Marshpaw and Training (P)

[Silvercloud]

Returning from a training session with Viperpaw, Silvercloud looked around camp for her next apprentice, Marshpaw. It would be an interesting experience, training all three apprentices. Even if it was tiring, it was a comfortable routine, and one she knew she would find joy and pride in in the coming moons. 
"Marshpaw! Training!" Her voice rang out in the camp. There. That should bring him running out. It was her experience that new apprentices tended to be eager and responsive. Great for learning, of course.
She wondered what she would do with Marshpaw. She often chose to let her apprentices decide their first session for themselves, and this time it would be no different. Hunting, battle training or a border tour. It often showed her where their strengths and interests lay. Silvercloud was interested to find out what Marshpaw would choose.

[Marshpaw]

Lounging outside of the apprentice den was young Marshpaw, who was enjoying the sunlight. His eyes closed blissfully as he felt the sun warm his fur. It was maybe leaf-fall, but sometimes there were those warm days that any cat could enjoy. Then his ears pricked to the sound of his name being called, and he slowly raised his head in that direction. His yellow eyes spotted his mentor, and by the looks of it, she had just returned from training. With swiftness, Marshpaw jumped up onto his white paws and quickly scampered over to his mentor. The young apprentice was excited to hear what she had planned for today, especially since this was the begin of his training. Marshpaw slowed, going to a halt in front of his mentor. "Hello, Silvercloud," he meowed excitedly. He looked up at his mentor, his smaller size making it something that was needed.

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud smiled down at the apprentice. True to her assumption, he was eager and swift. It was a great learning attitude, and she looked forward to teaching him. What mentor wouldn't?
Returning his greeting with a nod, she spoke clearly, "Hi there Marshpaw. What would you like to do today. We can hunt, fight or do a border tour. I'll let you decide today."
In her head, she debated the pros and cons of each. Hunting would be interesting to say the least. If he chose that, she could teach him to swim while she was at it. Silvercloud cringed slightly at the thought. She wasn't too good a hunter of fish, traditional Iceclan prey. She knew how to teach it though, in the same way Dappledcloud had taught her. And she was better at land prey, especially birds. Hunting was one of the foundations of a good cat, even loners.
Fighting would be a good foundation for hunting, and was an important aspect to learn of. She enjoyed battle too, though she wasn't entirely good at it. Sunfish had never taught her particularly thoroughly in that aspect. Yet again, she had to listen to tales from other apprentices and learn from that. She was determined to not make the same mistake with her three apprentices.
Border patrols would be a key chance to learn about other clans, which would be essential before the gathering. It would also teach Marshpaw about the layout of the land.
Still, the final choice was the apprentice's. Sitting down and curling her tail around herself, she waited while he thought.

[Marshpaw]

Marshpaw's yellow eyes observe Silvercloud, noticing that she smiled down at him, which infectiously caused him to smile. He was excited to hear the plan, and that only increased upon hearing it was his choice. Marshpaw already knew exactly what he wanted to do, which made the answer easy. "Can we go on the tour first?" Marshpaw asked, excited to explore the territory that was so new to him. The young apprentice had had so many visions of what the territory may look like, from the forest all the way down to the river he had heard about. All Marshpaw wanted was to see the territory for himself, to see what he had envisioned come to life. His yellow eyes then noticed that his mentor had sat down for a second, her tail curled around her paws. Marshpaw, on the other hand, was too excited to even think about resting anymore. He had lounged around camp for a good while, which left him teeming with energy. However, he remembered seeing his mentor return with another one of her apprentices, maybe she needed a quick break before they went out? "But I understand if you need a quick break." Marshpaw meowed, trying to give the mentor an option of her own. Maybe she needed a quick snack, or just a few moments of rest before showing him the territory.

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud nodded in approval as Marshpaw chose the territory tour. It was a wise decision for such a young cat. In fact, it brought her back to her time as a young apprentice, on her first tour with Sunfish. Deciding to take this tour in the same direction as Sunfish had taken hers, she clambered onto her paws and then turned back at the sound of Marshpaw's voice. "It's alright! I've still got some life left yet."
Walking into the territory, she walked a little slower, letting Marshpaw have some time to look around him. She could still clearing remember the sense of utter wonder she had felt as an apprentice, and was eager to let her own apprentice experience the same thing. The territory of her own clan was unique in its blend of environments. There were the mountains and the rivers, as well as the occasional forested areas.
Reaching the Fireclan border, she took a while to survey the wide, open fields before turning to Marshpaw and meowing, "This is Fireclan. They live in a wide open prairie, and have honed the art of speed. It's a lot warmer there, much more than any other clan. Their leader is Darkstar... I'm sure you've heard of her. Trust me, the kit tales aren't all true. Probably. Can you guess what they hunt?"
Smiling encouragingly at her apprentice, she wondered if he had any questions. He was free to ask them if he wanted to.

[Marshpaw]

There was a nod of approval before Marshpaw's mentor got to her paws. Excitement flowed through the apprentice's veins like a roaring river, he had waited so long for the moment he got the leave camp. He was glad that his mentor had the energy to take him on the tour, especially since he had been dreaming of leaving camp. They left camp, going through the entrance and into the territory. The first steps out, and glances at the amazing wonders made Marshpaw smile with glee. He was finally here, seeing and hearing it all for himself. The ground the mostly hard, but it didn't bother him the slightest, the trees were tall and looked to have very strong trunks. There were small bits of plant life here and there, but not too much for where they were currently. It was mostly mountains and small clumps of forest land here and there. Naturally, there were rivers since every Clan needed a source of water after all. In silent awe, Marshpaw trailed behind his mentor, taking it all in. A smile was forged on his face, and he wouldn't have been surprised if it stayed there for a long time. His mouth open slightly to taste all the new scents on the air, some familiar, some new.

That was when Silvercloud stop, Marshpaw had taken a few seconds to notice and stopped himself. He hadn't even notice the slight decline towards a grassy plain with no sign of trees at all. Marshpaw's yellow eyes stared at the grass, seeing as some of it grew taller until it was above his head. His eyes widened slightly, there was only one Clan that lived on such a flat plain and that was FireClan. Marshpaw didn't know too much about FireClan cats, other than the rumors of their renowned leader, Darkstar. Most were negative and often presented her as a rather, mean and violent cat. His ears twitched once he heard Silvercloud speak up, so he turned his head, focusing his attention back onto his mentor. Marshpaw nodded, acknowledging the new information he had just received, and silently praying that the kit's tales were indeed false. Then he began to focus on what the Clan could hunt, his eyes scanning the area like a hawk. "Well, obviously rabbits. Maybe a few birds or squirrels if they're lucky?" Marshpaw meowed, partially asking to make sure he was correct. He wasn't sure how common it was for squirrels to cross into the plains, or even if there were a few trees where they could live, so he looked back to his mentor in hoped of getting the correct answer.

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud nodded at her apprentice's answer. It was pretty accurate, and she decided to say so. "You're right! They mostly hunt rabbits and small animals like mice and birds. Squirrels are a little uncommon though. They tend to stick to areas with trees for them to hide in. The main predators in the plains are hawks and snakes." Seeing that Marshpaw didn't seem to have any questions, she gestured with her tail for him to follow her to the next border. They would visit the Treeclan border today, and she would describe the Rockclan territory. Iceclan didn't border Rockclan, so showing Marshpaw the clan would be quite tough.
While walking, she spoke about the various animals in Iceclan, and the territory. "Iceclan warriors tend to hunt fish quite a lot, mostly at the River, the Stepping Stones or the Fishing Rocks. The Swimming Pool is good for swimming practice, but there isn't much fish there. When we get to battle training, I'l bring you to the Grassy Clearing. It has soft ground, good for falling. There are other bits of the territory, but those are the main ones. Some prey animals are squirrels, voles, mice and birds. Mostly it's fish though, like bass, crappies and trout. The most common predators are birds of prey, so always watch the skies for them. Maplefrost tells an interesting kit story about being attacked by a hawk, if you want to hear more.
Reaching the edge of the border, Silvercloud inclined her head towards Treeclan territory. It was filled with trees and dense undergrowth, lending itself different types of woodland prey. The air was slightly cooler here, though not by much.
"Can you guess what clan this is? It's the only other clan that Iceclan borders."

[Marshpaw]

The corner of Marshpaw's lips tugged up as he saw his mentor nod and for the most part he was correct. He had missed mice, in fact he didn't know how exactly he had forgotten to add the small rodent to his list. He shrugged it off, feeling rather pleased that he had managed to list at least some of prey in FireClan. She even explained a bit more about FireClan, giving Marshpaw a general idea of what FireClan was work. He looked out at the plains for a few moments, lacking any questions, and more so being amazed by the beauty. He turned back to his mentor, and caught the tail gesture almost instantly. Marshpaw's gaze lurked behind him, taking one more glimpse at the plains before scuttling after his mentor. Marshpaw followed behind his mentor, his eyes still drinking in all the amazing sights about him. It was leaf-fall, making it so colorful leaves were abundant and even carpeted the ground they were walking on as they continued. Marshpaw's black ears picked up the crunching of the dry leaves under his paws as they neared the TreeClan border.

His ears twitched as he heard the sound of rushing water, making him excited to see what was ahead. When the pair got to the border, Marshpaw's eyes widened with amazement at the river that was presented before him. The water looked clear and fresh, like it was nothing more than crystals. He faced his mentor as she began to speak about how IceClan fished, and of course the other tidbits of information she told him. She even spoke of a Grassy Clearing of which they would go to when he would start battle training. That was when they got to the very edge of the border, where the air grew a tad bit cooler and the leaves that cluttered the ground became a thick pool. Marshpaw's yellow eyes began to observe the territory he was faced with now, a place full of trees as far as the eye could see, and undergrowth that could probably catch the paws of unsuspecting cats. When he was told to guess what Clan's territory it was, the answer came to him immediately. "TreeClan, it has to be them," Marshpaw answered. It wasn't too difficult of a guess, seeing as the two territories that were left were very different. His yellow eyes wondered up and down the length of the territory, trying to memorize the border.

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud approved of this apprentice. He was eager to learn and observant, and yet didn't lose the wonder of seeing the territory for the first time. He was a joy to mentor indeed!
"Right again! This is the land of Treeclan, and as you can see from the territory Treeclan cats are skilled climbers, and they can easily climb into trees to hunt prey. They normally hunt squirrels, mice, voles, moles and of course birds, mostly the common songbirds. When they get attacked, it's usually by dogs, foxes or badgers. Their leader is Spiderstar, and the deputy is Magnoliafrost. Pretty long ago, there was a disaster at their old camp and they had to move to a new location. I'm not too sure if they have plans to move back, but it would be interesting if they do."
Silvercloud nodded again and then left the border after giving Marshpaw a nice long time to survey it. She would bring him to the River now to teach him how to swim and fish. While on the way, she described Rockclan.
"Rockclan is a small clan, located on the cliffs. I can't exactly show it to you because Iceclan doesn't border it. Their leader is Cloverstar. Their clan talent is digging, and they use this to dig into the cliffs and hollow out caves for dens. The caves are thick, so they hold up quite well to this. They tend to hunt rats, mice or birds, and their predators are snakes and birds of prey. their land is pretty shadowy and low in prey, which is probably why their clan is small."
Seeing that they had reached the River, Silvercloud hopped into the clear waters with a splash and started paddling around, indicating for Marshpaw to join her. This should pretty much come to him naturally, as it did for most Iceclan cats.

[Marshpaw]

The smile of victory emerged on the young apprentice's face, his answer was correct. Then again, figuring out that the Clan on the other side of the border wasn't much of a challenge for a smart cat like Marshpaw. He had tried his hardest after all to find out as much information as he could before coming out for the tour. Besides, Marshpaw found that intellect was something he could easily put his paws into, rather then fighting or hunting. Marshpaw's ears perked up to his mentor's explanation, making sure not to miss a single word of it. He hadn't heard too much about the TreeClan cats, making the small lesson rather interesting for the young apprentice. The entire surveying time was spent doing such, so with observant eyes he looked up and down the border, up until it was time to leave. Once again, Marshpaw followed his mentor, this time having something else to pay attention to, which was the information about RockClan. His attention focused on his mentor's words, rather then the nature that huddled around them, since he wanted to add to his pool of knowledge.

The pair were then back at the river when Silvercloud finished her blurb of information about RockClan. He watched for a second, watching his mentor splash into the clear waters. Marshpaw hesitating, staring into the waters and at his distorted reflection on top of that. He then glanced at his mentor, noticing her beckoning for him to join. Marshpaw looked into the water then back at his mentor for a moment, then smiled and padded into the water himself, feeling the cool waters splash against his white paws. It took a little while for Marshpaw to adjust to the temperatures, but he soon adjusted, and smiled at his mentor. "Wow, this feels great," he meowed, enjoying the water that passed by his feet.

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud watched attentively as Marshpaw stepped into the waters. Even though it would most likely be safe, she wasn't one for taking risks. If the apprentice got hurt in the process, she would never forgive herself. But her fears turned out to be unfounded as her apprentice quickly took to the waters with a smile on his face. She smiled back at him as he finally got used to the waters and looked to be enjoying it. It reminded her of her own apprenticeship, in fact. It was always a nice feeling, getting into the water. She let Marshpaw swim for a little longer before clambering out of the water herself, calling for Marshpaw to follow her.
"Well done, you took to swimming very well, I must say. It's nice to go for swims every now and then, and eventually you'll build up the muscles needed to swim for long periods of time without tiring. Now though, we fish. Fish is Iceclan's main prey, and it's quite an essential skill for us Iceclan cats. I'll be the first to say that I wasn't very good at fishing, and it still isn't my speciality, but I learnt quite a lot from both Sunfish and Dappledleaf. Watch, now."
Moving to crouch by the edge of the water, she carefully kept her shadow away from the surface of the water, not wanting to scare away any fish. She kept her weight on her back paws for easy and quick lifting of her front paws, and waited. Fishing tended to be more of a waiting game than any other type of hunting, but usually the prey ran well in these rivers.
Today was no different. After a short while, Silvercloud could see a dark shadow dart across the surface of the water. Reaching out with unsheathed claws, she quickly snagged the fish and slammed it hard against a rock, killing it. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and quietly thanked Cloudclan for the kill. It wouldn't make a good impression on her apprentice had she missed that fish.
"Now you try." She meowed, gesturing towards the river.

[Marshpaw]

Slowly, Marshpaw ventured further into the cold waters of the river, his paws carefully moving him forward. As the water deepened, he began to feel water rush over his back, which left him feeling a little cold. The apprentice went further, until his paws couldn't touch the water and were forced to paddle below him to keep his head above. The smile that had been on the apprentice's face from the start remained, showing how pleased the apprentice was. He swam about a few moments, before retreating to the shallow areas of the river, where the water didn't tug at his fur as much and where it was easier to move around. Marshpaw trotted around the water, enjoying his time in the cool waters, and only taking brief moments to glance at his mentor. That was when he took another brief glance and caught his mentor retreating from the cool waters and call him over. Quickly, Marshpaw turned in that direction to join his mentor. Once he left the water, he felt the heaviness his pelt had obtained from the swim, which in turn slowed him slightly and made him wet. He took a few moments to shake his fur a bit, which didn't change to much as off his pelt's conditions.

His ears pricked up as his mentor continued on with the training lesson, listening all the while. She explained how fishing was important source of prey to IceClan, and how her mentors had taught her. While Silvercloud went to demonstrate, Marshpaw watched attentively as his mentor went through the proceedings of catching a fish. A shadow passed by the surface, and in a matter of seconds, Silvercloud's paws broke into the water, scooping out a fish and slamming it against the river rocks. Out of sudden shock, Marshpaw took a few steps back, his eyes and ears taking record of what had happened. Cautiously, Marshpaw took a few steps forward to examine the dead fish, taking a few moments to drink in the scents before glancing up at his mentor. It was his turn now, so Marshpaw slowly stepped towards the river, his yellow eyes staring at his reflection. He positioned himself into the same position that his mentor, trying his best to get it similar and balanced. Once he balanced, Marshpaw stared into the water, his black tail silently swaying back and forth.

His one paw was lifted while his yellow eyes scanned the clear waters. When a black shadow passed by, Marshpaw's paw darted into the water, trying to catch a fish. However, catching a fish wasn't easy for an apprentice for the first time. So, Marshpaw's paw darted into the water, but rather then scooping up a fish, the water reached up, hitting him the face. The apprentice, in a moment shock, jumped back and nearly fell off the rock. The apprentice scrambled to catch his footing, and once he was successful, he glanced at his mentor, to see what she may say next.

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud smiled as Marshpaw stepped forward to examine the fish, almost as if he had never seen a fish before. Well, then again, he would have never seen such a fresh bit of fresh-kill in his life, and so the mentor allowed her apprentice to examine the fish. Not long after though, Marshpaw settled down into a crouch, quite a good one for his first try.
Watching, she saw as Marshpaw tried to snag a fish. So far so good, until he missed the fish and an errant swipe at the water almost sent him tumbling into the waters again. Letting out a mrrow of amusement, Silvercloud smiled at the apprentice, not disappointed in the least.
"That was a good first try. Don't worry, apprentices very seldom catch fish on their first try. My first try was pretty tragic actually, since I did end up tumbling headfirst in the water. Still, no matter, all you have to do is aim a little better and move quicker. It'll come with practice. Now though, would you like to try again or shall I teach you how to catch land prey, like mice and voles?"
Frankly, the mentor had no preference whatsoever. Catching fish was important, but she herself preferred catching land prey. The choice was up to her apprentice.

(Just a note that if he chooses land prey this thread is likely going to be a bit longer.)

[Marshpaw]

[ I honestly think it would be great to lengthen the thread a bit. ]

Marshpaw wriggled his nose a bit due to a small drop of water being on it. His left paw reached up to his nose, brushing away the droplet that had once clung there. Once it was removed, he focused his attention back to his mentor, noticing an amused mrrow and a smile upon Silvercloud's face. For just a moment, Marshpaw had thought it was a bit rude, until he thought about a cat nearly slipping off the rocks into the cold waters. This made him release a quiet chuckle, mostly because he had to admit, it did seem rather amusing. The small amount of praise Marshpaw received made him feel happy, and caused a smile to appear across his face. If that was a good first try, then that probably meant that he would get better at it soon enough. That was when Silvercloud gave him the option to try again or give a try at land prey. Marshpaw glanced back at the water, he didn't really feel like getting splashed in the face again, so he decided it was best to try something else. "Can we try land prey?" Marshpaw asked, jumping off the rocks and back onto solid ground.

[Silvercloud]

Silvercloud nodded at her apprentice's choice and moved deeper into the territory, towards the nearest woodland area that she remembered. Trees and other such features were few and far between in Iceclan, but if they could be found they were usually a treasure trove of prey. Iceclan cats seemed to have a certain reluctance to catch land prey, probably because most mentors only trained their apprentices in the art of fishing. This was not too good for the variety of the fresh-kill pile, but it ensured that prey was usually abundant for the few cats who chose to hunt there.
This time, Silvercloud would encourage Marshpaw to hunt mice and possibly some birds. Water voles too, but they normally tended to stick close to the river. Stopping in a mossy clearing, she crouched down, demonstrating the hunter's crouch. She made sure to keep her weight balanced and her ears flat against her head. Her tail stuck out behind her, perfectly straight and off the ground. Straightening up and turning to her apprentice, she spoke up.
"This is the hunter's crouch. It tends to be more important for hunting land prey than fish, because fish can't see your brilliant crouch after all. Try it." Settling on her haunches, she watched Marshpaw attentively. Most kits practiced the hunter's crouch in games and such, so had the basics down. All she probably had to do was fine-tune it a little.