Brookpaw padded steadily behind his mentor, curious as to what they would be doing next. She had just finished showing him around the territory and he found that it was quite expansive compared to what he had first thought. He had thought it would take only two hours to traverse through all of ThunderClan territory, not several hours. Then again, he covered much less ground now that he was a cat. Though he was thankful they had taken their time. Allen would have been dragging him by the tail by now.
Squirrelflight suddenly stopped dead, causing her apprentice to slow down wearily. "Um, is something wrong?" he asked.
The she-cat responded, "oh? No, everything's fine. We're just at one of the better hunting spots now," she meowed, "so, what can you scent?"
The blue grey cat scented the air, taking in the surrounding aromas. His mentor had been testing him on his tracking skills throughout the tour of the territory. All he could smell was the forest, mingling with other things. He picked something out amongst the collage of scents. "I think a mouse is nearby?" he offered.
His mentor scented the air too, nodding in confirmation. She spoke, her voice low, "alright, now, watch me." she dropped close to the ground, silently stalking towards a bush. She must have pinpointed where the mouse was. Squirrelflight pounced, emerging from the bush with the mouse in her maw. She then padded to a nearby tree, dropping the mouse and covering it with moss.
"Do we need to hide our prey? So other animals don't take it?" Brookpaw asked.
Squirrelflight nodded, "that's right, and you better remember where it is or I'm going to cuff you over the ears." she meowed, a mischievous glint dancing in her eyes.
"You can try." retorted Brookpaw.
The dark ginger she-cat flicked his nose with her tail, "we'll see just how good you are during battle training, fox-killer."
The pressure to do good as Squirrelflight's apprentice suddenly began to weigh him down. Warriors had told him that fighting off a fox had been both incredibly impressive and stupid at the same time, most cats had the common sense to avoid them. Since he had beaten one, without any form of training, it looked like some cats were expecting him to become a master of combat. Brookpaw frowned, genuine achievements were going to become something that was just expected of him.
Even when he wasn't being wrecked by his own powers, they still found a way to get back at him for using them. Squirrelflight added, "let's keep focused, I want you to try and hunt."
Brookpaw nodded, crouching low to the ground after scenting the air. There was a vole nearby, perhaps a few meters away. His mentor rested her tail on his flank, "your behind's sticking up like a bluebell, keep it low!" she murmured. His fur felt hot yet he did as instructed.
The tom stalked forward, slowly and carefully. Okay, so I'm just gonna jump it and bite it in the neck, right? But what am I gonna do if it runs away? he thought to himself, frowning. He soon found the vole, nibbling of a seed it had found. Brookpaw remained tense, unable to take the opportunity. He could feel Squirrelflight's eyes boring a hole into his back. With pressure mounting, he forced himself to pounce.
His movements had been sloppy and he landed near the vole rather than on it, it began to flee as Brookpaw scrabbled to pin it under his paws. But it soon got away, "no!" he winced. Shyly, he turned to see his mentor's expression. He was expecting her to be disappointed or angry. He had let it get away, they needed all the prey they could get.
Squirrelflight was disappointed. But not in him - she was disappointed for him. She sighed, "it's alright, Brookpaw. You can't catch them every time." she reassured him.
"I guess, will I try again?" the apprentice mumbled. Briefly, he wondered if he could use his powers to help him hunt. Maybe he could improve his hearing and listen to the heartbeat and the scuttling of his pret. But he couldn't even actively use his powers when everything he touched set off an explosion of sound. He would just blow out his ear drums. It wasn't like he knew how to use his powers in any other way, either.
"If you can scent anything, then of course." responded Squirrelflight.
Brookpaw, once again, scented the air and found nothing. Walking a few steps forward, he tried again and was once again greeted by nothing. His tail drooped and his ears fell, "I can't find anything." he stated in defeat.
"How about we do some battle training instead?" his mentor offered.
"Sure." responded the apprentice. The she-cat beckoned him with her tail and he followed her to a sandy hollow. He had expected it be course and rough, but it instead felt soft. It was probably used to soften falls during training.
Squirrelflight stood a few meters away, facing him. "Ready?" she asked, "keep your claws sheathed, remember."
Brookpaw readied himself, nodding towards his mentor. He had a little experience with fighting now, though he was keenly aware that Squirrelflight was bound to have a different fighting style to Allen. Hopefully it would be a good thing, since Allen was extremely aggressive in his style. Plus, he was a full head and a half taller than her - she'd need a step ladder to get him.
"Attack me." his mentor commanded.
The tom obliged, charging towards her. Brookpaw predicted that she was going to sweep his legs when he got close enough, so he prepared himself. For a moment, he considered using his powers in destructive interference. Why shouldn't he? He had his powers under control and he could use them to make his life easier. But he decided against it, he didn't want to have to rely on them.
To his surprise, Squirrelflight moved to the side when he got close. She jumped onto his back, causing him to grunt at the sudden weight. The apprentice tried to shake her off, but his skinny frame couldn't handle it and he collapsed. She whispered in his ear, "just because you're big doesn't mean you can rush in willy nilly, fox-killer."
The dark ginger cat stepped off of him, letting Brookpaw stand up again. They moved back to their original spots. "Again." Squirrelflight meowed. He closed the distance between them, swiping low so that she couldn't dodge easy. Brookpaw landed a blow on her shoulder.
Squirrelflight gave out a small grunt in response, ducking under a second swipe and moving backwards as to distance herself from the apprentice. Brookpaw knew what she was doing, his spar with Allen running through his mind. "Not a chance!" he muttered under his breath, chasing after the she-cat and pouncing.
The warrior swiftly rolled onto her back. "What are you- oof!" wheezed Brookpaw, feeling all four of Squirrelflight's paws land on his stomach and chest. She used his momentum against him, launching him over her head. The apprentice landed on his back with a pained cry.
"I give up." He groaned, lazily waving his paw in the air in a sign of surrender.
Squirrelflight padded over to him, looking down at him. "That was better that time," she praised, "but you're always taking a big risk pouncing on an opponent who's focused on you, remember that."
Brookpaw replied, "has anyone ever told you that you're surprisingly strong?"
Humour danced in her green eyes, "this is coming from the great fox-killer? I'm flattered."
The apprentice got to his paws, "yeah, you're gonna get flattened, too." he smirked.
Squirrelflight flicked his nose with her tail, "don't count on it."
They both returned to their original positions. Brookpaw narrowed his eyes, what was he to do now? Though he didn't have time to formulate a strategy as, to his surprise, his mentor launched an assault. Taking advantage of this, she knocked one of his legs off balance. He wobbled, trying to put distance between the two of them. But she kept up the pressure, batting at him whenever she could. The tom swiped and Squirrelflight ducked underneath.
"Psyche!" cried Brookpaw in triumph, delivering a swift uppercut to the she-cat's chin. While it has made her yowl in surprise, she soon recovered and bowled him over, taking advantage of the fact that he only had three legs on the ground and was thus easily knocked over.
Squirrelflight kept him pinned, "you were saying?" she meowed, hardly keeping the smug tone out of her voice.
"Did I do good, though?" The tom inquired as his mentor got off him. He got up in to a laying position.
The she-cat sat on her hunches, her tail curling around her paws. "You're doing fine, that uppercut caught me off guard," she admitted, "you've got a long way to go, though. Also, don't yell out when you're attacking, you're not doing yourself any favours, alright?"
Brookpaw frowned, "sorry." it was all he could say. Maybe he wasn't taking this as seriously as he should, but at the same time he didn't want to be stone-faced all the time. Though Squirrelflight was correct, he wasn't doing himself any favours by crying out before attacking. Brookpaw could adapt, he knew he could. "Um, can we try again?" he inquired.
Squirrelflight answered, smiling, "sure thing, fox-killer."
