[Insidious]

His strides were ghost-like, radiating an elegance like no other tom known to NightClan. Yes, Hollowcry wasn't as large in size as most; but he had the quickness of a cheetah on his side, and the sharpness of mind that no feline could overlook, unless they just so happened to be mouse-brained fools. Currently, the dark brown figure of Hollowcry was intent on searching out the camp for any signs of his female apprentice. His left ear signaled his impatience with a hasty twitch, pale yellow eyes glistening against the darkness of his fur pigmentation as he glided purposefully toward the apprentice's den. “Wakey wakey in there, Strawberrypaw.”

His word-choice could easily come across as being genuinely kind-hearted; a simple request for the apprentice to awaken and meet their mentor outside. However, this was entirely false if one would assume such behavior to arise from Hollowcry: he wasn't a complete jerk, especially to the youth of NightClan. But with a feline like him for a mentor, Strawberrypaw could expect to have a critical eye upon her at all times.

Pivoting, the tom-cat exited the apprentice's den with a quick stride. Halting abruptly outside of the den, he allowed his hackles to fold into a seated stance, head turning toward the entrance to await the arrival of his apprentice. Today, they would be embarking on the journey of the hunt itself. Since it was her first lesson, any missteps or faults upon the hunt would be excused. In time, however, as more techniques were introduced and more lessons had been taken: Hollowcry would expect A+ material from his apprentice at every corner.

Strict? Maybe just a little. He simply wanted the best for the next generation of NightClan warriors. No matter how long it took, he'd assure there wasn't one apprentice better than Strawberrypaw amongst the crowd. Hollowcry wasn't about to be stuck training a feline with no talent whatsoever. He didn't believe Strawberrypaw to fit into this category, though. Surely, being a she-cat with a size like hers, there would be some use out of this mentor-apprentice match.

[BlooRey DVD]

Strawberrypaw
~~~~~~

The mottled apprentice had been in a world of darkness. A thick, dreamless sleep seemed to have swallowed her up, leaving her with nothing but the blackness of the world. As the morning pushed on, however, the sleep became thinner and thinner, until she was partially aware of her surroundings, of the softest sounds outside. Still, she remained half asleep, her eyes firmly shut. A voice slipped through her head, from somewhere outside. She only paid it any attention because it had mentioned her name. “Wakey wakey in there, Strawberrypaw.” Her ear twitched and her face scrunched slightly as she was roused from her odd state. Who... That sounded like Hollowcry. Why would Hollowcry be calling h-

Her eyes shot open and Strawberry paw shot to her feet. Because she was his apprentice now! Her eyes were wide with alarm for a moment, glancing around at the still sleeping figures of the other apprentices. They were still sleeping, but Hollowcry was calling her out, probably for some training. She was still sore from the day before, but she didn't let that stop her. She immediately pushed any thoughts of sleep from her mind slipping through the entrance to the den. Her larger frame shook as she chased the last bits of sleep from her body, eyes blinking against the harsh light. Her eyes met those of her mentor's a sharp yellow. She dipped her head to him. "Morning, Hollowcry. I'm sorry if I overslept. I'm ready now, promise."

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[Insidious]

"Morning, Hollowcry. I'm sorry if I overslept. I'm ready now, promise." Detecting the voice of his newly assigned apprentice; dark brown ears atop his head swiveled, followed by the implanting of his sharp, pale yellow irises upon her brown-white figure. A solemn nod was offered to the youthful she-cat, his tail slashing once with the rising to his paws. He didn't necessarily see a reason for the apprentice of NightClan to be apologizing for her oversleeping, though, he appreciated her initiative to begin after just awakening. “Good,” his tone didn't imply his minor impressed state, though, he did gift the she-cat with a glimpse of approval flashing through the depths of his yellow eyes before he pivoted on elegant heels, signaling for Strawberrypaw to follow with the forwardly gesture of his head.

“Now, today we'll be reviewing the basics of hunting. Useable techniques and approaches that will best suit you.” Hollowcry glanced to the side, as if expecting for Strawberrypaw to be directly where he desired her to be. “Stealth and the ability to maneuver with a perfected radiation of precision is key to being successful on the hunt; these factors will be addressed today in order to discover where you are most lacking the required skills.” Hollowcry's approach to teaching could very well be described with one, simplistic word: technical. There was a way in which he figured things were to be done. And, it was assumed that the entirety of NightClan fit in to the same techniques as his own; Strawberrypaw being held to these incredibly high standards.

“If you have any issues, don't be afraid to comment on them,” his forwardly movements paused for the briefest of moments, angling his body to be facing Strawberrypaw. He knelt closer to the terrain, accustoming himself to a range that was eye-level with the she-cat's green eyes. “After all, I'm here to help. Aren't I?” The tom-cat smirked, almost mischievously. Flicking an ear in the young feline's direction as a final acknowledgment, he allowed his dark brown figure to be swallowed whole by the surrounding foliage of NightClan camp. All the while, assuming Strawberrypaw would be able to keep up efficiently with each graceful stride of his limbs.

[BlooRey DVD]

Strawberrypaw
~~~~~~~~~

The mottled brown apprentice followed her mentor, slightly behind him, watching his movements. When he turned one way, she shot forward so that she was fit beside him when speaking to her. She nodded to him, determination flashing in her eyes. Her ears were pricked, catching every word that left his mouth. Her larger frame bounded beside him as she forced herself to keep up. She could feel the slight exhaustion tugging at her muscles, but ignored it. She had no time for silly things like that. She had to get better, no matter what.

Suddenly, he was lowered to her level. Her off-green eyes blinked at him, before giving him another nod. "Of course, Hollowcry. I won't hesitate." When he left, pushing through the entrance, the apprentice took a bound forward, following him out at a determined pace. She reappeared on the other side of the entrance, catching up quickly to her mentor. "Hollowcry." She looked at him with a fire in her eyes. "Don't go easy on me. I want to be the best." She left out a bit of information. She wanted to be better than him. Better than Oxpaw.

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[Insidious]

Her determination was admirable; a trait Hollowcry was proud to see in his apprentice. If he had gotten stuck with an apprentice that lacked the drive, lacked the intelligence and, most importantly, lacked the skill: he certainly wouldn't have strolled his way into the mentor-apprentice pairing as confidently as he had. But Strawberrypaw. She didn't just simplistically reply to his comments, but made them sound reassuring.
Fixing pale yellow eyes upon the youthful she-cat, it was easy to determine 'keeping up' wasn't as easy for the feline as he would have preferred. It appeared as if she had... sore muscles, perchance? Allowing his attentive, analytical gaze to trail along the height of her body, he flashed the she-cat a glance that could easily determine he was curious as to why she seemed unusually sore for this particular afternoon of training.
Little to Hollowcry's knowledge: she had gotten herself into quite the scuffle with fellow apprentice, Oxpaw, the night earlier.

Dismissing his curiousity, the tom fixated his utmost attention on traveling forwardly, the occasional shoulder-check performed to assure Strawberrypaw wasn't falling too drastically behind. “Hollowcry,” the tom-cat's dark brown ears perked, swiveling atop his head to be angled toward Strawberrypaw's positioning a few mouse-lengths behind his tail. “Don't go easy on me. I want to be the best.”
The NightClan warrior grinned, addressing the largely sized feline over his shoulders in a quick, flawless tone: “I wouldn't dream of it, Strawberrypaw. What you desire, is precisely what I desire, as well.” It was entirely truthful, which could easily be noted with the fluent, confident way the words were spoken by the dark brown furred tom-cat. He wouldn't settle for training an apprentice that was anything less than the best. No matter how dedicated he had to be to this apprentice, she would fulfill this goal.
“Understand, Strawberrypaw,” the tom-cat allowed a brief pause, simply to assure the she-cat could cue in to the fact he was speaking to her before he went into the greater detail. “to be the best, is no easy task. A dedication to this training was expected from the beginning. But now that I've been informed of your similar desire, a higher level of expectation is upon you.” Hollowcry slowed his pace a touch, twisting his head over lithe shoulder blades to spare a glance into the off-green gaze of Strawberrypaw. “If, you're up for it, that is.”

[/color][/b]

Suddenly, a fragrance washed over the tom's ebony nose. His neck protruded, pace slowing until the moment his paws skidded to a complete halt. Mouse. The tiniest creature known to the jaws of the clan cats. Hollowcry's mouth parted, exposing hooked fangs as a deeper inhalation of the scent was absorbed to identify more precise details. “Scent the air, Strawberrypaw. Tell me, can you identify the species of prey that has crossed this trail?” Hollowcry implanted a expectant gaze upon the she-cat, peering into the depths of the feline's eyes to determine whether or not this task would prove to be a struggle for her. [/blockquote][/size]

[BlooRey DVD]

Strawberrypaw
~~~~~~~

Strawberrypaw paid close attention to her mentors words, her pace quickening slightly as she managed to begin to stretch out the soreness in her muscles. Her ears were pricked towards Hollowcry as she moved along by his flank. She was about to let him know that she was completely up for it, ready to offer him everything she had to become the best, when his movement stopped. Strawberrypaw slowed to a stop beside him, ears pricked curiously as she watched him part his jaws. He must have scented something. Slowly, she opened her jaws, testing the air around her, wondering just what it was that Hollowcry had picked out.

“Scent the air, Strawberrypaw. Tell me, can you identify the species of prey that has crossed this trail?” Her green eyes widened a fraction in surprised. All of them? Her whiskers twitched slightly as she opened her jaws wider, lowering herself slightly to be closer to the scents. She shuffled through what she knew as quickly as she could, desperately trying to sort the scents she could remember from their patrol around the territory. The scent of the forest and the marshes could be so confusing. She had to get passed all of those before she could answer him, pick out the prey scents.

Grasping at what scents she could remember from eating the prey, she hoped to find something that could help her. And then she found one. She vaguely remembered Ambercloud bringing them a rather freshly caught squirrel one morning, still scenting of squirrel. "There was... a squirrel... And..." There was another scent, a scent of feathers, if that could be said. "A bird... Maybe a sparrow? Or... Thrush..." Her voice was uncertain, and there were more, she could tell, but she couldn't find them in her memory.

That was, until a strong scent seemed to smack her on the nose, causing her ears to prick. This scent was all too familiar to her now, as she had come across it a few times the day before, and in the earlier stages of her life. Mouse. "Mouse!" She whispered excitedly. "There's a mouse, fresher than the rest of the muddled scents."

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[Insidious]

The pale yellow eyes of Hollowcry didn't flicker; not even being momentarily shielded away by the process of a blink. Perhaps, it was slightly uncomfortable for the mottled brown apprentice, searching for the answers in her mind when such a calculative gaze was fixated upon each weakness she exhibited.
At last, she spoke. However, it wasn't without various pauses and a clear lack of precise knowledge. Hollowcry noted this, keeping his jaw tightly sealed until she was able to finish. There was a chance that she simply wanted to impress Hollowcry; to make him understand her capabilities. She wouldn't achieve this without precision in everything she did, though. To be the best, is no easy task. Hollowcry reconnected with his former words, piecing them together in his mind before at last, addressing the she-cat.
“Squirrel is correct. Thrush: correct. And mouse, also correct. Mouse is the most recent, as you pointed out, which is what was most important to me that you recognized.” That was it for Hollowcry's compliments. Strawberrypaw was incredibly false if to believe there wasn't also some criticism on the tip of the warrior's pink tongue. “However, sparrow was a guess, which is where your fault was exploited. It's better to be honest about what you know and do not know, then to form a guess that is inaccurate. A stammer is a sign of weakness, or lack of training in the concept. In time, you'll grow increasingly familiar with these scents, therefore, no longer having to rely on guesses to seem knowledgeable.”
It was far more important to Hollowcry that Strawberrypaw's knowledge be correct, and not based off of gathered assumptions. For it was better to be honestly unsure, than verbally wrong.

“Now, I'd assume since you have figured out that the mouse is most recent, that you have pieced together one-and-two and discovered this is our prey of choice.” Hollowcry's pale yellow irises were focused into the depths of the she-cat's off-green eyes as another question was offered. “From what intelligence you have upon this particular species: what differs a mouse-hunt from, say, a rabbit-hunt?”
This was both an honest question, and a test. There was one difference in particular that Hollowcry immediately took recognition of, and he was curious as to if Strawberrypaw would too, cue into it. However, if she was not familiarized with this particular knowledge, it was hoped by the dark brown mentor that she would admit to being unsure, instead of once again, guessing.

Making a path for the direction in which the mouse's trail was most accurately to be, the tom-cat gestured the she-cat's following with the slightest twitch of his tail. “While you search for your answer, be wary of when you believe the prey to be nearest.” Hollowcry added, a clear reference for the she-cat to multi-task.

[BlooRey DVD]

Strawberrypaw

[/b]
~~~~~~[/center]

She heard the praises, but kept staring back at him, waiting for the rest. She knew she'd made mistakes, and she knew she had been wrong somewhere. And she needed to know what she'd done wrong in order to be the best. And then it came. The sparrow was her false guess. The two birds, she had been incredibly unsure of. The fact that one of her two guesses had been right was a miracle. She listened to Hollowcry's voice, meeting his pale yellow stare with her own off-green gaze, blinking once or twice as she nodded her understanding. "Of course, Hollowcry." She whispered between his words, not wanting to interrupt him while he was speaking. He then asked her another question, before moving off, indicating for her to follow him.

She set off after him at a steady pace, jaws parted to attempt to track the prey as they moved, all the while answering his question. "Well, I know they both rely of slightly different senses to check for danger." She thought they were getting closer, but it was all muddling together. After another step or two, the mottled apprentice stopped with an annoyed flick of her tail. She remembered what he had told her earlier, and with a dejected glance down at her paws, she murmured. "I don't know."

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[Insidious]

"Well, I know they both rely on slightly different senses to check for danger." This was true, but not the answer in particular Hollowcry was waiting to hear. “Yes, and?” He prompted, dark brown tufted ears pricking backward in preperation for the she-cat's response. “I don't know.”
Her tone implied frustration. It was made clear, in that moment, that Strawberrypaw wasn't fond of admitting there were things she wasn't entirely sure of. The tom-cat nodded, pleased that she had taken initiative to take Hollowcry's words into consideration, and apply them into her verbal communication when she, in fact, was not certain of the answer.
“What I was looking for, was that: a mouse hunt – although it requires the same amount of keen observation and stealth – tends to be a lot more simplistic than that of a rabbit-hunt. For, rabbits have a sensitive hearing that cues them to flee with even the slightest misstep on the predator's part. Mice are able to be sensitive to noise, though, not quite on the same level as a rabbit.” Hollowcry was aware of how much information he was attempting to hammer into the she-cat's mind in such a short period of time. And, it was likely she wouldn't quite remember it all in time for their next outing. However, that could all simply be formatted into yet another test: how careful is Strawberrypaw to assure she's paying attention? Does she have a strong enough intelligence level to comprehend such a high level of information?

Perhaps, Hollowcry could leave room for a small break from this rush of knowledge upon the various species of prey. Besides, they were nearing the target. It was time to test Strawberrypaw's abilities in action. “Focus is key at a time such as this,” The tom-cat's tone of voice was lowered to that of a hushed whisper, his pace slowed so that Strawberrypaw could be at his flank and able to hear him better. “The prey is near. I would like you to try and locate its position, without causing such a disturbance of noise as to signal our presences and cause the target to flee.”
Hollowcry considered this to be a time when there was absolutely no room for error. However, since it was Strawberrypaw's first experience, any accidental missteps could be excused.

Allowing himself to fall into the background, the tom-cat watched with calculative patience as to not miss any steps Strawberrypaw took in order to aid in locating the tiny mammal's location.

[BlooRey DVD]

Strawberrypaw
~~~~~~~~

Strawberrypaw listened to every word her mentor uttered, determined to remember them all. It was important for her, she knew. This would all lead her to become a better warrior than that other, stupid apprentice. This was her first chance. She could be better than him, she knew it. And then he told her that the prey was near, and that she was to find it. She steadied her breathing slightly, quietly slipping passed her mentor with her jaws opened to catch the surrounding scents. She knew that every moment counted, and that it would be best to find it quickly, before it scurried away. But she had to be quiet as well.

Remembering what Hollowcry had told her about mice, she moved slowly, carefully. She checked the wind, moving so that she stayed downwind of it. She couldn't have her scent reaching it. That would ruin her plan completely. She drew nearer and nearer, careful with every paw step. By no means was her technique any good, she hadn't been taught a proper crouch. It might not have been perfect just yet, but it seemed to be working alright for her. She made sure she was aware of her tail, knowing that it could easily give her away.

What she didn't see, however, was the stick. It snapped under her weight. The mouse froze, hesitating for a second. Strawberrypaw, however, didn't let her instincts tell her to freeze. She forced her body into a jump, a tremendous leap clean over a bush, she snapped her teeth wildly, feeling them clamp onto something. The squeak told her it was the mouse's tail. Her landing was completely thrown off, and she landed on her side, rolling and dragging the squeaking mouse with her. She felt herself collide with something hard, and groaned, but refused to release the form in her mouth. Her green eyes blinked open from where she lay motionless now, noting the mouse that was trying its very best to scramble away. She lifted a paw, trapping its body with a firm grip, before shifting slightly to deliver a sharp bite to its neck. The small creature collapsed limp, soon followed by Strawberrypaw.

The mottled she-cat groaned, rolling slowly to her paws. Her claws gripped at the roots below her and she glanced around confused. Slowly, it all came back. Oh. Right. She looked up at the tree that had stopped her motion, still feeling the tightness where she'd hit it. Her gaze looked down at the mouse, before flicking to her mentor.

"Well that was horrible." She snorted, the disappointment in herself clear in her green eyes. What a mess.

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[Insidious]

As the brown-white figure of his apprentice slipped forward, the tom-cat allowed himself to fall behind, all the while remaining close enough to deliver a proper examination of both her movements and techniques. She began smoothly: jaws widened partially to thoroughly analyze the air, maneuvering with cautious, yet swift steps, etc. Hollowcry blinked his pale yellow eyes, so far, rather impressed with her approach. (Regardless of her crouch that was in clear need of some assistance after she had finished following through upon Hollowcry's request)

Hollowcry's acute vision zeroed in on the object that turned out to be Strawberrypaw's first mistake. Sharp eyes flickering between the apprentice and stick, he watched through narrowed slits as she leaped forward through the foliage and hurled herself into some kind of tuck-and-roll game with the prey.

Hollowcry's limbs quickly unlocked from their crouched position, elegantly striding forward to implant his desired position atop a fallen log – offering a perfect viewpoint of the scenario occurring between the rolling Strawberrypaw with a mouse tail hooked in her jaws. For a moment, a grin formed at the corner of the tom-cat's lips, clearly unable to handle the situation to the serious extent it should have been handled with.
However, after the she-cat released an agitated groan upon impact with the tree; she delivered a kill-bite to the back of the scrambling target's neck. This, returning Hollowcry to his serious, cunning facial expression in perfect time for when Strawberrypaw's green eyes fell upon him, a radiation of disappointment chained within their depths.

With a hasty flick of his tail, the NightClan warrior rose to his paws and jumped down from the fallen log, pacing toward the she-cat now beginning to fully rise from her sprawled position on the ground. Allowing himself to spare a quick glance at the successfully captured mouse, his small jaws parted to execute the speech Strawberrypaw was likely expecting. “To be entirely blunt: the only thing that really matters is that the prey gets captured. As it was.” Hollowcry's head gestured toward the tiny mammal with a light movement before continuing.
“However, I'm sure you understand where the first mistake had occurred, yes?” Hollowcry was referencing to the moment her paw collided with the twig to dilute the atmosphere with that awful, snapping sound. Expecting Strawberrypaw to know the moment he was speaking of, he continued on passed it. “Your reaction time is surely not an issue. What is an issue: is your ability to react, and do so in a fashion that radiates clumsiness and anything but grace.”

Pivoting on his heels, the tom-cat quickly glanced over lithe shoulder blades. “Gather the prey in your jaws, then follow me.” Of course, the ordinary concept of hunting was to kill the prey, bury it, continue on the hunt and check back for it later. However, Hollowcry simply thought it'd be easier to bury it in their next location, instead of leaving it at a distance they would later need to travel to collect it – this being nothing other than an inconvenience.

Passing over the stick, the dark brown furred warrior allowed his gaze to befall it. “The stick wasn't necessarily in clear view. However, you should always remain entirely sure of your surroundings: above and below, before advancing any farther.” There was certainly a tip for Hollowcry to gift upon the majority of tactics Strawberrypaw had used upon that hunt. The main problem he had pinpointed was her clumsiness when forced into a situation where immediate action was required. He figured, the best way to avoid this problem, was to assure clumsiness wasn't an asset in the first place. This could be accomplished, he considered, by addressing her hunter's crouch. The ability to move flawlessly when hunting in a nearby proximity to the target depended greatly on a cat's ability to accustom their bodies to a proper hunter's crouch. Strawberrypaw, from her performance, understood the basics. Although, she didn't seem to understand how to properly function in a hunter's crouch to assure objects, such as the stick, were avoided.

Reaching a spacious clearing, Hollowcry whirled around on graceful paws to face his brown-white apprentice. “You may bury your prey over there.” Surfacing a fore paw, the tom-cat gestured for Strawberrypaw to bury the mammal somewhere along the outlines: remaining in their sights, though not so close as to be distracting.
“Now, the main issue detected was that of your hunter's crouch. Since it was even slightly off-balance, it was in need of your attention to remain in check.” Hollowcry mewed, pacing a few steps closer to the apprentice before halting once more. “I'll do a demonstration, and you attempt to mimic it to the best of your abilities. That way, I can see where the trouble arises.”
Sparing a quick glance at the young she-cat, the tom began to buckle his limbs closer to the terrain. He kept his forepaws low, but his hind limbs just slightly higher so that his tail could assist in balancing. He took a few forwardly steps, head facing the terrain, but his chin tilted upward to remain able to scan his surroundings. Each step was careful; light and airy. All the while, his gaze flickering from the ground, to the area in front of him.
At last arising back to a normal posture, he once again fixated his sharp stare onto Strawberrypaw, awaiting for her to attempt it once again on her own.

[BlooRey DVD]

Strawberrypaw
~~~~~~~~~

She listened patiently as Hollowcry instructed her on what she should be concentrating on. Graceful. She needed to be graceful. Oh StarClan help her, that was just great. Her large size made grace a tricky thing for her. Still, she nodded her head, picking up the prey she'd caught the moment Hollowcry instructed her to do so. She followed behind him, her pace a little slow as she attempted to work out the stiffness that had been caused by her messy tumble only moments before. Her eyes darted down to the culprit of the whole fiasco as her mentor's voice began to speak about it. It was a little embarrassing, but she forced herself to listen, knowing it was important if she wanted to improve.

Once instructed, Strawberrypaw directed her motion to the edge of the clearing, quickly digging an opening large enough to cover her prey. She turned back towards her mentor, just as he began speaking once more. Green eyes watched with keen interest as her mentor slipped into his own hunter's crouch. She was supposed to mimic him. In order to do that, she needed to understand what he was doing. She glanced at the way he bent his legs, the way he held his head, even the particular position of his tail. Then he straightened, sharp gaze locking onto her, obviously waiting for her to try it out.

Her gaze turned to the ground and she took a steadying breath, before narrowing her green eyes. Her paws slipped along the ground, into a position that was similar to the one Hollowcry had been in. She took a moment to adjust it slightly, knowing that her body structure was different than Hollowcry's. Her weight rocked slightly on her toes as she tested out the different points of balance in her paws. Slowly, she glanced up at her mentor, who looked quite tall now that she was bent down in a crouch.

"Like this, Hollowcry?"

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[Insidious]

“Like this, Hollowcry?”

His eyes narrowed into a pair of confined slits, a calculative examination zeroing in on each individual characteristic of her crouch. Since Strawberrypaw had only been given a glimpse of the way Hollowcry believed a hunter's crouch to be executed, she was doing suitably well with the limited amount of time she had been gifted to observe one of the dark furred warrior's own. “Remember to control the movements of your tail. It'll help balance out your steps and discover which position is most comfortable for your legs.” The tom-cat instructed with a critical tone, tail tip twitching upon voicing aloud his quick correction.
“Once you uncover what is most comfortable for you, try and take a few steps forward.” It was one thing to be able to find a feline's hunter's crouch, however, it was an entirely new thing to be able to properly function while within the position.

A part of him was expecting that Strawberrypaw would tumble over upon attempting to walk while in her hunter's crouch. However, the part of him that had a touch more confidence in the capabilities of his apprentice was expecting she would be able to handle his remark with ease.

Considering they had only just began their training; there was still plenty of knowledge and tactics Hollowcry still desired to hammer into that intellectual brain of hers. Concepts, such as the hunter's crouch, had never brushed off as being entirely interesting for Hollowcry. He thrived in an environment where able to teach the next generation of NightClan warriors more exciting, and riveting concepts.
Like spar. Hollowcry was anticipating their battle training more than practically all of the rest of their training. Since Strawberrypaw was his very first apprentice, he was eager to sharpen her skills until Strawberrypaw had been successfully molded into some kind of fighting machine.

With her size, he considered she would be one to excel in spar. And since she craved to be the best, their battle training was quite... important, you could say.
At the end of these six moons... Strawberrypaw would surely be a remarkable feline if there was anything Hollowcry could do about it.

[BlooRey DVD]

Strawberrypaw
~~~~~~~~~

The she-cat nodded to her mentor, gaze flicking back to the forward position. She shifted slightly, testing her weight, wondering what it was like at the moment. She moved to take a step, feeling herself become increasingly off balance. Her tail lashed in order to keep herself up, and she let out a soft hiss. Placing her paw on the ground once more, she staggered her stance, wider than Hollowcry's had been. She forced her shoulders to relax, allowing her to drop a little bit more, without allowing her belly fur to drag on the ground. Her haunches rocked slightly as she practiced her weight transfer in her back legs, before doing the same in her forelegs.

Once satisfied with the transfer from side to side, she returned to playing with her forward and backwards motion. Her tail stayed low, bent slightly like a snake, frozen in its slithering motion. When she tried a step this time, her tail wiggled slightly to aid in her balance. It was better, she could feel it. She didn't feel as unbalanced as she had before. But there was still something missing. Her claws flexed, biting into the ground, before disappearing in their sheaths once more, Straberrypaw's gaze narrowing in concentration. Her breath left her maw in a gust of steam as she shifted slightly again, moving a single paw to a different position.

And then, it happened. She took a step forward, her body nearly still as she successfully transferred her weight forward. She tried another one, moving a hind leg this time. With each step it became easier, more fluid. Her ears darted up in excitement, but she kept her focus. She straightened, shaking out her fur before dropping back down. She had to shift a few things in order to allow her to move successfully again, but it took less time than it had that first time.

She continued this routine, standing up, and slipping back into the crouch, adjusting her position until, eventually, the moment she dropped down, she knew she had gotten it. She stepped forward a few steps, before reversing everything, shifting her weight back to walk backwards. It took a moment of getting used to, but she did it. Once satisfied, she managed to throw herself into a shuffle to the right, then to the left. She stalked a full circle, turning around and heading back towards Hollowcry, having nearly forgotten he was there.

When he green gaze landed on him, her ears shot up and her gaze widened slightly. She straightened, sitting down and focusing on him. "Was that better?"

[/size]

[Insidious]

His pale yellow irises intently observed the mottled brown she-cat's first attempt result in a failure, however, he did not part his jaws and voice aloud any comments on it. She seemed determined to try once again, which he wasn't about to discourage by forcing her stop and listen to why her first attempt at stepping didn't quite work. Hollowcry was confident that she would recognize her own mistakes upon trying once more.
And so it seemed, the dark brown NightClan warrior was correct in his assumption. Allowing a half-grin to form at the corner of his small, yet powerful jaws, he kept a keen eye upon her as she tested her hunter's crouch in a variety of different movements.

“Was that better?” Strawberrypaw questioned upon seating herself and averting her gaze toward Hollowcry. His ears pinned forwardly, processing a thoughtful blink before nodding his head in approval. “Much better.”
He momentarily considered embarking on yet another hunt to test Strawberrypaw's newly found skill. For, she had proven herself able to perform a well-balanced hunter's crouch and maneuver about while in the position. However, it would likely prove more difficult to focus on calculative motions while another half of her brain was required to remain ultimately focused on the hunt itself.

He stood from his seated position in a single, swift movement, gliding passed the female apprentice with a new task in mind to try out before returning to camp. It would be far too time consuming to attempt tracking another mammal, so, Hollowcry worked with what was available and made use of himself as a mentor. “You were able to catch one mouse today, and since it is your first experience, I don't expect another. However, I do want to test out your new hunter's crouch when it is forced into action before our return to camp.”
Hollowcry fixated his pale yellow gaze upon the brown-white feline. “I'm going to position myself in the clearing over. Pretend I'm a target, just, without attempting to actually pounce on me.” Hollowcry almost never allowed traces of his humour to be shown upon the surface during training sessions. And though he didn't consider his statement to be anything funny, it was about as close as Strawberrypaw could expect to see him getting to a joke-like tone.

Before he pressed through the foliage, he spared one more glance toward his apprentice for a final acknowledgment. “Now remember, you don't want to allow the prey to hear you. Remain quiet.”

[/i] Although a cat's sense of hearing was far stronger than that of the earlier mouse Strawberrypaw had captured; if she put enough effort into it, she would likely be able to be completely undetected by Hollowcry, or at least, be heard at a minimum.

Reaching the clearing, he settled himself into a seated stance, his ears instantaneously beginning to rotate in every-which direction to tune into his surroundings – much like the prey would be doing. For the most part, he kept his sharp stare off of the surrounding bushes, attempting to focus on the terrain beneath his forepaws like a herbivorous mammal would be doing while searching for some food. It was impossible for him to completely lose all sense of his natural instincts, however. So, he allowed himself to spare the occasional upward glance in search of any traces of his apprentice's familiar fur pigmentation amongst the greenery.[/blockquote] [/size]