Hunting Patrol (sharptooth)

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Falcontail padded out of the camp and made his way towards the Great Sycamore. Although he’d be careful to avoid going too far past the tree to make sure that he and his apprentice didn’t go anywhere near snake rocks. Apprentice… The word still sounded strange even in the confines of his mind. He’d been shocked to say the least when Glowstar had decided to make him the young she-cat’s mentor. His burning indifference would likely make the training rather troublesome for her and that was something that he didn’t want to be the cause of. Somehow he got the feeling this was an attempt by his sister to get him to come back out of his shell but, not unlike a turtle, he was perfectly happy hiding inside of it. Wait. Did he really just compare himself to a turtle? Falcontail sighed at the strange array of thoughts plaguing his mind and instead turned his attention to his apprentice. “Dovepaw,” his voice was monotone as usual. “Tell me, what do you smell?” He hadn’t done much hunting training with the apprentice yet so this was a good chance to do so.

[sharptooth]

Dovepaw, Thunderclan Aprrentice

Dovepaw walked calmly after her mentor, her tail held high. Her mentor took off toward the Owl tree and Dovepaw followed without question. She knew her mentor was a witty warrior and very independent. She was prepared for anything. When he stopped at the Owl tree Dovepaw stood beside him and watched for any movement around them. Her ears perked up to hear small paw steps and her mouth parted to take in the scents.

“Dovepaw,tell me, what do you smell?”

Dovepaw heard her mentors words and turned to him. "I smell a squirrel and stale bird scent." She meowed silently in case the squirrel was near. Her paws silently took her toward a fern and she looked to see the squirrel an acorn between it's fore-paws. Silent like her brother and mentor had taught her she crept forward until she was almost a tail-length from the squirrel. Her ears dropped and Dovepaw leaped down and unsheathed her claws mid air. She landed gracefully on the squirrel pinning it. Then she killed the small creature with a swift bite to the neck. She picked it up and padded back to her mentor. She laid the squirrel down in front of her mentor and smiled hoping she did well.

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((Sorry about the late reply! I wasn't allowed online until finals finished and even now things are hectic so I don't know how often I'll be able to get online but will try to be on whenever I can manage.))

Falcontail watched proudly as his apprentice noted the exact scents he’d wanted her to and went after the squirrel. Although it barely showed unless a cat was to look specifically at his eyes for signs of his emotions. Keeping distant from others was a precaution that he’d learned to take and one that he would never look nor move past no matter what, it was his protection from emotion pain and he would not let anyone break down his walls… no matter what. A simple nod of approval was his response to her bright smile as she lay the squirrel down in front of him. “You did well but you need to work on your crouch, you seem to favor your left side as your weight is mostly supported by your right. Being off balance like that can easily ruin your chances of catching your prey,” he explained to the young she-cat.

[sharptooth]

Dovepaw, Thunderclan Aprrentice

Dovepaw smiled at the small praise although it disappeared shortly. She nodded at her mentors words she needed improvement. She wished she could at least get praise like her brother but as far as she knew that was the best she was going to get. She tried her crouch again pulling her legs under her again. She tried to balance out again trying to make herself even like her mentor had instructed. She Looked up at her mentor to see what he would say or if he would show her how to do it correctly.

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((Sorry I took so long, I was really busy over the weekend and couldn't find time to get online.))

Falcontail watched silently as his apprentice crouched again and fixed her balance, though not completely. She was still slightly leaning to one side but it was much better than before. He nodded in approval. “Better,” he murmured. Sometimes he wondered why his sister had ever assigned him an apprentice. He was terrible with young cats. He tried to get along with his younger brother and that barely worked out: his relationship with Scarpaw was a disaster so now he just tried to immerse himself in his training. But that caused him to interact with Dovepaw. Although he blamed it on a lack of interest in training an apprentice, deep down he knew the truth about why he was a terrible mentor. It was because he wouldn’t let himself get close to his apprentice, praise would make her happy and making her happy would in turn likely cheer him up and that would probably lead to friendship. He knew how devastated he’d been when he lost his mentor; Duskear’s death hadn’t been easy for the tom. It was a vicious cycle though, perhaps praise would help her improve and if she was better she would be less likely to get hurt if something happened.

The Thunderclan warrior snapped out of his thoughts after a brief moment and back to reality. Now was not the time to be thinking about this, maybe later he could ponder it but not now. “That’s much better Dovepaw. You’re still a bit off center but with the amount of hunting training we’ve done it’s better than I’d have expected for a second attempt.”

[sharptooth]

Dovepaw, Thunderclan Apprentice

Dovepaw nodded at her mentor although the bit of praise at the end was a bit unexpected. Dovepaw smiled, it was very kind of her mentor for the praise. "Let me see if I can fix it further. Then we can get the actual hunting." Dovepaw said as she once again dropped into her crouch. Although this time she paid close attention where her weight was placed. As far as she could tell she was balanced although she couldn't really tell. Waiting for her mentor was boring but she would rather make sure she had it then lose prey which should go to her clan.