RiverClan Training Island

[dionysus]

[ @CheetahPelt ]

The water felt cool against Foggypaw’s feet as she stepped into the pond, a nice contrast to the heat of the day. She nodded eagerly at Otterstrike’s words, puffing out her chest with pride at the thought of being ahead of the other young apprentices. Already the young black and white cat was enjoying the balance her buoyancy gave her and a burst of confidence sent her paddling out to reach Otterstrike.

The warrior may have only been up to her shoulders but Foggypaw was young and slight even for her age- two of her could stand one on top of the other and still only brush the ground at this point in the water but Foggypaw was only a little frightened. She looked to Otterstrike for reassurance as she swam in a sloppy circle, trusting the older she-cat to catch her if she started to go under.

“Am I doing it right?”

[StealthWarrior]

Originally Posted by esa

Reedwhisker slid out of the way at the last second and twisted round to her left side, hoping that he could surprise her with some hard hits to her flank.

"Pff slow? Now that's unfair." he teased, focusing on trying to anticipate her quick movements.

"Nope!" Stealthpaw meowed, laughter tainting edges of her voice, "It's you denying the truth! You so old you should be an elder!" slithering around the hits, she backed a few tail-lengths away and ran as fast as she could before using one of her favorite moves ever. Stopping. She fluffed up her fur so much on the non-impact, that it looked like she was twice her size! She then attempted to slap the (hopefully) suprised Reedwhisker across his face

[CheetahPelt]

Originally Posted by Beau

[ @CheetahPelt ]

The water felt cool against Foggypaw’s feet as she stepped into the pond, a nice contrast to the heat of the day. She nodded eagerly at Otterstrike’s words, puffing out her chest with pride at the thought of being ahead of the other young apprentices. Already the young black and white cat was enjoying the balance her buoyancy gave her and a burst of confidence sent her paddling out to reach Otterstrike.

The warrior may have only been up to her shoulders but Foggypaw was young and slight even for her age- two of her could stand one on top of the other and still only brush the ground at this point in the water but Foggypaw was only a little frightened. She looked to Otterstrike for reassurance as she swam in a sloppy circle, trusting the older she-cat to catch her if she started to go under.

“Am I doing it right?”

Otterstrike’s smile widened into a grin. “Good!” She gave a little hop of excitement. “Good!”
She kicked off the bottom to swim beside her apprentice, thinking it would be easier to correct some mistakes.
“You’re doing well! Try copying me, make a few adjustments... and you should be good.” Though she took a double take. “Actually, maybe not. Four legs are better then three.”
Otterleg mainly used her front paws, her hind leg floating in the water behind her, her tail being used as a rudder.
“Do the same thing your doing now, just tighten up your movements and you’ll have more control and use less energy swimming.”

[duckie]

Originally Posted by Rainquail

Does he want me to...
Yeah, Sootflare probably wanted him to start by attacking him first.
Careful to keep his claws tucked in, Cricketchirp prepared himself to leap at his mentor.
He darted to the side and used a paw to try and pop him in the side, right behind his shoulder blade. He knew that the muscle there was sensitive to blunt pains.....
Yes, he knew from experience and having fallen on his back more than once, and no he would never admit it.

Sootflare
__________

The deputy was prepared when Cricketchirp charged - he had given the instruction to attack, after all - and dove out of the way of the swipe aimed behind his shoulder. It was a lucky dodge, enabled by his awareness of the situation. Future dodges wouldn't be so easy if Cricketchirp wisened up and took notes moving forward.

"Sloppy." he called out, "If your enemy knows that you plan to attack, it's easy to avoid or counter. Feign a hit before going for the real attack and it will be easier to catch them off guard." As if for demonstration, Sootflare feigned a swipe at Cricketchirp's face before aiming a real blow to the other tom's front paws, hoping to brush them out from underneath him.

[ @Rainquail ]

[Abyssopelagic]

Startled, Cricketchirp reared up onto his hind paws rather than dodging when Sootflare's paws came for his face and backed up a few steps before tripping over his tail.
Oh, nonononono.
He tried to get back up to his feet before Sootflame was upon him and shot foward towards his side.

@wnder

[Moon Lily]

Originally Posted by The Shadow Flower

StonePaw would let out a squeak as her mentor sweeped her legs out from under her.
She’d fall to the side a bit, losing her balance immediately.

The apprentice would scramble to get steady again, taking a second.

Hickoryblaze emitted a quick purr of satisfaction before spotting yet another moment of weakness from his little protégé. Pausing for a moment, he slumped onto the ground, taking a rare break from his stunning, golden posture. Now he was a...beautiful pile of golden smoosh. Ew. Only for a quick rest!

"Okay, my darling protégé, we're going to try on avoiding weakness on your side. I've seen far too many moments where a cat could rip you open from your precious head to your tiny toes." He explained, standing up and turning to add some drama into the sentence, "So, dear. What do you suppose we could do to stop that?"

[skreelyshark]

Originally Posted by StealthWarrior

"Nope!" Stealthpaw meowed, laughter tainting edges of her voice, "It's you denying the truth! You so old you should be an elder!" slithering around the hits, she backed a few tail-lengths away and ran as fast as she could before using one of her favorite moves ever. Stopping. She fluffed up her fur so much on the non-impact, that it looked like she was twice her size! She then attempted to slap the (hopefully) suprised Reedwhisker across his face

Reedwhisker retorted with "Excuse you!" before realizing that she had stopped. He ducked quickly, her paws still grazing across the top of his head and he hissed in shock of the heavy blow. He leapt at her and tried to cling onto her neck, trying to tip her over with his weight.

"I'm not that old."

[dionysus]

[ @CheetahPelt ]

Foggypaw beamed at the praise and continued to paddle around like a little duck, twitching her nose as water droplets splashed onto it. She watched Otterstrike and tried to copy her for a moment before the warrior told her not to, nearly sinking as the dead weight of her legs pulled her down.

“Ok!”

The young apprentice adjusted correctly, returning to swimming with all four legs but trying to move smaller. She wasn’t sure exactly what it meant to tighten up but it sounded like keeping her limbs closer together so Foggypaw began to force her legs to stay closer to her chest and belly, not flailing around nearly as much, and the result was a lot less splashing but the same movement. She hadn’t been swimming long enough to know if it was stopping her from getting tired but trusted that Otterstrike was right.

[StealthWarrior]

Originally Posted by esa

Reedwhisker retorted with "Excuse you!" before realizing that she had stopped. He ducked quickly, her paws still grazing across the top of his head and he hissed in shock of the heavy blow. He leapt at her and tried to cling onto her neck, trying to tip her over with his weight.

"I'm not that old."

"Yeep!" cried Stealthpaw, as she tipped over, scrambling to her feet, she tried to shake Reedwhisker off by running around in fast, tight, circles.

[duckie]

Sootflare
__________

Sootflare had to hold back a laugh as Cricketchirp stumbled over himself in an effort to get away. It was the sort of display he expected from a newly-made apprentice, not a warrior-aged tom. It seemed they had more work to do than he thought, "Your opponent's goal is to trip you up, Cricketchirp, don't do it for them." he teased.

Instead of pulling away from Cricketchirp's next attack, he aimed to lean into it, body slamming into body. It was self-detrimental counter that would leave them both stunned if his opponent didn't abandon his attack. Sootflare hoped his experience with battle would allow him to recover faster than the unpracticed tom. However, it was all up to chance as to who got up first and aimed their blow.

[ @Rainquail ]