A Vixen Under the Wing of a Jay

The young deputy walked between the reeds of his territory with his new apprentice behind him. Dawn was painting the sky with bright orange colors and the morning breeze touched his fluffy pelt giving him the energy to keep walking. His green eyes admired everything with a peaceful smile. Jaystream loved his territory more than anything... it was the place where he could escape from the camp to walk alone when he was an apprentice without a mentor to be there for him.

He stopped his steps, turning his body back to the apprentice when they arrived at a clearing where a small river passed by. This place would be perfect to start their training. "Well, Vixenpaw. Here we are going to start. I'm going to teach you how to hunt and fish properly so you will be able to feed our clan once you're a warrior like me, okay? First of all, do you know how to swim?" He purred remembering the calico she-cat that was the love of his life having difficulties to swim when they were younger. The gray tabby cat didn't want to lose an apprentice because she drowned herself attempting to catch a fish.

Vixenpaw treaded lightly behind her mentor, heart pounding. What if she wasn't up to it? What if she failed all her training and assessments and was banished? What if- she cut herself off. Breathe, she told herself. It'll be Ok, it's just training. Then Jaystream spoke. His question caught her off guard. Swim? she silently questioned. "Um... I can keep above the water, but I'm not a very good swimmer."

The tall tom gave her a comprehensive smile. "Don't worry. Every Riverclan cat starts just like you, even the strongest and most skilled warriors. I can help you to improve your technique after we finish your hunting lessons. Now come with me." He walked to the smaller part of the river that was deep enough to swim and catch fishes but without too many risks to get drowned. The tom leaped to a rock that was above the water and crouched looking to the river. "For now I'm going to teach how to fish from the shore. Fishing is a little slower than regular hunting but it's easier too. You just need to be patient." After saying that, the large tabby tom waited on the top of the rock, waving his tail to one side to another as he waited. When a silver flash crossed near to him, the Riverclan deputy moved his unsheathed paw quickly and hit the water with a little splash. His paw reached the flickering body of the animal who was thrown up because of the swift attack of the warrior. Jaystream caught the fish with his jaws right in the moment that it was going to fall on his face.

The tom left the rock and walked back to Vixenpaw, leaving the fish on the ground. "You can catch fishes using two different ways. The first one is hitting it with a fast claw so you can throw it to the shore and caught it there with your jaws. The second one is stepping into the water and wait until you see a silver flash. Then you must move quickly and grab the fish in the middle of its swimming with your open jaws. The fish isn't going to give up so easily and will try to escape from your mouth so you have to bite it hard. Now go ahead and try it."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC: Okay. Using the hunting system is easier than the battle system. You have to click the "Post Reply" banner and then you will enter to a "reply page", right? Below the white rectangle where you write your post, on the left side, there's a place that says "Dices Roll". You must choose the hunting dice, then write your post and send. After that, the result of your rolling dice will appear and show what you can catch. If you see the rules about the hunting system (here) you will notice that with a number between the 1 and 9 you can hunt a fish in Riverclan territory so is a pretty easy catch. However, is for example in your post you wrote your cat hunt a mouse but you then realize that you got a 6 in your rolling dice you can edit your post and modify the actions of your cat (remember that double posting is not allowed, that's why you must edit your post instead of writing a new one). Since I got a 7 I can hunt a fish with Jaystream in this post, like you see.
Now try it! If you have questions, just ask me.

The member 'Jay Bird' has done the following action : Dices roll

---

'Hunting Dice' : 7

Ooc: So I just roll the dice, choose wether she catches it or not and then modifying it accordingly? This is assuming I do:

Tha small brown she-cat watched as her mentor caught the fish with ease and grace. Alright, Vixenpaw. You can do this. She breathed in and positioned herself at the shore. Copying what her mentor had done, she reached into the water and grabbed at a fish with a claw, soon finding herself with a silver, struggling fish in her jaws.

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 5

OOC: That was perfect! Do it one more time to be sure that you understand it and then we can continue with swimming training or hunting land prey. You choose.

IC:

The tom watched happily how easy she caught the fish on her jaws. Just like as Ashfeather, she was a fast learner and that made him a proud mentor. "Good job! That was perfect, Vixenpaw. Now try to catch one with only your jaws. Remember, wait until one of them approaches you and then attack it fastly with your fangs." He purred delighted flicking his fluffy tail proudly. She at least had the natural ability of a fisher just like most of Riverclan cats and that would help her to become a warrior sooner than he did in the past.

Vixenkit looked at her mentor with immense joy. She was praised by Jaystream! As she dropped the fish by the shore, she watched it twitch feebly and forced herself to look away. It's just prey. Ignore it. As she stepped into the water, she felt a familiar sense of discomfort. She wasn't as good a swimmer as the other kits, she suspected because of her supposedly nonexistent father's heritage. At least her fur was still waterproof. She waited patiently for a flash of silver. First nothing appeared, but then she saw a shimmer followed by a soft splash. Quick as a bullet, she reached out her neck and plucked the fish from the water, making sure to bite down hard as her mentor had instucted.

Ooc: I think I want to work on Vixenpaw's swimming, as she's not too confident about it.

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 9

The deputy stood up, satisfied by the perfect work of his apprentice. He approached her and nodded to her proudly of how much she could learn in such a short time. "That was a good catch. With more practice on your technique and faster and quieter moves, you'll be a perfect hunter of fishes. Fish is our main source of food and is what make us Riverclan warriors. But there is something more that belongs to Riverclan and that's our swimming skills. That's why is important that you learn how to do it properly." He said stepping closer to the river and then looking back at the gingery-brown she-cat. "Water is part of our life and culture.
Without the river, Riverclan couldn't exist and that's why we have learned from generations ago how to use it in the best way possible."

Stepping deeper into the river, the gray tabby tom let the water reach his legs like an old friend. For him, swimming was one of the best sensations of the world. It was the moment he was able to enter into his own world of peace and relax, away from his inner worries and doubts. "Please, show me what you know and then I'll tell you what you have to do to improve. I'll be close to you so you don't have to be afraid of drowning or anything like that." Jaystream noticed that Vixenpaw wasn't talkative at all. She had barely spoken to him but that didn't bother the warrior because he was just like her around the other warriors of the clan. Since he was a kit, Jaystream always preferred to stay quiet because of his insecurities but now that he grew up... he was able to live with those inner monsters and control them the best he could. The young tom still struggled a lot about not being worthy of his new rank as a deputy but that didn't stop him from trying his best each day even if he failed.

The small apprentice looked up at her gray mentor hesitantly. "Do you promise I won't drown?" she asked in a small scared voice.

The tom looked at her fatherly understanding her fear. Cinderpaw was like her... she was afraid of not being able to swim properly because of her shorter legs. However, now she was an amazing swimmer because they worked together. It wasn't going to be different with Vixenpaw. "You won't because I'll be right here to help you if you need it. I'm not going anywhere, Vixenpaw so there's no need to be afraid." He purred showing her a kind and comprehensive look.

At Jaystream's response, Vixenpaw's heart suddenly filled with courage and confidence. She nodded confidently and began to slowly wade into the river, ignoring the discomfort of being in the cold water. Once the water became too deep for her to reach, she began to swim. At first panic jabbed at her heart at this new feeling of cold and floating, but then she felt Jaystream's pelt against hers and let those feelings ebb away. Instead she focused on her leg movements, surprised at how naturally it came to her. A small fish passed by her nose, at which she let out a small yelp of surprise. She wanted to catch it, but was afraid she would breathe in water if she opened her mouth. Then she realised how much deeper she was. Panic clouded her thoughts and not even her metor by her side could calm her. Legs flailing, she thrashed in the water, spooked further by the fact that even when submerged she couldn't reach the stones at the bottom of the river.

Jaystream followed Vixenpaw close enough so she could felt her fur pressed next to her. At first, she was doing it great. Like she said before, she was able to keep her head above the water and that was the basics of swimming. "Well... you're doing it great, Vixenpaw. Try to synchronize your breathing with your moves and then..." His words stopped when a fast fish crossed in front of the frightened she-cat who started to panic.

Letting himself get down a bit so his shoulder could help her to stay up, Jaystream started to talk again, concerned about how her legs were getting more clumsy and weaker because of her fear. "Vixenpaw! Calm down! The water is not your enemies or something you should be afraid of. You're not going to get drown if you stop panicking. Take a moment to think about your breathing..." He looked at her, without fear so she would see that he wasn't afraid at all. She was going to do it... she had to. "Focus on your breath... on your legs. Do you feel it? You have to work on the movement on that. Don't shake them like you were struggling. You have to do it with calm, long and strong moves that would help you to keep your body above the water without splashing. Synchronize your body, your breathing, and mind in swimming. I'm here... you can do it." He purred, pushing her up a little more swimming up with his shoulder.

Jaystream's comforting words penetrated the panic in Vixenpaw's mind. Following his instructions, the petite apprentice focused on calming down. Using her mentor for support, Vixenpaw managed to get in a few deep breaths. Once she had enough oxygen in her system, she started towards the shore. Synchronised once again, her legs moved in unison as she swam to the shore. Swimming was fun, but drowning was a different story. Once she was on solid ground, she shook out her for and slid to her stomach. She tucked her head beneath her paws. "Sorry I'm a lousy swimmer..." she mumbled dejectedly, close to tears.