Silverpaw's Training

[Undertaker]

@Estelle [decided to set this up before I get distracted and forget]
He's been slacking again. It was irritating, but not something he could help at the moment. Perhaps slacking was too harsh a word, distracted might fit a bit better. He's been fretting about Twilightstar for some time now, worried. He was sure if the clan knew they might... well no. As much as Twilightstar loved and dedicated her life to WindClan, the clan couldn't be asked to do the same for her. They kept bringing her problem after problem, expecting her to have the solution for them or to do as they wanted her to do, no one ever asked how he was doing or how her day was going.

So he could only assume that if they knew she was on her last life they'd just expect more from her. Leechscar didn't understand why she kept on giving and giving to a group of cats that took her for granted. He wished she'd just stop, come, and help him convince Dreamlight, and the three of them could leave the clan and live their lives as loners. Sure, Leechscar would have some cats he'd miss, Leopardsong and the infuriating Lightningstorm were the first to come to mind, Twistedpaw, Batglare, Littlepaw... but family always came first for him.

But his mother was forever stubborn, she was gifted nine lives and they were all for WindClan. Her refusal to even think about the idea felt like she was gouging out his heart, but he was stuck accepting it for now. He hoped he could sway his mother's mind in due time.

"Silverpaw," Leechscar called for his newest apprentice, determined to get to know the molly and complete whatever training she had left to do today. Leechscar wasn't sure why his mother deemed him fit to take on another apprentice, but he was never one to fail a job it was avoidable.

"How are you feeling?" The gruff gray tom asked as soon as he located the she-cat. He knew she was called an apprentice for not finishing her training, but she-cat was old to be a warrior so he'd refrain from treating her like a kit unless she acted like one.

"I want to get a move on with your training." Leechscar gave his chest scar a few quick licks to avoid itching it and eagerly awaited a response from Silverpaw.

[Estelle]

It'd been some time since she finally rejoined WindClan, and even more time since she last had the chance to get some training done. Mind you, it was not laziness keeping the old apprentice grounded - but a broken leg, courtesy of none other than ShadowClan, of course. Day by day her wounds healed, and day by day Silverpaw grew more tired of this break, of not being able to do anything. Sure, she'd completed a patrol for Lightning...Storm, was it now? But the silver molly hardly even considered that training nowadays, so simple a task it was. A simple task some warriors failed to do.

But, after what must've been two moons back, it finally happened. Her so-called mentor, whom she could only assume had grown tired of this impediment too, called out to her and the feline just positively lit up. Now of course she could've reached out to him first; and with all due respect, she had been planning to. But simultaneously her leg still felt a little... Shakey, so to say, and she'd hate to worsen the break. But with Leechscar calling for her now, truly, was there any reason to delay this even further?

After ensuring she was more than presentable - never again would the clan see her battered and muddy - Silverpaw approached the... Argh, the younger warrior with a polite nod of greeting. He questioned her well-being, meanwhile, she studied his appearance and body language. Truthfully there was little she could truly tell, even so, she tried to get a faint idea of who this mentor was supposed to be. After having been let down by no less than three previous mentors, one of which was assigned to her twice, Silverpaw would not get her hopes up that this one was even remotely capable... The most he had going for himself right now is that she trusted Twilightstar wouldn't assign just anyone to finish her training.

"I am quite alright, thank you. And you?"
Well, if he was going for idle conversation, she might as well sit - and sit she did, neatly lifting her paw to give it a brief lick until the mention of training. At that, her ears gave a light flick and she looked up with a decided nod.
"Yes... I suppose my leg has healed enough. Although we better begin with something such as hunting, just to be safe."
Briefly pausing, she sat up before thinking better of what she just said. It sounded like she had gotten nothing done so far - when it was quite the opposite.
"Be reassured, there should be little work; I was quite assessment-ready when those Twolegs took me... Refreshers are most of what I require. Ah, and a sighting of Sedgewater Valley."


[ @Undertaker ]

[Undertaker]

@Estelle
As Silverpaw joined him, Leechscar silently listened to her response with a deadpan expression on his face. He was glad to hear that she was doing well, he'd like to assume that she'd tell him if her leg was causing her any problems.

As hunting was brought up and where she needed to sightsee, Leechscar nodded his head. "Great, you sound like you'll be easy to work with. We can do some hunting on our way to Sedgewater." Leechscar meowed, ever eager to get down to business. He waved his tail as he led the way out of camp, wordlessly ordering her to follow her.

Out in the prairie, Leechscar lifted his nose and scented the air in search of rabbit. "I'm going to trust that you know how to hunt other prey, but I need to see you catch at least one rabbit," Leechscar told the older molly after she had joined him. "If you're certain your leg can handle it, get to it."

[Estelle]

Why, of course she'd be easy to work with. All Silverpaw wanted was to earn her warrior name and be recognised for her skill, not her appearance. But in that regard, it seemed Leechscar would be... Easy enough to work with as well. He seemed to get straight to the point, though failed to answer her returned question - not that she should've expected anything else, he was a warrior after all, and ignoring her is what warriors did best. She held back a roll of her eyes and instead offered a quick smile as she began to follow him. Let's get this over with.

Her eyes scanned the surrounding area, committing the path that ought to be leading to Sedgewate Valley to memory. She couldn't be a warrior who doesn't know all the borders, after all. When Leechscar came to a halt - not at a border, mind you, but they were presumably getting there - Silverpaw stopped too. At his words, the apprentice nodded in understanding. She knew how to hunt perfectly well, but couldn't remember if she ever caught a rabbit. She supposed this must be some new requirement or one Weaselskip never told her about, either way, she better get to it.

No words were necessary, an understanding nod was enough. Leechscar didn't need to know how her leg still ached sometimes, how it still felt stiff sometimes, which slowed her down (or she was just out of practice). Walking out prairie, she let a little breath escape her before smelling the air. It'd been a while since she so clearly smelled the scent of WindClan territory, and since the cold air assaulted her nose. But somehow... It felt like home. A semi-uncomfortable home, but still home.

If she caught no scent of a rabbit, she'd move around a little, quietly walking around the grounds looking for this specific animal when so many others were around. Until, finally, the faintest scent of it reached her senses. She knew rabbits were a little harder to find in leafbare than in newleaf, courtesy of when rabbits were most often on the preypile, but it wasn't entirely impossible. Just more difficult. So when she finally caught a whiff of the animal, the feline couldn't lose track of it.

Slinking down low, being careful that her long belly fur did not touch the ground, Silverpaw crept forward as quietly as she could in this cold season. There was little wind today, and whatever breeze there was blowing downwind as it should; in fact, she was more concerned the fog her breath created would give her away, thus slowing her breathing as much as she could. Through the long grass, she expertly got closer and closer to the scent until, after several heartbeats, she saw it: the ears of a bunny sticking out of a hole in the ground. Slowly, she stopped, hiding among the grass as her eyes remained fixed on the furry creature, waiting for more of it to leave the hole before she tried catching it. She couldn't have it return in its hole, after all.

It took a bit of waiting, and she'd rather not imagine Leechscar growing impatient, she'd think him half-brained if he was. Sometimes hunting was a work of patience. It was only after some sniffing around that the rabbit emerged with its head, and then two paws, carefully pulling itself out of the hole. One hop. Two hops. This was her chance. Speeding forth, ignoring the brief ache in her leg, Silverpaw was quick to cover the rabbit's escape route and chase after it. Though, the chase didn't last long. With the rabbit caught off-guard and Silverpaw having the upper paw, she was rather fast to slam a paw down on the rabbit, the other soon following, before she gave a quick bite to the rabbit's neck to end its misery. There it was, all caught. Initially slamming her paw down wasn't all that graceful (and thank goodness it was her good paw), but it got the job done, cleanly enough as well.

Picking the limp rabbit up with a little huff, Silverpaw gracefully trotted back towards Leechscar, setting the rabbit down at her paws.
"Will this suffice, or is another required?"
She asked, eyes carefully looking at the warrior, awaiting his response.


[ @Undertaker ]

[Undertaker]

@Estelle
Training an older cat was strange. She was much easier to get along with, but Leechscar couldn't shake the feeling that he was being judged for something or other. Normally it wouldn't bother him. He's had cats judge him just for being the leader's kid before. But this judgment was more acute than who was born to. He couldn't place it, but it was rubbing his fur wrong. It felt eerily similar to when he had been training with Wolffang all those moons ago.

He hated being unable to place feelings with proper words. He tried not to dwell on it as Silverpaw nodded to him and pulled ahead to work on scenting rabbits. Leechscar's green eyes followed her silently, honing in on that leg of hers. She hadn't said anything about it during the walk. Nothing in her body language screamed that she was in pain or anything hurt, but he still kept an eye on her.

The warrior followed behind the apprentice several tail lengths back so as not to disturb her. His nose twitched as she picked up something that he didn't, so he was stuck following aimlessly behind her when he finally spotted what she did, a rabbit peeking out of a hole. There was a wait, Leechscar took a seat on the cold grass and watched for several long moments as the rabbit finally crept out of its hiding place. Personally, Leechscar would have waited a bit longer for it to come further out, but everyone had their hunting styles and decisions.

Silverpaw was off, she moved swiftly despite her bad leg, and it looked like she caught the rabbit without much trouble. Her pounce was a little sloppy, but pouncing on rabbits was a chore when they were in motion. One of the many reasons Leechscar wasn't fond of catching them. He preferred bird hunting. With the rabbit still, the molly brought her catch back to him.

He blinked his eyes slowly, watching her walk before she stopped in front of him. "Good work for someone so rusty." It sounded like a jab but it was simply Leechscar unique way of praising her. "I count that as passable so no need to catch more. Go ahead and bury that or hide it under a bush. We got some walking to do. Since we moved camps the borders are a bit further than usual. Is your leg still good? No pain?" He asked as he stood up. He didn't want the molly pushing herself. Especially if she was still healing.

[Estelle]

Her whiskers twitched at his comment, caring little about the jab-like delivery – she was quite accustomed to warriors and their less than amicable traits, and this one appeared rather foul-mooded, she was going to take it at face value; a compliment; it must’ve hurt him to say it. At least the younger warrior didn’t need her to hunt another, much to her leg’s relief; she hated it, but couldn’t exert it too much at this time. Flicking an ear in understanding she went to bury the rabbit as instructed, replying once she finished.
“I’ll be fine, thank you.”


[ @Undertaker – iii wasn’t sure if the border seeing needed to be finished, so I thought I’d give a reply jic ahah ]