RiverClan Training Island

[Aquilex]

@Dipper @Bill

Truthpaw snaked underneath Fawnpaw's legs, though when she tried to throw him upward with an arch of her back it failed. Eyes wide, she slid the rest of the way out from underneath Fawnpaw and twisted, batting Fawnpaw's tail. Not nearly hard enough to upset his balance, but she took any contact she could get. The she-cat braced her paws against the floor, stiffening her tail for balance as she prepared for Fawnpaw's next move.

She knew she needed to make her strikes a bit harder, even an untrained kit knew that. She wouldn't get anyway brushing her paws against the tom like she was giving him a grooming. She quietly calculated moves in her head, just barely keeping a whisker in reality.

[Fawn]

The bat of his tail earned a semi-amused look as he wriggled the small fluffy stump in response, the interlude kind of entertaining. "Hey," Fawnpaw chided amiably, his tiny tail tucking downward. However, the brief distraction was enough for him to lose precious time in spinning around to plot his next attack; so far, he deemed them a bit unsuccessful but wasn't deterred, regaining his composure.

Steadying himself, Fawnpaw bolted toward Truthpaw again in hopes of catching her off guard by landing a rough blow to her side - although his moves were calculated, even overthought, he hoped they would still achieve the intended outcome that he'd been theorizing about. Most of the fighting was done in his head.

@BILL. ; @Aquilex

[Aquilex]

Truthpaw prepared herself for Fawnpaw's onslaught, pressing her pads into the earth and squeexing her eyes shut in a means of concentrating her weight into her paws. She thought of heavy things - boulders, trees, mounds of prey - anything to help her stay rooted to the floor. She tucked her tail against her side, careful not to tuck it underneath her for that was a sign of submission.

@Dipper @BILL.

[Aroogi]

Originally Posted by EternalBlaze

Shinytalon’s eyes seemed to smile as she sat. “Thankyou Dreampaw.” None of her other apprentices seemed to be grateful to have her as a mentor.. perhaps she should blame her negative personality.
“Well, I suppose we should go straight into your assessment. I would have preferred you to undertake your assessment on Skyclan territory..”
The warrior turned her wistful gaze in the direction of the old Skyclan territory behind her.
“..but I’m afraid you will be hunting on unfamiliar territory.”

Dreampaw nodded, her heart aching as she followed her mentors gaze. Thunderpaw was buried there as well as many of her ancestors. She shook her head.

Focus Dreampaw!

She jumped into a clump of reeds, following the scent of water vole. Tracking the scent to a hole in the bank, she found another one not too far away. It seemed the tunnel made a U shape. She found a stone and yowled in one hole. Slapping the rock across it, she ran to the other hole just in time to see four voles pop out. She slapped her paws down on the first two- killing them. She ran after the other two killing one with a swift bite to the neck whilst the last one vanished in the river with a plop. She walked back, placing her vole with the other two.

Three voles! Shinytalon is gonna be so pleased!

[Fawn]

Originally Posted by Aquilex

Truthpaw prepared herself for Fawnpaw's onslaught, pressing her pads into the earth and squeexing her eyes shut in a means of concentrating her weight into her paws. She thought of heavy things - boulders, trees, mounds of prey - anything to help her stay rooted to the floor. She tucked her tail against her side, careful not to tuck it underneath her for that was a sign of submission.

@Dipper @BILL.

Fawnpaw pulled in a deep breath, his pace unrelenting as he continued toward Truthpaw who didn't seem to be slipping away this time. In another few steps, the collision happened, and it nearly knocked the wind from him as they tumbled together in a heap of fur and limbs. She was sturdier than he'd thought she'd be, but that didn't stop Fawnpaw from detaching himself and gently placing a paw over her shoulder as he peered to Thistlestep. "So, uh, like that?" Although he wasn't on top of her, he hoped that'd be close enough since he had a paw on her and had brought them both down.

@BILL. ; @Aquilex

[Aquilex]

Originally Posted by Dipper

Fawnpaw pulled in a deep breath, his pace unrelenting as he continued toward Truthpaw who didn't seem to be slipping away this time. In another few steps, the collision happened, and it nearly knocked the wind from him as they tumbled together in a heap of fur and limbs. She was sturdier than he'd thought she'd be, but that didn't stop Fawnpaw from detaching himself and gently placing a paw over her shoulder as he peered to Thistlestep. "So, uh, like that?" Although he wasn't on top of her, he hoped that'd be close enough since he had a paw on her and had brought them both down.

@BILL. ; @Aquilex

Truthpaw chuckled at her friend, but looked towardThistlestep. She hoped her own evasive maneuvers had pleased the older tom and that she'd done well enough without any formal training. She refused to make direct eye contact with Fawnpaw, finding herself growing more and more nervous around him as they became closer.

@Dipper @BILL.

[Blazepaw]

Originally Posted by Nebby

Dreampaw nodded, her heart aching as she followed her mentors gaze. Thunderpaw was buried there as well as many of her ancestors. She shook her head.

Focus Dreampaw!

She jumped into a clump of reeds, following the scent of water vole. Tracking the scent to a hole in the bank, she found another one not too far away. It seemed the tunnel made a U shape. She found a stone and yowled in one hole. Slapping the rock across it, she ran to the other hole just in time to see four voles pop out. She slapped her paws down on the first two- killing them. She ran after the other two killing one with a swift bite to the neck whilst the last one vanished in the river with a plop. She walked back, placing her vole with the other two.

Three voles! Shinytalon is gonna be so pleased!

Shinytalon stifled a purr rising in her throat as she hid in the bushes, carefully watching every move her apprentice made. She continued to weave through the bushes, avoiding any protruding roots or lying leaves on the ground that would alert her presence to Dreampaw. "Go on..bury it and go hunt for more.” Shinytalon whispered.

(She’ll pass for sure c: )

[Aroogi]

Originally Posted by EternalBlaze

Shinytalon stifled a purr rising in her throat as she hid in the bushes, carefully watching every move her apprentice made. She continued to weave through the bushes, avoiding any protruding roots or lying leaves on the ground that would alert her presence to Dreampaw. "Go on..bury it and go hunt for more.” Shinytalon whispered.

(She’ll pass for sure c: )

Dreampaw buried her voles and continued along the riverbank. Hearing a rustle in the reeds ahead, she dropped into a crouch. A mouse moved cautiously into the open and after a few heartbeats calmed and began nibbling a seed. She crept forward and, lashing her tail, she sprang, pinning the creature with a paw and killing it swiftly. Grabbing it, she went back to were her voles were buried. Unearthing them, she inspected her haul.

Nice, plump and cleanly killed she thought proudly

[BEAR.]

Thistlestep noted the flaws in their movements, but he was surprised by the results: Fawnpaw.. kind of pinned her? Not really. He was sitting off to the side, his paw lightly plopped on Truthpaw's shoulder. "Well," he said, unsure of where to begin. "It's.. a start. Good job."

He rose to his paws, stretching his legs before he straightened himself. "First things first: Fawnpaw, you should relax when ya move. I know you haven't done this before, but let your instincts do the work. You'll be okay without tensing yourself." The smile he gave his brother was affectionate. "And Truthpaw, I'm not quite sure what ya were doing, but you should try to put more impact into your blows. I know ya might not want to hurt Fawnpaw, but trust me: nothing you do here will leave any lasting damage as long as ya keep your claws in."

Approaching them, he beckoned for Fawnpaw to release Truthpaw from his feeble grip. "Traditionally, when ya pin a cat down, you're actually on top of them. You have your paw planted on them-- their shoulder, their chest, maybe even their neck. And your weight is what holds them down. If you half-heartedly pin them by their shoulder, they can just push ya away.

"With that in mind, I want you two to try this again. Both of you have the same goal: pin down the other one. I don't want either of you to overthink your moves, or to hesitate, or to hold back with your blows. Your goal is to win. Once one of ya pins the other down, we'll move on to basic defensive moves, and if we have time, some offensive maneuvers. Sound good?"

@Dipper, @Aquilex

[Fawn]

Thistlestep's feedback was met with a nod, dutiful and comprehending. "Thanks, yeah.." he said, a little sheepish as he removed his paw from Truthpaw since the pinning part of the objective had concluded. "I know it was kind of sloppy." Already, he was kicking himself for not doing a million things differently as the interaction replayed in his mind, every move sharper in hindsight. "I was overthinking it," Fawnpaw admitted after Thistlestep instructed him to avoid tensing and let it happen unconsciously, "but I'm... honestly not sure how to stop doing that." His mind wouldn't simply quit running to let instinct take over, it felt impossible. The moves themselves were poor mimics of what he thought warriors did in lieu of formal training, but the majority of that spar had been spent in his own head. "I'll try, though."

Fawnpaw chuckled lightly when Thistlestep told him how pinning worked, and he replied, "Well, I know how to do it. I just... didn't know if I should? I mean, this is practice, and it's not like I needed to be on top of her to get the point across that I could've, uh, theoretically been there." Besides, he thought that was oddly personal and intrusive, so he hadn't felt comfortable jumping to it. Gazing to Truthpaw, he tilted his head. "I guess if you're okay with it?"

@Aquilex ; @BILL.