[Fate Admin]

Smokefur was still so busy after the greencough outbreak. She and Featherpaw had all but exhausted their store of herbs during leaf-bare. Both medicine cats still seemed tired, though they were recovering like everyone else. Ravenstar had gone to check in on them last night, to ask if they needed any help with anything so she could assign a warrior or apprentice to them today. Instead the conversation had turned to Featherpaw’s training. Smokefur hadn’t seemed as concerned about it but when Ravenstar realized the medicine cat apprentice had yet to have any sort of battle training she offered to take her out for a session herself so Smokefur could keep working on medicine cat things. It might slow things down for them briefly, but Featherpaw needed to know at least how to defend herself.

So now she made her way to the Pineneedle Clearing to meet up with the apprentice in question who, by this time, was starting to outsize her. It was nearly sunhigh, the point at which she had instructed the young she-cat to meet her. She reached the clearing soon enough and padded over the soft layer of needles to the center of the area, taking a seat and curling her fluffy tail over her small white paws. She laved her tongue over her paw and drew it over her ears and face a few times while she waited for Featherpaw’s arrival.

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Featherpaw had grown up a lot over leafbare. She'd learned a lot from Smokefur, and had developed an eye for illness and how cats responded to it. Though she'd yet to visit the Moon Tree, as Smokefur had gone alone and left her to tend to the greencough victims, she'd also forged a stronger bond with StarClan, finding answers and companionship in her dreams. Though the instances were spread out and intermittent, she'd grown familiar with the starry forest of her ancestors; often, she'd be there alone, no other cats, living or dead, with her as she explored bits of the mysterious greenwood.

But leafbare had finally ended, and many of her clanmates with it. In the forgiving throes of newleaf, they found reprieve from the unrelenting epidemic that had devastated the clans. Now, she found time to replenish some of their stores, and to, for the first time in a long time, venture in a forest besides StarClan's. She'd just finished running some moss back to camp for Smokefur, since her mentor had required it in a more timely manner than that which the warrior apprentices were likely to provide. Now, she trotted towards the Pineneedle Clearing, a place she was somewhat familiar with during her unremarkable time as Snowlark's apprentice.

The she-cat was surely greatly out of practice, but she still remembered a little of her battle training. She brushed aside the thought. She would be fine.

Slowing as she approached Ravenstar, dipping her head in an amicable manner that suggested equality in stature between the two of them, she looked expectantly towards NightClan's leader. She was ready.

Since treating Ravenstar alongside the other warriors, even going so far as to stay beside her for a great deal of time in her own den as the black she-cat lost one of her lives, Featherpaw was anything but intimidated by her.

Character; Featherpaw
Word count; 312
Notes; ~

[Fate Admin]

Ravenstar was still getting used to the manner in which Featherpaw interacted with her. She was still respectful, but it wasn’t a deferential respect such that her warriors and other apprentices showed her. It was strange coming from any cat but her sister, and that had always been easier to accept simply because they were kin. Her ears twitched as the medicine cat apprentice gave a dip of her head in greeting and she flexed her claws into the pine needles beneath her before sheathing them again, though the act was hidden behind her fluffy black tail. It was a strange feeling, having been under such a young cat’s care. Featherpaw had seen her at her most vulnerable, had been there to help Smokefur care for her as she faded away and as she recovered. It was something to get used to, having any cat but Smokefur see her in such a state, especially one as young as Featherpaw. She still had six lives left, however, and Featherpaw was likely to be there for each and every other life she lost as well.

“I know you trained as a warrior’s apprentice first, but it was not for very long. It is important for every cat to know how to defend themselves.” It was Ravenstar’s belief that the medicine cat apprentice was better off being trained on the matter by a warrior rather than by Smokefur. Her sister’s pacifistic nature left something to be desired when it came to battle. Her pale amber gaze narrowed slightly, “Being a medicine cat may give you special status, I should hope no fellow warrior would ever attack a medicine cat unprovoked, but that does not mean a rogue or a fox will have the same obligations.” She rose to her paws then, “What do you remember from your time as a warrior’s apprentice?”

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The young she-cat nodded in acknowledgement of Ravenstar's words, rising to her paws with her. "Most of it," she mewed, "I guess." Her mind drifted back to her time as a warrior apprentice with Snowlark, then to treating her former mentor for greencough this leafbare. She blinked, the image of a weakened, dying Ravenstar flashing behind her eyes. Featherpaw had never found their situation odd. She was the medicine cat apprentice... it came with the territory. No matter the status or prowess of warrior, all their graves were the same size. The fleeting tension between Smokefur and her sister, though, did strike her as odd, though she never spoke of it. She'd questioned Redscar on it, but he'd done little more than grunt dismissively.

She dropped to a crouch, tensing her muscles for a leap before she relaxed and stood again, looking a little perplexed. "Uh. Where do you want me to start?"

Character; Featherpaw
Word count; 156
Notes; This took my three days to write and I kind of patched it together. XD Sorry.

[Fate Admin]

Ravenstar’s plumed tail flicked in acknowledgement as Featherpaw stated she apparently remembered her previous training. Hopefully it was true, it would make this lesson go quicker. Not that the diminutive leader minded training Featherpaw, she wouldn’t have offered otherwise, but more efficient training was always better. She watched passively as the medicine cat apprentice crouched and stood again a moment later, posing her question.

“We’ll focus on defensive moves. Although I’d like for all my cats to be well versed in battle, your time is best spent with Smokefur, doing whatever tasks she sets for you. I just want to make sure you won’t be completely helpless should you ever face danger,” she flexed her claws briefly before sheathing them again, “Defend yourself. We’ll start simple and work from there.” She bounded forward, one paw darting out toward Featherpaw’s shoulder, as if to rake her claws through the younger she-cat’s fur, though of course her claws were still safely sheathed. She didn’t use her full speed, not yet. The move would be easy to avoid, or counter, if Featherpaw so chose. Ravenstar herself was hoping for a counter, but she wasn’t sure if it was too much to hope for or not.

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Defensive moves. Right. She nodded briefly as the black she-cat's claws unsheathed, unsure of what would transpire next. "Defend yourself." Very well. She remembered all the training she'd done with Snowlark, and the pawful of times she'd sparred with the other apprentices. She'd done okay, but was it good enough? Briefly growing tentative, her mind darted to its old anxieties. The silver tabby cat grew tense. How hard she'd worked, and how she'd still just been... fine. No, she reassured herself. She wasn't meant to be a warrior. StarClan had chosen her for something different. Featherpaw was a rare cat, and she destined for a rare fate.

She was a medicine cat. She walked among stars. This was nothing. She relaxed.

Ravenstar bounded at her, striking for Featherpaw's shoulder. The grey she-cat stepped to the side, rearing on to her hind legs, before bringing her forepaws down to the leader's back.

Character; Featherpaw
Word count; 151
Notes; ~

[Fate Admin]

Ravenstar rolled away as Featherpaw reared and brought her forepaws down where her own small form had once been. A good start. She transitioned smoothly from her roll to her paws and immediately leapt for Featherpaw’s back, giving the younger she-cat little time to prepare. There was little chance she would get to prepare for whatever danger she might face in the future as well, and Ravenstar was curious to see how her reaction time fared in battle after spending the better part of six moons with Smokefur. Herbs didn’t run away when you hunted them and illnesses never struck out with unsheathed claws when you least expected it.

The small black and white leader knew and understood very well that there was plenty of skill to being a medicine cat, but those skills were very different from those of a warrior. Ravenstar may not be a very strong cat, her size was quite limiting in that respect, but she was fast, faster than most NightClan cats, and she used what advantages her size provided whenever possible. How Featherpaw reacted to an enemy attempting to cling to her back would be telling, there were a number of different counters to such a maneuver.

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Featherpaw's paws made impact with the earth as Ravenstar rolled to her paws. She saw the small black she-cat's muscle tense out of the corner of her eyes, and instinctively darted towards her as she leaped in to the air. NightClan's leader landed where she'd been heartbeats before, while the medicine cat apprentice stood where Ravenstar had jumped from. Adrenaline began to fill her as she bounded for her opponent, striking for her muzzle, and then ducking preemptively.

She was enjoying herself. Her muscles had grown lax over leafbare, and she was tiring quickly, but sparring sessions were fun when she didn't have to worry about being exceptional at it. Her heartbeat pounded in her chest, and she was caught up in the game. Acting partially on Snowlark's training and partially on instinct, playful excitement sparkling in her pale green eyes, the silver tabby's paws danced across the pine needle-strewn clearing.

Character; Featherpaw
Word count; 151
Notes; ~