Softpaw's Training [P]

[Fits]

Heroneye
| she/her | RiverClan | Warrior |

Heroneye nodded in approval. She appreciated Softpaw’s willingness to take a slower approach for the sake of a better outcome; she had to imagine that most apprentices would have wanted to jump right in to hunting, whether they felt confident in doing so yet or not.

“Alright. We’ll practice some pouncing first. As for your paws, in theory, a cat with smaller paws would have a harder time retrieving fish from the water than one with larger paws, but I don’t think it’s anything to be especially concerned about. You’ll just need to be a bit more exact than the average cat is all,” Heroneye explained, her gaze flicking to the younger cat’s paws.

“For pouncing, you’ll want to be as close as possible to the prey without alerting it. They’re quite alert, so that will generally bring you to about as far as you can jump. And it’s important to do it in a single jump; every second spent rushing at the prey is a second it has to react and get away.” Heroneye turned her head, flicking her tail at a small, gray rock on the ground nearby. It wasn’t anything special, but it stuck out well enough.

“If that rock were a piece of prey, I’d start by stalking toward it.” By this point, Heroneye had actually managed to find a sort of teaching rhythm. Maybe this wouldn’t be a total disaster after all? In any case, she never even reflected on how strange she must seem, stalking after a rock like it’s a mouse or something. “Once I’m close enough, I get ready, and--” Heroneye lowered herself, eyes locked on the prey-rock, and surged towards it, trying to demonstrate how one should reach the prey in a single bound. “At this point, you’ll have to kill it. It’s generally preferable to do so by snapping its neck with your paws; most cats prefer their prey without any cat already having bitten into it.”

“If you’re ready,” Heroneye said, backing away from the prey/rock, “try it yourself. Once you’ve got that down, we’ll give real prey a try.”

( @SeonghwaBerry )

[SeonghwaBerry]

Originally Posted by Fits

Heroneye
| she/her | RiverClan | Warrior |

Heroneye nodded in approval. She appreciated Softpaw’s willingness to take a slower approach for the sake of a better outcome; she had to imagine that most apprentices would have wanted to jump right in to hunting, whether they felt confident in doing so yet or not.

“Alright. We’ll practice some pouncing first. As for your paws, in theory, a cat with smaller paws would have a harder time retrieving fish from the water than one with larger paws, but I don’t think it’s anything to be especially concerned about. You’ll just need to be a bit more exact than the average cat is all,” Heroneye explained, her gaze flicking to the younger cat’s paws.

“For pouncing, you’ll want to be as close as possible to the prey without alerting it. They’re quite alert, so that will generally bring you to about as far as you can jump. And it’s important to do it in a single jump; every second spent rushing at the prey is a second it has to react and get away.” Heroneye turned her head, flicking her tail at a small, gray rock on the ground nearby. It wasn’t anything special, but it stuck out well enough.

“If that rock were a piece of prey, I’d start by stalking toward it.” By this point, Heroneye had actually managed to find a sort of teaching rhythm. Maybe this wouldn’t be a total disaster after all? In any case, she never even reflected on how strange she must seem, stalking after a rock like it’s a mouse or something. “Once I’m close enough, I get ready, and--” Heroneye lowered herself, eyes locked on the prey-rock, and surged towards it, trying to demonstrate how one should reach the prey in a single bound. “At this point, you’ll have to kill it. It’s generally preferable to do so by snapping its neck with your paws; most cats prefer their prey without any cat already having bitten into it.”

“If you’re ready,” Heroneye said, backing away from the prey/rock, “try it yourself. Once you’ve got that down, we’ll give real prey a try.”

( @SeonghwaBerry )

Softpaw had been sitting with her little white paws neatly under her and her soft looking tail flicking intently beside her. Listening carefully Softpaw gave a tiny nod, "Hopefully I'll be able to learn as well as the rest of Riverclan......" She mewed gently. Softpaw's eyes followed her mentors as the small grey rock seemed to spawn out of the blue. Licking her paws Softpaw gently streched her limbs. Flicking her tail she fell into a pretty good crouch, Softpaw figured that some animals may try to run, focusing on the area that might seem ideal for a mouse home, Softpaw leapt just beyond the rock, blocking its path home and if the animal would have tried to turn. Softpaw had already slapped the rock and held it with her paw firmly. "I technically caught it right? I figured jumping in front of where its home might be but not to far would be a way to block them off. Then they'd have to take a turn which would give me time to cut them off and I'd be able to catch them..... right?" Softpaw asked in a wondering and curious voice. Though she sounded a tiny bit insecure about her thesis. Was it foolish? Was it unrealistic and she'd let her imagination take over like usual?

[Fits]

Heroneye
| she/her | RiverClan | Warrior |

Heroneye tilted her head with curiosity. Its... home? Interesting. Heroneye had wondered if a pretend prey-rock would be of any use, but Softpaw had quickly gotten into character, even imagining a mouse’s hole not too far away.

“Yes, I suppose it would be useful to block off the prey’s paths of escape. Ideally, of course, the prey wouldn’t escape from your paws, but even the most skilled warriors can not do it perfectly every time; planning for contingencies can be equally important and valuable,” she said in approval, slowly nodding her head. Or did that even sound like praise? Oh, curse Heroneye and her inability to express positive emotions! Judging by Softpaw’s slightly wavering tone, she seemed somewhat insecure about her approach; Heroneye just wanted to convey that she thought that Softpaw was doing well for her first time hunting.

“That being said,” Heroneye added evenly, “It's always preferable to prioritize reaching the prey before anything else. At least, make sure you keep your eyes on the prey the entire time. Even a heartbeat spent with your back turned gives it the possibility to slip away.”

“In any case, your form and technique are quite good, considering it’s your first time. If you’re feeling ready, we could try hunting live prey. Unless there’s anything you would like more time to practice, that is.” Heroneye felt confident that Softpaw would at least come close to catching something if she tried now, but she also didn’t want to rush the apprentice, either. Like she’d said: pressure could lead to failure.

( @SeonghwaBerry )

[SeonghwaBerry]

Originally Posted by Fits

Heroneye
| she/her | RiverClan | Warrior |

Heroneye tilted her head with curiosity. Its... home? Interesting. Heroneye had wondered if a pretend prey-rock would be of any use, but Softpaw had quickly gotten into character, even imagining a mouse’s hole not too far away.

“Yes, I suppose it would be useful to block off the prey’s paths of escape. Ideally, of course, the prey wouldn’t escape from your paws, but even the most skilled warriors can not do it perfectly every time; planning for contingencies can be equally important and valuable,” she said in approval, slowly nodding her head. Or did that even sound like praise? Oh, curse Heroneye and her inability to express positive emotions! Judging by Softpaw’s slightly wavering tone, she seemed somewhat insecure about her approach; Heroneye just wanted to convey that she thought that Softpaw was doing well for her first time hunting.

“That being said,” Heroneye added evenly, “It's always preferable to prioritize reaching the prey before anything else. At least, make sure you keep your eyes on the prey the entire time. Even a heartbeat spent with your back turned gives it the possibility to slip away.”

“In any case, your form and technique are quite good, considering it’s your first time. If you’re feeling ready, we could try hunting live prey. Unless there’s anything you would like more time to practice, that is.” Heroneye felt confident that Softpaw would at least come close to catching something if she tried now, but she also didn’t want to rush the apprentice, either. Like she’d said: pressure could lead to failure.

( @SeonghwaBerry )

Softpaw listened intently to her mentor. Tail flicking gently and ears flicking up in happiness at the subtle praise. "Oh alright then!" Softpaw concluded with a playful purr, clearing her throat as she seemed to be insecure about being giddy. "So uhm, sure! Live prey sounds like a good idea, then I can test my mouse hole skills" Softpaw joked carefully. Hoping she didn't seem to awkward or foolish. Softpaw was good at many things but being serious.... she had to work on that for sure. Teasing the air carefully as she mother taught her, Softpaw meowed, "I think I smell a water vole over to the left. I can't tell how far though." Softpaw observed gently.

[Fits]

Heroneye
| she/her | RiverClan | Warrior |

Heroneye blinked with surprise. It was her first time hunting, and yet Softpaw could already identify prey and its location based on its scent. To be honest, it had taken Heroneye an embarrassingly long amount of time to get the hang of that herself. Actually, that was kind of the case with most things; Softpaw was a much faster learner than Heroneye had been, though Heroneye did have some of her own problems at the time. It was complicated. And irrelevant. Seriously, Heroneye seemed to have the worst habit of thinking of troubling things and the most inconvenient times.

“Let’s follow it, then,” said Heroneye in a low voice with her best encouraging expression. “It smells as though it’s several rabbit hops away. Just try to follow the scent and catch it using the techniques you’ve learned today.” That’s not enough direction, Heroneye. “And if you need any help, I’ll be a ways behind you, watching your technique. Though I won’t interfere with the catch itself, of course.” Or was that too much pressure, too intrusive? Oh, well, it’d be fine, probably. Hopefully Softpaw would be comfortable enough to say something if she felt that her mentor was stepping on her paws.

( @SeonghwaBerry )

[SeonghwaBerry]

Originally Posted by Fits

Heroneye
| she/her | RiverClan | Warrior |

Heroneye blinked with surprise. It was her first time hunting, and yet Softpaw could already identify prey and its location based on its scent. To be honest, it had taken Heroneye an embarrassingly long amount of time to get the hang of that herself. Actually, that was kind of the case with most things; Softpaw was a much faster learner than Heroneye had been, though Heroneye did have some of her own problems at the time. It was complicated. And irrelevant. Seriously, Heroneye seemed to have the worst habit of thinking of troubling things and the most inconvenient times.

“Let’s follow it, then,” said Heroneye in a low voice with her best encouraging expression. “It smells as though it’s several rabbit hops away. Just try to follow the scent and catch it using the techniques you’ve learned today.” That’s not enough direction, Heroneye. “And if you need any help, I’ll be a ways behind you, watching your technique. Though I won’t interfere with the catch itself, of course.” Or was that too much pressure, too intrusive? Oh, well, it’d be fine, probably. Hopefully Softpaw would be comfortable enough to say something if she felt that her mentor was stepping on her paws.

( @SeonghwaBerry )

Softpaw looked at Heroneye, amused. "Alright." She purred quietly, her eyes narrowing into serious green slits as she padded silently, suddenly stopping and crouching, hoping her mentor would do the same. Softpaw spotted the water vole and kept her paws steady, her white pelt stuck out much in the dark area, she she stayed as still as possible, staying close to the roots of the trees to blend in, perhaps the vole was dumb enough the think she was those gross fluffy mushrooms? Probably not, but Softpaw made sure it didn't live long enough to tell the tale, Softpaw stalked a bit closer before hunching her hind legs and leaping, using her tail mid-air for balance Softpaw landed beside to water vole, slamming her paws in a messy but affective haste.

"I got it! I did it!" Softpaw yowled triumohantly, carrying her catch back to her mentor with her green hues gleaming in pride. "See, seems your lesson of responsiblities paid off." Softpaw teased. "Remember when I was in your class? Me and Shellkit almost argued..... and Flowkit was there to....... I think someone else but i'm not sure." Softpaw thought carefully