The trek to Cattail Pond went by in a heartbeat, and Wolfhive swiveled his ears to check for anything out of place before his attention fell fully on his companion. He brought Woodpaw out for practice but hadn't quite specified what they were doing.
"Hey Woodpaw, think quick!"
He lunged, aiming to swipe a paw toward Woodpaw's shoulder - before feinting and instead mock-slashing across his side.
Quickly the two would make their way over to the Cattail Pond. Woodpaw's ears flickered back and forth as he took in the scenery around him. It was beautiful, the territory of ThunderClan. Or else perhaps it had been his home forever, and that was why. Shaking his pelt, the apprentice looked up at the larger tom, Wolfhive, one of the Hornets. Though unsure of what they were going to do, the apprentice thought he was ready for it. Training had always been a success, at least most of the time, for him.
Suddenly, the other would talk, and abruptly a paw swiped over at him and he stumbled backwards to see as Wolfhive slashed across his side. The sudden actions had caught the apprentice off-guard and he retreated even more before he glanced back. With the pond behind him, he would suddenly swipe up water towards the face of the larger Thunderclanner, hoping to blind him for a second. Then, crouching down, he swiftly, as quickly as possible, tried to bound through the tall cattails invisibly, perhaps not to his success, however, if Wolfhive found him.
To the side of the warrior, Woodpaw wound charges and try to tackle him down. His eyes were bright with burning determination, mind spinning quickly for tactics that could potentially help.
(I'm so sorry for the late reply :') I hope this works for you)
"Eek!" Wolfhive did his best giant-rabbit impression as Beachpaw pummeled him. He shuffled to move away drom some of the strikes, in favor of twisting to send a (slightly firmer) kick in Beachpaw's direction. Big Bunny was hoping to catch them in the underside!
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Beachpaw -
OOOOOMPH. Beachpaw let out a dramatic squawk as they were kicked, and they ungracefully stumbled from the loss of balance. Stupid, stupid bunny legs. It took them an extra moment to recompose as it'd nearly knocked the wind out of them -- it hadn't been particularly harsh of a blow, but it had landed well.
Unwilling to let this deter them, they resumed the onslaught approaching from the front this time, more than aware to avoid those surprisingly dangerous back legs.
As Beachpaw stumbled, Wolfhive took the opportunity to hop back to his paws. He didn't watch rabbits very carefully, so he was struggling with how to keep playing one - but he figured they'd probably try to flee, right?
While Beachpaw recovered, that extra moment gave Wolfhive time to spin on his paws and start hopping away. When they went for his front, he veered off to a side and used a leg to kick toward the apprentice again - not aiming for anywhere specific.
With Dawnstar prepared to hand Sunkissed Creek back over without a fight, Bumblestar wanted to take a survey of the extra piece of territory she'd laid claim to after giving RiverClan what she saw as a helpful paw with Beansprout. It had given her a lot more trouble than she thought it was worth and if it didn't serve any further purpose, she had no qualms with returning it to RiverClan.
Light rain pattered against the canopy and the underbrush as Bumblestar approached the break in the bushes. From here, the sound of droplets hitting the surface of the pond was able to reach her ears. But the sound and the smell of the rain was enough of a distraction that she almost didn't see the massive creature ahead of her until it was too late.
The stench punched her nostrils without warning and Bumblestar's hackles shot up in response. She shrank back into the edge of the clearing underbrush to scan the area, and her eyes landed on what was probably the biggest badger she'd ever seen. Its fangs bared in a bloody snarl as it lifted its head from the half-eaten corpse on the ground. What animal it belonged to was unclear, but the fate the creature had met at the massive claws of the badger was frighteningly evident.
Bumblestar's ears flattened as the badgers nostrils flared and its stained black-and-white face turned in her direction, beady black eyes locking onto her with a scary amount of precision. Apparently it deemed its earlier target a good enough meal, because it merely growled and looked away again. The faint smell of milk wafted toward her with the movement.
That was more than enough for Bumblestar to make a decision. Cattail Pond had originally been nothing more than a claim of status in the first place. Dealing with the poison had made Bumblestar question its worth already, but now a badger that likely housed kits nearby was scoping out the area, and the Pond was no longer worth the effort in defending. This could be RiverClan's problem - given all of the trouble they had handed ThunderClan and now WindClan, they deserved to be the ones to handle it.
With a flick of her tail, Bumblestar backed out of sight and scaled the nearest tree. Her journey back to camp would be made through the branches; there was no sense in leading the massive predator right to her front door via a ground trail.
Quickly the two would make their way over to the Cattail Pond. Woodpaw's ears flickered back and forth as he took in the scenery around him. It was beautiful, the territory of ThunderClan. Or else perhaps it had been his home forever, and that was why. Shaking his pelt, the apprentice looked up at the larger tom, Wolfhive, one of the Hornets. Though unsure of what they were going to do, the apprentice thought he was ready for it. Training had always been a success, at least most of the time, for him.
Suddenly, the other would talk, and abruptly a paw swiped over at him and he stumbled backwards to see as Wolfhive slashed across his side. The sudden actions had caught the apprentice off-guard and he retreated even more before he glanced back. With the pond behind him, he would suddenly swipe up water towards the face of the larger Thunderclanner, hoping to blind him for a second. Then, crouching down, he swiftly, as quickly as possible, tried to bound through the tall cattails invisibly, perhaps not to his success, however, if Wolfhive found him.
To the side of the warrior, Woodpaw wound charges and try to tackle him down. His eyes were bright with burning determination, mind spinning quickly for tactics that could potentially help.
(I'm so sorry for the late reply :') I hope this works for you)
"Smart!" Wolfhive flinched back as water cascaded over his muzzle. Despite exposing himself to it (with Violetfreckle's help), he still wasn't comfortable with it against his fur. He shook his head, ears swiveling as Woodpaw disappeared into the cattails.
Wolfhive heard him coming before he saw him - Woodpaw's body sending the cattails rustling. He swung to a side, dodging the charge - and reached to grab at Woodpaw's tail. If he caught it, he'd yoink the apprentice back (and try not to hurt him in the process!)
As Beachpaw stumbled, Wolfhive took the opportunity to hop back to his paws. He didn't watch rabbits very carefully, so he was struggling with how to keep playing one - but he figured they'd probably try to flee, right?
While Beachpaw recovered, that extra moment gave Wolfhive time to spin on his paws and start hopping away. When they went for his front, he veered off to a side and used a leg to kick toward the apprentice again - not aiming for anywhere specific.
°•. info & relations ✿ they/them ✿ finder coming soon ✿ challenge mode! [skill-perk free] .•°
Beachpaw -
Very narrowly dodging that kick (but not before seeing their life flash before their eyes, remembering the previous one) Beachpaw frowned at the attempted escape of their opponent. And with a tired huff, they flopped onto their rear. "Kinda tiring, the battle stuff." Not that they were eager to say it, it was also just... a little boring. Not much excitement in hit, dodge, hit, dodge, repeat. Sure, the moves were different, but it quickly overstayed its welcome.
"Have you ever enjoyed a battle? Either... a real one or a pretend one."
"It can be." Since Beachpaw wasn't continuing, Wolfhive took it as he could drop the bunny act. Honestly, a relief - it was getting kind of irksome to roleplay it. "C'mon, I think that's a good point to end on for today.' He joined Beachpaw's side and flicked his tail over their shoulder.
Unlike Beachpaw, Wolfhive enjoyed fighting in his own way. Maybe not this, but actual fighting. "I enjoy both, but I don't think attacking fake bunnies is much of a battle." For one, outside of kicking Wolfhive couldn't fight back. "Besides.. I don't fight because I want to, I fight because I have to." Then, he nudged Beachpaw oh-so-gently. "Why don't we head back to camp, you can take a break for the rest of the evening?"
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Beachpaw -
Skeptically, Beachpaw clarified, "So the real thing is more enjoyable when you're attacking real ...clanmates." Practicing specific moves over and over, or even freestyling it (as they'd been doing) didn't spark their interest.
If they had to venture a guess, they were pretty sure they'd prefer fighting something that wouldn't hit them back because ow? It didn't feel good. And wounds were a part of battle--they'd been in ThunderClan long enough to deduce that much. Something wasn't adding up about this. "But it hurts?" It was starting to appear as though they'd been sold a lie about the exhileration of battle and the fun of training for it.
Going back to camp sounded better. Beachpaw nodded their agreement, slightly disheartened by fighting failing to live up to the perceived hype. "When do I get to do it for real?"
"Some cats might not like it regardless, but when you're engaging with another cat it's... more exhilarating." Hit different, Wolfhive supposed was the best way to put it. Being a "bunny" was frustrating and limited, and nothing like how a real cat should fight.
Pain was a part of life, as far as Wolfhive was concerned. It molded a cat into who they needed to become. "A lot of things do, opting to not fight isn't going to keep you from being hurt. At the very least we should teach you how to defend yourself, so you can minimalize how hurt you might get." He wasn't.. going to force Beachpaw to hurt others, but he wanted them to be able to handle a punch if it was dealt to them.
Wolfhive began to lead them back. "We'll do some practice tomorrow, alright? And if you really hate it after we go over some techniques.. we can swap to hunting or something. I just wanna make sure you can fight, if you ever need to."
"Smart!" Wolfhive flinched back as water cascaded over his muzzle. Despite exposing himself to it (with Violetfreckle's help), he still wasn't comfortable with it against his fur. He shook his head, ears swiveling as Woodpaw disappeared into the cattails.
Wolfhive heard him coming before he saw him - Woodpaw's body sending the cattails rustling. He swung to a side, dodging the charge - and reached to grab at Woodpaw's tail. If he caught it, he'd yoink the apprentice back (and try not to hurt him in the process!)
He was soon detected by Wolfhive, and yelped as the Hornet grabbed his tail. Though the warrior was trying not to harm him it still hurt, so he went limp and retreated with him.
As Woodpaw got closer to a point where his tail is trailing down, he stood onto his front paws and kicked back at Wolfhive, trying to get his tail back in the process. He then turned to face him so he wouldn't be ambushed from behind and retreated backwards, his tail lashing.
His mind thought as he circled Wolfhive and thought of what to do. This is almost his first ever sparring session. He's a bit extra too careful.
Re: Cattail Pond
