[Fawn]

Mudpelt

LightningClan || Senior Warrior || 52 Moons

'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark

He wasn't used to battle lessons with an audience, but Palescreech had insisted on sitting in for his first major training session with Shadepaw. He understood a mother's concern for her kit, but he did not appreciate the subtle pressure she was applying to him to get things right. Mudpelt tried not to think about her eyes upon him and her judgement sharp as he did his best to mentor her daughter; instead, he focused on his own feelings. Mentoring involved a lot of practicality and repetition, and he was always willing to put in the work for LightningClan - but it was more than that.

He was as emotionally invested in Shadepaw as he was in his nieces and nephew. She worked hard, and he would always hold admiration for the she-cat who persisted despite the odds being stacked against her. This wasn't going to be easy, but like everything else in their moons spent training together, they were just going to have to try.

"Are you ready to begin, Shadepaw? I don't need to remind you how tough battle training will be, but I want you to know I am willing to work with you for as long as it takes. We will work until the end of the day, or until you're too tired to practice any longer." Mudpelt faced Shadepaw, taking up a ready stance the apprentice could not see. It was a stricter style of training than he normally did, but it felt necessary. He had waited long to start teaching her battle tactics, and as such, they had a great deal of ground to cover.

Though the trade-off had been a delay in her warrior ceremony from twelve moons to fifteen moons (with her sister gaining a warrior name the previous season), Shadepaw's hunting skills had really shown themselves. He was proud of her, and what they'd been able to accomplish together.

"I want you to crouch like you're hunting something. Then I'm going to adjust your stance so that you're ready to pounce on an opponent, not prey." Mudpelt carefully walked a circle around Shadepaw, using his tail to adjust her posture until her crouch wasn't as low. "You don't need to be as careful with your tail. A battle stance is less about stealth and more about defense. This may feel unnatural to start with, but as we train it will start to feel like second nature."

Unless, of course, Shadepaw had no aptitute for battle. It was possible, but given her parents - given who her father was, Mudpelt highly doubted this.

They will run you down, down til you fall

428 Words || Taxx

Note: Focusing on the Back-Kick and Teeth-Grip!

[Taxx]

Shadepaw

Apprentice of LightningClan

I don't really care if nobody else believes

Why Palescreech wanted to watch, Shadepaw didn't know. Did she sit in on training sessions with Sparkpaw? Or was Shadepaw singled out because of her disability? She didn't like the strong possibility of that being the case- she was getting along just fine even without her sight, and aside from that she was no different from any other cat. Even if certain things were harder, she could scent and hear just fine.

Except... battle training relied heavily on sight, and she knew that. How could you dodge a blow you couldn't see coming, or strike back when they were never still? At least when she was hunting, she knew that the prey had one goal: to escape. Battle was different. But it was also required, and she was going to give this her all. No backing down.

She put Palescreech out of her mind as Mudpelt began, and gave a nod to show her readiness- her willingness. Dropping into a crouch, her ears tracked him as he padded around her, and his adjustments were taken, her body lifting a bit so her belly wasn't almost to the ground; her tail drooped into the snow as he told her she didn't need to hold it up as though she were hunting.

"Okay. What next? What moves are you going to teach me?"

'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me

Fawn || Notes

[Fawn]

Mudpelt

LightningClan || Senior Warrior || 52 Moons

'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark

"I'm going to teach you the back-kick and the teeth-grip." Mudpelt replied, confident she could guess why those battle moves were named in such a way. Fighting strategies and techniques had to be simple, or at the very least, easy to describe. Poetic or complicated names just made the teaching process longer then it needed to be.

"Do you know why I've picked those two battle moves?" Mudpelt invited her to come up with an answer, wanting her to see the logic of using defensive moves. They could move on to offensive battle moves, but not without complete mastery of these first. A chocolate ear flicked to Palescreech, his somber yellow gaze following; she too seemed to be listening for Shadepaw's answer.

It occurred to him, then, that Palescreech could be making Shadepaw uncomfortable. Her mother wasn't here to baby her; Palescreech didn't seem like the type. Rather, the she-cat had experience with fighting - she was probably better at it than Mudpelt was. She could offer advice, offer a perspective he wouldn't be able to provide.

Mudpelt kept his silence. Being underestimated was a part of Shadepaw's life. It would sting if she thought one of her own parents thought of her as being 'less than' somehow, but Mudpelt wanted to wait. Wanted to see how she would react to that. If it looked like it was disrupting her concentration, Mudpelt would do what he could to ease any troubled thoughts.

Shadepaw was a hard worker, and it was foolish to discount her.

They will run you down, down til you fall

248 Words || Taxx || Notes

[Taxx]

Shadepaw

Apprentice of LightningClan

I don't really care if nobody else believes

The back kick and the teeth grip. A rush of enthusiasm abruptly filled the black-and-white she-cat and her tail twitched, brimming with excitement as being able to learn moves so frequently talked about by her denmates; she wasn't quite able to squash the anticipation but at least she stilled her flicking tail as she replied.

"Those are defense moves. The back kick can distract an opponent- for a breath- gives you a chance to strike first." She'd heard too much about them, talked about them, learned what they did, to be in doubt about how to answer. "The teeth grip puts you out of reach of claws and teeth and can be helpful in pinning them down." She turned her head back to him over her shoulder, one ear briefly flicking toward Palescreech as the white she-cat shifted in the snow, but nearly all of her attention was now fixed on her mentor, and she fell silent again, waiting to see how well she had answered his questions.

'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me

Fawn || Notes

[Fawn]

Mudpelt

LightningClan || Senior Warrior || 52 Moons

'Cause they will run you down, down til the dark

"Very good," said Mudpelt, watching her light up as they finally got to a subject any apprentice would be keen to learn. "A back kick can also create some space if you're feeling trapped. It works on cats and predators too."

"A cat's back legs are strong." Palescreech chimed in. "A good strong kick can do a lot of damage."

This was why Palescreech had insisted on sitting in on their training session; to provide Shadepaw with annoffendive strategy. Mudpelt favored defense, Palescreech favored hitting where it hurt and ending the fight as quickly as possible. "Palescreech is right. As for the teeth grip, that move will allow you to always tell exactly where your opponent is. They can't sneak up on you if your teeth are in their scruff. Done improperly, Shadepaw, will leave you open to attack, but I believe it will be one of the best moves for you to learn."

Mudpelt approached her left side, giving instructions all the while. "The back kick first. I'm going to try to sneak up on you; I want you to find me first with your tail, then put all your weight on your front paws and kick out with both back feet, as hard as you can. Don't worry about hurting me. If you think you might lose your balance, try kicking with only one foot to start with."

"Ready?" Mudpelt braced himself, aware that he was going to head back to his nest feeling like a mossball left at the mercy of a bored litter. "Begin."

They will run you down, down til you fall

257 Words || Taxx || Notes

Note: We can skip forward a bit to where she's got the hang of it? Then they can move on to the next technique! Feel free to maneuver Mudpelt however you need to. ^^

[Taxx]

Shadepaw

Apprentice of LightningClan

I don't really care if nobody else believes

Another nod, accepting Mudpelt's expansion on her basic answers, with Palescreech adding in pointers as well. The teeth grip especially seemed suited to her, but the thought came that she'd have to be careful with it; holding on might do good in some situations, but it left her open to attack from others. Or from the cat she was fighting, if she didn't manage a decent grip- as Mudpelt said. A shake of her head and she returned her full attention to her mentor and mother, head swiveling toward the tom as he moved, talking all the while.

Start with the back kick. With one foot, if she so wished, and Shadepaw decided to try that. The thought of having two paws off the ground like that made her suddenly nervous. They were, in more ways than one, her connection to the world around her. Having solid earth beneath all four paws made her feel steady. Her tail flicked in apprehension, but she pulled in a breath and nodded to Mudpelt's question, ears turned back to catch Mudpelt's advance.

It was difficult. Her first kick met nothing but air, and then a paw wrapped around the hind leg still on the ground and yanked it out from beneath her and she buckled, scrambling to get all four paws under her again. "Be mindful of leaving yourself vulnerable," Mudpelt told her, and once again, Shadepaw dipped her head. The second time she waited too long, her paw brushing past Mudpelt's shoulder, and she knew before he told her that if she'd been in a real fight, she'd be suffering right now. When she'd managed to time it- her paw smacking heavily against her mentor's nose- he had her try both hind paws, and the efforts were just as sloppy as before.

She was trying to pay attention to too much at once; the vibration of the tom's paws, the rush of wind against his pelt, and her own body, trying to gauge the exact time she needed to lash out to get her paws in place just at he was within reach. Do ordinary apprentices find it this hard? she wondered as she struck out once more, feeling the glimmer of success as her paws met Mudpelt's body, dropped back to the ground and then spun her around with a raised paw- ready to counter the next strike head-on.

'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me

Fawn || Notes