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Despite the decrepit state of many of her clanmates, leafbare seemed to have not touched young Mapleheart. Her pelt was well groomed, and though she was a little thin, she didn't share the sickly exhaustion that weighed down most of the clan. Still, the she-cat couldn't help but feel sorry for herself; leafbare had been long and cold, and her dreams had been filled with the miserable coughing of her ill clanmates. She'd escaped the pestilence that had claimed the lives of so many cats over the past few moons, but didn't feel as lucky as another cat might. She was young and invincible, after all.

The calico strode through the tall grass of the meadow, her bright fur anything but inconspicuous. As it happened, the epidemic had delivered to her a twist she certainly hadn't expected so soon: an apprentice. She'd felt like her mother, deputy of LightningClan, wouldn't have allowed her to mentor a young cat, but the loss of so many warriors had been devastating, and there was no room for those kind of discrepancies. With Shadowstripe's death, Blackpaw had been mentor-less. It was a shame, really... Shadowstripe seemed as if he was going to pull through there at the end. But even as leafbare came to an end, his condition took a sharp turn back, and he ended with it.

The early newleaf air was still a bit cool, but it felt like greenleaf in contrast to the biting cold that had only just left the clans. Arriving in the familiar clearing where she had sought to bring her dark-furred companion for their first training session together, inhaled deeply and pulled herself from her thoughts.

"Uh," Mapleheart began, turning to look at her younger companion. "I thought we could start with some battle training today. I know you were doing plenty with Shadowstripe, so I just want to know where you're at..." The she-cat trailed off. "Why don't you show me what you were doing, uh, before...?" She trailed off again, feeling uncomfortable and even a little nervous, but doing her best to look pleasant.

Character; Mapleheart
Word count; 350
Notes; Ravenstar named this thread for me. XD

@morrow

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    Blackpaw strode into the clearing, a bit happier than usual, she was finally going to start her warrior training again; but somehow, she felt that she and Mapleheart wouldn’t have the same click as she and her old mentor, Shadowstripe, had during training. I guess Mapleheart is better than being stuck cleaning out the Elder’s den and checking for their ticks… although Shadowstripe would have made it fun in some way… Blackpaw shook her head to clear her thoughts, Shadowstripe was dead, no more training sessions with him, and she was hanging by a thread, her motivation to fight for Shadowstripe, her Clan, and herself was keeping her up right and stable.


    Blackpaw looked up at the sun; remembering so many good times before the outbreak, all the fun she had during training, or listening to the Elder’s stories; all snatched away from her… “Uh, I thought we could start with some battle training today. I know you were doing plenty with Shadowstripe, so I just want to know where you’re at…” Mapleheart’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Blackpaw’s tail swished on the grass, trying her hardest to remember where she had left off with Shadowstrike, “Why don’t you show me what you were doing, uh, before…?” Blackpaw nodded, understanding the she-cat’s nervousness, she was just barely a warrior. “Well, I think we were getting towards the advanced attack and defensive moves.” Blackpaw’s green eyes glowed with pride, determination, and hope. Please, be a good mentor Mapleheart.

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The she-cat nodded at her apprentices words. Blackpaw was fairly experienced, anyways, so there was that. Still, she didn't know if it was a good idea to spar with her just yet. The younger cat was, after all, a bit smaller than herself. Silent for a few heartbeats longer than she'd intended to be, she nodded again. "I--" she began, then paused again. "Uh, show me what you were working on before Shadowstripe caught greencough."

It didn't occur to Mapleheart that Blackpaw might be mourning the death of Shadowstripe. She hadn't really known him, nor had she cared to. She hadn't forged strong friendships within LightningClan, or elsewhere, so none of the deaths and done much to shake her world. She didn't often pause to think about how other cats felt.

If her words had affected Blackpaw, she didn't notice. Instead, she padded a little farther in to the clearing to give the black she-cat room.

Character; Mapleheart
Word count; 157
Notes; ~

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    “Show me what you were working on before Shadowstripe caught greencough.” Blackpaw wasn’t paying attention to Mapleheart, her mind was every where’s else but the in the valley. No, focus! Mouse-brain, you’re in a training session! Blackpaw shook her head and took a few steps back as her mentor did so. “I’ll start with some attacking moves.” She started, “Though I may be a bit rusty with it.” As she spoke, she dropped down onto the ground, slowly creeping forward, getting closer to Mapleheart, hissing and snarling to make her seem intimidating. She quickened her pace, Fox-dung! She probably knows what to counter my attack with now! Growling, getting closer to Mapleheart, she jumped up from her position and aimed to land on the she-cats back. She landed on bare ground.

    She had missed the leap completely, what a great way to show my new mentor what I can do… mouse-brain… “Sorry, I’m a bit rusty like I said… maybe we could go over the moves again?”

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Mapleheart blinked at the spitting, black fuzzball before her. She sidestepped lazily before turning to face her apprentice, who'd begun stuttering nervously. "You did that very poorly," she said honestly. "And..." She trailed off, tail waving. "Maybe a change in style." She nodded in conclusion. "You look a bit mouse-brained doing that."

"Try to be more, uh, refined. Like a snake," she mewed matter-of-factly. "You don't have to be big to be scary." She melted in to a crouch, her eyes intent on Blackpaw's. "Focus more on your next move than trying to intimidate your enemy; it won't matter how scary you look if you're a poor fighter." As she spoke, she crept forward. "You need hold your abdomen in, keep your haunches tight, and relax your shoulders..." The calico she-cat shrunk down, preparing to leap. "Keep your eyes where you're aiming." She sprung in to the air, landing deftly beside her apprentice.

"Just relax," she told her apprentice, her tone of voice reflecting that she thought it ought to be easy to do.

Character; Mapleheart
Word count; 175
Notes; ~