Rushing Headlong (Drippingpaw)

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Moonpaw stood with her back to the forest, facing the stump that sat at an off-angle with the training hollow. It sat there, really not doing anything, but in her mind it was an enemy preparing to attack. Moonpaw flexed her claws, working on shortening her reaction time. She heard a soft noise, and instantly she sprang forward and landed on top of the stump with a gentle thud. Moonpaw shook herself and twitched her whiskers. She hated having to resort to such strange training methods, but apprentices in ThunderClan were few and far between, and after her mentor died she had had to cope with whatever warrior was available. Which at this moment equaled... none. Moonpaw leaped back into the soft sand of the hollow, enjoying the feeling of the particles rubbing between her claws. She stretched and lashed her tail, wondering what she would do now. What can I do? I'm not even supposed to be outside of camp... She thought, with a pang of guilt. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy hearing the Elders tell their stories, but she would rather be out doing something that shaped her fighting skills, not her supporting skills. After all, she'd need more of the former as a Warrior, wouldn't she? Moonpaw shook her head, exasperated. She didn't know what to make of the world any longer. After all, it had once been so easy to understand and now... now she just couldn't keep up. It felt as though she were rushing headlong onto a Thunderpath with Monsters flying by just inches away from her pelt.

[drippingpaw]

OOC: Just for the record, Silentjaw doesn't speak. Cats just kinda get what he's saying.

Silentjaw walked into the training hollow. He had heard noises, sharp mewings. And thumps. The large black and white tom with the large paws saw a small she-cat. Moonpaw, he thought. Silentjaw walked up to her. When he was sure she had seen him, he shook his headleft and right. No. Not out here unsupervised. He stomped his paw, which made a large humph! since his paws were so large.

[lionnotloggedin]

Moonpaw stiffened when she scented a cat nearby. She turned and watched as Silentjaw, a silent Warrior that was a daunting sight, trekked through the sand towards her. She sat obediantly and waited. When he was close enough for her to feel completely drowned in his repressing aura, he made a gesture that explained to Moonpaw his thoughts. He thinks I shouldn't be out here alone. Moonpaw thought ruefully. He was probably right. But apprentices her age went out all the time! She would be a Warrior soon! Moonpaw looked into his eyes and wished she could make him understand.

"I was supervised until the Warrior watching me left." She meowed fretfully. It wasn't a lie - exactly. After all, a Warrior had been here watching her. But he'd left pretty soon, uninterested in her games and unwilling to train with her one-on-one. Moonpaw tried to think that her lack of training wouldn't stunt her apprenticeship, but she couldn't help but think of it that way.

[drippingpaw]

Silentjaw stopped moving, blinking. If a warrior left her here, then he'd take up the responsibility. He nodded over to the stump. Show me. Then he sat down, fixed on the she-cat. Waiting, judging.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Moonpaw understood, and with a brisk nod she trotted over to her former position. The log was her "enemy" once again. She crouched, waiting. As soon as she heard a sound - it was just the breeze stirring the treetops - she leaped and landed flat on the log, digging her claws into the bark. She turned and shrugged sheepishly. She'd never had much one-on-one training, so this had be all she could do at the time.

[drippingpaw]

Silentjaw nodded, half approving from what she taught herself, half disappointed that this was all she knew. He focused on the area behind her. Move. The large tom got into the position. His short claws unsheathed themselves. And it felt great. He imagined the stump as his enemy. He circled it, paw over paw, hissing softly, continuously. Then an ant that survived the winter crawled out of a hole. That was Silentjaw's cue. He leaped right in front of the stump, not above it, for fear that his enemy would attack his soft vulnerable underbelly. His paw was already crossing by the time he landed, strinking out against the ant as his claws ripped the bark of the trunk. At this point, his enemy would recoil, and jump forward in a shouldercharge. Silentjaw jumped to the left and with a combination of left and right paws, jabbed his claws into the wood, one, two, three. He finished with a blow from his pad that knocked the loose bark off the top of the stump and into the woods. He was silent during this.
Siolentjaw looked into the eyes of Moonpaw. He nodded to the stump. Now show me again.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Moonpaw watched with wides eyes as Silentjaw attacked the stump. She could imagine the reasons for every move, and wondered why she hadn't considered this before. Her mentor had taught her that it was best to keep the belly away from claws, and jumping on top of things probably wasn't going to do that. She memorized in that instant every move Silentjaw made. Her heartbeat quickened when he motioned for her to try. Please StarClan, let me get this right! She crouched and moved forward stealthily. She leaped at the log just as the breeze stirred the leaves again, but this time she let herself drop short of her quarry. Moonpaw raked her claws across the bark, leaping sideways as Silentjaw had done, clawing the air as if the enemy had moved and wasn't still in the same position. Finally she pressed forward again and ended the move by ducking to the side and swiping her claws, instead of the move Silentjaw had done. She didn't know if it was a good move, but she liked the feel more than a front-on attack.

[drippingpaw]

Silentjaw closed his eyes and moved his mouth in some semblance of a smile. The small apprentice knew how to focus. The way she really saw the enemy, moved when it moved, and ended with a duck and sweep. Of course, that probably wouldn't end the fight, but it was a beautiful, intelligent move nonetheless. The she-cat wasn't powerful yet, so she made up for it with finesse, speed, and agility. And she did it well. Silentjaw walked to the stump and inspected the combined rakes in the bark that the two had made. He stomped the ground and mentioned towards the forest. Need to hunt.

OOC: If we go hunting, do we start the hunting in another thread?

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

OOC: meh, not really. *shrugs* It doesn't matter.

BIC: Moonpaw nodded reluctantly. She was finally feeling like a Warrior, and now she had to go hunting? She sighed. It was hard to just sit back and trust that the older Warriors knew what they were doing when she knew she wasn't getting enough attention. Moonpaw tried not to be fussy about it, but she was eleven moons old. Normally, she would be near the Warrior age, but she wasn't even close to that skill level. Moonpaw felt ashamed. She was failing her Clan.

[drippingpaw]

Silentjaw saw her nod, not that he really cared whether she wanted to go or not. The clan needed food, especially in leaf-bare. He walked off towards the woods. He wished he could smell all the scents of the thick forests. but the cold seemed to cover up most of it. It would be hard to hunt.
The large tom, at random, walked over to a tree. Other cats believed that silence and stealth would find fresh kill. In the barren months of leaf-bare, however, Silentjaw had a different plan. He didn't know if Moonpaw was there, but he just needed to hunt for the clan. His large paw slammed against the tree. If anything was in there, it would probably run out. Nothing. Then he heard pitter patter. Silentjaw slowly circled around the tree, searching for knotholes in the base. He found one, and waited. Nothing. The large paw smashed against the tree again. More pitter patter, then, a grey flash. Like quicksilver, Silentjaw caught the rodent and pierced it on the neck. It fell dead. Just a mouse. He turned to see where Moonpaw was.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Moonpaw was scenting for prey when she noticed Silentjaw wandering towards a nearby tree. She sat still and watched as he tapped it and then circled, tapping it again. A mouse darted out and he caught it, to Moonpaw's great surprise. She was shocked.

"How did you do that?" She squeaked.

[drippingpaw]

Silentjaw noticed Moonpaw's voice asking him how his trick was possible. He looked at her and explained how by rotating his ears to show sound and ran around to show fright. It looked ridiculous, but Silentjaw wasn't about to speak.He walked up to another tree and tried it again. Nothing. Then he caught a noise. A small crunch ofhard dirt. Most likely a vole, and a fat one too. Rare in this season. He motioned to Moonpaw, and back to the vole. Get it.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Moonpaw watched Silentjaw closely, again calculating the reasons for every move. She watched him again and then slowly padded up to the tree. She tapped her forepaw against it and heard something stirring inside. She stalked around to where she could hear it best, and found the vole's den's entrance. She tapped the tree harder, and the little beast shot from the hole in terror. Moonpaw caught it in her claws just in time. It was a messy kill, but she made one. She turned to Silentjaw and blinked. She wondered if she had done it precisely right.

[drippingpaw]

Silentjaw stared at Moonpaw, then at the bloody vole. He didn't move, and frowned a bit. Silentjaw didn't understand that this was Moonpaw's first time catching food this way, and so he wasn't very happy of the way she caught it, paws flailing, not ready. He picked it up in his mouth, along with the mouse. One more, and they'll be done. He walked to another tree, found a hole, and smashed it with his pad. Nothing. He turned away, and then heard a noise. It sounded small, but it was something. He didn't know where it came from though. He looked to Moonpaw and turned his ears back and forth. Noise. Get it. Again.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Moonpaw had been watching Silentjaw when she heard something. She turned and looked at the tree closest to her. Padding up to it, she tapped the bark. There was the sound again. She circled the tree, tapping gently, until she found the two escape routes. She used a stone she found nearby to plug up one entrance, and then she circled around to catch the critter. Moonpaw tapped the bark, and this time she was ready. She slammed her paw down on the back of the mouse just as it darted out of hiding. She smiled triumphantly as she carried ti back to Silentjaw.

[drippingpaw]

The large black cat with the white spots stared straight into Moonpaw's eyes... And nodded. She wouldn't get much more approval then that, but coming from Silentjaw, it was very good. The idea of plugging the other hole up was brilliant. He walked over to investigate the mouse. It was larger than he expected, but still pretty small. He picked it up, along with his other kill, and started walking bacak to the training hollow. He wasn't done with her yet.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Moonpaw, despite the knowledge that it was a sparse show of praise, bubbled inside with pride. She glowed even as she picked up some of the prey and trotted after Silentjaw. Just the recognition that she had done something right was enough to send her into a happy state of ectasy. She stopped when he did and set her prey down, watching for signals on what they would do next.

[drippingpaw]

Silentjaw went back to the training hollow. When he was there, he sat and closed his eyes. He would need to train Moonpaw unofficialy until she could get a real mentor again. He would treat her to lunge first, then to... no, she stalked well, she didn't need to practice that right now. Maybe strike without claws, which can come in handy when trying to intimidate, but not injure seriously. Then they would go to scratching. He had plans for this apprentice, and perhaps Silentjaw was thinking way over his head. But one should always plan ahead, lest one become bewildered with the pace of things. They would not be able to cover all of this in a day, unless Moonpaw happened to be an extremely fast learner. He was ready for that. Silentjaw opened his eyes.

[.:-Aikoa-:.]

Moonpaw followed Silentjaw into the Sandy Hollow and sat down, waiting for him to decide what he was going to do next. She wondered if he would teach her more. He seemed so kind! She wished secretly that he was her mentor. Despite his muteness, he had such a keen interest in everything around him, and he was so smart. Moonpaw just wished she could have him to teach her all the time. She let out a little sigh and cocked her head, ready to know what would happen next.

[drippingpaw]

When Silentjaw swiveled his head to find Moonpaw there, he nodded to her, then the stump. Then he lunged at it from where he was standing. He didn't land in front of it this time, because this time the lunge was his attack. His short, sharp claws dug into the stump as he slid around it, as the stump was not shaped like a cat, and hard to get a real grip on. He let go and shook his head. There was no possible way Moonpaw could learn on his thing. They'd have to face eachother, and if that meant Moonpaw getting a little hurt from his weight, that didn't matter. ThuynderClan needs warriors in case of an attack. Although, Silentjaw had started to... like... having Moonpaw around. Not that he wanted her for anything. Apprenticeship was far off his list of things to do.
Silentjaw zoned back into the real world. He nodded to Moonpaw, then curled his tail till it pointed at his back. His eye glinted. Lunge at me. Her impact and claws would probably not hurt him too much. He's seen worse than that. He touched his scar, running from the bottom of his ear to the middle of his cheek. Oh yes, he's seen worse than that.