The Shaded Furze Bush ((CLOSED))

Furzethroat had been appointed to a new apprentice, and really, he couldn't have been more excited. It was a while since he had gotten to train a cat younger than himself and he was looking forward to spending time with the newly named Shadepaw. The warrior sat peacefully by WindClan's camp entrance, waiting for Shadepaw to approach him. He had told the apprentice to meet him here.

Shadepaw, paws itching with excitement, made her way across camp to her mentor--as he had said, he was waiting for her by the camp entrance. She was full of questions, excited to begin training to become a warrior. She wondered if she would be learning hunting to fighting first--perhaps, she could learn them at the same time, if she worked hard enough. She wanted to learn how to fight, imagined the satisfaction of being able to knock a cat to the ground who was attacking her clan. Hunting was important, too, though, so she also looked forward to learning how to hunt rabbits, imagining how proud her mentor and her mother would be when she returned to camp with a mouthful of prey (she was, of course, expecting to do something worth being proud of on her first day of training). "Hello, Furzethroat." She mewed cheerfully as she approached her mentor, "What're we going to be doing today?" Without waiting for a response, she had slipped into the tunnel to leave the camp.

Furzethroat looked up as light paw steps approached him from behind, he turned his head and got a glance at his apprentice. Giving a nod of greeting he was about to respond to her questioned when he realized she had already slipped out of camp.

He caught his tongue, smiling to himself at her excitement then quickly followed after her. Once he had caught up to her and was walking at her side, he spoke up. "I was thinking of just giving you a tour of the territory today," he mewed, "then if we have time, maybe I can show you a few hunting techniques." He smiled, then took the lead, guiding Shadepaw through the territory.

Shadepaw nodded--having never been out of the camp, seeing the entire territory was an exciting prospect. As they walked, she was trying to take in every detail, determined to remember everything, so that she could navigate the territory as easily as possible in the future. After all, warriors couldn't be effective if they were always being slowed by not knowing where they were going. Still, she was more excited about hunting. "Okay!" She mewed, "Are you going to teach me how to hunt rabbits? I heard you have to be really fast, so I want to practice a lot."

Furzethroat nodded, a smile growing across his muzzle. "Of course! Every WindClan cat should know how to hunt rabbits." He said enthusiastically, continuing to lead her through the dry grasses until he eventually came to a stop in a little dip in the ground where the grass was much shorter. This was the same place he was trained.

The warrior turned to face Shadepaw, "show me your best hunting crouch." He suggested, giving a playful bat on the shoulder, knowing her stance wouldn't be perfect.

Shadepaw tried to brace herself against Furzethroat's playful bat, but still still stumbled a bit, nonetheless. She planted her paws firmly, giving a quick nod, determination shining in her eyes as she dropped down into her best attempt at a hunter's crouch. She was trying to imitate the crouch that she had seen the apprentices doing, and though it wasn't her first time trying it, it was far from perfect--as was to be expected from a brand new apprentice.

Furzethroat lifted a paw to poke her in the flank, just hard enough to throw her off balance, it was the same thing his father had done to him, he couldn't help but smile at the memories. Focusing his attention back to Shadepaw, he began to speak up. "The stance was decent, surprisingly decent." He chuckled, "but see, the way you stood provided you with limited balance, try leaning forward a bit." He instructed.

Shadepaw squeaked in surprise as she was knocked off balance--she had been quite confident that her stance was good, so she wasn't expecting Furzethroat to so easily disrupt her balance. "Okay!" She seemed to have recovered from the shock quickly, and, once again, dropped into a crouch, trying to rest her weight more forward on her paws. The same determination showed in her eyes--she had no intention of giving up any time soon.

Furzethroat smiled, then jabbed her side again, waiting to see if she would fall again or mange a simple waver of her balance. "Looks like your getting there." He mewed, a hint of pride in his tone. Shadepaw was his first apprentice, and he planned to make her into a great WindClan warrior.

Shadepaw purred, standing up from the stance and seeming pleased by her mentor's praise. "I'll keep practicing." She vowed, "Can we go hunting right now?" After all, she wanted to make sure her first day of training wasn't a waste--what would be the point of learning the hunter's crouch, if she didn't have anything to show for it?

Furzethroat nodded, "of course!" He smiled, standing up now. "I'll take you out to where the rabbits are known to hang around." He informed, then began to lead her off.

Shadepaw followed after her mentor happily, looking around as they walked, her ears pricked for the sound of prey. Though, she suspected their voices would have scared off any prey nearby, so she wasn't too hopeful about catching anything around here. She tried to tread lightly as they walked, hoping not to make too much noise as they approached the area they would be hunting in.

Furzethroat lightened his steps as he became acutely aware of the shortening distance between the two of the and the spot he knew all too well. He glanced over his shoulder as Shadepaw, the lifting his tail, signalling for her to stop and keep quiet. At the moment, there wasn't a hint of scent to prove that a rabbit had been by, so all he could do for the moment was wait.

Shadepaw stopped when her mentor signaled for her to do so, pricking her ears, listening for any sounds of prey. She opened her mouth to scent the air, but realized that she wasn't entirely sure what she was trying to sniff out, in particular. She didn't ask any questions, though, only kept silent, hoping not to scare off any prey. Before long, she heard some rustling nearby--she strained her ears, but couldn't tell what she was hearing. She imagined that a mouse would sound like tiny paws shuffling on the ground, and it didn't sound like that, so perhaps it was a rabbit! Forgetting that Furzethroat had mentioned showing her how to hunt rabbits, she dropped into the hunters crouch, putting all her effort into making sure each step towards the rabbit was as quiet as possible.
When she was close enough to see it, she paused; its ears pricked up and it looked around, having heard Shadepaw's approach. Shadepaw leapt, but her paws fell on empty air, the rabbit successfully darting away. Shadepaw, undeterred, immediately gave chase--unfortunately, her small legs just couldn't carry her fast enough to catch the rabbit, and she lost it, panting heavily, fur ruffled as she came to a stop. Well, it had been slightly more difficult than she anticipated.

Before he could object he watched as Shadepaw darted forward, scenting a rabbit long before he was able to. He stood up straight and bit his tongue to prevent himself from calling out to her.

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(( OOC~ Hey I'm not sure how active I'll be with upcoming school finals, so sorry in advance if I poof due to studying x-x ))