Now, or some other time? She wasn't sure, but she wouldn't find out until she'd swum the laps, doubling her efforts as she reached the tree for the second time, making sure to give it a good kick, just to show it who was boss. After all, she was going to destroy all trees, so she ought to start now! Her claws DID slice satisfyingly through the wet wood, although it slowed her down a bit. Getting to the rock again, panting a bit now from all the exertion, she turned quickly, finally beginning to get the hang of tail steering. Which was just as well, since she was supposed to have figured it out a while ago. Her strokes began to get a bit choppy as she continued, but she made it back to the tree, only one lap to go! Rushpaw's speed picked up again, the thought of diving now or later, and destroying vegetation picking her up, causing her to reach the rock probably the fastest yet. She wasn't consistent at all, but that was ok! Because she was about to be done! Swimming as quickly as she could, which actually was more like a crawl, she finally reached the tree, floating for a moment or two to catch her breath before heading back to the bank, shaking out her fur as she exited. Her voice rushed, she burst out What did you say about diving? Now or later? Because it is COLD right here right now! all the while hopping around, to get the blood circulating or out of excitement that she went swimming. @Estelle

[Mango]

Originally Posted by Paradise

@Zesty Mango

Leopardpaw nodded as his mentor approached, bouncing up and down on his paws eagerly. He turned back towards the pond as he awaited further instruction.

Fennelheart gave a smile,” Do you want to give it a try?” she asked curious to see how Leopardpaw’s first attempt would go.

[ophelia]

He nodded silently, tail flicking. He peered with wide eyes into the pond and flashed out a paw. He hooked a pawful of sand. "Oops," he flushed and sidled backwards a bit.
@Zesty Mango

[Mango]

Originally Posted by Paradise

He nodded silently, tail flicking. He peered with wide eyes into the pond and flashed out a paw. He hooked a pawful of sand. "Oops," he flushed and sidled backwards a bit.
@Zesty Mango

Fennelheart gave a smile,” Not bad, don’t quite go that, deep try scooping just under the fish.” she meowed. Hopefully that would help, she wasn’t that good at fishing if she was being honest, but she was trying her best to teach Leopardpaw how to fish.