Morning Oranges [P]

[Dolomedes]

Morningpaw
He/him | TC apprentice | Moons: 6 | No purrks

It's been so long since he was doing this, though to be honest Morningpaw didn't think he had done any training before he got lost and all. Though that just meant he had a lot to catch up on. If he wanted to actually be there for the family he still has than he needs to be big and strong like a warrior so what better way to be like a warrior than train to get his warrior name. Its been awhile since he's thought of that. His warrior name. Morningpaw didn't even feel like his name anymore being completely honest with himself so what would a warrior name feel like when it was directed at him. Morningpaw didn't know. No point in wondering. The apprentice yawned wide enough to make his eyes tear up but he just got up so sleeping wasn't an option. Now to just get some training. From who? Morningpaw didn't see the faker that was his mentor from before, soooo what now? That was until his eyes landed on a warrior not too far away in the clearing looking to be completely free. Good, Morningpaw would just go ask him. The apprentice padded over and stopped in front of the older tom, "Hello, my name is Morningpaw. Can you help me with my training?"

[ @/Dolomedes - Orangeblossom ]

[Dolomedes]

Orangeblossom
| He/him | TC warrior | Moons: 20 | No purrks |

Orangeblossom wasn't doing much to be completely honest. The morning had been slow without any patrols assigned to him and lately he's been spending most of his free time wandering the territory waiting for someone to return to him from wherever they had gone. He was just taking a small snack break before getting back to searching for his siblings. Maybe he could visit Springlight soon. He's been so busy lately that he hasn't really spoken with her outside of getting assigned and then reporting patrols. He took a deep breath in and nearly choked on the air as suddenly an apprentice appeared right in front of his vision. When did he get there? Getting over his fright quickly, the ginger took a moment to process the words being said to him. Oh, training? Neato! Orangeblossom could do that no problem!

"Sure thing! I don't mind! What do you need to know? Hunting, climbing, fighting?" The warrior got to his paws and dipped into a stretch before standing to his full height. The apprentice wasn't one he was super familiar with, only now knowing his name from his short introduction of himself. Well then, time to get going then. They could walk and talk. "Follow me, we can head out to the territory while you let me know what we're working on today!"

[ @/Dolomedes - Morningpaw ]

[Dolomedes]

Morningpaw
He/him | TC apprentice | Moons: 6 | No purrks

Well this guy didn't even introduce himself back. Guess he's staying as Orange Guy in Morningpaw's brain until he gets a full name. The apprentice didn't really care enough about him to be bothered to ask if that would distract from getting this training. That was the important part about this encounter after all. So then what did Morningpaw wanna do first? Well he hadn't gotten any training the last time he was an apprentice. Another failure on the part of his previous mentor. Hopefully whichever one he got next meeting wasn't as bad. Though the bar was so low that Orange Guy was far exceeding it with only two sentences. Though not like Morningpaw could talk when he got lost for two moons and barely made it back alive.

Ugh. "I was wondering if we could do a hunting lesson first?" That was simple enough for any warrior worth their name could teach. So he had no doubts that Orange Guy would fail with such an easy task. He seemed to be an older-ish warrior, not a freshly made one at least but Morningpaw knew of the failures that can sometimes get warrior names. "That should be a simple enough start, right?" The apprentice tagged on with what in his opinion was a reasonable amount of suspicion. He wouldn't be dealing with another Riversong for even a second.

[ @/Dolomedes - Orangeblossom ]

[Dolomedes]

Orangeblossom
| He/him | TC warrior | Moons: 20 | No purrks |

...right, well. Orangeblossom wasn't quite sure what to think of this kid. They seemed to be a bit tense and like unedge or something from the way walked and didn't seem to be as talkative as most apprentices were, or maybe he was just basing his knowledge on himself a bit too much- no wait, Berrypaw and Pinepaw were both a bit less training focused and more just general chatting and without slightly snide comments that may sound snide because of the way they speak in general and actually doesn't mean it in a snide kind of way. That should be a simple enough start, right? Was that a genuine question that Morningpaw was asking to see if he should start somewhere else, he seemed to be on the younger side after all and probably doesn't have much training yet, or was the younger tom trying to say something about Orangeblossom? Well it was probably the former, Orangeblossom himself has been a bit on edge and the kid has talked short like that this entire time, he probably didn't even realize he had delivered his words like that or something. Anyways hunting time!

The warrior nodded his head with a smile and a small confirmation before continuing to walk until they were at a good spot to stop and hunt. The forest clearing had the perfect amount of shade and sunlight and the air was warm, lightened with the new season. Ahhh Greenleaf will always be Orangeblossom's favorite of the bunch. So then to get into the lesson. "What a perfect place, yeah? I just love Greenleaf, my favorite season, what's yours? Though uhh we'll get right into the lesson as well!" The ginger dropped down into a hunting crouch and remembered vividly the times he's done this before for Rosepaw and Vixenpaw. His heart stung but he pushed the thought of his sibling away for now.

"So you start by dropping into this kind of crouch, you use this for most prey so this is pretty key to learn first paw. You lower yourself as near to the ground as you can without your fur brushing against it, your back paws will be under you while your front paws are in front of you, like this," The warrior shuffled the pairs of paws as he spoke about them respectively, "You want to try and keep your body as even as possible, it makes it easier to step lightly and quietly which are important for hunting, your prey will feel the vibrations of your paws hitting the earth if you aren't careful! Wanna try what I've shown so far then we'll get into the deep details and then practice?" The warrior spoke after showing off the position for some moments longer and then getting up and looking to the apprentice with forest green eyes. You know this kid looks a bit like Orangeblossom when you look him in the face. Orange, green eyes, floppy ear. "You know what? I'm realizing that we look kind of similar, how neat is that?" Orangeblossom concluded with a grin.

[ @/Dolomedes - Morningpaw ]

[Dolomedes]

Morningpaw
He/him | TC apprentice | Moons: 6 | No purrks

Morningpaw followed after the warrior near his heels, watching the world around him with a mix of paranoia and awe. He hasn't really been brought out of camp before and he rather forget about his being lost. That wasn't anything but terror. Going out at night when he didn't know one thing about his own clan's territory was stupid and reckless but Morningpaw was just that even if it wasn't so obvious at first glance. The apprentice knew that he was dumb, that's why he needed to make up for the mistakes and make his place in Thunderclan for real. This was his clan and he had Wolfpaw. He needed to be strong so that he and Wolfpaw are never seperated again. Neither of them could handle that, especially not Morningpaw. Nearly running into Orange Guy as he stops, Morningpaw made a little hop back to give the warrior space before he turned around and recognized the almost mistake.

Okay good, Orange Guy didn't notice. Oh wait what. Morningpaw leveled the warrior with an 'are your serious" half glare as he started to talk about seasons and what was Morningpaw's favorite as though Morningpaw has been alive for all of them or something. "I don't know, Greenleaf as well I guess." He mumbled more than answered and couldn't help but grin slightly as Orange Guy finally got to explaining what they were here to do. Hunt. Alright then dropping down, Morningpaw attempted to copy Orange Guy in his crouch but he could tell without looking at himself that he was doing it wrong. With the following more specific directions Morningpaw shifted.

He moved his back paws to be closer together rather than spread apart and moved his front paws to his right in front of his nose. His body was so low that it was awkward to move almost, he didn't have long fur so he didn't think that he would need to lift up as high as Orange Guy but maybe he needed to like not drag himself across the floor. What good was being low when your awkward walking was scaring all the prey within a hearing distance's ways away. He lifted his gaze from being fixed on his front paws to the warrior as he watched Orange Guy lift up and speak again. "Alright, that sounds fine, thank you. Is this crouch good? It feels a bit awkward..."

[ @/Dolomedes - Orangeblossom ]

[Dolomedes]

Orangeblossom
| He/him | TC warrior | Moons: 20 | No purrks |

Orangeblossom watched as the apprentice followed his words to a his best ability but there was still some little things going wrong. The warrior realized that his 'how low' description wasn't very good for a short furred cat like Morningpaw but was pleased when the apprentice seemed to be able to pick out that he was too low on his own and fixed it but there was some other things and also his tail was swinging behind him and Orangeblossom wasn't even sure if Morningpaw realized it was doing that. Well that was probably one of the only advantages to having a stubby tail in hunting because the rest of the balancing was a fun thing to deal with when he was younger. Well then, "Looking good! Just a couple of small things that'll help you straighten out that pounce. One, you are still leaning a too much on your front paws, try to pull or weight towards your torso, you'll need to spread out your front paws a bit to help that. Also! I forgot to mention, but keep an eye on your tail, the movement could scare off your prey. Everything else is pretty solid! Let me show you actual pouncing!"

The warrior dropped down again though rather than staying static like he had before when showing off the crouch the warrior began to stalk forward slowly. Carefully placing each paw, one after another, until he finally zoned in on a 'prey' leaf that would work for the demonstration. Orangeblossom then shifted his back paws a slightest bit to calculate before shooting like spring forward and slamming a paw onto the leaf as he landed. The ginger turned towards Morningpaw with a wag of his tail. "Like so, move slowly, slow your breathing and then all at once push off your back paws and keep your eyes on the 'prey.' Make sure you approach the prey from down wind, so you can smell your prey but it can't scent you until you are already too close for them to escape! Try it out!"

[ @/Dolomedes - Morningpaw ]

[Dolomedes]

Morningpaw
He/him | TC apprentice | Moons: 6 | No purrks

Morningpaw growled slightly in annoyance at himself for getting the simple hunting crouch wrong but he was quick to do as Orange Guy suggested he do. Moving his front paws further apart and trying to 'move his weight back' whatever that meant and the stilled his tail. The demonstration on how to pounce honestly left the apprentice a bit more confused than he started with, how did Orange Guy move that quickly? Morningpaw could barely even watch properly but he needed to be that quick as well otherwise all his prey would be able to nap and still have time to run before Morningpaw made a proper pounce. The younger tom made his way slowly towards the same leaf that Orange Guy had gone for. He tried to be completely silent and careful with his paws, making sure that they didn't fall on any twigs or crunchy leaves.

Then as he felt close enough to make a leap, Morningpaw took in a deep breath and watched the leaf. With a twitch of his tail, the apprentice jumped forward and slammed his paws down on the leaf. Though they landed to the right a bit and he just barely had a toe on it. Well would that have caught his prey in a real scenario or no? Whatever, it wasn't good enough. He needed more practice before Orange Guy took him further into the territory to actually try his paw at hunting real prey. The apprentice sat back and unsheathed his claws into the offending leaf before turning with a huff. "Shut it. I'll get it better on this next try. Let me practice." The apprentice spoke shortly, his annoyance at himself getting the better of him as he addressed the warrior helping him with hunting.

Morningpaw dropped into the crouch again after walking away about a tail length. He zoned in on a different leaf and stalked forward. He felt better about his movements this time but he still wasn't certain that he was being light enough with his paws. He wouldn't really be able to tell until he was facing down real prey with real senses not leaves like some kit playing warrior in the nursery. Okay, calm down. No prey is going to be caught with you all fired up about literally nothing. The apprentice closed his eyes and took a deep breath before letting it go and then taking another one. This time as he let it go he sprung forward with a pounce and flung his paws down at the leaf eh was aiming for. One full paw landed on it this time. Good!

Morningpaw huffed with pride and then turned back to Orange Guy, "Good enough, though I want to practice with real prey to see if I am actually doing everything right."

[ @/Dolomedes - Orangeblossom ]

[Dolomedes]

Orangeblossom
| He/him | TC warrior | Moons: 20 | No purrks |

Wow, okay then. Orangeblossom thought as he shut his mouth. He was just about to give some feedback to the apprentice about his first pounce when Morningpaw decided to take his unspoken words defensively or something. Though at the same time he could get what it's like to want to get things perfect on the first try. He's long since grown out of that mindset but he knew that it was pretty common for apprentices as they always want to be the best, or deputy or leader, but being deputy and leader was basically the same thing. The second time that Morningpaw went for the pounce it was looking much better than the first and the warrior couldn't help his purr of pride as the apprentice looked back to him much more positively than before. Though he was still a bit annoyed at being told to shut up before he even spoke. Well unimportant now.

"Sure thing, that last pounce was looking nice! Though you could do to be a bit nicer next time you want silence." The warrior added playfully as he began to walk further into the territory where he and Morningpaw could hunt. "You go for something first, keep an eye out for movement, or sounds of skittering and stuff. I'll hang back a bit so I don't mess up your concentration or spook anything." The warrior explained as he slowed to a stop after walking through the trees to a new area where the prey was no longer in radius to have been spooked by the practice they did in the clearing. The ginger looked to Morningpaw and motionec for the apprentice to head off and try his paw at hunting, "Whenever you are ready!"

[ @/Dolomedes - Morningpaw ]

[Dolomedes]

Morningpaw
He/him | TC apprentice | Moons: 6 | No purrks

Morningpaw only internally winced as his actions finally registered in his mind now that he wasn’t as tunnel vision-y on getting his pounce right. Oops. Though he would keep in mind that while he isn’t actually that sorry he would be nicer in the future because in the end he was just an apprentice and Orange Guy was being nice enough to teach him hunting. Whatever though. The guy has probably done it before likely having his own apprentices. They were lucky that they got a mentor that could do the main minimum, which Morningpaw shouldn’t be praising the bare minimum but his dear mentor showed it was possible to be that much of a failure. “Right. Sorry.”

The apprentice followed after the warrior as he started to lead them out further into unknown territories. He should really find someone to do a territory tour with him because this was pathetic. Though that part of Morningpaw’s short comings is his fault and his stupid stupid stupid dream that got him lost for two freaking moons! The apprentice sighed and focused on what Orange Guy was saying rather than his own thoughts even though this guy said a lot of words that were more unnecessary than not. Annoying though Morningpaw has tolerated worse.

Finally Orange Guy gave Morningpaw the all clear to get going and the apprentice wasted no time. Setting off at a brisk pace until Orange Guy was surely away enough to get some prey that wasn’t scared off by the warrior’s yapping. The apprentice rolled his green eyes before, after a yawn, tunnel vision-ed on the task at paw. Hunting. He could do this. Just remember what you were literally just taught. Morningpaw needed to find prey before he could do practice what he learned which was a very important over sight Orange Guy had but it was probably because it was so natural that he didn’t even think yo explain it. Right?

The apprentice slowed down and came to a complete stop besides a grand oak tree and some ferns. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, stilling all of his body besides the slow controlled breathing. One two three. There was nothing that Morningpaw could recognize as prey over the over whelming scents of the forest. The apprentice snorted roughly. Annoying. With a couple lashes of his tail the apprentice growled. Well then he just needed to move again. Easy enough. He would need to be careful of accidentally crossing any borders but he was sure that thunderclan’s territory was much larger than the distance he and Orange Guy have gone through. Surely if it was enough to sustain Thunderclan.

Morningpaw eventually came to another stop and strained all of his senses. Searching carefully through each smell and sound slowly as his inexperienced brain tried to pick them out separately. Maybe his getting lost did something good because when the subtle scent of vole reached his nose he recognized it immediately. It was probably under the ground somewhere close enough. The apprentice slowed and though about it. If he was here then the scent was coming from in front of him because of the downwind thing. Right, yes. Morningpaw was understanding this hunting thing.

Morningpaw creeped slowly through the undergrowth. A fern, covered in dew yet to burn off, brushed over his shoulder and he almost lost focus. Ew. Water. The apprentice blinked and as much as he wanted to shake to get rid of the seeping liquid, his eyes locked on something of interest right ahead. He approached like Orange Guy taught him but when he got close enough he realized it was a little tiny hole into the earth. Probably barely big enough to fit him if Morningpaw squeezed enough. Indecision gripped him like claws on a mouse.

The scent of vole was flooding from the tunnel and Morningpaw was probably big enough to squeeze his way down there to follow but at the same time…memories flashed from his night leaving Thunderclan. Then falling down into a crevice in the earth when he was too tired to think and see straight. He was stuck. It hurt. He was scared. The apprentice blinked the forming tears away and with a growl tearing through his young body Morningpaw shot forward. Down the hole even as the earth churned and pulled at his fur as he passed. He only dug his paws into it and tore backwards, flinging dirt every which way behind him. He was going to get this vole because Morningpaw wasn’t a failure. He was going to bring it back to his family, Wolfpaw. To Bumblestar and say, I’m not the failure you think I am, I don’t know what I am, who I am, but I am not a failure.

The apprentice broke through as dirt churned and collapsed under his weight into a small tunnel. Morningpaw’s lungs felt tight in his chest despite the way his breaths quickened. His heart was beating faster than it ever has. He forced herb colored eyes open and forced his breaths to slow. The scents were different down here. Stagnant. Dead. Like he would be. Morningpaw winced and looked at the tunnel he came in from. It was fine. He could easily climb back out. But he only would when he got this prey. Which he would.

The apprentice tried to scent but everything was still and so much that he couldn’t tell which way the vole had gone. Carried on four, shaky paws, the dark feline moved his way through the tunnel. Squeezing through tighter sections until something finally caught his attention a few tail lengths into the walk. A skittering right in his ear. Morningpaw whipped his head around and stared at the sound but all that was there was dirt. Well voles tunnel. That’s why you’re down here, of course they do, stupid! Morningpaw snorted and continued his train of thought. If they tunnel they may be in a different close tunnel, right? So if he dug into the wall he would hit it, right? Yes. That was sound logic.

But what if the tunnel collapsed. Oh. That would be an issue. Yea. Never mind. The apprentice rolled his eyes at his own cowardice. He would keep walking and hope for the best if he didn’t find something soon he would climb out and find some normal prey. Morningpaw continued down the tunnel and followed the turns and twists, he really didn’t like the slight dip the path started doing, deeper into the earth. But he wasn’t a failure and he wasn’t a coward. Except when he was. Annoying.

The apprentice looked around and finally as nothing more turned up he sighed and made the awkward and tight turn around to head back. What a waste of time. Well what kind of idea was it to come into the tunnel anyways. A stupid one. Why was Morningpaw so stupid? The apprentice sighed and then padded at a brief pace back down the way he came. Eventually the glow of sun came through the darkness and at the same time a horrified squeak followed by scrambling. Oh, the apprentice stared wide eyed for a moment as a mouse tore down the tunnel. Oh no you don’t!! Morningpaw was off, running as fast as he could in the enclosed space.

“Stop running! From! Your ine-inevitable! Death!” Morningpaw panted as he slowly closed on the mouse except not really that was just wishful thinking. But eventually the mouse did come to a stop as the tunnel ran into a dead end! It doubled back but Morningpaw managed to slam his paws down on it as it passed and sloppily slammed his fangs into its body. It stopped moving and there was blood on his face. Ew. Maybe even ranked lower than water. Actually yeah it was. Annoying. But! Morningpaw wasn’t a failure.

The apprentice managed to trail back and then crawled up to the surface. Dust settled down in his fur but he was happy enough not to care. Though also he was worn out. Morningpaw shook out his fur as he stood outside of the hole. He blinked and suddenly there was an Orange Guy in front of him and oh wow- “Personal space buddy! Ever heard of it!?” The warrior had immediately gotten in Morningpaw’s face and the apprentice jumped back with a slight hiss to his words. A glare settled on Orange Guy.

[ Uhhh Orangeblossom is also my character but uhhh just in case Power Play perms for the end from @/Dolomedes ]

[ @/Dolomedes - Orangeblossom ]

[Dolomedes]

Orangeblossom
| He/him | TC warrior | Moons: 20 | No purrks |

Orangeblossom followed after the apprentice as he started his way into Thunderclan’s territory. He was confident! That was good! He certainly was quick to pick up the lesson so the warrior had no worries about this session. It was a bit odd not to be at his side but Morningpaw had seemed the type to like some independence to work than having someone hover over him. The ginger stopped behind some tree roots and watched as Morningpaw scented the air and then growled. Well…that was quick to decide nothing was there but- oh wait he didn’t really teach how to find prey. That’s kind of important wasn’t it oops. Well too late now, he would go over it after a bit but despite that Orangeblossom wasn’t going to step in immediately. In green leaf it was pretty common to just stumble along and find something rather than dealing with a lot of tracking specifics that Orangeblossom himself didn’t really remember to well or anything.

Morningpaw continued, after awhile he stopped again and this time it was obvious that the apprentice caught something on the air. His eyes lit up and then his pupils turned to slits as he stalked forward. Orangeblossom didn’t follow as closely, not wanting to spook Morningpaw and then spook the prey off. He crept forward as though hunting himself. Though when he heard a growl the warrior moved forward much quicker. He was just in time to see Morningpaw’s rear end wiggle into a burrow. Oh. Uhhhhhhh Orangeblossom wasn’t actually quite sure what to do in this scenario? He’s never had an apprentice chase prey down into its burrow? What the heck?

Surely he was chasing something and then would pop right out with his chest in a short time, right? Orangeblossom toyed with the idea of going after Morningpaw but also Orangeblossom was like twice as big as him and then some so there was no way he was fitting down there and if he forced it he would probably bring down the whole burrow which would be awful. The warrior sat back on his haunches awkwardly. He strained his ears but he couldn’t hear any scared or bad sounds from inside. There wasn’t much he could do in this situation could he? And so time passed. And passed. With each second more, Orangeblossom could feel his heart beat a little faster and oh stars he was going to have a hard attack at only 21 moons!!

Then as he was about to force his way into the tunnel, Morningpaw came out with an air of pride and an admittedly sizable mouse hanging from his jaws. Orangeblossom didn’t care though, he immediately rushed forward towards the apprentice and started to search his dusty pelt for any injuries or shock of whatevers he wasn’t a medicine cat despite his knowledge in the area that was only to help find herbs not actually treat anyone. Oh stars, Springlight would have his head if he brought an injured apprentice into her den and he would fully let her!

Morningpaw jumped back with a hiss as he dropped his mouse and glared at Orangeblossom like he was the one who disappeared underneath the surface of the stardamned forest for a single mouse!! “Wha- Morningpaw, you just dove into a burrow! Do you not understand how dangerous that was? What if it collapsed?!”

[ @/Dolomedes - Morningpaw ]