leaping into combat (as safely as possible)

[occultation]

( @Mica )

Fadingsun cared about Eaglepaw.

He didn't want to see her hurt.

That meant she needed to be able to defend herself, as well as an apprentice could. Fadingsun hadn't had the chance to teach her any significant battle moves; that needed to be fixed immediately.

Poking his head into the warriors' den, he called, "Eaglepaw? Come out here, if you're in there. It's time for you to learn some battle moves from me."

[Mica]

Eaglepaw
RiverClan
she/her | 8 moons | 78/100
[Golden and white tuxedo tabby with green eyes]
Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2
· · ────────────── · ·
[Fadingsun - @occultation ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Eaglepaw glanced up as Fadingsun called her, the maine coon apprentice pushing herself to large paws and following him out into the open air. Battle moves, hm? Ever eager to learn, Eaglepaw felt her heart lift a little. Fadingsun still wanted to teach her, which was a good sign. He hadn't abandoned her yet. All she had to do was ace this, and she would remain his apprentice. Their talk under the stars still stuck with her, even though the voices in her head screamed that he was only biding his time before turning on her. She did her best to ignore them as they settled into their spot for training. Eaglepaw gave Fadingsun a nod when she was ready, kneading her paws eagerly.

[occultation]

( @Mica )

After leading Eaglepaw out into the territory, Fadingsun turned to face her. "When you're inexperienced, it's better to focus on defending yourself rather than going on the offense. You're still young and not fully grown; you won't be able to hold your own against a fully-grown cat."

This area had some soft ground; if Eaglepaw tumbled around a lot during this training session, she wouldn't get hurt beyond a few bruises. "Darting in, trying to strike your opponent, and then darting back out of reach is a good way to defensively approach combat. It helps you stay out of your opponent's reach, but you need to be agile and quick. I want you to practice that on me. Rush forward and hit me, then dart back, then rush forward and strike again. Repeat until I say stop. For now, I'll stay put to make it easy."

[Mica]

Eaglepaw
RiverClan
she/her | 8 moons | 78/100
[Golden and white tuxedo tabby with green eyes]
Purrks: Dreamwalker, Herbal Knowledge T2
· · ────────────── · ·
[Fadingsun - @occultation ]
· · ────────────── · ·
Eaglepaw glanced at Fadingsun with a semi-incredulous look as he advised her in not taking on a fully grown cat. She didn't know if he had noticed, but Eaglepaw was already larger than a good chunk of fully grown warriors. But her lack of training made her vulnerable enough.

Her first instructions were to rush in, swipe, and dart away. Eaglepaw nodded, stepping back from Fadingsun where they had paused, taking a breath. Without a word, Eaglepaw leapt forward, aiming a swipe at Fadingsun's flank before scrambling out of reach. It was sloppy, and had her slipping a bit before she managed to catch her footing.

The next few tries were similar in their execution, but unlike when Eaglepaw was a brand-new apprentice, she didn't seem to care about messing up. In fact, she seemed rather apathetic as to what was happening. It was almost mechanical for her. She made the same mistakes over and over again--run too fast, throw her weight too far, hold her swipe back too much so she ended up missing. But each try had her slowly improving, learning her weaknesses and working on them with harsh discrimination. Eaglepaw panted through each move, becoming lighter and lighter on her paws. Her size would negatively impact her speed overall, but she could make the best of it.