Fresh Paws [Lightningpaw]

((OOC: If you haven't, please read up on the Hunting System (Tutorial) and Battle System (Tutorial), if you have questions don't hesitate to ask!))

The last of the snow seemed to have gone for good, and the sun's warmth brought a cheery smile to Swandive's expression as she went and found Lightningpaw in the apprentice's den. "Hey," She mewed, "I'm going to show you a bit of the territory today, and then we'll start to work on hunting, alright?" She was a bit nervous, truth be told. This was her first apprentice, and she had never really taught anyone before. Swandive knew that she wanted to be more like Poppyshine than Drizzlepool, though, she would do everything she could to help her apprentice learn and grow.

The pale warrior led the way from camp. The river was the most visible landmark, anchoring the clan's territory, but the broken pools that surrounded camp were also an important part of the territory. "You might have learned the basics of swimming here as a kit - these are the broken pools. And you can see the river there-" Her tail pointed toward the rushing water, high from the ice and snowmelt. "-And there's a twoleg farm west of here as well... Not a place you should ever go by yourself, understand? You'll know it because it reeks... And that red filth they call a- I don't remember. But it's surrounded by a fence, and they have strange animals within. Nothing a cat will ever be able to hunt." She spoke, turning to lead the way toward a stand of tall trees with bark of pale gray, branches just beginning to show warm green hues as newleaf brought leaves to them.

"And this is the beech copse. It's a good spot for hunting land prey, though most of our hunting is still done around the river. In leafbare it will freeze over, and right now because of all the melted snow and ice the water is high. So I'm going to teach you to hunt land prey first, I think." Swandive mewed. "Look around, use your nose. The prey here will smell a bit different than what winds up on the pile back at camp, but you can still recognize a few scents, I think."

"can't we do fighting practice instead?" she mewed trying to catch up with swandive "i bet you can't land one hit on me!" she mewed trying to do something fun while they were out training.

Lightningpaw's question caught the warrior by surprise. Battle training...? A small smile crossed her expression, though. "Sparring isn't a bad idea..." She had been more focused on getting her into hunting shape... But she could remember how many hunting patrols tended to be interrupted. Perhaps she'd taken the wrong approach, and learning the basics of sparring was the better choice.

"Alright, Lightningpaw. Tuck your chin and flatten your ears. Keep your tail closer to your body. Protecting your vitals, like your neck and stomach is important. So is giving your opponent less to grab onto. Grabbing an ear or tail is a good way to control your opponent for a short while." She mewed, tucking her own chin and following her own instructions so the apprentice would be able to follow along instead of simply listen.

"Now, what do you think should be your first move? Don't tell me, but act. Keep your claws sheathed, by the way. At least while we're sparring."

"i'm not saying it but i know a few moves" she smirked when she finished as she sheathed her claws out. and dove towards swandive but in the last minute her paws went to the side of her body causing her to dodge in a weird way. as she skidded, she looked behind her as swandive still stared where she was minutes ago but when she looked in front of her a tree stood as she got startled when she noticed.but she didn't stop in time and crashed into the tree as she slid down the trunk of the tree. "oww! swandive help me"

The apprentice smirked at her, and Swandive resisted the urge to roll her eyes. An ego, perhaps, but that would change with experience. "Show me, then." The warrior shrugged, waiting. Lightningpaw darted forward, only to swerve around her. Swandive too, had sidestepped, the apprentice's paw missing. Blue eyes turned to follow, and... Swandive stared at her apprentice. She had taken her eyes off of where she was going, and skidded into a tree. Swandive suppressed a wince.

"Tough luck." Swandive mewed, "But that's an important lesson too - stay aware of your surroundings." She added.

lightningpaw stood up before staring at her in rage before looking at the tree she fell into. red ants went up it when she looked at her legs that were aching. the same red ants were no her legs but she could just barely see them. then her pain got worse when one stopped moving "ow what is this thing an ant?" she hissed, staring at the ants on her leg before trying to scrape them off. "this thing is so painful it hurts like a snake but I haven't had a snake bite me" she stared at swandive.

Swandive gaze narrowed slightly at the look on her apprentice's face before Lightningpaw's attention was turned. "Ants..." Swandive grimaced, "There's a small puddle over here, come wash your paws in it, Lightningpaw. Then we'll try again." She motioned to a small puddle from a slight dip in the earth, too shallow to get much more than her paws wet, but it should be enough to get the creepy-crawlies out of her fur, Swandive thought. The water might help ease the sting from their bites too, though Swandive could only guess.