It was time yet again to go out and train another apprentice. She could get used to this. Now her next victim was Stonepaw and she was rapidly heading in their direction. Once she found Stonepaw she gave them a warm, friendly smile. "Hello Stonepaw," She beamed. "What would you like to learn today?"
stonepaw, she/her, 7 moons
riverclan apprentice
a pale gray she-cat with dull blue eyes.
10/100
Stonepaw's eyes were round as she looked at Adderstrike, suprised at her mentor's approach so out of the blue. Especially since they hadn't talked before just now... besides when she was made an apprentice, of course. Not like she didn't want to go training, she just hadn't mentally prepared herself at all, or was aware Adderstrike was even nearby. Were all warriors so sneaky, or was Stonepaw just too tired to notice?
"Oh, hi," she meowed back a tad dumbly. Stonepaw also didn't expect that she would be the one choosing what they did today. The first thing that came to her mind was hunting, since it was a fundamental warrior skill, and also because she had a dream about mice last night. But mostly the first reason.
"Hunting. If that's okay." She was really fine with anything, though.
Determined ⋆ Loyal ⋆ Lawful Good ⋆ She/Her ⋆ Killer Aptitude T3
“I can fix her!”
@zozelen sorry i passed out last night
Ah hunting, that seemed to be what everyone liked to pick first. It was a delightful skill to have since everyone got hungry. "We can do that." Adderstrike murred happily before she motioned Stonepaw to follow her with a tail flick.
She lead the two of them out of the camp and into a decent hunting spot. Several times before she came here on hunting patrol and had enough success to call it 'her spot' that she was sure that Stonepaw would find something. "Its leafbare now so prey scarcely show up now. They don't want to be out in the cold like you or me." Adderstrike whispered before she got down into a crouch. "Crouch down like me and make sure your hunches and tail stays down... Do you smell anything?"
stonepaw, she/her, 7 moons
riverclan apprentice
a pale gray she-cat with dull blue eyes.
23/100
Stonepaw followed Adderstrike out of the clearing, quiet from her unsureness on what else to say. The walk wasn't too long, but she was still captivated by the world outside of camp. It felt like for the last seven moons, Stonepaw was missing out on everything.
It made sense that the prey wasn't around. She had noticed all the freshkill looking skinnier than usual... when Adderstrike said the prey didn't want to be out in the cold like them, did she mean that her and Stonepaw also didn't want to be outside, or that they didn't mind it? Because Stonepaw did mind. She was trying hard not to act obviously cold right now.
Stonepaw quickly got down into a crouch when she was told, trying to copy her mentor's pose. It was kind of like laying on her belly, but with her back legs higher and her tail flat. She gingerly sniffed the ground, taking a moment to think about what she smelled. All Stonepaw was picking up was dirt... and maybe leaves. But she couldn't give up already. Adderstrike might think her nose was broken.
She sniffed the ground again, but this time more aggresively. Dirt, leaves, maybe some moss, and... fish? Why would the ground smell like fish? It's not like she could just TELL Adderstrike that. They weren't even that close to the river!
How could the fish smell have gotten here, besides Stonepaw just going crazy? Bigger animals ate fish. Like cats, but also large birds, and maybe foxes. Hopefully there weren't any foxes around here. She'd assume it was a bird.
"It smells like... uh, bird." Kind of. "But the big kind. Or a different predator animal. Something like that." Maybe since fish were her favorite food, she just noticed the smell easier? If only she could pick up anything besides that...
Determined ⋆ Loyal ⋆ Lawful Good ⋆ She/Her ⋆ Killer Aptitude T3
“I can fix her!”
@zozelen
Smell of bird, hm? Adderstrike opened her mouth to get a better taste of the air to understand what Stonepaw was trying to explain here. No this wasn't a scent that she was familiar wi—Then it hit her. She didn't wait for a single moment before grabbing Stonepaw by her scruff and yanked the both of them to be inside a bush. It was safer than being sorry. It would always be that way.
This was a scent she smelt before only on dead bodies but it was always the same best. She silently cursed herself from not noticing sooner. Carefully the warrior trained her eyes to the sky and saw a hawk swooping on by. The bird had not noticed them. Thank... Well... Her own abilities, stars be damned. "That was the smell of a hawk. They can kill a fully grown warrior so you must be careful." Adderstrike said with a stern tone, before wrapping her tail around Stonepaw and hunkering down. They were going to need to wait things out for a bit and hopefully she could keep her dear apprentice warm enough in the meanwhile.
When enough time finally passed, Adderstrike peaked her head out of the bush and checked if the coast was clear. This was something that she was going to have to report to Stormstar when they had the chance. Then a convenient feather was on the ground. Maybe she could kill it if it was on the ground?
stonepaw, she/her, 7 moons
riverclan apprentice
a pale gray she-cat with dull blue eyes.
28/100
Stonepaw let out a confused squeak as she was dragged into the bush by her mentor. "A hawk?", she whispered back, ears pressed flat in fear. She'd only heard of hawks taking away kits, never killing warriors. Just how big were they?!
Stonepaw tried to stay as still as possible while her and Adderstrike hid. What would the hawk do if it found them? How close was it? She couldn't help but shiver, it was cold so close to the ground, but at least the leaves blocked the wind. And having Adderstrike's tail wrapped around her helped. She'd be startled by the physical touch on any other occasion, but Stonepaw was too focused on not getting eaten for it to ruffle her.
Eventually, Adderstrike took a peek outside the bush, so Stonepaw bravely decided to do so as well. There was a feather not too far away from them... "What should we do?" Stonepaw asked, looking at her mentor with serious and worried eyes.
Adderstrike
Determined ⋆ Loyal ⋆ Lawful Good ⋆ She/Her ⋆ Killer Aptitude T3
“I can fix her!”
@zozelen
"I will take care of this, stay hidden." Adderstrike said with a stern voice before she slowly stalked through the nearby bushes to get close to the feather. As soon as she got close to it the hawk landed down, stomping down a squirrel. While the bird of prey dealt with the squirming tree rat, Adderstrike stalked closer till.... STRIKE.
She landed on the back of the bird who jumped and screeched as it tried to claw up Adderstrike. Though she had it by the neck and was rapidly kicking it with her hindlegs as she held it down with her forelegs. It was a bloody mess but the hawk was limp in Adderstrike's jaws. It felt like ages to her as she attacked but those watching it would be a handful of moments.
Dropping it she looked around in the air to see if there were any other hawks but she couldn't spot any. With that she looked towards where Stonepaw had been and called out to her. "The coast is clear! I hope you got a good view of all of that. It should teach you how to sneak up and crouch on prey. Hey, that being said maybe you can show me if you learned something." Sure they got attacked by a hawk but that didn't mean training ended.
stonepaw, she/her, 7 moons
riverclan apprentice
a pale gray she-cat with dull blue eyes.
33/100
Stonepaw stayed low to the ground without complaint. Adderstrike was strong, she trusted her mentor to be able to handle it. She watched the warrior sneak towards the hawk, before pouncing on it and practically fighting to kill the thing. That bird sure was fierce.
When Adderstrike told her it was okay, Stonepaw emerged from the bush. The apprentice was pretty sure most hunting lessons didn't go like this, but she definitely had been watching her mentor closely, and felt like she had probably learned something. Adderstrike seemed to be more of an experience-focused learner, Stonepaw noted... she was believing in Stonepaw to catch something herself, without giving her an actual lecture on how. Stonepaw didn't mind. In fact, she found it kind of fun- the only concern was whether she'd actually get anything.
"I'll try," Stonepaw answered. Her eyes quickly focused in on the injured squirrel trying to get away, the one the hawk had attacked. She'd be picking on the squirrel while it was down, but not catching it would be a waste, right? And it was still dragging itself away, so at least she had a moving target.
Stonepaw tried getting into a crouch again. At the back of her mind, she felt that her limbs were all sore and slow. Was it from being stuck under the bush? She wasn't even moving then- getting tired from that didn't feel fair. She was quite tense, Stonepaw supposed.
To try and loosen herself up, Stonepaw did a small wiggle, and began stalking towards the squirrel. Like what Adderstrike had done with the hawk. She soon realized that the squirrel was close to escaping though, and in the rush to catch it, ran towards the thing rather than sneaking. She took a big leap, clumsily landing on her prey, and bit the back of its neck. It was already bleeding, but it would be less convenient if she carried it back while it was slowly dying.
As if she couldn't quite believe it, Stonepaw carefully turned the squirrel over. Definitely dead.
"...I did it," she called to her mentor, who was a few trees behind her. Stonepaw wasn't squealing with excitement, but her voice did sound happy. Quietly happy. She picked the squirrel up in her mouth, walking back over to her mentor.
"Did I... umf," she said, voice muffled by the squirrel. "Do okayf?"
stonepaw, she/her, 7 moons
riverclan apprentice
a pale gray she-cat with dull blue eyes.
33/100
Stonepaw stayed low to the ground without complaint. Adderstrike was strong, she trusted her mentor to be able to handle it. She watched the warrior sneak towards the hawk, before pouncing on it and practically fighting to kill the thing. That bird sure was fierce.
When Adderstrike told her it was okay, Stonepaw emerged from the bush. The apprentice was pretty sure most hunting lessons didn't go like this, but she definitely had been watching her mentor closely, and felt like she had probably learned something. Adderstrike seemed to be more of an experience-focused learner, Stonepaw noted... she was believing in Stonepaw to catch something herself, without giving her an actual lecture on how. Stonepaw didn't mind. In fact, she found it kind of fun- the only concern was whether she'd actually get anything.
"I'll try," Stonepaw answered. Her eyes quickly focused in on the injured squirrel trying to get away, the one the hawk had attacked. She'd be picking on the squirrel while it was down, but not catching it would be a waste, right? And it was still dragging itself away, so at least she had a moving target.
Stonepaw tried getting into a crouch again. At the back of her mind, she felt that her limbs were all sore and slow. Was it from being stuck under the bush? She wasn't even moving then- getting tired from that didn't feel fair. She was quite tense, Stonepaw supposed.
To try and loosen herself up, Stonepaw did a small wiggle, and began stalking towards the squirrel. Like what Adderstrike had done with the hawk. She soon realized that the squirrel was close to escaping though, and in the rush to catch it, ran towards the thing rather than sneaking. She took a big leap, clumsily landing on her prey, and bit the back of its neck. It was already bleeding, but it would be less convenient if she carried it back while it was slowly dying.
As if she couldn't quite believe it, Stonepaw carefully turned the squirrel over. Definitely dead.
"...I did it," she called to her mentor, who was a few trees behind her. Stonepaw wasn't squealing with excitement, but her voice did sound happy. Quietly happy. She picked the squirrel up in her mouth, walking back over to her mentor.
"Did I... umf," she said, voice muffled by the squirrel. "Do okayf?"
Determined ⋆ Loyal ⋆ Lawful Good ⋆ She/Her ⋆ Killer Aptitude T3
“I can fix her!”
Seeing Stonepaw with the squirrel warmed Adderstrike's heart. "That's very smart of you to go after easy prey. Easy prey is still a meal and giving its injuries, you spared it more suffering. We ought to take care of the prey that feeds us and honor their life and don't prolong their death." Adderstrike said nobly. She wasn't sure what she would do if she saw a cat messing with prey but knew that she wouldn't be happy at all. "Now we should practice on a prey that is more capable... I think I smell a bird nearby or maybe a rat... Hmmmm I wonder what it could be!~" Adderstrike teased. She knew exactly what the prey was but she wanted to see if Stonepaw knew the scents well enough. She was going to make sure to keep on eye on the sky as much as she could while Stonepaw went out hunting for new prey but it didn't seem like hawks like to work together to kill things.
"Word of advice, make sure that the prey doesn't smell you coming. Birds are nose deaf but rats have a sharply keen one. Birds have great eyesight. Make sure that the wind is coming your direction or at least not wafting over towards the prey in question." She then looked at Stonepaw expectantly.
Mighty Is The Boulder, Stonepaw Training [P]
