Hunting Lesson (Sand)

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Amberleaf padded through MidnightClan territory, the moon shining above her. She couldn't help but feel the guilt slowly eating away at her over the battle. She hadn't gone. She'd been too afraid.

"Some warrior I am," she muttered to herself. Echofur had understood. Her heart ached for the tom, but she knew she had to put him out of her mind. She thought all of these things as she padded towards the Pond of Truce for her first hunting lesson with Smokewhisker.

She padded into the clearing and sat, wrapping her tail around her paws as she waited for the tom to arrive.

[Sand]

Smokewhisker had, had trouble sleeping lately every time he closed his eyes he would see Amberfur and he found himself constantly thinking about her. 'I left the clans behind me, I thought I would be happier,' he thought unhappily as he gazed around his den. 'Guess I should be on my way to meet with Amberfur,' he thought getting to his paws. Making sure there were no other loners or rogues around he made his way to the pond of truce.

When he reached the pond of truce he could easily pick up Amberfurs scent and was able to spot her as quickly as he had scented her. He made his way closer to the she-cat wondering if she was actually going to teach him how to hunt. "I hope you haven't been waiting long," he moved looking around at their surroundings. He hadn't been here in such a long time and for a minute he felt sadness well up inside of him.

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OOC: It's Amberleaf, not Amberfur. It's fine, just wanted to let you know.

Amberleaf looked up at the sound of her name, slightly worried for a moment before she spotted Smokewhisker's pelt.

"No, I actually just got here," she mewed, padding over to greet the tom. She stopped about halfway, feeling awkward. What should she say or do now?

"Do you want to go ahead and start?" she asked, her voice betraying her discomfort.

[Sand]

ooc: Sorry you threw me off when you put Echofur and I guess I just combined their names

"That's good I didn't want to keep you waiting for long," Smokewhisker meowed flicking his ears back and forth his gaze fixed on Amberleaf. He wasn't sure if he wanted to ask her to teach him how to hunt, but he didn't want to starve either and he couldn't always count on running into a river or some form of water. He also didn't want her to get in trouble if her clan mates somehow found out thinking of this mate him look around. He was so focused on his own thoughts that he almost missed the question that she asked him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm ready," Smokewhisker meowed swallowing nervously and looked away wondering why he was so nervous suddenly. "Thanks for doing this, you know if you ever need help with anything I will be there...I mean I would do anything to make up for you doing this," he meowed with a sigh. "So if you ever need a favor just ask," he meowed.

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"It's fine, really," Amberleaf mewed, still puzzling over why she was so willing to help a complete stranger.

"All right, so, I guess we should start with what you already know?" Amberleaf mewed. "Show me your hunting crouch," she said. This all felt odd, somehow, like she was mentoring a young apprentice, not a full grown warrior.

[Sand]

"Yeah, well I would just feel bad if you did something for me and I didn't try to do something for you," Smokewhisker meowed flicking his ears back and forth. When she asked him to show her his hunting crouch he nodded trying to remember exactly how to do it. 'First I must relax,' he thought he was still worried that one of her clan mates would come in on them but he made himself relax. He dropped into a crouch making sure to that his stomach fur barely touched the ground and his tail was a few inches above the ground.

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Amberleaf watched as he demonstrated his crouch.

"That's good. Make sure to keep tension in your hind legs so you're ready to leap," Amberleaf mewed.

"Now let's see you actually hunting," she mewed, opening her mouth to scent the air before remembering that he needed to do it himself. Amberleaf was so confused- she had never had an apprentice before.

[Sand]

Smokewhisker nodded and made sure to take her advice and put some tension in his hind legs and nodded when she told him to try hunting for real. He opened his mouth and tasted the air catching the scent of a vole which wasn't really surprising since they were near water. He stalked towards the vole keeping his steps light. He pounced towards the vole putting to much power in his leap and leapt way past the vole landing clumsily. "Mousedung, guess hunting close up wasn't such a good idea, guess I have to catch the prey farther back," he meowed.

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Amberleaf padded over to the tom.

"Leap from just a bit farther back. And remember, don't aim for so much power in your leap. It's more important to be accurate," she mewed, cocking her head to one side. She tried to remember any other advice she had learned from her mentor, but her mind came up blank.

[Sand]

Smokewhisker listened to her advice and nodded hoping that he would be able to get it right and started to taste the air for more prey. He knew a decent amount about fishing but he rarely ran into water and he really didn't feel like seeking out water since he had found a good enough. He caught the scent of a sparrow and dropped into a crouch spotting it. He started to move so that he was downwind and froze when he stepped on a branch spooking the bird. As it began to fly off he pushed of with his hind legs just barely managing to snag its wing bringing it crashing back to the ground. He killed the bird knowing that the kill had been messy.

ooc: He is really bad at hunting he tends to forget to watch his surroundings when he is hunting.

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Amberleaf padded over, thinking over what to say now.

"Well, that was better than the vole," she began, her voice taking on a slightly teasing tone before growing serious again. "Next time, check around your paws for branches and dry leaves, anything that might make noise," she advised, pointedly looking at the broken stick laying on the ground.

[Sand]

Smokewhisker didn't know if he should be pleased about catching the bird or ashamed at how messy the catch had been. "Yeah, I forgot to make sure it was clear before stalking towards it. I always forget to do that," he meowed. "It's kind of while I was being chased by a fox earlier," he meowed frowning know his lack of paying attention to his surroundings could lead to him getting hurt one day.

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"Stalking on land is a bit tricky if you aren't used to it, but you'll figure it out. I promise," Amberleaf mewed. She felt bad for Smokewhisker. Whatever happened to him to make him leave his clan must have been awful, and now he had to learn a whole new way of life, and without so much as one friend to help him along the way. Amberleaf couldn't even imagine it.

[Sand]

"Yes, it isn't like fishing, but I can't always depend on finding a source of water," Smokewhisker meowed looking around. He had never been good at hunting, though he was sure that once he got the hang of hunting on land he would just be good enough to survive. "Hunting has never been my strong point, but I'm sure once I get the hang of it I can at least be able to eat one meal a day," he meowed.

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"You'll get it, and it won't be long before you're good at it. You won't have to worry about your next meal," Amberleaf mewed in an attempt to cheer him up. She wanted to help, but it wasn't going to go anywhere if he didn't think he could do it.