the other apprentice seemed a little nervous as she edged closer to the water, facing mallowpaw. the cream and orange she-cat cocked her head curiously, enjoying the sensation of her feathery tail floating on the water. why was she scared? mallowpaw wouldn't actually hurt her. she didn't even know how to fight!
spiderpaw gave the go ahead, and mallowpaw thought back to her only sparring experience: playing with her littermate and kits in the nursery. it wasn't much to go off of, but she decided to put her skills to the test before spiderpaw decided to strike first.
mallowpaw lunged forward, digging her back legs into the water-logged soil and raising both her front paws, aiming to wrap them around the back of spiderpaw's neck and drag her face-down into the water. but the other apprentice moved as soon as she did, swatting a speedy paw right across mallow's line of vision and knocking her forearms off-course.
"blegh," she remarked, spitting out a piece of reedy grass. the collision had thrown her off balance, and she landed back on all fours with her left side exposed to the older apprentice. acting instinctively, she dropped her body lower into the water, hoping the liquid would conceal her flank a little bit. then, she turned as fast as her rather fluffy pelt would allow, this time striking head-first and hoping to grab hold of spiderpaw's left front leg in order to drag her down the bank.
Spiderpaw took a few quick steps to rebalance herself after successfully swiping at Mallowpaw and throwing the other apprentice's attack off. Still, the momentum was there. She didn't have much time to do it, but she did take a couple swats at her opponent's side, tail twitching to keep her balance as she stretched out a lanky limb.
At most, Spiderpaw splashed some water as Mallowpaw spun quickly in the water and launched herself back towards the blue-grey tabby. The older apprentice recoiled back, but the hold stuck. She felt herself getting yanked into the water, heart racing as she thought about being submerged. No! A few clumsy steps closer. Her paws were wet and she needed to get out of this quick!
Since Mallowpaw was holding onto her left foreleg, Spiderpaw lifted her right to hook around the other apprentice. There was a bit of a size difference that she would need to make up for, but she sure hoped this worked. She tried to bite into Mallowpaw's scruff, careful not to apply more pressure than necessary for a hold, then planted her hind legs. If she managed to do this properly, she would push off as hard as she could with her hind paws to land them both onto dry land. If not... Well, it seemed that she was going for a dip in the water because the position she had put herself into was not the most balanced.
