[Thistledawn]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The orange tom’s eyes sparkled with mischief at Cherrypaw’s words, and his tail twitched back and forth playfully. ”Yeah? Impress me.” He challenged, although there was nothing menacing or harsh about it - every part of his body seemed to be almost trembling with excitement, a smile spread over his features as he thought about the future. Someday, Cherrypaw would be a warrior… Blazingcomet would have successfully trained his very first apprentice. It would prove something to himself, about commitment - that he could stay committed - and it would prove something to Drizzleshard, too. The she cat clearly thought he wasn’t able to stay committed to anything… but he would show her. He would show everyone. This was a fight that Blazingcomet just wasn’t willing to back down from. It’ll be a long time before you’re a better fighter than I am, I’ve been a warrior since before you were born!” The tom purred, not entirely sure if that was true or not - he’d been a warrior for about ten moons now, and he was fairly sure Cherrypaw was at least that young - or younger, so in the end, he supposed he was correct. Standing there on the training plateau, with his apprentice, just able to be himself… it was the best that Blazingcomet had felt in a long time. Everyone needed some time away, to rest and get ahold of their thoughts. The orange tom might not like being alone, but sometimes it was good not to be a part of a crowd. And this? This was definitely good for him. It felt… well, wonderful.

Cherrypaw purred, enjoying this small interaction with her mentor. Training was hard most days. The small she-cat often got frustrated with herself if she couldn't figure something out or if she could meet the expectations that either herself or her mentor set for her. She couldn't handle things like that well, so it wasn't uncommon for Cherrypaw to get annoyed with Blazingcomet too, even if he was just doing his job. But sometimes the two SkyClan cats had moments like these that made up for all of those times when the apprentice just felt defeated. The snow white she-cat was more like her mentor than she cared to admit. She always prided herself on being an individual. But this playful back and forth was comfortable for the apprentice. And like now, Cherrypaw frequently noticed that the ginger tom was one of the few cats who could match her amount of energy and charisma.

"You better be careful of what you challenge me to. I just might surprise you!" The little apprentice warned with a teasing tone. Her blue eyes were sparkling with laughter. She whipped around and began batting the air with her paws, making sound effects with her mouth. "That doesn't matter." Cherrypaw declared. "One day I'm gonna knock out whoever stands in my way. Even you!" She spun around and faked a blow aimed at her mentor. She settled down soon after. "I mean it, though." The apprentice mewed more seriously now. "I want to be a good warrior. I want you to be proud at my warrior ceremony. I'm gonna try really hard to make it all happen." Determination rushed through the small cat's body. She'd felt oddly determined. The past few moons had been rough on her motivation, but it seems that maybe Cherrypaw was finally getting some of it back. She spent a lot of time thinking about the future, but not doing a lot of preparing for that future in the present. Cherrypaw had one duty and that was to protect and defend her Clan. Training hard was the only way that she was going to fulfill that goal.