Warming of the Moors [closed]

This day was strangely warm compared to the previous days; the sun had risen bright and early with no gloomy leaf-bare clouds to fight through. All across the moor, the horizon seemed to be hazy with steam of ice melting and evaporating quickly under the intense heat, though undoubtedly the ground would stay frozen for another moon or so. Barleytuft stretched in camp, his long, lanky tabby body contorting and elongating and contracting here and there. He stretched out each of his legs and his neck and back, even rolling his head from side to side a few times. Just the day before Barleytuft had been honored with a new apprentice: Gingerpaw, a white-and-calico she-cat. Though they had only talked briefly, the experienced warrior could tell that the young cat was nervous. Hopefully once they got out on the territory her excitement and curiosity would help her open up!

After some stretching, Barleytuft padded to the apprentice's den. He paused just outside to take a deep breath, trying to remember how it had been to mentor Brookclover. She was practically born a warrior, Barleytuft thought, his whiskers twitching with amusement. With that, the tabby tom half-entered the den, searching for the contrasting coat of his apprentice. When he spotted her, he called gently, "Gingerpaw?" When she acknowledged him, he mewed, "Come meet me at the fresh-kill pile; it's time for your first day of training."

Gingerpaw was half asleep, so when her new mentor called her, so she woke up almost instantly, she was so nervous, she wanted to make everything right, the thought of messing up even in the most little thing terrified her. She got up quick, not even stretching or yawning.

"C-coming, sir" she whispered to not wake her fellow apprentices, and padded out behind the older cat.

Barleytuft had only withdrawn and taken a few steps from the apprentice's den before Gingerpaw joined him, and he purred as he looked over his shoulder to see her. "Good morning, Gingerpaw," he greeted on the way to the fresh-kill pile. He stopped beside it and nodded to it, meowing to Gingerpaw, "Why don't you grab something small to eat? Just enough to help you wake up and give you strength. You'll need it for your first day!"

Barleytuft watched for a moment to see what she did. Then, he explained, "Ordinarily, an apprentice should never eat before a hunting patrol." He added quickly, hoping for Gingerpaw not to get self-conscious or feel nervous, "Since I gave you permission, however, it's perfectly fine. I don't think I could have learned to hunt on an empty stomach; I'm pretty sure my growling stomach would've scared away all the prey, in fact. We wouldn't want that." Now that he was a full-grown warrior, of course, he had trained and become accustomed to going about his day without food. He, unlike an unseasoned, untrained apprentice, would easily be able to work through a full training session without fresh-kill, but he'd seen many apprentices get burnt out early without a meal, so Barleytuft intended to make sure his apprentice was taken care of.

He asked, "Can you tell me why the warrior code tells apprentices they can't eat first?"

"Good morning" greeted Gingerpaw when she saw her mentor, and walked behind him.

At first she looked at the fresh-kill pile unsure to eat anything, but when the older cat gave her permission, she purred, and picked the smallest mouse she found, and started eating, listening to the other cat´s speech.

She stopped eating when she heard the question so she could answer "W-well... my mom once mentioned something about this, the elders and queens have to eat first, always... because we apprentices and warriors have more strenght...?" she wasn´t so sure of the reason.

Barleytuft took note that Gingerpaw had hesitated, though he wondered if it were because she knew what the warrior code said or if it were simply from nerves. Either way, he was happy that she wasn't put off from eating even when he explained how apprentices never ate first. He really did feel that having a bit of food in one's stomach made learning easier, and he was happy to give her the moment to eat. He asked his question and she paused, considering for a moment, before answering that apprentices and warrior had more strength and that was why apprentices didn't eat first.

Barleytuft nodded and smiled, adding, "Queens care for our kits and provide our Clan with fresh blood, while elders have already served the Clan for many moons as apprentices and warriors themselves. They've earned the care and respect they receive." The sandy tabby tom laughed a little and said, "When I'm an elder I'll appreciate being looked after, I'm sure." The tom relaxed with a contented sigh, his gaze drifting to gaze over camp as he waited patiently for Gingerpaw to finish her little meal.

When at last it was all gone, Barleytuft return his friendly gaze to his apprentice, mewing, "Shall we go, then?"

Gingerpaw paid attention while she ate, noding at everything her mentor said, understanding.

When she finished, she stood.

"Yes sir" she answered.

Barleytuft smiled at Gingerpaw and purred, "Alright, then, let's get going!"

The lean tabby tom led the way out of camp, trying to keep his strides shorter than normal so that the young and thus far untrained apprentice would be able to keep up with him easily. He mewed, "Whenever we're on the moor, we have to keep our eyes in two places: on the ground, and in the sky. We don't want to step in rabbit holes, but we also need to be aware of eagles and hawks that fly and hunt up above." His eyes flicked up and down constantly, and easily, due to practice. He meowed, "I'll focus on the sky, since that's most dangerous. You can worry about your paws and practice looking from ground to sky when you can. The more you practice, the more it will come naturally to you. Someday you'll hardly have to think of it."

The pair continued on for a ways before they reached a nice sloping part of the moor that had adequate foliage still growing. "This will be a good place to start hunting for prey," Barleytuft meowed. "Do you have any idea why? Do you know what sort of prey we hunt on the moors?" He enjoyed learning about his apprentice as well as teaching her.

The small apprentice padded behind the older cat, hearing the instructions and looked up, an eagle or a hawk could easily take her and that scared but, she keept that to herself and listened, looking down and being careful where she stepped in.

"Look up and down constantly, got it sir" she meowed.

When the tom stopped walking, she did as well and sat in front of him, and shook her head at his question.

"No sir, why?" she asked, paying full attention.

Barleytuft smiled, happy with Gingerpaw's honesty. "See all that underbrush and bushes and grasses down there among the hills?" he asked, flicking his tail towards the stretch of land in front of them. He continued, "Rabbits and hares live on the moors in the tunnels under the surface that I mentioned. They're fast, but so are predators. This foliage gives them lots of cover for the entrances to their burrows as well as just outside of them. Prey is often found sniffing around where plants are."

Barleytuft turned to face his apprentice, meowing, "Alright, now, we're going to worry about scenting and hearing the prey for now. We'll worry about hunting it once you know what to look for."

The lanky tom padded off again, down the slope towards the place which would hopefully have plenty of prey that day. When they arrived, Barleytuft was happy to see some fresh tracks in the mud. "Ah, perfect. Take a look at those, and scent it well. That's a rabbit track." He looked at Gingerpaw and offered, "Would you like to try to track it down and catch it?"

"Ohhhh i see" she meowed, looking at the underbush all around, so rabbits and hares had their homes there huh?

Once again, the young apprentice followed the older warrior, remembering to look up to the sky and down to the ground every now and then.

When they found the tracks, Gingerpaw approached, curious, then heard her mentor´s question.

"Y-yes sir" she nooded, still a bit nervous but starting to get exited.

She sniffed the tracks, opening her mouth to drink the scent of the prey they were after, then she tried to pick a direction, trying to guess where the rabbit could have gone.

"I think... it went that way!" she said, looking in a direction, she was going to follow the scent but, she stopped... and looked up to Barleytuft.

"B-but... what if i´m not able to catch a rabbit...? They are fast and i´m... short" she lowered her ears saying this, she was indeed a bit smaller than the other apprentices, she could even be mistaken for a kit.

The WindClan warrior watched patiently as Gingerpaw crouched down to examine the rabbit tracks. Barleytuft remembered his first outing with his mentor at the time, Swiftstep. Barleytuft had been such a bouncing bundle of energy that if he hadn't loved WindClan so much the deputy might never have been able to teach him anything. Wanting to be a good warrior for the Clan had been his drive since he was a kit, and it was no different now. Kind hazel eyes watching his apprentice, Barleytuft wondered if Gingerpaw were as eager and excited to become a loyal WindClan warrior as he had always been.

Barleytuft's ears flicked as Gingerpaw perked her head up, staring off in one direction and mewing, "I think... it went that way!"

The warrior himself parted his lips, trying to pick that scent out from other crisp scents on the moor. He nodded with satisfaction, pleased by her quick tracking skills, then paused and watched his apprentice with a serious face as she turned to face him and expressed her concern.

Barleytuft purred, stepping forward to give the young calico she-cat a lick between her ears. "You may be short," he admitted, "but it's because you're young. All us warriors were small like you once, when we were apprentices. Besides, when you are young is the best time to make mistakes." With that, Barleytuft nudged her shoulder and purred, "Why don't you give it a try? If you don't catch it I'll let you know why."

Gingerpaw couldn´t help to purr and relax at her mentor´s words, he was right, she wasn´t even fully grown yet, maybe she would be different when she grows up.

She then looked at the direction she scented the rabbit went off and noded "Alright sir! I´ll try to catch it" and with that, she padded in that direction, with a bit of more energy and confidence.

It wasn´t long until she saw the small furry creature, and her instincts kicked in, she crouched and started walking towards it, but she wasn´t careful enough, so the rabbit heard her and hopped away.

"Uh oh..." Gingerpaw lowered her ears, she missed it because she made too much noise, but it was usual, she didn´t know how to hunt properly yet.

Barleytuft beamed at his apprentice, grateful that she was so receptive to his words of encouragement. Though it was always unfortunate to lose prey during leaf-bare, it was the reality of Clan life. Gingerpaw nodded a bit more confidently, and after a moment of consideration she padded off in the direction of the rabbit's scent. Right at the start she had picked up its trail, Barleytuft noted with a smile. He gave her a moment to pad ahead and then he followed far behind to watch from a distance, careful not to interfere with her learning experience.

Soon Gingerpaw found the source of the scent, and instinct seemed to help her drop into what her mentor considered to be a fairly good crouch for having no prior lessons. Barleytuft watched curiously as she moved, but immediately watching her place her paws he knew that she was stepping too hard and the rabbit would hear her. Sure enough, a moment later the lanky creature's small tail shot up in alarm and it darted off.

Barleytuft padded towards Gingerpaw, noticing the dejected look on her face. "Hey, no worries! What do you think happened to scare it away?" he asked.

Gingerpaw sat, watching her mentor come by her, and she looked thoughtful at his question for a few seconds before answering "I made too much noise?" she answered/asked rather sheepishly.

Dark hazel eyes watched Gingerpaw's thoughtful face intently. After a moment the young apprentice answered, "I made too much noise?" Barleytuft nodded and purred lightly, giving her a reassuring nuzzle before taking a few paces away. "That's right," he praised, "and since you knew what the problem was right away, I imagine it'll be easy for you to fix it with some practice." The lean tom instructed, "Watch how I prowl." Slowly, Barleytuft dropped into a hunting crouch, careful to drop his body weight evenly on all of his paws while standing lightly on the pads of his feet. His tail was low and straight behind him, tail-tip twitching only slightly to avoid brushing any grasses - who could stop their tail completely, after all? When he took a step, he lifted the paw straight off the ground before carefully reaching forward and setting it down. The entire time, his weight shifted to keep an equal balance on all his paws.

After taking several slow, demonstrative steps, Barleytuft turned to Gingerpaw and mewed, "Give it a try."