A is for Adventure (Mintpaw)

[silvestern]

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[atrb=background,http://i37.tinypic.com/1tudqh.jpg] Silverwolf woke with a though in her head. She sat up, stretched, gave herself a good groom, then headed off to the freshkill pile. A bit of breakfast would do her some good to help her wake up. As she stepped out into the clearing, she thought that it would be the perfect day to start some training with Mintpaw. Once Silverwolf finished he food, she headed off to the apprentices den. "Mintpaw?" Silverwolf called as she stuck her head into the small den. She looked around, searching for Mintpap, then saw her, a white heap of fur. She didn't want to disturb Mintoaw too much, so she simply said, "Meet me at the Sandy Hollow as soon as you can please. Today we can start some training." Then she headed off. When she arrived, Silverwolf dug her paws into the soft sand, loving the warmth on her paws. Sand was always so soft and warm, she wished she could sleep in it. Although it would make her pelt pretty dirty, so that was a reason as to why she didn't want to sleep in it. She waited for Mintpaw, and thought about what to start with. Maybe let her adventure around the hollow a bit, and get to know it. Then maybe get to the basics of hunting. Then that would probably be enough for her first day. Muse; Not very good... Sorry Mint Words; 319 I don't know how, but whatever... Notes; ---

[mintpaw]

*run... run... RUN!* A voice yield in his head, awakening all his senses. He didn’t recognize the tone, but deep in his memory, he knew that he had already heard it. It was a she-cat, the only thing he was sure. Mintpaw was dashing through the forest strangely too dark, with trees way more creepy than they usually were at night. He didn’t knew why he was running like mad but what he did knew was that the feeling of fear drowned him, that his senses pushed him to sprint like the voice told him. Suddenly, the ground begun to be more humid, until it was literally mud, Mintpaw looked down, only to realise it wasn’t water but blood that was covering the ground. His head was spinning, the scent gave him nausea and his fear was paralyzing his body. *I TOLD YOU TO RUN!* the invisible cat yield back. “But..but..” was all Mintpaw could say.

"Mintpaw?" It wasn’t the same voice. No, this one was familiar. *Silverwolf?* the apprentice asked himself. The darkness was fading, the trees flew away, and the scary presence disappeared. *It was a dream. Only another nightmare.* He sigh and dared to open his eyes to the brightness of the day. "Meet me at the Sandy Hollow as soon as you can please. Today we can start some training." From the corner of his vision, he saw his mentor head off to the Sandy Hollow. Clumsily, he stood up and started to wash himself. He gladly realised that his paws were still white and not bloody red like in his dream. The tricolour cat shook his head, like he had flees, to wake him up and walked to the freshkill pile and picked up a small mouse. He wasn’t really hunger but surely the training will take most of his energy so he thought it was better to not skip the meal.

After finishing the prey, he runs toward the Sandy Hollow. His dream was still fresh in his mind; the impact of his paws to the ground reminded him of his dash in his delusion. Why was he running? What was so dangerous? And mostly, who was she? *Yup, that was a good dream, I had fun watching you trap in fear.* A sarcastic voice laughed in his mind. *Shut up.* Mint retorted. *Weeeell, it looks like someone didn’t sleep enough.* The apprentice wanted to snap a ‘What do you think? I was running like mad all night.’ But he just ignored the annoying presence. He had named it Ecoh, for Evil.Conscience.Of.Hell. And also it sounded like an echo, an irritating sound repeated. But he knew that behind the hateful comments he snapped back, he liked Ecoh. After all, he kept him strong, and he didn’t leave Mint like everybody else even if he knew how weak he was. It was reassuring in a way that he liked a part of himself, Mint thought.

Finaly he arrived at the Sandy Hollow. Mint smiled, today he is going to train. To train to become a better apprentice, a step toward his dream, a fierce warrior. He walked to the side of his mentor.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.” He apologize, and sit back with his tail around his paws.

{daah, sorry to only reply now -.-'' the first week of school didn't allow me to come long enough to reply >.<'}

[silvestern]

OOC It's alright... I just started it yesterday I think.

Silverwolf stared at the bushes for a moment before Mintpaw merged through them. She stared at the apprentice for a moment, then thought about the training once more. "Sorry to have kept you waiting." Mintpaw apologized. "Nothing to worry about." Silverwolf reassured him, then winked. "So, I was thinking we could start with hunting. Just the basics, then maybe actually try to catch something. But first, how about you explore the hollow a bit, get to know your main training place, so you're more conferrable with it, and know you're surroundings, and how much space you have." She said, then let Mintpaw go off an explore. "Just don't go any further than the edge of the sand." she called after Mintpaw.

Once Mintpaw had finished exploring the hollow, Silverwolf get to the basics of hunting. "Now then, hunting is different, depending on what animal you hunt. But before we get to that, I'd like you to try the hunter's crouch. Try to do as I do." Then she dropped into the crouch, keeping her balance, her tail still, and slowly moved forwards. "Make sure you always keep your tail still. I know it can be hard, but if you let it swish around, the prey will hear you and run off." She explained as she sneeked around, then sat up, watching Mintfur.

Once she had experted that, Silverwolf went on with what she had started before. "Now, say you're hunting a mouse. They are very small, making them very light, therefor, they will feel you before they hear or smell you. So if you're stalking a mouse, you need to be very light and swift on you're paws. Now if you're stalking something bigger, say a rabbit, it will hear you before it feels you, so you need to worry more about being quiet than light. I know it's confusing at first, but you'll get used to it. So, go back into the hunters crouch, and stalk this leaf as if you were stalking a mouse." She ordered, pushing a leaf a couple fox lengths away from Mintpaw. "I don't want you to pounce, we'll work on that later. For now, just work on stalking the leaf." Silverwolf watched and observed very closely, making sure Mintpaw had everything right, and watching to see what she could improve on.

After all of that, Silverwolf ordered her to stalk the leaf again, but this time, as if it were a rabbit. Again, she watched and observed, very closely, looking for flaws, and things Mintpaw could improve on. Silverwolf suddenly realized what it really felt like to be a mentor, and wondered if she was doing a good job. Then she decided Mintfur should work on pouncing, then they could go out and try to catch a real piece of prey, no a leaf.

Alright now," She began when Mintfur and her had gone through the crouches. "Let's see how you do with pouncing on your prey. Watch me." Silverwolf, yet again, dropped into the hunters crouch, and began to stalk the leaf. About a tail length away, she calculated her distance, then jumped into the air, keeping her balance, she landed swiftly on the leaf. "Now you try. Also," She quickly added in, "Never forget to thank StarClan for your prey. It's very important, but you don't have to thank them when stalking a leaf, only when you actually catch something to eat." Then she gave a nod, telling Mintpaw to go ahead and try to master the move she had shown her.

Silverwolf thought about going out into the forest to catch a real piece of prey. There was still so much to teach Mintpaw. Coming from the right directing so your scent wasn't swept down to the animal, chasing if you didn't get it first try, and still more. She gave a silent sigh, not loud enough for Mintpaw to hear. She never thought being a mentor would be so much work. At least they were almost done for the day. Well, kind of...

[mintpaw]

"Nothing to worry about. So, I was thinking we could start with hunting. Just the basics, then maybe actually try to catch something. But first, how about you explore the hollow a bit, get to know your main training place, so you're more conferrable with it, and know you're surroundings, and how much space you have. Just don't go any further than the edge of the sand." Silverwolfs’ voice called behind him. *Explore...* Mintpaw repeated the word in his head. He was never a fan of it, since he was a kit. It was quite strange because every small cat liked to wander around in the forest with the magic of the forest, the rebel feeling and the sensation of being free. But Mintpaw was always scared of it; maybe it was the memory of being left behind that night or the closeness to death he experienced at that moment. He would rather pay a visit to the elders and listen to their stories. It wasn’t as wild but it was fun and he learned much of their tales. Furthermore, the other thing Mint really disliked was dirt. The moist of the earth, the shattered leaves and the thorns of the bushes were always stuck in his pelt. The Sandy Hollow wasn’t that bad, it wasn’t really humid and the plants weren’t so bushy or with prickle. *You’re so boring girly-cat.* Ecoh's narcissistic voice alerted Mint and he rolled his eyes. The apprentice padded around, his senses vigilant. *Mouse. Squirrels. A jay isn’t far and a little pigeon is looking for food.* He thought through his mind. It was quit annoying, so much prey, yet, he wasn’t good or quick enough to catch them. He felt like a chasing an unreachable star. Too far, however, in front of his eyes. *Just wait for me, I’m going to catch you all.* Mint thought with a smile.

The scent of a plant of mint disturbed him. ‘I named you Mintkit because I found you in a mint bush. I believed it wasn’t coincidence.’ The voice of Fireblaze resonated in his brain. Founded. Left. Abandoned. Not Wanted. He wanted to crush the plant with his paws, to eradicate every similar plant in the whole forest but he was only left gazing at it. Suddenly, he realized a long time passed while he was lost in his mind. He padded back to his mentor. After all, the Sandy Hollow was quite easy to remember, the ground was composed of mostly soft sandy earth, and the major vegetation was grass so it explains why the training is assigned here, it was easy to move around without the constant anxiety of scaring prey away since there weren’t much around. It could be an interesting place to fight at war since there isn’t hiding place and the enemy won’t be at ease around as us with the sand and they would have lost their element of surprise.

"Now then, hunting is different, depending on what animal you hunt. But before we get to that, I'd like you to try the hunter's crouch. Try to do as I do. Make sure you always keep your tail still. I know it can be hard, but if you let it swish around, the prey will hear you and run off." After his mentor asked him, he positioned himself into the crouch. The theory was literally simple, you position you ‘fore paws not too far from your body, your body must touch the ground but the prey must not feel you presence or you weight and you must move in swift movements. But seeing Mintpaw, nothing seemed easy. It was as if he was trying to do the world’s toughest combat skill. His legs were trembling, not strong enough to support his weigh too long, his balance was quite bad and it wasn’t swift. After a while, he stood up and didn’t look at the reaction of Silverwolf. She must be disappointed. No, not disappointed since it was their first hunting session, but surely desperate. *Well, I did improve a lot since my first crouch.* He didn’t want to remember the first time he tried, it was more than disastrous, at least, nobody saw him.

"Now, say you're hunting a mouse. They are very small, making them very light, therefore, they will feel you before they hear or smell you. So if you're stalking a mouse, you need to be very light and swift on your paws. Now if you're stalking something bigger, say a rabbit, it will hear you before it feels you, so you need to worry more about being quiet than light. I know it's confusing at first, but you'll get used to it. So, go back into the hunters crouch, and stalk this leaf as if you were stalking a mouse. I don't want you to pounce; we'll work on that later. For now, just work on stalking the leaf." He knew the whole thing with the mouse and the rabbit, he managed to guess it trough the stories of the elders. He had repeated the instructions many times in his head, as if a ‘click’ will pop out and he will figure out how to hunt conveniently. *It’s not a magic spell ya’ know?* Ecoh’ sarcastic voice spoke. *I wish there was one to make you go away...* Mint replied coldy. *Just say the word. But do you really wish so?* He didn’t reply. Because Ecoh was right, Mint needed him, no; he mustn’t be so cold toward him. He positioned himself, looking straight at the leaf. The apprentice forced his body to maintain the crouch a little bit longer. *This is the mouse I am going to hunt.* It really wasn’t the prefect crouch; the mouse would have ran away long ago, sensing his movements. And it was a rabbit, also, since his stiff moves would have alerted him by now. He sighed. *More practice. More practice. He needs more practice.* Was it even possible? Every free moment, he spent at training. More time would mean sleeping less. He sighed again.

“Alright now, let's see how you do with pouncing on your prey. Watch me. Now you try. Also, never forget to thank StarClan for your prey. It's very important, but you don't have to thank them when stalking a leaf, only when you actually catch something to eat." He watched Silverwolf moving swiftly and so fast! Every move was well calculated and executed perfectly. A spark glimmer in him. *I’m going to hunt like this. After all, there isn’t shortcut to success. You must kill the fox to defend you clan, you must fight through the blizzard for you clan, and you must train to become a true warrior.* That’s what the elders always told him, he remembered with a smile. After watching his mentor, he tried to execute the move again. His crouch was still uncertain and quite weak but the stiffness of the moves was already a little bit better he calculated his jump, but at the last moment, his legs didn’t have enough power to land him on the leaf. He touched the ground clumsily and watched the leaf being blown away.

{OOC : omg, sorry I got so carried away by the post T.T}

[silvestern]

[OOC It's fine. I like reading big posts.. It gives me something to do. Besides, my post was pretty long too.]

As Silverwolf watched Mintpaw try to do the hunters crouch, she realized his training would take a while, and not be 100% perfect by the end of the day. She was the same though. So was every apprentice. You can't master something within seconds, even minutes... Unless you are a StarClan cat maybe. She watched poor Mintpaw try to hold himself up, legs trembling, balance not very good... He'd get it in time though, with more practice. There wasn't much she could teach him about balance, but she said what she could. "Move you'r tail a bit to help you get you're balance. move it wherever you need to help, just try not to move it too much when hunting, or else you'll scare away all of the prey, but for now move it as needed. Once you get used to balancing, you won't need the support of you'r tail so much. And you're legs will get stronger, so don't worry about that." Then she added, "The crouch isn't as easy as you thought, is it? Don't feel bad though. Every apprentice has the same troubles, even I did. We need to make mistakes so we can learn from them. Make as many mistakes as you need, I can wait and help. Every mistake you make is a step closer to being a warrior. Time, patience, and practice, are the three biggest things about training. Again, no apprentice will get anything 100% right on their first try. after you've been practising for a while, you'll get better, and over time, you'll master everything." She finished.

Now watching Mintpaw try to stalk the leaf, he already looked as if his crouch was improving. Although, a mouse would have felt him already, but his silence was OK, although that still needed some work too. A rabbit may hear him, but it would have to be close. "Again, practice will get you there. You're doing pretty good for you're first time training, but as the days pass, you'll just keep getting better and better, and stronger and stronger." She said. She could tell by the expression in his eyes that he knew a mouse would have felt him, and a rabbit probably would have heard him. There was no need to tell him it again.

Finally, it was time to pounce. When Silverwolf watched him, she could already tell his landing wouldn't be too nice. His legs weren't strong enough to support him for very long yet, and they were probably too tired to do much more. She wanted to take him for a real hunt, just to try, but she would have to see if he was up to it. Then she realized he had already taken off. She watched him helplessly, land clumsily, and the leaf blew away. "It's alright." Silverwolf said as she helped Mintpaw up. "You must be really tired. We have two options. We can either head back to camp and you can get something to eat and rest, or we can go hunting, and you can try to catch you're first piece of prey. Then we could head back to camp. Although, if you choose to hunt, don't expect to catch anything on you're first try. We can be finished and leave whenever you would like. It's you'r training, your legs, you'r energy, you'r training, and I don't know how much energy you have left. It's all and completely up to you."

[mintpaw]

"Move you'r tail a bit to help you get you're balance. move it wherever you need to help, just try not to move it too much when hunting, or else you'll scare away all of the prey, but for now move it as needed. Once you get used to balancing, you won't need the support of you'r tail so much. And you're legs will get stronger, so don't worry about that. The crouch isn't as easy as you thought, is it? Don't feel bad though. Every apprentice has the same troubles, even I did. We need to make mistakes so we can learn from them. Make as many mistakes as you need, I can wait and help. Every mistake you make is a step closer to being a warrior. Time, patience, and practice, are the three biggest things about training. Again, no apprentice will get anything 100% right on their first try. after you've been practising for a while, you'll get better, and over time, you'll master everything." Mintpaw listened to his mentor as she was giving him advices. He nodded and pay attention to every world but there was something intriguing him. Her tone wasn’t as expected. There wasn’t a deception or an irritation edge, nor was it full of pity. Could it be? Maybe, she really believed in him. The feeling flooded his heart with a reassuring sentiment. *She doesn’t despise me...* Mintpaw thought, smiling inside. *I won’t fail you.* He promised inside, happy that Silverwolf was his mentor.

"It's alright. You must be really tired. We have two options. We can either head back to camp and you can get something to eat and rest, or we can go hunting, and you can try to catch you're first piece of prey. Then we could head back to camp. Although, if you choose to hunt, don't expect to catch anything on you're first try. We can be finished and leave whenever you would like. It's you'r training, your legs, you'r energy, you'r training, and I don't know how much energy you have left. It's all and completely up to you."
His body really wanted to go rest and eat but without hesitation, he replied. “I want to go hunt.” There was no time left, no time to waste resting. When the sun will go down, he will relax, however, if the sun will still be up and he can stand up, nothing will keep him from training. He knew well of his situation, of his clumsiness. If he would rest, every apprentice will leave the den without him and it could be the last thing he could bear, he would let his father bear. For a moment, he looked at his paws. Why? Why wouldn’t his body listen to him, as if it had already given up. He wasn’t a runt, he had a normal sized body, yet, he was as weak as a rat and awkward as a blind cat. *Were my parents like this?* He can’t but wonder. He blinked then turned to Silverwolf.

“Where are we going to hunt?” He asked. He didn’t really mind but he knew that rabbits and mice are the easiest, so they wouldn’t go too far. It was fine with him, even if he didn’t catch one today because as long as he is improving, he didn’t want luck to help him kill his prey. Mint wanted to feel the pride fully without any regrets. *I thought you were a liiiiittle bit brighter then this but, seriously? Hope at least for luck buddy, otherwise you might become the oldest apprentice in the history of the clans.* Ecoh’s words pain him. He could sense that it wasn’t all sarcastic, a part was... concern? Maybe he wasn’t evil but speaking the truth. *Anyway, it isn’t like luck had ever been on my favour.* Mint replied with a sad smile inside.
‘The prettiest thing is hope, Mint. As long as you have it, you can’t be lost, you can’t be defeated. Remember, what doesn’t kill you make you stronger.’ He kept in mind the words of Fireblaze. *But hope hurts as well... it feels like falling from so high, knowing you will crash, but left with nothing.* He wanted to reply to his father, but he had just washed the thought away that day. He knew it was the worst feeling; it was emptiness when his hope died. Because inside of him, it was mostly was keeping alive, what wakes him up in the morning, making him step every step, make him sleep to train better. And without... it was dark.
“Say Silverwolf? Was there ever an apprentice that didn’t turn into a warrior?” He asked, lowering his head.

[silvestern]

Almost as soon as Silverwolf had finished asking Mintpaw the question, he replied, "I want to hunt." Although, Silverwolf felt a tinge of doubt. She could tell he was tired, and was almost struggling to keep on his paws. But the determination in his voice was so strong, she decided to let him. Then he asked her where they were going to hunt. "I think sunning rocks is a good place to start. You can find a lot of prey there, just beware of adders." She warned. "Follow me." She ordered, then began to pad off.

With Mintpaw following her, she led the way to sunning rocks. She had caught her first peice of prey at the Owl Tree, but she had always found sunning rocks to be the best place to hunt. It was also nice and cozy, and warm. She was jolted back awake from day dreaming to Mintpaw asking a question. "Say Silverwolf? Was there ever an apprentice that didn’t turn into a warrior?" Silverwolf was surprised by the question, but didn't heitate to answer. She began to think that Mintpaw was doubting himself.

"Well, no... Not unless they joined Starclan before they became a warrior, or if they became a loner, rogue, or kittypet first, but that's quite rare. Don't worry, Mintpaw. you'll make a fine warrior. Don't forget, this is only you're first day. And even as a warrior, you'll still learn new things, and and you'll still get better and better. Even I learn new things every day. When I first became a warrior, I had never actually caught a bird. It was embarrassing, but one of the other warriors helped me out, and on my second day of being a warrior, I cought my first bird. I thought, too, that I would never become a warrior because I couldn't catch birds. but sure enough, I did. And since that day, I'v still gotten better at hunting and fighting. Like I said, it all takes time. You'll be made a warrior when the other apprentices are. Don't worry." It was a long speech, but Mintpaw had to learn to believe in himself, and not put himself down. She could already tell he would be a great warrior. Sure, he was a bit different than the other warriors, but he would still be great.

Then, as they approached sunning rocks, Silverwolf smelt a shrew. She decided she would go first. Quietly, she spoke, "Can you smell the shrew? Now then, see how the wind is blowing this way. Well, we need to approach it so that our scent is blown away from it, not towards it. This means, we come over here." She led the way. Now she could even see the shrew. "Now stay here and be quiet, and I'll go show you how to catch you're first piece of prey. This will also give you more time to rest." She left Mintpaw, and began to creep over to the shrew, in the hunters crouch. When she was just a litter further than a tail length away, she calculated her distance, and pounced. The shrew had no time to run, and struggling to get free under her paws, Silverwolf took one swift bite to it's neck, and it went limp. She gave a silent prayer to StarClan, then took it back to Mintpaw. "Now then, try the same thing. Open you'r maw like this, and taste the air. Opening you're mouth like this helps scent things a lot easier. Once you can smell something, pick out where it is, and do just as I did." She instructed. Now was Mintpaw's chance, and she prayed that he would get it on his first try. She didn't expect him to at all, but if he did, he would be so happy, and would maybe gain more self-confidence.

[mintpaw]

Mintpaw lift his eyes at Silverwolf after listening to her speech. He smiled and believed her, being a true warrior isn’t just having the name; it is a cat that defends and hunts for its clan. Even grown-ups still improved their skills and had little struggles. The worry slowly disappeared from his mind. He looked in front of him, seeing the sunny rocks appear. The apprentice liked the hunting ground but he was deeply scared of the water boarding the rocks. Water was wet and the stream didn’t seem to calm. The idea of falling and drowning wade him shiver. He never understood why the Riverclan cats liked to swim isn’t it better to stay warm and clean? Once, he saw a warrior dip in the river, he wasn’t really fascinated by his technique of swimming but how he looked happy in the water. So he tried too, maybe water was making people happy, maybe it was pleasant. But no, it wasn’t. The horrible feeling of the stream washing on his pelt still makes him quiver. There was some nice prey around, due to proximity of the river, but mostly were small rodent. *The birds must prefer the leaves of the forest.* the guessed. The fact didn’t bother him, he knew how hard birds were, and the story of Silverwolf only assured his believes.

He padded along his mentor and mimicked her as she stopped. "Can you smell the shrew? Now then, see how the wind is blowing this way. Well, we need to approach it so that our scent is blown away from it, not towards it. This means, we come over here. Now stay here and be quiet, and I'll go show you how to catch you're first piece of prey. This will also give you more time to rest." He had sensed shrew not far. He stared at the hunting scene. Silverwolf crawled, pounced and killed the little prey in a short time. It seemed... easy as she was executing the movements but Mintpaw knew it wasn’t. He could mess up the hunter’s crouch and the pouncing easily. As Silverwolf returned to his side with the prey, Mintpaw repeated in his head the routine and the advices. "Now then, try the same thing. Open you'r maw like this, and taste the air. Opening you're mouth like this helps scent things a lot easier. Once you can smell something, pick out where it is, and do just as I did." He quickly retrieved the scent of a mouse not too far he founded on the way to the Sunny Rocks. He whispered to his paws silently : don’t fail me please.

*It’s not your paws the problem, ya know? You aren’t a runt, so don’t put the problem on others! Blame yourself. If you mess up the damn mouse, please say:”I’m the stupid cat who can’t hunt.” Because you that’s what you are.* this time, Ecohs’ words weren’t only sarcastic, they were crudely mean. He had no fun saying this. Maybe... maybe he will leave him if continues to mess up. Like everybody else. His own conscience leaving him, that would be low.

He walked a few paws to be completely in favour of the wind. The gray mouse was eating quietly, unaware of Mint. The delicious scent filled his mouth. Silently, he dropped into the hunter’s crouch, paying attention to walk swiftly so that the mouse doesn’t sense him. Using the advice of his mentor, he was moving his tail a little bit; the absence of large leaves made it easier to not make noises. He thought every step, scared of screwing up. Soon he will have to pounce, he calculated. Mint could have jumped now, but he betted that his legs wouldn’t make the whole jump. Suddenly, he stepped on a little branch on the ground, alerting the prey of his stalker. ‘Stupid cat who can’t hunt...’ Resonated on his mind. He cursed at himself then jump knowing he had nothing to lose. A little flinch on his ‘hind left leg made him go a little farer then he would have like to land. With his right front paw, he caught the end of the tail but the mouse was already in his den, saving his tail from his touch. The apprentice stood up and sighed. He knew he was lucky for touching the mouse, with the number of errors he made, that mouse must have been dazed to be that slow. With a sigh he returned to his mentor. *Well, i messed up. But it wasn’t my last chance. The forest is full of prey, if I train enough, it’ll be definitely something easy.*He heard Ecoh snarl, but he just ignored it.

[silvestern]

OOC... Sorry I took so long... And sorry, because my muse is quite low...

Silverwolf watched Mintpaw sneak up on the mouse. He was doing good, up until the stick. A crack, and the mouse was off. Mintpaw jumped anyways, but the mouse was already in it's burrow. She watched Mintpaw walk over to her, but he didn't look as down as she thought. "It's alright. You would have had that for sure if that stick wasn't there. I know it's hard, but try to watch the ground so you don't step on anything like that, and try to keep watch on you're prey, while also making sure you're positioned right, not swishing you're tail, aren't too close or too far.... I know it's a lot to think about, but trust me, the more you practice, the better you'll remember, until it just comes to you. How about you try once more. I think that one was just unlucky. If you do exactly what you did before, just without stepping on the stick, then I'm sure you'll catch whatever you're stalking." Silverwolf finished with a smile and a wink to Mintpaw.

[mintpaw]

{OOC: it's ok, i know with school it's kinda hard to have time & a lot of muse ^^ i'm very late too x)}

"It's alright. You would have had that for sure if that stick wasn't there. I know it's hard, but try to watch the ground so you don't step on anything like that, and try to keep watch on you're prey, while also making sure you're positioned right, not swishing you're tail, aren't too close or too far.... I know it's a lot to think about, but trust me, the more you practice, the better you'll remember, until it just comes to you. How about you try once more. I think that one was just unlucky. If you do exactly what you did before, just without stepping on the stick, then I'm sure you'll catch whatever you're stalking.” The words of his mentor gave him confidence and he believed her, he will be able to catch whatever he’ll be stalking. It gave him a warm feeling inside, just like when his father was taking care of him. He didn’t quite know how to call it, but he liked it. He felt... whole. Without the missing piece of his heart loneliness caused, the pressure of standing against the world disappeared. He nodded at his mentor, and then headed back into the leaves. He lifted his nose and opened his maw. Many scents came to him; he liked every one of them, the odour of nature, of prey made him feel wild and free. He soon decided on a young rabbit on his right. The wind was already blowing this way so he didn’t have to find the perfect angle.

Mint’s step where small but steady, he was still a little far from the rabbit to start the hunter’s crouch. He wondered how the other cats lived. In the other clans, the rogues and the kitty pets. He wondered where he came from. Could he be from a kitty pet family? It would kind of explain his clumsiness and his slowness. But normally, kitty pets wouldn’t be able to have his nose or ears. Their senses weren’t as sharp, he heard from the elders. Maybe... he was a half-clan. The idea of being born half-wild, half-kitty pet gave him heart sick. Where would he belong? How would be able to face again everybody? He shook his head, no, no wild cat could fall in love with a kitty pet. Their scent disgusted most of the clan cats. As he approached the rabbit, he cleared all of his thoughts, after all, he couldn’t change his past, but he as the possibility to decide his future.

He breathed calmly and positioned as the hunter’s crouch. *Come on rabbit, i’m gonna let you the honour of being my first catch!* He made a few steps, and immediately remarked that the sound of his paws were too loud. He bit his tongue and made sure his next moves were silent. As he was losing balance, he waved a little bit his tail, just enough to give him stability. His eyes were changing between the ground and his prey, as he dodged the branches this time. But as he advanced, the leaves were more and more present and as he predicted, his body was as swift too pass all the plants. The brushing of his pelt and the vegetation alerted the rabbit but it didn’t make his run away. *Glad this one is still pretty dumb.* He thought and rolled his eyes. Mint knew it wasn’t supposed to be this hard, the leaves weren’t making a wall and his size was to fit in the path. But the clumsiness won over the training and he brushed again on the leaves. As the rabbit was running away, he dashed. Only to slip over a mud trail. He thought- no he was sure that his prey stopped and laughed at him before hiding. The apprentice stood up with a mixed expression of disgust and laugh. Although he suppressed a smile, because he didn’t want Silverwolf to think that he wasn’t taking the training seriously. In somehow, he wasn’t completely disappointed. Maybe it will give him more time to find out who he is. And when he will catch his first prey, he will be 100% sure that it is a warrior. He started to wash the dirt out his shoulder as he came back to his mentor.

[silvestern]

OOC: I'm sooooo sorry! I haven't posted in forever! My muse for this site is practically dead, but I'll keep trying to get on so I can at least finish Mintpaw's training...

Silverwolf watched Mintpaw slide through dirt and mud, as the rabbit got away. Poor thing. Silverwolf thought. Or am I just a bad mentor? She asked herself. She prayed to StarClan that she would mentor Mintpaw properly. "Good try." Silverwolf said, suppressing a smile. She felt sympathy for the apprentice. She could tell he was very tired now, and decided they should head back. "You'v worked very hard today, and you deserve a good rest. I'll tell the others to let you have the day off tomorrow. We'll have another training session the day after. So regain all of your energy tomorrow, and try to get lots of rest and sleep. Maybe I'll see if we can get on a hunting patrol in two sunrises, so you can practice your hunting." She paused, and began to walk back to camp, gesturing her head for Mintpaw to follow. Then she carried on, "What do you say? Maybe we can get one of your friends to come along too." She said in a hopeful voice. As an apprentice, Silverwolf always found hunting and patrolling more fun with a friend, but it couldn't always be that way.