[Fawn]

EAGLETALON _{of StoneClan}

"Come on Cricketpaw, we don't want to be late!"

Eagletalon glanced over muscular golden-sandy shoulders, ignoring the unpleasant squelch of mud beneath his paws from last night's rain. The downpour combined with the rapidly melting snow had made for an unpleasantly wet combination, and considering StoneClan was usually the driest of the five territories, he could hardly imagine how the other Clans were dealing with all this wetness.

Conscious of a splash of mud attempting to dry on the tip of his tail, the warrior made several enthusiastic flicks to try and be rid of the mud, but when it proved fruitless, he let it go. It was only a bit of mud, after all - yeah he'd have to groom it out later, but that was life. If he'd been afraid of getting dirty, then he would've tried to be a Medicine Cat, not a warrior.

Traipsing straight into the Sandy Plateau, Eagletalon lurched backward in slight surprise as the sand shifted underpaw, and a common brown lizard darted out of it's cover - before a handsome young gray tom lunged forward and caught it. Graniteclaw set the lizard down by it's tail, brushing sand off his whisker pads with a hasty paw-swipe before looking up at Eagletalon and Cricketpaw. He smiled, dipping his head to them both pleasantly.

He wasn't here at random, either, when Eagletalon had asked him to be Cricketpaw's opponent, Graniteclaw had been happy to oblige, having not had the chance for a good spar ever since he had left the apprentices' den those two or three moons ago.
"Good morning you two," he mewed with a quiet friendliness.

Eagletalon flashed a grin and gestured to his very very chatty apprentice with his tail, addressing her first with a flicker of his brightly golden eyes; "Cricketpaw, meet today's opponent, Graniteclaw!"

[Fate Admin]

Cricketpaw was rather enjoying the mud that covered most of StoneClan’s territory after the snowmelting began, plus a rainstorm on top of it. She was leaping from one puddle to another like a kit just discovering mud for the first time, splashing glops of muck as she went along, giggling and utterly enjoying herself as she vaguely followed Eagletalon along and away from camp. At his call that they didn’t want to be late, she paused, ears perked, and turned to look at him. He was a lot farther ahead of her than when she’d last paid attention to him. Oops!

She bounded after him but became rather entranced by his tail flicking back and forth as he attempted to dislodge mud from the tip. Her amber gaze darted back and forth with each flick and she subconsciously began to creep along after him in a crouch, just about ready to pounce… when it stopped. She blinked a few times and stood up, staring at his now not anywhere near as interesting tail tip and sighing. Oh well.

She nearly ran into the back of her mentor when he stopped suddenly and another tom appeared. He greeted them but before she could speak Eagletalon was saying how he was to be her opponent today. Her ears pricked forward again. Graniteclaw wasn’t that much older than she was. Her tail waved behind her excitedly and she hopped forward. The Sandy Plateau seemed to be probably the driest place in their territory. It made sense, being the highest place in their territory. The sand was… well… sandy, instead of mud. Well that was somewhat disappointing. She had been rather excited to be wrestling in the mud. It would make her slippery and even harder to take down!

What she failed to realize was that she already WAS muddy… incredibly muddy… from hopping through mud puddles the whole way here. Some of it had dried or was drying, but some of it was still wet, though probably not for much longer if she was about to go rolling around in the sand. At the moment she looked like a white, brown, and black patched cat… though the white was more like a grayish cream because of the filthy water dripping off her. She bounced where she stood, looking from Graniteclaw to Eagletalon, “I’m ready when you are, Graniteclaw!” She bounced from side to side, like a boxer waiting for the perfect opening to present itself before she struck.

[Fawn]

EAGLETALON _{of StoneClan}

Even though Graniteclaw had seen Cricketpaw around the apprentices' den many many times, and saw her in passing whenever he was coming and going to camp, he was still somewhat unprepared for the bouncing energy the hyper she-cat exuded. Taken aback, Graniteclaw's whiskers twitched, but he shifted readily into a battle stance, glancing up at Eagletalon and pausing, suspecting the battle-eager tom to have a few words of advice to depart to his young bouncing protege.

"Keep your eyes on your opponent, Cricketpaw - you're faster than him, remember that, and don't put yourself into a position where you're a sitting duck. Try to stay one pawstep ahead of him at all times." Mewed the brawny sandy-hued warrior, Eagletalon flicking away a fly that had buzzed just past his ear. His amber eyes were gleaming, and Graniteclaw felt a slight jolt in his stomach, almost regretting the eagerness with which he'd agreed to be Cricketpaw's sparing partner. Well, fighting her is a lot better than fighting HIM, I can probably handle her. Though his confidence came with the assumption based on her overall personality instead of any fighting techniques Eagletalon may have taught her, Graniteclaw felt much more comfortable going up against a similarly-aged apprentice rather than a warrior twice his age.

Kicking off heavily on strong back legs, Graniteclaw tried to get a fix on the bouncing Cricketpaw, and managed to aim a swipe at her left shoulder, yellow-green eyes large and intense, the tom seized by the surge of adrenaline that came with fighting against an 'enemy'. Of course, he knew the difference between fighting a Clanmate and fighting an actual rival Clancat, but that didn't mean he couldn't get in the mood.

Eagletalon sat down, but then stood up, finding himself unable to get completely settled as Graniteclaw at last engaged Cricketpaw in battle. While he wasn't her original mentor, he had made an attempt to put in quite a bit of work into her, to depart the bouncy she-cat with as much of his knowledge as he could, time constraints allowing. Do your best, Cricket. Run circles around this chump. Though he had nothing at all against Graniteclaw - he was rather pleased to see the tom otherwise in tiptop shape - he was still shamelessly biased towards his own apprentice.

[Fate Admin]

Her gaze never left Graniteclaw as he readied himself for their battle, even as Eagletalon spoke, though her ears twitched in his direction to show she had heard. As she had grown she had learned how horribly distractible she was and she was doing her very best to stay focused on Graniteclaw, therefore she didn’t even answer her mentor. The flick of her ears would have to be enough. Keep your eyes on your opponent. I know that. Everyone knows that. Keep your eye on your prey. Yeah. Like that blackbird I-WOAH!

Her mind had wandered, as it was prone to, and then Graniteclaw leapt, aiming at her shoulder, and before she could think about what she wanted to do her powerful hind legs were carrying her into the air and away from ‘danger’. She twisted at the height of her leap, turning her accidental and very reactionary leap into the grand idea of trying to land on her opponent’s back. Of course, there was plenty of time for Graniteclaw to get out of the way… her leap had been unnecessarily high and she mentally barraged herself for it. It wasn’t like she was trying to catch a bird taking flight!

Keep your eyes on your opponent. He SHOULD have said keep you MIND on your opponent! StarClan knows, focus Cricketpaw! She couldn’t help herself from leaping too high sometimes. Her leaps and her speed were her greatest assets… not to mention she LOVED leaping, trying to surpass herself and leap ever higher into the sky, feeling like a bird in flight, if only for a short moment. Ringtail had been the one to see her leaping potential, had taught her the best techniques for getting the most of a single leap. She felt like every time she leapt especially high, she could feel Ringtail watching her and how proud her old mentor was of her skill. Ringtail had refined her raw leaping skill into something amazing to Cricketpaw.

But Eagletalon had taught her how to fight. She felt lucky to be able to be taught by two very different warriors and to gain even more knowledge and skill that came with it, even if it came about by unfortunate circumstances. Here I come, Graniteclaw, like a hawk diving for its prey! She was careful to keep her claws sheathed, despite the fighting instinct within her that wanted very badly to unsheathe them.

[Fawn]

EAGLETALON _{of StoneClan}

Graniteclaw was entirely unprepared for the incredible leap action Cricketpaw displayed, his whiskers twitching in slight astonishment at just how high she had actually gotten. Well there went his expectations, past that rock on the left and they weren't stopping till the morning. After tilting his head back to keep an eye on his opponent in the sky, Graniteclaw quietly backed up to allow Cricketpaw some space to land - but he mostly didn't want to leave his back open to an attack, choosing again to try and aim a swipe at her ears, so that going up would prove counterproductive.

Trying his best to be patient, however, was Cricketpaw's most recent member, Eagletalon, as he watched the fight begin to unfold. Her leaping powers were extraordinary, and he expected her warrior name to reflect that, Eagletalon realized with a small pensive note in the back of his throat. "Not so high next time, Cricketpaw!" He called out before he could stop himself, knowing he was likely to distract the she-cat with one of the shortest attention spans he'd ever seen.
Whoops.
Vowing to keep his mouth shut unless completely necessary, Eagletalon's tail tip twitched and quivered and flicked the air just slightly, as though it were the only part of himself he would allow to express his excitement.

Meanwhile, Graniteclaw attempted to follow up on his ear-swipe with a lunge, trying to catch the she-cat off guard before she could jump again.

[Fate Admin]

Cricketpaw gave a small hiss of annoyance that she’d had to go and jump so high. Graniteclaw had backed out of the way long before she could have hoped to come into contact with him. She rolled in the sand as she landed, avoiding the swipe at her ears. However, as she leapt to her paws, Eagletalon shouted to her and she turned to look at him just as Graniteclaw was lunging at her. Mousedung! The slightly older tom’s greater weight took her down and she fell heavily upon her side in the sand, but used her same idea from earlier when she’d landed from her leap and kept rolling, kicking up sand as she went.

She leapt to her paws some tail lengths away, her tail lashing once in annoyance that she’d allowed herself to get distracted. It wasn’t really Eagletalon’s fault, she didn’t blame him. It was instinctive for a mentor to call out help to their apprentices during training… it just wasn’t at all helpful when Cricketpaw was that apprentice. It was good anyway. She knew she needed to train herself in staying focused also, or her distractive nature could get her killed one day. It was just so HARD! Focusing on one thing made you miss so many other things going on around you. Cricketpaw didn’t want to miss ANYTHING.

She took a moment where she stood. Her heavy fall had winded her somewhat and it had been pure reactionary instinct that had her rolling away from her opponent rather than simply laying there trying to catch her breath. However, a moment was all she allowed herself. Graniteclaw had so far kept her on the defensive and she wanted to change that, and fast! She crouched and leapt forward, overshooting her opponent to land a short distance behind him before whipping around to lash out with one paw at his flank, only to leap backward and away whether it hit or not before a retaliatory strike could reach her.

Light on your paws, Cricketpaw, never ground yourself, never stay in one place too long, keep light, able to move at a moment’s notice! Strike quick like a snake, keep ‘em guessing, never know where you’re coming from. This strategy meant she was able to move faster, but it also meant she was likely to go flying if a decent hit ever did strike, since she never braced herself to take a hit and instead depended fully upon her speed and agility to keep her out of harm’s way. She wasn’t exactly a large cat, after all, and didn’t have the musculature, the size, the brute strength to whether very many hits, nor were the hits she landed very powerful. But with boundless energy, Cricketpaw could afford to wear her opponent down slowly. If she thought about it, it was kinda fun testing her skills against a new warrior. But no, she didn’t think about, couldn’t afford to think about it.

[Fawn]

The stone-furred tom watched the large grainy sand coat the muddied she-cat as she hastily rolled to the side, Graniteclaw's yellow-green eyes following her as she sprang right past him to land a lightning-quick blow to his left flank. He whirled around like a stone skipping across the surface of a lake, the quickness with which Cricketpaw could deliver her attack and leap away enough to force his fight drive up a few notches. If she'd hit me harder than that, I probably would've been feeling it right about now. He had no way of knowing if she had gone light on him because they were Clanmates or if she had gone light on him because she couldn't put much strength behind her attacks when hopping around so much.

Not allowing herself to get grounded, Graniteclaw's expression gave away nothing as he began to search for any openings. Think, Graniteclaw! She's light in step and lightweight in structure, one good, properly aimed whack should send her flying. Her footwork is obviously good, but I need to slow her down somehow. What would be the best way to do that?

Drive her towards the rocks!

There was a small outcropping of boulders and small, misshapen stones. Of course, Cricketpaw being a StoneClan cat would have no trouble at all with her footing - unless he forced her to switch from sand to stone with very little breathing room. With a plan of action in mind, Graniteclaw shifted his body sideways, back arched, fur along his spine sticking straight up in a classic Halloween-cat pose, this false bravado meant to lessen any openings she had to dart to the side, and thus change his plans. Feigning another right paw swipe, Graniteclaw watched with analytical eyes to see if she might spring backwards - and right onto the uneven rocks just behind her.