ShadowClan Training Cliffs

[Kyo]

Sootwhisker

Sootwhisker sat down, hoping to find another fellow warrior to spar with. She was unbearably bored, finding herself always confined in camp. She never had an apprentice before. Last time she was on a patrol was multiple moons ago. Her paws were itching for action.

I wonder if I'll meet anyone new today... She thought to herself. Her tail gently swished on the floor, kicking up dust and clinging to her tail. Sootwhisker's whiskers twitched and she briskly groomed her chest

( @Skycloud )

[Toodle]

Pigeonpaw padded out into the sandy grounds of the training cliffs, focusing on keeping her strides even as Figwind had worked with her on. She had an inevitable limp as she shifted from her shorter stubbed leg up to her good paw but it was getting smoother and her balance was improving. She rarely stumbled anymore, at least not on flat even ground, traversing the uneven grounds was a bit more complicated whenever she stepped on a stick, root, or stone. But all in all she was pleased with her progress. She felt larger and stronger than she thought she'd ever felt. Her assessment had to be coming up soon.

They hadn't been back in Shadowclan long but the excitement of simply being back home had already run dry and she was ready to get back into some real training. If she hadn't hurt her paw she'd bet she'd already be getting her assessment - "hurt", that was the understatement of the year. But now she found herself in need of retraining in everything she already knew how to do.

@Ravensong (so apparently she actually has everything she needs. She maybe now just needs a refresher in everything since she's lost her paw since getting most of her training.)

[Pitou]

**Cougarivy**

@Toodle

Cougarivy led the way to the training cliffs, keeping an eye on her apprentice's progress as she walked. Cougairvy was pleasantly surprised with Pigeonpaw's strides. She turned on the soft sands and smiled at Pigeonpaw. "You've come a long way since losing your paw! You're doing good!"

Cougarivy considered the next steps. It'd been a while since Pigeonpaw was assigned to her, she should be close to warriorhood. Cougarivy decided to run through everything. "Everything's going to be a little different now." Without waiting for even a lull in the conversation, Cougarivy sprang forward, aiming her outstretched paws at Pigeonpaw's shoulders in an attempt to roll her over to her back and pin her. If she was reviewing everything, she figured she'd start at the beginning: to always be aware.

[Toodle]

Pogeonpaw beemed at her mentor's praise. But it was short-lived. She smiled as Cougarivy leapt off the ground. She fell for this when she was first apprenticed but it was a lesson that stuck with her. In all the near six moons she'd been an apprentice, she'd never been caught off-guard, and today wasn't going to be the first. She went to push off the ground to dodge quickly to the side but her mind was still back in the beginning of her training. She'd pushed off her stub so instead of getting the leverage and power she needed to side-step cleanly, her leg buckled and Cougarivy crashed over her. She cursed herself but went with the roll, batting at Cougarivy with paw and stub in an attempt to free herself. To no avail, when their roll stopped, Cougarivy was on top of her pinning her down. She used her stub to push against Cougarivy's chest as she kicked at her stomach with her back paws in an attempt to kick her over Pigeonpaw's head. Pigeonpaw was still smaller than her mentor but not by much.. She was large for her Age and was sure she'd grow to surpass her mentor's size sooner rather than later.
@Ravensong

[Pitou]

**Cougarivy**

@Toodle

It wasn't surprise that caught Cougarivy, but pride. She wasn't sure if she expected her apprentice to dodge but she surely hoped that no apprentice of hers would be caught so easily unprepared, and she was right. Pigeonpaw made to move out of the way. Cougarivy was then more surprised that her paws hit the grey apprentice. Her claws grazed through Pigeonpaw's long grey furand when the roll stopped, Cougarivy found herself pinning Pigeonpaw down. She thought back quickly to determine what had happened. Pigeonpaw had been quick to make a move to dodge out of the way but had stumbled. It must've been her paw throwing her off.

Cougarivy didn't have much time to deliberate before a strange sensation pressed against her chest. She was caught unaware as her mind focused on the stub pressing into her chest when Pigeonpaw's legs shoved into her stomach and lifted her paws off the ground. She was tossed aside, just barely keeping her paws under her to Pigeonpaw's side. She regained her balance and rounded on Pigeonpaw but stopped from pouncing at her again. Smiling, she meowed, "Good recovery. What happened there?"

[Toodle]

Pigeonpaw felt her blows connect and suddenly the weight was lifted away from her. She rolled up onto her paws as soon as she was free and faced Cougarivy, prepared for another attack. Cougarivy rounded quickly but then stopped and smiled. Pigeonpaw sighed. "I tried to dodge but i pushed off of my useless stub and stumbled." Pogeonpaw pickedbup her stubbed leg but refused to look directly at it. Despite doing the work to overcome her new debilitation she was still ashamed of the weakness it brought out in her. @Ravensong

[Pitou]

**Cougarivy**

@Toodle [Sorry for taking so long!!! ><]

The mottled she-cat cocked her head, her smile slipping thoughtfully. There wasn't much Cougarivy could offer in knowledge of how to navigate a missing paw but it didn't seem that what had happened needed to be corrected anyway; in this case it was just something Pigeonpaw would have to get accustomed to. She shrugged and her smile returned. "You did fine. Try again, but this time don't forget your body and your surroundings. You can do everything now that you could before but you need to stay aware of how your body works differently now so you don't open yourself up for mess ups." As soon as the last word was out, Cougarivy leapt forward and slashed a sheathed paw towards Pigeonpaw's face. The attack would be easy enough to dodge if Pigeonpaw didn't stumble again but she was more interested to see if Pigeonpaw was staying ready, had learned from her previous fumble, and still had the forethought to make a counterattack or if her mindspace was being consumed by simply dodging with her new disability.

[Toodle]

Pigeonpaw saw the attack coming, knowing better than to ever let her guard down around her mentor. She shied backwards, the white paw just stirring the air in front of her muzzle. As soon as the paw whisked past her face, Pigeonpaw used the weight shifted into her back haunches to push off the ground behind her and leap directly at Cougarivy, low and direct, hoping that the less through of her last attack would have her off-balanced enough to not be able to dodge the straight on attack.
@Ravensong

[Pitou]

**Cougarivy**

@Toodle

Her paw swiped unrestricted through the air as she watched her apprentice feign backwards. The surprise came when her strike went harmlessly past Pigeonpaw's nose and then the grey apprentice was hurling her body towards her. An excited smile spread across her face just before Pigeonpaw's bulk slammed into her chest, pushing her backwards. Pigeonpaw was bigger and stronger than she'd been the last time they'd sparred; the realization brought another wave of excitement. She let the momentum roll her backward as she brought her back legs up to her stomach and aimed a slow kick to push the large apprentice off of her.

She rose to her paws after splitting away from Pigeonpaw and turned to smile at her. "Oh, that was great! No paw, no problem! You're a smart fighter and that's going to carry you through every battle. The more you get used to not having that paw during every day things, the easier fighting will come right back to you."

She turned away and trotted into the trees. "Hinting, though, may be more difficult. You'll have to get used to not having two paws to catch prey with. Let's see what you've got." She stopped and looked at her apprentice to let her take the lead in looking for and catching her prey.

[Toodle]

Pigeonpaw beamed with pride. Her counterattack had landed and she rolled off easily at Cougarivy's kick. Her mentors words meant more to her than she believed Cougarivy would even know. She felt invincible and hopeful, a feeling that felt so fleeting recently.

She nodded and hurried after Cougarivy as she lead the way into the forest around the open cliffs. Her strides were growing almost mindless as she glided smoothly over her nubbed front paw. It crossed her mind briefly what Figwind had told her to work on, as soon as she got the hang of walking on her nub everything else would just sort of fall back into place. She was there, she barely even needed to think about keeping her balance anymore.

She didn't realize Cougarivy had stopped walking until she passed her. She glanced back but quickly caught on and turned her nose up to the wind, parting her maw slightly. She quickly caught the scent of mouse. This newleaf was already carrying a strong promise of lots of prey. She quickly dropped down into a crouch and pinpointed the direction of the mouse. She stalked forward, conscious of her nub being less quiet than her padded paws, then pounced. The mouse squished directly between her good paw and her nub and let out a loud squeak as the claws of only one paw punctured through its flank. It's little body twisted out from under her nub and rotated around her claws. She quickly reached down and bit the back of its neck and it fell still, but not before the damage was done.
@Ravensong