flower (p)ower

[Deleted]

|| @roselightning ||

Forestfox had decided to take over some apprentice's training. Not that he was wanting to train or anything, but seeing apprentices that loafed around the camp and did nothing made him sick.

He soon reached the den and poked his head inside. "Rosepaw, let's go." He called, backing out of the den and taking a seat.

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Technically, Rosepaw hadn't been sitting by idly. It had been three days since her ceremony and honestly...? She had yet to see the cat Mossfur who was supposed to be her mentor. It had led to a lot of cranky pacing, snappish words, and impulsively trying to explore the forest by herself. She'd sat by herself for a day. The first time, an awkward brown tabby had brought her back. The second time, an apathetic she-cat with a black pelt.

Naturally, none of this helped her mood.

She'd barely been able to go to sleep. She'd ended up waking even before the crack of dawn, simply sitting there as she tossed and turned in her nest. The day before, some cat named Forestfox was apparently taking over. Thank God, she didn't want to be left in the dust. She had things to do!

... The fact that she'd woken up so early, meant she wasn't sleeping when Forestfox had called for her. With energy, she shot out of the den and her tail was twitching impatiently. "Can we go now?" Came her insistent tone.

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Forestfox narrowed his eyes when Rosepaw bursted out of the den. He twitched his whiskers in annoyance at her impatient tone. He stared at her for a few moments, thinking about what to say. He wasn't going to go the entire day talking to a bouncy little brat. No way. "We'll leave when I say so." He said sternly, and with that he closed his eyes. Still as a statue, the young warrior listened closely for any indication of the apprentice being frustrated. He hoped this made her mad. Her bounciness made him mad, so really he was just giving her what she deserved.

After a few minutes he blinked open his eyes, setting his dark gaze back down onto Rosepaw. "Tell me all that you know." He wasn't sure if she had any previous training, and he had to get some idea as to where to start.

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Rosepaw was annoyed at the look on Forestfox's face, but she held her tongue. Contrary to popular belief, she wasn't always a reckless force of nature. She did consider her decisions and consequences. Given that this was a mentor who actually was going to train her... She better prove quickly that she was worth the time.

She was annoyed by the wait as well, but she didn't respond to it, other than slight irritation on her expression. Then he demanded to know what she knew. "I know there's more than Treeclan. We live in a forest. You don't run after prey, it's not as straightforward as that." She exhaled, resisting the urge to huff. "Just stuff I heard and saw when I was a kit. I haven't even met the cat who was supposed to originally be my mentor." This time she didn't hide the irritation at some cat neglecting their responsibility to train her.

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Forestfox yawned and stood up. "Sounds about right." He said simply, trotting off into the forest. He didn't tell Rosepaw to follow him, as he assumed she would. 'I guess we do borders first, then? I hate this.' He thought with a slight groan, leading the way to IceClan's border first. He didn't like his training days, and this felt like he was reliving them.

He turned to Rosepaw once they reached a river. He pointed at the other shore with his tail. "That's IceClan. If you go deeper into their territory, the land will incline at you'll find yourself on a mountain. There was an avalanche and they're not there right now, so that's why the scent's stale." He cleared his throat and looked down at her, waiting for any questions she had.

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Rosepaw was annoyed at Forestfox's apparent disinterest, but still she followed after him, when he took off without warning. At least he'd shown up at all. Gr... She imagined it'd be hard to not want to rip this guy's ears off. She had a bad feeling she'd be forced to learn the virtue of patience.

Eventually, after a while of walking through the trees, they were at a river. He explained that apparently normally across the riverbank, lived a clan called Iceclan. But weren't there right now due to something called an avalanche. "Avalanche...?" She echoed the foreign word.

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"Yes, an avalanche." He confirmed, deciding to explain what it was later. If he wanted to teach her patience, then he was gonna make her wait for the answer. Taking one more whiff of the border, he headed off in the opposite direction. FireClan was their next destination.

The trees became sparse the closer they got to the border, and the greenery had disappeared. He nodded at the rolling plains before them. "FireClan. They're fast and cannibalistic." He said, looking down at her and waiting to see if she had questions.

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((GOOD GOD FOREST THEY'RE NOT ALL CANNIBALISTIC ITS PROBABLY JUST DARKSTAR

Rosepaw's ears flattened as Forestfox refused to elaborate. It was irritating, but she supposed she'd have to find someone else to ask. Grr.... Then Forestfox took off in a new direction. She exhaled, barely not huffing, and followed after him.

She noticed the trees started disappearing and she felt... Slightly vulnerable, if she was being honest. Now, she wasn't sure what cannibalistic meant. However, due to the whole not explaining what an avalanche was... She wasn't inclined to ask. She'd just ask someone else about that as well.

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|| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ||

After a minute of her not saying anything, Forestfox took off in a new direction. The path to RockClan wasn't a very long one, so Forestfox walked slower and took his time. It'd be a good opportunity for Rosepaw to take in her new surroundings, too.

He stopped at the border and stared ahead. Their territory wasn't too different, and the smell wasn't all that bad. He saved the best for last. "That's RockClan, the smallest clan. They're super tough and strong. Don't mess with one." He looked over at her, ready to answer any questions.

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Then Forestfox was on the move again, with Rosepaw following close behind. They were walking at a slower pace and she noticed how the landscape changed. She thought it somewhat strange that the four clans each had their own unique territory that seemed to be so close together...

Then they stopped again. Forestfox explained they were at Rockclan and were small, but strong and dangerous. She supposed the strength of Rockclan was to compensate for their smaller numbers. It made sense. Again, she didn't ask any questions.

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Yet again, no questions. With a flick of his tail he moved on, this time leading the two deeper into TreeClan's territory. He slipped through the undergrowrh, hardly making a sound. He listened closely for Rosepaw's steps, wanting to see how she was holding up.

He slowed to a stop once they reached a stream. It was a small one, running directly through the territory and ending at IceClan's river. He bent down and took a few laps from it, sitting up tall when he was done. He returned his attention to Rosepaw. "Ahead of us lies more plants and greens, and with that more prey. I want you to go catch something and return it to me." He wanted to see how she'd do on her own, even if she did fail. It would be easier to correct from there. 'Her instincts should kick in anyway.'

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Rosepaw once more, followed after Forestfox back into the trees. She was walking normally, while Forestfox had begun to move silently. She was still stepping on fallen leaves and twigs, when she noticed. Fairly quickly, she took care to step around things that would make noise. She wasn't completely silent, but she was much quieter than before.

Then they stopped at a stream. Forestfox stopped to take a drink. Her ears flicked. Then he wanted her to apparently catch something?! This guy was worse than Dogfang, at least he'd shouted advice at her. She grit her teeth, but nevertheless, left into the trees, still taking care to be quiet. After a while, she slowed down to careful, cautious steps, scanning around for prey. Then a thought crossed her mind and she tried lowering her body as she moved, trying to make her bright pelt harder to see. 

Soon, she spotted a small brown creature. She was reasonably sure it was called a squirrel. She'd only seen dead ones before, laying on the fresh-kill pile. She narrowed her eyes. She'd seen some apprentices practicing back in camp... She continued her quiet stalking. She didn't know, but her stance wasn't quite the proper one. She didn't move smoothly enough, still putting a lot of weight into ever pawstep. Plus, a fair amount of her attention was diverted to avoiding making noise on the ground. 

Every time the squirrel looked in a different direction, Rosepaw paused. Eventually, she was what she was reasonably sure was pouncing distance. She bent down and sprang, but she misjudged her distance. Instead of falling prey to her claws, her claws slid past the squirrel. Shocked, it tried to run, but she managed to catch the end of its tail, just barely in her teeth. It was still wriggling, trying to escape. Then its tail came free and she tried to grab it with her claws. Her claws made deep cuts in its side, but it still managed to run away. She winced, seeing it leave a blood trail. 

She sighed and dropped back down and followed the blood trail carefully. Eventually she found the squirrel, too weak to move, but still alive. She picked up its neck in her jaws and snapped it.

It was an extremely messy kill, but a kill nonetheless. Then she wondered where the heck Forestfox was. Her ears flattened in annoyance.

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Forestfox crept behind her quietly, watching carefully as she attempted her first catch. He expected it to be messy.

And it certainly was. Maybe even a little messier than he had anticipated. He weaved his way over, plants and branches hardly moving as he made his way through. He stopped in front of Rosepaw, who, in his opinion, could look happier. "Why are you angry? You made your first catch." He looked down at the squirrel. "How do you feel about it?" The correct answer would be, "That was an awful catch.", but he wanted to see what she thought.

After a long pause he finally continued. "Your stance was alright. You have to make sure your weight is even on every paw." He got into a hunter's crouch to demonstrate. His tail hung low, and his belly fur was barely touching the grass. "As for your leap, you always want to make sure you're closer than you need to be." He straightened up. "Once the wind is blowing your way, go on and try again."

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Rosepaw had seen the prey in camp. Every piece on that pile hadn't been tampered with between the kill and the depositing on the pile. She knew what a clean kill's result was supposed to look like. Forestfox quickly joined her. She didn't seem all too happy to see Forestfox than she was with the sloppiness of her catch. 

She huffed. "It's a horribly messy catch." She started, after dropping the prey from her jaws. Her tail lashed behind her. "I know it's messy! It's my first, but I only caught it in the first place because it died from blood loss!" Her nostrils flared. Why was Forestfox asking? He could've just said it was the worst catch he'd ever seen. He didn't seem like he liked her. So, no reason to sugarcoat it. Good then, she hated that sort of thing. She didn't understand why people would ever try to cover things up, trying to be 'nice.' It was dumb.

She grunted, looking away as she listened to Forestfox pointing out what she did wrong. While it might seem she was being stubborn, she was taking in every word, filing every piece of advice for later. When she'd try again. Which, apparently he expected to be soon. He asked for whenever the wind was blowing her way. Which, she supposed made sense. Then she would be able to smell her prey, but it couldn't smell her. 

She was shooting dirty looks at Forestfox over her shoulder, as she wandered off into the forest again. Once again, she was moving in her way of stealth. She was going slowly, being attentive to the small breeze brushing past her fur. Then she caught a scent. She turned her head in the direction, then she paused. It would seem the winds were going to favor her for the moment. She stalked along the trail, to come across a mouse. She lowered herself more, but remembering Forestfox's advice, trying to move at a more moderate pace. She was aware that you always stepped the most lightly when you were at a moderate speed. Too fast, your paws are pounding the earth. Too slow, you're shifting your whole body weight onto every paw. This time, it didn't seem like the mouse was going to bolt. She was still hesitant about Forestfox's advice to get closer than needed, but nonetheless... She tried it. She took an extra step or two than she wanted to, and then she pounced. 

This time, she was able to catch it in her jaws and snap its neck, despite its wriggling. Due to its wriggling, her bite mark wasn't perfect, the wound stretching more than it should. Still, it was better than the thing running off and bleeding to death. She flattened her eyes and narrowed her eyes, the prey falling from her jaws.

Forestfox was probably still watching.


@forests ((*Cough*