A New Way To Learn [O/Harmony]

[Stormbelly]

Stormbelly
Deep in her heart, the thunder rolls.

Stormbelly hadn’t really thought about the fact that Harmonypaw was so new from the nursery, that she didn’t really know what hardship was. She’d never experienced it. Stormbelly worried it would be a rude awakening and a dampener to the bright apprentice’s spirit. “Snow is…” Stormbelly began thoughtfully, her tail tip twitching as she walked.

“Snow is the coldest thing you’ll ever touch. It’s not exactly like wind. Wind doesn’t always get through your fur or make you very cold. But snow gets everywhere, and it’s freezing. When it touched your fur, it sinks right through. For the most part, it’s all right, as long as you don’t stay out in it too long. It’s like frozen water that is all around, and if it melts, your fur stays wet, as though you waded through a lake or the stream. It’s just…unpleasant. But most apprentices enjoy it the first few days of snowfall. It is rather fun to play with and in. I even enjoy it from time to time, although I prefer the warmth to trudging through snow that’s up past my shoulders.”

She gave her fur a good shake, looking mildly ruffled as though the thought of actually trekking through the snow bothered her. Stormbelly really did hate the cold, and snow was no exception, no matter how fun it could be when you batted it around with a friend. Snow was just…bad. She glanced back at Harmonypaw, twitching her whiskers and hoping the apprentice wasn’t too discouraged by her description of snow.

“It’s really not all that bad. Like I said, it can be fun. So don’t worry about it. You’ll find out soon enough. The only bad thing about snow is that most of the prey goes into hiding. But there’s a trick to finding it, if you’re willing to learn.” She smiled secretly, quietly excited to pass on her knowledge to someone who was willing to learn it. She hadn’t seen Swiftpaw in some time, and even when she did, it seemed the she-cat was too busy to train. She wondered what she was getting up to lately.

Shaking the thought away as soon as it appeared, Stormbelly pondered on where to go. “Let’s try the oak,” she mewed, turning and setting a path straight for the ancient tree. “The prey is always plentiful there.” As she trotted on a path towards their hunting grounds, she paused, turning to gaze at Harmonypaw over her shoulder.

“Shall I teach you to track now?” she asked, looking faintly amused. “Because now is as good a time as any. I see a few prey paths we can follow from here.”

[Harmonypaw]

Harmonypaw

I'm grateful, for every scar,
Some pages turned,

She padded beside the warrior stretching her stride to match her longer legs. She looked up as Stormbelly spoke about snow and she nodded flicking her ears and letting ehr eyes flash with wonder and excitment. "The other apprentices have talked about it, and I've hear the warriors dreading it, but I can't wait to see my first snow." She said and glanced at the sky half hoping it would start but the crisp blue day stayed with just the few clouds drifting lazily across the sun. The teperature had dropped since they'd left camp and Harmonypaw fluffed out her still soft kit-like fur against it. Her paws glided over the ground as she walked with the warrior. She lifted her nose trying to take in as much scent as she could as they walked. She didn't notice much beside cat, Thunderclan scent overpowered her senses and she looked up to see Stormbelly a little ways away from her. She'd been concentrating on scenting so much she hadn't heard where they were heading, and hadn't been paying attention. She turned and loped to catch up with Stormbellybreaking down to a quick walk and falling back in step in time to hear the remark about prey. She nodded and flicked her ears forward listening.

Before she knew it they were at the Ancient oak and had stopped. She parted her jaws to take in the scent of the clearing but she still didn't have much experience. So she couldn't much tell where the scent of things was coming from. She closed her mough to find Stormbelly looking at her. She smiled at her and moved forward to stand beside the warrior. Her hazel eyes flashed with excitement and she spoke her voice quavering with excitement and her tail twitching a little. She wasn't your average apprentice, she was still young enough to enjoy training more than anything, and especially from someone new. She turned her head and looked around the clearing trying to see the prey-paths that Stormbelly had spoken of but she didn't see anything but undergrowth, and tree roots. "How do you know where a prey-path is?" She asked and tilted her head as she looked back at the warrior, honest eyes full of curiosity.

Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned.

(Lyrics Credit to "Lessons Learned" by Carrie Underwood)

[Stormbelly]

Stormbelly
Deep in her heart, the thunder rolls.

Stormbelly waited patiently until Harmonypaw’s attention refocused itself on her. She smiled secretly; Harmonypaw was a new apprentice, so her enthusiasm for training hadn’t yet been dimmed into the same old ‘Can you show me something new now? I already know that!’ song that most apprentices tended to sing. It was refreshing; Stormbelly wished that Swiftpaw was more like that. When Harmonypaw reached her side, Stormbelly opened her jaws to taste the air.

The mixed scents of cats, cold, and prey mingled in the wind, and she abruptly snapped her jaws shut as her ears twitched and twisted towards the oak. When she moved, her paws made no noise, carefully gliding over the crackling leaves and brittle twigs. “Do you see this?” she mewed, turning to gaze back at Harmonypaw. She pointed her muzzle down at the ground when she swung back around, indicating a small, almost indecipherable path of broken twigs, cracked leaves, and tiny, almost nonexistent tracks that looked as though something had scuttled along through the dirt.

“These are the kinds of signs you want to look for when you’re tracking prey. Even the smallest of creatures leaves a trail behind. You just have to pay very, very close attention. Most warriors simply track their prey by scent, but that’s not always possible.” She brushed aside some of the scattered leaves and twigs to reveal that the tracks disappeared into the undergrowth. “You see where it vanishes beneath that brush?” she asked, pointing with her paw.

“That’s where it all gets very tricky. To track the prey effectively, you have to follow it everywhere it goes. But they can go places most cats can’t. If you learn to move silently through the brush, you’ll have no problem tracking them. You can use all your senses to find what you’re looking for; sight, scent, smell, touch, hearing. You track the trail with your eyes, smell the prey with your nose, feel what is around you and learn to avoid it to minimize noise, and listen for the sound of scuffling in the undergrowth. If you figure out how to keep track of all four paws, your tail, and the rest of you at the same time, and can keep yourself from making noise, you’ll be one of the most effective and competent trackers in ThunderClan.”

She indicated the trail that disappeared beneath the brush, leading towards the roots of the oak. “Okay, why don’t we see what you’ve got? Track that vole for me and if you find it, and you’re able, then catch it as silently as you can.”

[Harmonypaw]

Harmonypaw

I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing

Her ears flicked forward and she listened intently taking in every word that Stormbelly spoke, not wanting to miss a thing. She nodded slowly as she spotted the prey trail. She padded forward trying to mimic the warriors grace at moving through the undergrowth silent as an owl through the trees. She flicked her ears and stared intently at the trail tilting her head to see it clearly as it wound its way under the brush. She looked back at Stormbelly and listened closely to the challenge. She felt like she'd picked up enough from watching the other apprentice's practice that she could accomplish this task. She nodded and dropped into a hunting crouch her belly fur brushing the ground. It wasn't perfect, she was too scrunched together, her paws weren't far enough a part but for a first attempt it was probably pretty good. She moved slowly forward inching her way acros the ground trying to follow the prey-path. Stormbellys words echoed in her mind "use all your senses to find what you’re looking for; sight, scent, smell, touch, hearing" She flicked her ears slightly wincing as the bumped a few blades of grass sticking above her head.

She concentrated first on her sight, looking ahead to see where the prey-path seemed to be leading. She saw it curving under a brush and felt like she could just squeeze under it if she tried hard enough. She took a pawstep forward and heard Stormbelly's voice in her head again "keep track of all four paws, your tail, and the rest of you at the same time, and can keep yourself from making noise" She steeled herself to make Stormbelly proud and closed her eyes feeling all four of her paws against the ground. She felt her belly fur brushing the ground and her tail lay between two large leaves and a stick she was sure. Her mind moved swiftly and she lifted her tail ever so gently only making the slightest scrape as a leaf brushed against the hard earth. Pride welled in her chest but she forced it down and concentrated hard on her position. She opened her eyes and glanced around her paws the path was mostly clear save a few twigs she needed to be wary of. She gauged the distance and took two silent paw steps forward. There's so much to think about! She thought to herself twitching her whiskers slightly.

She slipped over the twigs silently pride again welling in her chest. She opened her mouth and tasted the scent of vole, which she knew from the fresh-kill pile. but this was different, it was alive, there was a warmth and challenge to the scent that she relished. HEr whiskers brushed against the sides of the small path that she was following as she came to the brush She could tell from them that she was just small enough to slip through, though she would have to be very careful. She moved forward remembering to keep her tail off the ground and to feel where she was placing down her paws before she put weight on them. She was through the brush before she knew it and excitement welled in her belly as her ears caught the faint scufflings of what must be the vole. She edged closer trying her best to keep as silent as she could, unaware of course that a vole was more like a mouse, and would feel you through the ground before it heard or scented you. finally the path turned sharply to the left and her eyes be hled a small mouselike creature. She knew this to be the vole. As she prepared to pounce excitement got the best of her. She moved her hind feet to quickly into position and her tail brushed to hard against the grass nearest her. The vole sat up from it's hunt for seeds and stood alert.

Harmonypaws inexperience and desire to prove herself led her astray. She leaped, over shooting the vole, anticipating it's movements incorrectly not taking into account she was standing right over it's den. It spun and raced between her paws. "NO!" She spat and kicked out with her hind paws spinning and landing clumsily on top of the vole. IT squirmed under her belly and she her eyes widened. move quickly! She scolded herself. She lifted her weight from the vole but only gave it one path of escape. Forward. It shot forward aiming for tis' den just a whiskerlength away. Unfortunately for the vole, Harmonypaw was quick with her paws. She shot out a paws hooking the vole with ehr claws and pulling it toward ehr jaws giving it a swift bite, and feeling the tang of blood hit her tongue for the first time. She stood and sighed flicking her tial angrily. "Mouse dung" She said and looked toward where she assumed Stormbelly was. "That was awful." She mewed to the warrior her eyes blinking apologetically.

Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healing

(Lyrics Credit to "All Around Me" by Flyleaf)

Ooc: Awe, my little perfectionist. =)

[Stormbelly]

Stormbelly
Deep in her heart, the thunder rolls.

Stormbelly watched with a hint of pride, and a hint of amusement, as Harmonypaw slowly crawled into position to catch the vole. So far, the apprentice was doing an impressive job of stalking her prey. Stormbelly wondered if her mentor was aware of how much of a natural born hunter and tracker she already appeared to be. The warrior frowned, her eyes narrowing in thought. There was no doubt that Harmonypaw had a lot of potential, but did Dancingbreeze see it? Or had her fellow warrior been slacking on her training? Perhaps the potential Stormbelly was seeing was the result of Dancingbreeze’s rigorous training methods.

Or perhaps not.

Stormbelly knew of Dancingbreeze’s propensity for spending more time staring at toms than attending her warrior duties; it was something the slightly older warrior did not approve of or condone. If it had been any real problem, she was sure Wildstar would’ve taken it in paw and done something about it, but for now, it was a minor inconvenience for the other warriors. However, in Harmonypaw’s case, it might be a major inconvenience. Stormbelly found her tail twitching in slight annoyance at the thought. She couldn’t do anything about it, but perhaps offering Harmonypaw a few extra lessons on the side wouldn’t hurt.

After all, Swiftpaw was hardly ever around when she went to look for her. Sighing to herself, Stormbelly looked back up just in time to catch Harmonypaw’s messy kill. She shook her head, but a smile graced her muzzle as she stood and smoothly padded towards the somewhat irate apprentice. “That was very good, Harmonypaw. Your kill was messy, and clumsy,” she admitted, dipping her head. “But everything leading up that was amazing. I’m impressed. Have you shown Dancingbreeze how good you are at stalking and tracking? I’m certain she’d be as impressed as I am.”

She touched her tail tip to the apprentice’s shoulder lightly, an amused light shining in her golden eyes. She glanced around, her eyes alighting on another trail near the base of the oak. This one looked as though it belonged to a squirrel; the multitude of cracked and broken nuts littering the base of the tree suggested that the squirrel was still nearby. Stormbelly opened her jaws to catch it’s scent, and the sharp, bitter tang of squirrel hit her full on. “I already see another trail,” she told Harmonypaw.

“This time, I’m not going to give you any instructions. I want you to find it yourself, and track what’s at the end of it. You don’t need to kill it if you don’t feel up to it, but you’re welcome to if you can. And don’t worry about your mistakes; this is a learning experience. If we don’t make mistakes, we can’t learn from them, right?” She nudge the apprentice with her muzzle. “Go on. Give it a go.”

[Harmonypaw]

Harmonypaw

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And I'll be everything that I wanna be
I am confidence and insecurity

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Her heart seemed to crumple at the words that her kill was sloppy. She'd known that, she'd known that. She'd nearly suffocated the thing with her stomach before she'd killed it. She looked at her paws waiting to hear the rest of her correction, but her Chest swelled with the pride in the voice of Stormbelly. She's impressed! She lifted her self and felt like she was standing on her tip toes soaking in the pride from her. She brought herself back down from her cloud at the words about Dancingbreeze. She flicked her ears at the thought of her mentor. She didn't want to speak ill of her, but she really hadn't seen her in a while, and she hadn't been on a single training session. She flicked her tail. "Well... -er- She's really busy I guess..."She said flicking her ears and glancing away from Stormbelly. "I haven't really gotten a chance to -uh- show her anything...yet" She added softly, her eyes searching the ground frantically for somethign to change the subject too. Thankfully Stormbelly didn't linger on that for long and offered her another chance.

Harmonypaw's eyes drifted over the ground looking for the little signs that told the tale of a prey trail. She dropped to her hunters crouch and moved forward a few pawsteps her eyes focusing on a trail, there were a few hairs caught on a bramble, she leaned forward and sniffed deeply, drawing the scent through her nose and over her scent glands. The scent was familiar but she couldn't quite put a name to it. She knew there was usually one or two of these in camp on the fresh-kill pile, but she wasn't sure which one it was. She moved onto the path taking note of the bent blades fo grass and the edges littered with nut casings. She tilted her head and flicked her ears forward as she heard the chittering of a squirrel ahead but she knew not what it was. She moved forward slightly, keeping in mind where her paws her, holding her belly loft from the ground, and her tail down. She watched the grass part around her, her eyes fixed on the gray shape that was twitching jerkily this way and that. The fluffy thing was obviously part of the prey itself, the scent drifted over her tongue and at last she recognized it.

She inched forward a whisker length at a time her hazel eyes locked onto the squirrel. She watched it cautiously, it's movements were swift but not fluid like a cats. They were jerky and seemingly uncoordinated. She waited until it picked up another nut and turned it's back to her. It was facing a large oak tree, sitting on one of the gnarled roots it's teeth scraping agains the nut as it fought to free it's prize from it's prison. She pulled her haunches under her and tried to judge the jump. She vowed to do better this time than she had with the vole. She bunched her muscles and pushed off from the ground with enough force to bowl over the small animal in front of her. She'd done better this time. Her claws hit the squirrel as she flew over the root and landed on top of it neatly. She bent down giving a swift and neat bite to the back of the neck as it squirmed beneath her paws. She stepped off the fresh-kill and bent her head, thanking star clan for it's life. May it bring strength to my clanmates She said and turned with it's skinny form hanging from her jaws. She padded awkwardly aroudn the oak looking for Stormbelly, it's tail tripping her around the front paws, and she stumbled slightly.

I am a voice yet waiting to be heard
I'll shoot the shot, bang, that you hear round the world

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(Lyrics Credit to "One Girl Revolution" by Superchick )

Ooc: just saying but if we get med cat and med cat appy, they will be really sweet together. =)