A Rough Start

The tom sniffed carefully at the camp entrance, glancing about cautiously as he stepped through. He wanted a little peace and quiet and ever since he’d been given that Loudpaw to mentor, he hadn’t had a scrap of it for some time. Mottlestone was pretty sure he constantly had a headache, which didn’t improve his naturally melancholy mood anyhow. Flicking his tail about him irritably, his thoughts wandered to what he could do to cheer himself up.

His stomach grumbled loudly and he raised an eyebrow at the sudden noise. Well, that had come unexpectedly. It seemed his body knew his mind more than he did himself and he allowed a small smile to grow on his face. Hmm... Maybe he would hunt about for a fat mouse somewhere, or treat himself to a rabbit. This time he would actually be able to enjoy it fresh, while it’s body was still warm from its panic, the blood still pumping.

Perking his ears forward, he stepped lightly into the shadows that were caused by the large trees surrounding LynxClan’s territory, using his dark pelt to his advantage. The scent of mouse danced deliciously in the air, and he parted his jaws to better locate it. Dropping into a crouch, he followed the scent trail, keeping his eyes and ears open for his victim. Too lost in his concentration, he failed to hear the rustling just behind him and it was far too late to defend himself.

Your mentor leaving camp was permission to follow them, right? Loudpaw assumed as such as she watched the dark furred tom slink out of camp, she wanted to do whatever he was going out to do. She stood from her position outside the apprentice den, stretched her legs, and bolted towards the entrance without a care in the world. Her mentor was a weird one to her, he didn't seem as excited as she was to go out and do things together and he didn't give her enough attention in her eyes. Best way to deal with that was to force all eyes on her.

She followed a short distance behind Mottlestone, trying to figure out what he was up to before making herself known. It was smart to do that, she learned that from watching her mentor and getting yelled at by others. Think first, act later, Reedkit would be proud of her thinking ahead. Loudpaw purred at her perceived accomplishment, and nearly slammed her tail on the ground as a reminder to be quiet.

It seemed like the tom was out hunting judging by the crouch, she needed to learn how to do that. Maybe she could pounce on Mottlestone and show him that she was already good at hunting. With a poor hunters crouch and a wiggle of her rear, Loudpaw leaped out from behind Mottlestone to, hopefully, land on his back. If she could manage to catch the tom it meant she was a good hunter and would be a warrior sooner, truly.

There was a sudden weight on the tip of his tail and Mottlestone failed to stop the frightened yowl that escaped his muzzle. Well, any hope to catch prey in this area had completely vanished for a little while — he would have to look elsewhere. Though, that wasn’t the issue right now. There was something attacking him!

Swivelling around as quick as he could, he pulled his tail from under his opponent and whipped it about behind him as menacingly as he could. As his eyes focused, he realised that he knew this cat and his panic ebbed into frustration. “Loudpaw! Don’t scare me like that!” Mottlestone huffed immaturely. He was not about to admit that he was impressed that the apprentice had managed to follow him without alerting him to her presence, until the last moment. It seemed that she could be quiet... when she wanted to.

Sitting down heavily onto his rump, he lifted a paw and began to lick it, pretending that he still wasn’t ruffled by present events. Peeking at her through his right eye, Mottlestone huffed, “What are you doing out here, anyway? Did you get permission to leave camp?” No, she hadn’t. Though... it wasn’t as if she had completely broken the rules. She had been with her mentor the entire time, even if he hadn’t noticed. Mottlestone didn’t wait for her answer, continuing, “You’re pretty good at stalking, though you make too much noise when you pounce.” He didn’t mention that he’d been caught by surprise, though he had been distracted. Whatever.

Loudpaw giggled at her mentor's surprise, she did well then. She was learning from the best, no leader would give her anything less for sure. “Of course I have permission, I left with you!" Even if Mottlestone wasn't aware it didn't mean she was travelling alone. He would have heard her if something went wrong. “And if I make too much noise you should show me how to pounce better. I have to be the strongest warrior and best hunter after all." Or I'll tell Goldenthroat you didn't train me, Loudpaw purred.

Loudpaw circled around Mottlstone's sitting form and seemed to come up with an idea of what to do. If they were out she could train. “Show me how to hunt." She demanded, plopping down her round form in front of him as if she expected him to jump at the chance to teach her anything at the exact moment she asked. To be fair, she did think that even if it was an extreme standard.

Sticking her feet out in front of her in a mock sitting position, she flicked her ears at Mottlestone. She had no idea how to truly feel about the warrior yet, they didn't seem to get along as well as she expected. He should be happier to have her as an apprentice, in her mind. She gave him a look over and thought he needed to groom better, his fur rougher than her soft pelt. To be a good warrior is to look good as well.

The tom raised an eyebrow at the apprentice. It seemed they did have some pretty familiar thoughts, after all. Mottlestone wasn't so sure if he enjoyed the idea of that just yet. She was right, though — she hadn't done anything wrong and had been with him the entire time. He rolled his eyes, lowering his paw a little too fast and stumbling just a bit.

Of course, Loudpaw of all cats, had taken up the challenge in his voice. Most of the others would have just ignored his tone and continued as if nothing happened, which was a pretty sound method most of the time. But not Loudpaw. If Mottlestone had less of an attitude, it would be very likely that he would like her more — though he didn't have less of an attitude and he didn't like how much energy she had. Why, oh why, couldn't he go back to the days of laying in his nest all day? He was pretty sure that Littlestar had assigned Loudpaw as his mentor on purpose so that he couldn't enjoy things anymore.

He wasn't too fond of how she demanded things from him, either. It made him want to do it even less. Folding back his ears, he squinted at her form intensely, as if he might be able to make her vanish if he just thought about it hard enough. Not today, it seemed... It was time to admit defeat. Standing up and stretching slowly, he turned suddenly and began to walk away, calling back, “Well, follow me, then. All the prey here has run off so we're going to have to find some more." No thanks to you… Mottlestone thought to himself bitterly, though there was no recollection of the fact that he was the one that yowled.

Loudpaw bounced up and rushed after Mottlestone. “What are we gunna hunt?" Was the near immediate question from the apprentice. She had no care for scaring away any prey with her voice, they could always find more. She wasn't too into Mottlestone as a mentor, she wanted someone better like Goldenthroat, but she would have to settle she supposed. Oh well, guess you have to settle for what you get and make the best of it. She'd do this by making sure Mottle would train her every waking moment he could.

“I bet I'll catch my very first thing." Loudpaw puffed out her chest in pride, surely a little mouse or bird couldn't be too hard to catch. Any cat could do it and so could she, might even be able to tell Reedpaw about it and show it off. Maybe Littlestar would make her a warrior early for being such a good hunter. Feeding the clan was what good warriors did and she would be the best warrior in the entire clan, everyone would be able to know it too. “No matter what it is, I'll get it. Won't even see me coming!"

After a while Loudpaw had truly no idea where they were, she wasn't familiar enough with the territory. Sticking mostly to Mottlestones side she would often ask little questions about where they were, so she could find her way back and maybe find her way around to the same spot later. They could come across something neat and need to remember it after all.

Oh StarClan, this cat really didn't know the meaning of quiet. Where this and What that. This was like Otterspark all over again — that damn cat had never shut up when she was an apprentice (and Mottlestone was pretty certain that was still the case now). Flicking his tail irritably, he kept trying to listen out for any shuffles here and there among the bushes but he just couldn't with that awful racket!

He huffed loudly at her question, twitching his ears as they walked along together. How the hell was he supposed to know? “Whatever we find first.” He drawled lazily. As soon as they found something, the better. All Mottlestone wished to do was to return to camp, dig in to some scrumptious squirrel or rabbit and be alone. Curse the Warrior Code for involving stupid rules about having to provide for the Clan first. Obviously someone without brains had come up with that nonsense.

He couldn't help a little comment escaping him at her next words. It won't see her coming, eh? “Well, it'll definitely hear you coming if you don't learn to start holding your tongue.” Mottlestone wasn't mean all the time — he was actually attempting to help her with this advice. If she really wanted to excel at hunting, she had to be quiet. At least for a little while. A strange gentleness came over him as he moved his tail to lay over her muzzle, to show her that he was being serious. Time for silence.

The tom placed himself lightly on his paws, gesturing to Loudpaw to copy his movements. Using his tail once more, he told her through signals that they had to wait for a little while and he perked his ears forward to better listen for prey. There was a slight rustling to their left, and as his eyes scanned the wilderness, he saw it. A mouse. It was quite skinny but it would have to do. Looking back at his apprentice, he ensured she was watching before he wiggled his butt and sprang into the air, landing atop the mouse and biting into it swiftly.

Triumph washed over him and he plopped the mouse beside Loudpaw. “Now we have to bury it so that we can come back for it later. It's your turn now.” He hoped that his way of teaching had helped her out a little. Mottlestone had never done this mentoring business before and while he didn't much care for it, he also didn't want to do a bad job. Imagine the embarrassment. The tom shuddered at the thought.

Loudpaw kept chattering until Mottlestone covered her mouth. She nearly bit the thing as soon as it happened since she hated being silenced. The point of apprenticeship was to ask questions so she felt it a bit rude and against the point of this entire training trip if she couldn't talk. She wanted to know where all the prey hid and where their dens were, maybe if they found a fox den a tail length back or if that was just for voles and mice.

It was time to pay attention now though, she watched Mottlestone closely. Though she was a prideful loudmouth she was serious about learning how to hunt, warriors had to provide for the clan and she was going to be the best warrior around. That meant she had to actually watch what was going on. Mottlestone was older and more experienced than her for now.

Eyes never leaving Mottlestone she tried to memorize what he did. She'd have to track it too, right? Had to find something better than a skinny mouse. Maybe a bigger mouse, to start off with since she needed to start small. Once she was bigger and taller, then she could hunt the stuff that was bigger too. She sniffed the air around her until she caught the scent of prey and tried to copy Mottlestones movements. She hobbled off to the direction of the scent until it was close enough she felt comfortable crouching down.

Once spotted, it was a small vole. Not much bigger than the mouse that Mottlestone caught. With a wiggle of her rear she sprung forward, accidentally brushing every bush in the way and making a ton of noise to alert the vole. It seemed to bolt quicker than Loudpaw had seen anything move as tried to grab it as long as it was in view. It took only a second before it was under a bush never to be seen again.

“Mousedung." Loudpaw hissed to herself and looked back at Mottlestone. She didn't want to disappoint him and seem like a bad apprentice. “That was on purpose. It was too small."

The warrior had been watching Loudpaw very closely, and was becoming more irritated by the second. Why couldn’t she just listen?! It wasn’t hard! Mottlestone failed to think back on his own apprenticeship — he’d been probably the same, if not worse, than Loudpaw when he was her age. Though that wasn’t relevant right now, not in the slightest! The tom ensured he gave her a dirty look back to give her a taste of her own medicinal herbs.

He watched carefully as she sniffed around for the next piece of prey, noting down the things that she did correctly and incorrectly. At the moment, there were a lot more mistakes to outweigh the successes, but that was a sure thing to come from a brand new apprentice. Mottlestone couldn’t help himself from rolling his eyes at Loudpaw as she brushed into every single leaf available. It was like she did it on purpose!

The tom shook his head lightly at her words, attempting, for once, to be fair and understanding. “I’m sure. No worries, don’t regret it too much — success comes with practice.” Mottlestone halted a little, unsure about whether he wanted to open up about himself to her. She would just make fun of him, but... maybe she could relate just a little.

“When I was an apprentice, I was really small. Probably not much bigger than that vole,” he joked. “I really struggled to catch prey for a while, because I just didn’t have enough strength to pounce high enough...” Mottlestone blushed, clearing his throat, embarrassed, “W-what I’m saying is: don’t worry about it.”

He lifted his head up high again, perhaps to show her that whatever she had to say about him wouldn’t bother him in the slightest, even if it was a lie. “Where you went wrong was the method — the way that you chased it. Voles are plenty similar to mice that you gotta be silent as possible to get close to ‘em, because they’re fast little bastards. I-I mean... oh, whatever.” She was old enough to hear a few swear words, though he hoped Otterspark wouldn’t come and berate him for it later.

Mottlestone tried not to think about that. He thought that his critique was pretty good, before he realised that he’d made too many negative points. As Otterspark said: ‘You gotta give a lil positive reinforcement!’ What an annoying molly. As an endnote, he quickly added, “You did really well... sniffing out the vole though! No adjustments needed there.”