Flights with Grouse (Closed)

Dried grasses swayed in the orange glow of sunlight. Dark patches of sky above where stars still shone dimly, but would soon be overtaken in a splash of colour. A large, lean brindle pointed tom sat patiently in the greenleaf glow. His blue eyes closed, breaths even. Almost looking as though he was asleep as he sat there motionless.

'It's a new dawn, mother. I have an apprentice now, but I'm sure you knew that. You've raised countless of them.' His blue eyes opened as he thought quietly. 'I just hope she's as efficient as you.' He stood abruptly. His gaze swung towards the cats that milled around camp. Preparing for dawn patrol as he padded down to the camp's entrance. Head tilted up high and proud as he waited for Mistypaw to make an appearance. His tail flicked behind him as the only display to his desire to simply go get her. 'I hope her memory proves to be good enough.'

Mistypaw trotted out of the apprentice's den, stretching out her legs. True, it was very early, but she was a bit of an early riser. She spotted her mentor by the camp entrance, and instinctively padded over to him. She was a little nervous, as he seemed to be waiting for something. She hoped he wasn't waiting on her! Oh, to keep her mentor waiting would be so ignorant of her! She hurriedly along. "Hello, erm, Grousefrost. Are, are we going to be training today?" She had not gotten a chance to train yet like the rest of her siblings had, so she was thrilled for her first day. That was, if today was her first day.

As Mistypaw approached, Grousefrost watched her with narrowed eyes. She seemed to be full of energy, not overly tired. His analytical mind looked her over one final time, trying to observe any injury or weakness that might cause her to be slow or hinder. Fortunately, he saw nothing and simply turned his head.
"In the future, we will meet here. Preferably before the sun has fully risen." He stood up, stretching out his own long limbs before flicking his tail and beginning to pad away. He hoped she'd have the mind to follow. "I'll be blunt. I'm quite busy, so I don't know you well. Today, we'll be putting you through the paces." He turned his head back towards her with a playful glint to his eyes. "I'm going to see exactly how fast and clever you are. To see if you are able to beat the rabbits that race all over the moore."

He turned and padded towards her, stopping at her side. Ahead of them was a wide and flat expanse of grasses, some shortened by grazing rabbits. In the distance was a large tussock of grass.
"I want you to run as fast as you can, go around that tussock, and back to me." He paused, then stepped out in front of her. "I will do this exactly once, so pay attention." As he spoke, his body tensed, then sprang out towards the large tuft of grass. His cream and grey body a flash as his limbs seemed to extend almost impossibly to cover great strides of ground. When he reached the tussock, his turn seemed more like a skid as opposed to taking seperate steps to make it.

Within a mere three lazy flicks of a tail, he skidded past Mistypaw. Dirt and grass flying into the wind as he huffed a short breath before sitting down in the spot he had been. A dip of his head her order to start running.

Mistypaw tensed up her muscles, getting ready to sprint. At her mentor's signal, she took off. Racing around, she ran as fast as her legs would take her, all the way to the stump. She had made it to the stump, but as she made her turn, her legs flew out from under her. She had taken the turn too sharply, so now she was on the ground, dirt and grass covering her silver tabby fur. "Mousedung!" She called out, spitting out dirt from her mouth. She had failed the simplest task she could have been given.

Grousefrost watched as Mistypaw ran off on his order. Her strides seemed to bounce as she went, and he was hardly surprised as she slipped and skidded onto the ground a mere two foxlengths away. He huffed, then padded towards the spun-out she-cat. 'Honestly, I expected a little better from a windclan apprentice. That was one of the most ineffective attempts I've ever seen.' He stopped in front of her with a skeptical expression.

Still, she had just been a kit. As of yesterday, the most running she would have been doing was around camp. Where the dirt made traction easier and the ground was well flattened.
"I've seen better." He meowed curtly as he grabbed her scruff to help her up. "To be effective, you need to dig your claws in deep into the ground beneath the grass. Don't let them get caught on the stalks." He placed a paw down in front of her. His claws extended to dig into the ground. As he pulled it up, small bits of grass and earth lifted from his outstreched claws.

(OMG I am so sorry I have been busy and forgot about this topic oof)
Mistypaw nodded to the warrior. He had made doing that seem so easy when he had done it himself,but she was sure she could get it right this time. Unsheathing her claws,she dug into the ground,taking off. Her strides were equally bouncy as before,if not even more,but she was able to successfully make the turn,coming to a stop in front of her mentor,panting with the effort.”How....How was that?” The tabby breathed. What was easy for a Warrior was a lot harder for the newly made apprentice.

(It’s no biggy 8D Just thought I’d nudge ya!)

‘Well, she at least made the turn.’ Grousefrost thought to himself critically as he waited for her to return. The question was met with a flick of his tail and an expression that spoke of how unimpressed he was.

“It could have been better. You need to bounce less.” He criticised, then padded forward. “Watch closely.” He ordered, before he launched into another run. His strides were long, eating up ground in huge chunks as he allowed his body to fully extend before going into the next stride. As he neared the corner, he dug his claws deep and used his weight to offset the force of his speed before flying back at the same ground eating pace.

It all happened in seconds as he skidded to a stop just past Mistypaw’s head.
“Did you see that?” He asked, breathing only slightly heavy. “Notice how my legs were fully extended in each stride? That allows our run to be smoother. Don’t worry about the grass hitting you, keep your eyes open and forward. ” He explained as he sat down expectantly. “Now, again. ”

Mistypaw did not move for a while. Grousefrost had to be mad. She could hardly breathe and he wanted her to do it again? Was there no pleasing him? When she caught her breath,which took quite a while,she stood up. With a nod saying that she was ready,she raced off. This time she lengthened her strides as much as she possibly could,eating a bunch of grass and dirt in the process. When she returned,she simply looked at her mentor,not as friendly as before. “Alright,I did it I think.” She said,not as friendly as she had tried to feign. “What next?”

(OOC: May as well make this a hunting patrol 8D)

Despite her less friendly greeting, Grousefrost nodded in solemn approval.
“You’re getting better, but don’t get too comfortable yet. You’ve much to learn about running in a way that tussocks won’t grab you.” He paused in his explanation. Head lifting as something caught his vision in the grass. A small distance away, a rabbit was eating at some new sprouts.

The timing couldn’t have been more convenient. He looked down at his apprentice and flicked his tail.
“Catch your breath, it’s time to apply it in practice.” He ordered as he stalked forward a few paces. The rabbit’s view of them was blinded by tall grass. “Stay low among the grasses. Don’t spring until you’re only a couple tail lengths. Less if you can get that close. Keep perfectly still when it lifts its head.” He explained, pulling back so that he could watch from a distance.

Mistypaw nodded,keeping silent lest the rabbit would hear her speak. She got low among the grasses,just as Grouseflight had instructed. Closer she stalked,keeping as light on her feet as she could. The rabbit lifted its head. It heard her. Mistypaw froze,holding her breath. To her relief the rabbit went back to eating and she crept further still. The rabbit was right in front of her now. She sprang at it,and the chase was on. She chased after the rabbit,using her claws for traction. With long strides,she was quickly on top of the rabbit,pinning it to the ground. She nipped it’s neck,and it was over. Thanking StarClan for the kill,she went over to her mentor. “I did it! My first catch!”

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Grousefrost watched with critical eyes as Mistypaw approached the rabbit. At one point, he almost thought she was spotted, but to his surprise and probably sheer luck on her part, it went back to grazing.

Turned out to be it’s mistake. Mistypaw’s lessons were already paying off to help her speed as she took it down swiftly. He lifted his head proudly. She was going to make for quite an efficient warrior as he nodded towards her.
“A good catch. Next time, mind the wind direction. You always want it blowing from the prey towards you. As it was, you were very efficient. Well done.” Though spoken with a straight face, the words alone were more praise than most cats got from him in moons as he gestured towards camp.

“Your paws are probably tired. We’ll head back to camp so you can rest. I can’t let you overwork yourself on your first lesson.” He ordered as he lead the way back to camp.

Though her mentor never smiled,Mistypaw knew she had done good. From what she had heard, "efficient" was his idea of a compliment. Oh geez, she got the most boring mentor possible. But she wasn't upset. In fact, she was glad. Because maybe while he was training her, she could teach Grousefrost to have some fun! Yes,that was what she would do. No matter what it took. She realized that her mentor had walked off, and raced to catch up. "Hey,wait up!" She called.