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Post by Shad on Oct 4, 2015 17:56:51 GMT
"Thank you so much for doing this for us," Patchpaw said, for the hundredth time that morning. The small soft calico bounced along next to the dappled pelt of Turtlefrost, skipping to keep up with the shecat's bigger steps. Behind her, her two brothers followed obediently. Or, at least, as obediently as those two got. She cast a sharp look back at them. She had been very clear about today. They were to be on their best behavior. They were going to listen and Not Goof Off!Gullkit was staring off into space, padding along more by instinct than anything. He did not even seem to be looking at the ground as he walked. He was probably thinking about the next piece of prey that was going to go in his mouth or the best spot around here to sleep. Patchpaw would swear that tom had less drive than a sow bug. She loved him and he was a good brother, but she did not understand for the life of her how he could be so carefree about everything. It did mean he was the one less likely to cause trouble though. Her grey brother avoided any sort of work with a brazen laziness that bordered on the unbelievable, but when cornered, he could be diligent -if you made him. The blue point tom caught her sharp glare and immediately nudged Cherrykit. The two walked a little bit straighter, and Gullkit made it look like he was paying attention, even if he still wasn't. It was the best she could hope for she supposed. The group was going to the drier part of the territory. Turtlefrost was going to try to teach Patchpaw's brothers a bit about hunting or maybe fighting. The shecat was not sure yet. Honestly, she did not care. Either one would be phenomenal. The siblings were reaching 7 moons now and every day the tiny calico's fear for her brothers' place in the clan grew. If she could prove to Duskblaze somehow that they could be Warriors, that they had potential, maybe their family could survive for just a little bit longer. Maybe it was a foolish hope, but currently it was the only one she had so she was clinging to it desperately.
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A flaming sword of burning righteousness and also fire!
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Post by ♏aple♢ on Oct 5, 2015 8:17:26 GMT
I may have the face of an angel
But I sure as hell don't act like one
"Not a problem Patchpaw!" Turtlefrost purred, flicking her long tail back and forth.
What a beautiful day in Marshclan's territory. Well, as beautiful as this disgusting... gray... muckland could get. But beauty wasn't always about the outside! Well... alright, that was a blatant lie. But what she was trying to say, was that the day wasn't beautiful because of the cloudy sky, or the gray muck underpaw. No, it was a beautiful day because of what was going on. And what was that? An ultra-cool private training lesson for an apprentice and a few apprentices-to-be, delivered by yours truly! That's what! And any day where the youth sought out her help was a good one, in Turtlefrost's book.
"You little guys are important, even if Duskblaze hasn't made your brothers apprentices yet. You're the future of our clan, after all. It's vital for you to be trained properly!" And what better cat to do that training than Turtlefrost? Sure, she had an apprentice of her own. But Steampaw was off on a hunting patrol right now, and Turtlefrost could spare the time. Patrols were set, and Turtlefrost didn't have any until Dusk. Some cats might spend a day like that lazing around. But oh, not her! When Patchpaw had come to her, asking her to help train with her and her brothers, Turtlefrost had been escatic. Even if two of them were deaf, Patchpaw was a quick, smart she-cat. One with the good of the clan at heart, and a strong loyalty to her family to boot! A good she-cat, who would make a fine, fine warrior someday. And what could she say? Turtlefrost had a soft spot for the orange and white one, too. He reminded her of her brother Yarrowkit.
Turtlefrost had, of course, agreed in a heartbeat. She'd seen how Duskblaze had been incapacitated- and how often Patchpaw had to sit around camp. A real apprentice had ought to be out training! Hunting and fighting, learning the ways of the warrior code. But with a mentor with half his face ripped off, she couldn't exactly do that. Turtlefrost understood. And she also understood how important it was for this young she-cat to want to help her brothers. Turtlefrost herself had been in a similar situation, once. When she and her own two brothers had all been ill, and nobody had wanted to care for them. But oh, she'd protected those two! Until the last breath. Yeah... until the last breath. Sigh. But! But! She saw that same spark in Patchpaw. And she wanted to protect that fire. Throw some kindle on it! "Cats who are hurt might need more care than others, but they can be just as good as any warrior out there. I mean, look at Eveningblaze? He's a medicine-cat, sure. But he's a warrior too. Have you seen those muscles? I'd bet you my tail that a couple of strong kits like Gullkit and Cherrykit will end up like him someday. Well... Maybe not exactly like him." Turtlefrost wrinkled her nose with a laugh. But she was quite proud of her cousin. Even though he'd been forced into the life of a medicine-cat, he'd trained just as hard on his own to become a warrior as the best of them. And so she would train with Cherrykit and Gullkit! For today, at least.
They were traveling a good ways from camp. Hah, Turtlefrost wondered if Gullkit and Cherrykit had ever even been this far? Their territory was safe, though. They had strong warriors patrolling. Or... rogues who were finally starting to learn the warrior code, she guessed. And even if they didn't, Turtlefrost could protect them! Word had spread about the incident with the owl, much to the warrior's pride. Strong! A loyal warrior, incredible hunter, and savior of kits! And Turtlefrost would be damned if she wasn't going to live up to that reputation. Ah- there it was!
"Aaaaand here we are!" Turtlefrost grinned, waving her tail as springy moss spread before them. The mossy hollow. Far softer, but not nearly as soggy as the rest of the territory. Streams encircled it, and herbs poked through the edges. A perfect place to train, relax, and according to Eveningblaze, gather herbs. Although Turtlefrost's uses for the place were much more primal. She often came here with Steampaw to work on their battle skills- but today they would be focusing on something a little more simple. Hunting, to start off with. "The mossy hollow. Perfect for training of all kinds, and safe too! Has Duskblaze brought you here yet?" She quirked her head at the apprentice. He'd gotten his injury not long after the place had been discovered, hadn't he?
803 words | Turtlefrost | Daytime |
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Post by Shad on Oct 7, 2015 3:40:10 GMT
The calico looked around the hollow curiously, shaking her head at Turtlefrost's question. She and Duskblaze... they had mostly practiced hunting and scenting. She was exceptionally bad at both tasks and they had been working at it when... things had started to go wrong. She shook off the troublesome thoughts though and turned to her brothers. She sat down next to Turtlefrost, ears up and alert, tail over her paws, white-blue eyes harsh and stern as a mother's scowl. Alright. This is it. Sit up straight. Behave.Gullkit got the not so subtle hint immediately and plopped his tail down, eyeing both his sister and Turtlefrost warily. Patchpaw had made it quite clear to him that this was important and after Mama had left... well, Gullkit was going to be doing things a bit differently now. What Patchpaw needed, he would get for her. Even if it meant some mousebrained training session. It made Patchpaw happy, so here he was. He was going to be obedient and do what he was told. His stomach rumbled. Inquiring about third breakfast. Gullkit ignored it. ... ......But if this ran into a second hour he sure hoped Patchpaw would let them take a lunch break. "So," Patchpaw mewed brightly. "What do you want to start them with?" |
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A flaming sword of burning righteousness and also fire!
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Post by ♏aple♢ on Oct 8, 2015 23:42:22 GMT
I may have the face of an angel
But I sure as hell don't act like one
Turtlefrost padded a ways into the mossy clearing. The greenery was soft and plush under her paws- almost moist, but not quite. The air was cool, the leaves were red, and the surrounding creeks were bubbling. Oh yes. This was a perfect day for training. Mybe she should bring Steampaw out later after all! Turning around, Turtlefrost gave the three young cats a once-over.
Gullkit. He sat close to his sister, a wary look in his eye. Large for his age. If he'd been apprenticed already, there was no doubt that with a size like that he'd be in the front of his class. On the fatter size- especially for Leaf-Fall! But that could all be turned into muscle. With the kind of build he was shaping up to have? No doubt. However... His fur was pale and pointed- coloration that would stick out like a thorn in a pad. Turtlefrost tsked. That would make hunting and stealth difficult. They'd have to see how graceful he was, too. If she'd learned anything about bigger cats it was that usually they weren't the quietest. Now, Gullkit's lack of talking made her question that, but Turtlefrost was going with her gut on this. At the very least, Leaf-Bare was coming. And with a thick coat and pale fur like that? He would be having an easier time than any of them!
Cherrykit on the other paw... Was the exact opposite. He didn't seem to want to sit at all, looking all about the clearing with bright eyes. Whenever they landed on her, they turned more hostile than his brother's- he seemed like a rebellious one alright. If the sneaking out of camp stunts that he seemed to pull so frequently were any indication. He was thin. Scrawny, even. Smaller than both his siblings, with legs like bramblewire and not a hint of muscle on him. He looked the most the part of a kit out of all the three. This tom... definitely would not have been at the front of his class. But with a build like that, he could be fast. Quick as lightning even, if he put his mind to it. Turtlefrost found herself with a grin. A challenge! With effort, he could become lean. Never bulky like his brother, but he could be a good hunter... Especially in this season, with orange fur like that.
And finally, Patchpaw. There was bright determination in her pale eyes as she looked Turtlefrost square on. She wasn't who they were here for. But she was who they were here because of! And while she might spend the better part of this session observing, there was no reason not to get her involved period. She seemed to be shooting up like a root lately- it was impossible to tell how large she would get. But with fur as mottled as her own, Patchpaw would have a breeze hunting in Leaf-Fall. And with two moons of experience under her pelt, she could be a helpful addition. Not to mention a few things that Turtlefrost could teach her, too!
"Alright, alright..." Turtlefrost meowed thoughtfully, nodding. Her eyes were narrowed, but widened back up as a grin grew on her face. "Lets start em with hunting! Or well- actually, no. First I wanna see what they can do in general. How much do they know? What can they do?" Turtlefrost had no clue how much these kits had been developed. She wasn't exactly an expert on kit behavior, or deaf cats. This was going to be... difficult. Without talking. Or being able to understand them at all. Huh. But they would work past that! If Turtlefrost was anything, she was determined. She would help turn these kits into true warriors, one way or another!
647 words | Turtlefrost | Daytime |
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Post by Shad on Oct 9, 2015 1:52:06 GMT
The grey tom rolled his eyes. Patchpaw glared at him but he couldn't help it. What did they know? Well gee Turtle. Could you be any more vague? He just learned to fly yesterday by the way. Since she asked. Just sprouted wings out of no where. Just look. Aren't they pretty? Patchpaw stepped forward first. She dropped into a crouch thing. They had done a few battle sessions, but he did not recognize it. She was looking expectantly at Cherrykit. Oh. It must be some sort of hunting crouch then. She and Cherry had been going out on those lately. The calico stalked across the grass, letting Cherrykit mimic her. When the tom started to be distracted or misplaced a foot the calico was quick to deliver a light cuff to his ears to recapture his attention or draw notice to his error and correct him. After a moment she stopped. When Cherrykit would have stopped, she shook her head and flicked her tail back cross the clearing. Keep going without me.Aw great. This meant she was after him now. Joy. Gullkit mentally groaned as he rose to his paws and dropped into a battle stance with relative ease. Patchpaw's ears flicked in a count down. Once. Twice. Three. Go!The shecat swiped forward without a second's hesitation and Gullkit easily moved backward out of range, his paws moving partly from instinct and partly from getting darn sick of his little sister beating him to a pulp. She was supposed to be tiny! Where did she get all that energy from? It was embarrassing, and while Gullkit did not particularly care what Turtlefrost thought, he refused to get pummeled by his sister while someone was watching. He did have a small amount of pride thankyouverymuch. He ducked to avoid Patchpaw's sailing paw and hastily jumped to the side, attempting to off balance the shecat. As if. His sister might be a terrible fighter and a worse hunter, but her paw placement was always perfect. She never lost her balance. It was decidedly infuriating. Patchpaw was talking as she attacked. Gullkit tried to keep track of her words -in case any were directed at him- but he only caught about half of it as he also had to keep his eyes on the unrelenting orange and black paws that never ceased to be the bane of his peaceful, lazy existence. "-mostly taught Cherrykit hunting-" A swipe. A kick. Gah! He hated when she did two at once. "-working on Gullkit's battle but he won't-" How did you talk and bite at the same time? Of all the talents his sister could have possessed, why did it have to be that one? The grey tom lurched backward just in time to avoid having an extremely sore paw. "-so I attack and he dodges."It was only bits and pieces but Gullkit got the gist. She taught Cherrykit a bit about hunting, wanted to do battle training with him, but he refused to practice any sort of attack (I mean, she was his sister! He couldn't hit her!) so they mostly just had him dodge. |
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A flaming sword of burning righteousness and also fire!
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Post by ♏aple♢ on Oct 9, 2015 14:49:40 GMT
Did you cut your hands on me?
Are my edges sharp? What were they doing here? With the dappled she-cat? He'd wondered and wondered as they walked. It had seemed important to Cherrykit's sister, though. So he'd come. And now- under the light of the sun with the smell of moss and clovers and fresh bubbling water cold in his nose- Cherrykit wasn't really regretting it. Maybe it was just an outing? They were never allowed to go this far from home. The walk had been a long one, but he had relished every minute of it. Every moment he spent out of that camp could have been the brightest one in his life. He hated it there, and loved it here. That, combined with Patchpaw's nervous eagerness, had made him more than happy to come along. And yet...
He didn't trust that she-cat. She moved mouths with Patchpaw, but never at them. Not that he or Gullkit would be able to move them back- the little shapes and quirks that they always made were still such a mystery to the tom. He couldn't... do it right. But it still hurt him, in a way, that she didn't at least try. And now she looked them up and down like mice. Cherrykit gave her a hard glare. She might be letting them out of their home, but she was still one of the invaders. She would not be let off so easily, even if Patchpaw trusted her.
And then, Patchpaw looked at him. She'd stepped forward, and her eyes were urging as she dropped low. Oh... was this.... Crouches? Cherrykit blinked, looking from her to the tortoiseshell. The tortoiseshell nodded at him a bit too vigerously, and he looked back to Patchpaw. The two of them had been going out into the forest lately. Cherrykit had been ecstatic- he'd missed their adventures what were far and few between. But it hadn't turned out to be adventures at all, but... training, of some sort. Far more serious than any play. He'd been adverse to the idea at first- he'd just wanted to play. But after a time, he'd realized how important it was to her. How important it was to him, perhaps. Because for once in who knew how long, he was learning.
Mother was never with them anymore. She was always in that half-faced cat's den. She never trained with him- or even played, and neither did the tom, who spent almost as many hours there. Life had gotten stagnant and bitter. But Patchpaw- Patchpaw still spent time with him. And so did Gullkit. Slowly, Cherrykit was beginning to get a bigger picture of what was going on here. Was this she-cat... Going to do crouches with them too? Something like hope flickered through the tom's chest, sending his heart skipping and his eyes shimmering. Maybe, just maybe...
Cherrykit dropped to a crouch. He and Patchpaw had practiced. He kept his body narrow and his legs as even as he could- although his tail stuck straight up. It was for hunting, Patchpaw had shown. Through pouncing on already-dead mice and careful cuffs to the ear, Cherrykit had learned. He liked to think that he did well, sneaking forward like that with eyes so focused and ears so flat. He wouldn't even notice that he stepped too heavily or that his back was too arched.
He'd almost stopped when Patchpaw had, but she'd told him to keep going. And then, out of the corner of his eye, he'd seen her going back to Gullkit. He wanted to watch- but he had to focus on his own crouches! And then... he got distracted again, as the tortoiseshell started to walk towards him. Her eyes were bright. Enthuseastic, even. Cherrykit was wary- and that only increased when she put her tail on his back. Immediately any fluidity that had been in Cherrykit's form went rigid, and a low growl rose from the tom's throat at the pushing pressure. This just ended up arching his back even further. He looked from the she-cat- who was now moving her mouth at Patchpaw- to his sister.
~+~
"Cherrykit's crouch is off. Back too arched, tail too high, paw pressure is all over the place. Gullkit moves too heavily- he needs to focus on moving more smoothly. But you're seriously the only one whose been training them, and just from what Duskblaze has taught you?! That's impressive." And Turtlefrost, unbeknownst and unheard to Cherrykit, was not a cat who gave praise lightly. She was a proud she-cat, and every ounce of her commendation would be well deserved. "There are a few things that I can already see that need worked on, yeah. But you've been doing pretty damn good for a cat your age, balancing your own apprenticeship with theirs." Excitement in her blue eyes. A rare, impressed light. And determination. "Lets see what else we can do."
821 words | Cherrykit | Daytime |
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Post by Shad on Oct 14, 2015 4:47:57 GMT
 The shecat stopped when Turtlefrost spoke up, immediately settling down into an appropriately obedient sitting position and waiting for the lecture that was sure to come. Cherrykit's crouch was off. Patchpaw resisted the urge to wince. She knew. She had tried to fix it. She had not gotten it quite right explaining though. She just was not sure how to teach something that had come perfectly natural to her. It was the same as teaching a cat how to breathe. Sure you could tell a cat to move their chest and pull in air but that was a weak facsimile of the natural movement. You just... felt it. Crouches had worked that way for Patchpaw. As a cat who valued organization and schedules and strict control of all factors, something as simple as holding your own body in balance, as moving with tightly control flows of pressure of pads and shifts of weights, was child's play. Patchpaw had taken to crouches naturally -and found herself wholly unequipped to teach a struggling Cherrykit how to do the same. Gullkit was next. This one Patchpaw had not seen coming and she felt her ears sink with guilt. Mousebrain! How did she not notice? Yes. Of course his moves were jerky. That was bad. She had been too focused on keeping him moving and not enough in the actual techniques. It was a fool's mistake and fools did not apprentices make. In the end, her training had done nothing. Patchpaw kept her shoulders upright and respectful but inside her heart slumped in exhausted defeat. What had she been expecting? She was just an apprentice. An apprentice with only a pawful of training sessions to guide her and two brothers that needed more help than she could ever offer them. She had known getting Turtlefrost to help them was a long shot. She had not wanted to. To show such weakness to a clanmate was something the tiny calico was not ready for yet. It was too soon after losing Honeyheart and Duskblaze's take over for Patchpaw to expect anything less than the worst from others, but she had been out of options. With so little training herself, she had quickly reached the limits of her abilities to teach and had been forced to go by instinct. Crude, but it was all she had. She had been worried she might start teaching her brothers bad habits instead of good ones and so... She had sought help. That did not matter though. Turtlefrost affirmed what Patchpaw already knew. They had a long way to go. She had sought out a Warrior too soon and not taught them enough first. -Had not learned enough herself. Useless. Useless and Ineffective. Those were the things that described Patchpaw of Marsh Clan. "-But you're seriously the only one whose been training them, and just from what Duskblaze has taught you?! That's impressive."Pale white eyes blinked in shock. "What?" The word was out before the calico even registered saying it. Patchpaw had expected Turtlefrost to decry her brother's meager skills. She had anticipated the Warrior's irritation and even accepted the fact that Turtlefrost might deem the whole venture a waste of her time and refuse to teach them. She had steeled herself for the worst and promised to continue on as best she could regardless of what happened. Praise... was the last thing on the calico's mind. It took her several moments to even wrap her head fully around the idea, a good pawful more before she could apply the idea to herself in any manner. Oh. Turtlefrost was not angry. Or irritated. Or even stomping off in a huff. She was ,er, praising her. She said Patchpaw had done well. That was... uh... Did that really just happen?Patchpaw... Patchpaw remembered the last time someone had praised her and her heart clenched tightly in her chest. It was her mother. Her mother had been so proud of her, so very proud. Stars above, the calico did not even remember what it had been about. Probably a mouse or moss or something equally ridiculous and not at all praiseworthy. She had beamed under her mother's warm glow though. The memory was tainted now, painful to think of and constricting her throat as she realized that might have been the last time her mother was all there, not babbling from fever, but it still made the little calico's heart warm and a watery smile spread over her face as she looked at Turtlefrost. She looked up not as a sister scrabbling to make ends meat or a cat pushed to her limits to get by, but just as an apprentice. A simple apprentice, proud to be praised. "Lets see what else we can do."The shecat nodded, finally feeling a tiny chunk of the massive weight that weighed down on her and threatened to crush her flat every second of the day lighten, ever so slightly as she remembered something her mother had once told her, something she had almost forgotten through all the patrolling and training and struggling through each day. "We are not alone, Patchkit. We are Clan, and Clan makes us strong -together." |
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