Chapter 89: Entertainment Therapy
It had been a day since the two apprentices had awoken. They still had some bandages to watch, but Cinderpelt allowed them to leave the medicine den. I was assigning patrols, tasking our scouts to retreat should they pick up any presence of canine on the territory. I already knew the pack wouldn't disperse just because one of them died. I also knew they'd be back. When they did, they'd get what was coming to them.
As I finished up arranging patrols, I noticed Brightpaw waiting for me. Her head was slightly turned so that her one good eye could better see me. She slowly padded over. There was a certain tenseness in her steps. Her left ear flicked as she picked up some minute noise from the side she was blind to. Her eye briefly flicked that direction, expanding in a slight fear before shrinking back to normal and returning to look at me.
"You said you'd train me?" She nervously questioned, pacing in place.
"I told you I would, and I will. Come with me. There is someone I want you to see." I mewed calmly, gesturing for her to follow.
To where I might be going I could almost hear her ask. There is but one answer. I am taking her to the one who might struggle even more than her, one born crippled and yet determined to make his mark. I was taking her to Snowkit. Though, he wasn't much of a kit anymore. We'd have to apprentice him and Goldenflower's kits soon, but I had hoped we'd be able to deal with the dog threat first. It just wasn't in the cards. Regardless of Snowkit being a kit, he had an important lesson to teach Brightpaw, one on how to harness her senses. Just because one lacks sight does not mean one is vulnerable.
Brightpaw looked at me funny when I brought her towards the nursery. What could I possibly want from them? Her confusion only grew as I called for Brackenfur, Ashfur, and Snowkit. Snowkit might not have been able to hear my call, but he read the interaction off the other kits and bound my way. Soon the three were at my side along with a confused Brightpaw.
"You may be wondering why I called us here Brightpaw. It for is for a lesson and a game. These three are familiar with it. It is called Guard. We have a bunch of moss balls we pile together, and one cat is designated the guard. Everyone else must attempt to steal moss balls from the guard via teamwork. The guard themselves is alone. They must trust their senses to protect what is there and react quickly. This is your first lesson. You'll be guard first." I ordered. Brackenfur and Ashfur had already gathered together the moss ball collection.
The game began with Brightpaw attempting to keep us within her vision. That turned south rather quickly as we split up to encircle her. She constantly swept her head about, trying to keep an eye on all of us, but there in lie her weakness. She was over dependent on her vision. Ashfur made the first push in, snagging a moss ball just after she looked away. Ashfur made a slight chuckle, drawing Brightpaw's attention allowing Brackenfur to steal one as well. Flustered, Brightpaw attempted to interpose herself between the two successful thieves and the pile. By that point, Snowkit and I stole the rest. I cleared my throat to get her attention. Seeing the now empty spot, she hunkered in both disappointment and anger.
"This isn't fair! How am I supposed to keep track of all of you missing an eye? Are you trying to tell me I can't be a warrior? Are you trying to be cruel?" She questioned harshly.
"Are you saying missing one eye is equal to losing the ability to hear?" Ashfur ridiculed.
"No! That's just…" She stammered before Ashfur once again cut in.
"Snowkit here cannot hear, and you are telling me he is cheating you? You are telling me you are worse off than him who will never know his own mother's voice, who will never know bird song, who may some day find himself with kits but be totally unable to hear their mews. You claim to be worse than that?" He growled, getting up in her face.
Brightpaw wilted under his critique. She knew she had just been throwing a fit. It was my turn to step in.
"How about you just watch the next round. Snowkit is being guard this time. Watch him closely. What he does will not work for you, but maybe you'll come to an understanding on what you need to learn. Remember, Snowkit is deaf. He cannot hear us, and that leaves a massive blind spot. Watch how he compensates and deals with his own handicap." I lectured before starting the next game.
Snowkit positioned himself over the center of the pile. While he did sweep his head to note our positions in his peripheral vision, he did not look as frantically as Brightpaw did. To make a point, when Snowkit turned away, I lunged in for a moss ball. Snowkit spun instantly, smacking my paw before I could make contact. Brightpaw looked on in bewilderment.
"How did he do that?" She questioned with a bit of awe.
"Snowkit may not have been able to see or hear me, but he certainly felt the air change as I moved in. It's something you can pick up with your whiskers. Snowkit isn't even really using his vision all that much either. See how he is sweeping? He's noting our positions and keeping track of us mentally. While he cannot use sound to pinpoint us, he already knows where we are, so as soon as he feels us move, he can guess where we actually are." I taught, before beginning to coordinate with the other two.
Brackenfur started with a feint, forcing Snowkit to turn towards him. From there, Ashfur and I moved in tandem to offset our positions from where Snowkit knew we were. Snowkit kept up the spin after ensuring that Brackenfur hadn't managed to make off with anything. His eyes suddenly widened upon noticing Ashfur was not where he had just seen him. He turned faster to attempt to find the cat, allowing me the room to move in. I hooked one and reeled out, just in time to avoid Snowkit smacking my paw, having guessed at my position. He would have missed, but the attack itself had a desirable effect. It gave Snowkit the room to reassess our positions.
"Did you see what Snowkit just did? Even though he lost us, he still made an informed guess and made the room for him to reestablish control of the situation. He's still at a disadvantage given his handicap, but he's leveraging all his other senses to try and make up the gap. Even I've learned a thing or two from watching him." I stated, knowing Brightpaw was taking all this in.
After a couple minutes, we managed to end the round. Brightpaw joined us as we continued. Though, there was one cat who I hadn't expected to join us. It was Cloudtail. He seemed to get the gist of the game pretty quickly, using his size to body block when guarding and acting as a smokescreen when acting as a thief, allowing the other thieves to reposition. Bramblekit and Tawnykit soon joined. I told Brightpaw to continue the game with the others and left to fulfill my other duties.
I hoped that this lesson would act as a source of inspiration for Brightpaw in the days to come. She'd need the fortitude and creativity to overcome her weaknesses. While I might be used to acting with just one eye, having still worn a patch despite my eye having long since healed, I cannot teach a mindset. A mindset is something developed through experience and challenging one's self. This game, Guard, was made to challenge one's senses and reaction time. Hopefully it could act as a tool for her recovery as well.