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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 19:48:26 GMT -5
Stormpaw returned to his low grumble. "Fine," he muttered, dashing after Voidheart.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 19:53:16 GMT -5
Voidheart quickly reached the river. He slowed to a walk, sunninrocks loomed ahead. "Ok, Stormpaw. Tell me what you smell" Voidheart tested the air himself. He could smell the water and the grass, as well as the sun warmed rocks. Amidst those smells were the smells of prey. His mouth watered and his belly growled. He was impatient to hunt down a juicy mouse.
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 20:12:53 GMT -5
Stormpaw skidded to a halt, not having been paying attention to his mentor. His belly was grumbling, but Stormpaw didn't exactly have a lot of patience. Smell. Smelling takes so long. Why can't they just march from their nests into our mouths. He huffed to himself. Putting his annoyance aside, however, he raised his nose and sniffed. "I think.. mouse." He suggested. "And a shrew." He added.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 20:23:14 GMT -5
Voidheart nodded, "Good." He could tell Stormpaw was getting impatient, so Voidheart decided to test his apprentices limits. "Now, tell me in what direction they are."
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 20:28:22 GMT -5
Finally realizing that grumping about it isn't going to make time go by faster, he ignored his impatience and took another sniff. He hesitated a moment, trying to determine where the creatures were hiding. "The shrew is nearer to the water." He stated confidently after a moment or two. "And the mouse is somewhere in front of us." He added, though there was clearly less certainty in his voice than within in the previous statement.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 20:32:08 GMT -5
Voidheart crouched beside his apprentice. "Taste the air again. Focus on the mouse. When you're ready go after it."
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 20:40:13 GMT -5
Stormpaw took a final sniff, slowly honing in on its location. Dropping to a crouch, he took a few tentative steps forward, and sure enough, he quickly spotted it snuffling in the crevice of a rock. He grinned and, holding his trail perfectly still, took one more step forward before he leaped, throwing his paws into the little cave. His leap had made such a racket though, not to mention the awkward position of the leap, that the mouse had enough time to look up confusedly as well as dash away before Stormpaw even got closed. Growling grumpily, Stormpaw shuffled backwards and turned back to his mentor. "It got away." He said unnecessarily.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 20:52:24 GMT -5
Voidheart stood "Bad luck." He looked around and found a leaf. He batted it over with a paw. "Try working on that leap, it could be better." He flicked the leaf with his tail so it fluttered in the air. "Go ahead, try to catch it."
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 20:56:22 GMT -5
Stormpaw just couldn't repress the feeling that he was a kit again, chasing leaves in the wind. Nevertheless, he fixed his gaze on it and pushing off with his hind legs, paws outstretched, before it could flutter back to the ground. He just managed to fling his claw through the thin sheet, trapping it underneath his two paws as he dropped back to the ground.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 21:03:13 GMT -5
"Better" Voidheart mewed. "Now think about how that leap felt. Think about where your paws were, where your tail was." Voidheart tasted the air. He lowered his voice. "There's another mouse just beyond those bushes." He nodded to a clump, two fox lengths away. "Try again. Remember lower your paws softly, go slowly if you want. Don't rush your leap."
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 21:14:00 GMT -5
Stormpaw nodded determinedly, now completely concentrated on making the catch. He tasted the air and he could indeed smell a mouse in the direction of the bush. Lowering himself to a crouch once more, he took numerous small steps, taking care to place his paws back down softly on the ground. He rounded the bush, and by some stroke of luck, found the mouse with its back turned. Stormpaw grinned. This was it. Gathering all his strength, he pushed off, carefully aiming his landing as well as the positioning of his paws. With seconds, he had the mouse trapped within its paws and darted forward with his muzzle to kill the mouse with a quick bite. Stormpaw jumped back up in delight, the mouse swinging from his jaw, and let out a muffled but victorious shriek.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 21:25:13 GMT -5
Voidheart hushed his apprentice. "Quiet! You'll scare away the prey." He hissed. He bounded over and flicked Stormpaw's ears with his tail. "Bury that so we can come back for it later." He turned toward Sunningrocks. "Come on, let's see how good you are at hunting on the rocks."
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 21:29:11 GMT -5
Stormpaw quickly fell silent, feeling slightly dejected by the absence of praise, but did as he was told and buried the mouse. He bounded after his master and up onto the rocks, admittedly slightly confused. Surely all the rocks would make it harder to catch any prey? He couldn't even manage one boulder, let alone twenty. "I won't be able to reach any of the prey here though." Stormpaw protested, quick to voice his opinion.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 21:49:06 GMT -5
Voidheart scoffed. "With that attitude you won't be able to catch anything." He jumped onto a boulder. "Once you get the hang of it you'll do well. Your pelt is perfect for it." He beckoned Stormpaw to join him. "The key to hunting here is patience. You have to be quiet and you have to be slow. Once you've pinpointed your prey you slowly approach it, down wind of course. If it looks your way you freeze, until it looks away. You should pay attention to every pawstep, so you don't knock any stones loose." Voidheart looked down at the expanse of stone. Little furry bodies were beginning to appear. "See, here you can see your prey and not just smell them." He whispered. "Watch me first and then you can try."
Voidheart selected his prey, a fat vole that was focused on gathering grasses. Voidheart carefully lowered himself from the boulder. He selected each place to step with care. Once the vole looked up. Voidheart flattened his entire body against the stone, praying the vole wouldn't notice his white coat. When the vole went back to what it was doing he started oving forward again.
Voidheart was almost in range to pounce when the vole looked up a second time. He again flattened his body, but this time the vole saw the white cat stalking him and ran for cover. Voidheart hissed and darted forward. He reached for the vole just as it slipped into a crack. Instead of catching his prey, one of his paws was snagged by the crack and it twisted painfully. Voidheart yowled and tumbled to the ground. Grumbling he got to his paws and yanked his paw free. He slowly limped back to Stormpaw, ears flat.
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 21:57:56 GMT -5
Stormpaw flattened his ears at the remark, but nodded, taking careful note of the advice and following every step Voidheart took. He was in awe - Voidheart's movement's were so agile. Twice, the warrior was forced to freeze and pray to Starclan that he would not be noticed, and Stormpaw was beginning to see why his pelt would be so useful in this particular environment.
Stormpaw watched with his breath caught in his throat, thinking the tiniest tremor could alert the vole. Unfortunately, Voidheart did that of his own accord, though through no fault of his own. Stormpaw winced at the shriek and sprang forward for a better view, eyes wide. Voidheart appeared to be whole at least, but his paw was clearly hurt too badly to put any weight on it. Stormpaw eyed the paw, trying not to let his disdain show.
"I don't suppose this means you can teach me how to slice open a cat's belly now, does it..." Stormpaw muttered.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 22:05:38 GMT -5
Voidheart shot Stormpaw an exasperated look. He ignored his apprentice's remark and the pain in his paw, in an attempt to not let his temper get the better of him. He took a deep breath and mewed. "Let's see how you fair. There are still a few mice out there." He could hear the returning sounds of prey. "Obviously, watch out for cracks." He winced as he sat down, lifting his injured paw slightly.
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 22:18:22 GMT -5
He couldn't say that Voidheart had instilled much confidence in him with that demonstration, and instead found himself wary of any crack and crevice. Taking a sniff of the air and pricking his ears for the sounds of scuttling critters. To his surprise, he quickly located another shrew, pattering around on the ground just a little to the left of the rock on which Stormpaw was standing. He quietly hopped down from the rock, and surveyed it's location a little longer. Thankfully, it was more out in the open than Voidheart's shrew had him, and Stormpaw fancied he had a chance with this one.
Crouching down, he slowly lifted his paws, one by one, and softly set them back down again, being careful to keep his weight in his haunches. He figured the shrew must be deaf for, as hard as he tried, he couldn't keep his pawsteps from emitting even the tiniest crackle, though the shrew never looked up. When he decided he was close enough, he pounced, quick as a fox, though unfortunately not as agile as one. He had aimed incorrectly, and landed awkwardly, having placed most of his weight on his left side rather than equally balanced. He managed to just save his catch by darting out his paw and blocking the shrew's escape route, giving him time to finish it off with a nip to the neck.
He picked the shrew up with his jaw, opting to keep quiet this time, but allowed himself a grin as padded proudly back to his mentor.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 22:39:16 GMT -5
Voidheart nodded. "Rough, but effective." He stood up and put some weight on his paw. It still hurt, but he could deal with it. "Your technique needs some work, but that's a good start."
Voidheart scanned the rocks. "That's enough hunting for today. You can have that shrew, you've earned it. When you're done we'll work on a few battle moves. I want to see how well you deal with an enemy attacking from a ledge above you."
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Post by Willow on May 24, 2013 22:57:45 GMT -5
Stormpaw shot a quick look at the ledge Voidheart was referring to, already feeling excitement boiling up in him. That's the perfect moment to slice open a cat's belly. He simply couldn't resist the thought, but was wise enough to keep himself from saying it aloud.
He turned from the ledge to the shrew, and delighted to finally be allowed to eat, sprang on it and devoured it whole. He had to admit, eating fresh-kill minutes after it had been caught and not caked with dirt was far better than any fresh-kill found on the pile at camp. Once he had finished, he looked expectantly back up at Voidheart, a twinkling of glee in his eyes.
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Owl
Apprentice
If we had thumbs, we'd be snapping.
Posts: 153
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Post by Owl on May 24, 2013 23:03:21 GMT -5
Voidheart got to his paws. He walked over to the ledge, still limping a bit and leaped up. "I'm sure you know that Riverclan frequently tries to take sunningrocks, so there are a lot of battles here. It's a good idea to learn how to fight on these rocks, since it's quite different from the forest." Voidheart moved to the edge of the ledge and looked down at his apprentice. "Imagine I'm a Riverclan warrior." Voidheart reached down and swatted at Stormpaw's ears, claws sheathed. "What's your first move?"
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