Private Thread Wings in the Reeds

"You have a point."

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Swamppaw padded after Quailfeather, the molly was growing more and more different to her initial anxious and pessimistic kit-self day by day. Why she had been like that in the first place she wasn't sure. But even the youngest of apprentices could see that her shell was being broken down by her mentor.

She was sure that Quailfeather would never harm her and that he only wanted to train her to the best of his abilities. Nothing more and nothing less. After all, she wanted to be the best warrior ShadowCLan had ever known. And good warriors weren't disobedient.

"Sounds yummy." the torbie point responded bluntly, trotting alongside their mentor before being reminded to stalk silently. Try to catch one? "Sure, I guess." Swamppaw whispered in response.

Making sure any wind that passed through was blowing towards her, Swamppaw started to stalk, gently placing one paw after the other before stopping at the water's edge before spotting a marshbird wrestle a worm from the earth.

With an impatient flick of her tail, the feline pounced, but before she could bite down on the avian, it had heard her and flown away. "FOX-DUNG!" the feline yowled, kicking at the water. "Stupid Marshbird!"

If you believe you can, that’s enough to try.

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When the birds panicked at Swamppaw's eagerness and took to the skies, Quailfeather wasn't surprised, no disappointed. He simply stood and made his way over to his apprentice and dipped his head gently. "No cat gets it first try." He stated, he wasn't a stranger to Swamppaw's dream of being a great ShadowClan warrior, they'd get there yet. "Even the senior warriors messed up as apprentices, if you can believe it. I certainly did."

Quailfeather then offered a comforting, encouraging smile to his apprentice. He had certainly noticed how she had opened up a little more under his influence and his heart fluttered with pride at the fact. "My first try, I got a face full of swamp grass! You did better than me." He let out a soft laugh as he placed his tail against his apprentice's shoulder.

"Patience is the key, the best time to wrangle them is when they're sitting or eating. If you go in too fast, they'll catch you immediately. I know you're excited but not ever piece of prey is caught like a mouse or a vole." He hummed gently, trying to best to make this a lesson that Swamppaw would be able to remember, what kind of mentor would he be if it wasn't? 

Quailfeather lifted his nose into the air, Swamppaw knew the scents by now, but the fresh, damp land diluted them a little. But they were still there. "There's a couple more not far from here, can you smell them? We can try again."

"Noooo that's not fairrrr!"

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Swamppaw couldn't help but glare at her mentor, the upset molly immediately going to take out her feelings on him. It wasn't fair but in the moment she didn't care. "Doing better than you is a low bar though- no offence." the she-cat muttered, still evidently heavy-hearted as she stepped away from his comforting touch.

If you believe you can, that’s enough to try.

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The comment about his skills stung, but he didn't let his sadness get the better of him. It wasn't his fault that Swamppaw was angry and he wasn't going to act like it was. Even if the blow was a little... personal. "Fighting your own clanmates isn't what a warrior does." Quailfeather replied, his usually soft and tender voice growing a little more serious and stern, that comforting Quailfeather had vanished for the moment.

"I understand you're angry about missing the catch but not even every warrior catches every piece of prey the come across, you won't either." His voice wasn't loud, it wasn't breaking with uncertainty and sadness as much as he felt like it, it was sure and serious like it should be. "A missed piece a prey is no excuse to take out your anger on your clanmates, there is no excuse to do that. If you wish to take your anger out on something, we can spar, but not before we've found another duck for you to hunt." He stated, leaving no room for arguments.

Before moving forward, still slightly hurt by his apprentice's words, her straightened himself and turned his green eyes towards her "If you'd like to keep training I suggest you steer away from the path you're walking down right now. If you'd like to spend the rest of the day tending to camp duties, you can be my guest." 

Without so much as a snap for Swamppaw to turn into an argument, he moved forward, only turning his head to glance back at her once. "Are you coming or would you like me to escort you back to camp?" he spoke, making it known that he wasn't going to take heed to her insults... despite how much it hurt him to do so

"Noooo that's not fairrrr!"

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"I'm not fighting! I said 'no offence'!" Swamppaw argued, the molly becoming increasingly defensive. The she-cat wasn't sure what had gotten into her all of a sudden either but she was starting to feel a little bad for how she had just treated Quailfeather, even if she didn't want to admit it.

With an apologetic bow, the apprentice simply nodded as she went to follow her mentor. "Let's find another stupid bird, I guess. I'd rather save camp duties for tomorrow. Don't want to walk all the way back to camp when I'm already out here." she couldn't utter out any apologies.

If you believe you can, that’s enough to try.

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Quailfeather sighed at Swamppaw's response, did she think two words meant that he wasn't hurt by what she said? If she did, she was going to learn today. "Swamppaw," he said softly his age colored eyes steady but warm. He wanted to teach her, not reprimand her for losing her temper, every cat lost their temper every once in a while.

"Adding those two words to the end of a sharp stone doesn't soften the impact when it hits my ribs. You may not have your claws out, we may not be tumbling in the mud. But words are like sharp stones. If you stick them into your clanmates over and over, the pain is still real. You just won't be able to see it." He explained, hoping his words of sympathy would reach her. "A true warrior guards her tongue the same way she guards the camp entrance. Next time, think before the stone leaves your mouth. No offence taken... yet." But when she had agreed to search for another duck, he flicked his tail for her to follow. 

There was another duck, this time a male, his beak scrambling through the edge of the water for small fish. It was distracted. "If you wait for the perfect moment and control your weight, they'll spot you fast if you go in rampaging. These aren't like mice or smaller birds." He reiterated quietly but firmly with that usual kindness that he seemed to carry with him everywhere.

He knew that Swamppaw could do this, and maybe she would be able to get into a better mood if she did. He gave her a supportive nod in spite of her rudeness, after all, she was his apprentice, his responsibility. Quailfeather would be remise if she was unprepared.

"You have a point."

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The molly, unable to empathise, didn't want to listen. She already felt bad enough, he didn't have to lecture her too, she understood! But the she-cat bit her tongue, if she said anything more she'd just be proving her mentor right and possibly getting in more trouble. And she wasn't in the mood for that right now. She might've been rude but she wasn't stupid.

Following her mentor, the apprentice looked over at the duck, slowly sitting down to observe it, her expression twisting into a frown.This one looked younger and more beautiful. "I don't really want to hunt ducks." the feline mumbled, looking almost ashamed for admitting her it, but something about its beady little eyes and beautiful feathers somehow seemed to touch Swamppaw's heart.

If you believe you can, that’s enough to try.

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The hesitation and lack of conceal caused the duck to quickly notice them, luckily, this male was young and inexperienced and not willing to fight cats that were outnumbering him by one. Quailfeather didn't let it bother him, even if the hunting didn't go as planned, he hoped that his words would stick with her, at least in a long term way that mattered.

"Then you can follow me back to camp. I'll ask Dawnflurry if he will be able to place us on a hunting patrol next time, ducks aren't the only thing we eat after all." Quailfeather answered with a flick of his tail, his green eyes flicked over to the direction of camp and then back to Swamppaw.

Quailfeather paced forward, making sure that every few pawsteps that Swamppaw followed. "If Wolfpaw isn't doing his rounds with the elders you're welcome to." He murmured before moving towards ShadowClan's camp.