wings to warriorhood [p]

[alec]

rookpaw needs to get his training together! its time.


✩ in progress/not started ★ finished

★ stealth
✩ hunting
___________________

i have returned to get the rookster more training.

climbing
fishing
swimming

[alec]

[ this is set shortly before the move so noone explode them for being out of camp ]

[ rookpaw & roachflare ]

a unfamilliar, oddly tall cat, still apprenticed judging by the name they had introduced themselves as, had approach roachflare unexpectedly, asking for training. they smelled a bit off though he was unable to place it, something heavy herb-y along another thing, different, if he tried, he could vaguely remember seeing the dark apprentice at the meeting almost a moon prior and never before. from the smell, and non existing prior presence, he could assume they arent a shadowclan born apprentice. they looked too old to be a shadowclan apprentice as well, they took pride in well trained, young warriors and only a small amount of stragglers. he wondered what clan had messed them up. both regarding the age and apperant lack of training, and their fresh-ish looking still healing wounds.
but roach knew these questions would go unanswered, unless mud knew anything more specific about the mysterious apprentice. in reply to their question he had simply nodded, never been one of many words, not to strangers at least, and gestured for the apprentice to follow along. it was a bit odd to train an apprentice pretty much the same age as he was, but as they put more distance between camp and themselves he found his words. "stealth.." he began, silence taking over the space between them for a moment "you need to know the forest like yourself". roach didnt particularly enjoy training others, the talking was tiring and he preferred getting orders and fulfilling them. training an apprentice was..weirdly personal.. but orders were orders, even if neither dawnstar nor mistlewhisker had ever directly told him to train an apprentice that wasnt his. "know..where you can hide" his steps slowed down, they had reached a clearing, jaws agape he tasted the air while bi coloured eyes scanned their surroundings. "the most shade, least noise..always against the wind.." he continued, voice barely carried to rookpaw by the slight new leaf breeze.
he was probably more noticable than the apprentice, by pelt alone, though the apprentice had some pretty light spots, but if one tried hard enough and trained their eye, every cat could melt into the shadows like it was their second pelt.
practiced, familiar ease radiated off the tom as he left the apprentice behind, nimble, mismatched paws carrying towards the undergrowth. large deep shadows stretched over multi coloured fur, before seemingly swallowing the warrior whole. he had stilled, pressed close to the ground right where two shadows crossed, melting into the grass and shrubs. "if you can climb..in greenleaf,.. some trees provide good cover" he mewed, lifting back onto tri colour legs to make his way over to the apprentice. "look around,. familiarity is key"

rookpaw had followed the mysterious warrior into the territory, he was considerably shorter than her, but by the way he held himself she could expect that there was a lot more beneath the surface than short tri coloured pelt and shorter statue would give away. silver eyes darted around the space when the warrior broke the silence between them, his voice was pleasant enough, quiet and a bit rough like he hadnt used it in a while. rook had somewhat hoped for something more specific, something easier than knowing the forest like she knew herself, but she could see why. could imagine the warriors eyes darting around the clearing, picking out and taking note of every nook and cranny he could use to his advantage, carefully avoiding crunchy leaves and rustle-y bushes. most shade, least noise, so no crunchy leaves, and against the wind. she nodded, especially the wind part reminded her a lot of hunting, never let them know youre there until you want it, avoid any kind of noise and use the surroundings to your advantage, it all fit together. the conclusion that a cat that could use their surroundings to blend into the shadows had a whole new world of opportunities opened to them. better hunting, easier tracking and the surprise that could determine the victory or defeat. the apprentice watched roachflare demonstrate, took note of him pressing close to his surroundings, the overlapping shadows and the way he stilled, like all the muscles in his body had become stiff. 'familiarity is key', she had expected a bit more than a demonstration and a opportunity to take a better look at the territory but she would take whatever he gave her..perhaps he wanted her to get familiar, make her own observations and attempts before he got to speaking of anything more specific.

[alec]

[ rookpaw & roachflare ]

rookpaw scanned their surroundings, noting the shadows and stepping closer to undergrowth and bushes to experimentally slim through gaps and step over greenery. meanwhile, the tom remained in place, odd eyes resting their warm brown and green gaze on dark grey and off white fur, while one ginger ear turned to listen behind him. rookpaw could see the warrior, as young as he appeared to be, must be quite confident and serious about his training, and she could respect that. she skipped the trees for now, though the warrior spoke up briefly as she stared up a large pine tree, "'s better to remain on the tree..dont use them if you need to attack." there was another pause, the warrior swallowed, dark tail coming forward to curl around his paws, "takes too long to get down, just for scouting.". rookpaw moved on, stepped around and on certain parts of greenery, grass, leaves, needles, soil, and holding her breath to listen for the sounds.

roachflare was mildly surprised the apprentice was being so careful, seemingly considering the options he had layed out, trees, shade, noise. he watched lanky limbs fold to squeeze through gaps in the undergrowth, earning a quiet rustle of leaves, and the apprentice pace back and forth over a certain bit of ground. he wouldnt question it, not out loud, but when the apprentice made their way over to him again he uncurled his dark fluffy tail from around equally dark paws and stood once again.
"im going to turn around. hide" he instructed briefly, turning to walk a few steps further to give the apprentice a chance to hide. roach thought about mudslide, it wouldve been much less stressful if she were here. the rapid thumbing of his heart had slowed down again, the apprentice silence making him equally nervous and a bit more relaxed as sharp grey eyes seemed to follow his every move. he tried to focus on training, not let his mind wander to the possible thoughts the apprentice might be having about him and keep taking deep breaths, avoid eye contact and shift his attention to the chirping of birds. it had been enough time, he didnt actually feel like continuing this but he turned around anyway, bi coloured eyes scanning the clearing for the apprentice. a flash of white immediately stood out to him, nimble paws carried the young warrior closer. rookpaw had hidden between a dark tree, bark slowly peeling and splicing off as the dry season pushed closer, and a bush that was quite green enough to hide them just yet. "good attempt..try darker shadows next, overlapping is best" he mewed before repeating the process again. the second time rookpaw had hidden a bit better, still as a tree in the wind she was crouched close to the spot he had used as an example earlier.the next two times were more or less the same, he gave the apprentice quiet, short recommendations and she appeared to put them to work the next round.
"lastly, i want you to move..show that you can pay attention. dont want to hear any leaves rustling." the tri colour tom instructed, giving a flick of his tail to gesture her to move. he would trail behind her, listening to the rustling of leaves beneath the apprentices paw, little twigs snapping et cetera.

rookpaw was grateful the warrior put this much care and attention into her training, and she took the quiet advice with open paws attempting to put it to work the next try. the first time he spoke up about overlapping shadows and nodded towards the bush she took note of the lack of leaves on the bus, mustve seen her through. the second time she had found a more shaded area but made the undergrowth shiver from her shifting. the third time she remained still but had not payed enough attention to her tail and ears. the fourth time she kept striped tail tucked under her body, ears flattened to her head and chest pressed to the ground, hiding most of the light marking but had let the light hit her eyes well enough to reflect outwards to the tom. he seemed more or less satisfied, didnt push her to try the tree thing and only noted a quiet "take care of your tail" at her question for behaviour while stalking from up in a tree. finally, the sun had crept higher into the sky and was burning down with previously unfelt heat, the tom had stopped their current exercise to have her move while staying hidden and quiet. rookpaw carefully lifted her tail off the ground like she had learned from hunting many moons ago, keeping her eyes trained forward, legs bent and paws gentle as the slowly moved forward. nimble paws quietly touched down next to hers and she spared the toms dark paws a single glance, watching hid walk alongside, before returning attention to her movement. he let her walk back and forth like this for a while, giving quiet remarks once or twice, though in most cases she noticed and corrected wrong movements on her own. stepped on a twig? reposition paw and try again, chest dragging to close to the ground and catching and dry grass? lift her body up a bit more. et cetera et cetera.

roach paused the apprentice once more, making her sit face to face with him, he quietly cleared his throat, tri coloured ears twitching anxiously, "when stalking, another cat..its a bit like hunting, you put what i showed you together. move slow. silence and patience go paw in paw" he finished. leaving her a moment of silence to ask any questions she might have before lifting himself to dark paws once again before leading her back towards camp. he was tired. if the apprentice required more training she would have to wait until tomorrow. now roach would leave duties behind and seek out mudslide again, he had lost track of her between morning patrols and taking the apprentice out for training and felt the need to ensure she was well to ease his anxiety.

[alec]

once again, just a single day after the last time, rookpaw had approached roachflare for training, she had liked the style he operated in and generally preferred keeping up with the same mentor instead of hopping from one to the other every time she wanted to advance her training. just like last time, he had given her a sharp nod and signalled her to follow him into the territory, "ive been taught how to hunt already, just need to refresh stuff". it was still quite early and rookpaw hoped that this time they would be out for long enough that the midday sun could burn down on her dark pelt, but for now, rookpaw enjoyed the cool breeze and followed the warrior through the trees and deep green undergrowth.
"you know to hunt, prove it" the warrior simply ordered and rookpaw gave him a nod before parting jaws to taste the air. the strong smell and well, taste, of pine trees (which was tragically still the only tree she could identify) and thick undergrowth still irritated her a bit in identifying certain smells. even the ground, moist in a way so different to riverclans more sandy soil, smelled different, heavier but pleasant in its own unique way. but rookpaw wasnt here to sniff stuff (she kind of was though) but to catch prey so she dropped into a crouch, keen on putting what she had learnt yesterday to use hunting. the first smell she picked up was something-bird and it wasnt long, a few steps perhaps, until rookpaw spotted the animal picking at the ground. the birds feathers were a striking yellow and stark black and rookpaw couldnt help but think about how flashy it would look to return with this kind of bird instead of one of the boring brown or grey ones. now that the pressure was on rookpaw pushed herself closer and closer carefully, stilling when the bird lifted its head, and pounced at the first bit of movement that signalled the soon to be departure. only it didnt come that far, rooks claws connected with the bird before it had gotten the chance to flap its wings more than once and used the stunned confusion of the bird smashing into the ground to pin it down and finish the job with a quick bite. the apprentice considered returning to roachflare, who had sat down to wait for her, now, but she wanted to catch one more bit of prey before she could feel fully satisfied. the next scent she picked up was mouse, an easy one and one she was confident could be done in a few moments. the mouse seemed to have a different opinion as it hovered close to a gap inbetween soil and the remainder of a tree stump, covered almost entirely by moss. rookpaw turned her back to the mouse, there was no use attempting a near impossible catch like that. mildly disappointed she wandered through the undergrowth for a while before the tell tale rustling of leaves and grass made her grey eyes turn to scan the tufts of grass. this mouse didnt have a chance as great as the other one and rookpaw made quick work of it, before collecting the bird and returning to where she had left roachflare to wait.

when the apprentice returned a while later, mouse and bird between her jaws he nodded, they had not lied about knowing how to hunt then, or they had tricked him expertly, which he wouldnt even be mad about honestly. but he wanted to repeat the basic again either way to make sure she was up to speed, "the basics. tail off the ground, be aware of your surroundings...mice and birds can feel your steps better than rabbits..light steps..dont risk it though..dont overcommit.." and that was pretty much it wow this really took a lot less effort than he had expected it would.

[alec]

[ this is set somewhen between rook becoming mca and the rat conflict ]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan medicine cat app | purrks ]
[ #rookMCA24 ]

rookfire wasnt quite sure how he had ended up here after swearing or rather promising himself he would never even think about climbing a tree ever again but well. the ever lingering need to be better than everyone else did that to a guy he supposed. now he stood, facing a tree he deemed a bit less scary than the one sleepysunrise had made him climb a moon or two ago and simply stared. observing the branches, the rough bark (a dark brown colour, almost venturing into browning black in placed) and the very tip of it gently swaying in the wind. he wouldnt climb high enough to feel the breeze on his face, not this time, probably not ever. the medic had checked his surroundings before starting to think about a path up, made sure there were no predators or non shadowclan cats and, though he wouldnt admit it, had went out extra early to ensure no one would see his pitiful attempt at scaling the tree.. or at the very least reduce the risk of such happening. it was a bit stupid, he knew that, to go out without telling anyone where and what he was planning to do and specifically trying to avoid patrol, if it wasnt himself making there choices he'd be tempted to say whoever came up with it wanted to die. miserable and alone, after falling from a tree and breaking all their bloody bones.
he wouldnt though. in his mind, as long as he didnt recognise the risk this posed, nothing bad could happen. another shaky breath in, breath out, and rookfire flexed his muscles, readying himself to leap up and grasp the bark. three..two..one.. he changed his mind mid jump, rather pitifully colliding with the tree before clinging to it and making the best of his situation by pulling himself up up up. stars it too far longer than it shouldve to climb up to the nearest branch. limbs shaking by the time he got solid ground (or as solid as a branch could be) back beneath his paws the medic once again regretted ever coming here.

[ climbing 1/?? ]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan medicine cat app | purrks ]
[ #rookMCA24 ]

breaths coming out in shakily, more akin to gasps than anything as he did everything in his power to not look down. dont look down dont look down dont look- oh stars. nausea spiking in his stomach and regret and fear intermingling and coiling in his chest, the former enforcer focussed on the trees bark he was facing again. claws dug into the wood so tightly it hurt, his paws started feeling numb by the time his breathing had evened out and the dark furred medicine cat apprentice felt ready to move again. even in this state of fear, he wasnt one to let up. giving up had never done anything for him whereas pushing himself to the absolute limit had him met with lots of great opportunities, starting with joining shadowclan, over becoming an enforcer and now finally medicine cat apprentice. he wouldnt back down now either.
unhooking sharp claws from where he had embedded them deeply into the trees flesh, rookfire looked up, briefly stricken by the world spinning around him and feeling like he may slip off the branch at any moment but finally focussing on the next branch. another breath in. and he leaped off the branch on the out. clinging to the tree, he was almost too fearful and focussed on not dying to disregard his thought about squirrels. how in starclans name did there little critters scale trees so quickly and gracefully? all without practically hugging the tree and pulling themselves up little by little like he was currently doing.
really, he was grateful for his claws though, it was hard to imagine anyone scaling a tree of any capacity without the ability to find the little hollow spaces between ridges of bark, or digging claws into wood, effectively dulling them slightly yet providing the most stable and comforting safety possible. he skipped a branch or two, against better judgement, and eventually ended up a couple of tail lengths higher up than where he had started. were he not so scared this might coax a feeling of pride out of him, but there was no space for anything but fear in his mind right now.

[ climbing 2/?? ]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan medicine cat app | purrks ]
[ #rookMCA24 ]

despite already being at a height that made rookfires head spin and chest clench, he decided to go up a little further, sticking close to the stem to avoid snapping branches in half and falling to his bloody death. after he was done with this tree he'd take a break and either go back to camp or try with another tree, depending on how horrible he would feel following the last few tail lengths he would climbs and the way down. with a bit less hesitance yet an equal amount of shakiness as before, rookfire hopped up a bit to skip the weird beginning part of climbing before repeating the motion he had used to get up to her in the first place. hook claws into the bark, push up with hind legs right as he retracted his claws to be able to get up a bit further before repeating the whole process. perhaps he would have to try a different technique next time, something more akin to walking up the tree using the strength and security of his claws front and center instead of doing this weird hopping that made his heart sink every time...
with his mind busy thinking about different things to do, he almost slipped once, right paw missing the bark by a bit and slicing straight through like it wasnt supposed to be hard and stable. its fine its fine its fine oh stars
it was no fun, to hug the tree tightly, eyes pressed shut and calm his racing heart and shallow gasping breaths enough to continue. just a bit further the next branch was soon. soon soon soon. it would be fine..
restarting his progress, the former enforcer continued on upwards, slower than before but safely and successfully at the end. trembling like a leaf on the thin branch he had chosen, he was already thinking about all the gruesome things that may happen on the way down instead of celebrating this small but palpable win of even making it up this far in the first place.

[ climbing 3/4 ]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan medicine cat app | purrks ]
[ #rookMCA24 ]

last thing missing to complete this lesson, the way down. rookfire felt like he was absolutely not ready and once again wondered how in stars name squirrels could pretty much just run down the tree with their head first. the thought alone made his stomach flip. slowly inching closer to the stem of the tree, he hooked claws into a bit of bark, letting hind legs swing around to dangling parallel to the tree before digging those into the tree as well.
down was harder than up in more than one way, not only was the height quite blinding, dizzying and making the decent harder, but the movement was just. odd. backwards. he had to stop multiple times to make up his mind about the correct order of things. unhook claws, let himself slide down a bit, dig claws into bark. it was just harder and a bit too much for his head at times.
which was also a good thing if he thought about it now. the distraction of trying his hardest to not fall to his death was a pretty good distraction from thinking about falling to his death and all the things he'd miss falling to his death today.
while id love to say 'before long' and rookfire would absolutely pretend like it hadnt taken as long as it did, it took a long bloody time to get back down, and by the time he did, the former enforcer was exhausted. mentally and physically. quickly discarding the idea he had had previously to scale another tree today, and instead moved that vaguely to the near future. he'd return, try again, get better.

[ climbing 4/4 ]

[alec]

[ lets pretend lostspark didnt drown like two weeks ago okay ]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan medicine cat app | purrks ]
[ #rookMCA24 ]

it was a wonder he hadnt gotten to this until now, besides leaving his past behind and never considering returning, rookfire had given more than one swimming lesson yet never taken the time to refresh his abilities and keep them as well as possible. practicing a bit would be good if he ever wanted to pick out another cat to practice battles in a water environment, during a flood or simply within the water..predators like otters.. minks.. there was always a reason to learn. learn and combine existing skills with others, perfect what one knew as much as humanly possible. thats very much what he was here to do, alone because he wasnt looking for a practice session more stressful than it needed to be. perhaps he would take another cat next time, one that could swim already to start experimenting with the fighting aspect..but it was getting colder, he wasnt sure how much longer they would be able to access the water without it pulling all the warmth from ones body. or until it would freeze over partially, sharp shards of ice..no.. perhaps he'd have to wait until next new leaf or even green leaf. there visual of teaching a larger majority to swim was ever present, somewhere at the back of his mind. he hadnt left riverclan for no reason, so he may as well take what they have and train shadowclan to strike back with the same strength. once he had arrived at his body of water of choice, the medic paced along the edges, first observing what lay below the surface, muddy and blurry, and then moving on the inspecting the greenery in a large radius around. he had been sort of..well. he just hadnt been taking as much care as he shouldve when approaching water in the past and was determined to be better now that he..knew. swallowing heavily at the sight of it, even and shining in the low light, the former enforcer concluded his safety measures and stepped closer to the waterside again, letting it lap at his paws, vibration rippling through before disappearing around the middle of it.

[ swimming 1/4 ]

[alec]

ROOKFIRE
[ he/him | shadowclan medicine cat app | purrks ]
[ #rookMCA24 ]

a step into the water, another one, until he stood there, submerged to his chest and forced to stop to gasp for air, cold liquid urging every fiber in his body to contract and punching the air out of his lungs. stars perhaps he had waited too long after all. no going back now. he continued on, eventually losing ground beneath his paws and automatically resorting to paddling, paws spread out slightly like he had learned to do it. a lot of time had passed between the last time he had seriously taken the time to swim for more than a few strokes so it took a moment or two to get back into the flow of it (see what i did there). a pity he had chosen a still body of water over a little river of something, potentially stalling his improvement due to the lack of challenge this posed him. there was always the opportunity to go and search for one but he was already here and it was large enough to not have to turn around that often so he would make use of it as best he could. algae and little animals inheriting the water slipping slick around his limbs and getting stuck on his paws he cringed, wishing for the clear waters of riverclans hot springs for the first time since leaving. not only warm but not causing slimy plants and sticks and what not to get stuck in his pelt..
after a while of swimming back and forth with no reason goal or reason, he returned to the waters edge, stepping out to rest for a while before returning. pelt heavy with water and feeling like he was about to drain the entire pond by the water clinging to his pelt and now dripping onto the ground he crouched down two tail lengths away for the shore, watching the pull of the earth slowly transport the water from his pelt to running back into the pond once more.

[ swimming 2/4 ]