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Post by Magicheart on Jul 28, 2011 22:50:33 GMT -5
Magicpaw raced out of the apprentices den with a chirrup, zooming around in circles trying to catch her tail. She whirled around and laid on top of it, than flattened her ears and sprang into the air, her paws thrumming on the ground as she ran around the circumference of the camp.
Grizzlyclaw opened heavy eyelids as the young she-cat sailed over his sleeping form. He let out a yawn and twitched his round ears in amusement. "Someone needs to get the energy out of that one." he murmured, flopping onto his side to get back into the weakened rays of the sun.
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Post by Zephyr on Aug 4, 2011 16:09:10 GMT -5
Acornscramble gazed up at the sky happily. The sun was shining, the weather was nice; it was a perfect day to have fun. Her eyes caught sight of her young apprentice, who seemed to be enjoying the good day as well. The she-cat sunk into a crouch before remembering that she was supposed to act like a warrior now. She straightened up quickly, then, with a mischevious smirk, padded around to where Magicpaw was playing. "'Prey' running well, I see."
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Post by Magicheart on Aug 8, 2011 0:52:04 GMT -5
"Oh!" Magicpaw skidded to a halt, her eyes glittering with happiness to see her mentor. "Is it running well? Can we go see?" the young apprentice hopped up and down in excitement.
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Post by Zephyr on Aug 10, 2011 22:06:01 GMT -5
Her apprentice's energy was contagious; Acornscramble's eyes lit up with excitement. "Sure! You remember your stalking techniques? We can head out now!" She felt like an apprentice again herself, like she was going on her first actual hunting trip. And, as hard as she tried, she couldn't keep herself from dancing a little in place.
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Post by Magicheart on Aug 16, 2011 11:03:59 GMT -5
Magicpaw dropped into a hunting crouch and slithered after her mentor like a snake. "Where are we going to go?" she asked enthusiastically, abandoning her stance. "I want to see everything!"
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Post by Zephyr on Aug 19, 2011 9:40:45 GMT -5
"Let's go..." Acornscramble thought for a moment, then jumped up in excitement. "The clearing! There's bound to be plenty of prey there! And maybe if there's time left, we can stop at the ancient oak!" She was pleased that she could show her apprentice all of the exciting things in the forest. Being a mentor was so exciting! She silently thanked Phadestar for choosing her.
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Post by Magicheart on Aug 20, 2011 0:11:36 GMT -5
"Oh wow, Oh wow!" Magicheart hopped up and down, before zooming in a circle, chirruping excitedly. She veered off toward the camp entrance, racing ahead, knowing her mentor with her longer and legs and stride would soon overtake her. "This is the best!" the young she-cat huffed through quick breaths.
Magicpaw suddenly halted once they reached the clearing and flattened her ears in uncertainty, ducking low behind a swath of tall grass. She peeked around at her mentor, waiting for instructions. Magicpaw had done little hunting open areas so far in her apprenticeship.
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Post by Zephyr on Aug 24, 2011 16:12:04 GMT -5
The she-cat whispered softly, but with just as much excitement as before, "Watch me closely." She sighted a mouse at the edge of the clearing and pointed it out noiselessly with her tail. Stepping lightly, Acornscramble crept nearer to the mouse, keeping to the grass on the edge of the clearing. Her footfalls made no sound and no vibration. When she was within pouncing distance, she lept upon the mouse, silencing it with a swift bite before it could make a sound.
Lifting her head from her work, Acornscramble motioned her apprentice over. "See? When hunting mice, especially out in the open where they can see you more easily, you want to move really, really slowly so they don't notice you. Mice can feel vibrations in the earth, too, so they're harder to hunt where there aren't any leaves on the ground." She motioned towards her prey. "And you want to make sure they don't get enough time to call out an alarm, or you'll have a tougher time catching more prey afterward."
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Post by Magicheart on Aug 25, 2011 21:47:22 GMT -5
Magicpaw peeked around the grass excitedly as her mentor stalked and killed the mouse. "Wow, that was great!" she mewed, bounding out of cover. She listened intently and then scuttled off to find her own prey, not before tripping over a root and sliding to the ground, her paws and tail splayed out. She sighed and then scrambled to her feet. She noticed a water vole near a stream, and lashed her tail excitedly before dropping into the hunting crouch. Not quite a mouse, but still good practice! she thought.
Magicpaw moved slowly ahead, mimicking her mentor's movements- tail off the ground, weight balanced. She leapt onto the vole and barely caught it as it tried to scramble back into it's den. "Hooray!" Magicpaw shouted, scooping up her kill. She pranced toward Acornscramble, hopping up and down excitedly.
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Post by Zephyr on Aug 31, 2011 20:26:42 GMT -5
(Sorry I'm so slow to post)
Acornscramble didn't quite jump up and down, but it was easy to tell she wanted to. Only the fact that she'd been "extensively" trained not to waste her energy by, say, sprinting to the lake and back prevented her from acting as excited as her apprentice. As it was, her eyes were bright with pleasure. "Great job, Magicpaw!" she exclaimed. "Your crouch was steady and you were able to move forward without dropping out of it much!" Yes, if it had been a mouse she'd been stalking, she would have lost it, but even warriors lost a catch every now and then. "Watch me again and see if you can't make it even better." She sunk into a crouch like the one Magicpaw had just used and slunk forward slowly, accenting her motions to make them more visible. She shifted her weight to the paws already on the ground to minimize the sound, taking care not to lift her paws too quickly and rustle the leaves either. Her tail stood was only slightly off the ground, high enough to not brush the ground, but low enough that it wouldn't be visible to any prey. Each movement flowed into the next in a way that would make it difficult to distinguish her displacement of the grass from the wind. She didn't hold her breath, but made each breath slow and even; no cat could hold their breath forever, and a sudden intake would alert prey to a danger.
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Post by Magicheart on Aug 31, 2011 23:36:57 GMT -5
Wow Magicpaw thought, entranced, as she watched her mentor glide soundlessly over the ground. I don't think I could ever be THAT graceful! Magicpaw thought with admiration for her mentor. Her eyes glittered with enthusiasm as she studied her mentor's every movement.
But just then...
A butterfly flitted past, fluttering in front of Magicpaw's nose as if about to land. The young apprentice sneezed loudly, dropping her water vole that she forgot she was carrying, and began to bat her paw at the butterfly to shoo it away. She heard of the voice of her mentor and snapped back to attention, ashamed. "Uh, sure, right." Magicpaw muttered, ashamed. She dropped back into the hunting crouch, trying to remember her mentor's movements before she had been distracted.
What if I missed something really important? Magicpaw thought, wondering how long she could keep on her ruse. Distracted, the apprentice's form started to get sloppy. I can't let her down by telling her I was distracted by a butterfly! She'll think I'm acting like a kit! Magicpaw thought, dismayed.
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Post by Zephyr on Sept 7, 2011 16:37:48 GMT -5
Acornscramble watched her apprentice's form with growing confusion. Magicpaw was doing worse than she had before her mentor's example! And it was getting even more so as she continued. Acornscramble didn't know what was wrong. It wasn't her fault...was it? "Er, Magicpaw," she began hesitantly, "Is there something bothering you?" She just hoped that whatever it was, she could fix it, or at least give it her best try. She was very concerned for her apprentice; Magicpaw wasn't usually like this.
She walked up to Magicpaw, putting on her best smile. "Whatever it is, I'd be happy to help you out. I'm sure together we can fix it."
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Post by Magicheart on Sept 15, 2011 23:42:21 GMT -5
Magicpaw sighed. "I'm sorry" she mewed miserably. "I got distracted by a stupid butterfly! I have so much energy that I can't always focus it. I'm afraid I will get behind on my training or that I won't be a good warrior. What if I mess up when it really matters?" The young apprentice's eyes darted back and forth as she thought of a scenario. "Like, what if we get in a battle with Shadowclan! And I..." Magicpaw trailed off excitedly, dropping down into a crouch and leaping at a pretend enemy, lashing out with her front paws.
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