Grimpaw's training [p]

[kittycatburmise]

Irisfrost

After the meeting had concluded, Irisfrost took Grimpaw out, only glancing at him as she exited camp to ensure he was following. She led him a fair way from camp, relishing the damp, rich earth beneath her paws, so different from the hard stones in RiverClan's mountain territory. She had missed this, especially in the early days there, where her paws had been soft and fear of rolling her ankle on a loose pebble had been forefront in her mind. There was no need to worry about that here.

Eventually Irisfrost stopped and turned towards Grimpaw. "I'll be teaching you land hunting today." She had chosen it over fishing because the skill could be applied anywhere; from RiverClan's territory to the mountains they had temporarily called home. And the past few moons had opened her eyes to how easily the other clans could team up and drive them out again. They didn't have any reason to at the moment, but who knew what the future held? If one clanmate messed up badly enough, it might push the other clans to attack them. She had seen it with Dusklion- Stormstar. Granted, Fallownose's death wasn't the only reason for the raid, but it was what had tipped them over the edge.

Never mind. No need to worry about the future. "Copy me," Irisfrost told her apprentice before dropping into a hunter's crouch. She checked that her stance was perfect; she didn't want to give Grimpaw a bad example to follow.

@Goopysharkboi

[Goopysharkboi]

Grimpaw took a few seconds to register the pose before he quickly dropped into a rather good attempt at a hunter's crouch.

[kittycatburmise]

Irisfrost

Irisfrost didn't see any major problems with Grimpaw's crouch. "Good." She stood up and padded towards a scraggly tree nearby. She picked up a leaf that had fallen off it and placed it a bit over a tree-length from where Grimpaw was standing, then walked back to him. "I'm going to demonstrate stalking now. That leaf will be my target." With that, she dropped into a hunting crouch and began to move towards it, eyes fixated on the leaf. When she was about a fox-length away, she tensed her muscles and lunged. Her paws landed squarely on the leaf.

Irisfrost straightened and stepped away from the leaf. "Now you try." If Grimpaw did well, they might move on to live prey.

@Goopysharkboi

[Goopysharkboi]

Originally Posted by kittycatburmise

Irisfrost

Irisfrost didn't see any major problems with Grimpaw's crouch. "Good." She stood up and padded towards a scraggly tree nearby. She picked up a leaf that had fallen off it and placed it a bit over a tree-length from where Grimpaw was standing, then walked back to him. "I'm going to demonstrate stalking now. That leaf will be my target." With that, she dropped into a hunting crouch and began to move towards it, eyes fixated on the leaf. When she was about a fox-length away, she tensed her muscles and lunged. Her paws landed squarely on the leaf.

Irisfrost straightened and stepped away from the leaf. "Now you try." If Grimpaw did well, they might move on to live prey.

@Goopysharkboi

Grimpaw nodded gently, and slowly began to creep towards the leaf. Once he was close enough, he tensed his muscles and lunged, landing directly on the leaf.

[kittycatburmise]

Irisfrost

Grimpaw did well; there was nothing noticeably wrong with his technique, and his paws landed directly on the leaf, a good sign for his aim. "Good work," she praised. "Now, there are a few things to keep in mind when hunting live prey. The first is to stay downwind so they can't smell you. The second is to be mindful of the type of prey you're hunting: mice feel the vibration of your paws before they hear you, while birds have good eyesight. You'll want to step especially lightly while hunting the former, while for the latter make sure you're in one of their blindspots."

"The third thing to note is that prey will run- or fly, if it's a bird- away when they see you. When you leap, try to aim where they will go, not necessarily where they are." Her advice given, Irisfrost nodded at her apprentice. "Now scent the air for prey, by drawing your tongue over the roof of your mouth. Then try and catch it." She could scent a mouse nearby; it would be interesting to see if Grimpaw took her advice into consideration when trying to hunt it.

@Goopysharkboi (uh I think this is correct)

[Goopysharkboi]

Originally Posted by kittycatburmise

Irisfrost

Grimpaw did well; there was nothing noticeably wrong with his technique, and his paws landed directly on the leaf, a good sign for his aim. "Good work," she praised. "Now, there are a few things to keep in mind when hunting live prey. The first is to stay downwind so they can't smell you. The second is to be mindful of the type of prey you're hunting: mice feel the vibration of your paws before they hear you, while birds have good eyesight. You'll want to step especially lightly while hunting the former, while for the latter make sure you're in one of their blindspots."

"The third thing to note is that prey will run- or fly, if it's a bird- away when they see you. When you leap, try to aim where they will go, not necessarily where they are." Her advice given, Irisfrost nodded at her apprentice. "Now scent the air for prey, by drawing your tongue over the roof of your mouth. Then try and catch it." She could scent a mouse nearby; it would be interesting to see if Grimpaw took her advice into consideration when trying to hunt it.

@Goopysharkboi (uh I think this is correct)

Grimpaw took the advice into consideration for a second, and caught a different scent- sparrow. Then he scented the mouse and tried to choose. He went for the sparrow, leaping at it with lethal precision.

[kittycatburmise]

Irisfrost

Grimpaw didn't go for the mouse, instead following a different scent. Irisfrost parted her maw to draw in the forest smells, and this time she detected another scent. A sparrow. She watched as her apprentice leapt at the bird, claws sinking into its body. It was a good catch, especially since he had only just learnt to hunt. He was turning out to have very good aim; she was sure he would be one of the clan's best land hunters by the time he became a warrior.

"Good work," Irisfrost told him. "Thank StarClan for the prey, then bury it. The hole only needs to be shallow; don't waste too much time digging it." Its main purpose was to conceal it from predators, and a thin layer of dirt above it would do the trick.

Her eyes flickered upwards, where the sun was climbing steadily through the sky. "I'll leave you and we'll both hunt. We can meet back here at sunhigh." That should be enough time to catch a couple pieces of prey, at least.

@Goopysharkboi

[Goopysharkboi]

Originally Posted by kittycatburmise

Irisfrost

Grimpaw didn't go for the mouse, instead following a different scent. Irisfrost parted her maw to draw in the forest smells, and this time she detected another scent. A sparrow. She watched as her apprentice leapt at the bird, claws sinking into its body. It was a good catch, especially since he had only just learnt to hunt. He was turning out to have very good aim; she was sure he would be one of the clan's best land hunters by the time he became a warrior.

"Good work," Irisfrost told him. "Thank StarClan for the prey, then bury it. The hole only needs to be shallow; don't waste too much time digging it." Its main purpose was to conceal it from predators, and a thin layer of dirt above it would do the trick.

Her eyes flickered upwards, where the sun was climbing steadily through the sky. "I'll leave you and we'll both hunt. We can meet back here at sunhigh." That should be enough time to catch a couple pieces of prey, at least.

@Goopysharkboi

Grimpaw gave a soft nod, and buried his prey before beginning to search for another scent. This time, a vole caught his attention. He began slowly and lightly creeping in that direction before his muscles tensed and he pounced on a particularly large vole. After dragging it back to where he had buried the sparrow and also burying it, he began trying to scent another animal- a mouse. He quietly followed the scent, creeping lightly as he began slowly creeping towards a small mouse- before his muscles tensed and he pounced on it, dragging it back to where he had buried his other prey.

[kittycatburmise]

Irisfrost

Watching Grimpaw bury the sparrow, Irisfrost realised that he hadn't thanked StarClan for the prey. Maybe he had said the prayer in his mind. Of course, it was entirely possible that Grimpaw hated StarClan or didn't believe in them like many of her clanmates, but she wanted to believe that the first possibility was true. So, although her brow furrowed and her lips tugged downwards in a frown, she let it go.

As Grimpaw padded away, Irisfrost set off in a different direction, although she made sure to stay within ear-shot of her apprentice. Grimpaw may have had battle training, but if a predator or rogue attacked him she doubted he would be able to defeat them, not without sustaining heavy injuries at least. She didn't want a seriously hurt, maimed or dead apprentice on her record or her conscience.

But she wasn't concerned enough about threats to keep her eyes on him at all times, not when there was hunting to do. Scenting the air, the tang of a vole wafted towards her, and she pinpointed it among the thick blades of grass around her. Irisfrost slid into a hunter's crouch and stalked towards it, eyes fixed on her prey. It didn't notice her until her shadow fell on it; the vole had barely started running before Irisfrost's paws slammed on it. She bit the back of its neck and it went limp.

Irisfrost murmured her thanks to StarClan and buried the vole before setting off again, scenting the air regularly as she went. Soon another scent hit her nostrils; a wren. Dropping into a hunter's crouch, Irisfrost began to stalk it. She was almost within pouncing distance when the bird's head snapped towards her, the tortoiseshell reflected in its shiny black eye. It started to rise into the air, and Irisfrost leapt after it, claws sinking into the wren's flank. A surprising amount of brown feathers were dislodged as predator and prey slammed back onto the ground, the latter still struggling as blood seeped out of its wounds. Trying to avoid being slapped by its wings, Irisfrost bit the back of its neck and it stilled. She observed it for a moment before thanking StarClan and burying it. It was a messy catch, but a catch nonetheless.

She scented the air again, but she could detect no prey, and it was almost sunhigh. Irisfrost dug up the wren before retracing her steps back to where she had buried the vole. Prey hanging from her jaws, she padded back to her and Grimpaw's meeting spot, running an eye over his catches: a vole and a mouse. A good haul, especially for an apprentice. Irisfrost dropped her prey to speak. "You did well today," she told him. "We're going to head back to camp now. You can give some of the prey you caught to the elders, or the kits and queens if they've already been fed." With that, Irisfrost picked up her prey and started the trek back to camp.

@Goopysharkboi (We can end the lesson here)

[Goopysharkboi]

Originally Posted by kittycatburmise

Irisfrost

Watching Grimpaw bury the sparrow, Irisfrost realised that he hadn't thanked StarClan for the prey. Maybe he had said the prayer in his mind. Of course, it was entirely possible that Grimpaw hated StarClan or didn't believe in them like many of her clanmates, but she wanted to believe that the first possibility was true. So, although her brow furrowed and her lips tugged downwards in a frown, she let it go.

As Grimpaw padded away, Irisfrost set off in a different direction, although she made sure to stay within ear-shot of her apprentice. Grimpaw may have had battle training, but if a predator or rogue attacked him she doubted he would be able to defeat them, not without sustaining heavy injuries at least. She didn't want a seriously hurt, maimed or dead apprentice on her record or her conscience.

But she wasn't concerned enough about threats to keep her eyes on him at all times, not when there was hunting to do. Scenting the air, the tang of a vole wafted towards her, and she pinpointed it among the thick blades of grass around her. Irisfrost slid into a hunter's crouch and stalked towards it, eyes fixed on her prey. It didn't notice her until her shadow fell on it; the vole had barely started running before Irisfrost's paws slammed on it. She bit the back of its neck and it went limp.

Irisfrost murmured her thanks to StarClan and buried the vole before setting off again, scenting the air regularly as she went. Soon another scent hit her nostrils; a wren. Dropping into a hunter's crouch, Irisfrost began to stalk it. She was almost within pouncing distance when the bird's head snapped towards her, the tortoiseshell reflected in its shiny black eye. It started to rise into the air, and Irisfrost leapt after it, claws sinking into the wren's flank. A surprising amount of brown feathers were dislodged as predator and prey slammed back onto the ground, the latter still struggling as blood seeped out of its wounds. Trying to avoid being slapped by its wings, Irisfrost bit the back of its neck and it stilled. She observed it for a moment before thanking StarClan and burying it. It was a messy catch, but a catch nonetheless.

She scented the air again, but she could detect no prey, and it was almost sunhigh. Irisfrost dug up the wren before retracing her steps back to where she had buried the vole. Prey hanging from her jaws, she padded back to her and Grimpaw's meeting spot, running an eye over his catches: a vole and a mouse. A good haul, especially for an apprentice. Irisfrost dropped her prey to speak. "You did well today," she told him. "We're going to head back to camp now. You can give some of the prey you caught to the elders, or the kits and queens if they've already been fed." With that, Irisfrost picked up her prey and started the trek back to camp.

@Goopysharkboi (We can end the lesson here)

(Sure thing! BTW grimpaw isn't exactly as trusting of Starclan after crowglow died- the two were really close.)