Juniperpaw
RiverClan
Ash Glade serves as a popular training ground destination for mentors to take their apprentices, but it is Juniperpaw's first time venturing out of camp to the empty grotto of sand and dirt surrounded by a lush lining of ash trees. Such a thing isn't her mentor's fault; given the difficult personal events she endured as a kit, it's taken some time for Juniperpaw to recover enough to fully participate in clan life and her own apprenticeship again. It's been a tough balancing act; to postpone making her an apprentice in the past would have drawn unfortunate attention to her and put her behind the others, but at the same time, becoming an apprentice only a moon later was something she was not ready for. In the five moons since her incident, and the four since she's been made an apprentice, her mentor @NightFrost has been kind enough to go easy on her -- per others' advice. While she's been taught some of the very basics in hunting, fishing, fighting, and other aspects of clan life, most of her time has been spent fetching moss, guarding camp, tending to the elders, kitsitting, and other odd jobs around or close to camp.
In the past moon or so, however, Juniperpaw's recovered enough and become fully engaged in the clan again. This is excellent news, of course -- but perhaps also more than a bit stressful for Nightfrost. Undeniably, Juniperpaw's performance in several aspects is much lower than other apprentices her age, and only somewhat above baseline for a newly made apprentice. The clan has been understanding given the circumstances, of course, so any pressure the mentor-apprentice duo may feel is more internal than external. Still, it'd be very embarrassing to be a fully grown cat still in the apprentice den! While there's still time with Juniperpaw being nine moons, she's soon to turn ten and there is much to teach her in a short amount of time if she's to graduate on a standard schedule. Juniperpaw herself has been trying to squeeze in as many learning opportunities as possible on her own time, and trying to practice with the other apprentices to absorb what they've learned.
And so, with this urgency and suppressed shame in the back of her mind, Juniperpaw dutifully follows after Nightfrost as he guides her to Ash Glade. As soon as their paws cross from grass to sand and dirt, Juniperpaw darts in front of Nightfrost, puffing her chest out and giving him an eager smile. "Nightfrost, sir, I'm ready for whatever you have in mind, sir! You just say the word and I'll do it! Or- er, um, not say, but..." She trails off nervously, clearly unsure of how to rectify her social faux "paws", given Nightfrost's muteness. She shuffles, then smiles at him again, friendly and full of thinly veiled desperation. "IIIII'm ready to learn! Is what I mean! From you! Anything! Very quickly! I'll get it down like - pat!" She stomps her paw against the dirt, then coughs at the cloud that poofs up. Good thing she talks enough for the both of them!
The Ash Glade is a great place to practice fighting, or to head onto a further location lush with prey for fishing and/or hunting training. It's up to Nightfrost and what he feels is most important to tackle with the delayed Juniperpaw first.
Please allow @NightFrost to post first, then anyone is open to join in! Maybe some other mentors and apprentices are here and want to do a co-training session. Maybe another mentor feels like Nightfrost needs some guidance with training, or another apprentice thinks Juniperpaw needs a friend to learn alongside! All up to you!
In the past moon or so, however, Juniperpaw's recovered enough and become fully engaged in the clan again. This is excellent news, of course -- but perhaps also more than a bit stressful for Nightfrost. Undeniably, Juniperpaw's performance in several aspects is much lower than other apprentices her age, and only somewhat above baseline for a newly made apprentice. The clan has been understanding given the circumstances, of course, so any pressure the mentor-apprentice duo may feel is more internal than external. Still, it'd be very embarrassing to be a fully grown cat still in the apprentice den! While there's still time with Juniperpaw being nine moons, she's soon to turn ten and there is much to teach her in a short amount of time if she's to graduate on a standard schedule. Juniperpaw herself has been trying to squeeze in as many learning opportunities as possible on her own time, and trying to practice with the other apprentices to absorb what they've learned.
And so, with this urgency and suppressed shame in the back of her mind, Juniperpaw dutifully follows after Nightfrost as he guides her to Ash Glade. As soon as their paws cross from grass to sand and dirt, Juniperpaw darts in front of Nightfrost, puffing her chest out and giving him an eager smile. "Nightfrost, sir, I'm ready for whatever you have in mind, sir! You just say the word and I'll do it! Or- er, um, not say, but..." She trails off nervously, clearly unsure of how to rectify her social faux "paws", given Nightfrost's muteness. She shuffles, then smiles at him again, friendly and full of thinly veiled desperation. "IIIII'm ready to learn! Is what I mean! From you! Anything! Very quickly! I'll get it down like - pat!" She stomps her paw against the dirt, then coughs at the cloud that poofs up. Good thing she talks enough for the both of them!
The Ash Glade is a great place to practice fighting, or to head onto a further location lush with prey for fishing and/or hunting training. It's up to Nightfrost and what he feels is most important to tackle with the delayed Juniperpaw first.
Please allow @NightFrost to post first, then anyone is open to join in! Maybe some other mentors and apprentices are here and want to do a co-training session. Maybe another mentor feels like Nightfrost needs some guidance with training, or another apprentice thinks Juniperpaw needs a friend to learn alongside! All up to you!
