Common Sense [C]

Most cats... probably weren't scared of their apprentices, right?

Well, scared of wasn't exactly right. It was more that he was scared of the responsibility, of failing her somehow. He couldn't lie and say that he didn't want an apprentice– it was one of the few perks of warriorhood he'd looked forward to for a while –but now that he'd been charged with one, he had no idea what to do. Just start, he guessed?

Webshadow sat in the center of camp for a while, watching the sun slowly sink and the moon start to rise. As the first stars started to appear, his Clan began waking up with a quiet murmur of life. With that, he turned his attention to the apprentice's den, tail gently thumping the ground as he waited for Pantherpaw.

And waited. And waited.

To her credit, he'd only waited a few heartbeats before he got antsy and got up to go get her himself. Poking his head into the den, he blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust, quickly focusing on her dark pelt.

"Pantherpaw? It's Webshadow. I'll be right outside, I'm going to show you the territory." And with that simple explanation, he backed back out of the den and trotted over to the camp entrance, shifting on his paws as he waited for her to join him.

Pantherpaw slept lightly as always, ready to shoot to her paws at a moment’s notice. Her blue eyes shot open as if she had never slept when she heard her name. Aha, training. Such fun. She’d have to focus to stay ahead of Cheetahpaw. Far ahead. Pantherpaw rose to her paws, gave her fur a quick once-over, and trotted out to join her mentor. They were up rather early- good. Surely Murkystrike, as the deputy, would have little time for Cheetahpaw. Pantherpaw would leave her sister in the dust. “Alright. I’m ready.” She stretched languidly, eyes half closed, reserving energy. For as long as she could, anyways. Excitement bubbled up inside her and threatened to give her away.

At least his apprentice seemed eager to train with him. Webshadow was sure he had to be difficult for Rosethorn, at least for the first few moons, with how stubborn he was and how much he hated leaving camp at first (even though it would quickly become one of his favorite things). Nodding quickly to Pantherpaw, he ducked out of camp, feeling immediately comforted just by being a few pawsteps outside.

He kept a steady, brisk pace, looking behind him occassionally to make sure she was still following. The marsh was getting a little deeper, and he hesitated as his legs sank into it. He was bigger than her, by quite a bit... He looked at her again, eyes narrowed and scrutinizing. No, she should be fine. It'd reach her belly, if anything. Good. Wordlessly, he pressed on, though his pace was slower now– not only was the mud pulling at his legs, but he wanted to keep a close eye on her.

Once they'd made it through the worst of it, he stopped again, looking around. "Our territory can get pretty deep," he mewed, raising a muck-covered leg and giving it a quick shake for emphasis. "Deeper than that. You have to watch your step, everywhere you go. You could fall in and drown." He hoped it didn't scare her. It was just... true, and she needed to know. "So, please, don't leave camp alone. Not to mention there are plenty of other things to worry about, like predators and, uh, rogues." His mind flickered to an image of Pantherpaw swiping wildly at a raccoon, or some bigger, bloodthirsty cat, and he bristled. Suddenly, he understood why Fangsnap had yelled at him.

Jerking his head to show that they were going to keep moving, Webshadow tried to steer clear of the worst of the mud, finding the shallowest land he could until the earth grew dry under his paws. The trees thinned, and a familiar clearing came into view. He padded a good ways into it to be certain they were totally out of the mud and sat down, watching Pantherpaw carefully. "This is the Pine Grove. I'll– I'll show you borders another day, when you feel more... more comfortable with the territory." This was a good beginning for her, right? She had to get comfortable with ShadowClan somehow. "I mostly just wanted to show you this place so you had an idea of your territory, but, uh..." He looked around, breathing in deep. They could kill two birds with one swipe, it seemed. "This is a good place for hunting. Do you want to try that?"

Pantherpaw padded after her mentor, eyes wide at the beautiful sight of their territory. The mud was not her favorite thing, however. It sucked her paws down. When it brushed against her stomach she gave an involuntary cry, arching her back. It was an overpowering relief to get her paws on firm ground again. “I’ll be careful. Has anyone ever drowned? What about rogues?” She hurried to keep up with Webshadow, his large stride never seeming to falter. It was a relief to be among the pines. Pine Grove. Good for hunting. “Hunting sounds nice.” She’d need to know how to hunt to best Cheetahpaw. Maybe some difficult prey- but for now she’d better start with something easy.

Shifting his weight, Webshadow pawed at the grass, ears flicking as he thought on an answer. "I don't know anyone that's drowned," he started slowly, intense gaze never leaving Pantherpaw. "But it it can happen. And rogues..." Again, he thought about her slipping out of camp during the day, of getting shredded and lost to the marshes. "Uhm. Well, yes, they're a problem. That's why Flintstar doesn't really want us leaving the camp alone." Hopefully, that answer would be good enough for her. He wasn't keen on dwelling on the outsiders crawling around their territory.

Thankfully, she seemed just as excited to learn how to hunt as she was to leave camp, so he quickly got back to his paws. "First thing is learning what everything smells like. You probably already know... most of it, or have an idea, right? From eating." He parted his jaws, breathing in deep, and turned away unceremoniously. Dropping low, Webshadow set his sights intently on the pines that ringed the clearing. He hadn't seen it yet, but he was confident there was a mouse there, hidden somewhere in the foliage. Drawing himself forward, he paused, scanning for any sign of it, then a thin tail wiggled just outside the corner of his vision. Zeroed in, he crept just a hair closer then sprang, and was eternally grateful that the little creature didn't notice him soon enough to dart away. Muttering a quiet thank you to StarClan for not letting him make a fool of himself in front of his apprentice, he gave its neck a quick nip then lifted it up by the tail. "See? Just, you know, keep your body low. It's a little different hunting in the actual marsh, but we'll... get to that. One day." He trotted away from the trees, nosing at a dry spot of grass and setting his catch there. "We'll just leave things here until we go back. You can go ahead and try now."

Webshadow attempted to catch a mouse. Catch successful!

-3 SP.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Pantherpaw listened intently to her mentor, tail swishing behind her. At the mention of rogues her gaze hardened. She’d be careful all right- careful while she hunted them down and revenged her mother. Later, though: later. She’d go about this systematically, but first she needed to know how to fight. Hunting came first, of course- what good would she be against a rogue if she couldn’t even kill a mouse? At Webshadow’s words she took a deep breath, scenting the air. He was right. She knew most of the scents from eating, lazing around camp, or even what the warriors smelled like as they returned to camp. Webshadow pounced on the mouse just as she scented it. Better work on the scenting if she was that slow at it.

”Right. I’m supposing we usually hunt lizards, frogs, and toads, judging by the fresh-kill pile”. She took a deep breath, scenting the territory around her. There, a faintly familiar scent from the fresh-kill pile, something scaly, something skittery. Pantherpaw dropped into her best hunting crouch, mimicking both Webshadow and the warriors she had seen around camp. Slowly, slowly, she moved forwards, catching a glimpse of her prey as it skittered down a tree. She suddenly pounced, catching the lizard beneath her paws, just quick enough to catch it. She picked it up and trotted back to her mentor, unable to stop the smile spreading across her face. “I caught it! My first prey!” She gleefully set it down beside Webshadow’s mouse. She was gonna leave Cheetahpaw in the dust.

Pantherpaw attempted to catch a lizard, costing 3 stamina. Catch was successful.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Pantherpaw prowled more than she walked, he'd noticed, so he wasn't surprised by how easily she dropped into her hunting crouch. It wasn't entirely perfect, and he made a note of aspects of it he'd correct her on later, but for her first time hunting it looked good. He watched patiently, ears flicking as she crept towards the lizard and, with a spring, closed her claws around it. His chest swelled with pride, and when she turned around with a big grin he couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Good job, Pantherpaw," he purred as she rejoined his side and set her catch down. "I don't think I caught anything my first time. That was good, I'm.. proud." The last few words sounded stiff, almost unsure, but he was grinning and his tail waved slowly behind him– a clear sign of his happiness and pride in her. "Let's try a few more times, okay?" Padding away, he lead her back into the trees, where the grass was getting wetter and giving way to mud. "It's still dry here– relatively, at least... But you can tell it's getting marshier. Good spot to practice without, uh. Falling in." Blinking at her a few times to make sure she understood, Webshadow turned away and dropped his body. He made an effort to keep his movements slow enough for her to process (he'd never been one for verbal explanations), the way he only half-lifted his paws to keep them from getting stuck in the mud, the way he kept his body from touching the ground. When the toad he'd noticed was in sight, he wiggled his hind quarters and sprang.

With a croak, it hopped off, and dark paws met empty air. Sighing, he stood back up, and turned to Pantherpaw sheepishly. "Well, that... wasn't a good example. But we all miss sometimes."

Webshadow attempted to catch a toad. Catch unsuccessful.

-3 SP.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 8

Pantherpaw’s grin grew even bigger as her mentor praised her. She couldn’t help a happy flick of her tail as she padded after him. The ground here was wetter, but not too wet- a good place to learn in. She nodded at Webshadow and followed his every movement with sharp eyes. Unfortunately, the toad leaped off before her mentor could catch it, and she gave a tail flick of sympathy. Sharp eyes pinpointed a frog, seemingly oblivious to its surroundings, and she prowled forwards, keeping her body just off the ground and paws half-lifted, like she’d seen her mentor do. Once she was close enough, she gathered herself and sprung

Pantherpaw attempted to catch a frog, catch was ?

Pantherpaw’s grin grew even bigger as her mentor praised her. She couldn’t help a happy flick of her tail as she padded after him. The ground here was wetter, but not too wet- a good place to learn in. She nodded at Webshadow and followed his every movement with sharp eyes. Unfortunately, the toad leaped off before her mentor could catch it, and she gave a tail flick of sympathy. You couldn’t catch every prey all the time, she knew that from ‘hunting’ leaves as a kit. Sharp eyes pinpointed a frog, seemingly oblivious to its surroundings, and she prowled forwards, keeping her body just off the ground and paws half-lifted, like she’d seen her mentor do. Once she was close enough, she gathered herself and sprung.

Her paws landed squarely on the squishy thing, and she killed it with a swift bite to the neck. Haha! There, Cheetahpaw, take that! Panther had already caught two pieces of good, sound ShadowClan prey. She padded back over to her mentor with a spring in her step. “I did it!” She mumbled through the frog. Her wide grin caused her to drop it in the mud, and she quickly bent down to pick it up again. Whoops.

Pantherpaw attempted to catch a frog, catch was successful  

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 1

Webshadow snorted a laugh when Pantherpaw dropped her frog, giving his head a slow shake. "Good job. You're doing very well," he mewed, blinking slowly and warmly. He was relieved that she was so eager, and such a quick learner at that. She was a good choice for a first apprentice, and he would have to kick himself into remembering to bring Murkystrike something as a gift.

Picking up his mouse, he nodded at her catches. "We're going to head back. Today was a good first start. I'll let you carry those, since you caught them." With a nod, he waited for her to collect her kills and follow before heading away into the marshes, back towards camp.