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Post by niftyshark on Apr 7, 2019 16:00:23 GMT -6
Mousefern took the time to stretch her legs as she walked out of camp. Moons spent caring for kits left her feeling stiffer than she remembered. She once would have wanted nothing more than to return to warrior duties, but the last few moons without Nettleshade had her dreading her return to the warriors' den. How could she ever go to her nest without Nettleshade's by her side? His disappearance left her heart torn in two. If that wasn't enough, only one moon ago Quiverkit was snatched by a daring heron, right in the middle of camp. Shattered pieces were all that was left of her heart, and she felt like a shadow, numb to almost everything as she grieved two losses so close together. If only she could see, she would have been able to chase the heron away. She wouldn't have to endure listening to her kit's screams as he was stolen, and she wouldn't have to listen to them on repeat almost every night. If only she could see, she could have been a proper mate and searched for Nettleshade after the snowstorm that stole him away.
With careful pawsteps, she walked by herself to where she was meeting Batpaw. Junipercloud was recovering from a cold, and she promised her denmate to take him out for a day. She knew she needed the distraction, lest she go insane. A past Mousefern would have been excited to train an apprentice, even for a day, but her thoughts and confidence in herself were weighed down like a rock at the bottom of a river. How could she give him proper guidance when she was lost herself? There was no way she could be fair to him, as emotionally-drained as she was currently. Shaking her head, she paused in the small clearing that she told Batpaw about earlier and waited.
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Post by silentpaws on Apr 11, 2019 14:31:34 GMT -6
The fact that Junipercloud had taken a day off sick had been no surprise to Batpaw after how sneezy she'd been the day before, but what had been surprising was the face that Mousefern had introduced herself as his replacement mentor for the day. She'd told him where she would meet him at midday during their last session, and he was technically there way before time. Technically in that he was crawling along a branch about two foxlengths above where he was meant to be waiting for her. He'd been lost in what he was doing when he suddenly remembered that the she-cat wasn't exactly going to be able to see him up there like Junipercloud could, and the minute he heard pawsteps approaching he quickly scrambled down to land in a heap by the roots. At least she couldn't see how ruffled he looked.
"Hi Mousefern," he called when he saw her, trotting over to greet her politely. "If you heard lots of noise that's 'cause I kinda fell out the tree. It was on purpose though so I'm fine," he explained after a moment's hesitance, not wanting her to think he was playing tricks on her or anything. While of course he knew her from his own kithood when she'd moved into the Nursery a short while before he was apprenticed, this was the first time he'd properly spoken to her since then and he wanted to make a good first impression. And, with the recent losses she'd suffered in mind, he didn't want to make her day difficult in any way.
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Post by niftyshark on May 9, 2019 19:29:25 GMT -6
Mousefern did hear a lot of noise, but her thoughts were so loud in her own head that it had admittedly been background noise. That was definitely dangerous for her, but she couldn't bring herself to care much at the moment. She turned to face Batpaw, and she struggled to put on a small smile. It probably wasn't much of anything, since she could feel how hard it was to pull her lips upward. "I'm glad you're okay," she said politely, falling silent for a moment as she thought about what to say next. What to do next. Now that she was in the moment, she didn't know what to start teaching him. But he was an older apprentice, wasn't he? He probably knew a lot by now. "Where did you leave off with Junipercloud?" she finally asked, figuring it would be more useful to him if they did something he was on the cusp of learning. She'd never taught anyone before, so she didn't know how much he would get out of it, but she would try. It would be a learning experience for her, if anything.
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Post by silentpaws on Jun 2, 2019 15:00:24 GMT -6
"Oh, thanks," Batpaw said, not really bothered either way by her polite comment. He was used to being told to be careful or that cats were relieved he wasn't injured, he heard those comments so often that they flew over his head. Most of the things he did to attract the comments weren't even that dangerous in his opinion anyway. At her question he thought back to the things they'd been going over lately, humming for a moment so she could hear him thinking before he replied "We've been practising fishing a lot. I'm still not very good at it, guess it's something WillowClan cats are s'pposed to be born knowing." His remark was punctuated with a laugh. He'd learned from experience that it was easier to laugh about his RavenClan heritage than let it bring him down. It wasn't something he wanted to hide, unlike Chirppaw, it was just something that made him himself.
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Post by niftyshark on Jun 17, 2019 7:36:54 GMT -6
Fishing... it made sense. Mousefern winced in sympathy. “It was hard for me too. It’s not something one learns easily, even for WillowClan apprentices. Water is very much different from having the ground under your paws.” It was just a matter of conquering that apprehension, which is what WillowClan did. They normalized a lifestyle around water and addressed any accompanying fears with tried and true tactics. With that, she decided that maybe she actually could help him. Feeling a little more confident, she motioned her head forward. “Let’s see how we can work on that.” She picked her way ahead, listening for Batpaw’s steps behind her as she headed towards the nearest stream. It didn’t take long for them to get there, and Mousefern paused when it was in hearing range. She determined just how far away it was, then moved to the bank. “What part of fishing are you struggling with? Setup? Or pulling the fish out?”
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Post by silentpaws on Jun 20, 2019 14:31:49 GMT -6
Batpaw hummed in affirmation when Mousefern said she'd found fishing hard, glad they'd found something in common already. He didn't know why he was almost surprised though; on one paw he'd just assumed she was able to do everything a seeing warrior could do since she'd been given her name, but on the other paw he couldn't imagine how she'd been able to learn to fish. Perhaps her method of doing it could help him out though. He followed on behind her when they headed for the stream, watching her in confusion when she paused for a second until he noticed her angling her ears to listen for the water. Clearly that was how she did it. "Uhh, pulling the fish out I guess. I see them and try to grab them but I usually drop them and scare the rest away," he said to her question, his lip twisting downwards in displeasure.
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Post by niftyshark on Jun 25, 2019 10:35:54 GMT -6
Mousefern laughed a little, surprising herself. She felt so inconceivably lost, losing her mate and one of her kits, that she didn’t think she could ever have it in her. It almost felt wrong to laugh, even though it was humorless, because it made her think of being happy. It was more out of empathy for Batpaw’s plight and how similar it was to her, but it still made her feel disconcerted. She cleared her throat. “I understand,” she said finally. “I mean, the fish can see me and I can’t see them. For us that have trouble, it takes a little bit more patience.” She let her paws rest over the edge of the stream as she sat down. “It might help right now to choose your fishing spot carefully. Some place that’s shallower should be good for you, so you can get a better grip.” Mousefern demonstrated by reaching her paw in to show how far she could get without losing balance.
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Post by silentpaws on Jul 2, 2019 18:18:56 GMT -6
He grinned when Mousefern laughed, glad that he'd managed to make her happy with his clumsiness. As she spoke he listened carefully, curious to see what her fishing technique was and how she could help him with his. "Oh yeah, that's true," Batpaw said when she mentioned being able to reach into the river easier, sitting down beside her and reaching his own paw into the water next to hers without leaning too far down. He knew from an earlier incident in his apprenticeship that leaning too far over would result in him falling in, but he was an older apprentice with a new mentor so he didn't want to embarrass himself by making that same mistake again. "I think this'll make it a lot easier," he realised aloud, unsheathing his claws and carving them through the water as if he was trying to grab an imaginary fish.
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Post by niftyshark on Jul 2, 2019 18:44:14 GMT -6
Mousefern nodded with a smile. “Yes, good.” She could feel his disturbance of the water, and she withdrew her paw and shuffled back. The water had to be deep enough to support a few fish, so she would let him wait and try to catch something. She settled in a patch of grass before she meowed, “Go ahead and try to catch something. If the fish don’t return to that spot for a while, look for an area low enough towards the water and keep trying.” General pointers felt sufficient enough since Batpaw knew what he was doing otherwise. She would offer more advice if he needed or asked for it.
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Post by silentpaws on Jul 2, 2019 18:50:14 GMT -6
"Got it. Thanks!" Batpaw said as she drew back, hoping there was some way she could sense his grattitude even though she couldn't see the smile on his face. After a moment he focused all his attention on the water, watching the surface for any indication that the fish were returning after they'd both withdrawn their paws. Chances are they would have done if he'd kept waiting, but his impatience prompted him to move a couple of foxlengths down the shallower side of bank to see if he had better luck elsewhere. He called out a quick "Just moving over here!" once he was sat back down, wanting to keep Mousefern in the loop, then looked back down and noted happily that there were far more fish there. After breathing out to calm his nerves, he picked out a fish and shot out his paw after it. While he was able to reach in a lot better to grab it, he still couldn't twist his paw in the right way and he let out a loud groan as it just slipped from his grasp.
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Post by niftyshark on Jul 2, 2019 18:56:00 GMT -6
She was amused by Batpaw letting her know where he was, even though she already knew. It was considerate of him. She remained where she was as she heard splashing, but the noise of frustration had her standing. Mousefern moved closer, but she paused halfway. Did she help him, or let him figure it out for a while longer? After a moment of deliberation, she walked up to his side. “It slipped. Do you want to keep trying or do you want help?” It seemed better to ask what he preferred instead of just assuming. Part of learning was pushing past through frustration and doing self-practice, but she also understood that it wasn’t always easy to solve a problem alone.
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Post by silentpaws on Jul 2, 2019 19:13:06 GMT -6
Batpaw thought for a moment, then glanced up at her as he asked "Can I have some help please?" He wasn't too proud to admit when he couldn't solve a problem on his own, and knew that he had a valuable opportunity at his paws to get someone's perspective who was different from his own mentor in every aspect. "I can't twist my paw the right way, you're meant to flip the fish onto the bank but I just end up dropping it," he explained, then asked "Can I see how you do it? Being by shallower water was much easier so doing it like you do might be easier." He didn't want to make her uncomfortable by putting her on the spot like that, but he was genuinely eager to learn as much from her as possible.
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Post by niftyshark on Jul 2, 2019 19:27:18 GMT -6
“Of course!” Mousefern reassured him. She settled at the edge of the stream and focused all of her senses on the water. She could hear the slight shifts of the water when fish flitted directly underneath her. It took a bit of waiting, but she knew the fish returned after Batpaw’s attempt. Instead of hooking one paw in and flipping it on the bank, she darted both paws in with a practiced synchrony that took her moons to accomplish. Her claws hooked into the fish on either side, and with the grip of two paws, pulling the fish up was almost effortless. She let it flop on the bank, one paw pressed on it, as she turned towards the apprentice. “It took me a long time to learn to use two paws. Being closer to the water helps with stability that would otherwise make this harder.” He was welcome to try, but she didn’t know if it would work for him either.
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Post by silentpaws on Jul 2, 2019 20:28:40 GMT -6
Batpaw made sure he was as quiet as physically possible as Mousefern settled by the water, knowing that any noise from him would probable distract her more than it would do for any sighted cat. He watched through wide eyes as she grabbed the fish with two paws instead, which was something that he'd never been told was an option before. "That was really good!" he said when the fish was safely beneath her paw, amazement in his voice at how balanced and synchronised she'd been. He hesitated for a moment before asking "If you don't mind me asking, err, how did you know where the fish was? It looked like you could just see it." He hoped he'd been polite enough that she wasn't bothered by him asking, but he didn't know if it was something she liked talking about or not.
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Post by niftyshark on Jul 2, 2019 20:54:49 GMT -6
“I’ve learned to sense their presence. There are other indications that they’re there besides sight. I can hear them under the surface when the water isn’t loud. Sometimes I keep my whiskers on the surface to feel them—or I dangle my paw and leave it there for a while. They do get curious.” She finished speaking with a snort. “Don’t worry about the fact that you’re having trouble. There are a lot of ways to catch them, and you’ll find what’s comfortable for you, even if it takes longer than others. I can promise you that.” Mousefern hoped he took her advice to heart, because she understood taking things at her own pace and learning her own ways of doing things.
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Post by silentpaws on Jul 5, 2019 17:32:45 GMT -6
The hesitation Batpaw had felt upon asking the question quickly vanished when she answered him willingly, and he smiled at her laughter. "Thank you," he said when she finished, genuine grattitude in his voice. He found himself feeling far better about his fishing skills now that he was having this session with her, and it was nice to think that he'd found himself an ally among the Clan who'd struggled with the skill as much as he was. A blind warrior and a RavenClan born cat - what a pair they made. After taking a deep breath, he crouched back down by the river where the fish were starting to come back and prepared to try again.
{ f i n }
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