トレーニング時間！ (Closed)

Pebblethorn guided her apprentice, Antpaw, through the forest territory, each pawstep crushing grass underfoot. Halfstone was their training area this day, even though the foxes that rested there would possibly be awake. But from what she'd always been taught was, well, foxes were like Shadowclan cats- only awake at night. So, they'd be fine. From her encounters with beasty predators and her training in the Dark Forest, she could help defend Antpaw to the best of her ability.
But that didn't matter right now- she cared more about training Antpaw for battles and how to survive and provide. So, today, they were planning an extra long training session- hunting, battling and tracking, all in one. It was to be exciting and fun for the both of them. She remembered her days with Sandfeather and the training sessions they had together- she would treasure those moments and keep them in mind.
"This, Antpaw, is Halfstone. Lots of good prey ae here that don't live in the trees. Some foxes are here, too, but they are only awake at night." She said, reassuring herself and him about the foxes. She glanced make in nervousness for the foxes before turning her attention back to Antpaw and clearing her throat. "Today, we are going to practice some hunting techniques. Then, I am going to show you some basic hunting moves. After that, we will review your tracking abilities. I'll try to make this fun, okay?" She purred.

Antpaw followed his mentor, head and tail held high. Today was his first patrol and the small tom intended to make the best of it. He kept a steady pace next to Pebblethorn, making sure to keep up and show her what he was capable of. Although Pebblethorn was deputy and most cats looked up to her, Antpaw looked up to her in a different way.

"Okay." He gave a nod, glad she was trying to make this fun. "I don't really care if it's fun though. I mean, training is training, but sure." The scrawny black cat had never been one to express his emotions, but she was his mentor and he had to do what she wanted.

"Ah, well, okay. Well, let's begin, shall we?" She purred kindly, smiling down at him. Being rather tall, she often felt awkward around smaller cats, especially kits and apprentices. She padded forward onto the stone. "Hunting, now... Show me what you know about 'the hunting crouch', okay?" She purred kindly. She knew most apprentices were not used to the hunting crouch or even heard of it besides apprentices telling them. "Just try your very best, 'kay?" She purred sweetly.

Hunting crouch, how to do a hunting crouch... Antpaw tried to remember what he;d learned in the nursery. Giving his pelt a shake, he crouched down and kept his head low to the ground. "Like this?" He looked to Pebblethorn. It was a decent crouch, although his rump and tail might have been a bit too high.

"Very good!" She exclaimed. "You have everything down except for one part- your rump and tail are too high up. Try your best to lower yourself- Oh! And make sure your tail is pointed behind and straight out so the prey doesn't hear you coming. If your tail drags, they will hear you coming." She said, giving some advice.

Antpaw gave a small nod, lowering his haunches and tail. Mousebrain! I forgot the simplest thing. Giving an angry huff, he looked to Pebblethorn. "What next?"

"Let me show you." She mewed, and got into the position herself. "In order to get your prey, you have to stalk forward. However, we'd normally do this on a tree branch, since we use trees. But I can show you the land way for now. Climbing trees is quite difficult, after all." She mewed, and stalked forward, paws together as she moved slowly forward. She then slammed her paw, using her entire front leg, over an imaginary piece of prey. "That is how you would get your prey on land." She explained.

OOC- I'm sorry it's so crappy ugh ;-;

"Trees?" He echoed, looking up. Wow! They could really hunt from up there? When Pebblethorn's paw slammed on the ground, he snapped back to paying attention to her. Antpaw copied her movement, a smile grew on his face when he stalked forward. The small cat was doing pretty good, until he snapped a twig. Wincing at the sound, he gave a small growl. "How are we supposed to hunt in trees, when they have so many branches?"

She watched as he copied her movements, and she smiled cheerfully. When he stepped on the twig, she flinched. "Well, the branches held us climb. We dig our claws into the bark, and hoist ourselves up, moving our claws carefully as he keep going to make sure we don't fall. It's hard to explain... I'll just show you." With that, she flicked her tail and walked over to a tree. Hooking her claws into it's sturdy bark, she hoisted herself up, using those claws to latch upwards and so forth. She eventually reached a thick branch and climbed on it, slow but steady, mimiking the hunters crouch but in a different way- paws closer together and movement slower. She jumped down onto a soft patch of grass, landing a bit away from Antpaw.
"That's how you would climb a tree and catch unsuspecting prey." She mewed.

Antpaw watched in aw as she climbed the tree. Wow! She's... so beautiful! Realizing what he'd thought, he shook his head. How could I think that way, I'm only an apprentice! Focus!

Well, climbing trees seemed easier than it sounded, although the black cat wondered if he'd get scared of the height. Scared of the height? Pft, I'm small, that will give me an advantage, right? Antpaw almost wanted to ask that aloud but decided it was best to save tree climbing questions for later. "Can I try? Or should we wait till the next patrol and do some patrolling now?" He meowed happily, realizing how great of a mentor he had. What ever you do, don't let Pebblethorn down.

"If you would like to try, I will not stop you. I'd advise we not go too high today, in case you fall, of course... How about you tree to get to this branch?" She advised, gesturing to the branch she had just jumped off of. It was about as tall as two foxes, and she'd be able to catch him easily if anything.

Walking to a tree, Antpaw looked up, marveling the height. "Okay." He meowed, softly. Unsheathing his claws, he gave a small jump and dug them into the tree. The bark felt extremely weird but he would get used to it. Hoisting his slender body up the tree, he finally made it to the branch. "I made it!" He exclaimed, puffing out his chest fur proudly. Taking a couple steps, he almost missed his footing but regained his balance, giving a silly grin down to Pebblethorn. "So, uh, do I just jump down from here?"

She remained cautious as he climbed, of course, and waited for hi to reach the branch. "Very good." She purred. "Yes, just jump. You'll most definitely be fine."

Taking a deep breath, Antpaw jumped down from the tree. Landing with a soft thud and making leaves fly everywhere, he gave a meow of amusement. "That was fun!" He exclaimed, a smile grew on his muzzle. "Now what?"

"Indeed, it is for me, too!" She chirped. "Now, it's time to..." She paused, giving him a moment of silence before softly whacking him on the head with her paw. "Fight! Battle training! Now that you're all excited, we can see how good you can fight and I can help you shape up!" She said excitedly, bouncing on her paws. Fighting was always fun to her, and it helped her let out her excitement and anger. She originally had planned to patrol now, but her mind had changed easily.