Up and At 'Em (Private)

"I'm always ready for training!" Stormpaw said, flexing her claws again. She blinked warmly at her mentor--it seemed that the warrior was enthusiastic about training an apprentice, which was a huge relief. The last thing Stormpaw needed was an old, grouchy mentor. Where was the fun in that? "Am I your first apprentice? You don't look that old." The gray tabby tilted her head to the side. If Stormpaw happened to be Pumpkinpatch's first apprentice, that would be both awesome and scary at the same time. They'd be learning together, but how much information could the young apprentice take away from someone who'd never taught before? What if her mentor forgot to tell her things that were super important to being a warrior? As worry crept into her mind, she felt the fur on her neck rise. She shook her pelt to clear the thoughts and reset her coat.

Stormpaw flicked an ear, a bit uncomfortable as her mentor stared at her neck, searching for gills. Pumpkinpatch had taken her seriously? She swiftly brushed a paw over her face, as though something had been stuck between her whiskers, before glancing toward the entrance nodding at it. She cleared her throat and tried to bring back the energy in her voice, "Yeah, I've never been out of camp before. I can't wait to see the river and all the other landmarks cats always talk about." Was her mentor dumb? Stormpaw squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them again and stepped outside of the warriors' den, walking almost hurriedly toward the camp entrance.

Things would be better once they got a bit of fresh forest air.

Pumpkinpatch's first apprentice, Stormpaw thought, remembering vaguely that her mentor had answered her while she was busy worrying. The words were just now catching up to her, and a pang of nervousness rang through her head. Did he even know how to teach an apprentice? Certainly Falconstar would not choose a mentor who didn't prove to be proper for training someone, right? And how did Pumpkinpatch feel? If he'd been a warrior for several moons already, and still hadn't gotten an apprentice yet, maybe he hadn't wanted one, but was forced to take one on due to a shortage of warriors? He certainly acted happy enough, but what if that was just to make Stormpaw happy, because she was excited to train? And even if Stormpaw's mentor did the best he could with training her, would she be missing out simply because he didn't have the experience that another warrior would have?

Little storm, he'd called her. She couldn't suppress a purr at that. A good nickname indeed. But some day she'd be a powerful storm, or perhaps a storm with accurate lightning for catching prey?

She cut off her thinking as Pumpkinpatch spoke. She nodded absentmindedly at what he said, staring around her. Her eyes finally scanned the undergrowth, and her brain finally decided to tune back in, but all she heard was the end of a question. "Huh?" Stormpaw asked, looking back at her mentor and perking up her ears. "Sorry, I was just trying to figure out exactly where in the undergrowth would be the best place to hunt. Do you hide behind rocks, or right up against trees, or do you just crawl around and hope not to scare anything off? How stupid is the prey?"

Stormpaw frowned at the beginning of the explanation. She wasn't sure about thanking StarClan, as Stormpaw often questioned just how much StarClan was actually capable of. Had they been capable of stopping her sister from getting ill and dying? Do they just sit and watch? The whole thing gave her a headache, so she tried to avoid it as much as possible, but whenever some brought it up...

She shook her head of the thoughts and paid attention again, just as her mentor was getting to something interesting: "... we can just as easily furn from predator to prey..." What a concept, and one that Stormpaw hadn't broached before. She nodded, the gears in her head turning as she stared half-blankly at Pumpkinpatch. "That's fair. Or if a fox smells a rabbit at the same time a Clan cat does, and the cat and the fox collide. Things could quickly take a turn for the worse in a situation like that." She was about to say more, but he flicked his tail-tip and crouched. Stormpaw followed his lead, her heart racing in anticipation. Had he sensed something? She opened her mouth a bit, just in case there was prey-scent nearby, but she didn't notice anything.

As they crept closer to the tree, Stormpaw lagged behind and watched her mentor with keen, narrowed eyes. Her ear twitched as she heard the prey crawling about the tree roots. The scent in her nose was weak, but nearly every sound the rodent made reached her ears, and she could feel her mouth water at the thought of getting some food in her belly. The realization that Stormpaw couldn't eat until she'd brought back her own prey hit her like a badger's paw, and she had to hold back a sigh.

When Pumpkinpatch brought the fresh-kill over, Stormpaw took in its scent and looked it over. How did the warrior get such a clean catch? From far away, one wouldn't even be able to tell the vole was dead! "But if my kills aren't as neat? Who would want to eat torn-up prey?" Stormpaw asked, tilting her head to the side. She glanced at Pumpkinpatch in surprise--Stormpaw could eat this? Right now? Well, who would argue that? The apprentice shrugged and devoured the vole in a few bites.

"So what kind of techniques are there? Do ThunderClan cats climb trees to leap down on birds? And what about squirrels--they're super fast, so how do we get them?" Stormpaw opened her mouth to ask more questions, but stopped when she realized that Pumpkinpatch planned on taking her to the thunderpath. She shuddered, a chill running down her spine. "The thunderpath, huh? Well, I guess I have to see it at some point."