Sunkissed Creek

[tomatosoup]

Originally Posted by Bearheart

Newtheart nodded, smiling slightly. “That was much better,” he mewed. It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely an improvement. “It’ll get easier the more you practice, but you’ll be fine to swim in a pinch.” Newtheart figured Juniperclaw wasn’t interesting in swimming merely for leisure, he had taken note of the tom’s distaste for water.

“You’ll get a better rhythm the more you swim too, then you’ll have to work less to keep your head up.” It was pretty decent progress, going from short choppy paddling to being more steady in the water. “It helps a little if you flex your paws like you’re scooping the water,” he added as a last minute thought.

"Scooping," Juniperclaw repeated quietly, and flexed a paw experimentally. He grimaced and didn't get back into the deeper water.


"Do you want to try tree climbing for a bit?" he asked, dryly hopeful. "I think there's only so much water I can stand."

[beau]

Originally Posted by tomatosoup

"Scooping," Juniperclaw repeated quietly, and flexed a paw experimentally. He grimaced and didn't get back into the deeper water.


"Do you want to try tree climbing for a bit?" he asked, dryly hopeful. "I think there's only so much water I can stand."

Newtheart nodded, he could see the poor tom looked miserable. He waded out of the river and shook the loose water from his fur, splattering the sand on the bank of the water. He surveyed the trees around them and then looked back at Juniperclaw, “Will any of these be good for climbing? Or have you found a tree somewhere else?”

When Newtheart had explored the territory he hadn’t really looked at the trees, much less assessed them for climbing, so he didn’t know which ones were good to learn on. Frankly, he probably wouldn’t be able to tell an easy climbing tree from a hard one. He supposed the branches would have to be close together, and hopefully large. Part of his issue was he didn’t trust the branches to hold him up.

[tomatosoup]

@Bearheart


"Here's good," Juniperclaw replied, climbing out of the water. He shook himself hard, spraying water everywhere. At least with his thinner coat he'd dry quicker. "Gah, how do you swim so much without getting cold?"


He trotted along the bank. Most of the trees here were thinner, younger, but there was an old, knotted one with a thick trunk; its branches overhanging the stream. At least here if Newtheart slipped he'd land in water.


"Here," he meowed, flicking his tail at it. "We'll try this one first. Can you show me how you usually climb trees?"

[beau]

Originally Posted by tomatosoup

@Bearheart


"Here's good," Juniperclaw replied, climbing out of the water. He shook himself hard, spraying water everywhere. At least with his thinner coat he'd dry quicker. "Gah, how do you swim so much without getting cold?"


He trotted along the bank. Most of the trees here were thinner, younger, but there was an old, knotted one with a thick trunk; its branches overhanging the stream. At least here if Newtheart slipped he'd land in water.


"Here," he meowed, flicking his tail at it. "We'll try this one first. Can you show me how you usually climb trees?"

Newtheart padded up next to Juniperclaw and stared up the tree. At least it looked pretty solid. He glanced back a Juniperclaw, then stepped closer to the tree. He began slowly clambering up the trunk, his claws gripping the bark tightly as he hauled himself up mostly with his forepaws.

When he neared the first branch he hooked a forepaw over it. He attempted to push off of a knot in the trunk with his back paws, but slipped. A hiss of surprise escaped his muzzle as he scrambled hauled himself onto the branch with his front paws.

“Ugh,” he mumbled as he awkwardly sat up on the branch. It was slow and probably painful to watch, but he got to the first branch. He looked back down at Juniperclaw, “What do you think?” He called. Though it wasn’t a very high branch, he already felt uneasy looking at the ground.

[tomatosoup]

@Bearheart



Juniperclaw studied how Newtheart climbed, tail flicking in thought. Oh yeah. This cat was bad at climbing trees. He considered, trying to find the right words.


"You use your forepaws a lot," he meowed, finally. "You should use your hindlegs. Mostly the hindlegs, if you can. Here-"


He stretched, sinking his claws into the bark of the tree.


"You know how, when you're about to pounce, you keep your whole body tight and together?" he meowed. "It's the same with trees... like this."


He jumped and climbed up the bark, swarming up to a branch near Newtheart's. About halfway up he realized he should slow down to show the other tom what he was doing, and with some concentration managed to keep his pace fairly slow. Reach with foreclaws, hook in bark. Bunch back paws up, hook in bark. Stretch up and reach with foreclaws again. His tail swung side to side, balancing him.


He clambered onto a branch. This part he was fairly clumsy at, but he managed without any imminent disaster.


"Try it," he suggested. "Another branch up."

[beau]

Originally Posted by tomatosoup

@Bearheart



Juniperclaw studied how Newtheart climbed, tail flicking in thought. Oh yeah. This cat was bad at climbing trees. He considered, trying to find the right words.


"You use your forepaws a lot," he meowed, finally. "You should use your hindlegs. Mostly the hindlegs, if you can. Here-"


He stretched, sinking his claws into the bark of the tree.


"You know how, when you're about to pounce, you keep your whole body tight and together?" he meowed. "It's the same with trees... like this."


He jumped and climbed up the bark, swarming up to a branch near Newtheart's. About halfway up he realized he should slow down to show the other tom what he was doing, and with some concentration managed to keep his pace fairly slow. Reach with foreclaws, hook in bark. Bunch back paws up, hook in bark. Stretch up and reach with foreclaws again. His tail swung side to side, balancing him.


He clambered onto a branch. This part he was fairly clumsy at, but he managed without any imminent disaster.


"Try it," he suggested. "Another branch up."

Newtheart looked up to the next branch, judging the distance. He stood shakily, his tail lashing out for balance. He began climbing towards the next branch, trying to copy what Juniperclaw had done. He bunches his hind legs under him. He reached up and gripped with his front claws, probably a bit more stretched out than he should be. He sighed, he was almost at the branch. One more awkward reach and he was next to the branch. He shuffled over bit then clambered onto the branch with a huff. He really wasn’t built for this climbing stuff. It was still very clumsy but it was a bit better, it even felt a bit easier.

[tomatosoup]

Originally Posted by Bearheart

Newtheart looked up to the next branch, judging the distance. He stood shakily, his tail lashing out for balance. He began climbing towards the next branch, trying to copy what Juniperclaw had done. He bunches his hind legs under him. He reached up and gripped with his front claws, probably a bit more stretched out than he should be. He sighed, he was almost at the branch. One more awkward reach and he was next to the branch. He shuffled over bit then clambered onto the branch with a huff. He really wasn’t built for this climbing stuff. It was still very clumsy but it was a bit better, it even felt a bit easier.

"That was better," Juniperclaw meowed, watching Newtheart. His tail flicked. "Nice work with your tail."


He stretched and settled himself more comfortably on the branch. "Show me how you climb down," he meowed. "Don't panic if you slip. We're not too high up."

[beau]

Originally Posted by tomatosoup

"That was better," Juniperclaw meowed, watching Newtheart. His tail flicked. "Nice work with your tail."


He stretched and settled himself more comfortably on the branch. "Show me how you climb down," he meowed. "Don't panic if you slip. We're not too high up."

Newtheart looked at the ground below the tree a sort of grimace appearing on his face. This part he really didn’t like. He carefully made his way to the trunk and began to slowly descend the tree. He took one paw- step? Did this count as a pawstep? He wasn’t sure. He looked back up at Juniperclaw and frowned, how could someone be so comfortable with trees? He supposed it was similar to his enjoyment of swimming, something most cats disliked.

When he was maybe a tail length way from the ground his paw slipped on the knot he had been using as a paw hold. He hit the ground with a thump. He sat up, his tail twitching, partially from embarrassment at his clumsiness and partially irritated at himself. “I hate that part.” He mewed, wrapping his tail over his paws to keep it still.

[spade]

The sunlight dappled the ground below, filtered through leafy tree tops that arched over the path that led to the creek. Tawnybird felt a smile work its way onto his face; perhaps one of his favorite places to hunt, Sunkissed Creek was always brimming with activity and bathed in the warm rays of the sun. For a brief moment, the senior warrior let it soak into his black and orange spotted fur, a purr rumbling in his chest.

”It almost feels, for a moment, as if things are at peace, wouldn’t you agree Dreamfeather?” With a swing of his head he turned to grin at his companion, tail waving behind him. Birdsong filled the trees and the scent of prey was everywhere - this would definitely be a fruitful hunting expedition.

Nodding to the warrior, Tawnybird broke off in the direction of a rather pungent squirrel scent, stalking quietly across the sandy clearing floor. His nose twitched to narrow the location down. Amber eyes darted to movement in the thick of the undergrowth before him, a scraggly bush a few fox-lengths away from the creek. Bunching his hind legs, the senior warrior waited until he saw the tufts of the fluffy tail before diving forward, paws capturing the squirrel and killing it with a sift bite to the neck.

Tawnybird straightened himself up, offering a silent thanks to StarClan for the prey before burying it and glancing around to see if he could spot anymore.

// @Cobra

[tomatosoup]

Originally Posted by Naiad

Newtheart looked at the ground below the tree a sort of grimace appearing on his face. This part he really didn’t like. He carefully made his way to the trunk and began to slowly descend the tree. He took one paw- step? Did this count as a pawstep? He wasn’t sure. He looked back up at Juniperclaw and frowned, how could someone be so comfortable with trees? He supposed it was similar to his enjoyment of swimming, something most cats disliked.

When he was maybe a tail length way from the ground his paw slipped on the knot he had been using as a paw hold. He hit the ground with a thump. He sat up, his tail twitching, partially from embarrassment at his clumsiness and partially irritated at himself. “I hate that part.” He mewed, wrapping his tail over his paws to keep it still.

Juniperclaw's tail twitched, his muzzle wrinkled in amusement.

"It wasn't so bad," he offers. "Remember to keep your body tense, like you're about to pounce. That way your body holds its own weight, instead of hanging off your paws and legs."


He got up and swarmed down the tree, keeping himself tight and together, letting gravity pull him down. Towards the end he jumped off, landing neatly on his feet.

"Want to try again?" he asked. Or... Newtheart used to be a kittypet. He might not be used to this. "Or we can go back to camp, if you're hurt."