the other senses [c]

Primroselight couldn't help but be excited at the thought of training another apprentice. "Psst, Hailpaw. Ready for your first day of training?" She woke the young tom with a quiet whisper, before leaving the apprentices' den to wait outside. It had rained a little overnight, leaving the forest damp, the mud beginning to grow softer again, before it froze solid as the nights grew longer. "All ready to go?"

Hunting was always a good place to start: they could tour the territory at the same time, or at least Hailpaw could get to know some areas. They could do a full tour another day. "I think here's a good place to stop," She said when they reached a small clearing, one that she came to often for good hunting, "Try and copy my position. If you can't see it well enough to do that, just let me know and we'll find a solution." As she spoke, she dropped into her much-repeated hunter's crouch. "Make sure to keep your tail close to the ground." The tail thing had certainly been a challenge for her once, but with practice came improvement. Primroselight was also being careful with what she said to the young apprentice, and was trying to train him exactly like she would her previous apprentices. Even though she didn't know Hailpaw that well yet, she could tell he wasn't the kind of cat to willingly ask for help. When she was younger, the warrior had definitely been very defensive about being treated differently, but had learnt that cats wanted to help her, not out of pity, but because she had certainly needed the help.

Hailpaw awoke sleepily to the she-cat's word, blinking blearily as he tried to clear the leftover sleep from his eyes. As a kit, he had made a habit of sleeping in late, so having to wake up early was a shock to his circadian rhythm. Nothing he couldn't get used to though, especially since he would finally be let out of camp. He gave a weary nod to the Primroselight's words before getting up and stretching his limbs with a yawn.

After a few moments to groom his fur down (and stick a feather in his tail because he couldn't stand to leave the den undecorated) he trotted out to meet his mentor. "I'm ready."

The forest was as beautiful as he expected. Small details were lost on him, but the colors were amazing. Bright reds and oranges from the leaves contrasting against the brown, greens, and grays of the forest floor. Actually walking in it was... not so fun. The raised roots of some trees melted way too much in the mud, basically invisible to him until he tripped over them. He walked a bit slower to compensate, keeping his paws low to feel his surroundings before he made a step. This was never an issue back at camp where the ground was beaten by generations of paws.

Hailpaw blinked as they came to a stop... in a clearing? He thought Skyclan cats climbed... At least there were less of those dreaded roots here.

His ears flattened a bit as Primroselight demonstrated her crouch. "I can see." His words were a bit more sharp than he meant them to be. She was just being accommodating, he knew that, but it pricked under his pelt to have his nearsightedness acknowledged. His chat with Dawnfeather let him see his disability as something he could mock cats with when he succeeded, but it still felt bad when he wasn't in his element.

His limbs bent as he lowered himself into a hunter's crouch, having to squint and adjust himself accordingly to get smaller details correct. His feathery tail kept low to the ground, but not low enough to drag. It felt awkward, but if it allowed him to catch prey then it was worth it. "Alright, I think got it down."

Primroselight couldn't help but be taken aback by how sharp the young tom was, but was also reminded of herself in her apprenticeship. Maybe the good-nature she-cat had never been quite that harsh, but she had certainly thought things like that on more than one occasion. Hopefully as Hailpaw matured he would soon realise the asking for help wasn't the end of the world, however long it might take.

"Ok, so now take a few steps forward, just so I can check you've got everything right." When she'd first thought of this solution, she had been almost embarrassed to ask her apprentices, knowing that, if they had a different mentor, their training would be ever so slightly different. On the other paw, if Primroselight couldn't hear the gentle tap of a pawstep, then chances are the prey couldn't either. "Once you've got the crouch, you need to put it into practice, so watch carefully." The warrior padded a few fox-lengths away from where they stood, simultaneously scenting the air for any signs of prey. As she smelt a bird, its song also reached her ears. She crept towards it, putting more thought into her technique than normal, as to give her apprentice the perfect base to work off of.

The robin perched on a boulder, unaware for now of the cat stalking it. Once near enough, Primroselight leapt for it, propelled by her strong hind legs. Much to her disappointment, the little bird flew away at the last moment, leaving the warrior empty-pawed. Ah well, at least Hailpaw could learn that hunting didn't always go as planned. "Another important thing, is that even the most skilful warriors miss a catch sometimes. So don't get disheartened when that happens. There's prey everywhere around here, so have a go for yourself."

Primroselight attempted to catch a bird. Catch was unsuccessful!
127/130

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

Hailpaw nodded at her instructions, taking a few strides forward. His steps were light and deliberate, avoiding loud obstacles now that he was low to the ground and could see them. It was definitely a lot simpler walking through the forest like this, capable of seeing the roots that wanted to trip him, but he had too much pride to walk with his nose to the ground. He would just have to find impediments some other way.

He watched attentively as Primerose light set off to demonstrate her hunting, creeping forward on silent paws to a reddish-brown smudge of a bolder. A robin, he could only assume, he would ask to get a closer look when his mentor caught it... or didn't. The she-cat pounced as perfectly as he thought a cat could be, yet the brown smudge quickly fluttered away back into the treetops. That didn't give him much confidence in her teaching, but she was right. Even experienced cats miss sometimes...

At her encouragement, Hailpaw lifted his nose to scent for something easier to catch. It didn't take long until a familiar scent caught his nose. Starling! His tail flicked with excitement before he forced it still once more. Getting all giddy like a kit was going to help no one.

He kept low, watching the little black bird... do something with the ground. Probably eating seeds. He crept closer, so very careful where he put his paws and how still his paws were. He didn't want to mess this up. Once he felt he was close enough, he pounced, claws outstretched. Feathers caught in his paws as he pinned the starling to the ground. All it could manage was a startled peep before a quick bite forced its silence. He did it!

His mood instantly lifted as he picked up the small bird in his jaws, looking over to Primroselight with wide eyes. "I caught it!" He declared, though his words were muffled and distorted by the bundle of feathers in his mouth. He was so going to stuff his nest with its feathers tonight. It was only right.

Hailpaw attempted to catch a bird. He was successful! -3SP
27/30

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 4

"Well done Hailpaw!" Primroselight exclaimed from where she sat. Whilst the young tom had been stalking prey, she'd crept closer, very quietly, hoping to pick up as much as she could of what he was doing. "Good choice to pounce whilst it was still distracted, it meant it didn't notice you until the last minute. Your technique was clearly good enough if you managed to catch it, so remember what you were doing now, and apply it to every time you hunt birds." The warrior was proud to say the least, even if they hadn't done much training yet.

"However, different hunting different prey means slightly different technique. You still need the hunting crouch most of the time though. I won't bore you with all the details now, we can cover the best ways to catch different prey as each opportunity arises. For now, just practice your hunting on anything you find around here, but don't stray too far just in case. Any questions?" Hopefully Hailpaw would be an independent learner - that's what he seemed to be so far. After all, what better way to practice hunting than to just have a go?

Primroselight's praise went straight to his head, a loud purr rising from his throat. Of course he was a genius at hunting! Catching prey on his first try certainly proved it. Hailpaw grinned, puffing his chest out in pride. He couldn't wait to catch more, his ears already twitching and swiveling for the sound of birdsong.

His mentor's invitation for questions was met with a quick "Nope," Hailpaw turning on his paws to find more prey before hesitating. "Well, ok, maybe one," he confessed. It had been on his mind since they started the lesson and it was one he wasn't sure he wanted the answer to. "Are we going to do any climbing today? Or is that like... a later thing? I mean, it's probably dangerous to have new apprentices falling from trees, so I totally get if you have to wait for them to get stronger or something..." Timid laughter followed his deluge of words. It wasn't often that he truly felt nervous, the unsure trusting in his stomach that he hated so much. He wished he didn't feel it now.

Climbing wasn't just dangerous because he was a new apprentice, but also because he wouldn't be able to see where he was going. Trees looked like smudges of green or orange atop fuzzy sticks of brown. Things were often farther than his vision portrayed them to be. If he was lucky enough to tell one branch from another, there was no telling if he could properly calculate the distance to leap to it. But maybe they had found a way to mend those issues. There had to have been nearsighted and blind cats who had pioneered some way to climb, right?

Primroselight hesitated slightly before answering the eager apprentice's question, choosing her words very carefully. "Ah, about that. Me and trees don't exactly have the best of pasts, so I tend to stay away from them. Once a very smart younger me decided it would be a good idea to try and learn to climb by myself, and ended up in the medicine den with a dislocated shoulder. Not very Skyclan of me, I know, but I do perfectly well with all four paws on the ground." However, noticing Hailpaw's disappointment, she soon added, "I'm sure I can find another warrior who would happily teach you, but we probably wouldn't do it today."

"But just because I don't climb, doesn't mean you won't be able to! Muddythorn's alright at it, if not a bit out of practice."

No, that wasn't very Skyclan of her at all.

He kept his thoughts to himself, he didn't want to risk saying something he didn't mean. Not truly anyway... But the reassurance that he might be able to climb gave him the encouragement he needed to stay upbeat. If Muddythorn could climb, then he probably could as well... one he at least mastered the ground. Jumping from branch to branch couldn't be too different from running on the forest floor.

"Alright, that sounds good." He gave a small, thoughtful nod. "I'll go see if I can go find something else to catch."

Hailpaw lifted his head to find the scent of a rodent. Squirrel if he remembered correctly. He kept himself low, creeping closer to find a fluffy tail climbing down from a tree with a large seed in its mouth. It was distracted finding a place to hide its cache, he could totally catch that.

One step closer, then another, pausing whenever the squirrel lifted its head to survey its surroundings. His white fur already posed a hindrance, so he had to be extra careful when closing the distance between them. When Hailpaw felt he was close enough, he leaped forward and... undershot completely. The was a full mouse-length from where his paws landed and his prey, which gave a horrified squeak and made for the tree. Determined not to lose it, he ran in pursuit. Paws flailed forward, failing to trip or catch the fleeing squirrel, but they did catch something. A root. He tumbled forward with an "Oof!" as the rodent climbed back to safety.

Hailpaw gave himself a quiet reminder that things were farther away than his eyes portrayed them to be as he shook the dust from his fur.

Hailpaw attempted to catch a squirrel. He was unsuccessful! -3SP

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 9

Primroselight couldn't tell if Hailpaw wasn't disappointed, or if he was just better at hiding it. "Alright, I'll be hunting here to, so if you need a paw or something happens, just call." New apprentices always had the worst luck when it came to running into predators. Especially geese. Starclan, how she hated geese sometimes. She scented the air, alerted of a second squirrel that had been near Hailpaw's, feasting on the last few nuts that lay on the forest floor.

She tracked it a little further, soon forming her hunter's crouch to stalk it properly. Her paws brought her closer, each step as silent as the next. When she pounced, the squirrel stood no chance against her trained claws, and she quickly killed it with a bite. She also noted her apprentice's missed catch, and hoped that it hadn't left him too disheartened. She buried her catch where she was, straying further to search for more prey. However, it wasn't prey she was met with.

With all the swiftness of a Windclanner, a hawk dived from its hovering spot in the sky, directly towards Primroselight. She was caught completely off-guard by the searing pain in the back of her neck, causing her to cry out. The cut was small but deep, and would definitely need Muddythorn's attention later. But she didn't have time to think about stuff like that now. "Hailpaw! Hawk, be careful!" The bird was already trying to retreat, moving on to the dead squirrel it had originally came for. Not giving it the chance, the warrior leapt towards it, bowling it over. She wasn't able to pin it down yet, but hopefully she would soon.

Primroselight attempted to catch a squirrel. Catch was successful!
124/130

Hawk used Swoop on Primroselight
Primroselight used Jumping Strike

Primroselight
56/65 hp [-9]
123/130 sp [-7]

Hailpaw
15/15 hp
40/40 sp

Hawk
31/40 hp [-9]
110/125 sp [-15]

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

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'Hunting Dice' : 6

Hailpaw had been grooming a bit more dust and dirt out of his pelt when a scream of pain nearly made him jump out of his pelt. His ears perked as he twisted towards the noise. Primroselight? The she-cat called out a warning but he was already racing his way over, nearly tripping over another root in his haste. Stupid eyes.

Primroselight's peach-colored pelt soon came into view as well as a russety-brown figure. The hawk. His heart and mind started to race in unison as he tried to think of what to do. He couldn't just leave his mentor here to deal with the threat alone. His eyes flicked, noticing the bird's wings fluttering and flailing as it attempted to right itself and take back into the air. There, that's his target.

He rushed forward, claws digging into the sensitive muscles and tearing feathers. It was a waste of beautiful decorations, but keeping the hawk on the ground would give them the upper paw.

Hailpaw used Front Paw Strike for -7sp, dealing 6 damage!

Primroselight
56/65 hp
123/130 sp

Hailpaw
15/15 hp
23/30 sp [-7]

Hawk
25/40 hp [-6]
110/125 sp

Hailpaw's attack weakened the hawk's wings, letting it loose some height in its flight. This meant Primroselight was near enough to leap onto its back, utilising her powerful haunches. Her weight held the bird to the ground, giving her apprentice the chance to attack without the risk of injury. "Fight it while you can Hailpaw, this way its talons won't hurt you, but still watch out for the beak." She warned. Even though she wasn't quite as securely attached to the predator's back as she would've liked, it was enough to weaken it. She slashed at its back and wings, trying her best to stay on. The warrior was quite a lot stronger than the hawk, but could still definitely be injured by its blows, as she had learnt mere minutes ago and was reminded by the pain on her back.

Primroselight used Leap-and-Hold. Effective for 1 turn!

Primroselight
56/65 hp
108/130 sp [-15]

Hailpaw
15/15 hp
23/30 sp

Hawk -pinned-
15/40 hp [-10]
110/125 sp