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[bg=667744] With his fur fluffed out, the sturdy tabby tom looked even larger than usual. Every breath caused a curtain of curling white mist to cloud his vision, but Leafscar didn't mind. It was best that there was no wind to add to the deep cold. Stopping for a moment, the warrior glanced over his shoulder to check on his apprentice. For their battle training, he had wanted a location they could have to themselves, and it looked like the two cats were alone for a moment. "We're almost there," Leafscar meowed encouragingly, padding forward once more. Though time seemed to extend itself, in a few moments the warrior arrived at the bank of what used to be a brook. At that very moment, the waters were covered in a sheet of ice, and though it looked to be solid, he could detect the faintest trace of the water still running beneath the hard surface. The two would have to be careful not to tread on the ice. Turning to face his apprentice, the tom asked her a few questions to begin the lesson. "Before you can fight effectively, you must first know your strengths and weaknesses. Littlepaw, can you identify those in yourself?"

[Phoenix]

Fighting of any kind, verbal or physical, had never appealed to the apprentice. She disliked conflict of any kind and was far too familiar with the end result of arguments or fighting. It tore cats apart, split up the bonds that they once held dear. It left nothing but destruction and anger in its wake, and having witnessed it at work, she wanted nothing to do with it. She refused to be the one responsible for ruining any bonds of friendship or family between other cats. Losing a loved one was painful, and she saw no point in causing pain when it could have been avoided by not fighting in the first place. And so she could help but feel a flutter of anxiety in her gut when Leafscar had mentioned at the end of yesterday that she would be learning how to fight.

Needless to say, she did not sleep very well that night.

Green eyes gazed around as they drew closwer to the Sparkling Brook, refreshing her memory of the familiar landscape. Snow glistened lightly in the sunlight that filtered through the naked branches stretched far over their heads, and the frozen brook had an odd hue to it. A closer inspection indicated that it was not completely frozen solid, like she had expected. Curious, she prodded it with a paw, and regretted that decision a moment later when the ice did not give. Great. She would get to start off battle training with a sore paw.

Ears flicked as Leafscar spoke, and Littlepaw settled down for a moment, considering his questions. "Well for strengths, I think I'm pretty fast," She began slowly, thoughtfully. A shiver ran down her spine as she remembered the fox that had chased her out to StarClan's Claws. Idly, she found herself wondering how Granitepaw was doing, but she quickly interrupted that thought and refocused on the questions. "I'm small too, but that means I'll be harder to hit if I keep moving, right? My size wouldn't help me overpower any cat though, so I guess that would be a weakness too." She paused, gnawing on her lower lip as she decided whether or not she wanted to add in the other weakness that had crossed her mind. Though she expected that her actions and decisions had probably hinted toward it, she had never actually told anyone and verbally confirmed it. Green eyes moved up to meet Leafscar's familiar gaze. Gathering her courage, she meowed quietly, "And for another weakness... I'm not really that fond of fighting or anything like it. So I can see myself hesitating, and that's sort of counterproductive."

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Dec 29, 2012 23:02:46 GMT -5 @catxofxice said:

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[bg=667744] "Those are acceptable weaknesses," the tom meowed reassuringly to his apprentice. It made sense that she would be nervous, especially with her inexperience, and the two were like minded. The tom had always possessed an aversion to fighting ever since the incident that occurred during his apprenticeship. "I am of the belief that it is better to avoid fighting that to openly seek it. You'll do well to keep that it mind; anyway, we should begin working." It would be slightly odd for the tom to have to think in terms of Littlepaw's strengths and weaknesses. Compared to the warrior, who was bulky and strong, she was nearly the complete opposite. Still, Leafscar was confident that he could turn her into a warrior yet. "Just as you say, speed will be your greatest asset. I'm going to lunge toward you, and when I do I want you to first roll out of the way, like so." The tom demonstrated, flipping over his shoulder and landing on his feet with his back arched. "With this, you'll be at your opponent's side, flank exposed, but we'll get to that in a bit. Are you ready?" With a pause, Leafscar got into a fighting position before lunging toward the small she-cat, claws sheathed of course, and green eyes focused intently on her own gaze.

[Phoenix]

Littlepaw nodded along with the tom as he spoke, half relieved that her mentor was of a similar mindset to herself, though the discovery did not really surprise her. Fighting was never the answer to anything. Even if it solved the problem for the short term, it had effects that lasted far into the future. Bonds were broken by fighting. Cats were wounded, and depending on the nature and severity of the injury, it had the potential to handicap a cat for the rest of his or her life. Death occurred when there was an all out battle, where the participants lost control and refused to stop and talk about it like civilized beings. They could talk for a reason, and in her opinion, not enough cats realized that.

Green eyes watched as the warrior demonstrated the roll, and she tried to imagine herself mimicking his movement. She could almost feel the impact of her shoulder colliding with the ground, feel the way her muscles moved, flipping around until she landed on her feet. Of course, Leafscar had seasons of experience and practice on her, but she thought the move looked simple enough. "Alright," She meowed, eyes latching onto him as he righted himself and spoke more instructions. I can do this.

However, she barely made it out of the way when he lunched at her with paws outstretched. Instinctively skittering to the side with a startled yelp, she remembered belatedly that the point of this exercise was for her to practice the new rolling move. As a result of trying to change the direction of her momentum, she stumbled slightly as she tried to roll away, completely unbalanced and landing roughly on her side. Upon feeling her shoulder connect with the ground, she tried to flip herself over and land on her paws like Leafscar had, and in doing so, she realized that watching and doing were two very different things. Flushing bright red beneath her tabby pelt, she turned back to her mentor, a sheepish half-grin on her face. "Uhh... Don't think it was supposed to go exactly like that She wanted to do nothing but hide under a rock and never come out.

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[bg=667744] The tom wouldn't have dreamed of criticizing the apprentice for trying; when she slipped out of the way, she jumped, seemingly forgetting what she was supposed to do. Green eyes watched as the Littlepaw became unbalanced and slipped into a clumsy roll and stumbled back up. Shaking his head, Leafscar stepped closer to the she-cat and brushed her tail against her shoulder gently. "Remember, when you go into the roll, you have to put all of your weight into it. Aim to put your flank on the ground first; if you go down shoulder-first, you could injure your shoulder front the impact." The warrior spoke softly, trying to give the best advice he could to the apprentice, knowing that she could be successful, though she seemed easily deterred. "Let's try it again," the tom meowed. "All you need is a bit of practice!" With those words of encouragement, Leafscar sank into his stalking position, belly brushing against the ground and tabby stripes rippling above his layer of muscle. He breathed slowly, consciously reminding himself not to hold his breath; that was one way to ruin a move. The tom shot out; just as before, aiming toward Littlepaw with sheathed paws. As long as the apprentice moved away, she would be fine from the attack. It only worried Leafscar that he might crush her with his size, as unlikely as it was, it had always been the tom's tendency to think of that sort of thing at the worst moment possible. Everything seemed to move in slow motion once the tom was in the air. With forepaws stretched forward and body elongated, he began to think that Littlepaw might not move fast enough; but she had to.