put on your war paint

[Ian]

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Talonpaw
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Talonpaw dragged himself out of the apprentices den with a huff as he scanned the clearing for Starlingflight. The only thing that Fadingsun had said that was true was that he could be training. He had mainly been worried Starlingflight didn't care—about him or about his training—but he couldn't put it off longer. He needed to learn for his own safety.

"Starlingflight?" he murmured as he spotted the she-cat, an inexplicable feeling of anxiety washing over him. She was going to yell at him. She was going to call him names. That was what he had done.

Talonpaw quickly clamped down on those feelings and shoved them as far away as he could. She was different—had to be. Tinystorm had risked his life to save him from dogs and Starlingflight had done the same when ThunderClan had attacked RiverClan. Tinystorm had been different. Starlingflight must be different. If she wasn't...

"I don't have much training. My previous mentor only managed to start a territory tour and then the flood happened. And I was gone for a while."

@Tiabirb

[Tiabirb]

Starlingflight
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She was musing over the day's plans, half-hunched over as she stared at the ground between her paws. She hadn't been...feeling well as of late. Low energy, nearly apathetic and simply...unable to bring herself out of her nest. Ever since the battle with RiverClan, she had been struggling with the notion that she had fallen so easily. She was no scrawny cat. Her skills were simply falling behind. For that, she worried about her ability to train Talonpaw, which led her to worry more and feel....useless.

But she heard her name, and she looked up slowly to see Talonpaw. She allowed just a flicker of surprise to manifest itself, before her eyes glazed over once more. "Yes?" She prompted. He spoke. He was forward and to the point.
"I've been thinking you need some proper technique to go behind that ferocity you displayed in the battle." She said quietly. "How about I show you some land and water battle moves?" It was a good chance her to brush up as well. That and the recent scolding from Fadingsun...well, she didn't think much of it. Apprentices were shifted around constantly. Or went missing entirely. She didn't expect Fadingsun to really notice or care about her wellbeing, or whether she was fit to train in the first place.

"We'll head down to the river." Starlingflight murmured, rising to her paws with a grunt of effort, padding for the camp entrance. "We'll start with some basic paw to paw techniques."

@Ian

[Ian]

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Talonpaw
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He hadn't realized his whole body was tensed until it relaxed in relief at Starlingflight's words. Talonpaw shouldn't have doubted her. She was like Tinystorm. He wouldn't doubt her again. His nervous energy transitioned into his excitement, his tail tip twitching slightly as he nodded eagerly.

"Thanks, Starlingflight! I don't want to have to be saved again. I was lucky it was you," Talonpaw mewed as he eagerly followed her. It would be good to get out of camp, too. He didn't like the feeling of being trapped with no way out and eyes on him at all times. They were always watching. Talonpaw quickly pushed away the uncomfortable feeling and instead focused on his excitement. He would not let his paranoia ruin this training session!

@Tiabirb

[Tiabirb]

Starlingflight
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She decided to quiz Talonpaw on some basics as they traveled. Mentoring wasn't the worst thing in the world for her. It was a lot like...well...nevermind. It wouldn't do to connect those dots...

"I'm going to see how your critical thinking works." She mused, "A few scenarios to see what you would do." Starlingflight slid a pale yellow gaze down to Talonpaw. "Keep in mind, there's no real wrong answer."


"Scenario one. You are patrolling the border alone, when you see another Clan's apprentice crossing the border in pursuit of the squirrel. What do you do?" Starlingflight prompted. Her personal answer, not the one she was looking for, was to watch and see if the apprentice caught the prey, or realized their mistake of crossing the border and doubled back. From there, she had a proper response depending on the severity of the trespass.

But she was an older warrior. Sixty moons to have the patience and wisdom to observe a situation rather than let her impulsiveness work her up into a fit and act rashly. She also had the emotional depth of a rock at this point in her life, and while she did her best to keep her melancholy to herself, she was still capable of a little bit of empathy and perspective.

"Answer in your own time." She murmured, "There's no rush." And indeed, there was no rush to the pace Starlingflight was moving. She was taking her time, walking, not trotting. A smart warrior didn't spend extra energy when they didn't need to.

@Ian