back at it again | training - open

[Johnnyflame]

LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW​

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Johnny was a pretty decent climber for a cat who'd spent their life as a kittypet scaling garden fences and sheds, probably much to the surprise of those who knew he didn't have a tail. But Johnny had been born without the appendage, and he was just as agile and surefooted as the next cat.

Indeed, the patchwork tom had no trouble hauling himself up the trunk of the pine he'd picked out, settling easily enough onto one of the lower branches with a satisfied twitch of his whisker. The bark was still rough on his paws which meant he couldn't spend as much time in the treetops as some of his other clanmates, but he was determined to get in some practicing whenever he could, knowing that one day he'd be able to race among the branches with the best of them.

Until then, he still had a lot to learn.

The branch beneath his paws was sturdy, the sway minimal beneath his weight as he slowly stepped out farther onto the branch. His legs were steady beneath them, claws hooking into bark with each placement of a paw to help keep him anchored. He could climb, he knew that much, but could he master the trees like the other?

Determined golden eyes locked onto the branch of a neighboring tree, gauging the distance, calculating the risks verse the rewards. He wasn't all that high up. If he missed and fell then he might have a few scratches and bruises to nurse, but it would hurt his pride more than anything. Nothing Dawnglare would have to waste herbs on, which was a bonus since Johnny never knew what the guy was saying to him anyways.

Keeping his eyes on his target, Johnny made the decision.

He jumped.

To be fair, he almost had it. His paw were met with the rough of treebark, claws quickly sinking in, and for a brief moment Johnny thought he'd done it. Only, this branch was a little thinner than the last, a little springier when it came to his weight landing on it, and rather than a sturdy landing pad he found it lurching beneath him.

With a surprised yelp he lost his balance, tipping forward with wide eyes as claws scrabled to try and reorient himsef, but it was too late.

Thankfully, the branches hadn't been too high up, maybe ten feet, and so he didn't have much issue twisting to land on his feet before he hit the ground, even if it stung a little.

"Ah, mouse-dung! I almost had it." he huffed, but there was a small grin and tenacious glint painted onto his features as he shook out his coat and turned to the cat nearest him. "I think I'll give it another go, yeah? Won't be caught off guard by how bouncy it is this time."

OOC_ since nobody is allowed out of camp alone right now, consider this a group training session for whoever wants to be here. Johnnys practicing his climbing in one of the pines, but your cats can be doing other things nearby if they want to do something other than climb :)
​

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[Orangestar]

She'd once practically lived among the branches, a seasoned navigator of the pine boughs and accustomed to the swaying of the tree underneath her, natural as breathing. But now she treads the forest floor, forced partially by her bad leg and partially because of her pregnancy (twisting carefully when she's sure no cat is looking, she's confirmed that the signs are still hidden underneath her masses of fur), cautious and hypervigilant for the glint of twoleg traps among debris. They shouldn't be this far into the forest, but Orangeblossom can't say for sure.

A yelp above her head makes the deputy jerk her attention upwards, just in time to see Johnny descending from the canopy at a rate too rapid to be on purpose. He lands upright, wincing, and Orangeblossom crosses the last few tail-lengths to inspect the daylight warrior with a critical sepia gaze.

"Be careful. Just because you land right most of the time doesn't mean it will be all the time. Better not to fall out of the trees at all."

— info

•  
• 
  orangeblossom. tags.
  — she/her, skyclan deputy.
  — mentor to eveningpaw.
  — attack in #e08550. uses trees as an integral part of her fighting style.
  — mean enough to note that her thoughts don't reflect my opinions as a writer haha.
  — penned by mercibun; @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots. :]
  — art by merc!<3
  

​

 

[selby]

ocean breathes salty​

Just like Johnny, Selby was also fairly new to the clan. Although already fairly proficient in climbing from years in the wild, he knew that he was nowhere near as good as the cats who had been doing this since the beginning. Eager to fit in more, he was one of the first in line when a climbing training session was offered. The fact that he was not alone in his lack of skill was comforting to him.

Though on the patrol together, Selby paid Johnny relatively little mind as he practiced his own skills. This was not out of malice; jumping and climbing took away breath that could have been used for talking. Still, when a clamor nearby was heard, Selby turned his head to watch, relieved to find his companion unharmed.

Orangeblossom’s remark struck him as superfluous: of course no one meant to fall, reminding Johnny to be careful was little more than salt in the wound. Selby elected to take a more sympathetic approach. “It was close,” he agreed, although he hadn’t been watching all that closely. “I’ve had a few close calls myself. It’s trickier than you guys make it look,” he said, directing the last part good-naturedly toward the deputy. ​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Johnnyflame]

LIVE AS IF YOU WERE TO DIE TOMORROW​

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"Aye. ma'am. I'll stick to the lowest branches, just in case." he assured the shecat. He couldn't promise he wouldn't fall at all, but he could at least be stupid as safely as possible. After all, he had to practice if he was going to get better, even if that meant messing up a bunch before he got it right.

And mess it up a bunch he would.

This time when Johnny made the jump, he was ready for the bounce. What he wasn't ready for was no bounce, and just the branch snapping under his weight.

He'd picked the wrong branch, and once again, he fell.

"Okay, lesson learned- don't jump on the dead looking ones." he called to Selby and Ora with a sheepish chuckle.
​

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[FIGFEATHER]

”It really isn’t that hard.” The red tabby mews to Shelby upon hobbling over to the group. Her words come off egotistical, as if she had been the best climber the forest has seen, and truth be told… Figpaw believed if her accident hadn’t happened, she would’ve been. Still, she fails to realize StarClan gifted her with the art of quick learning, not all cats had that same gift. ”Just takes time…“ And no foolish thinking, she thinks silently. If Johnny was an apprentice she would’ve vocalized it, but that fall could’ve ended any cats climbing career if the land wasn’t executed just right. It made her feel unfairly bitter, some of these cats who could climb were so careless with this skill!​

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Spoiler: TAGS ★ 03/27

( primary character / "speech" / ic opinions )​

╰ ★ ჻ 001 GENERAL INFORMATION ,
· FIGPAW, AMAB — she / her
╰ ‣ 11 moons .
╰ ‣ skyclan apprentice . believes in starclan

╰ ★ ჻ 002 VISUALS & AESTHETICS ,
· DOMESTIC FELINE, smells like pine nettles & sap, status — 100%
╰ ‣ A red tabby she-cat with orange eyes. Mangled right hind leg.

╰ ★ ჻ 003 MENTALITY & MANNERISMS ,
· ENFP-A ❝ CAMPAIGNER❞ , Gryfindor, Lawful Good
╰ ‣ Excitable, generous, caring, quick-to-act, distrusting, resentful
╰ ‣ finds relative ease relating to others . kind-hearted, will show mercy
╰ ‣ cats of windclan blood or those she deems morally inferior will be met with her ire

╰ ★ ჻ 004 INTERACTIONS & RELATIONSHIPS ,
· NPC X DAISYFLIGHT, sister to Greenpaw, Violetpaw, Snowpaw & Butterflypaw
╰ ‣ Pansexual . mistakes admiration for romantic feelings
╰ ‣ Crushing on Fanta
╰ ‣ Apprentice to Tallulahwing
╰ ‣ good fighter . excellent hunter .
╰ ‣ unlikely to start fights . will flee .
╰ ‣ attack in underline . penned by user @ava.

 

[MOMOWHISKER]

Momowhisker had the skills to be an average hunter and fighter, but to be a true SkyClanner required a bond with the trees that he could never possess. You had to become one with them as you traversed their winding branches, knowing each path like the back of your paw and never hesitating to make a leap that would otherwise send a cat into a fear-filled stasis. Momo couldn't do it - fear was such a big part of who they were, to part from it for just a fraction of a second felt lonely. Still, with eyes upon them at all times, they still tried their best to forego the feeling. He'd been hyping himself up for most of the training session before leaping towards one of the pines, gripping onto it with all four limbs stretched in different directions. His nose was practically pressed against the bark as he breathed heavily in and out, the conversations of his clanmates drowned out, but not fully submerged. He wasn't the only one that was struggling, a relief, but one that left a brief flutter of confidence soaring in his heart as he dared look away from the aged tree he was clinging to. "Oh, it isn't that bad!" Momowhisker shouted down to his clanmates.

There was a cracking noise in the pine he'd pierced, not unnoticed by the Daylight Warrior. "It just requires the right amount of skill and— the right— amount of— WAAAAGH" Pale claws slip from their place in the tree and extend outwards as the kittypet began to fall. He found grip for a fraction of a second before bringing his hindpaws close to his forepaws and kicking off of the trunk. Momo landed on the earth uncomfortably but without pain, paws placed in all sorts of angles that would've only been seen in a comedy skit. A nervous grin was flashed towards the other SkyClanners, his large ears flat against his skull as they began to burn up from embarrassment. Clambering over twoleg fences and clambering up big-ass trees were two very different skills, he could only hope his clanmates respected that as he tried to catch-up on skills that the apprentices had learned in their youths. The lynx point cleared his throat and offered a shaky, faux bow. "I totally meant to do that, to show you all the burden of overconfidence. Hah...." It was time to disappear into a very large hole and never return.

​

 

[selby]

ocean breathes salty​

Though vaguely annoyed by the pride displayed by the native SkyClanners, Selby kept his thoughts on the matter to himself and attempted a far leap. Tuning out the words of the cocky apprentice below, the former loner felt himself glide through the air and land cleanly on the branch he wanted. He chuckled a little to himself, proud that he managed something so difficult.

Still, it seemed even the people who had been here longer than him were also experiencing difficulties. "Maybe lessons in humility ought to be next..." he mused pointedly, turning yellow eyes to rest on Momowhisker. He found no amusement in his near injury, but instead in their delivery. At least he took it well. In his own experience, gloating usually led to nothing except embarrassment. ​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Orangestar]

"... Okay. Looks like time for a tree climbing lesson." StarClan forbid. "Lesson one, stay in the lower branches unless you're confident about handling the higher ones. You really only need to be a rearing fox-length up to avoid most problems, though SkyClan's pines give us the luxury of going up higher. Dogs and twolegs are the main two situations where you need to learn how to handle higher branches, got it?" Gauging a nearby tree versus her own safety, Orangeblossom decides that she would take an acceptable risk to teach her Clanmates and takes a running start to claw her way up the trunk. Pulling herself onto a branch that sways gently beneath her, though, she hisses a small breath through her teeth. She'll regret this when she's down on the ground again, but the fact that she'd managed to get into the tree fills her with a sense of pride. Looks like she was about that lunging fox-length up, too, give or take a tail. The deputy takes a moment to savour it, ears pricked upwards and listening to the rustle of pine needles and alarm calls of birds high in the trees. She'd missed this. Directing her attention back down, she makes eye contact with Selby.

"About this high is the minimum you should be comfortable with, for safety reasons." Now came the part that worried her a bit ... getting down from here. She shoves that worry aside to continue the lesson. A small breeze rustles her fur, sending the branch beneath her bobbing, and the deputy bends her knees slightly to compensate.

"Momowhisker fell - mostly - correctly. When descending from a tree, keep your body close to the trunk and then kick off to leap to the ground when you're a few tail-lengths up. This also forms a basis for a few of SkyClan's speciality battle moves, so you need to learn to land safely - or at least directly on an opponent. When you land, bend your legs and keep running a few paces to wear off most of the impact, if you aren't." She crouches, sends a quick prayer skywards, and dives from the branch with practised ease. She's rusty, though, evidenced by the way her bad leg strikes the trunk at an odd angle. She sticks the landing with a grunt of pain, glad that her forelegs take the brunt of the jolt, but her hind leg lifts up off the ground involuntarily anyway. Not for the first time since the skirmish, she curses the entire bloodline of WindClan's deputy.

"Some SkyClanners, like Figpaw and myself, have difficulties climbing because of injuries." She straightens her leg with a since and then gestures to the sunny-pelted apprentice. "Figpaw, have you and Tallulahwing worked out any alternatives to tree climbing since you've resumed your training?"

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