[Fawn]

68 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan

The feathers he and Hawkstar had brought back helped keep out most of the autumnal chill. Eagletalon stretched in the dawn light, the words of his leader coming back to him as he recounted yesterday's activities. He was to take over Ravenpaw's training from Smokestorm--a thought that had made him wince a little, worried what Duskflower would think if she knew her daughter's apprentice had been reassigned to him (not that any cat was at fault; Smokestorm's injured foot needed time to heal).

Deciding there was little-to-no point in dwelling on the past, the scarred warrior fluffed out his short golden coat, moving to the apprentices' den with an easy stride, the stiffness loosening up immediately. "Her--Ravenpaw, time to get up! Battle training." Whoops. Herondive was a warrioress now, and no longer needed his early morning wakeup calls to drag her onto the sandy plateau to practice her fighting moves.

When the dark-furred tom appeared, Eagletalon flicked an ear, stepping aside so Ravenpaw could pass. "Take what you want from the fresh kill pile, we're going to the sandy plateau right after this." He was going to need to keep his strength up. After a short discussion with Smokestorm yesterday, it became clear to Eagletalon that Ravenpaw's training had centered around hunting before Smokestorm's untimely injury. That was helpful given the season, but with LightningClan being a consant threat to StoneClan's way of life, Eagletalon wanted to give the young tom all the tools he needed to defend himself.

There was no telling when those fox-hearted land-stealers would try something.
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Word Count: 260 Words
Tags: @savagewolf
Notes:

[Deleted]

Ravenpaw was already awake when Eagletalon came. He stared at him in the darkness before slowly coming out. It seemed he was finally going to start training. He had done slight training with Smokestorm but he had mostly taught himself, he was a natural. He listened to Eagletalon then looked to the food pile. He gave a simple shrug before shaking his head. He didn't didn't need the prey, and there were more cats who needed it more. He could catch something later. 

"No thanks. There are more cats who need it more than me, I can catch something for myself later, although it is good you came so early. Normally, I would be out of camp spending time alone."

He walked slowly towards the camp exit before stopping and turning to wait for Eagletalon. There was the possibility Eagletalon wouldn't like his decision, so he decided it wuld be best to wait for him before they left. Ravenpaw had never done battle training before, it would be interesting to see how well he did. After all, he was a fast learner.

[Fawn]

68 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan

So he's a loner. Hmm. Eagletalon could work with that kind of personality. He could appreciate a youngster that took initiative and didn't like to wait around to be taught how to make something of himself. He didn't lecture Ravenpaw on the dangers of leaving camp by himself -- if the tom didn't know about them already, then he'd find out eventually. Eagletalon could've been taking a risk by holding his tongue, but he was willing to let Ravenpaw keep his independence. It would come in handy, later. As long as the tom never crossed any Clan boundaries, Eagletalon had no problems with it.

Already, Ravenpaw was walking towards the Clan entrance. Eagletalon chuckled, accepting it as enthusiasm to get started on his training for the day. Foregoing a meal for himself as well (he wanted to catch Duskflower for a hunting patrol later), Eagletalon followed him. "Do you know where the sandy plataeu even is?" He mewed, wanting to test the young tom's knowledge. If he'd truly gone out at night, then he must've learned a thing or two about their territory. "Show me."

Prepared to follow Ravenpaw, Eagletalon waited, watching with keen amber eyes.

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Word Count: 195 Words
Tags: @savagewolf
Notes:

[Deleted]

Ravenpaw listened to Eagletalon and gave a soft nod. He was surprised he hadn't said anything aboutnot taking any food, or going off alone. He gave a small smile, he was going to like his mentor it seemed. He explored on his own a lot, and he knew the territory well, not perfectly, mind you, but pretty well. He gave a small nod to his mentor and then began to walk towards the Sandy Plagaue. As he did, he spoke to Eagletalon with a quiet voice. 

"I explore on my own a lot, so I know the territory well, but I don't know it completely. I do know where the Sandy Plagaue is though. I go there a lot to try and teach myself to fight. I don't know how good I am though. It is difficult without a partner."

He continued to the Sandy Plataue slowly. Before long, they had arrived. Once they did he sat himself down and faced his mentor, waiting on his intruction. 

@fawntastic

[Fawn]

68 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan

"I go there a lot to try and teach myself to fight. I don't know how good I am though. It is difficult without a partner."

Eagletalon nodded, curious to see if any of Ravenpaw's initiative had paid off. "Well now you have one. Let me see your form, Ravenpaw. Take up a fighting stance, and then pretend to swipe an enemy. Claws sheathed. Have you seen a front-paw blow before?" There was a chance the black tom had studied other mentor-and-apprentice pairs as they practiced these same moves, or even had a fellow apprentice show him a thing or two - but Eagletalon wasn't counting much on the latter.

Ravenpaw definitely had a loner's personality, which meant that asking for help would be a lot less likely. Feeling the fine sand under his claws, Eagletalon inhaled deeply, held it a moment, and exhaled with satisfaction. So many moons, spent here. So many cuts and bruises and scars. Sweat and hard-earned muscle. It was a good place to start. Let's see what you've got, 'paw.
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Word Count: 174 Words
Tags: @savagewolf
Notes:

[Deleted]

Ravenpaw listened to Eagletalon and gave a simple nod. He crouched himself down and fold his ears back. He raise his rump and lowered his front, his tail rose and his teeth became bared. He then looked up to Eagletalon for a moment, wonder how was his stance. He expected there would be something wrong with it, but he had no idea what. However, Ravenpaw stayed light on his feet, he was good at that, and he did it well. 

"I have watched from the shadows, cats train and play, what scares me however, is that they paid me no mind, that if I were an enemy cat, I could sneak up on them. I am invisible to my clan mates, a shadow of my brothers."

Ravenpaw then began to swipe hard and fast, as his paw went through the air, the 'swoosh' could be heard with the speed of his paw went at. He then looked back up to Eagletalon once more, wondering what he thought of his technique


Fawn. 

[Fawn]

68 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan

"Don't be so quick to assume your Clanmates do not notice you. And I'm guessing you're familiar with the scent of LightningClan and RainClan? Trust me, if there was an enemy cat spying on our warriors during their training sessions, they'd be mouse-meat." Those two stenches - combined with many moons of a sense of injustice over what those Clans had done to them - even a StoneClan kit could sound the alarm and recognize danger when it was lurking about.

Watching the tom's strike, he nodded. "Good. You'll need to tighten up your strike, or else in the time it takes to lower your paw and raise it back up again--" Eagletalon swiped through the air at the same speed Ravenpaw had demonstrated, and then raised his paw up again for a second attack, with a slight delay between them "-you're giving your enemy a chance to strike back. Try striking with one paw then the other. You don't have to match speeds, some cats even have a 'dominant paw' that they use for everything, and that one always tends to be a little faster than the other. Give it a try."

Eagletalon gestured with his tail to the empty space in front of Ravenpaw. "Strike with your dominant paw first, then the other. If you're fast, that should eliminate the delay between strikes."
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Word Count: 213 Words
Tags: @savagewolf
Notes:

[Deleted]

Ravenpaw listened to Eagletalon and gave a nod once more. He took everything in, waiting until he was done, and then, when he finally was, he tightened up his strike, attacking with his right paw, and immediately after, his left. He continued to strike at the air, giving it everything he had. It was clear that his right paw was faster than his left, but both paws were quite fast. After a few strikes, he stopped and turned back to Eagletalon. It was clear that Ravenpaw was a fast learner, but that much, he knew already. 

"You know, whenever I strike, I imagine myself in a losing battle, and I think back to Stoneclan, I don't know what I would do without Stoneclan, everyone in Stoneclan is family to me. Then, I think to myself, what would Stoneclan do without me, if I lost this battle? Stoneclan wouldn't be the same, every time I look at the camp, it feels as if it's the last time I'll ever see it. Even now, I long to go back, to make sure the camp isn't being attack."

He looked back towards the camp, before looking towards Eagletalon. He always thought of Stoneclan, he always worried for it's safety. He sat himself down, and continued to wait for further instruction.

Fawn

[Fawn]

68 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan

Ah, here it was. And so the young will inherit the fears and grudges of the old. It envoked a sharp sense of remorse in Eagletalon, that StoneClan's older generation had been so adament and so outspoken about the horrors of the StormClan battle that it was creating so much wariness in one so young. What's done is done. Better to adapt than take two steps back.

Eagletalon stepped closer, nodding at Ravenpaw seriously. "It's good that you want to push yourself hard, and using StoneClan as something worth protecting is a good strategy. But you don't have to be on alert for danger all the time, Ravenpaw. That's a hard way to live, constantly glancing back expecting the worst."

The sandy warrior stretched out his front legs, and then took up position right in front of his apprentice. "I'll teach you how to be prepared, not paranoid. Are you ready to start this lesson in earnest? I'm a much larger tom than you, so I want you to stay a little low, and make sure you can move fast, or else I'll have the advantage. Aim for my shoulders, it'll be a while before you can reach my ears."

The young would-be-warrior had some growing to do first. With a battle-glint in his amber eyes, Eagletalon allowed himself a sidelong grin. "Ready?"
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Word Count: 223 Words
Tags: @savagewolf
Notes:

[Deleted]

Ravenpaw got low as instructed, and gave a small smile. He knew he was fast, that was one of his strengths. He looked serious for a moment, ready to start training with Eagletalon. Ravenpaw made sure he was balanced so he couldn't be knocked over. With him being small and fast, it wouldn't be too easy for him to get hit, then again, this was a training session, Eagletalon would go easy on him.

"Sometimes, living the hard life is for the better. It is less likely you will be snuck up on, you will be alert more, and prepared for what is to come, but now, I have to ask. Wouldn't it be better to have a real fight? A fight with claws out, I am sure I can handle it, and it would feel more like a real battle than a training session, afterwards Dawnblossom can treat our wounds."

Ravenpaw was always a shadow of his brothers, he was always darker than the rest of the apprentices. He was willing to turn a training session to a real fight, and if an apprentice one day asked him to do the same thing, he would do it for them too. He saw no problem in it as long as something was learned and the two survived. One Real battle taught more than a hundred training sessions could teach. That was what he believed. 

Fawn

[Fawn]

68 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan

"Sometimes, living the hard life is for the better. It is less likely you will be snuck up on, you will be alert more, and prepared for what is to come, but now, I have to ask. Wouldn't it be better to have a real fight? A fight with claws out, I am sure I can handle it, and it would feel more like a real battle than a training session, afterwards Dawnblossom can treat our wounds."

He has an answer for everything. If Ravenpaw wouldn't listen to the advice of his elders, Eagletalon concluded, then he would just have to learn from experience. At the suggestion of using unsheathed claws, Eagletalon rejected the idea immediately. "No, we're Clan cats, not rogues. We will fight with sheathed claws, and if I catch you training with another apprentice with your claws out, you will be confined to camp for the next three moons." And if I find you training with a warrior with your claws out, they'll have to deal with me.

"Dawnblossom won't appreciate us wasting herbs because of recklessness. Especially with leafbare coming up." And that reckoning with LightningClan. Calling the discussion over, Eagletalon dropped into a fighting stance honed over many many moons both in and out of battle. "See if you can dodge my strikes." Serious now, Eagletalon aimed a blow at the young tom's ears, and felt his paw brush past the tips of Ravenpaw's ears as the apprentice ducked a second too late.

Eagletalon gave him a second to reorient himself, and tried the move again.
---
Word Count: 261 Words
Tags: @savagewolf
Notes:

[Deleted]

Ravenpaw gave a soft nod to Eagletalon as he spoke. He didn't mean to upset him. He thought it would be a good idea to fight like a real battle, but he could see why it would be bad considering they were close to leaf bare. He gave a soft bow of his head and spoke softly. 

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I just thought that a real battle can teach you more than a hundred training sessions although I didn't take in Dawnblossom's herbs into consideration, or the fact we are close to leaf bare. "

After speaking, it was time to begin. He watched Eagletalon closely and dodged as fast as he could, although the paw brushed his ears slightly. Ravenpaw quickly steadied himself and focused, then when the next strike came, he dodged a little faster than before, this time, making sure not to get hit, then he attempted to swing his paw and hit Eagletalon's right shoulder, knowing his right paw was his fastest, whether it hit or miss, he'd immediately throw his left paw at Eagletalon's left shoulder, whether he hit and missed again, Ravenpaw would immediately get ready for a counter attack.

Fawn

[Fawn]

68 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan

The first strike connected against Eagletalon's shoulder, and there was a glint of satisfaction in his gaze, the second paw strike missing it's mark as Eagletalon took a well-timed back-step. "Think you can handle a duck-and-twist?" It was a standard battle move to teach new apprentices; Eagletalon was aware that Ravenpaw had a real talent for fighting, and he sought to nurture that talent, teach the young tom how to become a real force on the battle field.

He didn't mind throwing a few more difficult moves at him, to see how he'd handle it. "You're fast, and that's what you need for a move like that. Try to strike me, I'll show you what it looks like." Eagletalon resumed his battle stance, and watched Ravenpaw strike him as instructed - first with the right paw (his dominant paw) and then with the left one. Eagletalon ducked, feeling the warm sand on his belly as he went low to the stone and rolled quick as an overturned snake and sprang back up to his paws a hare-length from where he'd been standing. "It's easy in an open space like this; we're lucky StoneClan's territory is so open, NightClan and TreeClan have to worry about crashing into trees if they want to try this move."

Each Clan had adapted well to their environment; StoneClan cats were powerful jumpers, they had strong hind legs and toughened paws from living in such a rocky environment. They were good at camouflage (their coat-colors allowing), and being extremely patient. The reason he suspected for why TreeClan never seemed to give them any trouble had less to do with Lionstar's 'perceived benevolence', and more to do with how strange and unwieldy their territory would seem to a bunch fo TreeClan cats. It would be worth more trouble than they wanted.

No, their immediate threat came from LightningClan and LightningClan alone, who were far more used to fighting out in the open than the other Clans.
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Word Count: 328 Words
Tags: @savagewolf
Notes:

[Deleted]

Ravenpaw gave a simple nod, he was fast and that much was obvious. He struck out towards Eagletalon and watched as he ducked, rolled and then pounced. Ravenpaw gave a few nods. The move itself didn't look too difficult but, being smart he knew if he stayed on the ground too long, he could get trapped under an enemy's paws. Immediately he ducked and quickly rolled to the sighed, then as fast as he could, he pounced up. Once he had, he turned towards Eagletalon.

"I understand how this can be useful. I will practice it and build my speed. I will protect Stoneclan. What else can I learn?"


He sat down and stared at Eagletalon. He was focused, and was clearly determined to learn everything he could. He wanted to do his part, he wanted to protect Stoneclan, and protect he would. He would always fight for Stone, following the Warrior Code to the letter.

Fawn

[Fawn]

68 Moons // Tom // Senior Warrior // StoneClan

Eagletalon snorted, amused by his apprentice's enthusiasm. "There's plenty of learn, don't worry. We need to work with what you already know, though; it's not the fanciest move that wins the fight, it's dilligence and practice. I'd sooner bet a mouse on a warrior that's performed one move a dozen times before than a warrior that knows how to fight a badger because he tried it once."

Nodding curtly, Eagletalon expected him to perform the move a few more times. "Let me see you do it five more times. After that, we'll talk about endurance. You and I are going to go for a long walk. I want to see how long you can go without getting tired." Or hungry. Eagletalon hadn't forgotten the youngster's refusal to eat before they left.

He admired his determination and loyalty to the Clan, but you couldn't sustain yourself on that alone. No doubt Ravenpaw would want to hunt later; that was fine, though battle-training could be very taxing if you kept at it for a while. He would get no thanks from Ravenpaw's parents if he wore him out so much he had to be carried back.
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Word Count: 194 Words
Tags: @savagewolf
Notes: =) We can say they practiced for a few hours, on what he taught him today.