[goddess of ducks]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The feline was partly stunned. True; she had messed up, but at least she was trying. Oh well. He knew best... at least, she wanted to believe that he did. If he was doing this for no reason, she would be severely angry. But, hopefully there was some sort of strategy in all of his madness, some sort of idea to this plan. If she did slip up... he would attack her. And she guessed that a warrior like him, who was older and more seasoned, was better adapted to fighting. She could hold her own against an older, experienced warrior, but not for very long. If only he was weaker, or younger... she would be able to kill him, though. Most other apprentices and weak or young warriors were easier to fight, and she had killed more then one while fighting against SkyClan.
A pleasurable experience, but not one that Clawpaw wished to go through again. She hadn't liked being beaten. She hated the feeling of being pinned, beaten, and knowing that she wouldn't give up-- Clawpaw would rather die then admit that she was beaten, but right now? She was afraid she might not have a choice. Shrugging, the feline slowly began to run around, wondering if he would really carry out his threat. Slowly, she gathered speed until she was running as fast as she could, trying to avoid getting hurt by darting quicker, speeding up to the best of her ability, running as fast as she could. Her sides heaved with exertion, but she didn't dare slow down. Or look back. Clawpaw wasn't necessarily scared of him, yet right now she feared for her life.
If Rusticash really were to attack her-- there was always the chance that she could die. And if she did? She wouldn't be getting a do-over at life. Clawpaw didn't necessarily not believe in StarClan... she believed in them, alright. Believed that they were real. But she chose to turn her back on them anyways, thinking that they were just for the weaker members, that they were something to blame things on or to believe in when things got rough. 'StarClan will save us,' words that had been spoken so many times the white she cat was sick of them. Where was StarClan, hm? Right now, while she was trying to get better. They weren't helping her. They were probably watching and laughing, and the thought made her grit her teeth. StarClan was weak as well.
They were just a bunch of old, stupid, dead cats who she didn't need. Who she would never need. She was absolutely sure that Rusticash was chasing her. The white feline got ready to change her course and did so, dreading the upcoming jump. Maybe he was going slower. Maybe even if she did trip, she'd have time to get out of the way. Clawpaw jumped, leaping over the branch as though she had been doing so easily her whole life and as soon as her paws touched the ground, continued to run. She didn't even stop to see if she was supposed to continue. Just in case he was still chasing her, waiting for her to make some mistake so he could pounce.

Rusticash waited, patiently, tail flicking as it lay by the ground. He was ready. He would give her a bit of a head start, but not too much. He needed to push her. Pushing her would cause her to use all of her power, and show her the limits of her abilities. As soon as she started running, Risticash matched his pace to hers as he started trotting along behind her. She gathered speed, as did he. He stayed running, right behind her, keeping his pace slightly over what she was going. So he slowly gained. This was good though, he could see the exhaustion kicking in, but the perseverance to continue obviously showed. He would live up to his promise. If she failed and tripped, he would give her the punishment. Was he aiming to kill? No, but she didn't know that. He didn't care though. For him letting her think that he might kill her or seriously maim her, would make her go faster, last longer, push harder. He needed that. "Keep going! I'm on your tail." He hissed. It wasn't entirely true, as he was about five tail lengths away from the top of her tail. He was slowly gaining though, giving her a fair chance. He saw her turn, aiming for the jump. He pulled back, slowing down as she raced on ahead. She took the jump, and landed perfectly. Mission accomplished. The technique had worked, and Risticash was feeling both proud of himself, for actually getting it to work, and for Clawpaw to finally see her limits. "You may stop now." He called to the still running apprentice. "That was very good, but I do assume, if you are anything like me, then you will want to know why I made you do that." He said, not waiting for an answer. "Panic, fear, adrenaline. These are the things that make use loose sense of our pain in trying to run. It wakes up a different part of us, stored up with energy, allowing us to focus less on the stitches in our side as we run. It's how we stay alive in battle. That's what I just demonstrated to you. So, three benefits: one, you know your true potential, and two, you know to trust your instincts, and three, that you have passed all my training classes." He finished up, smiling softly, a rare thing for him. "If there is still more you feel you need to go over, now is the chance, if not, warrior assessments start soon."