Training 101: Survival (p)

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@jcoonfrost

(Lakepaw, in this thread, I'm essentially teaching your character how to live off the land. I expect there to be a post count of at least 100 words. Describe your surroundings. What is your character thinking? How do they feel? That kind of thing. Anyhoo, this is how our training threads are going to go. This 'survival' thread will be known as your hunting training. Battle training will be next, and then it will be your assessment.)

Sandflower hadn't really had the time to take her new apprentice into the new territory before the avalanche hit, and now that their camp was buried beneath a ton of snow, it was impossible to do so. She could certainly make do and begin their training in the.. whatever this place was with the big building and long pole things. ..Fences, maybe?

Sandflower shook herself out of her musings and narrowed her eyes slightly as she practically glided over to where the apprentices had made a temporary den. Brief amusement flickered in her eyes before it disappeared, and as she stepped in among the sleeping apprentices, Sandflower looked back over her shoulder to gaze at the barely risen sun. The sky was still dark, but the sun was rising.

Nodding slightly in agreement with the way her mind was going, Sandflower began to sniff out Lakepaw from memory. Eventually, she picked up a scent that smelled distinctly similar to the one she had been mentored to. Following her nose, and mouth slightly open, Sandflower eventually paused next to an apprentice that looked exactly like her. Awesome. Now, all she had to do was wake her up.

Prodding the apprentice's shoulder with a paw, Sandflower let out a soft growl. " Lakepaw, wake up. " she murmured, the maine coon stifling a yawn. " It's the butt crack of dawn, and we haven't even BEGUN training yet. "

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Lakepaw

    Lakepaw was sleeping, dreaming of the recent event with the snow. She noticed how much she hated it, not that she wasn't completely confused and scared about it. The tabby was dreaming of her little snow den, and how it got destroyed, too. 
    Lakepaw also hated, how she became an apprentice, and then this happened. She realized she was now awake in the different, even more different than she though, apprentice's den. She then noted, she wasn't in the old camp anymore. She laid there, ready to go back to sleep due to no muse of anything.
    The blue-grey tabby was prodded back awake by.. "Oh? Sandflower?" she questioned. She got up slowly then blinked a few times, seeing the soft early glow from the entrance and cracks of the quickly made den. Outside looked cold, how she liked it. "Sorry," she said with a nod, "I didn't realize what time it was."

WORD COUNT :: 153

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Sandflower flicked her gaze to the entrance of the construct the Clan lived in, her ears alert. Still, she once more stifled a yawn and leveled a serious look at her first apprentice. Scrutinizing the younger cat with an unreadable expression, Sandflower thought that the she-cat would have a good build for hunting, and would be an excellent fighter. If only they could get up to those standards.

Blinking down at her apprentice and shaking herself from her thoughts, the tall maine coon slithered her way out of the apprentices' make shift den with a murmured, " Follow. " Her dark green eyes scanned her surroundings, studying them carefully. Eventually making her way out of the building, Sandflower turned to her apprentice. " Right. I'm Sandflower, your assigned mentor. " she meowed in greeting. " You already knew that, but this is the first training regime we will start. "

The warrior paused. " Your hunting training will take a few days before you instinctively pull yourself into the hunting crouch. " the she-cat flicked her ears at the apprentice, tilting her head slightly. " Remember that no-one is perfect, and that this is a new environment we're learning in. When you become a warrior, and you have your first apprentice, take into mind that they are being thrust into a new position. I totally understand that, I was in the same spot as you. " Sandflower blinked once, glanced up at the slowly rising sun, and glanced back at Lakepaw. " Understood, apprentice? "

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Lakepaw

    Lakepaw blinked around for a while and stretched her long fluffy legs, before watching her mentor leave, and she followed after out of the den. The tabby followed her, and wanted to listen to everything she said. After the greeting, she nodded, and silently yearning to hear more. 
    Hunting... I'd rather do this then battle. But I'd still have to do that as well. she thought after her mentor talked about the crouch. The tabby knew she'd take a while perfecting it, especially since she never tried before. She understood, "Yes, I do." The feline's body didn't show any signs of excitement, but her eyes were wondering, staring at her mentor. The tabby didn't want to make any mistakes that were too bad, so she'd try to avoid distractions, almost desperately wanting to be good, even though she knew no one can be perfect.

WORD COUNT :: 144

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A small glimmer of warmth flickered in Sandflower's eyes as she gazed into the she-cats bi-colored eyes. Whiskers twitching faintly in amusement, Sandflower recalled the feeling of nervous, desperate excitement she had when she herself was an apprentice. " I'm going to inform you of several different forms of hunting, " the Maine coon meowed, her voice taking on a lecturing tone. " The first and foremost basic hunting crouch is usually used with mice. As a general rule with mice, stay light on your toes and make sure the mice don't hear you. "

Sandflower demonstrated the crouch by shrinking to the ground so that her belly fur barely brushed it, her tail even behind her. " The main rule for hunting is to stay down-wind from your prey. " Sandflower continued to speak, quietly creeping forward with deliberately slow movements.

Straightening, Sandflower faced her young apprentice again. " Now, for rabbits. If you're a pretty fast cat and you're fast enough, you can catch a rabbit. However, if you're slower or you have a bulky size, you will probably prefer that you stalk slowly and very, very quietly. Just be warned that if you step on anything that produces sound, you will have to be fast to catch the rabbit. "

Sandflower struggled to remember what she had caught on her assessment. Then one answer flitted across her mind. Fish. " When hunting fish next to a river or stream, make sure your spine is straight and your shadow doesn't cross the water. Also, don't lean too close, as you can fall in when you catch a fish. " A brief look of embarrassment flitted across Sandflower's face. " I did that as an apprentice, and it was truly embarrassing. When you do catch the fish, make sure to kill it quickly, as a fish is known to get back in the water if you're not fast enough. "

The warrior blinked down at her apprentice, wondering if there was anything else she had forgotten. Oh! Birds! " While stalking a bird, don't do it too slowly. Do it in rapid, short bursts of stalking to get in close. Remember to be very quiet when you do this, as they can startle them easily. Even in the final leap, they can get away. Even if you get in close, remember to leap on it to hook onto the bird to kill it. "

Sandflower paused. " Did you get all of that? Let me know if you need to repeat anything, or if you have any questions. Otherwise, we'll move onto practicals. "

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Lakepaw

    While Sandflower was speaking, Lakepaw did her best to note every single word in her head, her emotion staying calm. She tried to remember every single stance and movement done by her mentor, but almost feeling overwhelmed by it. The tabby blinked a few times as she went onto rabbits, then fish, then birds. I'll remember.. when I think about it, she tried reasoning with herself. Besides, when I forget I can just ask.
    Lakepaw nodded afterward, and almost didn't hear what her mentor said. "Yes, Sandflower. I believe I got it all," she said to her mentor before standing up tall.

WORD COUNT :: 102

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Sandflower smiled at her apprentice briefly, before shifting her weight and giving Lakepaw a piercing look. I wonder how she can handle the basic stalking pose, the rabbit, and bird poses. She mused, shaking her head briefly and returning to the present. " Alright. Now we get to the practical use of hunting. Just remember one thing, Lakepaw, " Sandflower mewed sternly. " Patience is a virtue. If you are not patient, you will likely fail this part of your assessment. Impatience can lead to mistakes, while multiple mistakes will aid in producing failure. "

Heaving a sigh, Sandflower observed the territory around her. " We're going to stay close to the barn, and leave the exploring patrol to look around. Stay close. " Sandflower glanced at Lakepaw with another stern glance. " I'm going to catch a few mice, or a bird. I want you to watch me, then I'll observe as you take a turn. "

Sandflower turned around and the Maine coon instinctively felt herself slither into her basic hunting crouch. Her chin lowered to the ground, while she had shrunk herself just enough that her fur didn't brush against the ground. With her ears pinned back slightly and her tail weaving gently barely an inch on the ground, Sandflower knew that she was in a good stalking pose. Inhaling deeply through her nose, Sandflower began to scent out a mouse nest.

A few minutes later as she quietly over turned rocks and poked her nose into mouse holes, Sandflower had spotted a mouse nest. With a pounce, Sandflower twisted the heads of a mouse family of five and broke their spines with a swift paw strike to their backs. Feeling distinctively pleased with herself, Sandflower gathered the five fat mice within her mouth by the tail and trotted over to the barn doors.

" Now it's your turn. "

(Just a few more posts, and this training thread will be over.)

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Lakepaw

    Lakepaw blinked a few times, nodding after she spoke. Patience.. I can be patient. The tabby stretched her legs one at a time, before the warrior then said she'd give an example. She nodded, wanting to stay close anyway. And she followed, trying to step quietly. She wanted to keep a fair distance, in case she happened to make any distractions, but knew that the warrior was experienced.
    Lakepaw did her best to note every inch of movement in her mentor, especially the crouch. She saw her sniffing around an area, and Lakepaw knew she had a scent. The apprentice sighed, trying to find a scent that should be familiar, even though she never saw living mice. Suddenly, she spotted her mentor springing, and the tabby came closer, wanting to see what she caught. Five mice! At a time? she thought then smiled a bit. The tabby sat down and saw her mentor walking back. 
    My turn.. she thought, but tried to remember the scent of mice in her head as she got back up slowly. She didn't glance at her mentor, and tried her best to do the crouch. She positioned each paw, one at a time, and tried to make herself low, but she felt completely awkward. She didn't even know how close she was to the actual hunting crouch. The half-white feline decided to try it out a bit, hoping that maybe her movement will slightly adjust her to the correct position.
    Lakepaw sniffed the air while crawling around, and noticed her long tail was dragging, and picked it up quickly. She scented something and believed it was the mouse scent, wondering if live or dead mouse smelled different. The tabby tried to put back her curiosity of just walking up to the scent, and still slowly making her way. She saw a rather small rock.. with a tail? No, a mouse behind the rock, she grew slowly nervous as she walked closer. Taking a deep breath before, she jumped almost straight toward the rock, but yet sheathing her small claws to make sure the mouse couldn't leave, and making an honestly slow killing bite to the neck. I shouldn't have waited.. I could've been faster.. she thought, but smiled ad the almost messy catch she made. The tabby then grabbed it softly in her teeth then brought it back to her mentor, hoping she did well enough. Hunting is hard!

WORD COUNT :: 404

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Notes - 'Wow this was.. very late. Sorry for that!'

[Deleted]

(lol it's fine! it's fine! now it's my turn to apologize for a late post. XD)

Sandflower narrowed her eyes lightly as she observed her younger apprentice. At first, Lakepaw looked kind of awkward with her paws positioned and in that she was crouching low. Shaking her head lightly, the she-cat pinned a green stare to her apprentice's dragging tail until she noticed with approval that the she-cat picked it up as she continued to stalk.

Her whiskers twitched lightly as the she-cat began to scent around for a mouse, which was what Sandflower assumed. Huffing silently, Sandflower watched her apprentice with hidden amusement. Though it turned to approval as the smaller she-cat pounced on something. Good catch, Sandflower mused softly. Flicking her ears at the she-cat, Sandflower's thoughts turned to what Lakepaw was doing as she was hunting.

" That wasn't bad, " Sandflower remarked honestly as Lakepaw came up to her. " but it wasn't good. It could have gone better. " Staring the she-cat in the eyes, she began to speak. " You could have been a little faster when you caught sight of the mouse. Plus.. " Sandflower's eyes zeroed in on the mouse, and her whisker's twitched. It was a kind of messy kill, too. " It's a little messy, and the teeth indentations on the neck are a little deeper than needed. All you need is a swift, hard blow to the head... " she aimed experimentally on a rock and gave a harsh, small bat at the front of it. " And poof. " Sandflower flailed slightly. " It'll be dead. "

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Lakepaw

    She tried to place it as genitally as possible on the ground as she listened. Her tail drooped a little bit, hearing her mentor, bu it quickly raised up as she thought to herself, This was just my first time. "Yes, Sandflower," she nodded, "Next time I'll do better."
    The small blue tabby rubbed her face with a paw before cleaning her long furred tail, and after a few, turned her attention back to her mentor to see what she'd like to do next. Lakepaw hoped that her mentor would be proud of her as she goes through even more of training.

WORD COUNT :: 102

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