Why We Can't Have Nice Things [c]

An apprentice. A pathetic apprentice. Why did she have to get stuck with the useless thing? Theron knows she hates having to deal with these kits! And yes, Karuna is making Tawny use the names of former Asylum cats as curses now. What made Dayspring think she could deal with this brat? There was a certain thing about her that just made Tawnyflare so irritated, too. This was going to be a long 6 moons of training, that was for sure. Eris help her.

When she got to a good, secluded area, Tawnyflare sat down, her emerald eyes narrowed to slits. "Alright, you've lived on your own for a decent amount of time. So you shouldn't be totally worthless. Show me what you can do, and for the love of Eris, try not to be a failure. I can only take so much disappointment, and getting burdened with you is a big enough one as it is."

Orange tail flicking, she sort of leaned back, letting herself enjoy the weather. It was clear that she could care less about being here at that moment, but she would do her job. If only just barely. There was only so much effort she could put into this pathetic excuse of an apprentice.

Eleos (or Swiftpaw, rather, the name was something she'd need to get used to), followed Tawnyflare out into the moors, eager to finally be out of camp. Her new mentor didn't seem particularly thrilled at her presence, far from it, in fact. Perhaps she just didn't like rogue-born, or wasn't a fan of teaching apprentices in general.

Yeah, it was definitely the latter. Swiftpaw lifted an eyebrow at her choice of swears. They weren't the ones any clan cat she knew would use, and... Well, she hadn't been raised by the clan, so that made sense. Still, something about the older she-cat put Swiftpaw on edge. The swearing, her unwarranted vitriol, or both, Swiftpaw wasn't quite sure which.

"Understood." She responded tersely, tone quite different than what most Windclanners had heard out of her before. Swiftpaw lashed her tail once before turning, pale blue gaze sweeping the grasses of the moorland. A flicker of brown caught her attention, and the apprentice stalked towards the hare, careful to stay downwind and out of the creature's sight. Once close enough, Swiftpaw sprang forward as the wind shifted slightly. She had gotten herself close enough for the hare to not have the chance to run, and her fangs caught the hare's throat before it could move. She avoided a hard kick to the side, but that was the last move the hare ever made.

Swiftpaw kicked dirt over the hare, though it went against the instincts she'd learned while living on her own. There was no need to fear her kill being stolen if she left it unattended while she searched for more, and it would keep until it was brought back to camp.

"Was that up to your standards?" She probably shouldn't poke the bear, but Tawnyflare's hostility had been unnecessary. But if she wanted a reason, well, Swiftpaw could be rude too.

Swiftpaw attempted to catch a hare for -3sp. Catch was successful!
77 / 80sp

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 2

Tawnyflare felt her pelt bristling as the mange-pelt spoke to her. Instinctively, she found herself raising a paw, before forcing herself to lower it. Cats did not get punished with violence in the Clans. She had to force herself to remember that. "No, that was far from being up to my standards. For one, where I am from, a tone like that will get you claws scored across the face, so I suggest you be more mindful speaking to me. And in any sense, here, you need to remember that I am your mentor. And I am still taking time out of my day to train you, albeit unwillingly."

Flicking her tail, she narrowed her eyes at Swiftpaw, signaling to be seated. "As for your hunting technique, I assume you are unused to the moors. I applaud you for keeping down wind, nice to know you do have intelligence, but remember that this is WindClan. Your stalking technique will not always serve you well. At any time your prey could lift it's head and spot you. You need to be swift and agile, light on your paws, so you can get to your prey before it has the chance to know what is happening. Allow me to demonstrate."

Spotting a rabbit nibbling on some marigold (Softbreeze and Smallbean are going to have fits about that), she circled around to get downwind, before making her way towards it, her paws barely skimming the ground she darted forward. As she grew nearer, she launched off of the ground, landing on top of the rabbit and dispatching it quickly, so it did not have time to kick like her apprentice's hare had done.

Turning back to Swiftpaw, she gave a curt nod. "Alright, then. Again."

Tawnyflare attempted to catch a rabbit. Catch was successful! -3 SP

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 7

Swiftpaw bristled instinctively as Tawnyflare raised a paw, almost as if she'd thought about striking her, before setting it back on the ground. The apprentice regarded her mentor warily, surprised that she'd shown restraint at all. The dappled she-cat didn't seem like the sort to do so, and Eleos was no stranger to getting into scraps. Of course, that didn't seem to be how the clan did things, and they called her Swiftpaw now, not Eleos. She wasn't a rogue anymore, though this outing with Tawnyflare was reminding her of different times. And while the clan didn't do things the way Tawnyflare seemed to want to do things, the clan wasn't here now.

In short, Swiftpaw's posture didn't relax on the slightest. She'd have to watch her back around Tawnyflare, mentor or not.

"It's more exposed than I'd care for." She admitted, and her fur stood out in stark contrast to the springtime, newleaf grasses. "I'll keep that in mind." Swiftpaw added, though she wasn't sure if she was responding to Tawnyflare's critique of her hunting, or her earlier comments about rogues and her unwillingness to be a mentor. Both was just as likely as one or the other.

Swiftpaw obediently watched Tawnyflare catch a rabbit of her own, and at her mentor's brisk instruction turned to search for her own prey once more. Another rabbit was easy to spot, and Swiftpaw carefully moved towards it, once more keeping downwind and behind it. She darted forward, catching the rabbit swiftly before it could try and run. She turned back towards Tawnyflare, rabbit dangling from her jaws.

Swiftpaw attempted to catch a rabbit for -3 sp. Catch was successful.
74 /80 sp

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

---

'Hunting Dice' : 4

Tawnyflare gave a huff as she watched her apprentice swiftly dispatch a rabbit. And this time the apprentice was wise enough to keep her mouth shut. It appeared Tawnyflare had done a decent job in getting the message across. Good.

"I suppose your hunting will be acceptable for now. However, take care to be less stiff in your posture. There will be times when you will need to give chase to your prey. And it will do you no good if you are not able to turn as quick as a hare. WindClan prides itself in it's agility, a skill every cat will need to survive out on the open moors. Of course, no cat would blame you if you were not up to the task. It would simply be one less mouth to feed."

She narrowed her eyes at the apprentice. "If you have any hope of thriving in this Clan, you will need to find your best self possible. Far from the whiny little brat I see in front of me. When you think you can do that, then come speak to me. I trust you can find your way back to camp. Bring the prey to the fresh kill pile. I have other duties to do."

Eleos listened to Tawnyflare's words without comment. Her words had started off perfectly reasonable... And then her supposed mentor started in about her winding up as just another mouth to feed. Tawnyflare evidently didn't think highly of Eleos, and the former rogue suppressed a low growl of annoyance.

Tawnyflare continued to rant, and it took effort for Swiftpaw to keep her hackles smooth. The only one whining here is you, she wanted to say, but kept her mouth shut. Whatever Tawnyflare's problem was, it was her problem and hers alone. If she was going to just leave Swiftpaw to bring the prey back to camp, that was fine. She'd do it without complaint. Swiftpaw was, after all, an apprentice of Windclan, now, and she too had better things to do than attempt to talk sense into this she-cat. She was fairly certain that Tawnyflare had little intention off teaching her the ways of the clan, but that was fine too. Swiftpaw had always learned best by observing others, and she could observe her other clanmates well-enough on her own if that meant she didn't have to hear Tawnyflare's ranting. Surely it wasn't healthy to be this willfully miserable, but that wasn't Swiftpaw's problem.

Shooting Tawnyflare an icy glare, Swiftpaw turned to pick up her hare and the first rabbit. Her neck would be hurting from the strain of carrying all of this back to camp, but she'd live. She'd dealt with worse. And unlike Tawnyflare, she wouldn't whine like a scalded dog about it. She would realize Swiftpaw wasn't her enemy eventually.