private You've got time to grow ✶ Lionpaw

[Owlheart]

One night after Crowsight had been paired with Lionpaw the two of them had joked about switching apprentices for the day as the pair of them had been candid about what skills they lacked in as mentors, Owlheart was pretty abysmal at fighting, she had been getting better but she would feel more secure that Cloudpaw was receiving the best care if she spent a day learning under Crowsight’s tutelage. He had mentioned the same plight, holding a preference to fighting rather than hunting and so she had offered to look after Lionpaw for a day. Just enough to see how he hunted and then she could give Crowsight pointers on what she would personally look out for going forward. It all felt rather grown up, the discussion of business like this, it reminded her of the fact that they were warriors now with responsibilities like apprentices to be concerned about.

The glare of the sun caused her to squint as she glanced over at Lionpaw, golden gaze resting upon the newly given scar. She didn’t press on it, figuring that he had been asking enough. Besides, it wasn’t her place to ask. “I’m thinking about combining climbing and hunting today” she mused outloud as she tore her eyes away from the torbie point to instead look at the tree tops, careful to examine what trees are intertwining. She didn’t want to take any risks today, none further than the inherent ones of being so high in the sky, so any neighbouring trees with too wide of a gap would be ruled out. “Don’t worry so much about actually catching anything today, if you do then that’s just a bonus” she explains as she approaches a tree, only to find that the gap between the branches was too wide. Hm, another one to rule out.

“We’re going to hunt from the trees, it can be a little tricky so we’ll mostly just focus on landing the jumps.” That sounded fine, at least to her. She could see how he goes with stalking and jumping, she wanted to focus on the patience and control that comes with hunting rather than actually finding prey. “If you don’t think you’re up for it then can we split the two and just practice climbing then hunt on the ground? Completely up to you” this was not her apprentice, she didn’t know his limits so she was trusting that he would communicate with her. Finally finding an eligible tree, strong and... oak? She’s pretty sure that it’s an oak tree. Alongside it was another one, the tree’s branches are just a few whisker lengths from one another. “We’ll start climbing to the lower branches and work our way up” there’s a rare finality to her tone, making up her own mind.

With a crouch she then jumps onto the bark, digging claws into the tree before pulling herself up. She took her time with it, not having the speed that she normally did but she wasn’t bothered by it. Reaching the first branch she shuffled from the trunk so that there was space for Lionpaw. Figuring they could take a moment to go over the plan in more depth now that they were up there. “How’s Crowsight going by the way? As your mentor I mean” she knew how he was on his day to day but this was a side that she didn’t know about. As she took the time to catch her breath and figure out if they were climbing or hunting that this idle chatter would be pleasant enough to fill in the gaps.

// @LIONPAW
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[LIONPAW]

〔✦〕As the pair walks, Lionpaw thankfully does not catch Owlheart's gaze lingering on the ugly reminder of the mistake he'd made. It was a physical reminder of Lionpaw's foolishness and also the cat who gave it to him — his own brother. The chocolate torbie point had been taking the news of everything quite hard, truthfully—Skyclaw's relation to him, Moonwhisper's passing—so a switch up in routine was probably something that he needed to serve as a distraction. Owlheart was not a clanmate that he knew well, other than the fact that she was Orangestar's daughter and his big brother's love.

As they near a towering pine, Owlheart details her agenda for the day: hunting in the trees. Lionpaw's heart surges a bit, his blue eyes traveling up the whole length of the evergreen; intimidation creeps down his spine. "Oh... alright," The apprentice accepts tentatively, knowing that this is a skill that every SkyClanner should master. They were the child of SkyClan's founder, for StarClan's sake — they had to be good at this! Maybe Owlheart would be able to teach him... Seeing as Crowsight tended to focus on combat, Lionpaw did not have much luck with hunting or climbing. He could manage to reach the lower branches but being able to navigate the boughs while focusing on securing a kill? That was something different entirely.

When the ginger-hued molly proposed the idea of splitting the training into two should Lionpaw grow discouraged, the torbie point was swift to insist, "No, er... I'll try it." Albeit they did not sound entirely convincing, they would try their best to make a catch today. Wouldn't it be amazing if Lionpaw were to bring a bird back to camp, one he had caught in the trees? Doeblaze and Crowsight would be proud, surely.

So, the climb commences with Owlheart taking the lead and Lionpaw falling suit. Climbing was not difficult for the apprentice, or at least to the lower branches. In the midst of the boy's eagerness to impress, his foot slipped out — tensing, he scrambled and quickly dug his claws into the bark, managing to catch himself. For a moment he collects his composure, swallowing before crawling to the branch successfully. Whew. "It's goin' fine." The tom answered simply, not having much to say about his training with Crowsight. His relationship with his older brother was an interesting one but he would not bother the warrior with the details. "He's teachin' me a lot. I wanna be as good of a warrior as he is one day." Crowsight had been trained by Silversmoke himself, even. His dream was to be as skilled as the lead warrior, if not more.

coming down ( is the hardest thing ) //

• ooc.
  
• LIONPAW — apprentice of skyclan , mentored by crowsight ✦ penned by beatles
  ✦ trans male / he/they pronouns / 7 moons & ages every 9th
  ✦ single / bisexual & monogamous
  ✦ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / underline & tag account when attacking
  — easy combat difficulty / won't start fights, won't kill
  
  ✦ "speech", thoughts, all opinions are ic
  ✦ biography — msg on discord for plots — toyhouse
  
• 
  
  

  a longhaired chocolate torbie point with blue eyes. a silky, cream-colored pelt is adorned with chocolate points. his points are splashed with ginger spots. tabby patterns also stripe around their dark limbs and face. a thin scratch is present on his face from right eyebrow to left cheek under his eye.

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[Owlheart]

No reply is given to Lionpaw's insistence, none other than a hum of acknowledgement. If he was certain that would be fine then she wasn't going to try and discourage him. They weren't particularly convincing but one's ego is a fragile thing and pride can be fickle. Lionpaw has already been dealt a poor hand by fate and circumstance lately so she wasn’t going to try and give him more fuel to doubt his capabilities. “We'll take it slow, get you used to the motions of it” while she preferred trying to hunt this way it had taken her time to get comfortable committing the act.

She tried to keep an ear out for how he was travelling as they climbed up the tree. Nothing sounded like it was going horribly wrong, she gathered that something had gone unplanned by the speed at which his paws moved after a beat. There were no outcries though, no reason for Owlheart to have to look back or try to assist. After a heartbeat Lionpaw is there joining her on the branch. So far so good, she hadn't managed to misjudge his capabilities yet. There was a lingering dread over the idea of pushing them too far, of an accident occurring. The idea of her accidentally harming her partner's apprentice, his brother. No. It's fine, nothing has gone wrong and the torbie point was here unharmed.

“I'm sure you will be, I bet you'll be a fantastic warrior” she smiles, pleased by the optimism and determination he carries with his words. There seemed to be more conviction there compared to anything else the apprentice has said. She can't help but wonder if he had spoken to Crowsight about this, wondering how he would feel to be held in such high regard. That thought was shelved, a conversation that can be held for another day. “Could you walk me through what you already know about climbing, tracking and hunting?” She pauses trying to think of a more specific request “How high have you climbed, I mean. Just so I know what to expect, you can be honest I won't judge you for it.” The ginger tabby hoped that her honesty would carry through.

Listening to his explanations with quiet nods of affirmation she curls her tail around herself. Careful to keep her balance she looks up to a branch that was two higher from where they were. It seemed close enough to neighbouring trees so they could practise picking up scents of any nearby birds or squirrels. “We'll climb up there to start, you should take the lead and I'll see how your posture is while climbing” she decides after consideration. If Lionpaw seems to accept that she'll wait for him to begin to climb, keeping an eye out for how he placed his paws this time and how he tried to maintain balance. Satisfied that she had seen enough she begins to climb after him, tensing in anticipation for anything to potentially go awry.

Given nothing goes wrong she meets them on the chosen branch. Only when on the branch does she let go of that tension, believing that this piece of wood high up from the ground to be a place of safety. “Good job, now once you catch your breath I want you to take in the forest around you. See if you can pick up on any particular scents nearby.” She could have sworn she spotted a bird's nest higher up on the tree so there shouldn't be any stale scent to pick up on in theory.

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