surprise! ;; dovepaw

[hyacinthbreath]

She'd heard of the tom's mentor before, though she doesn't remember their name well. She does, however, remember the nervous little apprentice with such a scrawny body she's thought of catching him a fish just to make sure he's eaten something that day. Growing kids need their nutrients, didn't they? Each time she thinks about doing so, however, Dovepaw runs away with his tail tucked between his legs as if scared of her. She doesn't understand it much, but she's determined to help him in some way. She couldn't be that intimidating, could she?

Hyacinthbreath watches as Dovepaw fails to catch a rabbit, cocking an eyebrow at his clumsy footing. "Easy there, lad." She meows as she trods over, tail whipping behind her as she watches the rabbit lift its head in the distance. She crouches then, hiding herself in the reeds. "What you want to do is be quicker than that rabbit. You need to be able to keep up with it." A moorlander's technique was to put all of the power in your back legs, but she was no Moor Runner in WindClan. Her ability lied in her tunneling. Still, it took skill to catch rabbits underground, too.

Turning to circle around the reeds, she watches as the rabbit lowers it's head back down. "When you're ready, don't jump at it. It's no vole or mouse. You need to put all your power in the back of your legs and shoot yourself forward as hard as you can. Use your front paws' claws to steady yourself."

@dovepaw. ​

❝ there are wounds inside me, gaping holes of disconnect.
can you drown inside your own body? can you suffocate within this mind? ❞

 

[dovethroat.]

Hyacinthbreath's assessment of his feelings toward her were not exactly incorrect. Maybe it was the amount of times she had put her life on the line, maybe it was the way she spoke, maybe it was just how much skill she seemed to have in such a compact amount of space. In many ways. Dovepaw and Hyacinthbreath were pretty much opposites or at least rather close to it: they could not have less in common, unless one of them suddenly decided they hated RiverClan.

Well, maybe Dovepaw was not so far off from that. But that wasn't important.

Left alone from his mentor for only a moment it felt, he suddenly found himself being spoken to by the very creature he found unusually unnerving. Contrary to the truth, though, he seemed to think that Hyacinthbreath had somehow not noticed his emotions.

"I—uh, um," he sputtered, unsure of what to say or do as he was supplied with greater information and tips than his own mentor had ever supplied. He was fast. He could swim. His mentor just said he had no 'killer instinct', whatever that meant. Shaking subtly, Dovepaw settled his claws into the soil, bringing up his haunches ever so slightly as he knelt down a touch further. His back legs flexed, ready to strike with all strength he had.

He did not turn his head, but his ears did. "Is th-that... b-better?"

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[hyacinthbreath]

Hyacinthbreath watches as the apprentice fixes his posture, violet-tinted hues turning towards the rabbit once more. "Very good," She whispers softly, thick accented tune ringing with satisfaction at the tom's quick learning. It had been a long time since she had taught anyone, Spiritpaw assigned a new mentor and distanced from herself. It was fine, she thought- Spiritpaw was going to be an amazing RiverClan warrior one day, she just knew it. Her adoptive daughter had everything under control.

But did Hyacinth? Could she live with not being able to pass her knowledge down, when she knew so much? Her eyes move back to the apprentice, nodding her head towards him. "You can do this, lad. As fast as your paws can carry you. Nip it quickly on the back of its neck to kill it, or snap it's neck- your choice." Both would be a quick and merciful end for the prey, if he could stomach it. ​

❝ there are wounds inside me, gaping holes of disconnect.
can you drown inside your own body? can you suffocate within this mind? ❞

 

[dovethroat.]

Dovepaw also did not know anyone with an accent quite like Hyacinthbreath's. Of course, Cicadastar had one that was similar in a sense—but it was different. Even if Dovepaw had no way of explaining it in an eloquent manner, he still felt that rather strongly. Continuing to tense the muscles that powered his legs, he listened to his makeshift-mentor's next words. His heart was pounding through his ears, but he did his best to still his breath. It was debatable how much he actually succeeded at that.

He winced at the mention of such methods. It was never nice to know that to live, one had to kill another thing. It was so much easier when he was a kit and did not understand, or when he was a younger apprentice and understood, but did not have to do it. "Right," he whispered, only barely concealing his unease. Leaning back as much as his body could, he repeated Hyacinthbreath's affirmations in his head once, twice, three times.

In a flash, he bounded forward—his legs had a surprising amount of strength, it seemed. Before he could even comprehend much was happening, his jaw opening open with a ferocious stammer. Without even realizing he had done anything, the rabbit was hanging loosely from his jaws. His attempts to still his breathing had all but dissipated, his form trembling with massive gulps of air around blood-stained fur.

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[hyacinthbreath]

Hyacinthbreath watches as he trembles, waits for the hesitance in his eyes to give way to denial. If he wanted to learn, he needed to face his discomforts and go for it- think of nothing else but the kill. Her tail twitches in surprise as he darts forward, a ball of swift fur blurring past her and through the reeds to catch the rabbit. And he does, quite successfully- the rabbit never had a chance! She smiles over to the tom, nodding her head proudly towards him.

"Good job, Dovepaw!" She chimes, grinning towards the taller tom. Her paws carry her over to the apprentice soon after, examining the kill he'd made with a hum of satisfaction. "Beautiful kill. Quick, painless for the rabbit." She sniffs the blood idly, wondering if he'd snapped it's neck or bit down as hard as he could to kill it- either way, he'd done a wonderful job.

"Let's take it to the elder's den- or would you prefer the nursery? I'm sure Buckgait wouldn't mind the kill."​

❝ there are wounds inside me, gaping holes of disconnect.
can you drown inside your own body? can you suffocate within this mind? ❞

 

[dovethroat.]

It probably was not long ago that Dovepaw was still smaller than Hyacinthbreath, as small as she was. He had been going through a bit of a growth spurt as of late, resulting in his legs and joints aching and protesting with every move that he made around camp. At the absolute praise he received, he looked a touch even taller. Vocal, pointed praise was something that Dovepaw did not stumble across very often—especially from the likes of his mentor—and getting it made him feel like he was on cloud nine.

"Th—...th-thank you," he breathed, letting the captured rabbit drop sadly to the ground as he opened his mouth. His eyes darted down to look down at the caught creature for a split second before he seized up at the sight of it and averted his gaze entirely. The reassurance of "painlessness" only seemed to soothe him so much, which was not a lot.

He cleared his throat, looking unsure. "I, uh... I d-don't know. What w-would be best, y-you think?"

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[hyacinthbreath]

"It's your kill, so you can decide. I think Mudheart was talking about being hungry earlier when the apprentices were picking out her ticks, though. The Elder's den is probably the best." She hums, circling the younger tom before she herself hears her stomach growl. "And for me.. I think I'll go grab something from the fresh kill pile. Perhaps we can share something, ja?" She knows the tom is nervous to be around her still, but she hopes this interaction helps set in stone that she means no harm to him. She was an experienced warrior, a soldier born for war- but she was no danger. Juniperfrost's demise was bound to happen, with the way they were nemesis' to each other. One was bound to overstep, and it happened to be the WindClan warrior. Hyacinthbreath turns away from the apprentice, beginning her march over to the fresh-kill pile for something to eat. "So.. What's going on with you apprentice's? I don't.. Necessarily spend my time around you all. Any juicy gossip?" She chuckles, tail waving behind her. It was out of the way, but they could make their way to the elder's den next.​

❝ there are wounds inside me, gaping holes of disconnect.
can you drown inside your own body? can you suffocate within this mind? ❞

 

[dovethroat.]

Listening intently to Hyacinthbreath's words with slightly swivelling ears, the look of mild concerned that seemed to stamped upon his face did not disappear. It was just a part of his natural features at this point, it seemed. "O-Okay... y-yeah. Um, elder... elder's d-den, then," Dovepaw nodded, taking Hyacinthbreath's suggestion to heart. He was not sure, at this point, where his mentor even was. He supposed it did not exactly matter. Unlike Hyacinthbreath, he was not built for war. If anything, it was practically the opposite. He did not want to be a warrior, particularly. But being an apprentice forever was to embarrassing for him to accept.

"Um," Dovepaw paled, looking upward as if to signify his thinking. "I... I o-only e-ever really s-speak with Ravenpaw and C-Crappiepaw, r-really, and um," the only thing of note he could really think to bring up was Ravenpaw's... pseudo-atheistic beliefs. And he wasn't going to talk about that. That would be irresponsible. "N-Not r-really." He half-lied. "We m-mostly just, uh... t-train. And s-stuff."

He frowned. He knew that was a boring and bad answer. "I w-wish, um, I h-had... more to say," he laughed meekly, pitying himself a bit.

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