[Thistledawn]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The orange warrior smirked at her, before backing away and getting ready to make his move. He studied the white she cat, his tail twitching back and forth. Cherrypaw had a lot of energy - if only it was focused in the right places. He could see her, within time, becoming a great warrior… and he would, of course, be proud that he’d gotten to train with her. To watch her grow up. Being an apprentice was exciting, and new… this was a time for new emotions to be formed, for relationships to be strengthened (or weakened), for boundaries to be tested. This and being a young warrior - which Blazingcomet already knew.

He was still fairly young, but he felt like he’d been through a lifetime already. He’d had a mate, he’d had a few interests, and he’d been around so many cats that he thought he’d met just about every personality type there was. Flirty, introverted, extroverted, reckless, cautious, guarded, open… everything. He wanted Cherrypaw to experience all of those cats as well. Which was why he wasn’t stressing too much on training right now - of course, there would be other moments when he would want her to succeed, to do her best, but for now? It was alright with him if she fell down a few times. It was alright if she slacked off a little, because she was still learning. He could guide her, he could challenge her, he could help her, but he couldn’t force her to do anything. Force would never work.

Blazingcomet’s own mentor had been pretty good about that kind of thing… but his guiding skills, just for general life things, had been lacking. Perhaps the tom would have turned out a little better and not had all the trouble with Drizzleshard had his mentor been different. And, the warrior honestly couldn’t blame him all that much - after all, he’d been pretty laid back - with the occasional passive-aggressive remark, or sarcastic snort of laughter. After a few moments of thinking, and studying Cherrypaw, Blazingcomet finally made his move - springing towards the she cat at a higher speed then before.

Cherrypaw tried to remember everything that she'd learned from this training session so far. She was hoping that she'd be able to apply what she'd learned during the battle. The apprentice's blue eyes widened the slightest bit when Blazingcomet headed towards her with the fastest speed she'd seen so far. Determined not to let that throw her off, the white apprentice ducked and dashed to the side, making sure that side was the one with her mentor's good leg. Her rushed dash had kicked up a small cloud of dirt. She stuck out her little white paw hoping that she'd catch the ginger tom's side. Cherrypaw turned to face her mentor, careful not to let him catch her with her back turned towards him.

The little she-cat was enjoying this feeling she had. She felt far more confident now than she had minutes ago. Everything was so much more fun when she knew how to do it. For a heartbeat Cherrypaw felt like she could do this all day without a worry. She wondered if she'd be able to get one of the other apprentices to spar with her after this training session ended. The apprentice had to remind herself that she'd probably feel tired by then despite how energetic she may have felt now. It was adrenaline that was fueling her movements now. Every swipe and dodging movement she would make would be fueled by that power. It would be this way in real battle too. It'll be pride and passion as well as adrenaline fueling me in real battle, Cherrypaw thought. Real battles were fought to defend something. In Cherrypaw's case she'd be defending SkyClan. Knowing that there was a home to protect would surely give her the might to defeat every cat who may have threatened her Clan.