You don't learn to fight without getting a few scars

[Luminous]

[This is a thread where I'll write about Wyvern's past, mainly just to get a feel for her character before she joins a clan]

[Luminous]

Her mother had been strict when telling Wyvern and her littermates to be ready for their first lesson when the sun touched the rooftops, so the young molly hadn't allowed her siblings to go anywhere to make sure they'd be there on time. Dragon and Serpent seemed as excited for this as she was, though from their demeanor Wyvern could never been sure they were taking this as seriously as she was. The two of them were already trying to tackle each other, claiming that they were practicing when Wyvern had told them to stop, and all they were talking about how good fights they were going to be, and how they would get to beat up housecats and be strong enough to steal food from other cats living in the streets. To Wyvern, this was more than that. She wasn't sure if Mother had taught her siblings the same "eat or be eaten" rule that applied to all rogues, because in that case it was clear that neither Serpent nor Dragon had taken it to heart the same way she had.

"Listen up!" Corvin's voice as she approached cut through the air like a blade through water, making Serpent and Dragon finally stop their wrestling, and even forcing Wyvern's own posture straighter as she turned towards their mother. Corvin's huge situate towards the setting sun - carrying a dead magpie in her jaws and flicking away tufts of fur from the cat she had had to fight it from - was a sight to behold, muscles moving under sleek black and grey fur and scars, battle trophies, adorning the coat. It always bothered Wyvern that she had enherited neither her mother's size nor black fur, instead being built more lean like her father and with his brown and orange-dabbled pelt. Serpent was big like their mother, Dragon had a grey coat - Wyvern only had her mother's piercing green eyes.

"You'll have your first actual lesson in fighting tactics." Corvin had placed their dinner aside and took her position in front of her kits. "You should always be aware of your surroundings, but this comes into play differently when you fight. Keep eyes on every enemy around you, expect attacks from behind, and be prepared for your opponent to fight dirty, especially when desperate. Do you understand?"

"Oh we'll beat them up!" Dragon piped up. "Don't you worry ma-" "Pay attention!" The tone in Corvin's voice actually cut even Wyvern off guard. "Your lives will one day depend on how well you can use your claws, how sharp your eyes are, and how well you aim your bite. Fighting isn't a game, you need to understand that. It's what will keep you alive, how you protect yourself and it assures you can get food for the day."There was something in the way Corvin spoke that Wyvern hadn't seen before. Her mother had been caring, commanding, gentle, and stern, but there was something more there now, something Wyvern hadn't seen in her mother before: stress and worry. Her mother was worried. Worried about them.

Corvin sighed. "Perhaps we should start with more simple moves and tactics rather then jumping straight into... everything. Try to mimic me." With that the huge feline sunk down, moving her tail out of the way and waiting to give her kits time to follow her example. Wyvern's green gaze drifted over her mother's stance, trying t take in a copy paw-place meant, tail position, everything in order to try and get it right. Then Corvin lunged and raked her claws over an imaginary opponent before turning to her kits. "That is the most common move in fights," she explained as Wyvern and her siblings attempted to copy her move. "The strength in the lunge should come mainly from your hindlegs and remember to main for this like the throat to kill, the eyes to incapacitate, and the nose and muzzle to cause pain." "But you always want to go for the kill," Dragon protested. "Killing is messy, dangerous, and takes a lot of effort. Kill when you need to, like if an enemy won't flee when they need to, to protect your own name if they've crossed you badly enough, or to build your reputation so that fewer cats will want to get into a fight with you, but one thing that you always need to remember is that if your enemy is within range, so are you. When you attempt to kill someone you are at a higher risk of being hurt too, so if just getting your opponent to leave, like by causing enough pain that they won't want to continue, or by incapacitating them so that you can get away, go for that option instead."

After a few attempts, Wyvern felt her movements improving, becoming more smooth and natrual, and she found herself having to think about the movement of her body less and less each time, as if her muscles knew how to perform the attack with her. Her siblings seemed to also be getting a hang of it.
A few more tips came from Corvin before she seemed to have decided that the move was good enough for the time being and stood up again. "We'll move on to defense, since we don't have much time left, but remember to practice this a few times still later to get the hang of it and come to me if you have questions. "

"Defense is just as important as offense. Know when to strike, and when to retreat, when to dodge, and when to block." Corvin's gaze fixed on Dragon. "Never overestimate your chances, pride will only get you killed." Then her focus moved to all of them. "Timing is crucial. You must anticipate your opponent's moves and be able to react accordingly. A split second can mean the difference between victory and defeat, so make sure you learn this."

A few moments to practice the blocking move Corvin showed them before she moved on. "Defense is largely about reading your opponent and knowing when they will strike, but also what their goal is; someone who aims to kill you will attack a lot differently than someone who aims to just steal your dinner and slink away, and will, in turn, fight differently than someone who wants you to get away from their territory. This also plays into fighting, where tricking an enemy into interpreting your intentions wrong will also change you they'll defend themselves."

"You'll also need to learn and understand your own limitations and strengths. Serpent, you and I are both large, meaning we can usually take more blows and hit stronger, but also have a harder time moving quietly, or avoiding blows, while Dragon's dark coat will come in handy when sneaking around, and you, Wyvern will be able to dodge blows and stalks others without being hard a lot better. It's up to you whether you'll try and overcome your limitations, or get around them by leaning on your strengths."

Wyvern's shadow had crept across the ground during the lesson, and when it was over and her attention finally broke away from her mother, she noticed that the sun had fully set.

[Luminous]

The fading light of dusk illuminated the trees and Wyvern followed her mother towards the forest. When Corvin had told her earlier in the day to be ready by sunset to continue training, Wyvern had held a very different vision of what it was going to be like. She was used to training closer to where they lived, somewhere in the streets, but this time, they were going to the forest.

Behind them the cacophony of the city was slowly fading, the rumbling of cars and the sound of humans walking being replaced by a rustling of leaves and the occasional singing of the birds overhead. It was calm. Or it was supposed to be, she understood that much. Still, something about the stillness unnerved her. It was too quiet. In the city, silence, or even something close to that, was never good, and Wyvern had lost count of all of the times she had heard nothing only to find out the danger was very near, but that she hadn't be able to hear it. So what kind of danger was lurking in this calmness?

"Tonight, we'll train here" Corvin's voice was low, like a rumble of thunder on the horizon, but much more familiar. "We have much to cover and little time to spare." Wyvern nodded, ears pricking up and attention shifting to her mother, but this time making sure she wasn't blocking out what else was happening around her, this time she didn't want to not notice something else happening. It wasn't like she felt unsafe, that wasn't really possible with someone like Corvin around, but it was the principal and someday she would be here without her mother.

"First, we'll work on hunting," Corvin began. "Being able to catch your own meal is sometimes easier than scavenging for it, and certainly easier than stealing it most of the time. In the forest, prey is plentiful, but you must learn to stalk with skill and precision." "Then why don't we always hunt?" It was Serpent, usually more quiet, who asked, and Corvin's gazed out over the forest. "Many use the forest as their hunting grounds, and many have drawn territory lines and borders all over the human-free lands," she explained. "Some places are currently unclaimed, like this piece of forest, but alongside loners there are also large groups of cats called 'clan' that live not far from here, and everyone who has territory were they hunt knows to protect it, so crossing their borders is often more trouble than it's worth. That's why you sometimes have to find your food in the city, but many more animals live out here, so I want you to know how to hunt them too."

"First, we'll work on tracking. You must learn to read the signs of the forest, to follow the trail of your prey with unwavering determination." Corvin paused to scent the air. "Kits, do you smell that? The forest has many different scents compared to the city. Now, I've hidden a piece of a vole here nearby. A vole is a bit like a mouse, it looks very similar but has a slightly different taste. I want you to see if you can sniff it out."

The three kits all began to search, and Wyvern did her best to try and determine what could have been the scent of a vole among the other scents. Eventually, something seemed to stick out a bit from the rest, and moments later she with the assistance of her siblings managed to dig up the hindleg of a vole that Corvin had hidden. Before they moved on, Wyvern sniffed the piece of prey to try and memorize the scent of vole.

"Next, we'll work on stealth and patience," Corvin continued. "In the forest, you must learn to move unseen and unheard, and to wait for the perfect moment to strike is key."

With silent steps and fluid movements, Corvin led her kits through the dense undergrowth, showing them how to place their paws so as not to step on any twigs which she explained could snap loudly, how to judge which dead leaves seemed safe to step on without crunching, how to stalk without your belly brushing against the ground.

Lastly, Corvin placed a pinecone in the undergrowth and told her kits one by one to creep up on it and try and pounce. "Move slowly and undetected up until you're confident that you can leap and catch the prey before it can have the chance to slink away or slip into a burrow too small for you to follow. When you have caught the prey, do not try and kill it the same way you would kill a cat, do not rip it apart, simply bite at the neck or throat and no not let go until the prey stops struggling and you no longer can feel their heartbeat or hear their breathing - keep in mind that sometimes the prey will fake being dead only to try and escape once you let go. Wyvren, you can try first."

Wyvern nodded and sunk into the same crouch as before and carefully placing down her paws, began to creep forward. Low enough to not be stopped, high enough not to brush against the forestfloor, and making sure to be as quiet as possible. When she was within a good range of the "prey" she shifted her weight onto her hindlegs and pounced, landing with a paw on the pinecone and biting it as if were a rodent. 'So that's how you hunt.'

[Luminous]

"Wyvern." The city, cloaked by the darkness of a moonless night, was unusually still, and the young molly's senses were tingling with anticipation as her mother joined her atop the rooftop. It had been Wyvern's first proper watch-turn, and she had been trusted to do it without supervision from her parents or grandfather, and she knew from her mother's expression that she had done well.
The absence of the moon had cast the city into even deeper shadows, transforming it into a maze of silhouettes and whispered sounds, but apparently, Corvin had decided it was still a good opportunity for a lesson. "Serpent and Dragon are not with you," Wyvern observed, eyes shifting from scanning the empty space her mother had left behind her to looking directly at her. “Tonight is different,” Corvin murmured, her voice barely a ripple in the still air. "We'll train stealth - not for hunting but for walking around - and it's easier with fewer cats." The other meaning behind those words was one Wyvern decided was not meant for her to investigate, so she simply followed her mother as she led the way.

“The dark is both your ally and your enemy. It hides you, but it hides others too,” Corvin quietly explained, as they made their way down to the shaded streets below. Wyvern’s eyes adjusted to the starlight-less darkness they slipped into, nodding slightly in response to her mother's words as she did her best to keep up and be as quiet as her. Corvin's movements were always so fluid and ghostly, and her steps near soundless despite her huge size. For months Wyvern had worked on mimicking her mother's movements, to copy the technique behind those movements, but it was in moments like these where she realized how much she still had to learn.

They had reached more secluded parts of the web of streets when Corvin finally stopped. "If you want to manage on your own you'll need to understand the art of silence." A pause, then- “I will move ahead and hide. Your task is to find me without making a sound. If I hear you, we start again.” -and with another nod, Wyvern watched her mother disappear into the darkness. It was strange, because logically speaking, she knew that Corvin had not gone far, still she felt as if no one she knew was within miles.

She shook herself. The game was a familiar one, nothing she hadn't tried to get her siblings to play before to practice, but tonight the stakes seemed... higher, the environment more unforgiving - everything became more serious when she knew that Corvin was preparing her for something she had yet to fully grasp the danger of. Wyvern waited a moment more, letting her ears tune to the slightest sounds - the distant call of a nocturnal bird, a lonely car passing in the distance, otherwise silence.

Then it was time to begin, and she quickly went through what her mother had said before when they practiced sneaking up on prey, but when she tried to apply the same knowledge, she saw how badly it in actuality fit. Moving soundlessly through the darkness of the streets wasn't the same as stalking up on prey - no need to watch if your belly brushed against the ground, not chance to by sight evaluate if leaves or twigs would make a sound when you stepped on them, and her spotted pelt offered little assistance when juxtaposed against darkness and not the brown-dappled forestfloor. 'And thats why she wanted to do this, to teach me.' Either way, Wyvern had no plan on letting her mother down.

Slowly she began to move forward, one paw in front of the other and placing great care to see what could be on the ground before taking another step, Wyvern headed after her mother. She'd come what she believed to be about halfway when her paw bumped against something on the ground - a dark little rock she hadn't noticed - which in and of itself didn't make any sort of notable noice against her soft paws, but the stumbling step it caused did. When she regained her footing and looked up, Corvin was suddenly in front of her. "Just be careful with your pace," she instructed. "That wouldn't have made a noise had you not stumbled, which can be avoided if you move slowly enough." Wyvern's gaze didn't meet her mother's, instead giving the rock a spiteful glance. "You can move quickly," she sighed. "I have more practice, Wyvern. You're still only 5 moons, I don't expect you to be able to do everything yet, I'm just preparing you to grow up." Corvin was silent for a heartbeat before speaking again. "Let's try again, see if you can reach all the way to me this time, you already came three-fourths of the way there."

Wyvern took a slow breath in as she prepared again, letting her mother disappear again before restarting. She moved with painstaking slowness, testing each step before committing her weight, her eyes scanning to try and find Corvin's location. The darkness challenged her, shaped her movements, and she knew she should accept what it taught her, but it still felt strange. She found herself relying more on her ears and whiskers, as well as what her pawpads felt against the street.

Then, up ahead, a slight disturbance in the pattern of the night caught her attention - a shadow that didn’t match the rest, a subtle misalignment in the darkness. About the correct shade and even the body was aligned up with the walls so well that Wyvern at first had to check to see that it wasn't just the wall, but the texture of the fur, the faintest white streak of a whisker. Sure of it now, Wyvern took the remaining few steps towards her mother, and then almost uncharacteristically playfully of her, bopping her nose quickly towards her mother's, as if to confirm to Corvin that she was found.

“Well done,” Corvin’s voice was soft but carried a clear note of approval, and with a slight smile dancing over Wyvern's face, she was sure she made out a hint of a laugh. She had done well.

[Luminous]

Green eyes shot open and a pair of spotted ears pricked right up. Wyvern had been in her and her siblings' nest, already half asleep after a day's worth of patroling around the nearby streets, when a sound had broken into her sleep. She quickly looked up and around, but none of her family members were still asleep. Then it came again, an uneven noise, almost like someone walking but the rhythm was way off. Carefully getting to her paws, the spotted feline slipped away from her resting place and peeked out into the late evening outside. She saw nothing in the darkness hanging like thick fog outside... but with the chilled air came floating in the metallic smell of blood.
Eyes narrowed into slits of green and dark brown fur rose over her spine and Wyvern slipped outside. This could be dangerous, yes, but if there was something out there, something like a dog or enemy rogue, she had to check on it and warn her family. But through the stench of blood, she quickly managed to make out another scent too.

"Mother?"

It was very clearly Corvin's scent, but Wyvern had thought she'd be patrolling another part of the streets tonight, so why would she be here? For a horrible second Wyvern could picture someone dragging her mother's lifeless body here, but she almost breathed a sigh of relief when Corvin's dark silhouette emerged from the shadows, limping and wounded. Concern bleeding over Wyvern's expression, the spotted molly rushed over. "What happened, is are there enemies nearby? I can go wake up the rest if needed." Her mother just shook her head. "Wyvern, we need to talk."

"I was attacked by a clancat. No, they didn't seek me out, I was on their land. You know the clans - Thunder-, River-, Wind-, and Shadowclan? The past moon I've been trying to meet a few clancats one on one to find out some things about both how the clans work and what has happened there recently."

Her mother was quiet for a bit, her narrow eyes looking out of the street below them. "I'm planning for you three to join a clan. I haven't decided yet which one, but I would prefer for all three of you to be in the same clan to avoid you having to fight each other."
What would living in clan even mean? She had only heard a few things about them - their naming traditions, something about a code they had to follow, and rumours about their conflicts. Corvin sighed. "Just think about it. I'll talk to Serpent and Dragon about it later." With that, her mother left to go and tend to her wound and broken leg.