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Post by leo on Aug 7, 2008 13:00:50 GMT -5
Aphidkit beamed. This was wonderful - now she would finally be able to teach Bearkit something, rather then him always trying to teach her. Plus, it would give her a head start on her apprenticeship. "I would love that." She mewed with a smile.
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Post by Gigi on Aug 7, 2008 13:24:40 GMT -5
Dewpaw bounced with excitement. Now she could be like a mentor! This was so cool. Then she stopped, realizing that she was acting like a kit. Shaking herself, she tried to act more mature.
"Okay," she meowed. "Let's get started!"
She instantly dropped into the hunter's crouch.
"This is the hunter's crouch, done the right way," she told Aphidkit. She smiled. "Try it, and I'll help you if you mess up on some parts."
She stayed in the hunter's crouch so Aphidkit could see her and try to do what she was doing.
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Post by leo on Aug 7, 2008 13:48:19 GMT -5
Aphidkit firts dropped into the sloppy-off balance one she was used to from Bearkit, quickly tweaking it to look more like Dewpaw's. She noticed the way her paws went jst about directly under her shoulders - her tail was out stretched to keep balance. Already it looked much better, but not quite good enough to cath anything.
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Post by Gigi on Aug 7, 2008 14:06:42 GMT -5
Dewpaw let out a long purr and dropped out of her hunter's crouch, sitting down and curling her tail over her paws.
"That's really good!" she meowed, examining Aphidkit quickly. "But...hang on a second." She ran over, nudging Aphidkit's rump up a little higher, and pressing her nose down on her shoulders to make them go down a little lower.
"That looks really great, Aphidkit," she meowed happily. "But it's not just how it looks - it's also how you crawl along and how you make sure that you are silent, and you don't put all your weight on your front paws." she instructed, dropping down into the hunter's crouch again and stalking along, aiming for a piece of already-killed prey from the fresh-kill pile. She leapt and pinned it down, then swiftly bit it on the neck.
"Now you try," she meowed, dropping the prey and moving away towards where Harlequinpaw sat.
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Post by leo on Aug 7, 2008 14:12:55 GMT -5
Aphidkit nodded. She had to admit, she felt like a hunter now - but as she began to walk, it was a bit more wably and much louder that she would have liked. She tried to silence her steps by slowing down, and that worked, but her weight still wasn't as evenly distributed as she would have liked.
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Post by Gigi on Aug 7, 2008 14:20:17 GMT -5
Dewpaw watched as Aphidkit tried to be silent, then pretty much succeeded.
"Good job! Try to have each of your paws take your weight equally - it sounds hard, but it does get easier!" she meowed. "Look - there's a thrush, right near you. Go get it!"
Dewpaw was talking about the already-dead thrush in the fresh-kill pile, but she wanted this to be realistic, and she was having fun acting like a mentor.
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Post by leo on Aug 7, 2008 14:45:36 GMT -5
"Alright!" Aphidkit whispered, getting into it. She tried it - it worked a little, but she obvioulsy didn't fully grasp that consept. Still, it was good enough to catch a dead thrush. She slowly and somewhat shakily crept forward, not gliding along smoothly and silently and fast like the warriors she had watched hunting, but it would have to do for now. She stopped once close, and pounced on the dead thrush, landing a little off center with just one paw on it. She quickly grasped it in her jaws, hoping that would have been fast enough if it were alive.
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Blazonedheart
apprentice
"Our bus smells like roses. What does YOUR bus smell like?" "Ummm...ROCK AND ROLL."
Posts: 93
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Post by Blazonedheart on Aug 7, 2008 15:22:59 GMT -5
Harlequinpaw looked on as Dewpaw and Aphidkit practiced the hunting crouch together. There was so much he could have said to Aphidkit. She was too sloppy, and she wouldn't be able to catch a thrush if it hopped right into her mouth. He was so tempted to cuff her across the ear and show her the proper way to do a hunter's crouch. But he kept himself rooted to the spot. If Aphidkit didn't correct her stance soon, he would be tempted to slice her ear to pieces, so he dug his claws into the earth and looked down instead, hoping to contain his anger.
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Post by Gigi on Aug 7, 2008 17:55:35 GMT -5
Dewpaw nodded and smiled, although she knew that if the thrush were real, Aphidkit wouldn't have caught it. She was being too loud and her stance was off, but Dewpaw knew that she was doing very well for a kit, especially for a kit of her size.
"You're doing well," she meowed. "You just need time, paitence, and practice. But first, let's see that hunter's crouch again."
She passed Harlequinpaw on her way to Aphidkit, and noticed that his scent had a hint of frustration in it. Hopefully he wouldn't interfere until she was done teaching her this for the day. She knew he could teach her some valuable moves, but she wondered just how paitent he would be with the she-kit.
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Post by leo on Aug 7, 2008 18:20:47 GMT -5
"Thank you." Aphidkit mewed, ignoring the sence of negitivity she got from Harlequinpaw. She dropped into the crouch again, feeling quite awkward.
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Post by Gigi on Aug 7, 2008 18:33:55 GMT -5
Dewpaw smiled. "No problem," she meowed.
Watching as the she-kit dropped into the hunter's crouch, she noticed that she wasn't distributing her weight evenly, and her shoulders were hunched up awkwardly. Her crouch was pretty lopsided, too. Dewpaw stopped herself from sighing. How had her mentor taught her? Thinking hard, she tried again.
"You have the basics of the stance right, but if you just lower your shoulders a bit, and hold them firmly like that - " she paused, padding over and nosing her shoulders down until they looked about right, " - and if you stop leaning to one side - " she hurried over and gently tapped Aphidkit on her side to get her to stand straight, " - your weight will be more centered. Try to feel the weight being equally positioned on each paw. Try to walk soundlessly, as if you're stalking prey." she finished, feeling quite pleased and proud of how Aphidkit looked. "Try to hold yourself just like that, like your body is a statue, only move your legs and shoulders...just try to hold the stance as you walk, your weight even on your paws, walking soundlessly..." she said, dropping into the crouch and stalking, walking slowly and silently.
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Blazonedheart
apprentice
"Our bus smells like roses. What does YOUR bus smell like?" "Ummm...ROCK AND ROLL."
Posts: 93
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Post by Blazonedheart on Aug 7, 2008 19:34:58 GMT -5
Harlequinpaw watched as Dewpaw corrected Aphidkit yet again. Deciding that he wouldn't be teaching her fighting moves for quite some time, he stalked over to the fresh-kill pile. Selecting a plump mouse, he sat down and watched the rest of the training session.
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Post by Gigi on Aug 8, 2008 14:54:48 GMT -5
Dewpaw turned and looked at Harlequinpaw as he padded over to the fresh-kill pile. She was hungry as well, but she wanted for Aphidkit to get the crouch down as well as possible before she ate. Also, she was worried that if she did eat now, she'd get yelled at by her mentor for not hunting for her Clan first. Harlequinpaw looked pretty confident that that wouldn't happen to him...but he seemed to be more easygoing and unfrightened by the rules, or so she had observed.
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Post by solarflare on Aug 8, 2008 18:36:29 GMT -5
Violetstar slowly emerged from her den, though it was more like she finished getting out of the den. She had been awake, and she was simply sitting there, thinking about small issues... She noticed the smaller members of the clan and quietly sat and watched "lesson in progress".
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Blazonedheart
apprentice
"Our bus smells like roses. What does YOUR bus smell like?" "Ummm...ROCK AND ROLL."
Posts: 93
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Post by Blazonedheart on Aug 8, 2008 20:44:26 GMT -5
Harlequinpaw stopped munching on his mouse for a moment and looked up to see Violetstar outside of her den. His father had always loved Violetstar, and he had told Harlequinpaw that he had only mated with his mother because he knew his kits would be strong. Just the thought of having Violetstar as his mother made the young tom shudder. It wasn't that she was ugly or horrible or anything like that, just that she and Harlequinpaw were so different. He would never be able to live with her. He took another bite of the mouse, turning away from the leader, and continued watching Dewpaw and Aphidkit trying to perfect the hunting crouch.
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