[Ever]

Originally Posted by Empress Of Evil

Dazzlinggaze had no problems with sleep. Nothing much really came to haunt her at her times of rest, except for the occasional nightmares. The replays of her loved ones death. She didn’t try to avoid sleep, if she did she would wake up every day feeling cranky and zombie like. The she-cat had instead been dealing with things such as her paranoia. She didn’t trust her apprentice one bit and with every glance she took at Tawnypaw, suspicion danced in her emerald gaze. Nowadays, Dazzlinggaze hardly trusted anyone, whether they were her clan mates or not, she just didn’t trust this particular cat more than the rest. Tawnypaw was the image of her mother and the tabby could clearly see it. She didn’t like being so close to a cat of close relation to ShadowClan’s former leader, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She was supposed to train this cat and that’s what she was going to do. Even if she didn’t like her, even if she was almost certain she was somehow planning a comeback with her mother, she wasn’t going to stop her from having a good education. No matter what anyone might have done in the past, every deserved to have equal rights. In this case, Tawnypaw should still be trained to become the best warrior she could become.

As much as she hated to admit it, training the daughter of a powerful cat meant that she probably had more potential than the average apprentice. Dazzlinggaze couldn’t let that just go to waste. She had to use what she had and turn this young cat into something great. A cat that was better than her mother. It was going to be hard, but at least it would be challenging. Remembering that her apprentice was still standing in front of her, she quickly turned her cold gaze towards the young cat. In her eyes, the usual blankness was replaced with coldness and suspicion. Her guard was higher up than usual and she didn’t let herself reveal anything. There were some cats in the clan that were very observant and calculating. They were the ones that were never noticed by their clan mates, but they knew everything about everyone else. They were the cats that Dazzlinggaze took extra caution with around them.
Well there she went again, drifting off into her thoughts again. Giving her head a small shake, she pushed them all to the back of her mind and refocused on Tawnypaw, who was now in a hunting crouch. It was average, but it was debatable that she was only a mere apprentice. And a new one with that. The warrior quickly noted that her rump was up too high and her limbs weren’t relaxed but focused in the way that they should be. However, she had at least managed to keep her legs, belly and tail in the correct places. But there were still quite a few things that she would have to work on. Her vibrant gaze scanned over the apprentice before giving a small dip of her head as a sign that she could relax and sit down. The warrior quickly ran her words through her head once more before deciding they wouldn’t be too hurtful in any sort of way. After all, for all she knew, Tawnypaw could be the most sensitive cat in the clan. She was quite doubtful of it, but there was that small voice as the back of her mind that agreed.

"It was….average,” Dazzlinggaze began, her voice louder and clearer than before. "You need to lower your rump and relax your legs. If they’re too stiff then you’re going to get nowhere if you try to leap,” the she-cat continued. Her voice wasn’t friendly, but it wasn’t mean. It was just blank with suspicion twisting through it. "However, your legs, belly and tail were positioned correctly so well done for that,” Dazzlinggaze said. She was giving Tawnypaw praise, although her voice hadn’t exactly had approval written all over it. It had just been as blank as the statement before. "Try it again, but this time, relax your limbs a bit more while still keeping your muscles concentrated,” Dazzlinggaze advised. She got into a hunting crouch, one where her tail was straight, her belly was low but not too low, her limbs were relaxed but not too relaxed, and her eyes and ears were focused. "Copy me.”

Tawnypaw could feel heat bubbling in her chest as she watched her mentor pick apart her hunter's crouch. She'd been practicing hard for this moment and here she was getting called average on the first day. She'd expected better from that and the disappointment from her mentor's words made frustration surge within her. However, she didn't let that show on any features except her eyes. They were slit as she watched her mentor perform the task. Tawnypaw couldn't be mad that her mentor could do it perfectly, but she wanted to be mad about it. She took a deep breath and quickly licked a shoulder to ensure her thick tabby pelt was still laying flat and relaxed. She wouldn't let her mentor's suspicion win over her irritable side so quickly.

Instead the apprentice took a deep breath and mimicked the mentor's position. She lowered herself the way she had before, but this time she made the small corrections that were needed. The adjustments made new muscles burn in different places but she didn't mind, it was a good distraction. Her tail twitched as she maintained her balance, remaining low and staring at her mentor deadpanned for some sort of approval.