pafp pretending like a beginner | land hunting lesson

[Squishpaw]

New activity? Check. Positive adult attention from someone she admired? Check. With both her preferred criteria matched, this was shaping up to be a great day, and Squishpaw was excited! Her tail was high and her ears were perked as she bounded alongside Lichentail, having to take two steps for every one of Lichentail's and not minding a bit.

There were a few potential dampers on the event, however pleasant it was, that Squishpaw was forcing herself not to dwell on. The first bit was her general intimidation of Lichentail. It was hard for Squishpaw to spend time with people she admired without feeling like she was tripping over her paws physically and metaphorically. The second was the lack of privacy. Squishpaw would have loved to have spent time one on one with Lichentail, but it was for the best she didn't -- see damper #1.

So it was with high spirits that Squishpaw came to a stop at the determined location. "Stopping" was a relative term as Squishpaw continued to bounce lightly on her toes like such a young kit had to worry about losing agility with lack of movement in her old age. Squishpaw didn't speak as she didn't want to interrupt Lichentail, but she did share an excited glance with the cats near her as she waited for the lesson to officially begin.

|| OOC: please wait for @lichentail to reply!​

 

[lichenstar]

It had come as some small surprise to have caught the awe-inspired stare of another apprentice that morning. She'd been preparing for the day's usual demands, taking Brookpaw out for some sort of enrichment (all the girl ever did was complain about being bored otherwise), hunting enough to try to compensate for the river's dwindling waves... But that keen gaze had been impossible to ignore. Though she'd lifted her head from an early breakfast to look at Squishpaw with a questioning mrr?, the apprentice had been largely too shy to confront her.

Opting not to make it... difficult, Lichentail instead had extended the invite for today's hunting lesson. It was no secret that the blue point loved birds and loved hunting them equally as much... Though not land prey, it was something to strive for once hunting on the ground became more consistent and easy. "Make sure your tails do not drag along the dirt- check for scents- place your paws carefully-" It had been a string of information, a dump of context for them to understand as she guided them through the foliage dense territory. It was more than likely to be an overwhelming amount of tips to contain all at once but outside of that, all it came down to was practice.

Pausing and gazing with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, Lichentail gestured towards the tree-littered grounds beyond them. Squishpaw could hardly contain her excitement, practically hopping in place like some sort of bunny... "Everyone feel confident? Ready to give it a try? Remember, we are here to learn, not to judge our peers- that is your mentors' jobs."​

 

[Squishpaw]

The advice Lichentail offered for the group while they traveled had been a long string of information. Squishpaw's tail had been high in the air, so that wasn't a concern, but her cheerful pace did not lend itself to careful placement. As such, she had to pay special attention to where she put her paws and would forget to check for scents unless prompted. It was a tad overwhelming, though thankfully not enough to shut down her excitement.

Lichentail's invitation to begin their solo hunt left nerves gathering in Squishpaw's stomach. Sure, there was to be no judgment - but that hadn't stopped her clanmates during the drypaw lesson, had it? Maybe it would be different for land hunting, considering how it was not an important RiverClan skillset. Squishpaw was still unsettled, though, and her steps away from the group were hesitant.

Scenting the air left Squishpaw with a number of choices to pursue, which lifted her spirits back up again. Mouse, what she thought was vole, and shrew left her mouth watering. Voles were the largest of the three if she was remembering correctly, so off Squishpaw went, trying to be careful with her approach. Her stealth was stunning for her lack of practice and Squishpaw took pride in that. She was less proud of her memory - voles and shrews were small, as it turned out, so she would have to attempt tracking the mouse for any significant meals.

And then Squishpaw grimaced. How had Lichentail shown the pounce again...? She glided forward and missed the creature entirely, leaving the vole free to scurry away while Squishpaw nursed her wounded ego. "Mouse dung," she hissed for good measure, sighing before resuming the hunt.​

 

[dovethroat.]

Observing, Dovethroat eyes track Squishpaw as they do their best to try and catch the vole. Of his physical, tangible skills, his skill in land hunting is perhaps the only one he is truly proud in. He has been told he is a good swimmer, but in RiverClan—that is practically expected. It was not the most special, most unique thing to be good at; and it was almost certain that someone was better at it than you in any given scenario. It was like having nice, brown fur in BrownFurClan. Sort of hard to toot your horn about that.

However, very few people were all too good at hunting on land. It was something one would expect in a population that mostly eats fish, and bases their civilization around a river. He had been trained by an outsider, which was probably part of why he had gotten better at it than most.

Seeing Squishpaw fail makes his ear flick, letting out a short and truncated hiss of sympathetic mourning of the loss. He looks to Lichentail, eyes curious.

He should wait to offer any sort of advice, he tells himself. Doing it right away would be gauche.

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