Quote:
Originally Posted by Beau
Halfgaze allowed an amused smile to form on her face as she watched Dandelionpaw squirm because of the tickles. When the apprentice stood back up, she seemed more comfortable, which had been the goal. Halfgaze watched as she got back into the position, about to paw a few limbs back into place when Dandelionpaw corrected herself. Halfgaze nodded approvingly and listened to Dandelionpaw's answer with a shrug and a nod. "Actually, I meant if you thought you could get back into the position again without me showing it to you, which you just demonstrated that you could. However, your answer was partly correct. You do leap at the opponent next. I showed you this particular move because it is more flexible. If you drop into this crouch, it can push you into multiple leaps depending on the situation. You can leap and twist-" As Halfgaze explained, the tortoiseshell dropped swiftly into a perfect battle crouch and thrust herself forward into the air, twisting as soon as her front paw touched the ground to land facing the other way. Deciding to use it as a question moment, Halfgaze asked, "Do you know what that move is used for?" The deputy felt the urge to answer herself, 'to get behind an opponent and unbalance them.' Halfgaze was a bit of a know-it-all when it came to battle tactics, it was her favorite subject as an apprentice. The molly continued on with the lesson, "You can also leap and roll-" Once again, she demonstrated the move, this time on a nearby boulder. She jumped over it, stuck out a paw, and used the boulder to tip herself to the side and roll to land back on her paws to the side. "This particular move must be done with a larger opponent in order to catch them with your paw and tip yourself to the side. With claws unsheathed, it can cause some damage. You can also do a simple leap onto your opponent, or do a rabbit kick. However, we are just going to focus on the third one for now. The others are advanced moves so I don't expect you to get them right away. Most of today will be spent learning simple leaps that lead up to the bigger movements and changes. Ready?"
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Dandelionpaw kept her ears opened, nodding occasionally at Halfgaze as she demonstrated each movement with a precise of perfection. The apprentice tilted her head to the side and the mewed,
“...unbalance them?” She answered, once again hestitate once she watched Halfgaze execute a move that twisted her movements. Just the way Dandelionpaw was observing her, she caught on that Halfgaze’s intentions were to unbalance her opponent. Dandelionpaw has dropped back into a battle crouch, ready to thrust forward and copy Halfgaze’s movement, but she stopped. She was a bit unsure of her abilities, and wanted to wait it out to try so she gave her attention back to her mentor. By then, Halfgaze was showing her other battle moves. Dandelionpaw had sat down on her haunches, flinging up a paw and unsheathing her claws to see how sharp they were. She haven’t sharpened them in a while, plus she had broke one while tugging at a hardened thorn in her pawpad once. As Halfgaze was showing these moves, Dandelionpaw notes that she looked so confident! Something that she wanted to be, but knew she was longed from. It would had been ashame if she let her mentor down...Dandelionpaw didn’t question the lessons, despite her scrambled thoughts. Instead, she mustered the best smile she could give and she nodded brightly at her mentor.
“Okay, Halfgaze! I think - “ Dandelionpaw paused, shaking her head vigorously.
“I know I can do this.” Her voice held pride, dripping with faint hesitation.
“As long as it isn’t the expert moves you were doing...” she quickly added on, a flicked back of her ears.
“Yeah, I’m ready!” Dandelionpaw blinked, then quickly added,
“Wait!” She exclaimed. Dandelionpaw began a little stretching procedure where she reached out each of her paws. Then, she flopped onto her belly, and stretched her paws to the sky. When she rolled over, she bounced back into all fours and bent her front half down to flex her back. After finishing up, she flicked her tail towards Halfgaze.
“Now, I am ready.” She giggled lightly.
“You must always warm up before battle practice, right?” The question was a playful rhetorical one. Dandelionpaw, on instinct got back into a more accurate battle crouch, waiting for Halfgaze’s next directions.