TRAINING GROUND • OPEN! mentors/apprentices!

☄ ----~ "And I suppose you are the real hunter?" Zephyrbee questioned as he approached. Sitting down beside Palepaw, he looked the young boy over before looking to Paperpaw. He knew, of course, how Pale has often snuck out of camp to practice hunting. While Zeph was not okay with the apprentice doing this at late hours without telling anyone, he did approve of the apprentice's determination to get better. And, notably, he had. He was shaping up to be quite the hunter.

So, he didn't hesitate to nod towards Paperpaw as he asked Pale, "Tell me, whats she doing wrong?" His question wasn't meant to undermine Paperpaw, but simply to both improve Pale's observation skills as well as let both of them understand what to and not to do. It was better to get the apprentices to find the problems than have Zeph make their ears bleed with a long-winded explanation.

☄ ----~ //Blue is precious okay i love her

Zephyrbee nodded at Palepaw's response. When the tom gave no sign of offering anything else, Zephyrbee continued for him, "In moorland like Windclan, it is inevitable that there will be long patches of grass that will give away your position - whether your tall or not," he informed, "that is why we windclanners specialize more in sprinting and pouncing than stalking. Since your so small, Paperpaw, I suggest you look particularly for long grass to hide in to ambush your prey."

☄ ----~ "They can't see you because your crouching," he said, ignoring her title of 'dude' as he patiently explained, "crouching and stalking helps prepared your muscles to leap forward as well as shift your weight easier to keep your steps light. You're tiny now, but you will grow in time and so it will be especially important that you remain low and hidden in the grass so your prey won't detect you."

He was about to start lecturing her on complaining, and how she should learn patience, when a screech behind him made him stiffen. The next instant, he had a weight on his back that very well nearly toppled the lanky warrior. Nearly.

"Owlpaw," he gasped, baffled as he craned his head to look at her, eyes narrowed, "I would have taken this behavior from Paperpaw, not you," he said reproachfully, but then paused, and added with - oh my gosh - an actual look of mischief in his eyes, "then again, paperpaw can't hunt just yet, so sneaking up on me wouldn't be her forte."

Zeph and his lame burns everyone

☄ ----~ Zephyrbee mentally thanked Bluepaw for turning the control back to him. "Glady," he said, the unusual impishness still in his hard eyes. "When someone pounces upon you - your dead meat if they're bigger - but if they're of even height or smaller, the best course of action is to -" his gaze flashed - the only warning Owlpaw got before he explained, "Stop, drop, and roll."

Promptly after, he did just that. Collapsing his legs, Zephyrbee aimed to quickly roll on top of Owlpaw before she could jump off his back. He made sure, though, to place himself slightly on his side so that half her form was stuck but not enough to suffocate her beneath his heavier weight.

"After that you must roll off them and jump them before they have any time to recover. The benefits of this move means, if you get up fast enough, they'll have their bellies exposed. Cons of course is that if YOU dont get up fast enough, YOUR belly is exposed - and of course they'll turn your spine to ribbons." Rolling off Owlpaw, he looked her over quickly to make sure she was alright, before turning to the other apprentices, "Any questions?"

Bumblefoot wasn't a fighter - he was a worrier. That was his only justification for following after his kits, to watch his friend train them. He did wonder how his short-legged kits would manage to fight and practise with Zephyrbee, the tom being so tall.

His fur rose in worry, his amber eyes sharpened, as Zephyrbee rolled onto Owlpaw. What the heck is he doing!? She's too small to be - he took a calm breath, realising that he'd rolled so that Owlpaw would be safe. Maybe he shouldn't have come out here.

they'll turn your spine to ribbons . Bumble feels a chill go up his own spine at the mention of his kits getting sliced apart. Zephyrbee, bless him, was extremely blunt and honest but it scared him now there was a possibility that they could get hurt. None of the kits had been in battle yet, so all they saw were cool tricks from the warrior.

☄ ----~ Zephyrbee completely ignored Paperpaw as he focused on Bluepaw - and her father, whom looked equally sucker-punched. "I was exaggerating for emphasis," he explained with a sigh. He knew sometimes his blunt words frightened his fellow clan-mates (especially the healer named after an insect) but then again you couldn't really sugarcoat battling. There was nothing 'safe' or 'fun' about fighting for your life with tooth and claw, and one of these days, someone wouldn't be careful on how they roll as their intention to crush Owlpaw beneath them outweighed morality that it was a child. So, yeah, better to exaggerate than mollify.

"Yes, the belly is soft and vulnerable and our bodies would instinctively protect our bellies before our necks, so that is a perfect target to go after. Remember though, everyone goes for the stomach, so if your aiming for it, Starclan knows your opponent is too. That is why you must make sure to wait for an opportunity rather than pounce for your opponent's weak spot yourself."