In P r e p a r a t i o n

[Quick Fox]

The Cat// Pinestep the E/x/c/i/t/e/d
The Noted// Training with Ravenpaw [[It's quick for Shady, so...]]
The Number// 245

Pinestep had lead Ravenpaw here, he thought it was a good place to start. He knew that Shadestar had been there, and so figured this would be a good place to talk about stuff.

"So, Ravenpaw. Obviously, you might be overwhelmed by all the sights, sounds, and smells. I wouldn't be surprised." Pinestep told her. To a young cat, it would be confusing.

"There are a few different things here. You will smell the scents of a few animals, as well as the forest. Here is also the twoleg path, so there is some stale twoleg scent. Because twolegs come around, it's not the best place to be lounging. There is also the scent of dog. Twolegs take there dogs here, so you must always be careful, lest a dog catch you. Finally, there are the scents of other cats."

Ravenpaw seemed to know what he was saying, so he continued. So he decided to challenge her.

"It's not very important whether you can dot his or not, since it's you're first day, but let's see. There's a squirrel here, and I want you to close your eyes. Take a deep breath in, and see if you can isolate and follow the scent. It's not so important if you can catch it, that comes with time and hunting practice. I just want to see if you can find it in this mishmash of scents." He told her.

[Shadewing]

[atrb=border,0,true][cs=7][bg=101010] the count;; 177 the cat;; Ravenpaw the involved;; Flamepaw the notes;; EXCITED Ravenpaw finished trudging through the forest, noting a few dead leaves on the ground, that weren't there before. This was what leaf-fall was. And it was coming. Then there would be leaf-bare.. cats would die. "So, Ravenpaw. Obviously, you might be overwhelmed by all the sights, sounds, and smells. I wouldn't be surprised." Pinestep had told her. Ravenpaw nodded at him, as she opened her mouth, and took a deep breath, taking in all of the scents of the area. Pinestep then told about all of the scents in the area, and Ravenpaw nodded curtly, wanting to get to learning, though she was noting the highlights of the lesson in her mind. Ravenpaw closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and took another deep breath, per Pinestep's request. She could smell so many scents it was almost overwhelming. She knew some scents as certain things, but they buried the scent she was looking for. Think fresh-kill, Ravenpaw thought, taking in a deep breath, and trying to single out scents. She smelled mouse, squirrel, and voles. "Mouse, squirrel, vole." Ravenpaw said, through closed eyes. "I don't smell bird, though. Maybe a twoleg was through here? No I don't think so," Ravenpaw doubted, trying to follow the scent of the squirrel. She opened her eyes, and walked in a sensible direction for where the squirrel was. "It's up that tree," she mewed quietly, looking around a pine tree. "Somewhere close down. Now its running away.. oh StarClan, now its up the tree.. I'll catch it," Ravenpaw tried to climb the tree the best she could, but the needles weren't making it easy, and she was having a hard time scrambling up it as fast as a squirrel. Tired, she went to a middle branch to rest. "I can see the squirrel from here!" Ravenpaw said, panting. Oblivious to anything her mentor may or may not have been calling, Ravenpaw leaped to the branch where the squirrel was. She just sopped herself from falling, by gripping her front claws into the tree bark. She kicked, trying to get her back claws onto the tree branch. She mewed like a lost kitten, and she could feel herself starting to slip, her weight hurting her arms, which felt unstable with pain and nervousness. She felt her dewclaw tear, which sent out a yowl of pain. What's more, when Ravenpaw looked at the branch where the squirrel was, she saw it scooting down the tree. She called, hoping she wouldn't fall: "Pinestep!"

[Quick Fox]

The Cat// Pinestep
The Noted// Aww shiz she better not fall
The Number// 235

"Good job, Ravenpaw," Pinestep mewled as Ravenpaw found the squirrel. She did good, for her first time, he thought. He did not expect her to chase it up the tree.

He watched her, and called out a warning as she scooted higher up the tree. "Ravenpaw, be careful!" He yelled to her. She continued up the tree, much to his displeasure, like she hadn't even heard him.

"I can see the squirrel from here!" she yelled down. She was hanging on well, but Pinestep still feared that she would fall. She went up a little ways, until she stopped, scrambling for a foothold. The squirrel preceded to make it's way down the tree, but he forgot about it as soon as he heard Ravenpaw.

"Pinestep!"

His green eyes darted up, and he saw her. She looked uncomfortable, but even more scared. Scared that she would fall. And Pinestep was too, he feared the worst.

"Okay, the first thing to do is calm down. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. You'll surely fall out of that tree if you don't concentrate," he told her. He waited for a few moments, before going on, "Good, good. There's a branch, just a few mouse-lengths below you. Hold on as tight as you can, and push yourself down to it."

His heart was racing, and he was praying to Starclan that she didn't fall.

[Shadewing]

[atrb=border,0,true][cs=7][bg=101010] the count;; 381 the cat;; Ravenpaw the involved;; Pinestep the notes;; SLIP Ravenpaw bared her teeth, and dug her claws into the bark further, trying to get a strong grip on the bark. She tried to let the bad thoughts get out of her mind, but keep her grip. His paws were aching, and she could feel some scrapes in her paws. "Pinestep, it hurts!" Her back feet dangled, and she tried to stretch down, to touch the branch beneath her. I'm slipping. Great StarClan, I don't want to die. I haven't lived long enough. I don't want to die falling out of a tree, Ravenpaw slipped a little further down, her pawpads tearing, and she could feel another claw starting it tear, and there was blood. "I can't hang on!" she yowled, trying to feel for the bottom branch with her right back leg. She was only a few mousetails from the branch below her. She breathed heavy, panic coming into her again. Calm down. Calm down. Ravenpaw looked down again with her green eyes. "I'm going to drop, I can't do this any longer!" Ravenpaw released both of her claws, and fell, back first. She quickly changed her position in the air, so she was to the side-- but before she could go feet first, the branch below her hit her paws, making her yowl in pain. Plus, this flipped her a little. Ravenpaw concentraited, and then managed to twist herself a little bit. She fell through sharp needles, and had her eyes closed, so those weren't damaged. Ravenpaw landed on the ground with a thump, on her side. The fall had seemed to be ages, even though it had only been seconds. The black cat shivered, and slowly raised herself up, quivering a little. "I feel fine. Just my paws. It just hurts to stand on my paws. They're scraped. I can still train. No, no I can't," she quickly realized, feeling her scraped paws against the ground. "Ashenanarchy will just need to wrap my paws up and give me a day to heal. We can train tomorrow. I'll go out, even if my paws are still sore," she meowed, ignoring her pain, though her quivering voice indicated that she was still hurt. "Great StarClan, let's go home,"

[Quick Fox]

The Cat// Pinestep the S/c/a/r/e/d
The Noted// Well, at least it's over with...
The Number// 215

"No, you can stay on. You'll be fine," Pinestep urged Ravenpaw, his green eyes full of fear that she might get hurt. Or fall.

The his worst nightmare. "I'm going to drop, I can't do this any longer!" she yelled. Then she let go, falling off of the tree. She flipped, and he heard a crack as her paws his the branch.

She landed on her side, and slowly got up. He knew she was in no condition to do any training, and she herself admitted it.

"Come on, we'll get you to Ashenanarchy. Lucky it was only you're pads that are a little scraped up," he sighed, some of being upset, some of relief that she wasn't hurt worse.

"Although your mother will hate me when I tell her I let you you all out of a tree." he muttered, half to himself. He waited, and let her lean on his shoulder as they walked. They progressed slowly, stopping often to let her rest. He pads were very messy.

"If you're still sore tomorrow, we don't need to train. We might go out, but it won't be of much use trying to hunt if your pads hurt," he told her, "but I could still give you a tutorial."