FOX IN A SNARE ♥︎ TRACKING LESSON

[DOEBLAZE]

When Silversmoke had vanished, far more of her Clanmates than she's comfortable with had fumbled in their tracking of him—a skilled ( or lucky ) few had taken note of the vital pieces, but several more had found only the most basic signs, or nothing at all, or even actively kicked up further confusion in their efforts. She had recently dispensed a tracking lesson via competition to a smattering of apprentices, in which Sangriapaw had claimed a reassuringly solid victory, but in times like these, extra training can never hurt—and so she leads another procession out towards a prepared area near the Sandy Ravine, where the sounds of battle and cheers drift down on the wind to meet them.

" Here we are, " she mrrows, nodding for her makeshift class to fan out. The day is seasonable and fair, with only a mild wind whipping through the trees—unfortunately, now wasn't the time for a challenge. " I'm sure you're all aware we've been having some trouble lately, " she begins, her meow quick and businesslike in its hoarseness. " That's why it's important that you all understand not only how to catch a rogue's scent, but how to track down an intruder—or a missing Clanmate—in other ways. "

" There's more to tracking than just a cat's scent. We all leave traces of ourselves where we go, " Doeblaze continues, and though her temperament is fair and her intentions friendly, her jaw is set in a tight line. She does not wear stress well, and under her stoicism, ripples of displeasure flash like fish - scales, there and gone again. " I've set some examples up here; you're welcome to come closer and look. "

" A cat might leave blood, " she gestures to a spattering of crimson berry juice on the grass, " pawprints or scuffs, " and now she indicates a clear print in a clear patch of dirt, and next to it a weaker scuff - mark, " their fur behind, " as she nods to a tuft of her own lilac snagged on a bit of scarce underbrush, " or even something as small as disturbances in the brush, " the tabby concludes, indicating a broken stick and a dent in a bush.

" Any questions? " she finally mrrows, taking a seat and nodding in a further invitation for her pupils to venture forth and examine the " signs " more closely. She manages to keep her tone level and pleasant, despite the tight weight of stress between her narrow shoulders.

OOC : Open to both apprentices and warriors!

♥︎

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[falcongaze]

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ- A lesson- one that was well crafted and imaginative. Doeblaze seemed more and more like her old self as the days went on, the bitter sting of the last life of Blazestar's left on the wind. Not forgotten, but remembered instead. A soft breath left him as he brought @Radiopaw closer, his tail twitching. Vision was pinned to the older warrior, and despite how she was teaching, he could read between the harsh lines she had set.

Her shoulders were pinched, drawn tight with tense muscles set to spring. Her jaw was tight- he would be surprised if her teeth weren't grit between statements. Falcongaze slowly settled into the crowd of cats being taught, but as she finished, Falcongaze didn't grow closer. Instead, his paw nudged his apprentice on the shoulder. "Go look at what she's made. Seeing it is sometimes better then hearing it." He meowed gently.

Whilst Radiopaw either went to go see- or rejected him- vision turned back towards the older warrior. Eyebrow twitched briefly. It wasn't really his place to move to comfort her anymore. Not when he had severed himself and Lupinesong so, not when his and Drowsynose's relationship was still hidden behind shutters and drawn drapes. Falcongaze slowly inhaled, turning his piercing vision away to studying his apprentice now instead.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── THEYRE ALL THAT I WAS ⋅❁⋅ AND NEVER COULD BE ──┐‎

• "speech"
  

• 

• FALCONGAZE 🌧 he/him, warrior of skyclan, sixteen moons.
  ⭃ LH chocolate lynx point with deep blue eyes, and a long scar on his left cheek down under his jawline. pushes his 'hair' back. very long legged, half oriental moggie.
  ⭃ mentored by greeneyes / / mentoring radiopaw
  ⭃ padding after drowsynose / / brother to spottedpaw and sagepaw
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[Radiopaw]

"wild hearts run"​

Radiopaw begrudgingly sat beside Falcongaze. He had not wanted to come, but considering his nose's lack of differentiating between some important things recently... let's just say he hadn't been given a choice. (Or the choice was elder duty for a week, anyway.)

Traces, pawprints, blood, whatever. He would be much more useful working on his battle form right then. Only his mentor's nudge made his paws move toward the pieces laid out by Doeblaze. "Alright, alright," he huffed. The apprentice stuck his nose in close to the different examples. Yes, he knew they weren't for smelling, but he was going to at least exaggerate his checking. Maybe then Falcongaze would take him battle training. Though, getting closer to them, he had to admit it was interesting to see the different ways to track someone.​

° ｡‧˚⋅˚✧｡ﾟ･° ｡‧˚⋅​

 

[Batscreech]

Bat trailed at the very back of the modest group that Doeblaze had accumulated in order to share her knowledge in regards to tracking. As per usual, his willingness to join such an endeavor had been based upon whatever capacity remained that would allow him to stay in that busy camp that made up the heart of SkyClan- there was none.

Sliding into the sandy clearing, there was a moment of silence from the surrounding cats as they respectfully bit their tongues and absorbed the information brought forth by Doeblaze, who had made an extra effort to set up an array of mock clues- it was clear she felt strongly about this particular skill, for what reason Bat could not even begin to speculate.

He was not inept in the world of tracking, having done it on multiple occasions when living in the bustling city. Pieces of greasy paper, discarded plastic forks and spoons, emptied cups, loosened chunks of food or sauces that had dripped onto the ground- all of these things were indicative of areas in which food was abundant. If you were lucky, you could find bins full of half-eaten or gone off food carelessly thrown out by the humans who prepared it. They could always have hunted live prey, sure, but the things people made tasted so much better than any dirty, half-starved alley rat. And so he and his group, they would spend many days and many nights following the mess that careless and hungry people left behind.

But he was no longer in the city, and none of these things were present here. Instead they were replaced by things such as blood, fur, splintered brush, and indented soil. When invited to take a closer look, he obliged- not that there was much to see- all you needed to take in was pretty plainly within view. With a glance at Radiopaw, who had arrived on the scene a short time prior to him at the request of Falcongaze, he unsheathed a single ivory claw and poked tentatively at the piece of soft brown fur that Doeblaze had positioned into the foliage.

"Ya tore yer fur off yer arse just for this?" He glanced at her with a confused expression before backing away with a half-hearted, but slightly exasperated chuckle.​

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