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Post by silvermask on Nov 29, 2007 4:29:59 GMT -5
"You can't see?" Birchfur repeated in bewilderment. He padded slowly up to his apprentice, sitting down beside him. He gazed into Brownpaw's eyes, but there was no real reaction at being stared at so closely. What a pathetic mentor I am, Birchfur thought. I should have noticed this immediately when we were practicing. No wonder he bumped into me in his apprentice ceremony....
The warrior shallowed nervously. "I.... I suppose you think that I'm going to tell to rest of the clan now. But I won't. I won't breath a word to any cat... not even Spottedstar. We'll train together. I'll start by moving very slowly. I'll gradually get faster, so that you can learn to locate me by scent. We'll work together to make you a great warrior. Then we'll tell Spottedstar, and show her how you have learned to cope with your disability so well. You'll be a fine warrior despite this." He rested his tail on Brownpaw's shoulder in a comforting way. I can do this, he thought to himself. I'll do everything in my power to train Brownpaw well.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Dec 1, 2007 12:21:59 GMT -5
Brownpaw brightened a little as he heard that his secret wasn't going to be out all voer the clan. He looked in Birchfur's direction and smiled a little. He had expected Birchfur to give some sign of disappointment or something, maybe even say that he didn't want to train with him. 'Thanks Birchfur..' He whispered, eyes shining through a film of tears that had gathered in sadness when he had first told his secret but now were tears of joy. Birchfur was confident that he would be able to become a warrior still, and that gave him hope. He didn't even seem disappointed or angry either. He felt more confident than he had in a long time as he sat next to his mentor and became sure that he would be a warrior some day.
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Post by silvermask on Dec 1, 2007 22:19:35 GMT -5
Birchfur sat with his apprentice for a heartbeat longer before standing up and giving himself a shake. "We'd better get started then", he meowed. "We've got a long way to go." He padded a couple of steps away before crouching down again. "I'll go very slowly for starters, so you can get used to tracking a moving warrior." Just as he had said, Birchfur began to move very slowly across the ground, keeping his amber gaze on Brownpaw.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Dec 3, 2007 9:42:36 GMT -5
Brownpaw smiled and got to his paws happily. He felt much better now that he wasn’t hiding something from his mentor. He swiveled his ears carefully to be sure of where Birchfur was. His whiskers twitched as he used his nose to help pinpoint his mentor. Grinning he said to Birchfur, ‘I know where you are, right there.’ He bobbed his head in Birchfur’s direction, glad that he had been able to find his location.
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Post by silvermask on Dec 3, 2007 18:09:03 GMT -5
"That's great!", Birchfur exclaimed in relief. He'd been half afraid that Brownpaw wouldn't be able to locate him, even at this slow pace, but he knew now not to underestimate his apprentice. "I'll go a bit faster now. Just keep going; you're doing great." As he had said, Birchfur quickened his pace slightly, but not enough to throw Brownpaw completely off his scent.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Dec 4, 2007 15:20:45 GMT -5
Brownpaw smiled confidently, he was feeling better about this now. At first he did have trouble tracking his mentor’s moves, but finally he caught on to where he was and stayed pretty much right on his trail, though at times he would still loose track of him. He was good at picking him back up though and didn’t give up, for his vigor had been renewed in his happiness that his mentor hadn’t given up on him even though he had told his secret.
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Post by silvermask on Dec 7, 2007 6:54:35 GMT -5
"I won't go any faster then this for now", Birchfur meowed. "But we're making good progress. You'll be able to track me in no time!" The warrior grinned. He felt proud of this small achievement; it was the first step taken on the path to Brownpaw's warrior ceremony. He was confident that he would bring his apprentice through this. "How about I try jumping at you now?" Birchfur suggested. "Don't worry if you can't figure out where I'm aiming; this is just an experiment." The reddish-brown warrior stopped for a few heartbeats; judged the distance, and leaped at Brownpaw, his front paws out; ready to catch himself.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Dec 7, 2007 15:46:33 GMT -5
Brownpaw caught the faintest sound of scuffing on the ground as Birchfur leaped at him. He jumped back, and though he knew that he had succeeded in avoiding Birchfur, he landed on a thistle. ‘Ow!’ He cried as he jumped again and this time landed on safe ground. He shook his pelt and bent to pull a prickle out of his paw pad. ‘I hate thistles.’ He growled, not particularly talking to anyone but just letting it out.
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Post by silvermask on Dec 8, 2007 18:57:36 GMT -5
Birchfur landed safely on the soft sand where Brownpaw had been before, chuckling at his apprentice's opinion of thistles. "Yeah, I hate them too", he said with a laugh. "They're always there when you don't need them." He padded over to Brownpaw, settling down beside him. "I think that's enough of training for today. We can go back to camp, or stay out here for a bit." The warrior paused; "Do you need any help with that thorn?" he added.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Dec 14, 2007 18:49:00 GMT -5
Brownpaw smiled and nodded. ‘Thanks Birchfur, and I have the rotten pokey under control.’ He pulled it the rest of the way out and spat it out. ‘What are thistles good for?’ He asked suddenly, looking up at his mentor for an answer that seemed unanswerable to him. If they were always in the way and you couldn’t eat them then what would that be good for?
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Post by silvermask on Dec 15, 2007 21:56:46 GMT -5
Birchfur thought about this question for a few heartbeats. It might have been out of the blue, but it was a very good question. "I'm not sure", he meowed truthfully. "They might not be useful to us, but they must be useful for something. Perhaps it protects the plant. It might be so tasty that every animal and insect would eat it, and then the plant would disappear." The warrior decided to ask a question of his own. "Does any of the other apprentices know that you are blind?" he asked.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Dec 18, 2007 11:09:39 GMT -5
Brownpaw considered Birchfur’s words. ‘I wish something would eat them all up.’ He grumbled a little but quickly got over it. ‘Yeah, two of the apprentices know I’m blind, they’re my best friends and so I told them. Quickpaw and Tigerpaw both know.’ He grinned. ‘Thanks for not giving up on me even though I’m blind.’ He purred and rubbed his head against Birchfur thankfully.
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Post by silvermask on Dec 18, 2007 20:50:49 GMT -5
"How could I possibly give up on an apprentice with so much courage? You'll teach me just as much as I'll teach you. We'll both learn from this." Birchfur knew that he meant every word. He ran his tail along Brownpaw's back. "Come on, we'd better get back to camp. Anything that you want to do on the way?"
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Dec 19, 2007 13:22:12 GMT -5
Brownpaw smiled and got to his paws. ‘Okay, let’s go.’ He started towards the camp, stopping for a moment to make sure his mentor was coming. ‘I can’t think of anything I want to do. Is there anything you want to do?’ He meowed curiously, unseeing eyes looking in Birchfur’s general direction. He twitched his tail and whiskers and waited for an answer. He wondered if he would ever be a mentor, he thought that that would be just great. To be able to teach others, wouldn’t that be something great?! He smiled to himself.
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Post by silvermask on Dec 24, 2007 2:25:09 GMT -5
"No, not at the moment. That's enough for today anyway; I don't want to push you too hard. We'll start you on hunting another day." Birchfur began to walk forward, his gaze on the ground in front of him. "When do you next want to train?" he questioned Brownpaw, wanting his apprentice's opinion of what he wanted best.
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