Crowpaws Training

Darkshadow nimbly picked her path through the bodies of sleeping apprentices, their backs rising and falling slowly. She detected the pelt of Crowpaw at the back of the den, curled up on a blanket of moss. She tip-toed her way over to him, prodding his pelt with her paw. "Crowpaw?" She whispered. "Get up. Your first training session is being heald today."

"Really?" Crowpaw mewed, louder than she should have. "I'm soooo excited! What are we doing today?"

She smiled, surprised at her apprentices eagerness. "We're going to be hunting today." She meowed, keeping her voice down so she wouldn't wake the sleeping apprentices. "I'm going to show you the basic tactics, then you can build up on your own style."

"Oh yay!" Crowpaw meowed. She was really excited. When she was a kit, all she did was listen to the apprentices talk about how great it was. They also complained alot though.., she wasn't gonna complain. She was gonna be the best apprentice ever

Darkshadow raised her tail to Crowpaws lips, "Hush, the other apprentices will be cranky if you waken them." She mused, silently padding around the sleeping cats and to the exit of thr den.

Crowpaw followed Darkshadow, womderimg how she would do. When they got outside the den, she asked " where are we going?". Crowpaw had no idea where they where going. She had never really been outside before

"To the small stream near the border," She meowed, pushing her way through the fern tunnel. "On a hot day like this, lots of prey should be about by the muddy parts of the forest to cool down."

"Okay.." Crowkit said. "Wouldnt we get stuck in the mud? Like, wouldn't it slow us down?"

"True, yet the mud would also slow the prey down if it tried to escape," She meowed, looking at her apprentice.

"Okay". Crowkit mewed. She could stall no more. She started walking off to the right. "Am I going the right way?" she asked. She hoped she was going the right way

"Use your nose." She meowed, flicking her tail irritably. "Do you think there is going to be water under an open sky, where it'd dry up?" She snapped. "The stream is this way," She said, pointing her tail to thick forest area. "Learn some paitence, or nothing will ever be accomplished."

"Sorry..." Crowkit mumbled. It was her firstbtime out. Why did Darkshadow snap at her? Whatever. Drkshadow was her mentor, so she said nothing.

Darkshadow glared at Crowpaw and their eyes met, the next heartbeat her eyes were calm. "Don't worry," She said, resting her tail on Crowpaws flank, "You're not the first apprentice to get snapped at."

Crowpaw walked after her mentor, this time in the right direction. She sniffed the air, but all she could smell was Darkshadow.

As they neared the riverbank, she noticed the ground beneath her paws getting damper and more soggy. "Now, this is all about concentration," She began, closing her eyes and lifting her nose to the air. "Planning is lethal when used for hunting in theese sort of areas...but the first step is scenting your prey, and a method used for detecting prey and facing the opposite side the wind is blowing at you, so the scent of muck isn't always interfering with the prey scents. Don't let the two mingle. You try."