Frost and Dust Training

[Moonraven]

Alright, so they were a little bit behind. With everything going on, losing Fallownose, declarations of war, and the minks, Dustbunny hadn't been up for training and she doubted Frostpaw would have been either. But she couldn't hold off training any longer, hopefully, Frostpaw was ready. The tunneler faintly recalled seeing Frostpaw at the event she held, but couldn't remember if she had stuck around for it.

"Frostpaw," Dustbunny called from the mouth of the apprentices' den. "Come on, we need to get your training done." The brown she-cat's blue eyes gleamed in the warm daylight. Once she heard the apprentice was up and moving, Dustbunny took a few paw steps back to give the apprentice some room.

"So you said you had some battle experience and patrols, and had a territory tour. You need help with hunting mostly, and although you have some experience I want to check and make sure that you can hold your own in a fight." Dustbunny told the apprentice. She didn't have the exact age of Frostpaw, but it did seem like she was coming to the point where Twilightstar would start asking questions about the paw's training.

"Let's start with hunting." Dustubunny waved her tail, telling the paw to follow her as she padded out of camp and into the prairie. "So I'm assuming you'll need to go over the basics. If you don't... well it's always nice to go over them regardless. First, try scenting the air and telling me what you smell. If the scents are confusing remember the scent of whatever prey you've eaten recently."

@Morrigan [So I glanced around, it seems like Frostpaw is just missing her hunting lessons, and she has battle experience but no battle training, so we'll probably see about brushing up on that.]

[Morrigan]

Frostpaw
Windclan apprentice
Purrks: Agatha Kitty(inactive)

Grey ears instinctively perking in response to her name being called, Frostpaw's ice-blue eyes snapped open. Lifting her head, she stared out curiously as she lay in her nest. Training? Oh, really? "C-Coming!" She called back, swiftly rising from the mossy ground beneath her. Giving her fluffy pelt a few measly licks she approched her mentor.

Truth be told she was quite excited for her lesson today, whatever it may be, but of course she was nervous as usual. Focus fully locked onto Dustbunny, a prick of anxiety struck her. Holding her own in a fight? Did that mean she'd have to fight the tunneler? She wasn't a very good fighter...she'd fought before, as demonstrated by her quite obvious scars, yet she was never fond of it.

'Calm down, Frostpaw...focus on hunting.' the older apprentice soothed herself and did her best to ward off her worry. She trotted after the brown she-cat obediently at her signal to follow. Hunting...had she hunted before? The answer was no. She knew about scenting and that was it so she had the first step down. That was soemthing, right?

Frost stuck close to her mentor as they travelled through the territory, making sure to scwn the land in case of danger no matter how parinoid it seemed. Soft eyes turning to Dust again as she spoke Frostpaw felt some unexpected nostalgia. Thriftfall had started their first lesson this way...what had happened to him? She just had to pay attention to the instructions given to her at the moment. Flicking her pink tongue out in the attempt of smelling the air she caught scent of a rabbit, her favourite prey. "I...think I smell rabbit?"

(Oh, ok! I thin she once did a battle event but I might be wrong. Anyways thanks for looking! ^^)

@Moonraven

[Moonraven]

Dustbunny observed the nervous apprentice with a half smile on her muzzle. Dustbunny was always full of anxiety and nervousness too when it came to interacting with most others. Apprentices and kits were innocent enough that she didn't get the feeling that they were judging her for anything. Well, except for her, but she had passed. Despite how conceded she had been, Dustbunny hoped she had found peace in StarClan.

"Yup, well done."Dustbunny praised. She found that heaping praise on younger cats worked as a nice reinforcement when it came to learning stuff. "So let's follow that scent trail, you lead, and I'll follow." Dustbunny ordered, scenting the air herself to ensure they had the same rabbit in mind.

As they moved, Dustbunny couldn't help but ask. "So, you don't have a great deal of hunting experience, but do you know how to do a hunting crouch and pouncing? Rabbits are very fast prey, WindClan usually has to chase them down to hunt them. Being able to pounce while the rabbits are in motion can be difficult, but if you are quiet enough you can catch them without having to chase them down or far at least."

Dustbunny wasn't used to hunting in the wide-open space, with the tunnels, all she had to do was know the route the rabbit was hunting and cut it off. She preferred the tunnels, but she had been trained to hunt within the moors as well. She preferred sneaking up on the prey over chasing down out here. Dustbunny wasn't as fast as regular WindClan warriors, there was a reason she had become a tunneler.

@Morrigan [So battle experience and battle training are two different things. She has experience in the battle with RiverClan, but no actual training. So, she'll need actual training or a sparring lesson to have it count towards the requirements.]

[Morrigan]

Frostpaw
Windclan apprentice
Purrk: Agatha Kitty(inactive)

"O-ok!." She squeaked in response, pleased to receive some praise, before lowering her nose to the ground in the hopes of following the trail. Slowly, Frostpaw padded across the moors, doing her best to keep a hold of the faint scent. This was harder than ehe expected but as long as she paid attention she'd be ok, wouldn't she?

Then Dustbunny spoke and her ears swiveled around to listen while still keeping track of the rabbit. Hunting and pouncing? She'd never tried that before... was it hard? Pretty sure it was...Luckily, her mentor explained it to her which saved her the embarrassment of asking to explain. Oh, ok, she could be quiet so pouncing she could handle but chasing? The apprentice wasn't sure of her own speed.

After a few minutes of searching, a small, brown dot came into view. That was it...that was the rabbit! A small flutter of pride bloomed in Frost's chest as she stared at her prey with wide eyes. Finding it was an achievement itself for her but now she had to execute the main task she was given: catching it. Glancing hesitantly at Dust she awaited the brown she-cat to give her some kind of green light to try and hunt it.

@Moonraven

(I see! Didn't know that so thank you for telling me!)

[Moonraven]

Dustbunny would occasionally scent the air, double-checking that the rabbit hadn't moved and that Frostpaw hadn't lost the scent trail. She glanced at the sky once in a while to see if there were any winged predators around, but it was all clear. She reminded herself to make sure and tell Frostpaw about keeping an eye on her surroundings later.

Eventually, they came upon the rabbit they were hunting. It looked young, something Dustbunny was grateful for. Bigger rabbits could kick hard, and the last thing Dustbunny needed was to head to the medicine because Frostpaw had gotten injured while hunting. The she-cat crouched down next to Frostpaw.

"When hunting, always make sure that you're downwind, rabbits spook very easily. If they scent or hear you, they'll bolt." She muttered to the paw without removing her eyes from the prey. "You can try and sneak up on it, you can use the tall grass to hide if you are worried that you won't be able to stalk it without being seen. Mind your paw steps and your tail don't make noise." She reminded the paw before giving her the good ahead with a nod.
@Morrigan [Frostpaw]