{Needle} Breaking the {Ice}

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Time's Up

Ice was laying at the base of a tall, old tree, his tail flicking behind him, revealing his boredom. It had been some time since the encounter with the two cats guarding the old LurkClan camp, and the young kit still didn't know where he and the two other she-cats, meaning Needleheart and Miraclefur, were to live. But that was of second importance. The pale tabby kit was nearing his sixth moon, and he knew a Clan kit would soon be becoming an apprentice. Needleheart had promised him training, and he wanted it now. Impatience made him let out a frustrated growl, and he turned to score his claws across the tree bark in a swift motion. His little claws did insignificant damage, only leaving tiny diagonal lines, and that made him more angry. Did Needleheart expect him to wait forever?

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The cream-colored she-cat padded, more like limped, over to the place where Ice was. Her ears flickered, watching this happen.

She was curious, and interested in this; so she sat down and watched with narrowed eyes. She let out a purr of satisfaction, for she could sense his eagerness. Why wouldn't he be eager? Being a warrior was one of the main dreams of a kit, not only that, this kit was going to hold something powerful, the strength, courage, and wisdom of FrostStorm.

She couldn't help but smile.

"Ice. I think you are ready."

She dipped her head slightly, her tail swishing side to side. She didn't know how she was going to train him like this, in her state, but she would figure it out. She would still be able to train him, right?

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Show Me The Way

Ice spun around to face her. At first his blue eyes reflected surprise, as he had not known that the cream colored she-cat was watching, but the soon showed excitement. "Finally!" His tail raised high above his head as he looked up at her. The kit hadn't considered Needleheart's leg as any sort of problem- she could walk, couldn't she?-, so in his mind there was nothing stopping him any more. His tail then swung back and forth. This Ice was so different from just a few heartbeats ago. Now he seemed like any other eager kit rather than one who's impatience and anger spilled over into his claws. He himself didn't notice that either, though.

"So what are we going to do? Pouncing? Clawing? Biting?" His eyes widened with every word, a smile on his face.

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NeedleHeart couldn't help but giggle, for pretty much the first time in her life. She never knew how it was to have a kit, a kit who was this eager. She never thought about it, but she might just become attached to this little guy.

She got up, and flicked her tail for him to follow, padding back in the bushes.

"We'll learn hunting first, it will help with fighting later on."

She purred.

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I Look To You

Ice flexed his claws. "Great!" He leapt after her in a long bound, then padded next to her, still looking up with high hopes. "So are we looking for anything in particular? Like, squirrels or something?" The kit tried sniffing the air around him in search of prey. He knew the scents of the various kinds of prey that crawled across the forest bottom, but hunting them was a whole other matter.

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NeedleHeart paused, which seemed to be in the center of a clearing, that had tree roots coming out of the ground. A log was infront of her, a little brown puff of fur there. She looked over at Ice, and smiled.

"Try to catch that mouse."

She whispered, so the mouse didn't hear her.

She wanted to see what he could do, before she showed him anything.

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Ice craned his neck forward to see it, and his eyes gleamed. The pale kit dropped into a hunting crouch, but his butt was a bit high and his tail remained on the ground. He slowly crept forward one pawstep at a time, drawing closer. But when he was five pawsteps away from jumping at the creature his tail swished right into a juniper bush. The brown mouse quickly stood up, looked straight at him, then darted away into its hole nearby.

Ice looked at the spot it had been pathetically. He hung his head and, without lifting it, turned back to his mentor. "Sorry, Needleheart," he mumbled. Why hadn't he done it better?

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NeedleHeart purred, and limped over towards him, her tail brushing under the little tom's chin.

"You did fine. A lot better than I, when I first tried!"

She remarked, her ears flickering.

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Try So Hard

Ice tried to smile, but the loss of the mouse made him feel down. "Yeah, but I still missed. Wha'd I do wrong?" His striped tail slowly swished around in the undergrowth. He wanted to get it right. He hadn't thought hunting would be hard.

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NeedleHeart blinked, and gave a brief smile.

"Don't swish your tail, it heard the Juniper bush move."

Her nose pointed to the bush, and then crouched down, showing how Ice had his butt in the air, although it was sortof on a limp.

"Don't do this, keep it a bit lower."

She then moved her butt down a bit lower, soon seeing another mouse move. She moved her paws over the ground, her eyes piercing on the mouse, but... with her limp, it was hard.

The mouse detected her, and soon went to dash away, but she managed to leap on it, and give it a swift bite.

She limped over, and dropped it infront of him.

"Hard with a limp.."

She murmured, giving her leg a disgruntled sniff.

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My Hero

Even though her injury had interfered with the catch, Ice wouldn't have known. He had never seen a cat hunt anything except a fish once or twice outside the RiverClan camp. Besides, to him, it was the end result that counted. His eyes glittered with admiration and renewed spirit as he looked from the mouse the the cream colored she-cat. "Oh, okay then!" he mewed. He dropped down into another crouch, this time trying to keep his butt from sticking out into the air. "Like this?"

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NeedleHeart let out a mrrow of laughter. She loved this little kit, or rather, tom now. He would change soon, and be the terror that rippled over cats pelts.

She used her right fore-paw to lay his butt a bit lower, and smiled.

"Perfect."

She purred.

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Victory

Ice smiled, then swiveled his head at the sound of rustling leaves. Ahead, the same mouse had poked out again. It was wary this time, though, flicking it's little brown ears before scurrying away from it's hole in search of nuts. The kit's blue eyes narrowed into slits. I've got you, now. Not leaving the position he was in, he slowly and quietly placed his paws one in front of the other. The mouse didn't seem to notice, as it had it's back turned to him. He crept closer, an eager smile holding back an excited mew. Then he pounced, claws ablaze, and came down square over the mouse. It turned to flee, but not before Ice had bitten it the way Needleheart had shown him, killing the creature instantly with a final squeak. Flavor poured into his jaws. His first catch! Proudly, he lifted it and padded back to Needleheart.
"Did'ga see that? I caught it!" he mewed around the furry body.

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The she-cat had watched him, smiling. She didn't seem like the NeedleHeart everyone knew, she was being soft, unlike her.

"Lovely, but you shouldn't of let him squeak! Now the prey knows there's somethin' here."

"Got that right, NeedleHeart."

It was must MiracleFur, padding through, and she obviously saw Ice's catch.

"And that was lovely, Ice."

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Just Don't See It

Ice shrugged, dropping the mouse at his paws. "Yeah, but I still caught it." Wasn't that all that mattered? He turned when he heard Miraclefur, and his ears pricked at the praise. "Thanks! Needleheart showed me how to do it." He dropped into the hunter's crouch again, showing her how he did it and reminding himself to keep his butt down.