[Fawn]

~SILVERPAW~

It strange now, to pass by the nursery and have to auto-correct herself to the apprentices' den, skipping right past her usually path into the safety and warmth of the place she'd called home for so many moons. No, no more days spent in the nursery - well maybe a few days in the future, but that was a LONG ways away - not after she had heard her apprentice name chanted by the whole Clan and a cat she admired having been assigned her mentor.

The strange dreams Silverpaw had been having hadn't stopped or lessened in realism since she had moved into the apprentices' den, and she was mostly just grateful they weren't making a habit out of sleep-walking, or else she'd have some serious problems. The beautiful silver and black-shaded feline stretched out in the morning sunlight, green eyes a bright and grassy hue, as though the color had literally been plucked from the greenest day in Greenleaf and poured into her irises, like green paint upon a canvas.

Tail held high, the she-cat stole a few apprehensive glances towards the Warriors' den, undergoing a silent debate over approaching and asking if Nobleheart was there, or simply waiting for him by the camp entrance. In the wake of her indecision, the slightly fluffy she-cat settled instead on practicing her hunting crouch. Purposefully finding a quieter place just outside the camp perimeter and near the sparkling brook, Silverpaw let the soft babble of the still-frigid water fill her ears and clear her mind.
It gets easier every time you practice, said the voice of reason, and Silverpaw, trying to be as graceful and as fluid as she could possibly be, lowered her belly near the ground, pink nose wriggling, whiskers aquiver as her efforts didn't exactly yield comfortable results.
"One more time," she murmured, and this time crouched down not quite so low, though the placement of her paws left something to be desired. At least her imagination was working perfectly, as the young she-cat could envision a chattering squirrel scuffling around near the base of a nearby tree, each excited twitch of the tail giving Silverpaw the impression it would dart away at so much as a drop of a leaf.

[Phoenix]

Silverpaw showed promise. Though her stance could use some work, she did not look as though she was completely lost. Half of it was instinct, he knew, but instinct did not always make up for teaching done by an experienced mentor. Or somewhat experienced, in his case. From his vantage point, he could see some obvious faults that they needed to improve, like the placement of her paws, which affected her balance in turn. Her movements held the stiffness attributed to those unaccustomed to daily hunting, and he knew that that quality would work itself out with more practice and slight changes in her crouch. After another moment of watching, he decided that it was very beneficial to be able to watch his apprentice without being noticed. With him, at least, he had always been a little tenser with Bloodtalon there, despite their good relationship. It was just different when he knew that he was being watched, and he suspected that it was probably the same with most cats. Another observation did not escape his notice, one completely unrelated to her crouch. Silverpaw had taken the initiave and began practicing on her own, without being told to do so. He liked that.

Sneaking up on his apprentice had been considerably easier than it was sneaking up on Duskpaw, he mused as he crouched there, behind a nearby tree. That was to be expected, of course, considering the circumstances and experience. Duskpaw was nearly a warrior, her skills close to perfected and senses acute, whereas Silverpaw was on the other end of the spectrum, just starting out and relatively unpracticed in the art of remaining completely aware of her surroundings. Despite the obvious unfairness of the comparison, he was not about to let this opportunity to go to waste. The younger she-cat of his thoughts was directly ahead of him, and as far as he knew, completely oblivious to his presense. A mischievious grin pulled his lips upward as he rose, inching forward as quietly as possible. Let the fun begin.

When he had reached an acceptable distance away - he practically loomed over her, though his shadow did not - the warrior gathered himself and firmly spoke, "Boo."

[Fawn]

~SILVERPAW~

"Boo."

There was no faking it, she'd been genuinely startled. Fur fluffing out as she leaped in the air with a high-pitched yelp, Silverpaw's body twisted midair so that she landed awkwardly but facing him, claws unsheathed, green eyes as round as rain drops. "O-Oh, it's only you." She mewed hastily, trying to be nonchalant despite the damage already being done.
Mousebrain! How much of your practicing did he see? With a horrendous amount of embarrassment weighing down on her like a boulder, Silverpaw averted her eyes and began to lick down the fear-fluffed fur along her chest, bright pink tongue rasping over anything that stuck up at a funny angle.

Trying to cast aside her mortification - partially trying to soothe her pride by noting that at least she'd shown her claws, had she been under attack - Silverpaw resisted the urge to bolt and hide under the nearest tree root as she forced herself to match green eyes with greener ones, looking to her gray and white mentor for guidance.

The fact that he'd sneaked up on her had, in the back of her mind, alerted Silverpaw to just how young he was. There was roughly a ten-moon age difference between them, noted the half-sibling of Lionstar. That meant he was more of a big-brother type than an actual mentor, right? No, he's still your mentor and you should be respectful no matter how young he is. Not wanting to give him the impression that she didn't take him seriously, Silverpaw straightened up her posture, looking at him as though in preparation for an examination or a tough lesson - the kind of tough lesson the Elders told tall tales about, like climbing up and down a tree in 40 seconds, or bringing him the feather of an owl without getting scratched and other such hyperbole. "What are we doing today?" She mewed with tentative friendliness. Besides a brief lesson in stalking and pouncing, as well as a territory tour, they hadn't had too much time together as mentor and apprentice. Silverpaw was hoping that would change, and that she could develop a good relationship with the tom who was in charge of her warrior potential for the next 6 moons.

[Phoenix]

nobleheart warrior of treeclan. 15 moons. tom.

Fighting to keep the smirk from his lips, he tried to convince himself that he was, by far, not nearly as amused as he was remorseful. Of course. Being the mature, trusted mentor that he was, he was supposed to immediately feel bad for sneaking up on an apprentice, not derive as much enjoyment from surprising his apprentice as he had. Part of him waited expectantly for any sign of the guilt that was supposed to come while Silverpaw collected and composed herself. Green eyes averted from the she-cat in front of him - lest he lose his battle in sparing her any further embarassment - he fought nearly as hard to compose himself as she did. That was not funny. You did not enjoy it. It was definitely not funny. In the end, only the thought that, as a grown cat and now mentor, it would be very undignified to burst out laughing won him the battle. Once he had regained enough control to keep his lips from twitching upward, the warrior turned back to his apprentice, part of him pleased to note that she had pulled herself together well, despite the mortification that seemed to permeate the air. Though it really should not have been able to do so, the question caught him off guard, and he hesitated, glittering green eyes meeting the smaller pair of a similar shade. Quickly, he searched his memory for any recollection of some sort of lesson plan - what had he and Bloodtalon been doing at this time? - only to draw a blank as he was put on the spot. Okay. Improvise. Clearing his throat somewhat awkwardly, he began, "Er, right. So..." His frantic mind latched onto the first idea that popped into his head, which happened to be the most recent memory of Silverpaw with her fur fluffed up and eyes wide with surprise. "Tracking and moving unnoticed. And hunting maybe, later, if we get to it." There. That didn't sound too bad, did it? Perhaps it wasn't the smoothest delivery, but with this idea, he could at least claim that sneaking up on Silverpaw had not been completely for his own amusement. No, it had been a precursor to the lesson. An example of how the subject matter could be used to a warrior's advantage. Of course. But now he actually had to teach it. After clearing his throat again and telling himself to get his act together - at least make an effort to look somewhat competent in front of your apprentice, idiot - Nobleheart began, "Alright. For a number of reasons, which I'm sure you can figure out, tracking and stalking are two very immportant skills to have in your arsenal. Let's start out with the latter, since you were working on it a little earlier." He paused, giving her the chance to remember the hunting crouch. In case she did not make the connection, he reiterated, "A hunting crouch is the most basic and easiest way to move while remaining unseen, simply because we use it every day to catch prey and it's generally emphasized, therefore perfected, during training." Gesturing with his tail at her, he suggested, "Let's see that crouch of yours again."

[Fawn]

~SILVERPAW~

"A hunting crouch is the most basic and easiest way to move while remaining unseen, simply because we use it every day to catch prey and it's generally emphasized, therefore perfected, during training."[...]"Let's see that crouch of yours again."

Silverpaw responded to the gesture of his tail with a curd not of determined obedience, feeling a slight prickle in her paws at the idea of attempting to show him her crouch again. Try not to make a total shrew out of yourself, Silverpaw. Forewarned the ever critical voice inside her head. Because he was both a warrior her brother had trained and she was Nobleheart's very first apprentice, the she-cat felt quite a lot of pressure to do extremely well. Trying hard not to over-think it and thus psyche herself out, Silverpaw found herself drawing upon her dreams to get a good picture of the pose Silverpaw wanted to mimic perfectly.

Wait, wasn't this technically cheating?
Before Silverpaw could feel too much remorse on technically having a 'cheat-sheet' to go on, Silverpaw slid into the hunting crouch she had seen Goldenwing - the cat in her dreams - perform on many many occasions. Trying not to look too relieved, the black-ticked feline gazed sideways at her mentor with coy green eyes, hoping that if she didn't meet his gaze fully then he wouldn't be able to guess the secret to her success. It's not all Goldenwing's doing, she convinced herself, I was practicing a bit before he got here, and back in the apprentices' den too.

She really had put in some effort to master the most basic of techniques, she'd just had a little extra help for this one, that was all. She wasn't cheating. She was...adapting?

Silverpaw tried to mentally shake off the unease at this newfound cache of knowledge she could fall back on in times like these. I can't overdo it, vowed the long-haired feline, but here and there shouldn't hurt anyone.

[Phoenix]

nobleheart warrior of treeclan. 15 moons. tom.

He blinked, green eyes flickering with mild surprise at her stance. It wasn't perfect, of course, but it was far from what his had been when he had made his first few attempts at a hunting crouch. Several moons ago he would not have admitted this fact so easily, but he was impressed. Not only had her crouch exceeded his expectations - which were set relatively low, considering her beginner status - but the manner and ease in which she had lowered into it resembled that of an experienced apprentice more than that of a beginner. "Wow," The warrior stated somewhat dumbly, beginning to nod with an appropriate amount of enthusiam. "That's really good, Silverpaw, especially for someone just starting off." He grinned as he sought out her gaze, green meeting green. "I'll admit, I'm impressed. Great job." She seemed to have a natural affinity for hunting - the crouch, at least - if this was anything to go by. Wistfully, he barely prevented the sigh from escaping his maw. What he would have given to have that ability moons ago, when he had been in his apprentice's place, watching Bloodtalon with wide green eyes. All those days of hard work, as he tried to drill the seemingly simple concept of patience through his skull and remember that his paw was not supposed to be there, but rather there. It had been frustratingly infuriating, at the very least, as his improvement in that area seemed to have plateaued while he remained stuck with those concepts. And now, his own apprentice seemed likely to just bypass all of the consternation and struggling. Had she even existed and shown him this hunting crouch during that time, he probably would have leapt at her. But his head had levelled out during the last few moons of his apprenticeship - or so he liked to believe - and the urge to do so was completely nonexistent. "Alright. Like I said, it looks really good. There are just a few adjustments that will help you." This was the worst part, he remembered, when his imperfect crouch was dissected and picked apart by eyes far too keen for his liking. The memory tempered his tongue. Flicking his tail, he moved closer, noting that she seemed to have a similar problem as he had. His paw had been kept too close to his body, like her's, and nudging it now with his own, the new mentor correct, "Move that a little out here--" He gestured to a spot a little farther away "--and it will help you even out your weight more. See? It might feel a little strange at first, but you'll get used to it after a while." Ears twitching he took a slight step back. There was another part that needed fixing... What was it? Just as he began wondering why any cat would volunteer to mentor another and face the stress of knowing that this cat's future rested in their paws, he remembered the other point. "Your muscles, particularly in your shoulders, are tense. Try to relax them a little - not too much - but enough that you can easily and smoothly move forward." Nodding slightly again, he found that he was pretty satisfied with the resulting crouch. He decided that Silverpaw was definitely a natural.

[Fawn]

~SILVERPAW~

"I'll admit, I'm impressed. Great job."

The surge of pride she felt at being praised completely washed away any lingering doubts towards her cheating, and Silverpaw momentarily put the problem out of her mind, expression brightening as the she-cat was able to breathe a little easier now that she had accomplished what she'd set out to do; make a good impression! "Thank you," she mewed with growing cheeriness, her expression sliding into one of concentration as he told her to lessen the tension in her shoulders. Like this? Trying to relax, Silverpaw took in a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly until she felt the taut muscles begin to loosen, not quite so tightly wound as though she were made of wood or rock or something unyielding. Taking a few experimental steps forward, Silverpaw was inwardly a little surprised to find that she could move so easily - though the posture, once corrected by Nobleheart, still felt a little bit awkward.

It was definitely not the typical play crouch and pounce she had used in the nursery with Rowanpaw. What if she caught something on their first day out hunting together? Maybe she could even bring it to her brother, or her parents, or share it with her sister? If Nobleheart allowed it, that is - and if she could actually catch anything. Trying not to get too ahead of herself, or worse, get too greedy for more praise, Silverpaw shifted out of her hunting stance into a basic stand, feeling a lot more confident about herself now that she had gotten at least one thing right.

Eager to do more, she looked at Nobleheart expectantly, green eyes keen with an apparent thirst for knowledge. "Can I try and catch something? Or is that going to be later?" Surely he could forgive her impatience; to a brand new apprentice with her mentor's approval on her side, of course she'd be eager to try new things, with her confidence boosted so well.

[Phoenix]

nobleheart warrior of treeclan. 15 moons. tom.

He grinned at her eagerness, easily empathising with the younger she-cat. Not long ago, he had been the one standing there, overcome with excitement at the prospect of trying out new moves. The desire to do so and perhaps get lucky - and gain the title of 'coolest apprentice' that night - was nearly overwhelming. He was very familiar with the need to impress and boast, as it had practically been his only drive as a younger tom. And then Demon came. But he shook off those thoughts, not wanting to get drawn down that long, dark road once more. Part of him - the part that never really grew up - wanted to indulge Silverpaw and let her see if she could catch something with that natural ability of her's. However, the other side, which he had taken to using more lately, wanted to continue the lesson and impart the basics onto her before letting her loose. He did not need to let the inner conflict run its course before he knew which side would be the victor. "Slow down a little, Silverpaw," He meowed warmly, cutting to the chase. "I like your willingness and enthusiasm, but there are still a few more things I want to go over before you try hunting for real. Now that was good, your hunting crouch." She had taken the next logical step and decided to practice a little bit of stalking, and he was pleased with the results. "You were moving pretty smoothly, which is something you need to be able to do when you hunt." Pausing for a moment, he flicked his tail, briefly considering his next words. There were two more pieces of knowledge he wanted to share - though the more accurate term would be to expand upon - with Silverpaw before she tried hunting. The order in which he covered them was only a matter of preference, so long as they reached both. Picking one arbitrarily, he said, "In a minute I'm going to shut up - I promise. When I do so, I want you to scent the air and listen - and do whatever else you need to do - so you can get a good picture of our surroundings. The catch? You can't move from this spot." Instructions delivered, the tom settled himself down, tail curling around four paws as he let his own senses explore their surroundings. Idly, he wondered when that had become so easy, as it did not take nearly as much effort as it had at the start of his training.

[Fawn]

~SILVERPAW~

"I like your willingness and enthusiasm, but there are still a few more things I want to go over before you try hunting for real. Now that was good, your hunting crouch."

Abashed, Silverpaw dipped her head and attempted to reapply her focus to the lesson at hand, silver-shaded ears perking forward attentively. With the sudden instructions given - and the unforeseen catch Silverpaw had not quite been prepared for - the apprentice attempted not to flounder right away at the seemingly impossible task. Don't move from this spot? But...but...

Buts catch no prey.
Whispered the voice of reason, and Silverpaw made a small curt dip of her head, intending to do just as she had been told, not wanting to disappoint the mentor who was now relaxing so calmly nearby, as though he had done this a million times over. Did he expect her to get it right the first time? How would she know if she'd heard everything? If she'd smelled everything there was to smell?

Trying not to let her own worry psyche herself out of performing properly, Silverpaw closed her eyes and let the focus fall to her auditory and olfactory perception, intending to sharpen both - and hoping he wouldn't become upset with her if she took more time than necessary. She just wanted to be absolutely certain she didn't miss anything.

Mouth slightly agape, Silverpaw attempted to sift through the familiar and unfamiliar scents that tickled the roof of her mouth, not quite able to balance her attention between the two senses. Just as she thought she was tasting mouse on the wind, her ears picked up the very faint gurgle of some source of water - the Sparkling Brook, perhaps? With a few noisy cardinals somewhere distant, and the much nearer rattatatat of a woodpecker doing as it's name described. Subconsciously, Silverpaw raised her right front paw as though to take a step forward, before Nobleheart's instructions caught up with her - the scarred, but surprisingly comforting face of Silverpaw's mentor entering her mind whenever she started to waver from his original orders.

Don't. Move.

Though her thoughts were threatening to paint images of the forest she'd seen in her dreams, Silverpaw was trying her hardest - perhaps overtrying - to get a good grasp of her surroundings, a few memories unable to be prevented from leaking in, and Silverpaw found herself speaking softly, voicing aloud her findings.
"I think there's a mouse somewhere nearby - maybe next to that..." she paused, searching for the name that would identify the tree, "spruce. The Sparkling Brook is," she rotated her ears to indicate the water source's initial location. "In that direction, there is a woodpecker really close to us, and I think I can hear the sound of the Thunderpath from here."

Growing more confident in her abilities, it was with a gut-rolling stab of horror that Silverpaw came to the realization that TreeClan did not live near a Thunderpath. The old TreeClan had, the one in her dreams - or were they memories? - the Thunderpath that Goldenwing had lost her mentor on, one crisp newleaf morning. Silverpaw could even remember the sound of the rain striking the asphalt. Utterly mortified by her mistake, Silverpaw quickly tried to redact the end of her statement. "I-I meant the wind. I can hear the wind through the trees - n-not a Thunderpath, because that would be silly. We don't have a Thunderpath..." she mewed that last bit as though to convince herself of that, as though trying to mentally slap her self back to reality, trying to draw a firm line of separation between what she dreamt at night and what she would find each day when she woke up.

Resisting the urge to cringe, Silverpaw looked at Nobleheart, trying to assess the damage of her own careless mouth.

[Phoenix]

nobleheart warrior of treeclan. 15 moons. tom.

Even as his apprentice began to do so for perhaps the first serious time in her life, he allowed his senses to paint a picture of their surroundings for his own use. The sound of flowing water nearby told him of their proximity to the Sparkling Brook, and with that in mind, he specifically sought out the scents of any prey that might have decided to lurk nearby. More often than not, water indicated that other creatures, felines and fellow predators included, were not far, and that held true particularly on a pleasant day such as is this one. It did not take him long to identify the mouse shuffling around behind a nearby tree, and if he focused on that one area, he could almost hear its light footsteps as it undoubtedly sought out food. A hollow, repetitive sound filled the air, standing out against the birdsong which he had quickly learned to drone out. It was rapid, and he recognized it as-- Silverpaw began speaking, her tone quiet, as she reported on their surroundings. Nodding along, he was impressed with her knowledge and ability to identify the scents - and he would not have known the name of that tree, as it was nothing more than a tree - without any formal training. In a way, it was uncanny, and admittedly, he found himself losing a little confidence. Was he out of his league? What was Lionstar thinking, assigning him, a new warrior, an apprentice who already seemed to know everything? What else could he possibly teach her? Surely a more experienced, weathered senior warrior would offer better advice than himself. One who could identify one kind of tree from the other instead of grouping them in one category with the label 'tree'. However, an odd phrase caught his attention, and green eyes narrowed in a combination of suspicion and cautious curiousity. Judging by her reaction and hasty attempt at covering her tracks, the she-cat had blurted something that was never supposed to be heard by other ears. With amusement, he noted that her endeavor, however, was negated by her repeated use of the word which she sought to cover up. "Silverpaw," He spoke slowly, scarred features arranged in a wary expression. "What is a... Thunderpath?" He had hesitated slightly before trying out the word himself. It felt strange on his tongue, foreign. Having survived various storms throughout his short life, he knew what thunder was as well as the next cat. It was very odd, however, to think that a sound could be channeled down along a path, as if it was tangible and able to be arranged in a shape. A stone path, he could picture, but not a Thunderpath. It seemed as though Silverpaw knew the term, however, and its definition. Perhaps she had coined it herself? But the concept that it suggested was extremely far-fetched, even for an imaginative apprentice. Thunderpath. She would not make it out of this without giving a suitable answer. Not only had his curiousity had been piqued, but if this was something they had to worry about, then it was best that someone alert Lionstar.

[Fawn]

~SILVERPAW~

"What is a... Thunderpath?"

Oh StarClan, don't ask me that! The instance such a word fell out of Nobleheart's mouth with obvious curiosity, the pungent stench of burning monsters and the horrible tremors as each one went roaring past struck her like a lightning bolt, Silverpaw managing to smile meekly. You don't want to know.
"Oh I-I just made it up, when I was in the nursery." She lied, voice high as a usual side-effect of not-telling-the-truth to someone she cared about. It was a little bit of a fault of hers, really, she was a poor liar and the guilt that followed was usually more than her heart could handle. "It has monsters on it, and they roar which sounds like thunder." Added the plush silver feline, kneading her paws into the earth with embarrassment.

In spite of how uncomfortable she was with putting herself under the spotlight by saying something that made no sense to anyone besides her, Silverpaw couldn't help but leap out of her own fur for a moment and study the situation, realizing that to a cat who had not seen an actual Thunderpath, her description of it really DID sound like some kind of nonsense story a kit would make up. Roaring monsters, honestly. Hoping he would not press the situation further, Silverpaw opened her mouth to suggest they get back on track, but worry over her avoidance spiking more curiosity from the heavily scarred tom, and thus this unpleasant conversation would never end.

What else should I not open my big fat mouth about?
It was a little difficult discerning what was actually in this forest as opposed to the mystery forest of her dreams, with Goldenwing as her only guide, she could not deviate from the she-cat's path, she could not break free to explore on her own and get a proper understanding of this foreign yet familiar territory. As if set on a path she had to literally walk through rather than avoid, Silverpaw felt like her paws were set upon following Goldenwing to the end.
Whatever that was.

Attempting to pull herself together, Silverpaw wracked her brain for the initial beginning of their lesson, trying to recall what he'd even asked her to do in the first place. Right. Describe her surroundings, was it? "Did I miss anything?" mewed the silver kitten, her voice quiet and with a fragile confidence, as was per usual - almost as though she always half-expected herself to be right and half-expected herself to be wrong, and was prepared for the worst.

[Phoenix]

Though he would never claim to be the most observant tom in TreeClan, Nobleheart felt confident enough in his abilities to tell when a cat lied to him. With those who often had a blank face as a habit, it was, of course, considerably harder to do so, but when felines such as Silverpaw attempted to lie, it was fairly obvious. Her raised voice alone would have given her poor attempt the way; the sudden, anxious kneading of paws only clarified the fact. Though it was somewhat endearing, his apprentice’s inability to tell a decent lie could potentially become a problem. Not that he encouraged lying, but he believed that it was a decent weapon to have in his arsenal. As a result of occasionally exaggerating his accomplishments as an apprentice, Nobleheart felt he had a decent amount of experience in the area of weaving stories.

However, Silverpaw’s response to his question made the warrior unsure of how to react. He could act as though he had bought the lie and ignore this Thunderpath for now, or he could question further and continue a conversation in which the other party was obviously reluctant to participate. After a moment’s consideration, he decided to act on the former and drop the topic for now. This was supposed to be a hunting lesson, not an interrogation session, after all; not to mention that he could always return to the topic later, if only to satisfy his own curiosity. I can look into it further later on. Perhaps one of the elders would have heard the unfamiliar term through an old story.

”You must have a very active imagination,” Nobleheart finally replied, a small smile on his lips. ”All I ever thought of as a kit was becoming a warrior.” Signaling the end of that conversation with a flick of his tail, the warrior flicked an ear, collecting himself just as the she-cat beside him did the same. After a moment of remembering the task he had assigned and her response, the warrior shook his head. ”No, I don’t think so. That was very good, Silverpaw.” She had listed the main targets he had found, and even though he was willing to bet that he would discover more if he stood there longer, Nobleheart thought it wise to move on.

Green eyes flicked back toward the tree, where he could still hear the mouse rustling in the undergrowth. He figured that he might as well unleash her on the unintelligent creature – it had lingered even with their conversation, which had not been fairly quiet – and see what they had to work on from the results of that hunt. Half of him expected her to catch it, though the more reasonable part of him would be unsurprised if she did not live up to that expectation; it was her first time. ”Focus on the mouse by that spruce,” He instructed, lowering his voice slightly. How she had managed to identify that tree was beyond him, but he knew he was going to remember it. Was it common to be able to name plants like that? Was this an ability he had missed out on as an apprentice? Deciding to not let it completely sidetrack him, the warrior continued, ”Try to catch it. Remember your crouch, and keep your steps light.”

[Fawn]

Silverpaw
6 Moons - TreeClan - She-Cat

The mouse will feel me approaching almost as quickly as it will hear it, so I should watch my breathing too. Grateful Nobleheart had dropped the subject of the Thunderpath, Silverpaw's heart blazed with a deep desire to succeed, to make him proud and make him forget his apprentice had ever said anything at all. A successful first catch would make that blunder a distant memory, right?

But what if this was another unusual thing? Catching a mouse on her first try?

Silverpaw dipped her head to Nobleheart and immediately fell into the proper posture, incorporating his earlier critiques with the techniques she had picked up in the realm of dreams, Goldenwing a seemingly ever present topic in the she-kitten's young, impressionable mind. Recalling Nobleheart's cautionary words about the tenseness of her body, Silverpaw took her time in an attempt at relaxing her mind, willing the soothing sounds of the place she had grown up in to bring peace to her excitable heart and quell her anxieties. I don't want Goldenwing's help this time, I want to catch a mouse using my own skills. It was difficult beyond measure to simply forget everything she'd ever learned from a couple of moons of observing this ancient golden phantom of her dreams, but Silverpaw intended to stop cross-referencing everything she ever did with what Goldenwing did before her.

Just do what feels natural. How hard could this be?

Shoulders having tensed up again, Silverpaw relaxed her posture again, careful to keep the thick fluff of her tail off of the ground as she stalked forward, ears pulled to the front by the subtle scuffling sounds of her prey rustling around near the base of the correctly identified Spruce. Despite her best intentions, doing something on her own was rather difficult after she'd already been given a rather impressive amount of lessons via her golden ancestor, having watched most of Goldenpaw's training sessions with her mentor, able to get an exclusive view of the correct postures and placement of the paws and sense of timing without interrupting any of it.

It was automatic, really, the way Silverpaw approached, leaf-green eyes locked on target, a shiver raking down the kitten's body as, rather than hesitate once the mouse stopped scuffling, she took advantage of the changing of the wind to strike. Thwack! Delicate paw shot forward to bat the mouse against the ground to stun it, Silverpaw's small body crouching over the incapacitated animal to deliver a swift killing bite, her mouth watering as the earthy, rich scent of TreeClan's prey teased the scent glands on the roof of her mouth. Maybe she could give it to Rowanpaw later? They could swap stories about how their training sessions had went. Picking up the small warm body, Silverpaw approached Nobleheart with an open expression, looking at him for some sort of recognition of her success. She'd done well, hadn't she?

And I did it on my own, too. I think. It felt like I did.

Silverpaw would come to realize in due time that the damage had already been done. She'd already absorbed too much knowledge from her dreams to successfully play the role of 'ignorant, empty-headed apprentice, ready to hold all the knowledge her mentor could give her'. She already had more knowledge than was plausible, and it was going to start showing eventually, unless Silverpaw's acting abilities improved - or the dreams stopped.

[Phoenix]

Well, she did have an extremely good crouch for a beginner, He reasoned, once his thought process restarted. He had seen no flaws in her crouch, and her movement was fluid and smooth. Instead of the unfamiliarity he had expected to see, she hunted with what he perceived as a practiced air, a confidence that belonged to a feline who had spent moons perfecting the technique. But that could not have been possible, because she had just started training, right? No one had showed her any hunting techniques before, as far as he knew. Perhaps Lionstar had decided to give his younger sister some tips before her apprenticeship, to set her a little beyond the rest? He doubted that the leader would show favoritism like that, but there had to have been some excuse as to why, for example, she pounced with the shifting wind rather than the stilling of the mouse’s movements. Even a natural who was just introduced to hunting would have hesitated, right? Or had he underestimated her and was considerably farther out of his league than he originally thought?

”That,” The warrior started, wondering what advice or constructive criticism he could offer. She already seemed to have a solid grasp of the basics, and apart from teaching an apprentice how to crouch and stalk, the rest of hunting seemed to consist of practice. ”That was very good. Well done, Silverpaw, and congratulations on your first catch!” Shoving away the unwanted part of his mind that was floundering at her sudden and unexpected prowess, the tom focused on the pride that he felt at her success. Even if he had done very little by way of helping, she had made her first catch on her first attempt, and that was something very few cats could claim to have done. He made no effort to hide the grin that had spread across his face.

”Awesome job,” Nobleheart murmured again, ears flicking. ”I don’t think there’s much I can say to help you out, at this point. Why don’t we continue hunting, and if I see something wrong, I can correct it.” Green eyes left his apprentice, glancing around the clearing. ”See if you can find something else and hunt from the start.”

[Fawn]

Silverpaw
6 Moons - TreeClan - She-Cat

Silver shaded ears pricked forwards, and the feline to whom they belonged readily received the praise with a warm smile, lightening her features in one easy gesture. "Thank you." Her gratitude was sincere if not a little shy, the slight dragging of her front paws over the grass providing insight on her true feelings. My first catch! Wait until she showed this to Featherpaw! Sure, her taller much more fiery-natured friend had already caught her first catch 3 moons earlier than she had, but that didn't mean they couldn't share in each other's successes. The heavy scarring made it difficult for the otherwise perceptive she-cat to properly gauge Nobleheart's reactions, but from what she could tell in tone of voice and overall posture, he sounded sincere.

Nodding, eagerly accepting further instructions, Silverpaw did an about-turn on small, nimble paws, slipping into the hunting crouch she had practiced an indefinite number of times, further perfected by Nobleheart - his corrections already accounted for. Calm down! Yes it was your first catch but you won't make very many more if you're acting like a startled rabbit! Forcing herself to take several slow, deep breaths as she moved throughout the territory, the breezes carried a veritable bouquet of scents, Silverpaw taking a few moments to decipher them all.
Another mouse!

She flicked the tip of her tail. Catching a bird or trying her skills on any other animal besides a mouse would be excellent practice...but the Clan needed to be fed first. Being selfish wouldn't fill her Clanmates' bellies, least of all hers. Committed to the task and still feeling the high from her first success and the praise that had followed, leaf green oculars radiated a calm, sharp glint, her expression blank as instinct began to take front and center, Silverpaw trying not to dwell so much in her head.

Concentrating on the small brown body that scuffled around some dead leaves, Silverpaw's streamlined form slunk closer, mindful to not let bottlebrush plume whisk across anything that might crunch or crack and crinkle, her expression contorting suddenly. Foxdung! No literally. In her surprise, a silver forepaw descended upon a hapless pinecone, flattening a section of it and giving the mouse an unexpected warning, the rodent taking off with a quiver of the tail, body nothing more than a brown blur.

Under normal circumstances, Silverpaw would've been disappointed, and had turned to look at her teacher with apologetic eyes, but such wasn't the case right now. If the kitten's sensitive nose was accurate, then they had a bigger issue that would require a little more than a hunting-stance critique. Stepping forward as though expecting something to bite her, Silverpaw nosed around the pile of dead leaves, and sprang back, senses thoroughly offended.
"Nobleheart?" she mewed, timidity forgotten in light of this discovery. "I don't think this is right... Fox dung? On TreeClan territory?"

Had the fox simply, ah, relieved themselves and then went on their way? Or was it still lurking around somewhere?