[AbsurdJinx]

Originally Posted by Duskflight

While she wasn't as eager to train as some apprentices, or even as easy to train as others, Grousestar would have to say that they've made progress together. And he was proud of her. He was still attempting to find the best way to train her, but at the very least he has made progress in training her. She was not a lost cause like she believed herself to be, she was not incapable of being trained as an apprentice. One day she would be able to complete the evaluation and receive her warrior name, one day she would be a proud, strong warrior of Skyclan; Grousestar believed it. And personally, he didn't care how long it took to train her, he just knew that she had it in her to be a great warrior and huntress. All she needed to do was break out of that shell, cope with her anxieties and overcome them. Featherpaw was his apprentice and he would do everything within his power to aid her in learning and training to become a warrior.

The brown tabby was nowhere in sight; most of the leaves had fallen from the trees and most of the shrubbery that had been around the plateau has gone dormant. But the brown color of the dying leaves on the ground sort of resembled the pelt of the leader. A wind stirred, causing some to flutter, maybe even resembling a cat moving. And maybe he was there, just like last time. There was something he wanted her to work on today, and that was her tracking abilities. Tracking abilities could be very handy in both battle and in hunting and it was something he believed that Featherpaw could excel at.
And in his mind, if she knew that she excelled at that, she may be more excited to train, be more relaxed knowing that she was actually good at it. He knew that some cats were scared to try new things because they feared failure and embarrassment, and he hoped that maybe, if she was one of those cats, this would help.

"Featherpaw, don't be scared. You can probably tell who I am by my voice, but we're going to do a little exercise today. I want to test your tracking abilities." A voice called out softly coming from somewhere ahead of her, but there was no tell-tale emerald of the leaders eyes. His scent could be picked out among the other earthy smells of the training grounds, but it wasn't totally obvious. It was another good long moment before he continued on with her instructions as to what they would be doing, though the voice seemed to come from a location slightly right of where it was before, as if he was moving as he spoke.

"I want you to come find me. And before we start, I want you to know that the borders are well monitored and I can 100 percent assure you there are no Syndicate cats within the territory. And I also want you to know that many of the predators are going into hibernation. Do not worry about any of that. Worry solely on finding me. That is your only task."
Grousestar was accomplishing two things here; assuring the young cat that there was no danger that she should focus her mind on at the moment, and giving her plenty of time to start to follow his voice. Whether she took the opportunity or not was up to her, but the leader believed it would be a good little test to see if she would try to get a head start already. Generally speaking it was easier to follow a cats voice than their scent, especially when it came to exercises like this when he wouldn't be making his scent so obvious.
But after those words were spoken, silence fell. The only thing that seemed to make noise was the rustling of the leaves as the wind blew over them.

Featherpaw's head shot sharply in every which direction in a futile attempt to pinpoint the source of the voice. She recognized the voice easily as the voice of her own mentor, the tomcat she's come to adore over their moons of unique training sessions, but she could not for the life of her see him. She took a moment to register what Grousestar's voice said. Tracking abilities? As far as Featherpaw was aware she couldn't track for all the fresh-kill in the territories. Then again, had she ever truly tried? If there was anything the anxious apprentice was skilled at, it would definitely be the secretive arts of tracking. She was very aware of her surroundings, always observant and ready. She preferred to listen and watch rather than talk.

The black-and-white she-cat, to put it simply, sucked at fighting. She absolutely despised the loud screeches, the howls of pain, the clumps of crimson blood littering the ground... It was a horrifying sight, something Featherpaw did her best to avoid. She could hunt, sure, though she hated the part where she had to kill the innocent prey that was merely trying to live. She didn't eat much, because she couldn't bear the sight of the limp fresh-kill, of the once-living creatures that were killed at the paws of her kind, felines. Featherpaw remembered the crunchy bites of kittypet food, when she had belonged to her housefolk. She hadn't needed to kill anything then, to fight for survival. However much she missed her former life though, she knew that if she returned to it she'd only miss life as a clan cat. Whatever Featherpaw chose, it wasn't as if she won.

With Grousestar's reassurance, Featherpaw felt comfortable enough to move around the plateu and begin the search. She felt her muscles relax and she lost her stiff posture. With her mentor present, she knew she was safe and protected. Honestly, Featherpaw trusted Grousestar, trusted him with her life. He was, perhaps, the only cat she felt comfortable with, besides her foster mother, of course. However, unlike her foster mother, she believed she could tell her mentor everything and anything for some reason unknown to her.

Already, Featherpaw had her nose to the air and her ears erect. She'd do anything to find her mentor, to convince herself that he truly was there and not a figment of her wild imagination. She was scouting the edges of the plateu when Grousestar's voice faded away and the silence engulfed her. How did she know he hadn't just left her there? Simple; she trusted him. She somehow knew he was still there. If he wasn't, well, she'd be cowering where she stood, wondering what the next step was. Featherpaw didn't try to get her mentor to speak again, eager to know how far she could get in tracking with only the clues she had been given. She narrowed her eyes in concentration, tasting the air for the scent she remembered as Grousestar's. She could find his scent among all the others, but Featherpaw could not follow it as the wind had disturbed it. She paused, swiveling her ears in search for noise. She listened for distinct rustling of the undergrowth, the snapping of twigs, the crunching of dried leaves. She figured he was moving locations, as his drifting of voice revealed to her earlier. She thought back to earlier, when he was speaking to her, and realized his voice came from directly in front of her, though it had moved slightly to the right the next time it spoke.

Excitement flooded her as Featherpaw was convinced she'd figured the puzzle out. Without a sound, though she seemed to radiate confidence, Featherpaw bounded quietly in the opposite direction, towards the area she discovered the voice had come from. The apprentice shoved her muzzle into the undergrowth, inhaling all the earthy scents. Her mentor's scent was strong here, stronger than it had been to her, lingering on the leaves and grass stalks. Carefully, Featherpaw followed the scent, though she fell off track a couple times and only wandered further into the forest. However, she always backtracked and found the scent again, always following it even more cautiously. As she inched on, Grousestar's distinct scent got stronger and stronger. For once, she was certain; Featherpaw was sure she was on the right track.