Post by Amandus on Mar 21, 2016 15:36:09 GMT -5
NightFoot's First Lesson
This story is about NightSpirit's time in ThunderClan when she first joined, and early on begins building her relationship with AutumnLeaf that would last until one of their deaths.
This story is about NightSpirit's time in ThunderClan when she first joined, and early on begins building her relationship with AutumnLeaf that would last until one of their deaths.
-Nightfoot's First Lesson-
Saturday, June 14th, 2008:
[6:30 A.M-]
Young Victoria slowly woke up in the apprentice's tent as she began hearing Lisa calling out from outside to wake the sleepy Clan. Her gray eyes were foggy from sleep, but she blinked a few times, and they cleared as she rolled onto her back to stare at the tent's low canvas ceiling.
She smiled, remembering what was in store for her that day, though she was a little fearful despite looking forward to her first day of training with Catherine. She had spent the entire day before getting to know her Clanmates and getting used to the environment the Outcasts lived in. Victoria was uncertain about joining at first, but so far her Clanmates seemed kind and supportive, and she admired how close they were to each other, and how they all worked together to survive.
The apprentice climbed out of her sleeping bag, and went outside to see the Clan preparing the grill and plates for cooking, not unlike the scene during dinner from yesterday. Victoria approached the fire to see rabbit meat and Domestic sausages sizzling on the grill. She was surprised that the Outcasts seemed to eat the same kind of food for all three meals.
"Good morning!" Lisa quipped after just noticing that Victoria was awake.
"Morning," the apprentice answered shyly, and watched Jade take the meat off the grill and begin to serve it on the plates. Everyone settled down around the campfire, and Victoria was given her plate of food by Catherine, "Thank you..."
"You're welcome," Catherine replied with a smile as they sat down together. Her mentor immediately dug into her breakfast, but Victoria hesitated before biting into the rabbit meat. It was even more tough and gamy than the squirrel meat from yesterday's dinner. Catherine noticed that she struggled to chew it, but said nothing.
"What are we doing today?" Victoria asked eagerly after finishing the piece of rabbit.
Catherine swallowed her food, "We're going on patrols, and I'm gonna teach how to hunt and fight. That's pretty much all we ever do on patrols, though."
Victoria nodded as she chewed on a sausage; she had been told that the Outcasts spent most of the day wandering in the wilderness to hunt and look out for the other Clans. It sounded rather adventurous to her.
The apprentice noticed that Anna was already finished eating, and put her plate in a spot next to the food pile, swiftly returning to her tent. She somehow felt wary of the deputy, with the way she slithered around the camp, and how she wouldn't but even smile at her when she first joined.
She leaned over to whisper to Catherine, "Do you know what Anna's problem is?"
The mentor looked down at Victoria, "Huh? Oh...she's always been like that. I don't know." The apprentice frowned, but then shrugged in indifference.
[7:00 A.M-]
ThunderClan began to clean up after finishing their meal, and Anna came back out of her tent to wait on everyone to assign them to patrols. After a few minutes all of the warriors plus the nurse gathered around the deputy. She began to organize them into small groups with little consideration, further assigning them to a specific region in their territory.
Catherine came up to her apprentice, "We won't actually be assigned anywhere. I know a place that's good for fight training."
As the rest of the Clan filed out of the camp in different directions, Catherine and Victoria approached the deputy, who looked up at them bitterly, "And where are you going?"
"Um...I'm taking her west."
Anna said no more, jerking her thumb behind her to send them off before joining the patrol she would go with. Catherine prompted the apprentice to follow her. They went up the wooded slope before going out to the Merced river's edge. With a running start, the warrior hopped across the thin part of the rough waters, and turned around to face Victoria from the other side. Victoria hesitated to jump.
"You made it yesterday! Remember?" Catherine exclaimed. Victoria did have to jump across this river the day before to first get to the camp, though it took some coaxing.
Victoria backed up the very top of the rocky shore than sprinted before leaping across the strait. She was relieved that she made it across a second time. "It'll get easier as you get more fit," Catherine said before turning left down the gravel trail.
"We're going somewhere called 'echo valley', at least that's what the Domestics call it. It's actually where my mentor trained me."
"Really? How far is it?"
"A mile away...kind of a long walk," her mentor laughed slightly.
Victoria kept herself from groaning at how long the hike was going to be. Meanwhile, Catherine kept watch of the skies in case a distinct red and white helicopter would appear, looking for Victoria.
[8:15 A.M-]
The trail eventually reached a point where it wasn't juxtaposed against a mountainside anymore, but instead ran through flatter land with trees lining both sides of it. Victoria admired the way the morning sun glistened through the trees.
"This way," Catherine murmured as she went off the trail for the first time into the forest, "It isn't far, now."
Victoria was intimidated by the thick woodlands as the pair maneuvered through it, birds sometimes fluttering through the pines' branches as they approached.
After many lengths of this, they reached the other side of the woods. Catherine stopped for a moment, "Here it is."
Once Victoria caught up, the two Outcasts finally broke out of the forest to see a vast, flat meadow with more spruce trees dotted through it. The tall, rich grasses quivered in the warm breeze. "Isn't it neat?" Catherine smiled after setting down her backpack and equipment.
"It's beautiful," the apprentice breathed as she stared at this wonder of nature.
A moment later, Catherine suddenly pushed Victoria lightly on the shoulder, and then ran out into the meadow playfully, prompting the apprentice to a "fight". She stopped at a certain point to turn back around and look at her, but Victoria didn't respond, still standing in the same spot at the edge of the woods.
"Come on! I want to see how you fight right now."
Victoria realized her mentor's motive and smiled confidently. She charged towards Catherine as fast she could, but before she could tackle her, Catherine dodged out of the way, "Not fast enough!"
Victoria skidded to a halt several feet away, turning back around. She stared at her mentor blankly.
"Ok, I promise I won't dodge you this time," Catherine spread out into a defensive stance, "Now come at me."
Victoria bounded toward Catherine again, and leaped to tackle her. Almost like a hug, she grabbed Catherine around the shoulders, the momentum causing her mentor to stumble back, but not hard enough to send her flying to the ground.
Victoria seemed to be attempting to shove the warrior to the ground despite the unsuccessful amount of force in her charge, a move Catherine couldn't quite understand. Nonchalantly, Catherine took Victoria's squirming body and threw her off herself. The apprentice landed with a thud.
"What were you even trying to do, there?" Catherine asked humorously.
"I don't know! I've never been in a fight," Victoria got up and brushed pieces of grass off herself.
"That's not what you do if you aren't strong enough to knock someone over when you run into them," Catherine explained, "Instead, you have to get off of them, and either try again or do one of the other things I'm gonna teach you about."
"What other things?"
"Like this," in an instant, Catherine quickly swept out her own leg across Victoria's legs as she stood, throwing her to the ground onto her side. "Ow!" she exclaimed, the breath knocked out of her.
"You didn't see that coming," Catherine drawled, "When you get in a fight, you have to pay attention to everything the enemy is doing, and be as quick as possible. You'll eventually learn how to dodge that move."
Victoria stood back up, waiting for what her mentor would do next. Catherine backed away slightly and returned to her fight stance, "Come at me again. You can kick or punch all you want, just don't hurt me too much."
Victoria was surprised that Catherine was allowing her to beat her up. Nevertheless, she rushed toward her again, using all of her might to get the most of this fight lesson.
Saturday, June 14th, 2008:
[6:30 A.M-]
Young Victoria slowly woke up in the apprentice's tent as she began hearing Lisa calling out from outside to wake the sleepy Clan. Her gray eyes were foggy from sleep, but she blinked a few times, and they cleared as she rolled onto her back to stare at the tent's low canvas ceiling.
She smiled, remembering what was in store for her that day, though she was a little fearful despite looking forward to her first day of training with Catherine. She had spent the entire day before getting to know her Clanmates and getting used to the environment the Outcasts lived in. Victoria was uncertain about joining at first, but so far her Clanmates seemed kind and supportive, and she admired how close they were to each other, and how they all worked together to survive.
The apprentice climbed out of her sleeping bag, and went outside to see the Clan preparing the grill and plates for cooking, not unlike the scene during dinner from yesterday. Victoria approached the fire to see rabbit meat and Domestic sausages sizzling on the grill. She was surprised that the Outcasts seemed to eat the same kind of food for all three meals.
"Good morning!" Lisa quipped after just noticing that Victoria was awake.
"Morning," the apprentice answered shyly, and watched Jade take the meat off the grill and begin to serve it on the plates. Everyone settled down around the campfire, and Victoria was given her plate of food by Catherine, "Thank you..."
"You're welcome," Catherine replied with a smile as they sat down together. Her mentor immediately dug into her breakfast, but Victoria hesitated before biting into the rabbit meat. It was even more tough and gamy than the squirrel meat from yesterday's dinner. Catherine noticed that she struggled to chew it, but said nothing.
"What are we doing today?" Victoria asked eagerly after finishing the piece of rabbit.
Catherine swallowed her food, "We're going on patrols, and I'm gonna teach how to hunt and fight. That's pretty much all we ever do on patrols, though."
Victoria nodded as she chewed on a sausage; she had been told that the Outcasts spent most of the day wandering in the wilderness to hunt and look out for the other Clans. It sounded rather adventurous to her.
The apprentice noticed that Anna was already finished eating, and put her plate in a spot next to the food pile, swiftly returning to her tent. She somehow felt wary of the deputy, with the way she slithered around the camp, and how she wouldn't but even smile at her when she first joined.
She leaned over to whisper to Catherine, "Do you know what Anna's problem is?"
The mentor looked down at Victoria, "Huh? Oh...she's always been like that. I don't know." The apprentice frowned, but then shrugged in indifference.
[7:00 A.M-]
ThunderClan began to clean up after finishing their meal, and Anna came back out of her tent to wait on everyone to assign them to patrols. After a few minutes all of the warriors plus the nurse gathered around the deputy. She began to organize them into small groups with little consideration, further assigning them to a specific region in their territory.
Catherine came up to her apprentice, "We won't actually be assigned anywhere. I know a place that's good for fight training."
As the rest of the Clan filed out of the camp in different directions, Catherine and Victoria approached the deputy, who looked up at them bitterly, "And where are you going?"
"Um...I'm taking her west."
Anna said no more, jerking her thumb behind her to send them off before joining the patrol she would go with. Catherine prompted the apprentice to follow her. They went up the wooded slope before going out to the Merced river's edge. With a running start, the warrior hopped across the thin part of the rough waters, and turned around to face Victoria from the other side. Victoria hesitated to jump.
"You made it yesterday! Remember?" Catherine exclaimed. Victoria did have to jump across this river the day before to first get to the camp, though it took some coaxing.
Victoria backed up the very top of the rocky shore than sprinted before leaping across the strait. She was relieved that she made it across a second time. "It'll get easier as you get more fit," Catherine said before turning left down the gravel trail.
"We're going somewhere called 'echo valley', at least that's what the Domestics call it. It's actually where my mentor trained me."
"Really? How far is it?"
"A mile away...kind of a long walk," her mentor laughed slightly.
Victoria kept herself from groaning at how long the hike was going to be. Meanwhile, Catherine kept watch of the skies in case a distinct red and white helicopter would appear, looking for Victoria.
[8:15 A.M-]
The trail eventually reached a point where it wasn't juxtaposed against a mountainside anymore, but instead ran through flatter land with trees lining both sides of it. Victoria admired the way the morning sun glistened through the trees.
"This way," Catherine murmured as she went off the trail for the first time into the forest, "It isn't far, now."
Victoria was intimidated by the thick woodlands as the pair maneuvered through it, birds sometimes fluttering through the pines' branches as they approached.
After many lengths of this, they reached the other side of the woods. Catherine stopped for a moment, "Here it is."
Once Victoria caught up, the two Outcasts finally broke out of the forest to see a vast, flat meadow with more spruce trees dotted through it. The tall, rich grasses quivered in the warm breeze. "Isn't it neat?" Catherine smiled after setting down her backpack and equipment.
"It's beautiful," the apprentice breathed as she stared at this wonder of nature.
A moment later, Catherine suddenly pushed Victoria lightly on the shoulder, and then ran out into the meadow playfully, prompting the apprentice to a "fight". She stopped at a certain point to turn back around and look at her, but Victoria didn't respond, still standing in the same spot at the edge of the woods.
"Come on! I want to see how you fight right now."
Victoria realized her mentor's motive and smiled confidently. She charged towards Catherine as fast she could, but before she could tackle her, Catherine dodged out of the way, "Not fast enough!"
Victoria skidded to a halt several feet away, turning back around. She stared at her mentor blankly.
"Ok, I promise I won't dodge you this time," Catherine spread out into a defensive stance, "Now come at me."
Victoria bounded toward Catherine again, and leaped to tackle her. Almost like a hug, she grabbed Catherine around the shoulders, the momentum causing her mentor to stumble back, but not hard enough to send her flying to the ground.
Victoria seemed to be attempting to shove the warrior to the ground despite the unsuccessful amount of force in her charge, a move Catherine couldn't quite understand. Nonchalantly, Catherine took Victoria's squirming body and threw her off herself. The apprentice landed with a thud.
"What were you even trying to do, there?" Catherine asked humorously.
"I don't know! I've never been in a fight," Victoria got up and brushed pieces of grass off herself.
"That's not what you do if you aren't strong enough to knock someone over when you run into them," Catherine explained, "Instead, you have to get off of them, and either try again or do one of the other things I'm gonna teach you about."
"What other things?"
"Like this," in an instant, Catherine quickly swept out her own leg across Victoria's legs as she stood, throwing her to the ground onto her side. "Ow!" she exclaimed, the breath knocked out of her.
"You didn't see that coming," Catherine drawled, "When you get in a fight, you have to pay attention to everything the enemy is doing, and be as quick as possible. You'll eventually learn how to dodge that move."
Victoria stood back up, waiting for what her mentor would do next. Catherine backed away slightly and returned to her fight stance, "Come at me again. You can kick or punch all you want, just don't hurt me too much."
Victoria was surprised that Catherine was allowing her to beat her up. Nevertheless, she rushed toward her again, using all of her might to get the most of this fight lesson.