[williams]

▼

VIPERTAIL

It was not often Vipertail was called to help. He had great pride in his skills, a boasting some would find irritating. Enough so that the black-furred tom did not assist with helping young apprentices learn their talents in fighting. Some of them would seek him out, get returned to their mentors out of breath and a wariness towards him. He fought hard, and by the rules. It was a dizzying combination, close to what an actual battle would be. Yet here he was finally, leading mentor and apprentice with permission to assist, towards the sandy clearing for a bit of battle training.

He flicked his ears back at his charge. Sorrelpaw was a good fighter. She had been chosen after all to participate in Stoneclan retrieving land that was rightfully theirs. She was bound to be a warrior afterwards. They were successful, of course, but the tabby she-cat was brought back to camp with a nasty wound and a long recovery period. She deserved better, and with her mentor slowly showing her pregnancy, Vipertail was called to assist. The kits needed protection as much as Sorrelpaw needed to find her paws in the world of fighting again.

"This'll do," he announced, turning to the pair behind him. His green eyes examined the pair, watching Sorrelpaw closely. No one had gotten the truth of what happened during the battle from her perspective. She had left fierce, with claws eager to fight, and returned with a new knack for avoiding any mention of fighting. Well, he thought, we will not put it off any longer. Have to face your fears eventually. The young tabby she-cat glanced at the clearing with interest, but the worry caused her fur to bristle, tail twitch with unspent energy. "Where would you like us to begin, Frozenrain?" Vipertail turned his attention to her mentor. She knew more of what the young cat was going through, and would give them a suitable starting place.

278 || Fawn || let the lesson begin!

Owl

[Fawn]

Frozenrain
73 Moons // Warrior-Queen // StoneClan

Frozenrain was confident that her pregnancy would not forestall Sorrelpaw's training. It was her duty to see that the young should-be warrior finally joined her denmates, and Frozenrain intended to follow through. That did not mean she was careless with her health or reckless with the budding lives inside of her; far from it. Frozenrain's natural gift for forethought brought Vipertail into the picture, the Clan matriarch having asked her son to do what she could not; engage Sorrelpaw with actual battle techniques.

"Sorrelpaw, I want you to perform basic strikes against Vipertail, and basic dodges when he retaliates." That would be a simple enough task. This first foray into battle training would be a confidence-building exercise. Frozenrain nodded gently to her dark-furred son, gesturing with a sweep of her cream-gray tail to roughly the center of the sandy plateau. It was becoming late in the season, and the warmth of the sun had already begun to fade out of the soft grains and smooth stone underneath. Frozenrain stood out of the 'arena', overseeing the mock battle from a safe couple of foxlengths away.

"You can start whenever you're ready, Sorrelpaw." It was important that she attack first. She didn't want Sorrelpaw's first re-training session to be about dodging. After a severe injury and no-doubt frightening experience, retreating wasn't what she wanted to focus on. Sorrelpaw needed to be reminded of her own strength and courage.

237 Words // williams // Notes

[williams]

SORRELPAW

STONECLAN

Her paws felt heavy as she followed Vipertail out of camp and to the training grounds. Anxiety sparked across her spine, fizzling down her paws and forcing Sorrelpaw to focus on each step as they moved. To keep her mind off of her dreams, off of her nightmares, she turned her ears towards the black tom out in front. His pride was practically bursting through his chest. He wanted to help the younger generation train, and his first assistance was getting to help his mother, of course he was proud. Don't be mean, Sorrel scolded herself, consciously noting Frozenrain next to her. Make her proud.

The rest of the walk didn't factor into her thoughts, just a blur of forest as the mantra formed. Make your mentor proud. She trained you before this disaster, she can train you now.
"Sorrelpaw, I want you to perform basic strikes against Vipertail, and basic dodges when he retaliates." Amber eyes matched the green ones of Vipertail, peering out at her like the stones a younger Viper sought out among a dark riverbed. Willing her fur to lie flat, the tabby apprentice leapt as her mentor gave the go ahead.

The training was still there. It was hard to start at the basics after being at the top, but Sorrelpaw forced herself to slow down. Taking each breath with the flow of the forest, she started with a Stoneclan favorite: boxing your opponent around the head. Vipertail took it willingly, hissing with mock-anger, and swiviling like a snake to dodge when a paw got too close to his ears. They moved onto leaps and rolls, used to knock an enemy off balance. Or a leap onto their shoulders and battering all that could be reached. Stoneclan cats could be vicious with their strength, using the force of it to flatten rather than use quick attacks of sleeker clans.Healing took her strength away initally, but strong shoulders were there. She looked powerful, short and stocky, only her injuried leg showing thinness.

Sorrelpaw could feel Vipertail examining how the injury would slow her down. He was listening to Frozenrain's command, and did not counter with any attacks. But he watched, gathering data and responding to it. Leaps were the hardest still. They were lopsided, her injury still forcing her to start slow. Yet she hit hard, using her shorter legs for strength rather than distance. Vipertail grinned into the attacks, matching her roll with a defensive slide. Dodging the leap with a shake of his shoulders, watching her every move. "Don't favor your injured leg," He called out when they finally broke apart, sides dusty from crushed leaves. "An enemy will see the scars and use that against you. Don't let them percieve a weakness there." His eyes looked over to his mother, shining with worry for a second that he overstepped. Sorrelpaw turned as well, tail flicking with impatience for an answer to his query. Now she could feel her blood moving.

512 | Fawn @medusa (viperpaw mention) | switching to defense is what'll trip us up

?

[Fawn]

Frozenrain
73 Moons // Warrior-Queen // StoneClan

Vipertail's worry that he had overstepped were brushed away with an approving nod. Her son had been trained well, and he had valuable information to pass on to Sorrelpaw. Frozenrain watched the proceedings with a quiet, studious mindset, following along as they sparred.

"You may switch to offense now, Sorrelpaw. Proceed with care; if you need a rest, take one." Frozenrain would not allow Sorrelpaw to come to any harm - whether it was due to an accident during the spar, or a bit of stubbornness on the apprentice's side of things.

Frozenrain's battle experience was few, but distinctive. She had fought LightningClan and RainClan both, in the combined forces of StormClan; she had fought them on two separate occasions. Grief and righteous anger had sharpened her claws in the last clash; Frozenrain did not recommend going into battle in that kind of mindset. There was justice, and then there was... emotional instability.

Sorrelpaw did not know the horrors of StormClan. It was foolish for her to build a grudge based upon an accident; now if the LightningClan cat had tried to cripple her, Frozenrain might have thought differently.

168 Words // williams // Notes:
Short, sorry!

[williams]

▼

VIPERTAIL

Worries accepted as valid, and critque given justification, Vipertail felt his love for his mother flow through. She was tough, and a perfect mentor for any young cat, espeically those who had fallen behind from injury. His eyes watched Sorrelpaw with interest as the next command was given. Would she pale at the challenge given? Surely not. Only a flash of fear was seen, something neither mentor nor assistant could help with as it was gone quicker than a lightning strike. Then it was quickly buried, the apprentice using a nod to signal her understanding. "Don't be afraid to speak up, like Frozenrain said." Vipertail said, repeating words. He didn't really want to push her to a breaking point, this was only training after all.

Inhale, exhale, he watched the she-cat before him shift into a mindset he was more familiar with seeing. This was the cat that left the Stoneclan camp before the battle, standing taller than her stout frame was and radiating of Stoneclan's own unspoken power. Amber eyes gave him a once-over, quick and calcuating. He fought the urge to raise a brow at the stalling, knowing that now teasing would probably be unhelpful. He did let out a little whistle though, a noise that meant hurry it up. He had no idea where she was going to attack, but that didn't stop the sound from escaping anyways. When Sorrelpaw finally attacked, the surprise was evident in his leap backwards as she struck out with a front paw. It was a move that was taught early on to Stoneclan apprentices something to get their paws used to fighting. Starting simple, smart choice, Vipertail noted, grinning to himself. He played the game, dodging when needed, rolling gracefully for the moves that required it and giving short noises to keep the pair engaged. The moves slowly ramped up, both their breathing turning heavy and sharp.

The tabby apprentice leaped, twisting through the air and using her momentum to strike at his right hip. Though her claws were sheathed, he could feel the intention of the move slide down his back leg, buckling as she hit the center of said leg. As he crumbled, Vipertail rolled over, catching Sorrelpaw across the shoulder. She hissed, must've caught a new scar, but didn't back down from the new direction they were taking. They rolled a full turn once, able to rear onto their back legs from the power behind the motion. Standing tall, they locked front paws. Vipertail gave a snarl, and was responded with one. Teeth bared, they stumbled in the awkward embrace, paws boxing each other's ears whenever the ground was steady. Then, Vipertail felt a shift. It was sudden, but the ground was suddenly tilting, and down they went.

He landed heavily on top of the apprentice, wind knocked out of his lungs for just enough time to feel silence stretch in his mind. He felt glorious, excited to be given the chance to fight. But the same feeling was not in the cat underneath him. Sorrelpaw let out a screech, one of panic. All paws battered his body, shoving the tom off of her in an ungraceful push that was faster than his scramble to get off. He flopped awkwardly foreward, face smearing with all the dust the kicked up. As he blinked it out of his eyes, Vipertail looked back at Sorrelpaw. Her eyes were wide, unfocused out of- memory? What was going through her head didn't matter though. With fur fluffed to make her twice her size, caked with dust and panting hard enough to stir up more, Sorrelpaw looked around once with her wild eyes, then turned and fled into the forest.

~630 || Fawn || end? or you can given frozenrain one last word

Owl