Ripplepaw found Asterdance somewhere around the clearing after searching for a while. Finally, he dragged his hind leg to Asterdance. "Hey, could you, please teach me something. I need to know how to defend myself, and other things," he said sheepishly. His gaze swept over the warrior as he waited for a respond.
Asterdance sat up straight once they saw Ripplepaw approaching. Orange eyes flickering down to his lips to see what the tom was saying. Training! Oh man, they never actually got this far. .. Weird to be on the other side of the things, actually. Oh, how old they were.
"Of course. Don't even need to ask, c'mon, " Asterdance mewed, rising to their paws. "I kinda prefer to teach hunting before like, battle. Mainly because getting a stable crouch is pretty important when it comes to battling and like, hunting is a good steppingstone for that. So, do you wanna go over hunting or self-defense? Or both, if you think you're up for it, " They explained, leading Ripplepaw outside of the territory.
"Have you even had a tour yet, yknow, of the land?"
Ripplepaw smiled a little about his mentor saying he didn't need to ask.
"Oh alright. I can't really crouch with my leg, it's kind of crippled," the tom said, the happiness in his voice wavering a little. He showed his leg by trying to lift it as high as his other legs, which failed.
"I'm good if we can do both, I have a lot of stamina from always dragging myself around haha," Ripplepaw laughed. His gaze fell on his mentor as they spoke.
"Oh, uhh no I never got one," the blue-grey tom said. He smiled a little at Asterdance.
Blink. Blink. Asterdance took a small peek at Ripplepaw's leg, right. Riiight. That made things a little bit harder. "Fishing might be actually a more beneficial way of learning when it comes to hunting, " They confessed, from what they knew it required minimal movement. "Buut, alas, I dunno how to fish - so we're going to put a small stop in that - but I'll see about finding a cat that can, because I feel like that'll be pretty useful?" ... Thunderclan's territory had to have some kind-of fishing spot.
Pulling back, primarily to gaze at Ripplepaw's mouth. "Right, right, righhtt.. I think we'll just focus on hunting and battling instead of a territory tour but, that'll be a thing for the very near future. Do you have no movement in your leg or is it very minimal?" Asterdance asked, tilting their head to the side. Thoughts reeling, it was going to be.. hard per say, to teach hunting if crouching was out of the question.
"Hmm, can you pounncee.. like.. okay to your best.. of your ability.. try and copy this.. " The bobtail entered into a hunting crouch. Their limbs bunched together, and eyes fixated on a rock in the near distance. Then, they pushed off the ground with their front legs and landed on the rock. Turning back to face Ripplepaw. "Aye? Ii think, there might be a trouble of sound being created when you're dragging your leg across the floor - but that's if you hunt solo. I think you can help out with a partner!"
Ripplepaw nodded at his mentor's comment about fishing.
"Uh, there is no movement at all in my leg," the tom mewed. His green gaze fell on Asterdance as they said to watch them pounce. The apprentice scrunched up his face as his tried his best to get in to form. Although, his leg did hinder him. Quickly, he attempted to push off his singular usable back leg and went up a little, but then fell down and stumbled.
Ripplepaw sighed. His leg left him useless, why couldn't someone admit it? He was just an extra mouth to feed in this clan.
Asterdance watched Ripplepaw carefully, eyebrows furrowing close together. The apprentice still pushed off with his backlegs instead of his frontlegs despite what they had said. "Put the weight in your frontpaw, not your back! Try to use that as a leverage instead of your backpaws, aye?" They corrected - but admittedly, it was hard to explain. This was new for the both of them.
Rising to their paws, "But maybe you ain't a pouncer, that's okay. You can still chase your prey, you just gotta be swift enough to catch it. And you can be, with the right training. Gotta focus on building up strength in your upper body to make up for the larger weight, " They chirped. "Try again, and then I want to move on to scents. Tell me what you smell nearby. "
Asterdance watched Ripplepaw carefully, eyebrows furrowing close together. The apprentice still pushed off with his backlegs instead of his frontlegs despite what they had said. "Put the weight in your frontpaw, not your back! Try to use that as a leverage instead of your backpaws, aye?" They corrected - but admittedly, it was hard to explain. This was new for the both of them.
Rising to their paws, "But maybe you ain't a pouncer, that's okay. You can still chase your prey, you just gotta be swift enough to catch it. And you can be, with the right training. Gotta focus on building up strength in your upper body to make up for the larger weight, " They chirped. "Try again, and then I want to move on to scents. Tell me what you smell nearby. "
Ripplepaw nodded his head at his mentor, foolish mistake he should have listened harder. His mistake drove his determination as he got into the "crouch" again and pushed off his forepaws, but still fumbled. The small tom just got angrier at himself and shook his head as he tried it again. But not to his avail, it still failed. It was useless.
Ripplepaw hissed as he got up and shook the dirt out of his pelt. But he only nodded to his mentor's words to avoid complaining about his leg, no excuses.
Asterdance stared worriedly at Ripplepaw at the frustation they seemed to be bubbling as once again, he tried to leap but with more pressure on his frontpaws. Ah, they would have to see how they could help the younger. Unfortunately, Asterdance didn't have any experience on alternative methods. "Aye, don't worry about it - you'll improve, " They piped up with reassurance, leaning forward to brush their pelt against.
"Enough 'bout that, why don't you try and close your eyes? Focus on your senses, smell what is around you. And oh! Hear, yeah. What do you hear and smell?" They explained, sitting down and closing their eyes. Expecting for Ripplepaw to follow suit.
Ripplepaw nodded at his mentor, Asterdance, he sort of just seemed to calm him down in a way. Obediently, Ripplepaw closed his eyes and tried to listen and smell at the same time, he was successful.
"Uhh I smell prey and I can hear the birds chirping," the apprentice said calmly.
Asterdance relied on their sense of scent - far more in touch with it than the rest of their senses. They could smell the old trial of a squirrel, the smell of vegetation -- so many things. However, they could primarily smell the scent of a mouse. It was recent, also. After Ripplepaw spoke, the bobtail's eyes opened. A smile on their face, "What type of prey?" Asterdance inquired, surveying the floor.
Small pawprints could be made through the sandy gravel. "'Cause I'm not really good with hearing, duh, I mainly rely on scents and tracking. " Asterdance explained, making a gesture to the trial. "So, why you're tryna to figure out the scent - we're gonna follow. Stick close, and keep quiet, " They nodded their head, lowering themselves slightly to the ground.
The Dance of Ripples [P] Ripplepaw's Training
