[AF] Training Talonpaw (open)

[Kiri-chan]

Twilightsong had been nearly as stir crazy as Blossompaw once the flood had ended. He'd been just as eager to escape and go roam the wild blue yonder, but much to Blossompaw's extreme displeasure, Twilightsong had had to inform her that she couldn't set foot out of camp without her mentor. Twilightsong hadn't enjoyed the nasty look the Apprentice had given him when he'd told her that, but he didn't feel like wrangling with the moody female about it right then and had let her stalk back to the Apprentice's den with nothing more than a stern look to mind her manners.

He'd then called Talonpaw over with news that today was to be a training session after breakfast. He wasn't sure if Talonpaw would be able to sit still long enough to even eat, but Twilightsong had insisted he eat something as he would need all his energy for a full day's training. With all the excitement and chaos of the flood, Twilightsong hadn't had time to really spend time properly training him. Wanting to make up for lost time, Twilightsong planned to see where Talonpaw was in regards to his hunting and fighting skills and then work on what Talonpaw needed the most help in.

Once he'd finished eating and had told Midnightstar and his friend Nightfrost that he was heading out with his Apprentice, he'd eagerly stepped out of camp into the fresh spring like air. He was glad to see today was going to be another warm, partly cloudy day. Looking forward to the chance to stretch his legs, he step off for the Western Riverbank. The water would have receded to its normal depth for this time of year and there would be plenty of prey around to test Talonpaw's hunting skills. Enjoying the day he looked over his shoulder at Talonpaw with a grin. "Tell me what sort of things you can smell Talonpaw." He said, conversationally to his Apprentice.

[hawktalon]

Talonpaw scrambled awkwardly after his mentor and panting, caught up. The nice spring air felt cool on his cheek and he gave a blissful sigh. Managing to hear Twilightsong's question after getting a bit carried away, Talonpaw sniffed the air. Should I crack a joke and say 'you?' Nah. He would think I'm mental or something. With a small smile creeping on his face as he wondered what would happen if he said that, the Apprentice replied, goofily.

"Well, I smell a few mice out there." he mewed, pointing with his tail. "And of course-" he laughed. "You." He almost fell over laughing at the dumb, not funny joke. Then he pulled himself up again.

"Sorry." he meowed, trying to behave better. If Windpaw came... Shaking his head, he told himself to stop thinking about her and behave like he had a grudge against her. Looking up expectantly at his mentor, he waited for his reply. Maybe if Windpaw came... Again he snapped out of his thoughts and sat taller, only to fall straight back into is private little world.

Talonpaw was running by a meadow filled with flowers alone. He was looking for something, some cat, but who, the young tom batted at a butterfly and squealed in delight, but the moment he touched it- -the illusion vanished. Talonpaw was batting at air, squealing like a mouse brained kit.

'Oh... oops." Talonpaw flushed and told himself to stop acting sleepy and stuff and be attentive!

[Kiri-chan]

(wow awesome post!
Talonpaw - I smell you
xDDD )

The warm spring air felt simply delightful and he mentally shuddered at remembering the still air of the caves. That was not a place he wanted to visit again anytime soon. Hearing Talonpaw scrambling after him, Twilightsong realized he was probably wearing the poor tom out with his huge strides and so he made an effort to slow the pace down so Talonpaw could keep up without wearing himself out.

"Well, I smell a few mice out there. And of course- You."

Twilightsong nodded, pleased, as Talonpaw pointed out some prey nearby. Good good he's paying attention. Thats one lesson I dont-- His thoughts were cut off when Talonpaw joked about smelling him as well and laughing. Pulling up short Twilightsong's first thought was honestly Eek! Do I offend? as thoughts of Midnightstar flashed through his mind. Then the next second he realized Talonpaw was kidding. "Hey! Why you little!" Twilightsong said, reaching over to bat him playfully while pretending to be insulted. "Well if my odor is that bad maybe you'd rather go back to camp and change everyone's bedding." He joked with the younger tom.

Falling back into stride, he'd only gone a few yards when he realized Talonpaw was off in Lala Land. Stopping and looking back at him, he watched as the male batted at an imaginary butterfly before realizing he was being stared at by Twilightsong. He scurried over and Twilightsong shook his head half amusedly. "Somedays you Apprentices scare me." He said with humor as he padded over to a small clearing near the river. Sitting down he looked around. The location was perfect for a hunting exercise. The river ran swift and clear some 30 feet to his right and on the left was a line of trees ringed with some undergrowth. Further ahead was a grassy extention of the clearing they were currently sitting in and behind them was a wide stripe of riverbank choked with cattails and reeds. Talonpaw shouldn't have any trouble catching at least something with all this cover around. I do hope he's had time to work on his hunting a little, but if not there's plenty of places to teach him in this area. He thought to himself as he looked around.

Twilightsong's tuffed ears twitched and swiveled around, taking in the sounds of variety prey animals around them. Most of them were of the rodent species though there were plenty of birds overheard chirping and twittering about whatever it was that birds chirped and twittered about. Looking over at his Apprentice after several minutes of having observed the air he spoke quietly to the tom.

"Alright the first thing I want to do is to see just where you stand with your hunting skills. This isn't a real test, its just to give me an idea of what you've learned so far. There's plenty of prey around so take your time. I will be watching you, but try not to be nervous because like I said, this isn't an actual test. We'll meet back up here in about an hour." Twilightsong said, motioning with his paw for Talonpaw to return to this area when he was done. Once he agreed and set out, Twilightsong would wait a few minutes before following him. Twi planned on doing some hunting of his own as well so as to have some freshkill to bring back to camp. Waiting for Talonpaw to signal when he was ready for the evaluation to begin, Twilightsong sat comfortably, his large ears noting the sounds of the forest around him with ease.


(you don't have to make one long monster hunting post to cover the whole hour if you don't want to. we can both post like twice or something to break it up some. it depends on you really. ^^)

[hawktalon]

OOC: I can't make really long posts. So two would be great or something like that. And my posts to get boring if too long... ^^

Talonpaw nodded birskly, paws pattering in excitment, then shot off without another word.
Thump. A small pawstep, not his, echoed nearby. No, it was a big nut or something. Possibly a mouse? Talonpaw's ears pricked. Thump, thump- Talonpaw found the mouse a second later under a bush, surrounded by some fairly large nuts...
You are my prey. With a huge jump, he lunged at it, but fell short,. grabbing the mouse's tail. Talonpaw hissed at his miss bu flung the mouse against the ground and it bounced once before it was dead.
Wow. Ever killed a mouse that way? He thought sarcastically. Burying his first prey, he padded onward.

"Talonpaw...?" a sweet voice whispered. It sounded a lot like Windpaw but it wasn't. Turning, he saw pale gray eyes in the bushes. Wait. Gray? Appearing from the shadows, it was a huge fox. giving a squeak of terror Talonpaw tried to escape but there wasn't one. The fox's breath was on him--

A butterfly waas perched on his nose, staring at him. Oops. Groaning, Talonpaw continued, paws heaving after his daydream.

Call yourself the deputy's apprentice? Ha. Maybe the elder's apprentice... Snorting, Talonpaw scented a water vole nearby. Another chance! Yes! Relieved, he crept up on the water vole.
Swish. Swish. Rustle, rustle.
Was that Twilightsong? Maybe. He continued stalking, then pounced.
This time he was accurate. Killing it with a swift bite, he purred in excitement.
"Yes!" he mewed out loud.

[Kiri-chan]

(eepies, i'm sorry i took so long to post. school was kinda chewing on me. x.x )

Twilightsong grinned at seeing Talonpaw's eagerness as his apprentice quickly darted off to get started. Twilightsong got a drink before heading after the male to get an idea of where he was headed before veering off to catch some lunch for later. He caught up with Talonpaw as he was burying a mouse and nodded from his hiding place. Okay, so he can at least catch something. He thought with relief.

Twilightsong heard wings flutter nearby and without moving, his eyes looked around until he saw a robin flitting around pecking at insects. Creeping over, Twilightsong was soon burying the bird for later. Catching up to Talonpaw he watched as the male stalked and killed a water vole enthusiastically. Nodding to himself, Twilightsong heard the rustling noise and scanned the area to see what it was. Finally spotting it, he was pleased to see it was a squirrel rustling through the undergrowth. Twilightsong decided to kill that one himself and carefully stalked over towards it. After killing it and burying it, he set off to see how Talonpaw was doing for the rest of the hunting session.

[hawktalon]

ooc: lolz. ^^ I've been sorta inactive lately.

Talonpaw spotted a small bird perched on a low branch.

Okay.. how exactly do I get that? He thought nervously. Thinking for a moment, a lunged into the air and grappled the bird's wing. It tore some feathers off and the bird, dazed but not dead, was flung to the ground. Talonpaw jumped again, sending the bird giving a loud cry. It fluttered away and Talonpaw hit hard ground, throwing a dust-storm after him.
"Mouse-dung." he mewed angrily, chasing after the fleeing bird. It was already gone. Talonpaw's tail drooped.

[Kiri-chan]

Twilightsong was headed back to find Talonpaw when he heard a bird squawking and trying to escape from something. Dashing over, he arrived in time to see the bird streak off into the sky, leaving behind several feathers and one defeated looking Talonpaw. Hiding his smile behind a paw, Twilightsong's whiskers twitched in amusement as he peered around a tree trunk at his apprentice.

Glancing up, he noted the sun's position. The hour was over. Coming out from behind the tree, Twilightsong coughed so Talonpaw knew he was approaching. "That was a good try Talonpaw. Birds are naturally harder to catch so we'll just work on your bird catching skills more during training." He purred at the younger tom. "Why don't you go fetch all your freshkills and I'll do the same and then we'll meet back up by the river for some lunch before heading back to camp?" Twilightsong said, to help Talonpaw get his mind off missing the bird.

[hawktalon]

Talonpaw felt slightly better when Twilightsong told him birds were harder to catch. Nodding, he twitched his tail and gathered his prey.
"Okay." he finally meowed. "Then we're going to battle train?" He asked eagerly, the bird immedately forgotten. "And then we could ask...er... another Apprentice to do train with us too?" Like Windpaw. Talonpaaw whacked himself with his tail-righ tin front of his mentor AND the deputy- and flushed.
"Um..." he said awkwardly, but looked at Twilightsong expectantly.

[Since I have two charries now, am I allowed to audition for a kit?]

[Kiri-chan]

(yeah you'd be allowed to audition and sorry I took so long to reply.)

Once Talonpaw set off to get his freshkill, Twilightsong also doubled back and dug up his bird and squirrel. Carrying them back to the little clearing they'd agreed to meet at, Twilightsong was getting drink when Talonpaw arrived and asked if they'd battle train afterwards with another Apprentice. Twilightsong looked thoughtful for a moment and wondered why Talonpaw had hit himself with his tail, but decided not to comment. Twilightsong had wanted to test Talonpaw's fighting skills and briefly wondered if testing him with another Apprentice was the way to do it. Finally concluding it wouldn't hurt, he grinned at Talonpaw.

"I had planned on it after lunch with just us, but now that I think about it, I think having another Apprentice along would be better. I can assess your skills better if you're mock fighting someone your age and size." He said with a grin before playfully teasing Talonpaw a little. "I'd hate to smush my Apprentice cause then I'd have to explain to Midnightstar why I need a new one." Chuckling a little, he flicked his ear as a pesky fly tried to land on it before he bent down to pick up his bird and squirrel. "Come on, lets head back and see who wants to come with us to train." Cheerfully setting off back to camp, Twilightsong was very pleased that he'd be able to report to Midnightstar that Talonpaw's hunting skills hadn't suffered during the flood. He wasn't sure he'd be able to say the same thing about Talonpaw's fighting skills, but he wasn't too worried. Talonpaw appeared to be a quick learner and he was eager so teaching him wasn't hard.


(if you want, after you post here, you can start a thread at camp and we'll see who wants to join us before I make the training thread at the dunes ^^ )

[hawktalon]

[Okay, I will!]
Still a little subdued, Talonpaw nodded, trying to sound eager and actually laughed when Twilightsong cracked a joke.
"Are any... particular Apprentices you want to come along? Like, I don't know... Windpaw, for instance?" asked Talonpaw pryingly. Flushing, Talonpaw stopped briefly and licked his paw.
"Never mind." he quickly meowed. Hurrying along, the young Apprentice burst into camp a moment later.

Yes, know Twilightsong thinks something's wrong with you.

Talonpaw thought miserably as he dropped his prey down in the fresh kill pile