CLOSED A proper Teaching

[Longstorm]

Cunningheart, a large white Warrior of Abyssclan, was leading a young kit and a young she-cat through the rainy woods of their territory. "Even in this weather," she was mewing over her shoulder, "you must be prepared to catch and kill prey for the good of the Clan."

[NKninja]

Corrupt, mesmerized with the large environment; not so compacted into a line, like the city and it's swiveling blacktop. It took a while for her to draw her attention to Cunningheart's lecture... Then a question hit her, " Are there any rats in this territory?" she mewed with concern deep in her aging tone.

[Longstorm]

Cunningheart shook her head. "No - not many, and not nearby. They know to stay on the outskirts of AbyssClan territory."
"Are rats bad," Fresh squeaked.
Cunningheart looked down at the scrap of a kit. "No," she mewed, "not unless you don't know how to fight."
"Are you going to teach us to fight?"
The she-cat smiled slightly. "Soon."

[NKninja]

Corrupt did like the sound of it; being able to fight for herself.. She raised a smile as she padded along to the thought. She cocked her head upward and brought in a small scent of mouse. It was too hard to smell much else from the pouring rain.

[Longstorm]

Fresh, seeing Corrupt sniffing, inhaled through his nose sharply - and sniffed in rain drops. He sneezed violently, shaking his small head.
Cunningheart smirked for a moment. "When it's raining," she mewed, "most plant-eaters will hang around outside. Dunno why, but they do." She shrugged. "But they'll try to find some minor shelter while they eat. So, where do you think they'll be sheltering?"
Fresh looked up, his face scrunched up in thought. "Hmm. Under trees?"
Cunningheart shook her head. "No."

[NKninja]

" Bushes?" Corrupt added quickly, unsure of the answer as well. She turned to a nearby shrub, as if waiting for prey to just spring out and call Eat me!

[Longstorm]

Cunningheart nodded. "Indeed! Berry bushes, specifically." She looked down at Fresh. "Small prey that usually don't live in trees don't take shelter under trees - too big for them, it seems. Prey that does, birds, squirrels, stay high in the branches - you'll learn how to hunt in the trees later, though."
Fresh nodded, putting the she-cat's word into his 'memory den.' Hunting in the trees? He looked up at the tall, dark trees in wonder. Like a bird? "Wow," he breathed.
Cunningheart allowed herself to smirk a moment, then addressed both of the cats. "We'll start with ground animals. Like you said, Corrupt, we will be starting with bushes. There's some berry bushes a short ways from here." She pointed to a clump of bushes a few fox-legnths away.
"But first," she stepped on the tail of an eager Fresh, "you need to know the basics. This is the hunter's crouch." Cunningheart crouched, evenly distributing her weight in all four of her paws, tail straight out, belly fur off of the ground. "In AbyssClan territory, our key strength in ground hunting is our patience due to our terrain." She waved her tail, moving on. "Semantics, really - do what I'm doing!"
Fresh, having seen the position with Corrput and his siblings before, crouched low to the ground. His tail brushed the pine needles and his soft kitten fur was getting covered in mud, and his ears were flat on his head.

[NKninja]

Corrupt followed easily behind, lowering her large haunches, and her tail. It took her a few moments to adjust to the correct position Cunningheart had showed them. With her weight and leverage balanced out, she softly turned her gaze back over to the she-cat, and nodded silently, feeling as if she moved any bit more, all prey would just scamper away in fear.

[Longstorm]

Cunningheart looked at Fresh and sighed. She looked at Corrupt and nodded briefly. "Check the direction of the wind, Corrupt," she instructed. "Make sure you're downwind, meaning the wind is blowing any direction but from behind. If the wind is heading towards the prey, the prey will scent you." The she-cat looked back at Fresh and mewed, "You should also be sure that your belly fur is off of the ground, and your tail straight and still. Your ears should be pricked forward as well, to catch the heartbeat of the prey in your ear fur."
She looked back at Corrupt. "Let's see your forward movement."
Fresh's eyes widened. He quickly crouched a little higher, getting his fur out of the mud, bringing his ears forward and stiffening his tail.

[NKninja]

Upwind? Sounds like a bird term, Corrupt thought briefly. Only partly content in the training, she still did as she was told, Taking a heartbeat to feel the wind against her fur. It was sailing to what she thought was North-West, luckily afar from any prey they could intentionally catch during practice. After she felt the breeze, she pricked her ears forward, feeling very uncomfortable with her position, But, if she says it's right, it must be...

[Longstorm]

"Come on," Cunningheart urged, "stalk."
Fresh narrowed his eyes determinedly. He slowly began to walk forward, trying to be as quiet as possible. "How's this," he whispered.
"Try to sliding your paws more," Cunningheart suggested. "A mouse is more likely to fell your pawsteps before it will smell you, and you'll be less likely to make anything crackle, whether it be sticks or dead leaves."

OOC: This is sorta fun! But I won't keep it going for too long. I don't want to bore you NK.

[NKninja]

OOC: Bore? Nonsense! It's building character, and that's what I'm going for!

IC: Corrupt began to come forward, etching her paws more then sliding. As she padded forward, she could feel the mud moving with her paws, leaving marks and such. Mousedung, that's not right!, she thought as she lifted her paw a bit more with each step. She stopped for a moment to shake the mud off of her paws, and turned over to Cunningheart, " Is it normal to get your paws stuck in the mud when you stalk?" she asked.

[Longstorm]

OOC: Oh, cool.

IC: Cunningheart nodded. "In these weather conditions, I'd be amazed if you didn't." She stood properly, rolling her shoulders a bit. "The trick of the matter, with mud, is to curl the ends of your paw in when you come up, but set your paw down normally. Since you move slowly when stalking prey it doesn't matter if you walk that way. But only when in mud." She gave both of the cats a stern look. "If you run like that you'll end up with twisted paws, or worse."
The she-cat took a moment to show how to curl their paws, almost like she was making a hollow in her paw. When she stuck her paw in the mud and brought it back up, there was little mud on her paw and it came out without a sound.

Fresh nodded gravely and went back to trying to stalk. "Curl in," he said. It was almost like he was scooping up the mud when he walked, and oh it was hard to keep walking like that! One of his paws came up normally in the mud with a sound POP. "FROG BRAINS," he spat.
Cunningheart raised a cat eyebrow. "No, not in this clan; Think of it like clawing without unsheathing your claws."
"Okay," Fresh mewed. It sorta helped, but it was still hard. He spat again in frustration. "All for one mouse!"
"Other prey mud-stalking techniques are simpler than mouse-mud hunting," Cunningheart mewed. "Be glad."
The Warrior turned her attention back to Corrupt. "Watch me."

The she-cat went through all the same motions she had when she'd been demonstrating as she padded away from the two. She checked the wind and listened closely, catching the sound of some hidden prey. She fell easily into the hunter's crouch, slowly creeping forwards. Cunningheart paused for a few very long moments just inside of a clump of bushes. Then struck! She snatched at a small creature, tossed it into the air, caught, and bit it's neck. It died without a sound, and she brought it back to the cats.

OOC: I had to think hard about the mud thing... There's just some things the Erin Hunters don't teach us, lols.
MUD-STALKING TECHNIQUES!!!
...I should probably make a thing in Warriors Info on hunting....

[NKninja]

OOC: Not bad of an idea.. It's funny. She shows us how to rip up moss, but not how to walk in mud..

IC: Corrupt was truly awe struck and how smooth the kill was! Not even blood to be shed by the helpful prey. "...Wow," she simply mewed in amazement. Just then, she thought that this technique was going to be useless, but now, she had another look on it.
In jealously of how easy Cunningheart made it look, She went back into the crouch, lowering her shoulder muscles like before, now padding forward as shown. Even though the distinct Plop sound still struck, she attempted not to notice, and kept moving forward, until the sound became as quiet as a kicked pebble. " Like this?" she mewed softly, attempting to lower her head a bit more.

[Longstorm]

Cunningheart nodded approvingly. "Not bad for a beginner. But this is all just prelims - go catch something."
Fresh perked up. "Can I hunt too?"
Cunningheart nodded. "After Corrupt." She pulled some wet leaves over her prey and left it.

OOC: How to carry moss, what to do with moss, what not to do with moss, what can be carried in moss... HUNTERS - WHY YOU NOEZ HUNTING?

[NKninja]

OOC: Wow!...

IC: Corrupt felt awkward to be in the center of attention, but that didn't stop her from not showing it!
With a silent nod, she turned back to where she was formerly facing, and smelled the air, noticing a fresh scent on the left side of her.
She went into the crouch, and softly, gently, and a little bit of ease, she came over to a small vole, pecking at the ground near a bramble bush. I can do this, I can do this! she kept repeating in her mind. But as she was preparing to leap at her game, the sudden, unexpected plop of mud came from under her pads.
The vole was aware of danger and began to fly upward. Oh no you don't! As she leaped from her position, she just barely snagged the tail feathers. Luckily it was enough to bring the whole bird down, and to the ground with a strong Snap!
With small amazement, Corrupt softly poked it with her claw to be sure it was actually dead. With no reaction to it, she grabbed it with her jaw, and came back with a strong grin of accomplishment.

[Loki]

OOC: I hath cometh to intrudeth
IC:
On the branch of a dead willow, paled through aging years and stripped of its leaves; Carr was perched.
His wing feathers looking oddly more distorted then usual.
His beady, crimson tinted eyes glaring ominously down at the cats bellow.
His hunched body rolled stiffly.
He was brooding with dark thoughts and ideas flowing into his minds eye.
"Destroy she-cat I will." He chattered angrily, "Kill and twist heart, yes,yes!"
His talons gripped reflexively on the branch.
"She laughs and take a feather! Some have nerve, yaw, raw nerve!"
He fluttered his wings angrily.
"Find master, master kill her for shredding Carr! Carr good to master, Carr eat the she-cat!"

unbeknownst to him that Whitehare was wondering up a track towards the hills of Abbysclan.
Carr glowered at the scene bellow.

[Longstorm]

OOC: Aw, snap - it's way too easy to forget that Despairingcall has a thing with the birds... May I just point out that a vole, in fact, is NOT a bird, but a small mammal? Darn cute, too.
@Loki - that's riiiiiiight, Whitehare! I forgot.

IC: Cunningheart's ears flicked nervously. She looked up at the trees, hearing the harsh call of the dark crow. "Nice catch," she mewed slowly. "But we were hunting mice."
How would she explain to Corrupt the bond their second Powerful had with the birds in their territory? That only very specific kinds of birds were to hunted, if even?
The white she-cat sighed. She didn't know what to do, since, quite frankly, she'd never come across this situation before. (OOC: This is the truth. ) "Find a mouse, Corrupt, after Fresh. And watch your paws next time." Cunningheart's voice had taken a harder tone. The white she-cat turned to the small Fresh (OOC: Do you want to play him, Loki?). "Right - into the bushes with you, little Protector. Find a mouse!"

The small tom nodded solemnly and strode quietly into the bushes, his legs stuck out in a funny manner as he slogged through the mud.
The tom made sure his tail was stuck straight out and his belly fur wasn't brushing the mud. He felt all proud of himself, being out here in the rain and wild, hunting, learning all these great things... Then he wondered why he couldn't hear any prey.
My ears are down! Wincing, the tom brought his ears up... And there it was. Deep in his earfur he could feel the heartbeat of a little creature. It wasn't too far away. Fresh began to creep towards the sound, his own heart racing.
There! The thing was small, little pink paws trying to get the rain off of it's little head. Fresh crouched a bit lower and wiggled his haunches. And sprang!
The mouse squeaked in terror when it saw the shadow of the young tom but it was too late. Fresh caught the mouse between his paws... and sort of held it there for a few moments. The life of a creature in his paws... The tom killed the mouse with a harsh bite to the neck and returned.
He dropped the mouse proudly in front of Cunningheart. It was enough for the she-cat to come out of her foreboding thoughts and nod to him approvingly.

"Well done," she mewed. Cunningheart looked at Corrupt and gestured for her to go again. The Warrior again looked at the dead bird, worry in her dark eyes.


OOC: Can I just mention (SO MANY OOCs) that I understand Fresh isn't quite as small as I make him out to be? That he's almost old enough to be an apprentice? I just like RPing widdle kitties.
After this I'll RP him somewhat larger... Of course, he'll never be the same size as Corrupt (Maine Coon) or Cunningheart (MOOTENT).

[Loki]

ooc:
I'll feel mean taking him away from you while your having so much fun!
Faints dramatically, you called my dear Carr a crow! A raven a raven, bigger nastier creature muhahaha!
*calms down* missed you all so much! Specifically the ever intelligent LS! btw my head hurts...
IC:
Carr let the rain trickle down his wings, turning his head.
Somewhere in his self-obsessed brain he wondered hoe Sarok was fairing before shrugging the thought away.
When was the last time he'd eaten? He couldn't be sure, ever since that white she-cat had ruffled his feathers he guessed...
He knew the She-cat bellow had planted a mouse somewhere.
He wasn't scared of stealing but he was wary of the large she-cat bellow.
The ominous creature stared after the cats darkly.

[NKninja]

OOC: I freaking forgot of Disparingcall! Oh dear.. It's now official that their going to hate each other's guts!

IC:
Corrupt quickly trailed to where Cunningheart was uncomfortably drawing her attention to. When she noticed it was another bird, a sensation of fright tingled in her spine... Quickly, she came to the side of the tree, and gently dropped the bird, covering it with leaves as Cunningheart had did with her game. Sorry, she imaginatively confessed to the bird, without making contact that is. To her wild imagination, she thought the two birds were related or something... The tingle of unease began to seep in her fur, and she began to have stiffness as she walked.
To keep it from looking too noticeable, she immediately went back into a hunting crouch, and smelled the air for Mice. Even though the scent of the crow still lingered in her snout, she attempted to avoid any more contact to the stalking black-feathered bird.

[Longstorm]

Cunningheart looked up at the large bird again, her shoulder fur bristling briefly. She nodded to Fresh as he sat next to her. They watched Corrupt together, Fresh beginning to shiver in the rain.
Cunningheart glanced at Fresh then back at the Maine Coon. We'll head back after Corrupt catches a mouse... or not.
The young she-cat's actions had unnerved the seasoned Warrior, making her fear for whatever may be lurking behind her back.
Regardless that she'd been well acquainted with a number of Searingeye's incarnations, Cunningheart didn't know how this incarnation of Despairingcall would react. It made her wary.
The she-cat focused her amber on the pelt of the Maine Coon in front of her, trying to avoid her own thoughts.

[NKninja]

Finally, after many heartbeats, Corrupt finally scented the smell of a mouse. She lowered her haunches, straitened her tails, and leaped and the revealing rodent. With a crash of her large white paws, she felt the small crack of the Mouse's bones, and picked it up cooly, attempting not to look back at the bird... " Okay.. Can we go now?" she asked, easing a glance at the Crow again.

[Loki]

The ebony raven shook its head to free itself of the excess water.
With his master nowhere in sight: he opened his wings and flapped them until his form was levitating higher and further from the branch.
Deciding his best bet would be to lead these cats to that disgusting, little urchin wondering around...
He circled above, cawing madly as he went by.

OOC: I'm SOOOOOoooo tired! *sniff*

[Longstorm]

Cunningheart kept herself from looking at the RAVEN and nodded to the two young cats. "Yes, that would seem to be best. We'll return to camp. Take your prey." Fresh picked up his kill proudly, though he himself was feeling a little nervous himself what with the two older she-cats tittering so.
Cunningheart picked up her own fresh-kill and began the walk back to AbyssClan camp.

[NKninja]

OOC: OKAY!! I had a brainfart! WE GET IT!! * I feel like a retard!*

IC: Corrupt quickly picked up her mouse, and padded immediately over to Cunningheart.. It was practically a dash that she did, and nearly slipped to a stop against the wet and mudded earth.

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