Frozen Shell || Ice & Tortoise Training

He watched with mild surprised as Tortoisepaw dragged themself out of their den - he hadn't actually thought they'd be asleep. Well, whatever. Being right all the time was exactly why his apprentice liked him so much, right? “I was thinking we'd have a bit of a challenge. I know you're new, but I think it'll be a good way to take advantage of your size. Let's head out to the meadow, and you can try to sneak up on me. Besides, your stripes will help you blend in a little more.”

Such a good plan! He swept his fur back a bit in a show of a casual air, gesturing at the camp's exit. “C'mon, maybe if you're good we'll do some hunting.” He swept his striped tail in the direction he'd already gestured at. It wasn't as if he'd noticed any signs of Tortoisepaw not behaving. It was convenient, but... well, they'd make it work.

Leading the pair out of camp, Iceglow took the obligatory moment to ruffle the top of Tortoisepaw’s head. “Hey don’t worry about it, just do your best then, and don’t go running off unless I say it’s okay, alright? It hasn’t even been a moon since you started training, I don’t think either of us wants for you to get lost or something.” Or something largely referred to the idea that popped in his head that Tortoisepaw might be talon-sized for a hungry enough bird (or really any other predator) and that he might have to go scour the mountains to find them and keep them from being properly eaten. Talk about early onset trauma.

He ignored that idea, though, instead opting to be confident that he’d notice a threat and intercept before it could be trouble. Trauma aside, it’d be a good teaching moment. And here’s how to kill a fox! Not that he’d ever killed a fox, but if he wasn’t confident then he wasn’t Iceglow.

As they approached the sprawling green of the meadow, Iceglow turned to Tortoisepaw. “Okay, kiddo, here’s the plan. I’m gonna go sit in the middle over there-” he gestured with his tail to the vague location he spoke of- “where I’ll close my eyes for a little. Your job is to pick a good spot to hide, so that when I tell you I’m opening my eyes again, you aren’t instantly visible. From there, I’ll roam around and you get to try to sneak up on me. Easy enough, right?” Among cats of equal skill, it was kitsplay. For a fresh apprentice to try on Iceglow, though, it was good practice. Sneaky on his own merit and constantly alert, Iceglow believed easily that he’d find the things that Tortoisepaw needed improvement on.

He had been making… a few notes about Tortoisepaw’s sneaking. With his eyes closed, he could still pinpoint the little cat - the sound of rustling foliage disturbed by a restless tail told his ears exactly what he’d needed to know. Do they know they need to be quiet? The disgruntled thought came with a bit of frustration - with himself. He would be a bad mentor if he dismissed his apprentice over not being experienced in certain skill sets when that was his very job - to teach them those skills! The thoughts didn’t last long, though, before the sound of a shocked cry had Iceglow on his feet and alert. His apprentice’s words didn’t even process in his head, his legs moved swiftly beneath him of their own volition to the sound of the incident - and to the sight of the Tortoise-sized hole in the ground.

Wincing as he slowed to a stop at the mouth of the hole, he peered over to look at Tortoisepaw. “Woah, Torts, you okay? You don’t look like anything’s broken but-.” He interrupted himself to lower himself enough to pull Tortoisepaw out of the hole and up onto solid ground once more. “What happened?” His voice was uncharacteristically gentle, despite the nickname and casual air he spoke with. His leading theory was that the little apprentice was simply more surprised than actually injured, and that with a little reassurance they’d be able to resume training. Probably figure out an exercise to prevent any similar future problems. Something about observation or confidence or whatever the root of the problem was.

He scoffed, nudging their shoulder playfully. “Messed it up? Relax kid, we’ve got plenty of time for you to get better about all this,” Iceglow reassured, though he himself wasn’t entirely sure just what “all this” entailed. Right, there was a gap in information there. A critical gap to be closed. “How’d the whole… falling into a hole situation happen, anyway? I don’t remember this thing being here before.”

He glanced into the hole analytically. It didn’t seem like any creature’s nest, and he couldn’t see any signs of obvious sabotage - though with a hole that size, what could anyone be trying to sabotage? No, it seemed like one of those weird little instances of nature, a hole put there just for the sake of having a hole. Despite waiting for Tortoisepaw’s answer, the back of his mind churned silently with the process of concocting a plan to remedy this little ripple in their plans. Something to really get the momentum rolling again, and to get Tortoisepaw’s mind off of everything. “You still feel up for training, or are you calling it quits?”

He nodded along to the story, picking out his words for advice until Tortoisepaw had requested a do-over. Well! He'd been worried that their confidence would be too low, but he was glad to hear the contrary. Iceglow showed as much by bumping his apprentice's shoulder with his nose, beaming his approval. “Alright! Way to get back up, Torts, that's what being a warrior's all about! Just try to pay more attention to your surroundings, okay? You've got to notice what's going on around you so that you go unnoticed. Make sense?”

With that, Iceglow trotted his way back to the center of the meadow, closing his eyes and gesturing where he last remembered seeing Tortoisepaw. “Let me know when you're ready and we'll get this thing started!”

Whistling wasn't a particularly useful skill for this exercise, but Iceglow dismissed the thought - it was a signal, after all, and afterwards he hadn't heard much from the little cat. Well, that was a stark improvement from the hole incident, wasn't it? Still, the scent of Tortoisepaw drifted casually to Iceglow, telling him just where they were. He'd hold off on commenting on it, though. He opted to give Tortoisepaw the opportunity to correct the issue before he'd say anything. “Alright Torts, be ready! I'm opening my eyes now!”

Once more gifted the ability to see, he did a cursory scan of the meadow. Nothing so far. No sign of Tortoisepaw, but their scent told him confidently that they hadn't been eaten by an eagle or something. So far so good! Rising to all four paws, he gave a brief shake to dismiss the grass from his pelt before he began to pace about, purposefully walking away from where he knew the kid was hiding. “So far so good on visuals - I knew the tall grass would work in your favor,” he commented. It was sort of funny to think he was being hunted, not like all the other instances. He didn't even think Tortoisepaw could knock him over let alone cause any real injury to him, not yet at least. He made a mental note to get Tortoisepaw to be able to knock down a bigger cat later.

Well, maybe knock down a cat. They were all bigger.