Training a little badger... (CLOSED for JJ)

Shrikesong padded her way towards the apprentice's den. The she-cat remembered when she was an apprentice herself, training to become a ThunderClan warrior. Now, it was her turn to train an apprentice. It was surprising to have been chosen by Minkstream to be Badgerpaw's mentor, due to her being one of the clan's newest warriors. But he certainly saw something in her, and the newly-named warrior was going to train Badgerpaw well. "Badgerpaw, it's time to wake up," she said, shaking her apprentice's shoulder gently to wake her.

The dilute tortoiseshell reminded Shrikesong of Dacedream. Even though the brown tabby never knew Dacedream personally, she heard stories about what she looked like, her perfect personality, and how she was struck down by the Righteous Few. With numerous cats still grieving about Dacedream, perhaps it was good that Badgerpaw was assigned a mentor who didn't know Dacedream well. After all, Shrikesong was born moons after Dacedream was killed, and the stories she heard would never equal knowing Dacedream personally, which would help give Badgerpaw a chance to show off who she really was.

Badgerpaw was asleep, belly half-upturned, one paw draped across her nose, a very unladylike snore filling the space in between her breaths. When Shrikesong nudged her, the apprentice's eyes snapped open, fixing her mentor with a narrow-eyed stare that could have stopped a fox in its tracks. "What?" she hissed. But then it dawned on her. Shrikesong had been appointed her mentor... that meant, they were supposed to go out to train.

Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Badgerpaw hopped to all fours, tail high, and beat Shrikesong out of the den, turning around to finally wait for her to catch up. Once they were out of earshot of the other apprentices, she bounced in place, "Okay, I'm ready. Where do we go first? Are we hunting? Are we going to fight?"

Shrikesong was surprised by Badgerpaw's hostile response to the warrior waking her up. It made sense the more she thought about it, however, since she knew that being woken up wasn't a pleasant feeling. I guess I can't blame her for acting like that. Eventually, the apprentice got onto her paws, dashed out of the den (which also caught Shrikesong by surprise, but made sense in hindsight) The apprentice's eagerness reminded Shrikesong of a younger her, when the warrior was an apprentice and full of energy. "I think that hunting would be a good starting point," she said, waving her tail to signal her apprentice to follow her.

~~

When the two cats got far enough from ThunderClan camp for prey to hang out, she stopped. "I think here is a good place to hunt," she said. "I'll let you try catching some prey first, then I will tell you how you can make your form better. Does that sound good?" The young she-cat wanted to make sure Badgerpaw was okay with this first before she went on with this plan. Some cats might see this as her weakness, but she felt that it was her strength. To ask for advice shows that I'm not afraid of changing what I want to do, and I can a better mentor and a better warrior. Even the voice of apprentices matter, as they offer a new perspective to whatever you are thinking of.

Badgerpaw trailed Shrikesong from the ThunderClan camp, taking in every sight and scent as they went along. She'd never been this far from camp before, and the great vastness of everything was almost overwhelming. But her mentor let her explore without comment, and she took advantage until finally Shrikesong pulled her aside. They were here to hunt, she had figured that, but wasn't Shrikesong going to teach her how to do it first? It seemed not. With her instruction to try on her own, Badgerpaw nodded.

She moved a little away from Shrikesong, and where they'd been talking, creeping low to the ground so that the long fur at her belly almost touched it. Trying to carefully avoid the leaves on the ground, she found a nice spot near the roots of a tree and sat to wait. Before long, a tiny movement caught her eye, and Badger moved her eyes to look at it. A tiny brown lizard was scuttling among the leaf litter. Badgerpaw tensed, observed, and then sprang, landing with the lizard between her paws. It squirmed there, tickling her, and she snorted with laughter. "I got it!"

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

When Badgerpaw caught the lizard, Shrikesong's eyes gleamed. "Great job!" she said excitedly, smiling at her apprentice. "Now remember to bite its neck, so it doesn't escape." When the young she-cat finished the job, Shrikesong gave her accolades. "For your first time hunting, that was really good." Patience. Stealth. Waiting for the prey to come to her. Smart. The warrior did know that Badgerpaw seemed to be good at waiting for the prey to come to her before striking. "I guess I should teach you how I learned to hunt. It's similar, but it's a different way to hunt, one that doesn't rely on having the prey come to you in the end." Of course, having the prey come to you is really good, but it's not very consistent. However, the warrior might add that as another way to hunt, perhaps in times where the prey has a hard time spotting you.

"First, you have to identify the closest prey." The young she-cat saw a squirrel in the distance, eating like it normally did. Trying not to scare it, she whispered to Badgerpaw. "Then, you sneak up towards it." Avoiding the piles of leaves, as Badgerpaw also did, Shrikesong got closer and closer to the squirrel. Eventually, the brown she-cat got close enough to catch the squirrel in her paws. Biting at the squirrel's neck, the young she-cat turned to Badgerpaw. "That's how I was taught. I think that the lizard catch was a little more impressive, though."

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

With the lizard, her prize, dangling from her jaws, Badgerpaw trailed after Shrikesong, eyes wide and watching. She'd give it to her parents. It wasn't much of a meal, admittedly, but she wanted to share it with Pinefrost and Thrushnose, anyway. They'd appreciate it surely.

She watched her mentor catch a squirrel, and her eyes narrowed, suddenly feeling the urge to go after something bigger. But she couldn't do that unless she put down the lizard, and if she did that, something could steal it, and that just wouldn't do. Badgerpaw nodded at Shrikesong, drinking in every word, every correction. She'd be the best hunter ThunderClan ever saw.