|
Post by Fawn on Jan 31, 2015 15:24:26 GMT -5
Lionstar 48 Moons || Tom || TreeClan
Every couple of mornings, Lionstar would detach himself from his leadership duties to pick up on an old, favored hobby of his. It was a rare sight to see these days, now that TreeClan was experiencing a long peaceful streak with their neighbors (excluding NightClan), but Lionstar often practiced his battle moves, doing as he always had since before he'd even been named deputy. Executing a fluid paw strike and a back kick against two imaginary opponents, it was easy, now, for the golden warrior to let his thoughts dissipate and his body do most of the guiding, operating on pure instinct and his natural affinity for battle. Sometimes he missed the simpler days, when he had to concern himself with doing the most damage during an attack patrol on an enemy Clan; now he was leading those attack patrols, now he was seeking out the most aggressive and difficult of opponents to grapple with them personally. This wasn't exactly problematic, but it was hard to fully immerse himself in the battle when he had to keep a close eye on the fights going on around him - it would be he who had to sound the retreat call if needed, he couldn't rely on another cat to do so.
The best he could do right now, apart from protect everyone, was equip them with the necessary tools they needed to survive and possibly even thrive in the environment of the battlefield. He always made an effort to stress the importance of battle training to his apprentices; it was crucial to their development, crucial to the protection of the Clan, crucial to their survival. If TreeClan lost a member, he wanted it to be through old age, not a mistake made in the heat of war. Shortly after the dawn patrol had gone out, Lionstar had sought out his younger half-sister, Rowanberry, to discuss the idea of a joint training session with Bluepaw and Emberpaw; there were so few apprentices right now, but he was choosing to look at that as a positive, rather than a negative. With a small group, he could provide a more thorough education than just small training sessions with their mentors, he could keep better track of their progress.
Rowanberry, as he'd expected, said yes. She had delivered the message to both apprentices, and it wasn't long before Lionstar expected them to join him here in the Hidden Thicket. He had always enjoyed his sessions here - the softness of the grass underpaw was in direct contrast with the prickly thorns and brambles that made up the perimeter. Landing in there was sure to anger any apprentice, and he'd seen many a fight turn in favor of the thrown, the digging of thorns into your pelt and your paws was often enough incentive not to get thrown again. Slowing, his muscles cooling from the light exertion, Lionstar's ears swiveled forward to pick up the sounds of approach, golden eyes settling on the entrance to the thicket, a greeting prepared. He was looking forward to three things, for this training session.
Rowanberry's mentoring tactics, Emberpaw's current knowledge, and Bluepaw's stance on battle. He had a feeling the little gray kitten would not be making this easy for him - but he welcomed such a challenge; he wouldn't ridicule her for her points of view, but he would try to make her understand his, and how important it was to arm ones self with more than just compassion and honesty. Tags: Insidious, @amber, @nadia
|
|
|
Post by Insidious on Jan 31, 2015 15:58:57 GMT -5
B L U E P A W - - - - - - When Rowanberry had found her in the apprentices’ den with Emberpaw, discussing their mentors, how their training was progressing, her first instinct had been to get excited over the prospect of joint training, but that was shortly followed by disappointment when she realized the long, dreadful wait for battle practice had finally come to an end. She forced a smile before she slipped out of the den and passed Rowanberry’s flank, intent to arrive before her spar partner and her mentor so that she could have a moment with Lionstar, who she assumed was already there and waiting for the three of them to arrive.
As expected, she saw Lionstar in the clearing, waiting patiently, and her eyes were bright despite the weight newly placed on her shoulders, halting at his side and accommodating her body into an uneasy sit.
It wasn’t that she was nervous about fighting Emberpaw. She understood that it was important for a cat to know how to protect themselves in times of crisis, but that didn’t make it an easier for her to accept that, potentially, she would be expected to unsheathe her claws one day and rake them across another cat. She didn’t want to hurt anybody. She didn’t want to be held responsible for somebody else’s injuries, and maybe even their death if it came to that. No part of her inferred to a taste for violence, and although she was certain that Lionstar saw that, she begrudgingly accepted that this was a necessary part of an apprentice’s transition into a warrior. He was doing his job as a mentor, and she wanted to be ready to protect her family, but she shuddered at the thought of battle regardless. How was she supposed to practice against a Clanmate? Even with their claws safely tucked inside of their paws, it didn’t feel right swatting at someone she shared a den with, creating this illusion that they were actually intending to hurt one another.
She cast a worried glance up at Lionstar, wondering if he understood that this wouldn’t be a simple obstacle for her to overcome. Battling clashed quite horrendously with her belief system - no part of her sought to be the kind of cat that turned to violence, even as a last resort - and that meant that teaching her to fight, to strike, to dodge, and to defend would take a lot of his time and patience. Her heartbeat raced whenever she thought she heard Rowanberry or Emberpaw crashing through the bushes, just wishing this could all be over so that she could go spend the rest of the afternoon in the apprentices’ den to sulk, pretending that she had never been required to turn on a Clanmate, even if it was just for practice.
- - - - - - Tags: Fawn , Amber , @nadia Word Count: 462.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2015 21:35:43 GMT -5
The sun had only recently made an appearance, but Rowanberry had already decided that today would be a great day. She was barely awake and out of the warriors' den, still yawning and shaking off the last traces of sleep, when Lionstar approached her, bringing up the idea of a joint training session. Of course, she readily agreed, and bounced over to the apprentices' den to fetch Bluepaw and Emberpaw. Bluepaw had headed out immeidately, but Rowanberry headed over to the fresh-kill pile for a quick bite to eat. She encouraged Emberpaw to eat as well, but she couldn't force her to, so whether she did or not was her choice. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day, after all.
Once she'd finished the mouse she chose, she swiped a paw around her muzzle to clean off any traces of her meal. Deciding she'd taken too long already, she stood and shook out her fur, glancing around for Emberpaw before bounding out of camp. She raced across the forest to the training ground, dodging trees and splashing across the sparkling brook. Coming within site of the clearing, she prepared herself, bunching her muscles and pushing off the ground. She leapt over one of the smaller thorn bushes, her sorrel form moving cleanly through the jump. She landed onto the soft grass of the thicket, taking an extra couple of steps to slow her progress without making a sudden stop.
Rowanberry turned her head, seeing Lionstar first. His large golden form was unmistakeable, and she remembered the conversation she'd had with Thunderclaw not that long ago. How Thunderclaw had so much faith in her, to believe that she could one day surpass not only him, but her half-brother as well. Still, she couldn't see how that could be possible, but if her former mentor had so much faith in her, then she could believe in herself too.
The much smaller shape of Bluepaw was noticed next, and Rowanberry smiled at both of them. Her interactions with the grey apprentice had been limited, but she was eager to see how she would perform today. She glanced around again, noticing that Emberpaw hadn't shown up yet. Her smile faltered slightly. She wasn't being stubborn again, was she? Had she been too nice to her apprentice this morning, and did the younger cat take it as permission to walk all over her again?
She shook her head slightly and turned her attention back to Lionstar and Bluepaw. "Good morning!" Her voice was bright and bubbly, and she sat down as she spoke, wrapping her fluffy tail loosely around her paws. @nadia, Fawn, Insidious
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2015 16:29:49 GMT -5
She didn't like being awakened so early by one of her siblings and she made it know with her glare. But when shew as told it was because Rowanberry wanted her, she got up and walked over to the she-cat. That was when she was informed, kindly, of the training session that would happen with Bluepaw and Lionstar. She agreed to go to the training, not like she really had a choice anyways. She then went back to her nest and she tidied up before she went and grabbed a mouse from the kill pile. She was trying to figure out on if she should take her time, or rush. Both sounded fun, but which should she do?
She thought on it as she ate her mouse, and soon shew as done, so she figured that she would just go a normal pace. So it took her a while. She knew where she was supposed to go, but she wanted to take her time to get there, for it seemed like fun, even if it was going to get herself and Rowanberry into trouble. She knew that Lionstar was there as well, which was probably why she wanted to take her time. She liked her mentor, even though she would never admit it, but trouble was something that she was known for doing.
By the time Emberpaw actually got to the clearing, she could tell that she was very late and she walked over to her mentor and sat down. She gave a curt nod to Lionstar in greeting and she looked at Bluepaw and smirked lightly. This was going to be fun. Bluepaw didn't like fighting with clanmates, and neither did Emberpaw, but she would make an exception for the battle training.
"Okay, I am here, we can start now right?" She knew that her comment would make Lionstar mad, but she was just waiting to see who would snap first, Rowanberry or Lionstar. She wanted to test her mentor. She found her fear and how to make her anger disappear. But as she waited, she looked down at her paw and she licked it lightly. There was one claw that was still growing back from her climbing of a tree, but that was not about to stop her from having a good fight today.
Fawn Amber Insidious
|
|
|
Post by Fawn on Feb 14, 2015 10:32:24 GMT -5
Lionstar 48 Moons || Tom || TreeClan
At once he felt the apprehension coming off of Bluepaw in waves, almost so tangible they lapped against his fur like real water. Lionstar could see the questions pressing into his gaze behind the she-kitten's eyes, and he was given the sensation that she was trying to communicate more in that single, long look than she'd had in the dozens of conversations they'd engaged in previously. This really was worrying her, wasn't it? Lionstar touched her shoulder with a thick golden tail, a gesture meant to be comforting. "You'll do fine." He spoke just a whisker above a whisper, the sensitive ears of the gray apprentice well within range to be the sole listener - until the arrival of his kin, Rowanberry, prevented him from saying anything further. It wasn't a matter of being embarrassed over providing assurances to a worried pupil, Lionstar had stood before the whole Clan, starting meetings and making kits into apprentices, apprentices into warriors, warriors into elders - he'd gotten over any ideas of social awkwardness a long time ago.
"Good morning, Rowanberry. Where's Emberpaw?" Perhaps the apprentice was running a bit late. Regarding his younger half-sibling with a fondness specially reserved for his kin, Lionstar smiled, greeting her with a short brush of his tongue against one soft sorrel ear. It was hard to believe that just a few seasons ago, she was still bouncing after Thunderclaw, anxious to get the next phase of her training done - and yet, here they were, Rowanberry with a warrior name and an apprentice of her own; there was an immense sense of satisfaction that came from seeing his own kin accomplish so much. Lionstar would never admit to playing favorites - but no matter how much neutrality and fairness you put into this role as leader, there was no way you could act as though family wasn't family. These cats were special to him. They were the first faces he sought out in the crowds when he called the Clan to the ancient stump; they were the cats he thought of before he curled up each night in his nest, and it was their safety and well-being which, when compromised, made his heart pound the hardest against his chest. He cared for all members of the Clan, he had sworn to guide and protect and serve to the best of his capabilities, but Lionstar was a family-oriented tom - he would guide and protect and serve his family to just a slightly higher degree than the rest of the Clan.
He couldn't help that. The golden warrior's family tree had many branches, but he appreciated them all.
Lionstar's whiskers twitched, expression narrowing into something bordering on disgruntled, wondering what could have held up Rowanberry's apprentice. Emberpaw had quickly graduated from 'running a bit late' to 'holding up progress', and when the small calico finally slunk into the hidden thicket, he was the first to approach, tone of reprimand at the ready. The apprentice was showing no remorse over having inconvenienced the rest of them. "A little punctuality goes a long way, Emberpaw." Glancing to Rowanberry, he expected her to discipline the apprentice further after this training session had drawn to a close. Ready to move on, Lionstar shook out his pelt, overly large paws - the reason behind his warrior name, Lionstep - flattening the grass blades beneath him.
"Alright, let's get started. Bluepaw and Emberpaw, you two are going to have an impromptu battle, claws need to stay sheathed, but I still expect you both to take this seriously. Listen for the sounds of my voice and Rowanberry's, we may be inclined to give out advice." The Clan leader gave a single, curt nod. Begin.
Taking a place beside Rowanberry that would put him as close range but not directly in the way of the brawling apprentices, Lionstar's golden gaze fixed upon Bluepaw, trying to telepathically send encouragement. "Good luck, Bluepaw." He had taught her all of the basics - belly rake, front paw strike, leap-and-hold, etc - but practical application of those techniques, against a Clanmate no less, was a different matter entirely. Lionstar had long ago reached the conclusion that Bluepaw wasn't like other apprentices that had come before her - this wasn't going to come naturally to her, and, if her temperament was any hint as to how the battle was actually going to go, teaching her to be enthusiastic about this was like trying to find fleas in a black pelt.
Word Count: 738 Words Tags: @nadia, Amber, Insidious
|
|
|
Post by Insidious on Feb 14, 2015 14:28:29 GMT -5
B L U E P A W - - - - - - Her whole body was stiff. It felt like she had stones for paws, weighing her down, stomach curdling unpleasantly and twisting itself into knots at the thought of what was to come. Her mentor’s attempt at reassurance hadn’t gone unnoticed, but she found that she was incapable of reciprocating what little faith he had been able to place in her, knowing that when it came down to it, even if this was taking place for the betterment of herself, she would hate every second that she had to spend swatting at her Clanmate and fending off her attacks. She managed a weak smile in the place of words, but it would be clear that it meant very little; no smile would be bright enough to make up for the apprehension swelling inside of her chest, pale eyes bulbous as Emberpaw finally parted through the bushes and marked the beginning of the worst day of her life. Lionstar’s disapproval was apparent through the look on his face, and she only got to spare a moment being thankful that she had avoided being on the receiving end of that look before returning to her former state of tension. Emberpaw seemed eager to begin, and that only heightened Bluepaw’s longing to refrain from complying. Nobody could force her to fight if she didn’t want to. Nobody could force her to abandon the ideals that she had held dear for as long as she could remember. Nobody could force her to do anything that didn’t feel right, but at the same time, she didn’t want to disappointment her mentor in such a way, and if StarClan forbid she had to one day unsheathe her claws to protect Pinkpaw from danger, then she wanted to be ready to do that.
Her blue head tipped awkwardly at Lionstar’s cue, paws numb as she stood and positioned herself opposite of Emberpaw. The fact that claws wouldn’t be involved in this spar made it a little easier for her to breathe, but there was no ignoring the stutter of her heart, wanting her to step aside, to not partake in violence of any kind, clashing with her slightly more sensible brain that sought for her to be the obedient apprentice that she was expected to be that was eager to learn what her mentor had to teach. She could do this if she had no other choice, which she didn’t seem to have, but nonetheless it took every ounce of courage inside of her to lift her eyes to Emberpaw’s, examining the way that she stood to see if it gave any indication as to how she would strike. Although she had managed to reason with herself that fighting a fellow apprentice today wouldn’t be the end of the world, that didn’t mean that she has suddenly turned her back on everything that she believed in - she would not be the one to start this. Bluepaw didn’t cause conflicts, she solved them, soothed them, and the last thing she’d ever be caught doing was intentionally picking a fight with someone that shared TreeClan with her. The two of them could stand like this forever, under the watchful eyes of their mentors, and still she wouldn’t even flinch.
“You’ll do great, Emberpaw.” Of course she couldn’t stop herself from offering a piece of encouragement, even if she needed it a lot more than her spar partner probably did. There were a lot of things about her that Bluepaw didn’t necessarily agree with - holding everyone up as she had, for instance - but she knew that a lot of cats around her age tended to be rebellious, so she chose not to think too much of it. Besides, it didn’t matter how heavily Bluepaw and Emberpaw’s ideals clashed, because she would never stop being nice to her. It was too unlike her to act upon what little judgmentalness she had.
- - - - - - Tags: Fawn , Amber , @nadia Word Count: 649.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2015 11:59:22 GMT -5
She purred as Lionstar's tongue brushed over her ear, before his words registered. She looked around. "I didn't see her when I left camp. I thought she was already on her way here.." They waited for what seemed like forever, and her patience was wearing thin by the time the calico sat down by her side.
Rowanberry glared daggers at her apprentice. Her fur prickled with agitation, and she was about to spit out a retort, but Lionstar spoke first. It was curt and diplomatic, a far cry from what Rowanberry would say, but their leader continued before she could add anything.
She backed away, sitting toward the edge of the clearing. Rowanberry fixed her apprentice with a stern gaze. "Claws sheathed, Emberpaw." She sat back, curling her fluffy tail over her paws. There was still agitation unsettling her, but she pushed it down, trying to focus instead on the spar that was about to take place.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2015 13:54:20 GMT -5
When she came to the clearing, she could see then tension that was in the air, especially since all of it was directed toward her. She smirked lightly and she looked at the cats around her. Lionstar, Bluepaw, and Rowanberry. She knew that this was going to be a different kind of lesson, but this should be fun. "A little punctuality goes a long way, Emberpaw." Emberpaw looked at Lionstar, her eyes showing the disrespect that she wanted to say, but decided to be polite and kind instead. "Sorry Lionstar." She sneered to the leader before she took her place in front of Bluepaw for the lesson.
She waited for the curt nod, and during that wait, Bluepaw deicded to speak to her. She smiled lightly and nodded. "And I know that you won't." Emberpaw was being a brat today, and she seemed to enjoy that fact. But once the signal was given for them to start their lesson, she unsheathed her claws. "Claws sheathed, Emberpaw." She spat at the ground before she sheathed them then and she decided that waiting was taking too long. The signal was given, and she was getting bored of waiting for the passive she-cat to attack first.
Emberpaw lunged at Bluepaw then and aimed an attack for her left side.
|
|
|
Post by Insidious on May 18, 2015 10:55:03 GMT -5
B L U E P A W - - - - - - Emberpaw’s words were purely scathing, an insult if ever there was one, and though she knew that there was little else to be expected from the stubborn apprentice with an acidic tongue, she had naively let herself believe that she would have at least been kind enough to offer some encouragement when it was so plainly obvious that her counterpart was nervous and unprepared. There had to come a time when she stopped thinking that everyone had a piece of Bluepaw in their hearts; no matter how hard she tried to see the goodness in others, there was simply less of it to be seen in some. She liked to think the best of Emberpaw, however, hopeful that she was just trying to hide her nerves by pretending she was a lot more confident than she actually was. When the calico unsheathed her claws, Bluepaw stiffened, eyes wide and desperate for Lionstar and Rowanberry to call the entire fight off - Emberpaw’s willingness was unsettling, and even when she reluctantly sheathed her claws once again at Rowanberry’s orders, Bluepaw couldn’t shake the image of them from her head, a pointed weapon ready to be used against her at any moment - the weapon of a Clanmate, no less.
Lionstar’s call for the two of them to begin sounded distant in her ears, like he was somewhere far away; she saw nothing other than Emberpaw, her focus promising if she didn’t look like she was going to upchuck at any moment. When Emberpaw finally made the first move, appearing to be aiming a swat for the left side of her body, it felt like the world was moving in slow motion, and despite everything that was expected of her at this point in time she couldn’t find it within herself to get out of the way. Emberpaw’s finely executed swat made contact, and had their been claws in this battle, then surely there would’ve been a wound to show for the other apprentice’s success. In all honesty, Bluepaw had no idea what she was trying to do: whether she had blindly believed that Emberpaw would intentionally miss at the last second, or whether Lionstar would call off the fight at the last possible moment, claiming that it had all been a practical joke that they could laugh about in the morning. Either way, she knew exactly what she looked like right now…
A coward. An incompetent fighter that couldn’t so much as ruffle the hairs on a Clanmate’s body without feeling guilty.
No longer could she pretend that this wasn’t happening. If she waited any longer, she would only be giving Emberpaw more time to execute another strike, and she didn’t want to further the disappointment she was certain she had already caused her mentor and leader. He was an excellent warrior, anyone could see that, and she didn’t want to reflect poorly on his abilities by appearing wholesomely incapable. There was only one way that she was going to be able to do this: allowing herself a brief moment to close her eyes (it was more of a blink than anything) she opened them once more with the belief that behind her stood a fearful, whimpering Pinkpaw that she needed to defend from the enemy. Emberpaw was still her Clanmate, she couldn’t stop herself from knowing that, but there was only one situation in which the idea of a Clanmate could be discarded and that was when her sister was involved. If anybody tried to harm Pinkpaw, even a fellow TreeClanner, she would have something to say about it. With this scenario fresh in her mind, Emberpaw suddenly seemed a lot more deserving of enduring a couple blows.
Her recovery had been slow, but she wouldn’t let that happen again. The bluish-gray apprentice swished her haunches before darting forward with a burst of remarkable, unexpected determination, hoping that her sudden prowess would prove to be a great enough turn of events that Emberpaw would not only be shocked by Bluepaw’s retaliation, but unable to defend herself from it. She aimed a precise paw for the side of the calico’s neck, hopeful that there would be enough force behind the attack to successfully deter her even breaths, ideally causing Emberpaw to lose some of her focus and thus be prone to further damage.
Because even though she had herself under the impression that Pinkpaw’s life was at stake - that was the only way she could truly do this - Emberpaw was still her Clanmate, and she knew deep down that her sister was in no real harm. The damage dealt would be non-existent because in this fight it was the thought that counted more than the wounds, and Bluepaw would never dream of inflicting so much as a scratch upon her fellow apprentice, even if Emberpaw had been a little rude going into this.
- - - - - - Tags: Fawn , Amber , @nadia Word Count: 810.
|
|