"Well, that ends today!" There was no denying he felt bad about his absence - but what could he do? Wolfhive could hardly get out of the nest for the duration of his illness, was too weak and delirious to function. Whatever befell him.. he wasn't sure. And it didn't matter.
RiverClan was gone for now, but plenty of dangers still lurked within the woods. Wolfhive had chosen this spot because it held a geographical advantage when fighting - tall grasses, nearby trees, the water. "We're going over some basic fighting techniques to start with, then I want to move onto some more advanced things."
He spun on his paws to face her, a little wobbly from the velocity but he corrected himself quickly. "One of the most common moves you'll see in battle is cats leaping or lunging for you - and you want to dodge that as-possible; not every time will be a success, but you can reduce the odds of it.
"Dodging's simple - move out of the way! You can side-step," Wolfhive sprang quickly to one side. "which will typically give you the opportunity to retaliate by swiping for their side. In battle, your claws should be unsheathed - but in training we try to not hurt each other." He twisted and swung his paw, as if slicing it across the flank of some invisible opponent. "You try!"
Morningpaw wasn't actually too sure how he got to this point in time... walking to cattail pond with the goal of learning to swim in mind which was crazy because ew, he was a Thunderclan cat not a Riverclan cat. Though also he understood how important this skill could be and also how the ability to swim was on the rarer side in his clan, it would put him ahead of his den mates that was for sure and it would put him one pawstep closer to warriorhood! And in the end, being a warrior was all the mattered to him because then no one could ever leave him again because he would protect them and defend them and so far only death has taken his family and friends from him... well Besides Wolfpaw. Though more a reason to be a warrior, to protect his brother better.
"Sooooo how'd you learn to swim? That isn't super common knowledge, right?" It was genuine curiosity, something about Wolfhive was different from everyone he tends to interact with. Something more akin to speaking with his brother... maybe it was because Morningpaw clearly remembered the other from that kit event all those moons ago... and by that he means like 3 or something moons, look sue him that was like half his lifetime ago. Not that he would tell Wolfhive that Morningpaw tolerated his existence anymore than anyone else. Then Wolfhive would be the guy that is sent to deal with Morningpaw and his 'poor' manners or some stupid crap like that. Also whatever, what does that even matter for something right now. He was swimming, not being scolded.
"Also like do you know how to fish as well?"
[ @BEAR. - Wolfhive ]
[ Ignore how late this is T^T ]
When Morningpaw had sought "unique" training techniques, Wolfhive had been uncertain of the best thing to do. Bone breaking certainly was unique, but more and more cats learned how to do that explicitly. Same with tree hunting techniques, tracking..
But ThunderClan didn't fish or swim. Wolfhive could, but the majority of the Clan had never set a paw in water before. And since Morningpaw wanted something different.. "I had Violetfreckle teach me. She used to be a RiverClan cat - left a long time ago," almost as long as he could remember, but not quite. "'N I'm pretty sure we're just about the only two cats who know how to do it."
He'd been wanting to train others, just hadn't felt like he had a good opportunity to do so. His apprentices needed work in ThunderClan's focus areas before he worried about extra skills. "And yeah, if you want to know how to fish we can cover that. I think it'd be best to do it first though, once we're swimming we'll scare them off!"
When Morningpaw had sought "unique" training techniques, Wolfhive had been uncertain of the best thing to do. Bone breaking certainly was unique, but more and more cats learned how to do that explicitly. Same with tree hunting techniques, tracking..
But ThunderClan didn't fish or swim. Wolfhive could, but the majority of the Clan had never set a paw in water before. And since Morningpaw wanted something different.. "I had Violetfreckle teach me. She used to be a RiverClan cat - left a long time ago," almost as long as he could remember, but not quite. "'N I'm pretty sure we're just about the only two cats who know how to do it."
He'd been wanting to train others, just hadn't felt like he had a good opportunity to do so. His apprentices needed work in ThunderClan's focus areas before he worried about extra skills. "And yeah, if you want to know how to fish we can cover that. I think it'd be best to do it first though, once we're swimming we'll scare them off!"
Morningpaw blinked, he hadn't known that about Vioeltfreckle, not that he knew much about her at all. He hadn't had a single interaction with the feline but it was surprising that a River clan cat had been allowed to join given how touchy the Riverclan and Thunderclan relationship has been for as long as he's been alive... which admittedly isn't that long but the point still stands. though being the only two that know the skill? That would make Morningpaw the third right? Interesting, he was seeking special skills after all.
"Starting with fishing sounds good. Where do we start?" The apprentice slowed to a halt only a couple tail lengths away from the bank of the pond, looking over the glittery water and trying to peer in to see if there were any fishes swimming to and fro. He wasn't sure where to even begin with fishing, he was wayyyyy out of his depth with this one and he decided that he would wait for the hornet to begin the lesson before asking anymore questions.
"It can take a bit to catch anything." Wolfhive beckoned Morningpaw to join him as he found a spot along the pond. There were nearby fish where he picked, so hopefully the wait wouldn't be too long. "First, you want to try to find a spot where you can see fish - it's not a guarantee one will get close enough for you to catch it, but it greatly increases the chances!"
Now they needed to wait. Wolfhive had raised one of his paws in preparation, gaze following the silhouettes of the fish as they glided effortlessly through the water. "You'll need to be quick, raise your paw but don't let any shadow fall over the water. It'll spook 'em away." Then after what might've been an eternity, one of the fish was coming closer, closer, closer... NOW. Wolfhive shot his paw into the water and swiped the fish onto the bank, where he'd pin it and kill it quickly. Cold blood gushed in his mouth but having done this a couple times, it wasn't really as bad as it once was.
"Pretty easy, you'll want to aim just below where you see the fish, then hook it with your claws 'n pull it as fast as you can to the bank. If you don't get a firm grip or you don't kill it on land fast, the fish'll likely escape.. But just try again if that happens!"
"Well, that ends today!" There was no denying he felt bad about his absence - but what could he do? Wolfhive could hardly get out of the nest for the duration of his illness, was too weak and delirious to function. Whatever befell him.. he wasn't sure. And it didn't matter.
RiverClan was gone for now, but plenty of dangers still lurked within the woods. Wolfhive had chosen this spot because it held a geographical advantage when fighting - tall grasses, nearby trees, the water. "We're going over some basic fighting techniques to start with, then I want to move onto some more advanced things."
He spun on his paws to face her, a little wobbly from the velocity but he corrected himself quickly. "One of the most common moves you'll see in battle is cats leaping or lunging for you - and you want to dodge that as-possible; not every time will be a success, but you can reduce the odds of it.
"Dodging's simple - move out of the way! You can side-step," Wolfhive sprang quickly to one side. "which will typically give you the opportunity to retaliate by swiping for their side. In battle, your claws should be unsheathed - but in training we try to not hurt each other." He twisted and swung his paw, as if slicing it across the flank of some invisible opponent. "You try!"
Mallowpaw
95/100
Battle training. Something Mallowpaw hadn't worked much on; she only knew two moves from the event that the Hornets had hosted moons ago. Wolfhive would be teaching her advanced moves as well as the basics; good. At her age she should be learning more than the fundamentals.
Mallowpaw hadn't thought Wolfhive would cover dodging; it was one of those moves you instinctively knew without being taught. But still she watched as her mentor demonstrated, springing to one side before twisting and slicing his paw through the air.
It was her go now, and Mallowpaw imagined an enemy lunging at her. As imaginary claws came towards her, she side-stepped and spun, slashing a sheathed paw across the invisible warrior's flank.
"It can take a bit to catch anything." Wolfhive beckoned Morningpaw to join him as he found a spot along the pond. There were nearby fish where he picked, so hopefully the wait wouldn't be too long. "First, you want to try to find a spot where you can see fish - it's not a guarantee one will get close enough for you to catch it, but it greatly increases the chances!"
Now they needed to wait. Wolfhive had raised one of his paws in preparation, gaze following the silhouettes of the fish as they glided effortlessly through the water. "You'll need to be quick, raise your paw but don't let any shadow fall over the water. It'll spook 'em away." Then after what might've been an eternity, one of the fish was coming closer, closer, closer... NOW. Wolfhive shot his paw into the water and swiped the fish onto the bank, where he'd pin it and kill it quickly. Cold blood gushed in his mouth but having done this a couple times, it wasn't really as bad as it once was.
"Pretty easy, you'll want to aim just below where you see the fish, then hook it with your claws 'n pull it as fast as you can to the bank. If you don't get a firm grip or you don't kill it on land fast, the fish'll likely escape.. But just try again if that happens!"
Morningpaw came up to Wolfhive's side slowly, not wanting to spook away the hornet's catches, but wanting to see as he demonstrated the fishing. At first, it seemed like there was nothing happening at all, even though the apprentice knew that the older Tom was waiting for the right time to strike. It was a lot less... time stressed... if that's the right word, compared to normal hunting- at least, that's what he thought before the hornet suddenly shot a paw into the water and in a blink of an eye, a fish was on the bank and Wolfhive was killing the poor thing. Wow. Okay.... that was... Morningpaw could totally do that. The black and orange feline nodded his head at the verbal and shown instructions before turning his green eyed gaze towards the water's surface.
Would all the fish here be spooked after Wolfhive's catch? Morningpaw peered into the water, squinting to try and catch the bodies of the fish through the shaky weird effect of water. Eventually, he did spot something. So Morningpaw raised up a paw... he saw his shadow flicker with the ripples of the water and oh right, he shifted so that it was no longer cast over the space. Luckily he caught the error before the fish was frightened. Though now it was time for the waiting game. He almost wanted to yawn, but that would probably be seen as rude... Morningpaw was just tired, just as he always was.
Eventually, ( after a life time of waiting ), the fish finally came into what the apprentice thought was a fine fishing range and he shot forward with little time to rethink what the hornet said about this part of the hunt. Saly, it resulted in him aiming straight for the fish, rather than under it for a hook. It resulted in Morningpaw simply straight up punching the fish and attempting to hook his claws along its scales but with the poor angle it was futile and the fish slipped away. The black and orange feline sat back with an irritable huff, great, he shook out his wet paw half dramatically with frustration.
"Stupid fish." He cursed the creature as the last of its tail flickered out of sight.
Raising his brows in a sarcastically surprised manner, Creepingpaw chuckled lightheartedly and shrugged slightly as if to concede, "Fair point, guess you'll just have to use Creepy until I get my warrior name." He purred nonchalantly, but his green eyes flashing glints of competitiveness in hopes of making that come true.
He, too, turned his attention back to Stormcrest and clocked the rest of Bumblestar's announcement. It wasn't so much that he cared for Wolfpaw or Hollowpaw in particular, but the idea of hunting down the medicine cat attacker to show off his skills and power definitely crossed his mind. He wasn't about to let some enemy show him up by attacking his clanmates.
Noticing that Shockhoney's gaze had returned to him, his ears flattened against his skull as he shifted his paws and fully prepared himself for her gloating. Which was well deserved, considering his inflated ego tendencies. But upon her gesture of good-will and bumping his shoulder, he felt his fur grow warm as he bashfully looked away. He didn't have any friends and wasn't used to having friendly interactions. Glancing back at her after she drew attention to her newfound scars, he leaned in to closely examinate her face and flashed a toothy smirk, "Cool new scars, cool new name... you're really movin' up, huh?"
Hearing the next part of the announcement, he mentally scoffed to himself as he was arrogantly confident he could take a pack of foxes with both eyes closed. But he knew better than to jeopardize his future warrior naming ceremony by breaking rules.
Creepingpaw's ears perked up as he turned back to Shockhoney and her invitation to the territory tour. He would be lying if he said he wasn't slightly surprised by her amicable offer, but he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to advance his training. Unable to stay humble much longer, Creepingpaw playfully pretended to consider the offer, "I guess we could... as long as you can keep up with me~" He boasted, his tail lashing with excitement.
”Ha! Of course I could keep up with you!” The newly named warrior puffed up. “I’m the warrior anyway, so duhh.” Feeling quite proud over the fact that she was currently ‘higher ranking’, the beige molly hopped to her paws.
“What are you waiting for, come on!” That being the last words she threw over her shoulder before scurrying off in the direction where she’d last seen Lavendersong heading.
[ Timeskipping a bit / have moved this roleplay out here so we don’t have to waste time LOL. Creeping warrior when !! Also I fell asleep while typing this oops ]
Not too long later and they were at Cattail Pond, a wide grin stretched over Shockhoney’s maw. The fluffy feline was brimming with excitement. “Look! It’s Cattail Pond!” As much as she wanted to boast all about how she’d been here — fine, perhaps she should allow Lavendersong to do her job.
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❝ I know life and fate are scary, but I wanna be legendary. ❞
Well, she was higher ranking than him after all. He couldn't argue with that, for now. The spotted young apprentice, chuckling as a wide grin crept over his grey muzzle, he leapt off his haunches and dashed briskly after Shockhoney and towards Lavendersong without wasting a beat.
[We haven't a moment to spare LOL I'm glad you did thank you!! and hopefully soon!! Just finished his hunting lesson so climbing, battle and a certain number of posts are left! AW someone was eeeepy lol]
The trio approached the fairly sized pond, the ripples in the water shimmering under the burning sun while reeds and cattails swayed gently to the wind. Fowls and various perching birds scattered the peaceful surroundings, grazing, flying by, or relaxed within the shade of nearby trees. A peaceful and serene location, no doubt.
Lavendersong trotted closely by Shockhoney, sandwiched between her and Creepingpaw who followed slightly behind and off to the side. "Great idea coming to Cattail Pond for Creepingpaw's territory tour, Shockhoney!" Lavendersong meowed excitedly, praising her new fellow warrior and friend before turning her attention to Creepingpaw, "This is Cattail Pond, a great spot to practice swimming and hunting in water since there are no currents."
Giving his chest fur a few licks as Lavendersong spoke, Creepingpaw glanced back up at the two and his surroundings before raising a judgmental brow, "No currents? What's the fun in that?" He challenged cockily, knowing full well, too, that he had never swam in his life.
"Well, you've never swam before, right?" Lavendersong retorted.
"........No." He purred under his breath after a long moment of silence.
Lavendersong, whipping her head around back to Shockhoney as an idea struck her mind, tilted her head while smiling widely and hoping her new friend was on the same page.
Aha. Lavendersong thought Cattail Pond was a good idea. Kestr- Shockhoney was so smart. Eventually she'd have to seek out Mountaintalon again so they could go over... her name, no matter how terrible the thought of losing her new name made her feel. For now, she would avoid her father. Immaturely.
"We can move on after this to see everything else." She said, and then quieted as Lavendersong gave her apprentice rundown of this landmark.
Having been staring up at the sky, Shockhoney only glanced down at Creepingpaw's supposed boast of sorts. Her lip curled with amusement at Lavendersong's retort, and Shockhoney only briefly registered her fellow warrior's mischievous glance before she was scuttling forward without warning, tackling Creepingpaw into the pond shallows.
[ @twizzypaw - Creepingpaw & Lavendersong | Did you sign up for the bingo event? Cuz Creepingpaw can surely cross off the 'Take a dip' square. ]
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❝ I know life and fate are scary, but I wanna be legendary. ❞