THE LAND IS INHOSPITABLE AND SO ARE WE \ tracking practice

[TWITCHBOLT]

Twitchbolt had gathered as many volunteers, as many eager learners, as he possibly could- it was under the guise of education, and was for that purpose, mostly... but stars, he couldn't live with the risk of anyone getting injured. Even the scrape of a bramble on flesh would probably make it all feel awful and futile. So, so- there was safety in numbers. There were warriors at his side, too. And that was what he'd stuck to, that logic that they could all protect each other, and help each other...

Daisyflight had always told him he was a good tracker, and- well, he almost believed it. Bought into it just enough to enjoy it, and to sometimes not worry that he was somehow doing something wrong. So, he looked to those who had volunteered, eyes as wide and wary as ever, jittering as always- but his tone contained a low-key peppering of confidence. "We're practicing tracking," he informed them all, offering a wobbly little smile.

"There's- there's lots of nuances to scents. But if you, if you pay attention... it can tell you a lot." He mainly spoke to the apprentices as he gave his little pep-talk. "If we're gonna get rid of these rogues, we... we need to know where they've been, when they were there, which way they went, definitively. So... what, what we're doing today is practicing, not pursuing." Twitchbolt gave a grave look. "Don't run off."

"Try... try and track scents that have been covered- that are old, stale... describe everything you can dis-discern from it. Even if you can't tell exactly what it is, try and describe what it reminds you of, and- and it might lead you to the answer."

Beneath the smell of snow and damp, Twitchbolt could tell a fox had ran through here a while ago, but had long departed. He knew that there had been more than one squirrel here earlier in the day, and was possibly still nearby. The closer they would near to the Twolegplace border, the more potent the scent of rogue would grow... but he'd leave it up to them, for now.

\ We need to make sure we have the rogues' scents; practice your tracking, but be careful!​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[LUPINESONG]

❀‿ Lupinepaw stands among the gathered crowd, listening intently and offering Twitchbolt an encouraging smile to his wobbling one. She... didn't know how well she would fare if her nose did end up leading her into the paws of a rogue ambush, the thought of it made her shift nervously upon her paws. But she was here anyway because the last thing she wanted was to let her fear keep her senses dulled from encroaching dangers, no matter how terrifying. She was still glad they were just focusing on tracking them instead of pursuing them today, though.

"Do smells last longer on the ground?" Lupinepaw asks, nose sweeping from the wet earth to a nearby tree trunk, "Cause there's something... Hmm.." She hummed and leaned up onto the bark with her forepaws.

"Like, mousey, or ratty... A squirrel?" she asked. She moved to sniff the ground again, "Something else too... I don't know what though. "

NOBODY YET EVERYTHING ⊹₊°❀‿ A POOL TO SHED YOUR MEMORY

• OOC:
• 
• 
  — lupinekit . lupinepaw
  — trans she/her. 9mo apprentice of skyclan. padding after falconpaw
  — a tall, pretty, long-haired black smoke with low white and green eyes
  — smells like sweet lupine flowers and young pine needles
  — "speech", thoughts, attack
  — icon by antiigone, fullbody by pikaihao and chibi by rae
  — penned by eezy

​

 

[Hazelbeam]

————————————————————⊰★★★⊱———————————————————

"Smells on the ground will stick for a while unless it rains or there's a lot of heavy snowfall." Just like tracks, it could be buried and they'd lose the trail if it wasn't pursued fast enough. Hazelbeam hummed to herself in amusement, glancing thoughtfully to Twitchbolt who probably could smell for miles given how alert he was and how often his nose flared open as if attempting to absorb all the air in the area in one inhale. The black and blue molly patted a paw on the ground in quiet contemplation, "Edenpaw-" She said finally, smiling, "-want to help Lupinepaw out? What do you smell? Maybe together you two can solve the puzzle!"
It was better to let the apprentices bump their heads together than to give an answer directly, though she was not clanborn and had been a housecat for so long, her days wandering the streets and in her twolegs garden hunting sparrow had given her plenty of tracking experience that her time in SkyClan only honed. The daylight warrior glanced to the lead with her teeth showing in endearment, "Have your patrols come across anymore signs of them recently? I heard one had just the other day and it was still fresh." Which meant they hadn't run off and saved SkyClan the grief of having to chase them yet - part of her was thrilled at the idea of driving them away to defend the clan but another part of her just wanted everyone to be okay and safe and for this to be over.

★ such a wonder to be under her spell ———— ★ she's a woman in total control of herself

• Apprentice Tag - @edenpaw ?!
• 
  
  
  Hazelbeam
  —⊰⋅ Daylight Warrior of SkyClan
  —⊰⋅ She/Her
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ SH Black/Blue Chimera w/blue eyes
  - Does NOT wear her witch hat while hunting or on patrol.
  

​

 

[BEETLEBACK]

To be honest he joined this training session because he was curious what was going to be taught. Tracking was on his mind the least, but he supposed it made sense. Tracking regardless of whether or not it was used to for the rogues, was valuable. It helped immensely during hunts, therefore what they were all being taught had many applications. In short. Twitchbolt's teachings wouldn't go to waste. He nods in encouragement towards the lead warrior to continue. As for Beetleback's own tracking skills? He wasn't terrible at it, but he was more attuned to scents that were... bloody. Putrid. He'd eaten scraps mostly in his life and for a good number of moons he hung around the twoleg place where he consumed bizarre foods which scents were equally bizarre to describe to any clan cat. It was safe to say distinguishing between the different types of rodents or birds was difficult for him.

In any case he tries his paws at practicing and isn't sure he is doing this right. Snow. Mud. Ears flick at the sound of Lupinepaw's voice. A mouse? Squirrel? How the heck you'd get that kid? He frowns to himself and presses his nose to the dirt, using his paws to shift the ground. A faint scent is picked up, but it doesn't smell like whatever Lupinepaw said. It reeks a bit, but he can tell it is definitely not from a cat. No cat would smell this way. Not even a rogue. "...I smell a lot of snow and mud for sure, but I, there's something else. Stinks a little bit, so it can't be that fresh. Hmmmmm," He can't quite place a name on the creature yet. It's not his fault he hasn't run into that many foxes in all his moons of living.

 

[Drizzlepelt]

When Twitchbolt calls for volunteers to do some practicing, Drizzlepelt eagerly took up the opportunity. Even if he didn’t know it was tracking beforehand, any skills he can pick up are useful, and the anxiety over the rogues makes him want to be more prepared than ever. It’s a skill that most cats take for granted too, thinking about it. His sense of smell has always been stronger than he assumed it was for most cats, and he used to have to actively ignore it. Unless he’s out hunting, he tends to ignore most smells instinctively. Maybe he should try and use it to his advantage more often…

Standing close to Beetleback, he takes a good whiff for himself. Unfortunately, the fresh scents completely overpower anything else he could have noticed, and Drizzlepelt has to take a step back for a moment. “Mmm…” the blue tabby stammers, mouth hanging open to process the sudden assault on his senses. He turns his attention to Twitchbolt after he shakes it off, “I’m used to forcing old smells down, if you have any tips to ignore stronger ones?”​

 

[Orangestar]

𝐵𝑈𝑇 𝑇𝑂 𝐴 𝑊𝑂𝑀𝐴𝑁, 𝐵𝑌 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝐸𝑁𝐷 ✧ 𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐋𝐋 𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀

• 
  
  — orangeblossom | tags
  — she/her ; deputy of skyclan. mentoring springpaw.
  — scarred white-and-ginger she-cat with brown eyes.
  — "speech" ; thoughts
  — chibi by waluigipinball
  — penned by mercibun. @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots.
  
  

​

Orangeblossom tags along with the patrol, content to refresh her tracking skills. They're not her strongest suit, far more used to hunting with her eyes and ears moreso than her sense of smell, and even with Twitchbolt's guidance she's had no luck so far. It doesn't help that she's struggling uphill against a stuffy nose, forced to take the occasional breath through parted jaws instead.

Try to describe stale scents, he suggests, ones covered ... Nose twitching, the deputy manages little aside from an annoyed grunt at the intermingling nonsense of prey dampened by snow and her own blockaded sense. Her ears twitch backwards briefly but she doesn't say anything outright, pride only allowing her to instead to listen to the questions piping up around her. Maybe some of Twitchbolt's advice would prove fruitful. Even if she isn't able to discern much, at the very least she could pass it on to Springpaw during their camp-training.

​

 

[edenberry ?!]

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊 〰 Their ears swivel to listen to the soft hum of a increasingly more familiar voice and while their gaze never departs from the familiar silhouette of their den-mate, the suggestion to actually give it a try and help doesn't cross them until spoken into the world. "O-oh... duh...." Wandering stiffly closer to Lupinepaw, they flash their friend a nervous smile (if even Lup couldn't pick apart the scent, how in the hells was Edenpaw meant to?). The bark is tender despite the harsh winter's freeze... the ice creeping between its joints to the trunk to weaken it, to make it more brittle. How can scent cling to things that hardly wanna stay put together?

They know the answer... through virtue of having been alive long enough to see it in action.

Leaning towards the ground with a twitching nose to try to make sense of anything, they find the appeal from the dark-furred apprentice next to them to be pretty much the only worthwhile summary... It's old prey scent and lots of it... Probably that a rodent lives in this tree or under its roots. But there is a stinking, sour tang hidden in those earthier notes and it makes them draw back from the forest floor with their mouth open in dismay from sheer disgust. "It smells like they just... like.. marked everywhere!" They lift a paw in disdain, pulling away as if a flood of the foul stuff might spring up under the pristine white snow.

"It's not fresh but man it stinks!"​