pafp Say it fast (say it wrong) | Mentoring help

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

Mentorship is something Snakeblink takes great pride over — perhaps even more than being named lead warrior. Serving the clan, being dedicated and overly-involved, isn’t something he sees as worthy of reward in himself; it’s only natural that he would do all this for his kin. But being put in charge of an apprentice, a vulnerable and impressionable mind to hone into a true asset to the clan… That despite everything about him, he would be trusted with their training! At the time it felt like tangible proof that finally, he was part of something.

Now, he feels more anxiety about it than relief or comfort.

He is not so stupid as to ignore his own flaws but he had hoped, for a time, to be able to miraculously pass none of them down to Frogpaw. But he’s seen the way the young smoke walks at times, the same slinking close to the ground that Snakeblink’s anxious paws find most natural, the weight of stress weighing down his shoulders. A myriad other signs have him believe that, far from bettering his apprentice, he’s unwittingly made him far, far worse. More dedicated to the clan, perhaps, a more experienced swimmer with a greater knowledge of their territory — but any mentor could have taught him that. He could have learned on his own, even, as so many of them did before the clans.

And he knows this isn’t a matter of Frogpaw being flawed from the get-go. Underneath some superficial similarities to his mentor, the younger tom has something entirely his own that Snakeblink recognized as potential, something that could become great if he only managed not to choke it out, to starve it of light.

He glimpsed it at Sunningrock, while he was running away from his own fight. Frogpaw locked in a fight with another apprentice, refusing to run away from the battle despite previous injuries and fatigue from Windclan’s incursion into their camp. He’s smart, with none of Snakeblink’s cowardly streak: he’ll stay and fight if it comes down to it, as he proved. And whereas Snakeblink is well-served by under-pawed tactics that keep him well out of harm’s way, Frogpaw would be a force to be reckoned with if only he had as much experience with fighting as he does fishing. As it is, he only has injuries to show for this lapse in training.

Snakeblink has not nurtured that skill in him. He may blame incompetence as much as negligence: the end result is the same. But perhaps it is not too late to set things to right and make sure Frogpaw truly leave this mentorship better off than he was before.

(He has, perhaps, been avoiding his apprentice a little since the Windclan attack, even more so since Sunningrock. He still takes him out to train and patrol, but doesn’t linger: there’s an awkwardness, in there, a transient feeling as he tries to figure out a way to fix his mistake.)

These thoughts swirl in his mind like muddy water while he listens in on a small group of warriors discussing their respective apprentices. He’s tuned out the subtle bragging of proud mentors, ruminating, until one of them glances at him and asks leadingly, ’What about you, Snakeblink? How’s your apprentice?”

”Ah, my apprentice…” His voice trails off, distracted mind coming off as uncomfortable and cagey. Despite everything, he cannot deny Frogpaw’s quality, but he struggles to find a way to voice them without blurting out his entire internal monologue as he goes. ”Frogpaw is…” Independent, responsible, already outgrowing what little Snakeblink could easily impart on him. ”Well, it seems he doesn’t need me anymore, hm? He does his own things,” he drawls out. If he sounds sarcastic, it’s only his natural inflection that gives that impression.

The other warriors exchange dubious looks but soon return to their own discussion. But this gave Snakeblink an idea. Doesn’t need him anymore…

Head swiveling like his reptilian namesake scenting the air, he scans the camp for a suitable candidate. His eyes nearly immediately fall on Smokethroat a mere tail-length away. Of course! The other lead warrior is renowned for his fighting prowess, and his many scars attest to his bravery in battle. Besides, he has an apprentice already, and Iciclepaw is set to become an equally brilliant warrior. Surely that speaks of his skills as a teacher as well…

Turning to the dark tom, he clears his throat and says, ”On that subject, Smokethroat… Would you mind terribly if I asked you to step in? I feel like Frogpaw needs your… special touch when it comes to training.” He needs a more competent mentor seemed a touch too self-pitying for his taste. ”I fear he did not fight as hard as he could have at Sunningrock. He needs someone to teach him how to…” Fight? No, he knows the basics already. He only lacks technique, experience, the knowledge of how to use one’s body to pull an enemy under the surface with more than sheer luck. ”To be a true Riverclanner,” he finishes darkly. After all, can one truly serve one’s clan without the ability to fight for it and live to tell the tale?

Shaking his head, he adds, ”I resent having to ask you, but he won’t learn a thing from me, and you all seem to have an easier time with mentoring than I do...”
​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely ​

ooc. information.

• ooc: @Smokethroat
  congrats lil buddy that's the worst anyone's ever worded it
  
• — Snakeblink • he / him. 37 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  
  
  

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[SMOKESTAR]

Smokethroat was not a braggart but if he had to pick something to proudly declare outloud it would be how well Iciclepaw's training was coming along rather than his own battle prowess. He didn't need to boldly assert himself in such a way, he had already proven time and time again of his competance and skill and refusal to bend even when backed into a corner; that he was alive now was evidence enough he earned his title as a warrior of RiverClan. But Iciclepaw had not had the rough and forced upbringing that molded him into the combatant he was, she was trained in the safety of their camp under his watchful gaze alone and he had managed a regimine that suited them both and helped her excell. She was a badge of honor for himself and RiverClan, a testament to what a proper apprentice should be; already practically a warrior in everything but name. The discussion of apprentices was listened into intently though not properly joined, he had a vested interest in the clan youth's upbringing, wanting to see them all excell as his own was and disliking the idea of them being coddled and babied about like kittens still; it was the one thing he would butt heads against Willowroot over as she tended to treat them far softer than he considered appropriate. Ashpaw was, well...Ashpaw was the example of what you didn't want your apprentice to be like as unfortunate as it was to just outright think that. She was soft, foolish, shyed away from everything. Though she had recently gotten better about it and even participated in some of their battles she was a farcry from up to standard and falling behind. He wouldn't be surprised if Cicadastar kept her an apprentice longer.
Hearing that Frogpaw might be struggling simiarly caught his attention with most intensity than Snakeblink probably was prepared for.
"What?" His head turned, fire and brimstone eye narrowed in thought to the reasonings and uncertainties and he pushed his paws under him to stand and loom over the other lead warrior with curious skepticism.
"Not fight as hard? The skittish sort is he?" Admittedly he didn't really know Frogpaw too well to make his own observations; he was a quiet young tom and kept to himself generally, so he simply took Snakeblink's commentary at facevalue.
"Quite a few of our apprentices could use some more hands on training. You ought not to be afraid to get too rough with them. That's how you get softpaws who don't want to contribute. How have you been training him?" He would not be surprised to hear many of the mentors pulled their punches, whereas just the other day he nearly took Iciclepaw's head off when she didn't duck to avoid him fast enough.
The dark tom didn't expect every warrior to go as hard or be as brutal as he was in training but he expected less coddling and more strictness.
"Is he pulling away from combat entirely?" Younger apprentices, newly named, often did but Frogpaw was much too old to still be withdrawing from conflict.
​

 

[Snakeblink]

MAYBE I'D BE A SAINT IF I WEREN'T ————————————​

The full intensity of Smokethroat’s blazing eyes focusing on him has Snakeblink’s freezing in place. He would not have felt much different had the dark tom physically pinned him in place. He half opens his mouth, a retort on the tip of his tongue — excuse you, Frogpaw is hardly skittish — but only manages to stutter a dubious noise before the other warrior continues, griping about softpaws and the mentors that cause them. He nods along politely until Smokethroat asks, how have you been training him?

Snakeblink grimaces. Ah… that’s the question, isn’t it? How has he been training Frogpaw? ”Well, I haven’t, mostly,” He chuckles awkwardly, realizing too late that the joke isn’t very funny. He clears his throat. ”I don’t know if you’ve ever seen me fight, but it isn’t exactly my forte...”

How does he explain to one of the best and most enthusiastic fighters of the clan that most of their fighting lessons have been Snakeblink teaching Frogpaw how to run from battles rather than how to win them? Oh, he’s sure the kid can slip out of a grapple like a fish, and if he ever gets in a two-on-one fight he’s sure to come out unscathed… But that’s not what Smokethroat is asking, is it.

”We have been practicing sneak attacks. You know,” he attempts a confident smile, feeling like a fool. ”Using the river to our advantage and all that?”

His tail flicks uneasily when Smokethroat asks if Frogpaw pulls away from combat. ”No, no, he fights, certainly,” he hurries to answer. ”But… you know, he’s no warrior.”

Yet, he adds mentally, glancing around in instinctive search of his apprentice. There was little Snakeblink did during the battle to protect him — little he could have done — but he still worries about what will become of the adolescent once he graduates in rank.
​

——————————————————————————————————— so god damn lonely ​

ooc. information.

• 
  
• — Snakeblink • he / him. 40 ☾, riverclan warrior
  — a sleek, skinny tabby with long ears and a scar over his right eye.
  — gay, not actually evil, penned by @Kangoo
  
  
  

​

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