Battle Basics [Open to ShC]

[alec]

hawkbites brief praise almost drowned beneath the sound of the rest of the group fighting but rookpaw took note of the non existent feedback for her. odd really, she had half expected to receive a extra stern eye from every warrior she trained under, courtesy of being new and unwanted..but hawkbite appeared to be neutral..for now. no especially picky remarks or selecting her for less than favourable reasons.
the next and apparently last move for this lesson was one she had been taught by lostspark already, leap and hold, if memory served. despite knowing this particular technique the dark pelted apprentice watched carefully, observing the commander leap in the air and land on the rock with a force that she was almost sure would knock over anyone attending this session. not simply because he was fully grown and these were mostly ten-ish moon olds, but mostly because his movement was smooth and comfortable, something he had done hundreds of times and had time to perfect. rookpaw found a rock to practice, claws pointedly sheathed because the sound of claws on rock made her cringe just thinking about, and repeated the move until lostsparks and hawkbites instructions melted into one. just like the last time, she finished her training of this move with the thought of 'no, absolutely not'. risking the enemy slamming her into the ground with their whole weight? err how about no.

[Luminous]

Pigeonpaw

The grey apprentice had barely taken notice of the commander glancing her way, too enveloped by her attempts and movements which began to feel more and more natural and smooth, but her head shot up immediately upon hearing his voice, expecting advice, perhaps a short comment correcting her moves... and instead receiving praise. Amber eyes lit up, partially with pride, partially with joy, and followed Hawkybites as he went to each apprentice in turn. Her ears angled to pick up on the advice that was given to the other apprentices, and the smile on her face grew further as she realized that she was technically the one who had received the most praise. You bet I'm gonna be a pro!

Alright, moving on... to something advanced! Ohoo YES! Almost without noticing, the grey apprentice crouched down a bit, eyes fixed on Hawkybites and subtly mimicking his movements. Once they'd gotten the demonstration, she scurried over to a rock and began to pounce before hopping of and repeating it several times. Swat their face... shoulders... hop off if they rolll... Maybe, if her ever-twitching tail allowed for it, she could balance herself and claw their eyes? Being blinded would certainly make it harder to fight back against her.

Once everything was done and Pigeonpaw returned to the Commander to head back to camp, she could already feel her muscles aching. It meant she was becoming stronger at least.

[Mica]

Birdpaw
ShadowClan
she/her | 7 moons | 44/100
[Blue-grey tabby with dark blue overcoat, white underside and amber eyes]
Purrks: Lyrebird's Lullaby [PERMANENTLY ACTIVE]
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽ The Fool ☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
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The praise given to her by Hawkbite had the apprentice grinning from ear to ear, excitement clear in her gaze. She was doing it! This wasn't so hard! Maybe she didn't have to fear learning battle moves! As long as she never had to use them on another cat, she was set!

Waggling her haunches, Birdpaw leapt up onto a big rock and unsheathed her claws, aiming a swipe at it.

Suddenly the smooth surface of the stone turned into Mama's soft silver pelt, Birdpaw's claws tearing deep gashes down her spine and flank. Birdpaw gasped, scrambling back and falling off the rock with a thud. No! No no no, she didn't mean it! She thought--she thought... Birdpaw stared with terrified eyes up at the rock which was once again just that--a rock. Her heart thundered in her chest, pushing the air out of her lungs and leaving her wheezing for several stuttering heartbeats.

She couldn't--she couldn't learn this. She couldn't be trusted with battle moves. It was too dangerous! But Hawkbite's praise rang through her head again, and the pride in Freckle's mossy gaze when he heard about her training... those things were so important to her. She couldn't just give those up... but the images of Birdpaw's claws tearing into her family were unrelenting.

One try. She would do it once before going home. Just to earn the credit, and then she would never ever do it again.

Leaping up again--a little unsteady this time--Birdpaw tentatively hit the stone with her paws, keeping her claws sheathed. She did her best to NOT imagine it was a cat beneath her, chanting that it was just a rock, just a rock, just a rock under her breath. Once she couldn't take it anymore, Birdpaw lunged to the side and into a rolling dismount, coming to a stop nearby. Hopefully that would appease Hawkbite. But with every breath she felt her chest tightening, her throat twitching, and panic rising. She needed to go. "T-Thank you, Hawkbite!" She tried to chirp as she turned to leave.

Birdpaw tried to walk calmly towards camp, but ended up sprinting the last few cat-lengths, a sob caught in her throat. It was over, it was fine. She was fine. Right?

[Estelle]

She gave a light nod to her younger sister, caught by surprise when she swiped no sooner than the words had left her mouth – quickly, the older feline had to slip aside, dropping low to dodge out of the way and counter an attack just when outer noise reached her ears. Sleepypaw paused, looking up, before silently shaking her head at Rainpaw’s question.

The next move was not as complicated; she had practised this with Yellowtwist already – jumping atop a rock, rolling off; she had managed as much, though, learning of what you could actually do up there was of much help. Swatting ears and eyes, kicking the back – Sleepypaw lightly practised the move until the time came to return to camp.