[Thistledawn]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The orange tom could feel Cherrypaw weakening as he kept up the furious onslaught, batting at her (lightly) with his paws, keeping up a high-energy speed, but careful not to be too rough. His eyes flashed as he determinedly drove her on, pressing as hard as he felt possible without hurting her too much. And then, eventually, when she did lose her balance, he pressed a little harder until he was eventually pinning her to the ground. "Good for your first time!" He complimented, panting a little bit as well. Blazingcomet was in his prime now, but even a warrior in their prime tended to get tired after struggling to fight for so long. A warrior in their prime was the cat that you could bet on to win a fight. Older warriors had more experience, but they were weaker - older apprentices/new warriors, well, they hadn't had as much experience and they were overconfident in their abilities.

Blazingcomet might have been overconfident at times, but at least when he fought, he knew what he was doing. Which gave him a reason to be confident in his abilities. "Ready to try again?" He asked, getting off of Cherrypaw and backing away some. His normally well-groomed orange fur was messy and looked as though it had been wind-blown in all directions. He awaited her answer, but backed up some just in case it was a "yes -" besides, they would be doing it soon anyways. If she needed a break she could have one, but he wasn't planning on waiting for very long. Once this training session was over, he would go to meet Petal... or talk to Gingerblossom, or if he could, Drizzleshard.

His ex-mate might not want to see him again, but the last time he had seen her (telling her that he was no longer sure if he was in love with her, and then her finding out about Petal) they had ended things on a rough note. He wanted to change that... at least end things on a more friendly note. Work something out so that they could maybe have some type of a friendship. That was what Blazingcomet really wanted, but chances were Drizzleshard wouldn't be quite as willing to cooperate with him as he was with her. She just wasn't the forgiving type of cat, or she hadn't been when he had tried to explain. Though to be fair - he doubted he would have been understanding if she had told him something like that.

Cherrypaw squirmed underneath her mentor's paws. She felt the earth rubbing against her pelt, soiling her pretty white fur. It didn't feel good to lose even when she knew she would, but Cherrypaw felt more determined now. A new sense of inspiration flourished inside of her. It was the small things in life that did this to her. She'd been winning the battle for a heartbeat, and that was enough for now. Blazingcomet was still above her, panting a bit. His praise felt good, especially when she thought she deserved it. The apprentice was breathing heavily too, taking a moment or two to regain her breath and her strength. That first fight had surely sapped Cherrypaw's physical strength. Being on 7 moons old, her endurance wasn't the same as a fully trained cat's. Impatience prickled at her paws once more. She absolutely couldn't wait to be a warrior of SkyClan.

"Let's do this," The she-cat mewed with spirit as Blazingcomet's weight lifted off of the smaller cat. The white cat shook the dirt and other objects from her fur, then looked up to her mentor with bright blue eyes. She hoped that this training session ended on a good note. She wanted to take some good news or something to brag about back to the apprentice's den where surely some apprentices must be napping or chatting. Impressing and trying to outshine the other apprentices was something Cherrypaw looked forward to. She was young and small and not taken seriously by other cats. She hoped that sharing her accomplishments would impress them, making them forget just how young and inexperienced she was.

The apprentice took on the same defensive stance and watched her mentor. She'd have to figure out how she was going to beat Blazingcomet this time. Her last move had come to her in a panic and wasn't calculated. She'd barely had time to think any of her blows through. The she-cat wondered if perhaps she could use the same move again. Maybe her mentor would expect that from her. Or maybe he expects that I know he expects that from me, so he thinks I'll use a different move, and I'll surprise him with the same one. Her head whirled. No, she thought. I'll just get tired again. I want to win. Cherrypaw hoped this time would be different. At the very least, she wanted to do better than last time. The white cat craved more praise from her mentor. The slight taste of it wasn't enough for her.