Morning Mist [Closed]

"Come on, Mistpaw! Lets get this started!" Foxfire bounced on his toes as he waited for his apprentice to join him at the entrance of the camp, whiskers twitching in excitement. He...Hadn't realized how much he had missed having an apprentice until he had actually put some thought into the idea when he was trying to figure out where to start with the training. It wasn't like anything else - getting to go out into the forest and help his Clanmates learn how to hunt and find their place within the Clan. It was...Exciting! Very exciting! He was honored that Wolfcall had given him a new one. While Wolfcall had turned out all right, he wasn't sure if his old apprentice was holding what happened with Deerfrost again him - he...Still felt like he had failed him on some level. That he should have done better to put in the lessons that would have caused Deerfrost to think twice about that bird-feathered scheme. Or...Maybe Wolfcall was just giving him a nice break between training apprentices. Maybe it was better to focus on the good, not the negative. But he was getting sidetracked. He shook his head, turning to glance at the forest that stretched behind him. This would actually be his first apprentice since he had gotten over his fear of heights - not to say it still didn't exist but he was at least...Much better about actually getting in the branches now. So that would be fun.

Mistpaw padded slowly out of the apprentice’s den, yawning. She hasn’t had much sleep, considering the fact that she was too nervous and shifted around most of the night. She stopped outside, staying a good two mouse tails away from her mentor and shifted her paws nervously. “What are we doing today?” She whispered shyly. Were they going to be hunting? Fighting? Learning how to kill predators? Mistpaw shivered slightly as she thought about the scary raccoons and foxes the elders were telling in the den.

Foxfire's energy faded slightly as he took notice of how nervous Mistpaw was, realizing that perhaps it was better to take this a bit...Slowly. While he was eager to do training and it felt nice to have such...Energy again, he didn't want to overwhelm Mistpaw. He had been all for becoming an apprentice - up to when he fell out of a tree that was - but he did have to acknowledged that it wouldn't be that simple for Mistpaw. "We'll be learning how to hunt today," he explained, jerking his head for her to follow him as he moved to slip out of the camp. "Also learning how to climb trees - but only if you want to," he added quickly.

"We...Might be SkyClan but trust me when I say I know that being off of the ground can be a little terrifying," he added with a twitch of his tail-nub, feeling a shiver down his spine as he recalled the terror from when he had broken his leg. He still didn't trust any smaller branches, always looking for larger ones that gave him more room to balance on. "Luckily I know quite a bit about hunting on the ground so we can just focus on that today if that is alright with you."

“I—I think that would be fine.” Mistpaw muttered. “Where are we going?” Her cream and gray tabby fur had risen slightly, and she smoothed it down forcibly, not wanting to show her nervousness. “I do want to learn a bit about...climbing trees. It looks...uh, cool.” Her pelt grew hot with embarrassment. Cool, Mistpaw? Is that what you say to your mentor on the first day of training? Mistpaw scolded herself. She had to be nice to her mentor. Right now, it seemed to her as if she was acting like her mentor was a predator.

"Oh, we are heading over near the Moonlit Creek," he explained as he glanced over his shoulder, having enough faith in having walked this path numerous time to not blindly walk into a fox hole or anything. "Prey tends to be plentiful over there so it will be an perfect place to start! And of course, we'll go over climbing trees then. There is something awe-inspiring about seeing somebody jump from branch to branch with a worry..." he paused, ears twitching for a heartbeat. "I was actually afraid of trees for a while," he said, before he caught himself and sheepishly winced. "Heights! Sorry, I was afraid of heights. Trees themselves were fine, I just...Didn't like heights so I never hunted in them." There was a long pause. "...I actually never taught your father how to hunt in trees," he murmured as it dawned on him, coming to a complete stop.

"...Well, I guess this might be one thing you'll have over him! Maybe you can teach him where I failed, eh?" he added with a soft smile, trying to lighten the mood as he quickly picked back up the pace.

Mistpaw followed her mentor, stepping carefully. As her mentor talked about being afraid of heights, she tilted her head in concern. “What happened?” Foxfire proceeded to talk about how he didn’t teach Wolfcall how to hunt in trees. Mistpaw smiled as she thought about what her father would say when she learned how to hunt in the trees. “I can also just make my father...jealous, maybe?” She stifled a laugh. The deputy would never want to be jealous to a mere apprentice. “Does he...well...is he a good warrior? Will I be like him?”

Ah...Yeah. He suppose he should have seen that coming, her asking why he was afraid of heights. She already seemed so nervous, he knew his story wouldn't help but...Well, he didn't want to avoid the question.

"I...Well, I got knocked out of a tree," he explained, giving his rump a little shake to show off his lack of tail. "Because I don't have a tail, I can't really...Balance all that well. At least not on smaller branches. I hadn't really been taught how to properly climb trees, tried to protect Spottedstar - Spottedleap back then - from a bird and it hit me. I wasn't able to recover my balance so...I fell and broke my leg. After that, I was scared for so long but I slowly started to face my fears and now I'm back into hunting in trees - although I am very careful on what branches I jump on." He grew silent for a few heartbeats before Mistpaw brought up making Wolfcall jealous. A laugh escaped him at that, coming to a stop as they had about reached the creek as he turned to look at her. "Making him jealous is also valid! I mean, I think he does just fine on the ground - I did just fine hunting on the ground. Hunting in trees might be our...Thing, I guess, but it doesn't mean that there is any shame in sticking to the ground if it suits you."

He paused as she asked if she would be just a good of warrior as her father. "Of course," he said with a smile. "Wolfcall is a great warrior - a better deputy than I ever was. I'm proud to see that he took my spot after I stepped down. But also...Don't try to be like him. Make your own standards, stick with those. It...It can be harmful if you try to live up what you think everybody wants you to be," he added, his voice taking on a sad tone. "Its why I stepped down from being deputy - I felt like I was failing everybody and I was afraid what would happen if I didn't get out from that burden. But as a warrior, I feel like I can just be...Me and that is alright. Besides, this Clan only needs one Wolfcall. We just need you to be yourself, and I think that will be enough."

Mistpaw watched her mentor sympathetically. She felt like she had to do something. If she made Foxfire embarrassed, she would want to make herself embarrassed. Glancing around casually, she spotted a rather thick branch, and purposely stepped off onto the side. “Well...I guess so...Wolfcall is—uff!” Mistpaw tripped over the branch, landing on her forepaws. Instantly, she leapt up, brushing off the dirt on her fur. “I’m okay! Let’s continue!” She declared rather louder than usual. Mistpaw leaped back to her mentor, hoping he didn’t see that she did that on purpose.

Foxfire turned to glance around, a bit eager to...Perhaps switch the subject and actually focus on hunting when suddenly Mistpaw started to speak only to be cut off. He jolted, fur puffing up as he turned to see her jumping to her feet, having apparently tripped over a loose branch. A sigh of relief that she was alright escaped him, a soft smile flickering on his face as he scuffed a paw at the ground. "I do suppose that is the trouble of staying on the ground. So many things in the undergrowth to trip over. Less likely to trip over a root when you are in the branches," he acknowledged with a soft laugh. "I think we will be just fine right here - we are pretty close to the creek. So...Hunting. When it comes to hunting on the ground, you want to start with the crouch," he explained, dropping into the hunting crouch.

He was lucky in that he didn't have to worry about the placement of his tail - it couldn't brush against the ground or be noticeable when it didn't exist in the first place. "You want to try to keep your weight even and be careful where you step, try to avoid making any noises and get downwind of your prey if you can so they won't be able to detect your scent," he added as he stalked along. "Luckily, we are pretty great a jumping so we don't have to get as close as I bet a ThunderClan cat would," he acknowledged as he stood to his full height. "Hunting in trees is a bit trickier because you have to find the branches that won't shake from you landing or jumping from them to get close enough, but you also don't need to deal with loose branches or leaves giving you away so its a win-lose situation on both fronts. But the best way to learn is to practice - why don't you give hunting a shot? Then we can move onto climbing trees once you think you got the hang of it."

OOC: As a note, this area gives a +2 to your hunting roll. So if you went for a rodent, instead of needing a 1-5 to catch it, a 1-7 will do meaning that you have a higher chance! However, ten still rolls a predator so it caps off at 1-9.

Mistpaw kept her tail off the ground and followed her mentor in a hunting crouch. She sniffed the air curiously, smelling mouse. Her eyes lit up, and she grinned at Foxfire. “Mouse.” She whispered, before following the scent of prey with her nose. Slowly and carefully, she stalked the mouse, before leaping up and trapping it beneath her paws. Mistpaw struggled as it wriggled around, before finally latching onto it’s neck, killing it with a quick bite. “Did I do good?” she asked, placing the mouse in front of Foxfire.

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 2

Foxfire sat back as Mistpaw dropped into a hunting crouch, watching with bright eyes as she located and stalked toward a mouse. He waited with held breath as she drew closer before she made a leap...And turned to face him with a mouse hanging in her jaws. His face lit up as he jumped to his paws, giving her a happy nod as she padded over and dropped it at his paws. "You did great, Mistpaw! Your father was a natural at hunting - I see you got that from him," he praised with a purr. He glanced around, noticing a root that been exposed. "We can store the mouse in there for now," he said as he padded over to it, giving it a sniff to make sure there wasn't being used as a den for any small animals. "We can move onto climbing trees if you want, or you can try to catch something else. I'm willing to move at whatever pace you want."

Mistpaw thought about it, before facing a tall tree. “I think that...climbing trees might be better. I can still hunt after. Besides, wasn’t my plan to make my father jealous related to climbing trees?” Her hazel eyes flashed excitedly as she looked at the first prey she caught. Maybe there was some hope to be a warrior after all. Mistpaw unsheathed her claws, looking at the pointed edges, then at the tall tree. “I do wonder how we can climb up so tall with only our claws to help.”

Foxfire nodded his head as Mistpaw agreed to move on, turning his attention onto the nearest tree as she spoke up. "Right. When climbing a tree, its important to use all of your claws, not just your front  ones," he meowed as he made a jump at the tree, hooking his claws into the bark. "Our back legs are our strongest limb, you will need to rely on their strength to support you. Its important to pay attention and look for study parts of the trunk - I would say try to avoid any patches of green. You could think that they would be for better support but if your claws only sink into that and it gives away, that's bad news." With a soft grunt, he scrambled up the length of the tree a couple tail-lengths.

He sighed softly as he took in a deep breath and glanced down at Mistpaw. Looking down was his least favorite part of climbing trees, he tried to avoid doing it the higher he was as it made him feel lightheaded once he saw how high he was from the ground. "There are two ways to get down - either trying to carefully climb down the trunk or you can try to find some low-hanging branches to jump to the ground from. One is quicker, one is safer - but we tend to be very good at landing on our paws." With that, he retracted his claws and kicked off from the tree, landing neatly on all fours as he glanced around for a tree with some low-hanging branches. Finding one that would be a suitable climbing tree for Mistpaw, he motioned for her to follow him as he padded over. "Here! Lets try climbing this one - try to make it to the lowest branch."

Mistpaw nodded, slightly nervous. Unsheathing her claws, she leaped up onto the tree, hooking her claws into the bark steadily. Taking a deep breath, Mistpaw scrambled up the tree, feeling scraps of bark falling off beneath her paws. When she reached the tallest branch, Mistpaw leaped onto it carefully, wobbling slightly. “I did it!” She yowled, gazing at Foxfire from above. “This is so cool!” Deciding to try heading back down, Mistpaw chose a sturdy, lower branch, and leapt down, claws digging in to keep her steady. Again and again she did that, until she suddenly slipped on the second-to-last branch. Gasping, Mistpaw reacted quickly and grabbed hold of the branch with her claws dug deep. “Ahh!” She screeched, clinging on for dear life as she swung about. The ground was so far away...