First Day of Training!

In the apprentice's den, Raccoonpaw lay, quiet and nestled in his moss-filled patch near the edge, just outside of everyone else. His breaths were steady as his back rose and fell, and it was clear that the new apprentice was sleeping well. In his dream, the dark-colored tom had chased tons of birds, rodents, and prey of all kind and brought it all back to the camp for the whole Clan to eat, who had praised him. A small smile lay on his shut-eyed face, clearly pleased with the non-existing attention he had received in his dream. Hopefully, when the time came for actual training, Raccoonpaw would still do well, no matter what.

Cloudroar had been given the task of training Raccoonpaw, and today would be the day of his first tour of their territory along with a little hunting training on the way. The blind tom made his way towards the apprentices den and with a flick of his tail called for the young apprentice. "Raccoonpaw! Come on. Its time to go!" After his announcement to the darker-furred tom, he turned and made his way to the entrance to wait.

Grumbling things to himself in his nest quietly, Raccoonpaw groaned as he started to get up, groggy from being suddenly woken from his slumber. Arching his back and stretching his paws, the tom carefully tip-toed his way out of the apprentice's den. Puzzled, Raccoonpaw swung his head around, looking for the blind tom that was his mentor. After spotting him, the Siamese cat padded to Cloudroar, making sure he could hear him. 
"So, I was thinking we could skip the whole tour of the territory and everything and go straight to the hunting," Raccoonpaw said quickly before Cloudroar could say anything, getting ahead of himself.

Cloudroar let out a gruff, amused laugh at the apprentice's comment. "You need to learn the territory first, Raccoonpaw. I'll teach you some hunting techniques on the way, though." He meowed, blinking his blind gaze. "We'll start off showing you the border between us and ShadowClan." He said with a flick of his tail as they headed out towards Highpine. "The border between us and ShadowClan is marked by a tall pine tree called, Highpine." He informed the young cat, glancing back so it'd be easier for his voice to reach Raccoonpaw's ears. He let the silence drag on for several moments in order to let the apprentice properly take in his surroundings.

Tail drooping slightly, Raccoonpaw accepted the fact that he would be taking a tour of the territory- but he still stayed eager to hunt. His fur tingled with excitement as Cloudroar continued, "Really? Okay, lead the way!" Raccoonpaw replied, really wanting to get the hunting techniques. 

Following close behind Cloudroar, Raccoonpaw made no attempt to reassure Cloudroar that he was still there padding after him, and he was surprised by his mentor's trust. Or he was just ignorant, Raccoonpaw couldn't tell. 

The Siamese cat stopped to gaze at the towering tree. "I didn't know trees could be this tall!" He gasped in disbelief, even though the tree wasn't all that large. Raccoonpaw just hadn't explored the territory whatsoever. Looking at Cloudroar expectantly, he kneaded his itching paws. "Can I climb it? My claws are just begging to get a hold of that tree!"

Cloudroar laughed in amusement at Racconpaw's outburst. "I'm not sure we are at that stage of your training yet, young'un. We'd need to start with a bit of a smaller tree for your first lesson on climbing, but come on. I'll let you help me remark the border." He amended with a flick of his fluffy tail. "Just stay along the line from High Pine." He instructed before he set to work, marking the border.

"I can take it!" Raccoonpaw retorted, "I need a challenge if I'm going to be a good warrior!" Sighing, he accepted defeat. The tom supposed he would have to persuade Cloudroar to let him climb the tree later. "Okay," Raccoonpaw meowed, marking the border on the invisible line that separated the territory... and maybe perhaps overlapping it a few times.

Cloudroar nodded approvingly as they finished marking the border, and he began to lead the young tom towards a clearing that he knew was usually teeming with life. "Okay, now since we've finished a little early, I'll start teaching you how to hunt. Don't expect to have it down pat by the end of today. It's going to take a lot of practice." He meowed with a flick of his ear. "Okay, so this is how you should look." He said as he crouched down in the hunting position. "Don't spread your feet too far apart, but you also don't want them too close. You want them far enough where you won't trip over your own paws, but also close enough that you won't lose your balance. Also, take care in watching where you're placing your paws, and pay attention to where your tail is. You don't want it dragging on the ground, but you also don't want it stick straight up for your prey to see. Does that make sense? I know I just dumped a lot of information on you, but I want you to show me what you can do now that you've got some knowledge on the subject. Don't be afraid to ask questions." He instructed carefully as he rose out of his crouch to sit in a more comfortable position with his tail wrapped around his paws neatly. "Okay, show me what you've got." He meowed, blinking his blind blue gaze at his apprentice expectantly.

Raccoonpaw snorted in amusement at Cloudroar's assumption that he wouldn't have perfected it by the end of the day. Sure he would, he was Raccoonpaw after all! "Don't underestimate me, Cloudroar," the dark-colored tom scoffed with confidence.

Despite his snobby comments, Raccoonpaw attentively followed Cloudroar's movements and positions. As the blind warrior finished with his blabbering about what and what not to do, he looked at the mentor with great mirth. "And how am I supposed to show you? Give you my eyes?" Raccoonpaw meowed with slight mockery but still got into a hunting crouch.

Feet far apart...

He started to position his paws a steady distance from each other, but then remembered another statement in the lesson.

Watch where you place your paws and where your tail is.

The Siamese cat balanced on his small, stabled paws in an area where they would make the least disturbance, grateful that he had remembered the one comment, there being a tiny sharp rock he hadn't noticed before. He outstretched his skinny tail to where it was placed right behind him, but not on the ground and not very visible. "How's this?" 

Glancing at Cloudroar expectantly, Raccoonpaw waited for his coming approval.

Cloudroar held back a growl of annoyance at the toms blatant disrespect. "It'd do you some good, son, to learn some humility and respect." He meowed in irritation, his tail tip swatting back in forth in annoyance as he cuffed the apprentice over the ear. With the disciplining out of the way, Cloudroar padded around the tom, thoroughly inspecting his stance with his paws, tail, and nose. With a huff, he knocked Raccoonpaw's paws closer together and carefully guided his spine a few inches lower before inspecting him once more. With a nod of approval, Cloudroar stepped back and sat back on his haunches. "You've done well today, Raccoonpaw, despite your arrogance and lack of manners, and I'm am proud of your progress. Don't let that go to your head now." He meowed gruffly, his tail-tip twitching quietly behind him. "It's getting late now, so we best be heading to camp." He decided before rising to his paws and head to camp. He had slowly noticed the gradual change in temperature, and he knew sighted cats liked to see where they were going so off to camp they went as dusk was just setting.

As the emerged into camp, just as the last few rays of sun disappeared, his flicked his tail to where he knew the apprentice den to be. "Go get something to eat and then get some rest, Raccoonpaw. You've had a long day." He meowed to the siamese tom before padding off to grab something off the fresh-kill pile for himself and Firflower.

Silently blah-blah-blahing Cloudroar's attempt to tell him to be more respectful, Raccoonpaw's neck fur bristled as the white warrior cuffed his ear, nearly growling at the contact. The rest of the mentor's correcting touches and knocks didn't startle him nearly as much, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the exposure. The apprentice sat up proudly with his chest puffed upon Cloudroar's praise, filling himself with his own pride and praise for doing so well, nearly ignoring the mentor's last statement to 'not let it go to his head.'

Raccoonpaw said nothing more as they made their way back to camp. He nodded simply, grabbing a fat bird for himself and went to the apprentices' den to eat it alone.