Darkshadow waited patiently in the training hollow, his tail wrapped around his paws. Beside him, Rainshadow fidgeted around, getting up to pace every now and then. Both wolves were watching the entrance eagerly for their mentors to arrive.
Finally, the trees rustled and Sunfire and Rivermist came padding in. They greeted their deltas with nods and settled down in front of them.
Darkshadow stared past them, wondering if any more wolves were coming. "Where's Redshadow and Cloudshadow?"
"Cloudshadow is seeing the territory on a border scouting with Falcon, Sparrowflight, and Icefang," Sunfire replied. "Redshadow has already been taught this lesson, so he'll join us later. In the meantime, he stayed back at camp."
"Oh." Darkshadow felt slightly jealous-- Redshadow was ahead of him? He shook his head and concentrated on Rivermist as she began.
"We've already given you some tips about catching different kinds of prey, but now we're working on the actual hunting part. Does anyone remember the difference between stalking a mouse and a bird?" The she-wolf's gaze swept over the two deltas.
Darkshadow hesitated, wracking his brain. As usual, Rainshadow was the first to respond, but her voice was strangely dull and unenthusiastic. "Mice can sense vibrations in the ground," she murmured, "but birds use their sight more."
"Correct!" Rivermist nodded. "At least I know one of you was paying attention yesterday."
Darkshadow felt his fur bristle as the she-wolf shot him an icy look. He held his tongue, knowing that he had gotten in trouble before from challenging Rivermist after one of her snide remarks. She despised him almost as much as Thicketclaw did.
"Now we're going to practice sneaking up to the prey," Sunfire continued. "Bend your legs, and get down low. Duck you tail, ears, head-- whatever would stick out of the undergrowth and alert your target. Your goal is to remain unseen."
The deltas gazed at the beta in earnest, trying to absorb every word he said. The golden wolf crouched down and began smoothly drawing himself forward. "Stay in your proper stance, and take it one pawstep at a time. Try to keep in the cover of the vegetation." He straightened up. "Now you try."
Darkshadow and Rainshadow pressed themselves to the ground and tried to slide across the ground like Sunfire had shown them. The black-furred delta trembled with the effort of keeping his body low. He wasn't focusing on what was beneath his paws.
Snap! A stick broke beneath his foot where he had stepped on it, causing Darkshadow to wince. If he had been actually hunting, his quarry definitely would've heard the sound and fled.
"Can you try not to scare away all the prey in the forest?" Rivermist growled, annoyed. Sunfire shot her a warning look.
"Just watch where you place your paws," the beta reminded him. "Another good strategy is to position yourself downwind of your target. That way, they won't smell you coming."
Darkshadow nodded and gave his pelt a few embarrassed licks. He tried again, this time setting each paw down carefully on an empty space. Rainshadow did the same.
"Good," said Sunfire. "Keep in mind that this is only used to catch small game. Larger animals require a different technique-- I'll demonstrate."
He beckoned his delta over with a wave of his tail. "Darkshadow, you can be the doe."
Great, Darkshadow thought, a reason for Rivermist to claw me. He took his place by his mentor and listened to the instructions. "When I run at you, head to the other side of the hollow. Rivermist will be waiting in the bushes there, and I'll be hidden nearby."
Rainshadow padded closer to watch as Darkshadow stood a bit nervously, shifting from paw to paw. "So one wolf springs from nearby while another is ready farther ahead?" she asked.
"Exactly." Sunfire leapt out of the bushes, jumping high in the air, and Darkshadow immediately began trotting to the other side. Sunfire ran at his flank, baring his fangs. "You want to chase it to your partner, and--"
A heavy weight barreled into Darkshadow and the delta was knocked to the ground with a startled yelp. He rolled over and struggled to his paws, but not before Rivermist shook his scruff in her teeth.
"--the other wolf finishes the job," the she-wolf concluded, spitting fur out of her mouth. "But I'm sure Darkshadow is much less appetizing than a juicy fawn."
"Yeah," the delta grumbled, licking his ruffled fur smooth, "because I'd be all bruised." He shook out his pelt and limped back to Rainshadow, scowling.
"You're fine." Sunfire's eyes glinted teasingly. "But an actual animal in that situation would soon be going to the blood-prey pile."
"But not moose and elk, right?" Rainshadow persisted, narrowing her eyes. "I mean, they're too big for two wolves to catch. A pack would be needed to bring down a creature of that size."
"That's right-- only use this on smaller hoofed prey like deer and young bucks. Now how about you try it yourselves?"
Darkshadow nodded, eager to get back at Rivermist, but Rainshadow just shrugged. That was strange; the young she-wolf normally enjoyed practicing the skills they learned in training.
The two paired up to 'hunt' the mentors, who pretended to be unsuspecting victims of their attack. Darkshadow managed to follow Sunfire's commands and listen to his suggestions, but he still struggled to time his leap correctly and intercept the 'prey' at the right place.
Finally, he landed a clumsy jump on top of Rivermist. The silvery she-wolf threw him off and sighed. "Since that was almost decent, I say we end that lesson here. You're not going to get better than that at the rate you're going."
Darkshadow felt tempted to slash his claws across her face and ask her if that was 'almost decent' but instead he dug them into the ground and resisted, settling for a glare. Rainshadow gave him a sympathetic glance, but he turned away. If Rivermist was mad at anyone, it should've been her-- the bluish delta had gone through the motions, but her heart hadn't been in the lesson. Her eyes had always been distant and distracted.
"Both of you did well," said Sunfire, flicking his tail to a moss-covered rock in the hollow. "Show me how to stalk up to this, Darkshadow."
Eager to prove himself to Rivermist, the young wolf kept his belly to the ground and slowly crept forward. He made sure to weave around the forest debris instead of stepping on it, and finally managed to come to the rock. Darkshadow leapt forward with paws outstretched and thudded against the stone as if were a bit of prey.
"Did I do it right?" He glanced up anxiously.
His mentor looked proud. Darkshadow felt his heart swell with satisfaction as Sunfire nodded. "We just need to cover the last part-- pouncing. You have to tense up, but remain still as possible. When you jump, you don't want to go too high but instead put your momentum forward."
The beta twitched his tail once before darting atop the rock in a flash of gold fur. Darkshadow and Rainshadow stared wide-eyed in awe as Sunfire casually padded down. "Now you try."
Will I ever be as good as that? Darkshadow doubtfully settled into the crouch and gazed ahead at the rock, shifting uncomfortably. This didn't feel right.
