Private Thread Traversing the Territory

There is peace even in the storm...

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Stormpaw’s eyes narrowed at the look Goosesong gave, taking in just another case of her boring mentor making a boring face while being extra boring. Her eyes remained narrowed as she gave the space around them a closer look.

It was just a snowcovered field. There was a little bit of melt happening, so maybe some slick spots. Was Goosesong going for a trick question here? ”It depends.” The tip of her tail twitched, but she did manage to keep most of the apprendage in check. ”Was I patroling the border and found an intruder? Was I hunting and an intruder found me?”

Stormpaw’s eyes relaxed a bit as she ran her mind through additional senarios. How you used the trerrain changed depending on what you wanted to accomplish. 

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

Goosesong raised a brow at his apprentice narrowed her eyes, unsure if it was in thought of his question or if it was in some sort of irate judgement, he never really knew if Stormpaw really. "Remember, if you can avoid a fight, you should avoid a fight, but you'll have to be prepared for anything" the large silver tabby responded, making the action to observe Stormpaw in a circling motion to focus on her form. "But we will examine both scenarios today"

"Lets start with the first. If you find a rogue per say, on our territory and you observe them attempting theft on our territory, I want you to tell me how you would go about fighting them on the wide and slushy plains such as this" He explained, twitching his tail every now and again, it was overly clear that Stormpaw found him boring, but it didn't bother him, he'd rather be boring than reckless like someone like Bloomfire, or cynical and cold, though no cat came to mind as an example really.

Eventually the large warrior made his way back to Stormpaw's front, but did not relax himself with a sit, he continued to stand, as if on guard, after all, anything could happen while out of the territory, he was all too familiar with that. "Now tell me, how would you battle this rogue if it were absolutely necessary" he echoed, his own aqua eyes narrowing in observation

There is peace even in the storm...

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Why was she getting lectured about avoiding fights when Goosesong had just asked her how she would fight here. She kept the older cat in her sight by moving her head. He was clearly up to something and not to be trusted given the way he was making a big show about not fighting while they were suposed to be training in it.

If she got lucky her boring old mentor would do something interesting.

”Are they bigger or smaller than me?” Stormpaw demanded. If this was his level of details his stories had no one would want to hear even the exciting ones once he went to the Elder’s Den.

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

"Bigger than you, about my size" Goosesong responded, standing above Stormpaw but still a fair distance from her so he wasn't looming over the young she-cat, he had no idea what sort of image that would bring to him if any. "For the moment at least, as we will be putting your explanation to the test after you have explained it and your reasoning." he explained, narrowing his eyes at her demanding tone but deciding not to address it, at least not now.

Goosesong noticed that Stormpaw was looking for detail, so the silver warrior flicked and ear before placing a large paw on the frosty ground. "The rogue has swept in from the area bridging to trespass point, roughly the same size as I and muscular and well built, assumed strength from this cat. He is stealing well needed prey for our clan. While he does not attack first, he does notice you and takes on a defencive stance, he is ready for an attack from the front. What would you do?"

Goosesong's tone didn't really change as it didn't change very often, but there was an underlying bite to it, as if he was relaying some kind of story to an eager kit, but whether his explanation fit Stormpaw's standards was not up to him, though, he wasn't planning to cater to her more than this. "The ice is beginning to melt such as what we are standing on now, the ground could easily make you slip, think carefully on how you might be able to disarm the rogue"

There is peace even in the storm...

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This was extra stupid, based on the senario laid out by Goosesong. Why would she, an apprentice not even old enough to be on a full sized patrol yet, be out alone. But clearly Goosesong didn’t care and Stormpaw was going to have play the game.

Even if it was stupid.

Sure, she was a bit larger than adverage, but Stormpaw knew she hadn’t yet grown into herself fully. She didn’t have the power of a large full-grown cat like Goosesong.

”Even with the slick conditions,” Stormpaw began, gathering her throughts together. ”I’d be best off not engading directly. Especially if they know where I am and are ready for me to come at them. Dodging, coming in for strikes when I can get around to the hindquarters. There’s still some weeds and grasses up through the snow, if I can lead the chase that way, I’d be able to use cover rather just counting on staying out of range.”

Stormpaw had siblings larger than her. She had practice at the tactics in kit-tussles.

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

"Good" Even when praising, Goosesong's voice hardly changed, granted it made him seem much more boring than in reality but he was not trying to be entertaining, at least not now and not with an impressionable cat such as Stormpaw anyway. But he did assume that she found this boring from the subtle shifts in her body, but he didn't intend to change the session just for her, if she had something more severe that wasn't her own opinions then it could be considered. But preference didn't play a part in survival.

Goosesong stepped back for a moment, his paws firm against the slick ground beneath him, his eyes shifting towards the reeds that Stormpaw mentioned and nodded to himself before glancing back at Stormpaw "Let's put it into practice" the silver warrior explained, stated, getting into a position that was sturdy and had balanced himself for moons of training as an apprentice, his tail twitching every so often.

Acting wasn't Goosesong strength, but he was certainly knowledgeable on mock battles so he had no trouble with fending for his own, even without his claws. "Give me an example Stormpaw" he challenged, his voice unmasked for a moment to reveal a faint tone of challenge in his voice before he masked his tones again, something that he was told to do to keep up the appearance of strength.

There is peace even in the storm...

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Stormpaw’s tail twitched in response to Goosesong’s praise. The tom would never be a speaker, would never inspire anybody to do anything.

The he asked for an example, and took the poise of one ready to spar. 

This would finally be interesting.

Even if the whole premis was flawed. She wasn’t stupid enough to egage when she had no chance. At least not in real life. Only a fool took a loosing bet.

Stormpaw gathered herself, squaring her stance. She took care to keep to the edge of the big tom’s range. Her larger siblings had taught the technique without meaning to. 

She stood poised, coiled like a spring waiting for the older cat to make the first move.

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

"You remember not to attack until attacked first, that's good, this is for self defense for the most part regardless" Goosesong nodded, mostly to himself, though he hardly dwelled on the notion for long before pressing his large paws sturdy on the ground, the frost nipping at the pads somewhat, but it didn't make them as numb as leaf-bare did, that was good to say the least. 

Goosesong slowly made circles around Stormpaw, debating which side to attack her from, if he had taught her anything, it would be to be aware of her bling spot when in a fight as well as protecting the vital organs like her throat and head. To test this, Goosesong aimed a mock strike to her hind legs, using a massive paw to try and scoop her own paws from beneath her. 

Stormpaw was a fast learner, he had gathered that, but it was little to do with how she acted while listening to him and more to do with how her skills developed each day they went out to train, he knew that Stormpaw would be a fine warrior, so he needn't be too strict on her like his mentor and his own father had been to him. Goosesong took note of her coiled posture and decided to take the sturdy stiffness to his advantage, using his own weight to push into her and attempt to knock her over, perhaps she would find this remotely interesting now.

There is peace even in the storm...

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As her mentor began to circle, Stormpaw started to carefully shift around, keeping him in her sights as he moved. The attempt to trip remined just that as she dug in and lept away.

She immediatly darted towards cover. It was the only hope she had if she wanted to do as well as possible in this.

Skidding sideways she managed to keep her paws under her, ending her escape with her opponent in view through the reeds.

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

Goosesong watched with a flicker of approval in his mostly dull eyes as his apprentice effortlessly dodged the move with little struggle, she had been learning well and it showed through her graceful, nearly calculated movements. Goosesong gave a small nod of approval before making a trail to follow her but taking a longer route to catch her off guard, his scent guarded only slightly by the reeds before he made his pounce

The warrior landed, but not harshly, and rolled in the reeds with his apprentice, quickly finding room to push her onto the ground, one of his front paws on her chest and the other positioned on her belly. "How would you escape a grip like this Stormpaw? Imagine the rogue has it's claws unsheathed and is ready to shred you to pieces" Goosesong prompted, his own claws were hidden beneath their sheaths, this was training, of course they were, but he still wanted to try setting the scene for the apprentice.

For the purpose of effect, Goosesong pressed down on his apprentice ever so slightly, but not to the point of brute force, his goal wasn't to harm her, just to make it harder for her and possibly a learning experience for himself too, if she could escape his grip, that would mean he could possibly adjust it to get a better hold of an opponent if it ever came to that.

There is peace even in the storm...

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Things decended rather quickly into her boring mentor not even seeming like he was enjoying the sparing. Her green eyes narrowed at him.

”Since I’m not acctually stupid enough to start a fight with a cat your size without help I’d be depending on my patrol-mates to help me.” Her words were clipped, spoken with the sharp emphansis of the annoyed. But she had to play his stupid game. ”But assuming I acctually was to have a go at a rogue twice my size like a complete idiot it gets desperate from here. Claw for the eyes…” She flexed her paws, claws extending with vauge movements in the direction of Goosesong’s head. ”…and the gut.” She pushed her hind paws up towards his exposed side with a slight twist, prodding soft-pawed at the larger cat’s side.

A half-beat passed and she made her twist more serious, along with trying to deepen the kick to the belly with an aim at getting her paws under here and scrambling away.

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

Goosesong hardly gave Stormpaw's annoyed response a flick of an ear, more-a-less listening to her explanation of her planned moves rather than the tone of the words of which she spoke them. With the sharp kick that came to his side and belly, his muscles twitched before he would take himself off of Stormpaw, padding to her side and flicking the tip of his stripped tail. 

"Exactly" He stated plainly, his voice probably seemed like the most boring sound in the world to her, but it wasn't much of a bother to Goosesong, not every cat would be a fan of him and he came to peace with that a long time ago. And there was certainly worse mentors that Boldstar could have chosen for her. And he didn't need an apprentice's approval on how he taught, he just needed her cooperation, which she gave to an acceptable extent.

Before long, Goosesong was moving on, walking forward out of the reeds with his ears still alerted to the placement and movements of his apprentice. "Now let's polish up some hunting skills, it is still cold so RiverClan still needs prey, I'll be expecting you to bring something back" Goosesong stated, his voice lower and quieter as his nose twitched for any scent around the area "Smell the air, what can you smell around here?"

There is peace even in the storm...

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Why didn’t Goosesong just say don’t be a dumbass, but fight like a cornered adder if it happens, instead of setting her up to lose.

”If we want to hunt shouldn’t we go away from where we just sparred?” This time it was her turn to sound flat. Maybe this was just another setup, but Goosesong’s lessons ranged from stupid, obvious setups through to moments just as drab as everything else about him.

Despite the question she twitched her ears, feeling for the direction of the breeze. Once she had it found, however weak, she scanned the area upwind first with her eyes, then closed them and took in the flavors on the air.

As she’d expected, nothing worth the effort was close. The faint breeze Windwise of the them had only hints of bird, and maybe a touch of carrion. Crow?.

With the stillness it was hard to be sure of anything... ”I think there’s a bird windwise of here.” Stormpaw spoke the words in a low undertone. Her eyes opened and she crouched a bit lower as she made the first painstaking pawsteps towards the vauge scent. If it was a crow it wouldn’t be an easy catch…

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

"It's about tracking, finding where the prey is if it has hidden itself from any sound that could have startled it, even if subtle" Goosesong responded, having a strong feeling that his apprentice would have some reservations about his choice to explain that now, though he had originally hoped that was the assumption until she had spoken, but oh well, it was not the end of the world, if anything, it would make his apprentice think in the best case scenario.

Goosesong watched as Stormpaw examined the air with her nose, finding the faintest trace of what Goosesong had also cause wind of not long before. "Well done. Crows are tricky because they are grouped together, but if there were more the scent would be heavier than this" Goosesong added, a twitch of his tail allowing Stormpaw to continue her hunting expedition, his eyes narrowed as he focused on how she held herself in her crouch, and she certainly held herself well.

Stealth was key when catching a bird like this, if the bird caught wind that Stormpaw was there, Goosesong had no doubt that it would fly away from her and it would be a prey lost, but for now, he held faith in his apprentice to catch the prey, though he was hidden not far behind her in cat things went south, especially with crows.

There is peace even in the storm...

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Though her mentor has indicated that she was to go, she’d never taken eyes or nose off her aquired target. She’d never stopped moving towards it, keeping low and to cover as she went. Stalking was a skill that came naturally to her. Her paws were steady despite the footing, unlike durring the sparing.

Her ears were angled towards her quarry, and she didn’t hear Goosesong’s words as more than a background hum.

Elders talked hunting. Espeically difficult prey, like Crows.

Stormpaw moved slowly, inching ever closer to the glossy black bird. Only tiny rustles to give her position away, and the crow continued to flit amoungst the grasses on the hunt for grass seeds missed by every other forager the winter over.

Just within striking distrance she set a paw wrong. The tiniest twig snapped beneath a toe and the crow’s head shot up and it gathered itself for launch. Wings made the first downstroke in the heartbeat after. The same heartbeat the Stormpaw launched herself to strike.

Stormpaw was airborn, claws outstretched…

She struck home, the crow giving a panicked caw before she and it fell from the sky. The bird was pinned in her grasp, just two flaps before she made the kill. It wasn’t her first, but it was one she would be prouder of. A lone crow was lucky, and even then Tangleloon had said they were smart. If she had miss-stepped like that even a tail-length back she wouldn’t have had a change…

What are you afraid of losing if nothing in the world actually belongs to you.

~･ﾟ: *~･ﾟ:* 🫧 *:･ﾟ~*:･ﾟ~

Goosesong watched with narrowed, focused eyes as his apprenticed stalked the crow with effortless precision, his ears flattened at the sound of the cracking twig but Stormpaw handled the obstacle well all things considered and the bird was not gathered with a mob of any kind, lucky.

The large silver warrior moved out from the bushes he had settled in to be hidden from the bird in case he was needed after the crow was killed and stood beside Stormpaw, giving the prey a look to inspect it, with a twitch of his ears he gave an approving nod "Well caught Stormpaw." he spoke, but it wasn't a praising tone, just a voice of equal respect, one he would use to congratulate a regular warrior on a catch.

Goosesong flicked his eyes towards the horizon, the sun was well past its peak in the sky now, and by the time to two got to camp it would be slowly creeping to dusk, so it was about time to two should be getting back to camp. With a soft exhale, Goosesong faced Stormpaw again, "We will take it back to camp, I'm sure the elders will make a fine meal out of it." he added, making his way towards the direction of their camp, flicking his tail as a sign for Stormpaw to follow.