Of bears and beans

[dionysus]

[ @space ace. ]

Grizzlybug passed over to the apprentice’s den and called for his apprentice with a peppy smile.

“Beanpaw!”

It was high time they have another lesson! Today he thought they could go hunting. It might be a bit difficult for Beanpaw without his claws, but he would just have to learn to put more pressure into his paws when he landed on prey and bite it swiftly.

[vellichor]

Grizzlybug’s call woke the snoring apprentice up with a jolt. "Wh, who is it...? Grizz?" A yawn interrupted his "greeting". Beanpaw stretched and trod out of the den. He hoped no one else was awoken by Grizz. "Whazzup, what’s goin on?" His fur was disheveled, and his eyes bleary with sleep. Though the apprentice quickly realized the former and shook out his short, fluffy pelt. Blue eyes would clear within a few minutes.

@Beau

[dionysus]

[ @space ace. ]

“Hiya, kiddo! It’s huntin time!”

Grizz used his paw to ruffle the fur on top of Beanpaw’s head and turned on his heel to trot swiftly out of camp. He kept up a quick pace to see how Beanpaw fared as he trudged through the territory toward cattail pond. Once they reached it, he sat down with a small smile.

“We’re gonna be hunting land prey today so I’ll have to show you the hunting crouch. Try to copy it!”

The fluffy tom rose to his paws and dropped into a crouch, waiting for Beanpaw to copy it so that he could adjust the apprentice’s form.

[vellichor]

"Oh!" That woke the sleepy apprentice up right away. "Okay, let’s go!" no sooner had Beanpaw said that, Grizz was on his way out. "Ope— wait up!" His short legs were growing longer, and he found it so much easier to keep up with Grizzlybug that the day he’d been found. I’m fact, maybe he was even catching up in height. Grizz did seem to be shrinking just a little.

"Hunter’s crouch? O...kay, I can do it."

He tried to mimic Grizzlybug’s effortless crouch. Chest close to the ground, back legs tucked in... tail... wait, what did Grizz do with his tail? Oh— he had to keep it still! His tongue poked through, he was concentrating so much. "Am I... doing it?"

@Beau

[dionysus]

[ @space ace. ]

Beanpaw’s concentrates expression was absolutely adorable and Grizz chuckled quietly to himself. Once Bean was in position, Grizzlybug straightened up and went inspect the younger cat’s form. It was pretty good, Grizzlybug was impressed!

“You’re very close! Just lift your tail a bit more- good job keeping it still- and try to push your haunches down a bit more so the prey doesn’t see your butt wiggling in the air.”

He tapped the tail up and the haunches down and circled back around to check the whole thing. Grizz’s eyes shone proudly and he nodded with a grin.

“Great job! You can sit now. We’re gonna practice scenting out the prey.”

[vellichor]

Nodding along, he tried to fix his position. Grizz helped him, and the end result felt... neutral, in a sense. Not as awkward as he was. No wonder Grizzlybug just effortlessly did it, with some practice, he might. Woah!

Beanpaw noticed pride radiating from his mentor and felt himself smile. He couldn’t help it, the joy and good vibes were just infectious. "Okay!" he chirped happily, unable to control his emotions. He’d done a good thing! He was one pawstep closer to being a warrior, just like Grizz.

@Beau

[dionysus]

[ @space ace. ]

Grizzlybug lifted his nose to the breeze and breathed in, immediately catching the scent of a squirrel. He didn’t know what that thing was doing on Riverclan territory since there were barely any trees but the poor creature must have scampered over from Thunderclan and gotten lost.

Squirrels were difficult to catch even for warriors, so Grizz ignored that scent for now. He didn’t want to discourage Beanpaw. Instead, he focused in on the scent of a mouse. Mice were fairly simple to catch so Grizz turned to Beanpaw and meowed,

“Alright, Beanpaw, scent the air for me and tell me if you smell anything.”

[vellichor]

Watching Grizzlybug carefully, Beanpaw noted how he breathed deep and did something with his head. He had turned just a bit, then sniffed again. Maybe he had to smell from all angles? Why else would Grizz have turned away and turned back around? It seemed to make sense to the siamese.

Wait, what was he smelling again? Beanpaw mimicked Grizz’s actions, sniffing the air, turning, and doing it again. He smelled... water. Grass, dirt. Pollen. With that, the apprentice let out a cute little sneeze. Oh — he was looking for prey! What if he’d scared it? "Sorry!" he whisper-yelled, trying to focus now on live things. Uh, this was hard. He couldn’t smell a thing! Was his nose failing him?

@Beau

[dionysus]

[ @space ace. ]

Grizzlybug watched Beanpaw with an amused expression, catching each change of expression that signified the younger tom’s straying mind. Grizz didn’t mind the slight lack of focus- the territory and training were always a lot to take in for young apprentices. At the sneeze and apology, Grizzlybug offered a warm, encouraging smile and replied,

“That’s okay, Beans. Try to focus a little more, though. You will likely have to try to sift through a few scents at first but it gets easier to pinpoint prey smells after a time. You may not know the name of a scent- if you encounter one you aren’t familiar with, mention it to me.”

[vellichor]

Okay, okay. "Alright, okay. I can do it, I think." He lofted his muzzle into the air and breathed in deep. "I smell... water, I think. And pollen, again. Hmm." Opening his mouth like he’d seen some warriors do, he would "taste the air". It felt weird, and all he tasted was wind at first. "I think I smell something. It smells kinda earthy and... furry, I think. Dusty kinda." What was it? Perhaps a rock? No, rocks didn’t smell like that. Some sort of okant? Or even something alive? Oh! "Is it prey, do ya think?" he lowered his voice, just in case. Beanpaw was excited — maybe his first prey!

Or maybe it really was a rock and he was embarrassing himself.

@Beau