To Help a Poppy Grow [CLOSED]

Froststone had been up for a little while now, the sun had begun to lighten the sky when he poked his head out of the den. It was dawn, and frost had begun to cover the territories yet again. It would dissipate soon, but for now, it just sparkled like the stars in the sky as the sun hit them. He got up, stretched, and padded over to the apprentice's den. He poked his head inside, not quite caring whoever else woke up. Of course, this wasn't on purpose, but the other apprentices would have to get up too at some point. "Poppypaw, meet me at the camp entrance." He said this and briskly padded to the front to await him. His frost-blue eyes surveyed the sky, pleased that while there were clouds, there wasn't enough to warrant any rain. He didn't smell any either. It would be nice out today.

Poppypaw shuffled in the warm moss with a soft, tired hum. A surge of excited energy suddenly filled his veins, and he shot up out from his nest. Today was his first day of training to become a warrior! Very excited -- too excited he forgot to bid his slowly-waking brother farewell until later -- he rushed out of the apprentices' den and up to Froststone's side. He was quite literally bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "This is going to be so exciting! I'm ready to begin my training with you, Froststone!"

Froststone watched the orange apprentice approach. He could tell that there was excitement in him, he was excited at that age too. "That's great. Here, follow me." He twitched his tail, pointing to head out of camp. He lead the apprentice through the pine forest, amused at how excited the apprentice was. He must've been this excited when he was an apprentice. Soon he stopped, having scented some prey nearby. The perfect training spot.

"We're going to start by hunting. Of course, you already know some of the hunting crouch, but allow me to demonstrate again." He crouched down into the hunting crouch, his pelt heavily visible against the dark trees and brown pine needles that littered the ground below. "Crouch low, scent the air. You'll want to get downwind of whatever you're hunting so the wind pushes their scent towards you and your own scent away from the prey. Once you've done that, you stalk forward and pounce when you're close enough. A quick bite to the neck will finish it off. Please observe." He flicked his tail for the apprentice to stay put, as he stalked towards a bird that he had already scented. Birds were notoriously hard to catch, but he may as well try for it.

He approached the bird silently, and as he got closer he discovered it was quite plump. Probably feeding itself more now that it was getting colder. He got behind it and skillfully pounced. He brought his paws down on the unsuspecting bird, hearing a loud snap of its wing. He brought his jaws down on its neck to swiftly ended its life. Silently thanking Starclan, he picked it up in his maw and padded back over to Poppypaw, dropping it. "Alright, I don't recommend going for a bird first. Now it's your turn. Go ahead and tell me what you scent, and then go and try to follow the steps. I encourage you to make mistakes now instead of when you're a warrior so I can correct them." He smiled at the apprentice, encouraging him. He was usually colder than this, but he wanted the apprentice to feel comfortable around him.

The member 'Wolven' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Poppypaw watched with unwavering interest and fascination as Froststone began his hunt. He spotted the bird he was trying to catch, and he felt himself tense, claws digging into the leaf litter, anxious and desperately wanting his mentor to succeed. After a relieved puff of breath, he grinned wide and gave an excited bounce. "That was so cool, Froststone! But you mustn't worry, for I am ShadowClan through and through, and thus I shall make a magnificent catch as well!"

Falling silent to concentrate, Poppypaw began to carefully scent for prey, but he found himself thoroughly distracted and enchanted by all the unfamiliar scents around him. He had to shake his head to try and clear his mind so he could better concentrate on one scent, and soon enough he detected a faint smell of lizard that became stronger and stronger now that he knew what scent to hone in on. Following the scent, he finally spotted the dappled reptile sunbathing on a rock near a patch of damp earth and sprigs of grass, and he crouched down, just as Froststone had taught him when he was still no more than a kit. He lifted up is tail to balance himself and keep it from dragging along the pine needles behind him, and he began to stalk. His heartbeat increased and thundered in his chest at the excitement that he would catch his very first prey on his first try, and he was almost afraid the lizard would hear him and flee anyway.

When he deemed himself close enough, he pounced, pushing down on his hind legs as hard as he could. He sent needles fluttering behind him, which caught the lizard's attention, but it was still wasn't quick enough to react in time. His white paw landed on its back, pinning it to the rock it rested on, and with a sharp nip to the back of its neck it went limp and lifeless. A purr immediately rose in his throat, and he picked up the lizard by its head and trotted back to Froststone, head and tail held high. His amber eyes shone with joy and pride. He couldn't wait to tell his brother about his first ever catch!

The member 'Yoshachu Scorchachu' has done the following action : Dices roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

"Good luck then. Off you go Poppypaw." He laughed a little at the part about being Shadowclan through and through. To Froststone, that wasn't important. Merely your spirit and ambition. If you had the ambition, you could do it. Froststone watched through a curious gaze. He wondered how Poppypaw would do with his first catch. He watched him use just the technique he taught him. It was pretty good for his first time actually hunting. Froststone saw the ginger apprentice pin the lizard he had been stalking, and kill it. Excellent, he had already gotten the hang of it. He padded towards him. "Excellent job Poppypaw. Not all apprentices catch their first piece of prey this fast. Great job. Now that it seems you've gotten the hang of hunting already, how about we do some fighting?" He stood quietly, shaking his pelt of pine needles.

"The first step to fighting is your stance. You must pay attention to many things. Some of those things include the size and skill of the opponent, what you know, and how exhausted you are. If your opponent is quite large, then darting around attempting to bite and claw areas the cat can't reach are more beneficial than attacking the large opponent head-on, allowing them to use the size against you." He paused, allowing Poppypaw to absorb the information. He himself was not all that big, so he would need to show him how he fought. Which of course was the darting and weaving that most cats his size did. "Vice-versa for a smaller, more lean cat. You would need to attack out of their reach, or get so close that they can't get away. That's usually how I fight. It's different for everyone. The skill of an opponent is easy. If your opponent is an apprentice then you're pretty evenly matched, but if your opponent is a warrior that's when you should think about either running or using the attack techniques for larger cats that I just explained. When you're a warrior, you can choose how you fight, because you might not know if a warrior is brand new, or a senior warrior that's been alive for many more moons than you." Once again, he paused. He knew as an apprentice there was a lot to take in. He had quite recently been one himself. He was sure Poppypaw would get the hang of this in no time at all. "How exhausted you are is easy. If you're too tired to make a move, then don't. It's easier to run away or ask another warrior for assistance during a fight. Because if you're too exhausted, you are more susceptible to getting hurt."

As he finished describing the main things that Poppypaw would need to watch out for, he was ready to explain fighting moves. He flicked his ears in boredom and shook his pelt out once more. "Poppypaw, if you have all of that, I can start talking about fighting moves. Or do you need me to repeat anything? I'd prefer you to ask any questions now about what I just talked about before we begin."

Poppypaw hadn't taken his eyes off of Froststone since he first started talking, determined to absorb everything he had said. At the question, he shook his head. "I understand, Froststone. Move quick and attack vulnerable, open spots swiftly for larger cats and apply distance or close quarters with smaller ones. Oh, and don't continue if you're too tired or injured to fight."

Froststone nodded quietly, again pleased with how fast Poppypaw was learning. "Excellent. Now, onto fighting moves. Come a bit closer." He beckoned him with his grey paw, watching him pad over a slight bit closer. He blinked and continued. "Now, a basic, but excellent, move to use is a simple front claw slash. All you need to do is lash out with a front paw with claws unsheathed. Simple, yet effective." He turned towards a nearby tree, striking his paw out with great speed. His claws ripped at the bark, leaving small gashes. "That's how you would do it on an enemy. Of course, on me, I will have to ask you to keep claws sheathed as to not hurt me." He flicked his gaze to the apprentice once again. "Another move is a running tackle which consists of running at your opponent and tackling them. It's in the name. Or perhaps leaping onto a cat and holding on with your claws is a better move. You decide that you're the one fighting. The last move I will teach you today is a belly rake. If you can either get a cat that's reared up or on their back, you can shred their stomach. It hurts, that's why it's effective. It's a bit more dangerous to try though." He swished his tail, trying to keep it above the mud that forever called this area of their territory home. It annoyed him, his white pelt didn't hide mud too well, and it just caked his fur anyway. "Now, we will spar. I'll give you the first move. Make sure to keep claws sheathed though." He put himself into a defensive stance, readying himself for the apprentice's assault.

Poppypaw nodded excitedly, crouching down and copying his mentor's stance. Deciding to use the move Froststone first spoke of, he lashed out his paw as quickly as he could, aiming for the white tom's muzzle. He bat it rather hard, keeping his claws sheathed as instructed, and immediately he gasped. "Oh! I didn't mean to hit that hard, I'm sorry! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

He felt his head whacked rather hard. It stung a tad but wasn't any worse than that. He directed his gaze back to his apprentice, who had just apologized profusely. He shook his head "No, no it's alright. That was rather good. If you had your claws out, that would be a good hit." He shook his pelt, allowing the cool breeze to brush against his skin for a moment. "Now- I'll be attacking you. Try to counter-attack." He narrowed his eyes and reared up as if he were about to strike. Poppypaw was proving to be a fast learning, which he enjoyed. He was able to communicate the instructions and he followed them well. It made him quite excited. All he could hope is that this was part of him being an alright mentor. He knew that Poppypaw was sharp though.

Instantly the ginger-and-white apprentice found the perfect opening. Poppypaw pounced and slammed his head into Froststone's exposed belly, then twisted onto his back with his paws up and claws instinctively out, prepared for a backlash in case his mentor tried attacking again. When the coast was clear, he whipped back onto his paws and gave his bushy pelt a quick shake, and he looked on in worry again. "I hope that wasn't too hard a headbutt. Are you going to be okay, Froststone?"

Froststone was slightly surprised to feel a headbutt instead of paws pretending to claw at his stomach. It did the trick though, he fell back, having to twist himself to land on his paws successfully. He turned to look back at his apprentice, who was apologizing once again. He shook his head. "I'll be alright Poppypaw. Don't apologize for hurting me. Don't apologize to any enemies you hurt either. That would put your safety at risk." He turned his head upwards slightly, seeing the sun had moved significantly from when he had first brought Poppypaw out. He shook his pelt again, trying to get any mud off of it. "Alright then, seems training is done for the day. You've done an excellent job. I know you'll learn everything else I have to teach you very fast. I'm sure you'll be a great warrior. For now, I think we're done. You've earned a bit of a rest before tomorrow's training." He then flicked his tail for his apprentice to follow, and began padding back in the direction of camp. "Do you have any questions before we get back to camp?"

Poppypaw purred happily at the praise, eyes arching. He shook his head at the question. "Nope! I think I know the basics now! I'm going to become ShadowClan's greatest warrior, you'll see! I can't wait for tomorrow!" He trotted over to his caught lizard with his tail held high, then began carrying it back to camp.