Orange and Nettle do a thing! [P]

[Dolomedes]

Orangeblossom

Since the meeting, Orangeblossom has fallen into a state of full disrepair mentally. He hadn’t realized how close and dependent he was on Springlight until she was gone. Completely. Dead and gone, he didn’t even- he doesn’t even get the closure of seeing her body buried safely in the Rise. But that was because of her being still alive!! She had to be!! And one day soon, she’ll find her way home and return to Thunderclan and to his side. He just has to wait! Just like hi he has to wait for his siblings because they, too, will return to Orangeblossom. He just had to be patient. Distractions helped. With waiting and the pain that is. So the warrior, in light of having no apprentice training or patrols to actively do, turned to the nursery. Kits were good at distracting you and he didn’t mind teaching them. It made him bitter sweetly nostalgic.

The curly furred ginger padded his way over and peered into the den, memories of repairing the den with Risingstorm came to mind and he was happy at the happier memory coming to surface any times he’s been here with his siblings. Perhaps he should visit with Cliffjumper soon. For now, Orangeblossom merely blinked his emerald green eyes as they readjusted to the darker nursery from sun blindness, stepping in fully and watching all the kits and queens as they tumbled and existed. “Does anyone want a hunting lesson?” His voice was off, no where as cheery as it usually was but it was there. So he stood and waited for someone to, hopefully, respond to the offer.

[ @OBigBrainO - Nettlekit ]

[OBigBrainO]

@Oliver

nettlekit
7 moons - thunderclan - she/her
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws

Nettlekit was just in the corner, when she noticed Orangeblossom asking if anyone wanted to have a hunting lesson.
Her eyes sparkled; the sound of learning how to hunt was very appealing.
She wanted to cheer in reply, but all she could muster was a slightly raised voice and a:
“mee!”

She hoped it would get her point across.

[Dolomedes]

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

Orangeblossom's gaze moved to the kit that had approached him and he smiled with a small nod of his head. After a few more moments of waiting and no one joining, Orangeblossom turned and motioned for the kit to follow him out into the clearing where they would have a bit more space for the lesson. After getting out he turned back to face Nettlekit, green eyes sad but not because of the kit or anything, just the general brain cloud of sadness that has been following him everywhere lately... since that last meeting. He heaved a sigh, then apologized softly. "Alright, so hunting, the main form of hunting that we have in Thunderclan is land hunting, though some cats can hunt in trees though that's a skill that takes lots of time to master. We'll start this lesson by going over a hunter's crouch, you use it when encountering most, if not all, prey."

The warrior shifted into teacher mode easily now, having taught quite a few cats at this point in his life. He had two apprentices, and he had siblings and kits that he has taught. He dropped down into a hunter's crouch, "You want to keep yourself low to the floor, but make sure that as little fur as possible is brushing against the floor or else you may shift something in the undergrowth without realizing and send your prey skittering away. You want to keep your paws spread out so they settle right under your shoulders. Then the last most important piece to know is to keep your weight as evenly spread out across all your paws as possible, its important to keep quiet and also keep the vibrations you send through the ground from startling more sensitive prey." He turned to face Nettlekit, hoping that all the information wouldn't be too much all at once.

[ @OBigBrainO - Nettlekit ]

[OBigBrainO]

@Oliver

nettlekit
7 moons - thunderclan - she/her
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws

Nettlekit listened intently, and nodded.
“okie.” she mumbled.
She then tried to get into the same hunter’s crouch Orangeblossom described to her.
Nettlekit was also surprisingly silent in doing so, barely making a noise as she shuffled her paws around.
“like.. dis?” she asked quietly.
Nettlekit hoped she was doing it right — she wasn’t very happy being one of the oldest kits in the nursery anyway, meanwhile all of the cats her age were probably; she didn’t know, learning to hunt by their real mentor? Maybe she was just being hard on herself.

[Dolomedes]

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

Orangeblossom watched the kit settle into the hunting crouch and offered a weak purr in response as she nailed it quickly. "Perfect! Good job! The next part is the actual pouncing!" This was the part that was also harder to actually demonstrate as you couldn't necessarily slow down being in the air so that someone could watch more carefully, but he would be slow in the rest of the process. "When it comes to pouncing you gotta remember that you only have one shot when it comes to real prey so even if you feel a bit off when you leap, you gotta follow through. How I think about it is like... uhh an ocean wave. You lean back just a smidge and then roll the momentum into jumping forward, most of the jumping speed and power comes from your hind legs while you focus your front paws on aiming for your prey. Always be ready for a chase because you may be off, no matter how good a hunter you are there's always times where you'll be off and need to be ready to try and save the catch with a small chase." The warrior showed off his pounce after explaining the motion, then showed it again, dramatizing his slight pull back and then spring forward to try and be clear to the kit.

[ @OBigBrainO - Nettlekit ]

[OBigBrainO]

@Oliver

nettlekit
7 moons - thunderclan - she/her
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws

Nettlekit, once Orangeblossom finished talking, nodded intently.
She understood!.. right?
Yeah! Yeah, she did understand.
Pulling back, Nettlekit basically launched herself forward as she pounced, targeting a leaf that had drifted into her leaping path.
She was a bit off, but if it was real prey she probably would’ve caught it with a little difficulty.. at least, she thought she would’ve. She did manage to get the leaf in her grasp.
Nettlekit then grabbed the leaf in her jaws as she got up, turning to face Orangeblossom.
“did. i.. do it..?” she asked slowly.

[Dolomedes]

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

Orangeblossom nodded with a grin, this kit was a natural at hunting! He hoped that she continued getting it nailed down because she has the mark of being quite the fantastic hunter. Though really it came down to how willing Nettlekit would be to continue practicing and learning things for the skill. "That was amazing for your first go about it! The rest of hunting comes down to tracking and practice. Though tracking is a little hard to practice in camp I suppose we could make a kind of game out of it if you wanted?" He offered as he stood up and launched into another explanation, this though was a pretty straight forward and pretty instinctive part of hunting. "To hunt prey, you gotta find it of course. You usually scent your prey, but you can also listen out for things like eating, wings fluttering, and startled animal noises that can clue you in on what's in the area as well. If you want to practice scenting and tracking then maybe I could hide a mouse from the prey pile around camp somewhere and then you go and find it using your senses."

[ @OBigBrainO - Nettlekit ]

[OBigBrainO]

nettlekit
7 moons - thunderclan - she/her
the collector, agatha kitty, kitty softpaws

”okay..!” Nettlekit mewed.
It was quite hard to show it through a single word, but she felt very excited to play a game.

[Dolomedes]

Orangeblossom
| He/him | TC warrior | Moons: 21 | No purrks |

Orangeblossom smiled at the kits willingness, "Alright, close your eyes, and no peeking, while I hide the mouse somewhere in the clearing. I'll come get you once its hidden and then we can walk through tracking for the first round." The warrior spoke and waited for a confirmation that the kit was doing as asked before he padded towards the fresh kill pile and searched for something on the fresher side. Eventually he found a good mouse and pulled it free from the pile. Then he peered around the camp... hmm, he shouldn't make it too difficult yet so he looked to see some ferns poking out from beside the apprentice's den and he shuffled the mouse underneath it. It wasn't in eye sight unless you looked under the fern.

Orangeblossom padded back to where he left Nettlekit, "Alright, I've hidden the mouse. Remember to take things slowly and to use all of your senses, if you need any help just ask me. Though here's an early tip, if a scent is coming from up in front of you then that means you are downwind, which is important for hunting because if you approach for upwind, then more than likely your prey will scent you and skitter off."

[ @OBigBrainO - Nettlekit ]