Bleedingpaw had been growing more confident of late! He was properly adult sized now if not totally filled out, long legs that left him taller then the average warrior if still far smaller then the dozens of main coons in the clan. He had more limb control now and so was far better at managing his disability, picking up skills at a rapid pace. He also was a bit prone to only hang around certain cats, mostly his family and select others.
Which turns out this means he was still rather shy around those he didnt know as he was rapidly finding out looking at Newtbelly.
The older tom had offered some advanced training despite the golden bengal knowing many warriors shied away from offering that due to the attached difficulty but...... Well the pretty apprentice didnt really know him. So, erring on the side of cation he defaulted to being a bit overly polite. "Thank you for offering to teach me Mister Newtbelly. I swear to do my best to learn well and if I get to frustrating for you I fully understand if you wish to call the session early. Mr P- Mister Hawkbite has covered the basics and a few advanced moves with me so would you prefer a spar to see what I know or for me to explain things?"
Bleedingpaw had been growing more confident of late! He was properly adult sized now if not totally filled out, long legs that left him taller then the average warrior if still far smaller then the dozens of main coons in the clan. He had more limb control now and so was far better at managing his disability, picking up skills at a rapid pace. He also was a bit prone to only hang around certain cats, mostly his family and select others.
Which turns out this means he was still rather shy around those he didnt know as he was rapidly finding out looking at Newtbelly.
The older tom had offered some advanced training despite the golden bengal knowing many warriors shied away from offering that due to the attached difficulty but...... Well the pretty apprentice didnt really know him. So, erring on the side of cation he defaulted to being a bit overly polite. "Thank you for offering to teach me Mister Newtbelly. I swear to do my best to learn well and if I get to frustrating for you I fully understand if you wish to call the session early. Mr P- Mister Hawkbite has covered the basics and a few advanced moves with me so would you prefer a spar to see what I know or for me to explain things?"
Bleedingpaw - he’d offered to train the apprentice on a bit of a whim. Despite his three apprentices, his days were full of free time. Maybe that was a perk of not being very social - or maybe it was a drawback. Either way, he’d much rather dedicate his time to extra training than lazing about. He hadn’t interacted with the apprentice before, but he’d seen him around. He’d noticed his disability, but considering how far he’d come, training shouldn’t be too hard. That, and having a succesful session helped feed his ego. Yes, it was something new for him, but Newtbelly considered himself decent at adapting - often having to make up for his own short size, or helping Silentpaw adapt to his short tail. It had to be similar to that, right?
Bleedingpaw was polite - politer than any other apprentice he’d spoken to - bar Turtlepaw, maybe. That was a welcome break after dealing with Talonpaw and Venompaw’s bickering. Though, the suggestion of ending the session early did shock him. He couldn’t imagine abandoning a training session over an apprentice’s capability - over their willingness or attitude, absolutely, but their skill? What was the point in training an apprentice, if not to train them fully? IF anyone in the clan had been doing that, he'd easily lose respect for them.
Hawkbite had taught him the basics, so Newtbelly was going in with high hopes. He recalled the Commander’s spar with Owlthroat - he was incredibly skilled, using both stealth and his own innovative tactics. If that was Bleedingpaw's style, he'd be more than glad to help. "Let's go with a spar," he replied. After training Silentpaw, he'd gotten a bit used to trying things out physically first, with less need for words, so that worked best for him. The tom readied himself into a slight crouch. "Ready whenever you are."
My character's thoughts are not my own! Please talk to me if an interaction makes you uncomfortable!
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I've just moved house -- and will not have proper WiFI until the 24th of Feb, apologies if my posts are slow and not as detailed as usual!
Last edited by sleepyyjax; January 28th, 2025 at 12:59 PM.
Right spar, they were starting with a spar. ....Ok if Bleedingpaw was honest he was kinda intimidated by it, even if it was his own idea. Newtbelly was just, bigger and stronger then him (an enforcer!), even if Bleedingpaw had reached his adult height of taller then an average cat. He was skinny, and knew his battle skills needed work but... He had to give it his best shot.
Plus he had his ace, even if he couldnt use it directly on Newtbelly for fear of hurting him.
No more hesitation, time to act. Falling into his 'battle stance' which was more of a strange upright arch with paws wide and legs locked, something not ever seen in a fight, which usually favored low tight crouches. But it seemed to work for him, restricting his wobbling from destabilizing his gait and legs and keeping his movement restricted to his upper half. Which now was constantly wobbling and moving, swaying and jolting completely unpredictably in a way that made aiming... Well rather hard.
A key aspect to Bleedingpaws fighting style. He was using his disability, his cerebellar hypoplasia to make himself hard to hit and predict.
Lets hope it was effective as the tom lashed out, completely out of nowhere, turning an unintentional jolt of his paw into a swipe for Newtbellys ankles, moving with the swaying wobble of his body to follow that up with a shoulder ram and a snap of teeth at the enforcers neck.
Right spar, they were starting with a spar. ....Ok if Bleedingpaw was honest he was kinda intimidated by it, even if it was his own idea. Newtbelly was just, bigger and stronger then him (an enforcer!), even if Bleedingpaw had reached his adult height of taller then an average cat. He was skinny, and knew his battle skills needed work but... He had to give it his best shot.
Plus he had his ace, even if he couldnt use it directly on Newtbelly for fear of hurting him.
No more hesitation, time to act. Falling into his 'battle stance' which was more of a strange upright arch with paws wide and legs locked, something not ever seen in a fight, which usually favored low tight crouches. But it seemed to work for him, restricting his wobbling from destabilizing his gait and legs and keeping his movement restricted to his upper half. Which now was constantly wobbling and moving, swaying and jolting completely unpredictably in a way that made aiming... Well rather hard.
A key aspect to Bleedingpaws fighting style. He was using his disability, his cerebellar hypoplasia to make himself hard to hit and predict.
Lets hope it was effective as the tom lashed out, completely out of nowhere, turning an unintentional jolt of his paw into a swipe for Newtbellys ankles, moving with the swaying wobble of his body to follow that up with a shoulder ram and a snap of teeth at the enforcers neck.
Already, this was different. Maybe it was coincidence, but every apprentice he’d trained tended to go straight for the pin. Leave it to Hawkbite to teach him something different- or maybe, the kid was imaginative in his own right. Still, he wasn’t exactly used to countering such a thing - the best course of action had to be a pivot on his back paws.
Bleedingpaw was fast, and he’d gone in with a sort of element of surprise - he certainly wouldn’t have predicted his first move. The warrior pivoted to turn, not without the apprentice’s paws scathing his own as he turned. Not enough to throw him off, but if his claws had been unsheathed, certainly enough to slow him down. He'd expected that to be it, and was quickly met by a shoulder barge, which effectively shoved him off balance, and a tooth snap which he barely stumbled away from.
Straightening himself, he quickly pounced to the ground, keeping himself low. There was no need to underestimate this apprentice - Bleedingpaw already had a sound understanding of what he was doing. Still - he’d stay slow for now, lest he accidentally end the spar too soon. He'd rather see what else the 'paw was capable. With low ground, he had more opportunity to throw off the apprentice’s balance. Judging from Bleedingpaw's height and build, the two were probably around the same weight. Newtbelly's shorter height was hopefully made up for in muscle mass, though it appeared more lean than bulky. If he sprung forward, he might be able to barge his head under the apprentice’s chest, and lift him off balance. If he got that far, it could be enough to knock him.
The warrior lunged - making sure to take it a little slower - head aimed just below Bleedingpaw's chest, in an attempt to knock him off his paws.
My character's thoughts are not my own! Please talk to me if an interaction makes you uncomfortable!
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I've just moved house -- and will not have proper WiFI until the 24th of Feb, apologies if my posts are slow and not as detailed as usual!
Last edited by sleepyyjax; February 3rd, 2025 at 04:22 PM.
Holy cow that'd actually worked? That blow had actually went where he aimed it? He really was improving! Of course the effect was limited and reduced by his opponent being such a skilled and experienced fighter, but he'd knocked Newtbelly off balance and had tried to move to capitalize on that, going for unguarded spots as the older tom tried to right himself. Wasnt quite fast enough however, something to keep in mind for the next battle if he tried the concept again.
For now he had a lot to worry about in the counter attack.
The problem wasnt his reaction time really, it was his uncooperative limbs. If Newtbelly had aimed at one of them, dodging would be assisted by his wobbly jolting however he'd aimed at Bleedingpaws center mass... Getting everything to worth together to move and dodge in time was not going to occur.
He was lucky enough to shift to only be caught in the shoulder, even if the blow still threw him.
Lucky for Bleedingpaw, he was very very used to falling off his paws and even more used to getting up again.
Using the momentum of the shove the bengal twisted rolling away from Newtbellys follow up attacks before the tom could rebound from the attack that did it. It was counter intuitive to most cats, to not stop the momentum that risked throwing them into objects or that kept them tumbling, preventing them from righting themselves immediately. But... using the momentum, not stopping yourself from rolling didnt necessarily prevent that.
As Bleedingpaw rolled out of range a paw wildly reached out, catching a root, and flipped upright.
He'd skipped the time and effort of dodging and getting up by exploiting his body, a trick learned from two family members being medicine cats who passed on what they knew of how cats functioned. Though it wasnt without risks. It was all too easy to wrench a claw or shoulder, and the impact was hard, causing him to wince.
Twinges would be ignored however, for the sake of the spar.
Leaning back and forth as he approached, obscuring his angle of attack, Bleedingpaw stretched tall as he planted his rear, holding his face neck and vulnerable parts out of reach as his front paws raised at random like swaying cobras. It was in part distraction and in other punishing attack. If Newtbelly dared to focus on one paw the other would dart in to swat, and splitting his focus made it easy to find those openings. But it restricted what he could dodge, half sitting to not topple as he was.
Holy cow that'd actually worked? That blow had actually went where he aimed it? He really was improving! Of course the effect was limited and reduced by his opponent being such a skilled and experienced fighter, but he'd knocked Newtbelly off balance and had tried to move to capitalize on that, going for unguarded spots as the older tom tried to right himself. Wasnt quite fast enough however, something to keep in mind for the next battle if he tried the concept again.
For now he had a lot to worry about in the counter attack.
The problem wasnt his reaction time really, it was his uncooperative limbs. If Newtbelly had aimed at one of them, dodging would be assisted by his wobbly jolting however he'd aimed at Bleedingpaws center mass... Getting everything to worth together to move and dodge in time was not going to occur.
He was lucky enough to shift to only be caught in the shoulder, even if the blow still threw him.
Lucky for Bleedingpaw, he was very very used to falling off his paws and even more used to getting up again.
Using the momentum of the shove the bengal twisted rolling away from Newtbellys follow up attacks before the tom could rebound from the attack that did it. It was counter intuitive to most cats, to not stop the momentum that risked throwing them into objects or that kept them tumbling, preventing them from righting themselves immediately. But... using the momentum, not stopping yourself from rolling didnt necessarily prevent that.
As Bleedingpaw rolled out of range a paw wildly reached out, catching a root, and flipped upright.
He'd skipped the time and effort of dodging and getting up by exploiting his body, a trick learned from two family members being medicine cats who passed on what they knew of how cats functioned. Though it wasnt without risks. It was all too easy to wrench a claw or shoulder, and the impact was hard, causing him to wince.
Twinges would be ignored however, for the sake of the spar.
Leaning back and forth as he approached, obscuring his angle of attack, Bleedingpaw stretched tall as he planted his rear, holding his face neck and vulnerable parts out of reach as his front paws raised at random like swaying cobras. It was in part distraction and in other punishing attack. If Newtbelly dared to focus on one paw the other would dart in to swat, and splitting his focus made it easy to find those openings. But it restricted what he could dodge, half sitting to not topple as he was.
He had to admit - this apprentice was good. He didn't need to leave as much time between attacks as he had been. Initially, as he saw Bleedingpaw roll away, he thought the spar was over, but no, far from it. The 'paw used the dramatic fall to move right out of paw's reach, before approaching entirely unpredictably and going for Newtbelly with both paws. It was a hard attack to dodge - he managed to, sure, but it wasn't easy. He was having to reply on quick reactions, he couldn't predict Bleedingpaw's choices the way he could with other cats - that was becoming quite apparent. Ducking down, he flung out a back paw, in attempt to knock the apprentice's back legs from under him.
To be honest, he wasn't sure how effective the counter would be. In planting his whole rear down, as opposed to just his legs, Bleedingpaw was allowing himself as much balance as possible. He could go for the belly, but he didn't like the chance of getting a face full of paw - so instead, he'd attempt to use the apprentice's height in going for the paws. He'd see how it goes - but right now, he was expecting a paw to the skull.
My character's thoughts are not my own! Please talk to me if an interaction makes you uncomfortable!
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I've just moved house -- and will not have proper WiFI until the 24th of Feb, apologies if my posts are slow and not as detailed as usual!
Last edited by sleepyyjax; February 17th, 2025 at 03:29 PM.
Ok ok ok! This was going FAR better then Bleedingpaw had initially thought it'd go! It was close, the tom was kind of panting, feeling his mind reeling from having to keep 1001 things in mind at all times. He'd always known he needed to be a clever and tactical fighter, but being in a proper spar against an enemy who knew what he was doing showed that it'd be harder then he thought it'd be having to keep plans and counter plans evolving as he predicted Newtbellys next moves.
He wasnt going to quit however, he was going to loose but go down fighting.
For example, he was going to thwack Newtbellys head to oblivion even as he had no chance of dodging the blow to his legs. Downside of being planted like this, even if he could withstand being knocked over he could not avoid the hits. In the meantime he was smacking to kingdom come, non damaging without claws but smarting as the little rat of a bengal seemed to aim for every vital part (the ears, the eyes, the nose, the thin facial skin that bled like hell when cut) he could reach.
He could not stay in the position for long however. Even if he'd managed to remain upright he could feel the blow to his legs throbbing and if Newtbelly simple circled him, started tossing rocks, or just stepped back forcing the apprentice to come to him Bleedingpaw was in trouble. So, with a hard shove that hopefully did something the tom scrambled away to put some distance, kicking rocks and dirt up behind him. If that (hopefully) managed to disorient Newtbelly enough to give him space (fat chance but maybe) he could stumble a bit but manage to wobbily face the enforcer, tensed for bout.
Cat slaps [Advanced battle training]
