Our plans may change but our hearts remain [C]

Sagefeather guided Hollowpaw out into the night, eager to show the apprentice the territory. The warrior was excited to have been entrusted with such a responsibility so early. He was absolutely buzzing with energy, a pep in his step and an almost apprentice-like playfulness in his eyes and his movements. "You're going to love hunting Hollowpaw! Don't worry if you miss okay? It's no big deal! Every failure is a lesson, and lessons are more valuable than prey!" Sagefeather led his apprentice toward the Pine Grove, his tail high and waving like a victory flag even though the night had barely begun. "This is a great place to start. Prey likes to gather around the Pine Grove because it's less wet." Sagefeather cheerfully explained before he dropped into a hunting crouch to show his apprentice what to do.

"Drop low like this, line up your head, neck, shoulders, back and tail. When you step forward, step slowly and carefully. You're still new, so take your time to learn proper movements and don't get into a rush, okay? Learning is a journey, not a competition. Everyone achieves their goals at their own pace. I'm more than happy to allow you whatever time you need to find yours." He continued to stalk forward, allowing the apprentice to observe him for as long as Hollowpaw wished.

"You'll also have to remember to scent the air, remember to use your mouth too." He parted his jaws to show him, using his jacobson's organ to intake as much scent information as possible. Not that he knew what twolegs called it. "Listen close, listen carefully. Get familiar with the sounds of your territory around you, because the more used to it you are the easier it will be for you to pick out sounds that are out of place. When you're ready, we will try to catch something. Just let me know." With that, Sagefeather stood normally and allowed his apprentice to take in all of this information and apply it. Any feedback or questions was welcomed.

The young molly had found herself quickly regarding her mentor with both the reverence she gave her leadership, but also, a comfort that she had found with her siblings. After all, it wouldn't make sense if she couldn't trust her mentor. Sablestrike himself had deemed Sagefeather trustworthy enough to be the one to be able to teach her, and there would be no way that he would dare give her a mentor that would even think about leading her astray. Even then, she found herself still rather quiet. Even though she trusted him, that didn't mean she yet knew what to say to him. That would come with due time, and from how Sagefeather was still enthusiastic to train her, she figured it wouldn't be much of an issue.

His excitement was infectious, and her own black, feathery tail was raised into the air. Every word that came from his maw might as well have been gospel to the molly as she listened intently, her ears fully aimed towards him. Sounds of the forest still pulled her attention, but the fact that they were surrounded by the comfortable cool of night made those sounds few and far between.

From his guidance, her nose had gone to the air. She wanted to get familiar with what was around her first, even as her body went to copy the way that he moved. Low to the ground. Become as straight as possible. "How long did it take you to become comfortable with Shadowclan's sounds?" Hollowpaw finally broke her own silence to ask. Hopefully, because it was the land of her birth, she wouldn't take too long. It'd be rather embarrassing if she was constantly confusing the sound of a piece of prey for what was actually just the branches on the wind. Even with the question lingering in the air, she turned most of her focus to what was around her. Memories of what Cherish, Virtue, and Muse had taught her came to mind. Sticking to the shadows would help cloak her, even if she was going to be hunting.

After some moments of finding her own paw-steps and confidence in her stride, she made her decision. "I think I'm ready to try." She didn't feel like she was going to immediately fail, and that was important to her. Making a good impression on Sagefeather had meant more to the apprentice than she realized it would. With her ears on a near-constant swivel, she was quick to hear the quiet croaking of a toad. Her head immediately snapped in its direction, and a moment later, she was mimicking the very pose that had just been taught to her. Just as she got close, though, inexperience found her claws unleashing too soon. Her dart forward just snatched its back leg, but it didn't matter, as the toad found itself able to get away. "... I'll get the next one. I rushed it." She quickly stated, her ears hot from the embarrassment of failure.

Hollowpaw attempts to catch a toad! Failure! -3 stamina

The member 'Kitty' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Sagefeather pondered Hollowpaw's question when she asked it. He looked up at the starry sky, gave it honest thought, before he settled his soft silvery gaze back onto her. "I'd guess probably the the third night of being out here you'll have the typical noises memorized. At least for newleaf. Once greenleaf comes, then leaf-fall and then leafbare... the sounds change. Each season brings change, and thats okay." Once she felt comfortable enough to stalk a toad, Sagefeather crouched low and didn't move a single muscle. He was tense, hoping to high Silverpelt that she'd get it.

She missed though, but he was sure to bring himself back into a normal standing position with a smile on his face. He shook his head at her embarrassment, but his eyes were soft and kind. "Hollowpaw no you did fine. Not every hunt ends in success, and I do mean it. It's alright. A failure teaches us something, and that is worth the experience. You just try again." His tone was soft and encouraging, but above all it was honest. Sagefeather crouched low upon scenting a rabbit and he nodded in the direction where it came from.

"Maybe another demonstration will be helpful! Follow me." He crept forward, easily tailing the rabbit. Once he spied it, he crept slowly and carefully toward it. He would stop anytime it raised it's head from the grass it was eating, then move a few more steps when ti bent it's head to eat more. Finally, he sprung forward.

Sagefeather attempted to catch a rabbit! He was UNSUCCESSFUL -3SP

The rabbit darted away, off into the night. Sagefeather drew himself up after his miss, but his cheery demeanor hadn't changed a bit. If anything, he looked relived a little. "You see? Sometimes things happen, and its okay. Its not the end of the world, you just try again. I hope at least a demonstration of stalking something physically tangible helped." He then waited to see what she wanted to do. If she wanted to try again, he'd be more than happy to stay out of her way so she could. If not, he would demonstrate his own hunting ability once more.

The member 'Tara' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

It felt... strange for failure to be acceptable. Quite puzzling, indeed, as she heard the words of her mentor speak in earnest that it was just fine that she hadn't had some flawless execution on her first try. She watched, too, as he gave example of his own hunting. Even as he didn't catch the rabbit, she didn't see his miss as a failure-it was an earnest attempt. If anything, he had great form, looked just fine, and-oh. That was the point of it.

Honeyed eyes blinked as the lesson truly sunk in. "I... think I understand." Her pause wasn't so much a hesitance that preceded a lie as it was a delay caused from the momentum of her brain processing many other things at the same time. His movements were sure, but they were the same as he had demonstrated to her. She could replicate that. Not the confidence, but the general movements were sure to be something she could handle. After all, he seemed to believe her more than capable of executing it.

Allowing her nose ample time to decipher the air around her, eventually, she found her next target. A little squeaky thing, certainly not too far away for her to be unable to see. Her steps seemed just a little more confident as she mimicked the movements that Sagefeather had demonstrated, her paws once more attempting to keep to the shadows in which her pelt blended in most. The silver coating along her back meant she would never truly blend into the shadows, but it was better than nothing.

A quick strike forward meant that, much to the apprentice's surprise, she easily now had a catch in her maw. She almost looked more stumped at the fact she had managed to catch it than when she'd lost her first piece, and the stunned molly turned to look right at her mentor. "Fi fif if!" She exclaimed, right through the little creature's body.

Hollowpaw attempts to catch a vole! SUCCESS! -3 SP

The member 'Kitty' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

Sagefeather sank low to his belly, watching his apprentice make another attempt. Starclan, please! Hollowpaw went after the vole, and Sagefeather held his breath, tense, until she brought it up dead in her jaws. The red tom exploded upward and released a cheerful meow, sending pine needles in all directions. He galloped toward Hollowpaw with his eyes ablaze with pride. "You did it you did it you did it you did it!" He was bouncing on his paws, long fur flopping around with his movements, then reached his head toward her's, gently bumping his noggin into her's like a cat high five.

"I should probably stop being so loud... I'll scare everything off. Don't do what I just did." He chuckled with his eyes closed, still in good spirits. There was immense relief that Hollowpaw caught something. The least thing he wanted was for his apprentice to catch nothing all night and feel discouraged. It would have eaten at him. However, now the pressure was on to catch something himself...

"Alright... my turn again. Just bury the vole somewhere you won't forget it for now." With that, he set off after the scurrying sounds of lizards. They may have heard him, but reptiles tended to be very simple creatures. Any noise they heard was forgotten quickly. Sagefeather crept toward the rustling in the pine needles, spotting three lizards. Two were in some sort of disagreement, mouths open and posturing at each other, the other simply watching. Targeting the one that was more still, Sagefeather leapt for it.

Sagefeather attempted to catch a lizard! He was [SUCCESSFUL!] -3SP

He caught the lizard with ease and dispatched it swiftly so it wouldn't suffer. The other lizards bolted. He brought it over to Hollowpaw and gave her a smile, but there was nothing boastful about it. Tonight was turning out to be a good night, thank goodness.

The member 'Tara' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 8