Carefully watching the apprentice's hunters crouch, Gingerfrost noticed Littlepaw's gaze to which, and about two heartbeats, he gave a nod to signal the go ahead. He didn't see anything specifically wrong with her crouch, so that was already a pass. Now for her hunting technique. It seemed in the end that the older apprentice went after the bird; he admitted that he hadn't yet tried that specific technique on purpose (only when the bird already flew up before catching it) but she looked like she knew what she was doing. So, the shield remained silent and carefully watched until Littlepaw's happy cheers rose up. He still remained silent for a little, unmoving as he went over the past hunt in his mind. Correct pose, successful technique, no injuries, clean catch - he saw no problem, so her hunting was on point. By that he gave a clear single nod to the apprentice, eyes briefly closing in the process. it wasn't audible, but that was his sign of approval and recognition that she indeed caught the bird with little trouble.

"Take it with you; we're heading to our last spot so there's no point burying it."
Gingerfrost meowed as he got up, and signalled for their tour to continue. They weren't that far off, so it was a quick walk to the training island where the tom stopped and turned back to Littlepaw.
"You might've already been here, but this is the training island. Where we learn how to fight."

Gingerfrost did faintly recall a group training session with a bunch of warrior, much less apprentices, hosted by Snowleap. Chances were that that's what she was talking about, but he didn't inquire on it. If anything, the most notable bit of information was that Littlepaw hadn't yet had a proper battle training session. He would have to fix that soon, but swimming would come first. He gave a nod with his usual "hm" to indicate he heard and understood the young apprentice, before signalling that it was time to head off.
"Drop that on the prey pile once we're back; grab something to eat and get some rest as well"
He meowed as they returned to camp.

It was a bit later in the day, beyond the time mentors usually took out their apprentices. But Gingerfrost had done this intentionally - and not just because he was tired and wanted to sleep a little longer, but also because he wanted Littlepaw to be well rested today. This would essentially be their last training session before her assessment. As far as he knew, Littlepaw had had some battle training before - just not much. He already knew how he was going to go about this, however. Simple and straightforward. The warrior kept an eye on the excited apprentice as she bounded to the training island before him. She looked so excited you'd think she didn't sleep the night before, but no matter. For once the tom wasn't too bothered by how excited the apprentice was as it would only serve her well.

Arriving on the familiar training island, he scanned to area to find not many others training at that moment, good. That would leave the area calm and spacious. Turning his head he found the bounding Littlepaw, declaring her readiness to which he nodded. For once the usually lethargic tom looked just a bit more serious than lazy as he moved a few fox-length's away and faced her. Alright.
"We're going to battle today; No claws, only light biting. Use what you know, your surroundings. Nearly anything can be a move if you use it right."

Lowering into a practiced crouch, he nodded with the usual 'hm' for Littlepaw to go ahead. He knew this wasn't the usual practice, but this way he could best see what she still needed to learn.

The warrior kept his eyes trained on the apprentice, inspecting her crouch from afar - watching for any movement to attack. He understood her previous surprise, but she might even get surprised by her own abilities through this. He was going to go a little easy on her, but he wouldn't let that show - he wanted Littlepaw to feel like she was in an actual battle, where both parties did what they could to best the other - like this was her assessment. She would barely learn otherwise.

His tail swished over the ground one, two, when it happened. He stubbornly stayed in place, only adjusting his paws, as the older apprentice rushed at him. Pleased with her last minute twist, Gingerfrost let her tap his nose (ouch), right then beginning to turn away from Littlepaw. With said sudden turn, he intended to ram into her with his backside or slap her with his tail if she already pulled back (which in would leave his tail to bitten should she react fast enough); using the momentum of his turn, the moment the cream apprentice would come in sight, the tabby would aim a paw forward, with a rush if necessary, to tap her on the head. Of course, after that he would jump back out of reach. Maybe he wouldn't go that easy on her after all, to begin with. He wanted to really see her try.