Little Sprouting Seed [Closed]

It was well past sunhigh and the sun no longer shone directly above the forest. Darkflight rose from a moderately cool patch of shade and began poking around camp for her new apprentice, a young tom named Alderpaw. Starting training so late in the day would have been unorthodox, if the blazing heat of midday forced the long-furred she-cat to try and keep cool. While her fur continued to thin as she grew older and older, the heat was still almost unbearable. Perhaps by the time they came back to camp the Greenleaf heat would have all but subsided. 'Ah, there he is.' Once the warrior spotted him, she called out to him.

"Alderpaw, do you want to see the territory?" Oh StarClan, she was glad the trees had finally recovered and could shelter her clan from the burning rays. She couldn't imagine how unbearable the season would feel without them.

Tail-tip flicking with content, Alderpaw lazily rested on a rather thriving patch of undergrowth, his head laying heavily on his brown paws. He raised his head upon a call of his name, blinking sleepily, recognizing his mentor, Darkflight. As the black she-cat finished her question, the amber-eyed apprentice rose to his paws excitedly. "Of course!" Alderpaw called back, giving his pelt a quick shake. Padding over to Darkflight, he was wide awake quicker than any cat would've thought. "How are you today?" The chocolate-colored tom asked, wanting to be polite and respectful and not just have his mind on training.

Darkflight purred in response to his question. "I'm fairly well, thank you." She motioned with her tail for him to follow her through the camp entrance. The old warrior took in a deep breath as they entered the territory and paused. "Well, Alderpaw," She turned to him. "Which of our borders do you want to see first? RiverClan, ShadowClan, or SkyClan?" Surely he would be interested in their main rivals? Or the Thunderpath? Their border with SkyClan wasn't too dramatic; honestly the line between the two forest clans seemed arbitrary at best. 'I would be lying if I said I hadn't accidentally trespassed once or twice.'

"That's good," Alderpaw purred back. He followed Darkflight's distinguished fluffy black tail into ThunderClan's territory, pupils widening with managed curiosity. The brown tom halted abruptly upon his mentor's stop. Alderpaw responded a moment after the black warrior finished her question, seeming to have a quick yet well-thought-out answer. "Ah... well, I don't think it really matters which one we see first, but how about RiverClan? My mother used to tell me stories about them. They sound the most threatening compared to our other rivals, so I should probably know what the borders are between them and us."

"You're right about that. Let's go." The three-legged warrior ducked through the undergrowth, occasionally checking behind her to ensure Alderpaw was still there. They headed northeast from camp, away from the now descending sun, towards the river that divided ThunderClan from RiverClan, and Sunningrocks. While they walked, she noted that the crows were especially loud today. Her dandelion eyes moved upwards as she kept walking. "Birds are more active during the day and just before sunrise." She spotted one of the black birds high above just as it, too, saw her. "They have excellent eyesight and hearing, but apparently a poor sense of smell." Seeing as the bird had already noticed her, Darkflight ignored it.

Alderpaw closely followed Darkflight through the twists and turns of ThunderClan's forested territory, occasionally looking around for landmarks that might help him in the future to navigate the area. He simultaneously looked up with his mentor upon the mention of birds, more specifically crows, but made sure he didn't bump into a tree or the dark-furred warrior's behind. The brown apprentice nodded at Darkflight's information as a sign that he was listening, and continued on behind her after gazing a few more moments at the flocking crows overhead.

Eventually, the sound of flowing water became audible through the rustling of leaves. "We're getting close. Can you hear the river?" The scent of the river water floated in the breeze and the air was noticeably more humid and sticky. As the break in the trees came closer, she turned her head. "Be careful not to slip on the rocks. The river is faster than it looks and it won't hesitate to sweep you away; I can't pluck you out, either," she warned, making a pointed glance to where her left rear leg used to be. Darkflight emerged into the sunlight, positioning herself to walk between Alderpaw and the water.

After a bit of walking, Alderpaw could perceive the sound of burbling and bubbling steadily growing louder. He raised his head and inhaled the nearby fumes, now clearly recognizing the stench of old running water that laid on the streamside for centuries, the new scents rolling in but still not quite erasing it. Nodding, the brown tom replied simply, "I can." Alderpaw could spot the trees becoming noticeably airier, and he assumed that there would be a breach of the trees that would lead to the nearby river. 

He gazed at the fast-flowing waterway and all its glory. The coffee-colored tomcat was tempted to jump in the cold, fresh water and escape the Newleaf heat right there and right then, but he knew he would deeply regret it. Alderpaw nodded up at Darkflight, opening his mouth but seemed to hesitate for a moment. "May I... drink it?" He asked with some doubt, not wanting to seem tired already, but the water looked so tempting.

Darkflight nodded to the younger tom and approached the river's edge as well. Seeing and hearing nothing from the opposite bank, she bent to drink the somewhat cool water. The river seemed to have shrunk slightly, but this was to be expected during Greenleaf. The fish fled from their shadows and swum in spirals near the riverbed. The prospect of prey did not cross her mind; RiverClan would throw a collective fit if ThunderClan took even a single minnow from their waters. 'And by StarClan do they make a cat stink!' The warrior moved away and stared downstream, mouth open. There was a squirrel somewhere, but clearly across the river. For a moment she was annoyed, then remembered something perhaps somewhat important. She angled her head back towards Alderpaw.

"Come back under the trees, I need to teach you a bit about hunting." Maybe they could come across something he could practice on once they began to walk again.

Upon Darkflight's nod, Alderpaw carefully crouched down at the river's edge, making sure not to slip. He ducked his head down just above the flowing water and started to take little laps of the cold, refreshing water until he was satisfied. Licking his lips of any stray droplets, the brown tomcat stood up, giving himself a few brisk licks as he waited for his mentor to finish her drinking and observing.

Alderpaw nodded quickly, following Darkflight back into the trees. His paws tingled with excitement - he was going to learn how to hunt!

Once she could feel the trees shielding her from the sun's burning rays, Darkflight relaxed. She padded to a spot in the undergrowth with a few leaves and twigs, but not too many, and turned to Alderpaw. Surely he'd watched older apprentices practice in camp as an excited kitten; she had, whenever she'd escaped her mother's intense gaze. "Let's see what you know already. What do you think a hunting crouch looks like?" The warrior had her mouth open again as she scented for nearby prey.

Gradually being relieved of the sun's scorching heat, Alderpaw felt at ease within the shaded canopy of trees. He loved the way the undergrowth felt beneath his paws at the desired spot Darkflight had led him to, and suddenly he was distracted from his forest-loving trance as he felt the black she-cat's eyes lay on him. Upon her request, Alderpaw dipped himself into a stance that felt natural and tried to imagine a situation where he was stalking a mouse. He lowered himself to the ground as much as possible, but not where his fur might brush against an unseen twig or blade of grass. He rose his tail, but not too high, just so it was right behind him as if it wasn't even there. That was all he knew. Hoping he didn't look like a lopsided badger, the brown tom looked expectantly at Darkflight. "How's this?"

Darkflight watched as he got into his stance and nodded. He was pretty good, for his first try. She nudged his paws until they were all aligned, and pushed his tailtip down until his tail had a slight downward arch to it. "Good." The warrior crouched similarly, but modified to account for her having only three legs. "Now, when you stalk, you must think about what your prey senses. Can they see you? Smell you? Hear you? Feel you?" She tapped the soft ground with her paw. She stalked forward with an odd, almost inchworm-like gait, but she did not make a sound nor did any vibrations seem to come from her paws hitting the dirt.

"At some point, thinking about all of this will come naturally, but you should come to know your strengths and weaknesses as well. Capitalize on, or make up for them. I cannot hunt mice well," she admitted, "however that does not mean other types of prey so easily evade me." Memories of her own training came back to her in a slow, nostalgic drip.

Alderpaw brightened up slightly as he saw Darkflight nod, his heart flickering with pride. He let her adjust his position and watched as the black she-cat crouched with him. The young apprentice moved simultaneously with Darkflight, imitating her stalk, but it felt odd for Alderpaw. He understood why before she explained that cats have their own strengths and weaknesses, and tried imagining a routine that would work for him. "Alright," the coffee-colored tom meowed, "I'll practice my stalk as often as I can."