Growing Sage [C]

Wolfblaze was elated to begin working with her brand new apprentice. Sagepaw would be asleep, but dawn was here and there was no time to waste! Removing herself from her own nest, the large warrior shook herself vigorously before stepping out into the cool dawn air. Thank Starclan for Leaf-fall. It was breezy, and a few leaves had begun to fall, rustling throughout camp. What a perfect day for training. Stooping a little, she stuck her head into the apprentice's den. "Psst! Sagepaw! Time for training!" Her whispers were more like yells in the dead silence, and she spotted more than a few bodies stir. Hehehe... those apprentices would have to learn to get up for their own mentors eventually.

Positioning herself near the entrance to camp, Wolfblaze sat, waiting for Sagepaw to approach. It always took a little bit for a new apprentice to get out of the nest, she knew that she sure had. She still didn't like early morning, but it was always exciting the first time taking an apprentice out of camp. She was hardly able to get to sleep the night before!

Training... that sounded terribly boring.

Well, perhaps it sounded more unappealing than boring. Fighting and hunting were the two key skills that every warrior needed, and every apprentices needed to learn before they could earn their full name, but Sagepaw was uninterested. A warrior suffix sounded lovely, and she often found herself daydreaming about what it would sound like when the day of her ceremony finally came, but she knew that the work that it took to get there would be exhausting.

Physically exerting herself meant that she would sweat, and chasing rodents across the territory meant that she would ruin her pelt, and tackling her opponents to the ground meant that dirt would mess up her fur. That sounded more like a nightmare than a dream. However, if she wanted that bright and shiny warrior name that she dreamt about, Sagepaw decided that she would have to deal with it. She let out a silent huff of protest as she rose to her paws and padded out to meet her mentor.

Wolfblaze seemed tolerable enough.

"Okay. I'm here." She said, simply, her pawsteps light as she approached her mentor.
"Will we be out for long? I need to be back at camp on time for my daily grooming or the rest of my day will be miserable."

"Ah! Perfect there you are!" Wolfblaze bounded up to her apprentice, ears perked upright, face engrained with a huge smile. Her head cocked a little to the side when Sagepaw asked how long they'd be out. "Well I mean... you can groom yourself now if ya want, but you're gonna get dirty anyway. Come on let's go! Plenty for you to see on your first training session, plenty for you to learn." Wolfblaze had never quite tamed her thick fur, sticks, leaves, you name it, it would get stuck in her fur. That was just a fact of life for the molly though, maybe Sagepaw wouldn't have those issues.

Leading Sagepaw through the forest, the warrior watched the leaves on the wind. She took care for her large pawsteps to not crunch too many leaves, she'd scare away all the prey before she could show Sagepaw what she needed to know! "Alright, we can stop here. You're gonna learn how to hunt first. I mean, I love a good fight, but hunting is just as important to the clan. So basically you first scent the air, and ensure that the scent is downwind of you. Then the prey won't smell you. You crouch down real low, and move slowly toward whatever you're stalking, whether that's prey or a predator. Keep your tail down low too, but don't let it drag, that could cause too much noise. Then once you're close enough, you pounce! Easy as catching a leaf. Promise. Watch me first, then you try."

Wolfblaze, even with her large form, had no trouble crouching down low to the ground. Admittedly, it had taken her quite a bit of time to get it down, but she'd been a warrior for a while now, it had just become second nature. Scenting the air, she was able to locate a squirrel hiding not too far from their location. With the experienced steps of a warrior who had, far too many times, stepped on an errant leaf or branch, she closed quickly. One heavy leap later, the squirrel was dead within her jaws, and the molly returned to Sagepaw. Burying the prey, she continued teaching. "Once you're done, you bury the prey so predators don't get lured. Never, and I mean never, play with prey. It is a gift from Starclan, and as the days get colder, we'll need all the prey we can get. Anyway, your turn! Do your best, and don't worry if you don't catch anything, I mean it's your first time."

Wolfblaze caught a squirrel! -3 SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Dirty?

Stars, no. That was the last thing Sagepaw wanted.

However, the apprentice swallowed any words of protest and begrudgingly followed after her mentor. The quicker she followed instructions, the quicker she could return to camp and tidy herself up. There was no doubt that she was going to become the best hunter in the Clan without even trying, so the she-cat wasn't worried about that. She already knew that she'd pad back into camp with as much prey in her jaws as she could carry, and maybe even some more if she could balance some on her back. She needed a better mindset. There was no use in worrying about her pelt all the time because she would look pretty whether it was groomed and shiny or dusty and ruffled. A small grin grew on Sagepaw's face as she followed after Wolfblaze.

There was more silence from her as she kept still and listened to her mentor teach her how to properly hunt. Did she have to listen to this spiel? Hunting was probably the easiest thing in the world.

How fantastic would it be if she managed to catch a rabbit on her first try? That was exactly what she was going to do. Her eyes burned with determination as she lowered herself to the ground as instructed and slithered toward the rabbit that she had laid eyes upon. The thing was clueless, completely unaware of its gruesome fate. Sagepaw hardly felt any remorse. She took a heartbeat to adjust her paws before she sprang forward and landed on the fluffy creature with her claws unsheathed and her teeth ready to snap its neck. When she heard a small thud and watched the body of the rabbit drop to the forest floor, she simply smirked down at it before turning to face Wolfblaze.

"All done! That was easy. I almost think my form was better than yours." The smile on her face may have suggested that the she-cat was joking, but Sagepaw was all too serious.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Wolfblaze watched from afar as the prey was felled by Sagepaw. Her apprentice was gonna be quite the hunter, that was for sure! Though when she boasted about her abilities, Wolfblaze couldn't help but snort loudly, breaking into laughter for a moment. "You- you're funny! Always wanted another funny cat in this clan and here we are! We're gonna get along great!" With a sturdy pat on the back from her large tail, Wolfblaze lead her apprentice a little further onward, into a more open area.

"Well this is my favorite part of training. Combat! Here, just attack me, and I'll tell you what you did wrong after. I wanna see you try first." A lopsided smile still on her face, Wolfblaze lowered herself into a more defensive position, bulky body low to the ground. Hopefully, Sagepaw would hit hard, that would mean that she was already on the right path!

Wolfblaze is ready to spar!