Flurrypaw, Training. (Dawnfeather)

[☀Dawnfeather☀]

Flurrypaw hung his head low. He hadn't even noticed the snow. "I'm sorry..I'll try harder next time." he scuffed at the snow. Maybe hunting wasn't his thing. Maybe he was a fighter? He shook his head, not wanting to show how upset he was to his mentor, even though it was rather obvious.

Flurrypaw perked up, but only a little, when Colonel mentioned a new training method. Will it really work for me? he thought solomnly. He sighed and nosed some snow away to bury his lucky prey. He scooted some snow back over it and padded over to the nearest tree and began picking up some sticks and putting them in a pile near Colonel. Curiosity pricked at his pelt. What was the plan?

[Midnight]

"Trying isn't what matters. What matters is that you get prey. Some cats might tell you that the only thing that matters is that you try your best, but that's nonsense. Trying and failing obviously doesn't feed cats. You need training, practice, and that's what I'm here for." Colonel said.

Colonel picked up the sticks and arranged them, each about a tail length away, in a line. The sticks were facing the sides of the clearing, and when he was finished, Colonel sat by the edge, the final stick on the right side. "I want you to leap on each stick, make sure your front paws land on it, then from that stick, leap to the next one. I'll be counting each one you land on correctly, and when you've landed on all ten, I'll decide whether or not you need to try this a few more times before we move on to kicking snow up."

[☀Dawnfeather☀]

He was a bit angered by Colonel's lack of sympathy, and that Colonel hadn't even tried to make him feel better. but then again, that wasn't his job. All he had to do was prepare Flurrypaw for becoming a warrior, by whatever means necessary. "Right." he tried to pump himself up. This was only his first training session. Why was he so worried? I can do this!

He waited until the sticks were all lined up and Colonel had completely explained the exercise. "Okay." He crouched and pretended to stalk the first stick. Don't over-do it...Lightly he reminded himself. He pounced, being sure not to push as hard as he had before. Mid-leap, he almost thought he hadn't pushed hard enough, but sure enough, he landed with his front paws squarely on the stick. His tail stuck straight up in the air, and the feeling of accomplishment took him over.

but he still had nine sticks to go. The next eight were much the same, and he grew more confident with each successful pounce. He felt like he needed to show off. Right when he was at the last stick, he pawed it up in the air and caught it in his mouth. His paws danced with excitement. He looked back at his mentor expectantly.

[Midnight]

"Good." Colonel meowed simply, nodding his approval to Flurrypaw. Good, but can you do that nine more times? Colonel smirked slightly. This was working out well, and a factor that he hadn't thought of until then sunk in: He was making Flurrypaw leap on ten sticks. He was really, in a way, preparing the tom not only for hunting, but for hunting patrols, as well. Patrols generally caught more prey than a single cat going hunting, no? Well, this would hopefully give Flurrypaw more patience and endurance to stand a hunting patrol in the deep snowy forest of FrostClan and help to prepare him for catching more than a single piece of prey.


Impressed by this, Colonel perked his ears, but said nothing more than "You did well." He didn't feel it was good to boost the apprentice's ego too much, but what use was putting him in his place when he did actually do something pretty well? He's shown so much improvement that I fear he may have just been testing my teaching skills earlier. Maybe he wasn't putting his best effort into the training before. Colonel considered this, but not for too long, because in his mind, dwelling on such things that one cannot truly know the answer to, in Colonel's mind, was useless.

"Now then, we'll move on to making sure our paws don't kick up snow." The warrior said, piling some more snow together in small mounds and placing a stick at the end of each. "You will clear the snow and land on the stick. You will do that until you can successfully land on all ten sticks without snow going up. Your jumps should be high, but silent. Quick."

[☀Dawnfeather☀]

A smug grin crossed Flurrypaw's face. Though he hadn't said anything, he could tell Colonel was impressed. At least that's what he thought. He turned his attention to his new instructions; a slightly more daunting task. If he didn't get this right, it wouldn't matter how well he could judge distances.

He lined himself up at the first stick and sized up the snow mound in front of him. He flexed his muscles, trying to best determine the trajectory needed. He leapt, but his paw just barely skimmed the snow. He landed right on the stick, however. He hissed in frustration and struck the stick with an angry paw. "Fox dung!" He rounded, and headed back to the start, hoping Colonel would just let him fix it himself.

He once more lined himself up, sized everything up, and leapt. Unfortunately, his paws once more skimmed the snow. Angry disappointment welled up inside him. "Oh, I'll never get it right!" he fell back on his haunches and stared down at the snow.