Ivypaw's new Mentor ~Private~

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    Ivypaw lifted her head delicately and blinked open here eyes. She sniffed the air and sat up, stretching as she did so. She was careful not to bump any of her clanmates as she stood. With a yawn, she padded softly out of the apprentice's den. Her sister, Icepaw, was still sleeping. Her brother's nest had been empty. A fresh blanket of snow lay strewn around the camp, the sun already melting a few piles away.


    Ivypaw glanced at the fresh-kill pile and sighed at its low state. She cast her gaze around the camp, searching for her mentor.

    Meadowleaf padded out of the warriors den, freshly groomed and ready for a new day. The ginger she-cat was feeling better, nowadays, after having to deal with the difficult disappearance of her mate and her daughter, Passionpaw. Her daughters were now warriors...well, the ones that were still in Thunderclan. She had been assigned a new apprentice, and was eager to start training.

    Ivypaw let her jaws part and let the familiar scent of her ThunderClan mates hit her scent glands. The familiar scent of her mentor wafted up her gray nose and Ivypaw turned her head in that direction. She padded over to her mentor and let out a soft mew as she blinked sleep from her eyes. "Morning, Meadowleaf." Ivypaw said to her mentor as she approached.

    "Hi there, Ivypaw!" Meadowleaf greeted her friendly apprentice. Sniffing in the scent of the cold morning air, she flicked Ivypaw's shoulder encouragingly. "Ready for some training?"

    The usual rough-mannered apprentice shrugged, but her excitement betrayed itself in her jade green eyes. She nodded quickly to Meadowleaf and shivered as the cold of leaf-bare reached her fur. She shuffled around on her paws, anxious to begin a light jog through the forest so she could warm up.
    "Are we training or hunting today?" She asked her mentor.

    The tortoiseshell queen turn her head, and casted her eyes hazily on the forest. "I think we'll go hunting," she chuckled, watching her apprentice's feet. "Why don't you get a head start, and I'll catch up? I can see that you're anxious to get out there," she remarked.

    Ivypaw dipped her head graciously and without further comment, sped off toward the forest. Already, her pads were beginning to warm up as she skirted to the edge of the ThunderClan camp. She pushed through the entrance to the camp and paused, inhaling the scents of the forest. The chirping of birds hit her and she swiveled her ears toward the sound. She took her time in trotting toward the noises, finding peace in being around the trees and the forest.
    A soft scuffling sound reached her ears and she froze, green eyes alert. The scuffling sound was made again and she sniffed the air. The smell of mouse reached her scent glands and she saw the brown fur of he small creature as it scurried through the snow. The skinny thing had managed to find a small seed. As it was distracted with its find, Ivypaw dropped into a hunter's crouch, keeping her tail low, but making sure it did not drag on the ground. She sat light on her haunches, knowing the mouse would feel her before it heard her approach. As she neared the creature, it glanced up from its seed, nose twitching as it scented the air. Ivypaw realized the wind had changed direction and without further hesitation, she lunged at the mouse. The terrified creature squealed as her claws wrapped around it. She silenced it with a swipe of her claw and glanced down, unsatisfied with the measly catch. With a sigh, she dug through the snow until she reached the ground. She then buried the catch under a thin layer of dirt and snow.

    ooc: Sorry my posts are so short, I'm in a rush to get done my homework, and I'm taking breaks in between to post :)


    ic: Meadowleaf ducked through the thorn tunnel, stretching gracefully as she reached the ground outside of the camp. It was congested, in there, with tons of cats running around, and kits, although she didn't mind them too much, wouldn't leave her alone. The she-cat opened her jaws, searching for Ivypaw's scent among the hundreds of others that made up the forest that they called home. She began to catch up to her, trotting at a steady pace.

    [[ It's fine. I can't multi-task at all XD ]]
    Ivypaw parted her jaws again and scented for more prey, but all of the animals in the near area must have heard the mouse's cries. "Mouse dung," she said to herself as she delved farther into the forest. The undergrowth tugged at her pelt and the shade from the trees kept her cold as her paws crunched on the snow beneath her feet.
    Within a few minutes, she had traveled a short distance away from her earlier kill. The sound of birds was heavier here and she perked her ears, attempting to locate any birds near the range of her claws. A soft tune was coming from a low tree branch a few tail-lengths ahead of her. She dropped into a hunter's crouch, this time making sure she was under a covering of undergrowth. The blackbird that rested in the tree shuffled its feathers.
    Ivypaw's dusty pelt blended with the forest floor and she crept up to the bird. She sat back on her haunches and leaped into the air, claws outstretched. The bird let out a screech, but Ivypaw's paws missed its wings by inches. She landed heavily on the floor and realized her pelt had snagged on some brambles, weighing her down as she jumped. She sighed, defeated, and sat down, licking the brambles out of her fur.

    Meadowleaf had finally caught up to Ivypaw, who's fur was covered in
    brambles and other debris from the undergrowth. "Hard catch?"
    she sighed apologetically, circling around and taking a seat next to the
    younger she-cat. "I've missed plenty of prey in my time." Practice
    makes perfect, she thought, though Ivypaw was probably frustrated
    enough already, and could go without that popular adage.


    The misty gray sky blended into the background, and both Meadowleaf's
    and Ivypaw's pelts stood out enticingly amongst the seemingly still-life
    moment.

    Ivypaw sighed as Meadowleaf approached. She pulled another of the brambles out with her teeth, a great excuse to duck her head as she felt her cheeks hot with embarrassment. She spit out the bramble, clearing her jaw to speak. "I should have been more careful about this bramble bush," she said, glaring daggers at the bush as she did so. As she pulled the last bramble out, she combed back the fur with her tongue.
    "I did catch a mouse earlier, though. It's scrawny, but at least it will help feed the clan," she offered, suddenly being proud of her small catch.

    "Brambles always seem like the enemy," the mentor nodded to herself. She recalled a time when, with her mentor, she had leaped confidently into the air, only to be intercepted by the brambles. Painful.


    "Catching prey for the clan, no matter how small, is one of the best ways to contribute." With the number of warriors and apprentices they had, somehow it would all add up, and the clan would be well-fed, like they had been in the past winters.

    Ivypaw nodded, her frustration over her last attempt at stalking prey leaving her. She shook out her fur as she stood up and pointed with her tail down the path she had come. "The mouse is back there. Should we hunt some more or do something else?" she asked, green eyes unblinking as she looked up at her mentor.

    Meadowleaf closed her eyes for a moment. "Hmm..." she mumbled, breathing in the crisp, sharp smell of winter. "Try this..." the ginger she-cat dropped into a hunter's crouch, one that was perfected and precise after moons of practice. "Flatten your tail on the ground, and feel it. It should help to balance your body out when you're leaping in the air."

    Ivypaw dropped onto her front paws and instead of having her tail lightly skim the ground, she allowed it to snake across the earth as she took a few steps. Her gaze caught the low branch above her where the bird had escaped. She pushed down on her front paws and leaped into the air with claws outstretched. She swiped exactly where the bird had been and fell to the ground. She landed on all fours, perfectly balanced. "Was that good?" She asked, eyes shining.

    Meadowleaf watched her apprentice perform the move that she had just exampled. Her eyes were clear and bright as a small smile formed on her lips. When Ivypaw had completed the step near-to-perfect, a purr began to rise in her throat. "Perfect!" she mewed, flicking her tail between Ivypaw's ears. "Of course, you don't want to drag your tail, because the prey can hear it coming...you just want to make sure it's flat and there for your balance."

    Ivypaw's eye glowed at the praise, but she made sure to keep Meadowleaf's tips in check. She pulled her tail down experimentally and nodded to herself as she judged the best position to keep it in. "Should we go looking for more prey?" She asked, though she noticed that the sun had begun to sink below the clouds, the last rays of sunshine dissappearing over the earth as they spoke.

    "I think we've done enough for today," Meadowleaf nodded. She let out a small shiver as a small breeze blew through her fur. "You can go get yourself a piece of prey from the freshkill pile...you're done until tomorrow."