First time's the charm

[Cloud of Diamonds]

He refrained from snorting with great diffculty. Did Gingerpaw listen at all to what he was saying? She should, or her progress towards warriorhood would be abosolutely nothing. "Gingerpaw, I just told you we're going hunting near the river. Pay attention and please stop bouncing. However, I'm glad you don't mind doing anything, because we'll be doing a rather lot today. And I refuse to try to 'beat' whatever you want me to beat, because frankly it would be a waste of time and we have more important things to do, so yes, let's go, now. Follow me." That silly apprentice. Well, she's barely more than a kit, really. I guess this is the way kits act when they're excited. But soon she'll have something else to occupy her, and she does seem eager, which is good. Redtail's long strides traversed the wet ground smoothly, only stumbling slightly on a patch of crumbly earth. His whiskers twitched, his amber eyes narrowed against the sunlight. They weren't too far from the river now.

[Puddyluff]

"Okay. I won't make you 'beat'," she meowed with sarcasm, as she stopped bouncing. Her amber eyes beamed with pride. We're going hunting! For the first time in my whole life, we're going hunting. I'm going to make sure that my first prey will be a success, thought Gingerpaw, avoiding to make eye contact. On the other side, she was afraid of her mentor. He was very strict to her. She was actually expecting her mentor to be a cheerful, happy mentor. Well, I can't always get what I want, so I should be happy that I even got a mentor, continued her thoughts. She shook her head and went back to real life. "Are we there yet?" she asked to Redtail, her amber eyes glowing for an answer. She wasn't going to walk all day. She wanted to learn how to fight, hunt, and learn all the things that real warriors did. She saw them carry large bunches of prey back to camp when she was a kit. Gingerpaw just wanted to be the same.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Redtail sighed. Oh well, at least they actually were here now, so he supposed he could answer the question Gingerpaw had asked a minute ago, which he'd ignored. "Yes, Gingerpaw, we are indeed at the river now." Redtail looked over the wide gray band of water, and the plentiful reed beds beside it, the closest one about six tail-lengths away. The ginger StreamClanner sniffed deeply, mouth open. There were voles in there, all right. Now if he could only catch one as an example for his apprentice. Oh, he found it so hard to keep still, even more so in the sometimes scratchy reeds. But the tom knew he had to try, at least. "Ok, Gingerpaw, follow a tail-length behind me very quietly and don't make a sound, but watch what I do." Carefully distributing his weight, the muscular warrior crept over to the patch of reeds, tail low but not too low, and legs holding his body as best they could. Now, where was the prey? Ah ha...there! A small brown creature was nibbling a seed with its back to him barely a foxlength away, on the edge of the patch. Redtail slunk toward it, sliding his paws in the sand as he walked to make less noise. An itch on his back was driving him crazy, but he could hold his patience for the few extra moments more it would take to catch the animal. Finally he took the last pawstep, hoped his apprentice was watching, and bunched his muscles together to heave himself into the air and onto the vole, slitting its neck with a claw. Immediately he moved to scratch his back on a reed frond that was sticking out, and sighed with relief. He then quickly picked up the vole, turned, and buried it beside the reed patch.

[Puddyluff]

"Awsome. Can I try that?" whispered Gingerpaw softly. Redtail was a good mentor. I think I can handle this, thought Gingerpaw as she stepped forward to get her permission. But then, she thought, Wait. I can do this better once I learn. She turned back to Redtail and meowed, "Never mind. Teach me how to catch things first. Do I always have to be quiet?" At this part of training, Gingerpaw tried to be dead serious, like Redtail. Maybe that'll make me as good as my mentor, thought Gingerpaw. She tried to be serious, but as she waited for instructions, she was so bored that she was about to start bouncing. Then in her thought, she reminded herself that this work was serious, and she was about to catch this vole without failure. I wish this vole was really slow, so it would be easier for me to catch it, continued Gingerpaw's wild thoughts. If only.... then she remembered how Redtail heaved himself into the air to catch the vole. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but it was worth a try. Her amber eyes shined as she tried to think of the positive side, instead of the negative side. Maybe this wasn't going to be hard, after all.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Redtail was half amused, half exasperated by the small she-cat's question. Obviously she had to be quiet when she was hunting, or maybe she'd never speak again if she didn't catch any prey and starved, who knew? Although didn't really make sense, he knew, he was even tempted to laugh, but restrained himself. But it was part of the ginger tom's nature, no denying it. However, Redtail knew that it was Gingerpaw's first time hunting, so she would want to check, to be sure. Which was a good thing to do, he had to admit. Though his whiskers twitched somewhat at the fact that Gingerpaw seemed to be telling him what to do, even if she wasn't trying to. Though she seemed a bit overconfident. It was more than likely she'd miss her first catch. But he should still advise her. Remembering to lower the volume of his mew, he said "Of course you can, but don't be disappointed if you get prey on your first try. And yes, you do always have to be quiet when you're hunting, Gingerpaw. But at first, you'll want to work more on the parts of your technique than actually catching something. And the first step to catching something, is, well, your step. Especially when you're stalking a vole or something similar. When you're creeping up on prey, you should try to make as little vibration in the ground as you walk as possible so the prey doesn't know you're coming. And as you walk, you want your muscles tensed and ready to spring, but also loose enough to move smoothly. So, why don't you show me how well you can do that on the sand here?" The amber-eyed tabby sat back, waiting for the striped apprentice to demonstrate how well she could do the first basic part of hunting.

[Puddyluff]

"Sure," meowed Gingerpaw. She was excited, but she stayed as calm as possible. If she was loud, she would never be able to catch her prey. She distributed her weight equally to other legs, and tried carefull, and slowly to step towards her mentor. I can do this, thought Gingerpw as she took another step towards Redtail. Then her rythm got faster and faster. Am I doing it? thought Gingerpaw as she finally arrived infront of Redtail. "Did I do it alright?" she asked, her amber eyes gleaming for an answer. Of course she hoped she did it right, but if she didn't, she hoped that Redtail would tell her the problem instead of not telling her the problem becasue he thought that she would get disappointed. "Well?" she meowed agian, waiting for reply. "Was that good, or do I need to work on it?" she continued, trying to sound like she didn't care. But maybe she couldn't hide her nervousness. She was stammereing and shivering, the reaction to nervous situations.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Redtail was not quite impressed, but he had not expected to be. Gingerpaw looked so anxious, though, her yellowish eyes wide. What could he say that could calm her? Well, that's not really the point, he answered himself. The point is to offer her contsructive criticism so she can actually do it. Though if he wasn't kind enough to her now, would she remain nervous throughout her training and could nervousness turn into fear? Oh, just say something, and stop getting in other cat's heads, you mouse-brain, he snapped silently at himself. "It's a good start, Gingerpaw. The way you balanced your weight was good, but remember, it's not about speed. If you go too fast, the sound of your steps will alert prey even if the vibrations don't. And there's something you didn't do, but I forgot to tell you about. You want to be you're low to the ground as you walk, like you're a snake. And try not to shiver like that, because if you shiver when you walk, your muscles will be more tensed than they need to be and it will difficult for you to leap on prey smoothly. So, now that I've given you some more advice, show me your movement again." Redtail hoped he'd done an ok job of reassuring but also giving advice to the small sand-furred StreamClanner. He twitched his ear as a fly buzzed around it, and he shifted his back legs to a drier patch of ground.

[Puddyluff]

"Okay." meowed Gingerpaw. She couldn't help showing her disappointment to Redtail. Still, she acted cooly, and leaped back to her paws to start once again. Like she has done, she distributed her weight to other paws, and start stalking slower than her first try. She turned to the opposite side, not losing her quietness, and made her stalking the best she can do. She stalked all the way back to Redtail and meowed, "How about this one? I tried to go slower." the amber eyes beamed of hope, and Gingerpaw thought, I'm sure I did better this time. I followed what Redtail said to me. As long as I do that, I think I'll probably be safe. She wanted to bounce, but she had been so nervous that she used up all her energy. She sat down and started to stare at Redtail, trying to predict what he would say.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

"Yes....it was good, but still room for improvement. But don't stress over getting it perfectly this quickly. It takes practice. This time, I want you to show me how you would pounce on a piece of prey coming out of a stalking position, using only your instincts." Though he knew he should give her advice, he also wanted to see what she was like acting without it. Knowledge of her basic abilities would help him give her constructive criticism later. Wow, I'm actually thinking like a mentor, he marveled. He didn't know how, really. Redtail had never expected to be a mentor, had barely even thought about it.

[Puddyluff]

"Um... err...... Sure!" meowed Gingerpaw. Okay. He didn't give me a speck of advice, but I think it'll be worth a try, thought Gingerpaw. She immediately went to her stalking pose, and counted a few beats. Three, two, one.... Jump! Her mind reacted quickly, and she leaped onto a leaf, pretending that the brown leaf was a brown mouse. After all, she was only practicing. I didn't do so well, thought Gingerpaw, waiting for her criticism to approach right in front of her eyes. Perhaps my leap was too loud? Or maybe I leaped too high, or rather too low, thought Gingerpaw. She couldn't act like a kit in front of Redtail. She had to gobble up the criticism and act mature. But she wasn't going to stick to the negative side. I think some parts will be good, Gingerpaw thought as she stalked up to her mentor, and asked in a quiet, and shy voice, "Well, how was that? Do I need more work on that?"