Training in the Shadows

[Exis]

Blackpaw was almost shaking in excitement. “Did ya hear that Ash?! we’re gonna being training with Icestar!” He spoke. This is your chance, impress her. Rakta said. Then she’ll see. We’re just as good as Falcondive. He held no animosity tword Falcondive, in fact he wanted to be like him.
@Casper @Skye

[Arie]

-- @Undertaker --
{If anyone else needs 'help' from Doe, feel free to tag me in your post!}

Doepaw, despite being extremely tempted to let out a snicker at the tumbling apprentices, let out a soft puff of air in amusement. Hearing Beastspark though accept her help, her ears perked up further. She was truly going to help teach. It would most certainly be an experience and from the mess this already was, the blind apprentice expected nothing was going to go smoothly. Listening to him speak and split them up her ears flickered every so constantly, steady,and never stopping. She knew where she was.. and that was all that mattered in this part of the training. "Help then... I shall try," she voiced quietly. Following Beastspark further into the forest she heard the barely audible crack of when someone stopped on his tail and bumping into him gently with her side she let out a small laugh, "That was... your fault. Don't keep your... tail low. It's useful for sensing... yes. But when you... walk you... can't see where... it is. Keep it... higher." It was something she'd encountered her own fair share of, getting herself entangled with a tail she couldn't see. "They don't... need to use...their eyes. If you... want to really... get into this... have them close their eyes... for the rest of...the training. They'll learn... to balance. Then they're... even better... when having sight. They cannot... rely on sight... as a crutch." She hoped what she said made sense, it did to her. Sighties had the sight as their main sense... such as hers was her ears. Yet she had learned to balance them out, if her ears shut off her nose was stronger and the sense of touch was better cause less sensory details came in to other parts of her body. Sitting down next to Beastspark she just gazed into the darkness, before standing up again and walked around carefully. She wanted to get an idea of the space, and well, sitting still wasn't going to be a good way to aid that. Flicking her ears slowly, she laid down a bit further away. Patterns of steps kept reaching her ears, but they were not here to hunt. Yet the patterns came again and again. Mouse. Starling. And that was squirrel. She let out another puff of air as her senses grew ever stronger. She was in her element here. "If you listen in... you can hear... the sounds of the prey. They're out now... to forage. Pay attention to... the patterns," she directed her voice mainly at Beastspark but if any other apprentices wanted to listen in, it wasn't her decision. They could do what they wanted.

[duCky]

Cypresspaw slowly padded through the darkness, using the scent of her leader and deputy to guide her. When they finally came to a stop, her paw ached, but she wasn't tired. Because of her hunting training, she was used to staying up late. When Beastspark called off the names, she didn't hear her's. "Icestar, I didn't here my name get called", she said, happy that her dark brown pelt helped her blend in both at during the day and in the dark.

@Casper
(I was going to respond to Undertakers first post, but then I forgot. Sorry!)

[Finpaw]

@Undertaker

Finpaw stumbled unsteadily through the dark forest, disoriented by the poor lightning and the bad fall he’d taken earlier in his over-excitement for the new kind of training session. Getting a personal lesson from both Beastspark and Icestar on how to be a better ShadowClan warrior? It was probably all those stars in his eyes that’d distracted him from noticing the sudden slope in the ground he’d toppled over. Now, all he had was the sound of voices up ahead and the scent of his own clanmates left to find them, after he’d lagged so far behind.

He was late and a bit scuffed up, but he wasn’t about to let that curb his enthusiasm. Each of his pawsteps bounced with anticipation, even as he tried to avoid rustling the sparse undergrowth and carpet of pine leaves too much so he could still hear the others. He caught the distinct rasp of Icestar’s voice, then, and immediately halted to lean forward, straining to catch every word.

What an inspiring speech! he thought, taking a moment to admire just how cool his clan really was. In that moment, however, the main group ahead split off into two, and moved on again.

“Oh, mouse-dung!” Finpaw blurted out under his breath, quickly jumping back into a fast walk to catch up, more hurried than before. He didn’t want to miss this for the world- he never wanted to miss most anything for the world, really, but this was still important to him.

Long golden legs with awkwardly oversized white paws flashing through slivers of moonlight, he came almost barreling up to Beastspark’s group, skidding to a halt just in time to not crash into the other apprentices when his senses were abruptly flooded with the alert of their presence. He jerked back a bit in surprise before quickly settling back down. He could only hope he didn’t unduly interrupt anyone, the other apprentices all seemed busy talking to each other or responding to something Beastspark had said...

“S-sorry I’m late, sir,” Finpaw spoke quietly, somewhat winded. His ears burned with embarrassment.

[lucidense]

Small paw plopped down close to him, perking her ears and keeping her senses keen. "I hear soft wind, and.. I think an owl? I feel grass- and I think tree roots. I can taste frog scent." She kept note of every detail. @Undertaker

[panchiko]

the female listened as beastyspark and icestar spoke, intrigued. how on earth was she supposed to blend in to the darkness if she had pURE white fur???! she felt scammed. shammed. bamboozled! apparently, shadowclan cats were supposed to mostly have dark fur, and here she was, stuck with... the exact opposite. "i feel dirt! and smell dirt! and hear dirt being stepped on... the dirt... it's everywhere." dreampaw commented, squishing the dirt underneath her paws and hearing it satisfyingly smush around. there was so much dirt, yeesh. "ooo, and i feel some..... is that wind? that better be wind and not a fart smh," the apprentice said, smelling the soft breeze she felt swish around her fluffy white fur.

[Exis]

Blackpaw took a moment to close his eyes and listen to the world around him. He didn’t speak lest he contaminate the air. He listened very carefully before speaking again. ”I can hear the crickets chirping, I hear an owl just caught it’s prey, I hear it’s prey taking its last breath, I hear the leaves rustling, I heard the others breathing, I hear someone’s tail twitching, I hear the frogs croaking.” He realized he was rambling and decided to stop.

@Casper

[nocturnal]

Frostpaw mentally grimaced when his leader spoke of fur colors. True enough, white fur did not blend in well when trying to sneak in darkness. Perhaps he should stand within the shadows. If the light couldn't reach him, then it wouldn't matter if he had light for or not. As Beastspark assigned groups, the tom noticed that the deputy had lighter-furred cats while the leader gained a team of darker-pelted apprentices... and then Frostpaw was assigned to Icestar's group. Really? Then perhaps his assumption had been wrong.

For a second, the white apprentice didn't move. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to focus on the sights and sounds of the nighttime forest. A soft breeze blew against his fur. He could here leaves rustling, branches moving... and of course, the quiet cries and tumblings as other apprentices bumbled around. Cautiously, the tom took a step forwards. Feeling a bit more confident, he took another step... ah, he just almost stepped on a twig. Luckily, the pointy-ness alerted him before he made a mistake. Okay, so far so good - tail up, listen for other cats to stop from walking into them, balance correctly, stay away from the moonlight and stick to the shadows... what else? Ah, and try not to walk into any trees.

[Socks]

Littlepaw had hoped he'd be put in Icestar's group, but he guessed Beastspark was good enough. As they grouped up, he noticed fellow pale-pelted apprentices also in this group. Their leader had stated it, they were all at a disadvantage. Following behind the deputy, he kept his distance from the other apprentices, he wasn't much interested in any kind of conversation. He had no reason to hate anyone in this group, no reason to like them either.
When he was told to close his eyes, he screwed them tightly shut, focusing on everything else. He could feel movement of other cats through the pads of his paws, the vibrations from their pawsteps reaching him. Air flowed around him, he could tell there was something else distributing it's flow nearby, maybe a tree. "I hear everyone else's annoying mew." He mumbled, not intending to be heard with that one. "The wind flows around stuff and it's different. Like stuff blocks it..." He found it hard to actually explain, he thought it just sounded stupid.

[wolfie]

@Undertaker
Jaypaw listened to Icestar, casting an glance to his.. own pelt. It was light brown with white patches-- mismatched. Everything about him was mismatched, wasn't it? He scowled deeply. He looked at the other apprentices. JEEZ. BAD FEELINGS. GO. SHOO.

Wait. Shoot. Jaypaw's ears perked up at the mention of his name. Quickly scrambling after the deputy as the second group began to move. When he tried to come to a halt, the momentum made him stumble and-- Jaypaw stepped onto Beastspark's tail. Which was quite soft.

Jaypaw pulled back, squeaking out a small sorry and retreating into the back of the crowd. "If you do not move out of my way and I st..tep on your..r p..paw, that is your f..fault, " Jaypaw murmured in a grumpy tone.

Settling into a proper position and getting comfortable, he turned on his listening ears. Giving a nod, he tuned on his senses. "Um, okay. So, what I can sm..mell is.. ca..ats. The pine-y scent of the tr..rees. The gr..rass, or is that the d..dir..rt? Besi..ides that I can hear the wind r..r..rustling the l..leaves. The mumblings of the other appr..rentices,, " Jaypaw ever so slowly relaxed as he explained. Even if it sounded.. just frog-brain gibberish, it was fun. UNTIL.

"Oh, I- there is a st..tupid bug on my paw. Isn't ther..re?" He huffed, opening his eyes. There was in fact an ant on his paw. Taunting him.